Chapter 868： This battle must be united nationwide

When the fleet anchored at the Kronstadt anchorage, the veteran Aphrodite docked at the pier in Shilla Fort, and the ruler Rurik wore a golden crown and walked down the gangway.

A rather grand entrance ceremony began immediately, and the warriors in costumes walked on the Nevsky Prospekt along the river with majestic steps.

King Rülik himself rode a horse, and Queen Svetlana sat sideways in front of him.

Surrounded by many wives and concubines dressed as priestesses, the king and his wife were welcomed by the people on both sides of the street.

"Long live the king blessed by Odin!"

"Long live the great King Rurik! Long live the Kingdom of Ross!"

The soldiers arranged in the crowd shouted so, they led the enthusiastic rhythm, because everyone cheered so much.

King Rurik waved to his subjects. He enjoyed the cheers of the people and felt the grandeur of the kingdom.

The Rose Kingdom has been officially born for more than two months, and Shilla Fort has naturally become the capital of the kingdom. The people here welcome the Duke to be upgraded to the king, and they are proud of the people who have become the capital, as if their identity is immediately noble.

There is another appeal deep in the hearts of the people, which is to hope that the king can give alms to all the people while he is happy and proud.

King Rurik intended to do this!

The notices were printed and widely posted on rough paper, the fonts of the text were deliberately printed very large, and the contents of the notices were quite simple-any tax deduction was half.

In principle, farmers who farm land are required to pay the eleven tax, or the tax of the type of production in the Rus Kingdom, and at least 10% of the output value is taxed.

The eleventh tax is a harsh tax standard. According to the Eastern standard, it is often 20 tax one or even thirty tax one.

This was the tax standard established by Rome a long time ago. The rulers of many European powers did not have a better reference in the past, so they picked up some of the Roman systems and used them. The Rus Kingdom still adheres to the Eleventh Tax, and no one thinks it is inappropriate.

Over the past few years, the eastern part of the kingdom has been expanding arable land, and land reclamation has been carried out in an orderly manner.

Newly cultivated land was included in the "Fish Scale Book" after reclamation. The newly cultivated land was marked as "poor land" in the first few years. The so-called one Ross hectare (equivalent to 0.96 modern hectares) produced only 1,000 pounds of oats. One hundred pounds. Xintian’s first year harvest is completely tax-free, and the next few years will be taxed at 100 pounds.

The city of Fort Shilla was built on a large scale eleven years ago. The flat terrain of the Neva River is an advantage, but the climate here is too cold.

A large number of acres were opened up, only some of the acres along the river were defined as "good fields" and "naka fields", and most of them were still "bad fields".

Even if local farmers pay taxes, since the implementation of the fixed tax law, they have not paid too much oat tax. In the same way, a farmer can even open up two hectares of land, without growing grain and taxes, and the oats that fall into his hands are not as huge as he imagined. The biggest reason for restricting the output of farmland is certainly the climate, and the lack of awareness of intensive farming by farmers is also a major reason.

Must the farmers be ordered to cultivate intensively in order to obtain more output in the limited area?

If Rurik uses a purely Eastern thinking, he can naturally force his farmers to do this, but everyone is a genuine Viking.

Boating and fishing has been a way of life for a long time, and it has only been nearly a decade for the Ross immigrants to grow wheat. There is no need to pay taxes for fishing, and at least one hundred pounds of tax for the monarch is required for farming.

Wheat is an extremely storage-resistant food. If possible, everyone wants more wheat.

The king’s notices were posted everywhere, and the people of the whole country were discussing it.

The king's army was destined to return later, and the capital governor, Konuzon, saw that the king had not returned, and he was unwilling to collect taxes rashly. In fact, he should fulfill his tax collection responsibility, because Conusson has a hunch that the step-by-step tax collection this year is not appropriate.

Conuson waited until the king triumphed, thanking him that his decision to suspend tax collection was extremely correct.

The king decided to reduce or exempt taxes, and the family of Governor Conusson embraced the heavy scales and was ordered by Lord Rurik: "Tax according to the list! Whether it is a farmer, a craftsman or a businessman, the taxation of any registered personnel will be reduced. Half! You must implement this king’s order. If I hear rumors that someone claims to be overcharged, I will hold you accountable."

Conuson didn't dare to neglect, and signaled that he must get things done.

