Chapter 849： Go to the holy place

There is no need to discuss with the Uppsalas about how to hold the ceremony for King Ross to proclaim the king.

Lurik is here to tell these people that it is a fact that he will become the king. The Rus people can handle all the matters before and after the king. However, many other Swedish nobles must come to join in. Those who dare not come will immediately be regarded as hostile behavior. In this autumn, the Ross army and the powerful fleet will directly punish them.

The meeting was not really a meeting of nobles. In the mansion of the Duke of Uppsala, several great nobles from all over Sweden discussed with Rurik.

Although all of Sweden has been in charge of these large-scale tribes since ancient times, without the presence of a group of small nobles, the meeting would not be perfect.

Lurik set the grand ceremony of the king's enthronement on an excellent day.

The twenty-eighth day of June in the Julian calendar, this is the summer solstice in the legislation, on this day it is the time to worship the sun and Odin.

The noisy house finally settled down, and the two generations of Ross princes and the old king Bjorn and other great nobles left one after another.

Swinned, the ruler of Uppsala, deeply felt the majesty of the young hero, and he even hoped that the hero would leave after he became the king.

Because of the informal meeting, everything will be discussed in the formal meeting about what responsibilities should be fulfilled by King Ross as the queen, and what obligations should be fulfilled by the various tribes of Sweden as subjects.

"There will be a major meeting, and our small lake will become very lively." Swinned was a little afraid to face the future, instead of being cautious.

The high priest took off his antler helmet and stared solemnly at the wooden door covering the leather curtain.

"The Ross people brought their own high priest, my position is meaningless. Chief, let them perform rituals under our sacred tree, is it really desirable?"

"You don't want to? What can you do?"

"Rurik of Ross is so arrogant that he didn't listen to my advice. Odin blessed him in the past, as for the future..." The high priest shook his head and said nothing.

"How? Can I still lower the penalty?"

In the atmosphere of the high priest who didn't want to say more, he stomped his boots a few times: "They treat me as a fool! Let them do it by themselves! My priests and I are not involved. Now the sacred tree is under their control. , The Great Temple was also controlled by them. This year's summer ritual venue was stolen. I will take the priests to the altar in the forest for summer rituals. Chief, you stay here and watch that man is king. gone!"

As soon as the voice fell, the high priest did leave the house on a heavy foot with anger.

Uppsala priests have served the sacred tree of their faith for generations. They hold the power of faith, and tribal leaders (duke) like Swinned have long been in charge of general affairs.

When 　　Lurik was present, the high priest behaved very submissively. When Rurik left, he became surly again.

Swinned reached out his hand to hold back to stay and talk again, but he went too eagerly and simply left.

The next day, the Russian army officially began construction in the temporary city of Uppsala.

People who had rested for a night had more motivation to enter the forest area to cut logs, more big trees collapsed, and the earthquake caused did not stop at all. A batch of temporary sawmills appeared in the forest. The rough-cut large trees were immediately cut into materials of different sizes, and a large number of waste branches also attracted a large number of Uppsala people.

There is no economic output in building the city. Thanks to Rurik carrying a large amount of dry oats, wheat and rye in advance, enough logistical support makes the men who work hard have no worries.

And Ross’ construction action is also good for the local Uppsala people.

Since ancient times, real estate has been a good way to stimulate economic activity.

Thousands of Rus fighters were busy with construction, and a group of Uppsalas came spontaneously to serve as logistics in order to gain benefits.

Those women cook oatmeal for the Ross people, and they can take their children to share a piece of the pie.

The woman washes clothes for the Rus, and the man polishes the wood axe for the Rus. Many fishermen can increase their working time and sell the extra fish to the Ross people in exchange for silver or copper coins.

In the beginning, only a few people had the courage to go to the city of Ross to find some work. Ross offered kindness, or Rurik was really willing to pay. Within a week, there were hundreds of Uppsalas. Started the logistics of the Ross army. If the fishermen who sell fish spontaneously are counted, the logistics support of the Russian army will be even greater.

At the beginning, the people felt that the Rus army was an intruder who suddenly entered the Neihu District and would destroy the Great Temple and put everyone's lives at risk. Anyone who is willing to cooperate now can benefit from the fact that King Ross is the king. How can we not support a new king?

The construction process of Ross City is very fast. After all, Rurik’s first consideration is to ensure that everyone can move in safely, and the fineness of the house does not need to be considered.

A torrential rain in summer suddenly fell, and the whole world became muddy. The reeds by the lake were already quite lush, and there were black mud everywhere. People running around in the rain must be full of mud.

The situation in the city is much better. A large number of wooden slats are laid on the ground to serve as a path. A residential house is erected on a large number of wooden piles to isolate mud and water at a time. The roof is herringbone, and a large number of wooden boards have special angles. Stacked, they are tiles, diverting the stagnant water into a trickle to the outside.

The air is extremely humid, and the temperature drops away. Thousands of people hid in the houses they made by themselves, wrapped in leather blankets and shrunk into a ball, one by one like giant caterpillars.

Several large houses were put together in a rough log mortise and tenon style, and Rurik placed all his wives, concubines and Rose nobles here.