In Fort Shilla, the autumnal equinox at the end of September in the Julian calendar is another traditional sacrificial festival.

This is the long day of autumn, such as day and night. After this day, the daytime will be shortened at a perceptible rate. For all Viking races, all families must seize all the time to reserve winter supplies from this day.

A sacrificial activity was held in the First Temple. Thousands of people flocked to Harvest Square. Whether it was farmers, fishermen or businessmen, they rushed to offer their own silver coins to the statue of the gods. The silver coins were stuffed into wooden boxes, and the coins were clinked. The gods must be able to hear their prayers.

If there are five thousand people participating in the ritual activities and each offering a silver coin, they will end up with a financial income of up to fifty pounds of silver coins. The fact is that wealthy businessmen face the largest gilded statue of Frey God ever seen in their lives. He was willing to spend a lot of money for this business god, and in the end, the Great Temple received a considerable amount of income.

As long as there are enough good men and women, the "incense money" that was originally used as a supplement to funds can become an important financial supplement. This is what Rurik would like to see.

After all, in a country such as the Frankish Kingdom, a free farmer did not know that he had to pay the eleven tax to the lord's grandfather, and he had to pay the eleven tax to the church in the suburbs.

In the autumn tax season of 839 AD, all taxpayers were exempt from half of the tax. People who had more money were more confident, and businessmen were more willing to "spend big money" for King Ross.

The king is back! The return of the king is to cut taxes and preside over the autumn rituals. After these big events are over, life will return to the peace of the past?

Many people think that things are not easy, because the king should rush to Novgorod on Lake Ilmen and announce the kingship to hundreds of thousands of Slavs and important old Russian immigrants. .

The king is still staying for certain things, and seems to be brewing a deafening preaching that will shock everyone again.

In early October, a light snow fell suddenly. It was raining at first, suddenly it turned into freezing rain, and then it turned into snow all over the sky.

The snow came earlier, and the people's winter life began about ten days earlier than in previous years.

Thin snow covered the city buildings, and Shilla Fort was shrouded in silver and white.

The sky is quite gray, and the rolling ocean raises big waves. Thanks to the Kronstadt anchorage at the mouth of the Neva River, which is a safe haven protected by island sandbanks, the ships sway slightly in the gray water.

People are waiting for the sea to freeze, so that they can start their favorite winter fishing operations. The hunters also begged the Neva River to freeze quickly, so that they could rush to the distance to plunder and cherish the small animals and skin them to make a lot of money.

Rurikchacha was also waiting for the real cold current to come, so that he quickly returned to Novgorod on a sled.

After the snow, brand new notices are posted everywhere again.

The news this time tickled all the men who could afford an axe.

Many years have passed. In these years, it is not that Ross has not fought violently with foreign enemies. Ross has always been passively involved in wars. Although he still has achieved great victories, those are not the initiative of Ross after all.

People are eager for this large-scale war in the depths of their hearts, because based on past experience, such wars will bring huge wealth to Ross, and the rate of increase in wealth can be much faster than farming and fishing.

The king gave the order, and the notice clearly stated that the so-called Rus Kingdom will launch a new national war in the Swedish region, and the elite troops of all Russ will be assembled to launch a war of conquering the Götaland region.

The notice called on all the people to devote themselves to war service, and called on the people to ramp up the production of logistic materials this winter, and the king will purchase them before the war begins next year.

What are war services and logistics materials?

Salt, ironware, dried fish meat, wheat, high-quality leather, high-quality hemp rope and animal tendons, animal ointment, pine gum, feathers, etc.

Talented people can also use scrapers to make arrow shafts, and those with woodworking skills undertake the rough machining of some weapon parts.

The Götaland region is no stranger to all Vikings, especially the Viking immigrants living in Shilla Fort. They come from various tribes, but all of them have a common identity—being from Sweden.

Although everyone immigrated to the East, their bloodline is exactly the same as that of Sweden in the West. Now Ross is fused with Sweden.

The Götaland region in southern Scandinavia is an area that the Swedes have wanted since ancient times. Finally, King Rurik will lead all the people to start this historical conquest.

People who call themselves warriors need the glory of victory, and more people pay attention to the huge benefits that this war of annihilation will unfold next year.

Let’s talk about the benefits. Don’t you already start to enjoy the war dividends now?

In principle, when Liurik made a new announcement in October, the Shilla Fort area had entered a state of readiness for combat.