It was a delightful thing for a family to huddle together to guard the children to hide from the rain. It was this incident that revealed that his nobles would have to endure some discomfort before Rurik became glorious.

Three days of heavy rain made the waters of Pan-Melaren Lake soar, and finally it rained and the sky cleared...

After the earth finally became dry, Rurik, who was too lazy to be an overseer, finally decided to take a look at the sacred tree first.

He gathered his young wives and concubines outdoors. The women knew that they would personally appreciate the big tree that was clearly visible on the boat more than ten days ago, all with joy.

"My women!" Rurik became vulgar with joy, "all put on gorgeous clothes! Remember! You will all be priests when I become the throne. Now follow me to visit Uppsala. The temple, visit the sacred tree. Let’s explore it and immediately start building the altar."

The wives and concubines remained silent, and the smiles on their faces hinted at their inexhaustible words. They are all dressed up today. Because they are too cool after the rain, they wear white bear leather clothes and a lot of jewelry, and some Slavic styles of complex stripes make their clothes more gorgeous.

Simple dress is not suitable for this era. What people in this era need is a combination of as many colors as possible. The more seemingly chaotic colors, the more noble they are considered.

They even have feathers dipped in colorful ink on their hats, and their bodies are full of shiny glass beads.

Lurik's clothes are equally gorgeous, the difference is that he wears chain mail to show his identity as a warrior. As for the golden laurel crown kept in the box, it is still preserved, and it will be crowned on his head that day.

There are more than one hundred warriors dressed like Kong Wu in full costumes without losing them. This is a hundred tall and strong men, all of whom have reached the equivalent of 185 cm in figure. Apart from this height, it is really rare in Sweden today. They carried halberds on their backs. Each halberd was hung with blue, white and red strips of cloth, and the leather helmets on top of their heads were also covered with blue-dyed feathers.

There is also a small group of special elite troops, and they all wear bear heads. The concept of "Berserker" was embodied in Rose, and the team with bear heads above them were berserkers. Of course, the shields of these people are also unique. They draw a completely consistent and abstract raven pattern on the shields painted white with chalk.

As for the twenty cavalrymen, the nobility of Prince Ross was even more demonstrated.

The Ross people made a big move. Some people who were supposed to “work” for the Ross people, but were actually spies, hurried to the large settlement village of Uppsala, and informed the lord Swinned of Prince Rurik. Initiatives.

Looking at the two secret conversations kneeling in the house, Swinned yawned and listened impatiently.

"What else can the Ross people do? It will never tell me that the official missions of other nobles are here?"

"My lord. It's Prince Rurik of Rose." Secret Talk suddenly raised his head.

"how?"

"Rurik is coming."

got up and got angry, Swinned suppressed the evil fire and reprimanded: "Don't talk nonsense, talk about it!"

"Yes! We heard that Rurik summoned some elites to visit our sacred tree. They are already in action, and a small army of Ross will arrive soon."

"What happened?!" Swinned was completely relieved now.

It stands to reason that it is just looking at a big tree. Why did the Duke of Swinned be surprised.

The reason is not complicated.

Just like the Rus people who were still in the tribal era, the old temple of Rus is a big long house. It is called a holy land, it is the residence of the priests, and it is also an area where sacrifices are carried out. Those who know it know that there is nothing special in the house, but for most people, it is a restricted zone that should not be stepped into.

This situation is even more wicked in Uppsala. The Great Temple is not only a group of buildings surrounding big trees, it is a forbidden area! On ordinary days, the people dare not step into the restricted area at all. Anyone who enters without permission will be caught, even killed, and sacrificed to the holy tree with blood to redeem the sin of disrespect to the gods.

The tattooed High Priest of Uppsala is not as harmless as he seems. He always sticks to his beliefs and even makes some radical moves.

Swinned is afraid of this! I was afraid that Rurik led the army to rush into the sacrificial place on the wrong day and directly clashed with the priests. Originally, Swinned led the troops to deal with those who trespassed in the Holy Land. It was the Ruth who was about to set foot on the Holy Land, and he didn't dare to stop it even a little bit.

"Come on! Go and mobilize the brothers!" he yelled.

Someone came up immediately: "My lord, what shall we do? Are we really going to prevent the Ruths from entering the Holy Land by mistake?"

"Bah! We are going to mediate, I'm afraid that the priests' heads will get hot..."

The high priest himself is old, and a group of lower priests are indeed priests. They also mastered the cooking techniques of special mushroom soup, drank a bowl of "Holy Red Mushroom Soup", and immediately became berserkers, and they would not hesitate to kill those who strayed into the Holy Land.

When it comes to fighting, Swinned is convinced that his priest is not an opponent of the Roths at all.

He hurriedly awakened all the private soldiers who slept in, and started to curse that there was a large group of slackers standing in front of him. He clapped his hands desperately to attract their attention, and when everyone realized that there might be an armed conflict, they became nervous.

Swinned was dispatched with private soldiers, and the people of Uppsala saw their Lord Duke running hurriedly with his subordinates, but they only watched their backs run away.

Lurik, the whole team walked along the wilderness path that had been forcibly stepped out with great interest. The oncoming wind carried the fragrance of the earth. Looking carefully, blue-purple flower bones began to emerge from the green grass after the rain.

has been alive for sixty years, Otto never thought that he could live so long, and now he also understands why the deceased high priest Veria would have trouble with his legs and feet. He is in good condition now, that is, this body can no longer carry too heavy armor. When he was old, he used a wooden pole without a halberd head as a stick. The arrogance of the warrior refused anyone's support.

The cavalry held aloft the flag of Ross, and the costumed people lined up in a column.

Lurik was in a good mood, even though there was a lot of mud on his boots.

A gray team hurried toward them, and immediately aroused the alertness of the cavalry.

"My lord, armed men are coming towards us."

"Armed?" Although Rurik felt absurd, he immediately ordered all of them to be on guard.

The team immediately settled down, and the soldiers took off their shields and swords one after another, and the warriors holding the crossbow immediately stepped on the strings. The female family members were protected by Tuantuan, and they all held their sword hilts.

Old Otto admired the quick response of his young people, and cleared his throat vigorously: "There will be no danger, don't be too alert."

Despite this, a crossbow has been installed with arrows, and the cavalry also slammed the flagpoles into the mud and drew their long swords.

Swinned, who brought people over, was taken aback. Seeing that the Ross people put up the shield wall, he immediately opened his arms and walked along the sidebar.

Swinned's private soldiers showed enough peace. He himself simply ordered his men to stand in place and walked to the guarded Ross team alone.

Facing the cavalrymen who drew their swords, he felt worried, and the Ross people's rapid reaction speed made him even more convinced that these people were really well-trained. He was also rather sad. He assembled fifty private soldiers, only to slap them one by one, so that everyone could wake up.

"Rose, don't be nervous, it's me! Swinned."

"Is it the Duke of Uppsala?" Seeing his innocence, Rurik immediately drilled out of the shield wall, clearly retracting his steel sword into the scabbard. "What do you mean by coming here?"

"You...Where are you going here."

"You..." Rurik hesitated: "What do you seem to know?"

Swinned was a little speechless when asked about this. He was sure that Rurik knew that he had sent his eyes and ears, and Rurik asked in such an embarrassing situation.

But since the matter is serious, he simply said: "I know you are going to the Great Temple, but this is not appropriate."

"What's wrong." Rurik also opened his arms to signal for peace: "I'm going to ascend the throne there. Now I'm going to look at the venue. I can't say that this is wrong."

"But this is wrong."

"What did you say?!"

"Ah! I mean. You are now taking your men to the Great Temple, it is out of fashion! Those priests will desperately not let you... trample on the Holy Land at the wrong time."

Swinned also took the plunge, and the result was obvious, and Rurik was furious with this description.

"Absurd! Your priest can still stop me. You? Could it be that you are also blocking me. Tell you, I must go take a look today."

"However, your army will easily defeat those priests. The priests who shed blood on the Holy Land will cause disaster to us Uppsala."

"Disaster? Does your priest dare to stop me? Didn't the high priest say that it would be of use to me?! You should let it go!"

Swinned couldn't care too much in his desperation: "So, but only on the right day can the priest really use it for you."

Rurik had already heard seven or eight. He paced in front of the crowd for a while, shook his head and said viciously: "You can't stop me! Swinned, get away! I must go to the Great Temple today." I also brought a rope, and today I will measure how thick that big tree is!"

It sounds like he is the king of Qin Wu who wants to measure the weight of the tripod.

Things can force Swinned to be so nervous, and it also reflects the importance of that big tree to Uppsala This is the case, and Rose wants to go even more!

He released the last cruel words: "Swinned, things are actually very simple. You take your people to persuade the priests to avoid it for the time being. After visiting the Great Temple, I measured the circumference of the big tree, and then left by myself. As for them, it’s easier for them not to leave. I’m the most to beg for the guys who surficially agree to the opposition. After all, my enthronement ceremony doesn’t need your priesthood groups. It would be unreasonable for a priesthood group not to listen to your nobleman. Why not help you? Clean up, you are training some obedient priests, what do you think?"

That's it, Rurik laughed.

These words really poke Swinned's heart. Regarding the death of the Ross people and the departure of the high priest, all the priests died bizarrely, and finally burned to ashes. With the merchant’s vivid description of this matter, he also had something to say. Heard. He now fully confirms that it was the Rus who killed their old priesthood and later supported a very obedient new priesthood.

He believes that the Ross people can really do it.

But Swinned had no choice but to obey orders. Even if it was tied with a rope, he had to remove all the priests and forcibly confine him until the Ruth left satisfactorily.

Those mortals do not dare to enter the Holy Land area, but the most immediate worry is that they are afraid of sanctions. The sanctioner is Swinned, and he and his militia are the guardians of the Holy Land in principle, and can arrive at any time.

He then led the team to turn around, rushing towards the large temple area not too far away that is visible to the naked eye, towards the giant tree that seems to be hanging on the ground, like a dark green mass.