The king was willing to pay for the purchase of war materials. He did not name the specific needs of various materials, but revealed from various channels that the army had great needs for various materials.

The Kingdom Army will gather many servant tribes to participate in the war, and will select a large number of Jingrui from the country.

The people began to say that the king would gather all the heroes, and the army of 10,000 might be too far-fetched, and the number of the army must be at least 5,000.

Since the army swept Gotland that year, Lord Otto was still the Duke, and Rurik served as the actual commander. Since then, the logistics of the Ross army has been valued by the commander.

Every soldier does not even need to pay for the dry food, weapons, and protective gear. The ruler Rurik has always provided protection to the army, so that every army has won, and the food prepared before has not been consumed. The soldiers have not experienced poor logistics. They don't even have any ideas in this area. All their ideas are very simple-they are ordered to bravely kill the enemy and loot the spoils.

Ruler Rurik provided the army's logistics and transportation, so it is only natural that he would plunder the most trophies after winning.

Ordinary soldiers didn't have much thoughts. They plundered some scattered silver, grabbed some women as wives and concubines, and even robbed all kinds of daily necessities, all of which were acquiesced and acknowledged by the king. As long as the brothers don't move the bulk of the looted materials, the rest of the materials will be looted by the brothers by their ability, and the ownership of the spoils is still recognized by Lord Rurik.

So, what about those people in Shilla Fort in the king's conscription?

Three traditional long rowing boats floated towards Lake Ladoga carrying the letters of King Rurik.

A boat rushed to Vepsarava in the west of the Great Lake and told the local chief Telavis to send troops to the battle.

A boat rushed to the Ludi camp on the east of the Great Lake and told the old lady chieftain that she must also send soldiers to fight.

Only one boat endured the cold northern wind and headed towards Novgorod against the currents of the Volkhov River, and briefly explained to the local people two major issues: preparation for war and tax reduction or exemption.

In Shilla Fort, the Supreme King Otto guarded his grandchildren, still staying in the old palace, waiting for the final completion of the new palace.

In addition, the "New Winter Palace", the first building in the capital, with a top platform that can be described as five stories high, is bound to be completed in spring. It is habitable in principle, that is, the internal furnishings must be refined everywhere. It is a simple high tower attic, enough to cram the entire royal family. It is also a natural meeting place for political discussions, and it is more able to receive distinguished guests from afar.

It is located on the Neva River, and the king stands on the highest observation deck, with a bird's eye view of the entire capital.

It was an ordinary early winter morning. Most of the first snow still hadn't melted. The ground was dry and cold, but today's vision was not bad.

Rurik and Queen Svetlana allowed the carpenters to continue their work, and then climbed the wooden ladder layer by layer to the roof of the palace.

With a stern north wind whistling, Svetlana wrapped in thick leather shrank tightly.

The feeling of being on top of a tall building is not enjoyment, at least not now. The sun is slanting sharply, the golden light is shining on the earth, and the entire city walls of Fort Shilla have a panoramic view. In the west, a large number of ships are anchored at anchorages. Although all sails are unloaded for routine maintenance, the masts of capital ships are still flying the flag of Ross. The look swaying in the wind can be seen clearly.

"It's so high here! It's so cold..." Lanna seemed to say a lot of nonsense, she smiled while she squeezed her body, and looked nonsense.

"Standing on a high place, you have to endure this cold." Rurik stroked her shoulder, facing the sun with emotion.

"What are you...saying. I can't hear you."

"Oh, the wind here is indeed very loud. Lanna!" Rurik continued, "See? The entire capital is right in front of you! This is the highest point of Shilla Fort, and you are my queen. ! The noblest woman in the kingdom."

"Yes! I... never thought I would see this city in this way."

"Now you can see it. Let's go, you can see more exciting."

The viewing platform at the top of the palace has not yet been installed with wooden fences, and a lot of renovation is still needed here, so this place is currently very dangerous.

In Rurik’s impression, there are always some crazy people in the so-called Maozi who like to climb up and down. Even if a wrist is loose and it ends up to pieces, it is precisely this state of life and death that they regard as great. Enjoyment.

Svetlana's blood is too pure a Slav, will she have such crazy enjoyment? In other words, can she experience the trial of fear of heights?

Naturally, Rurik wanted to feel it himself.

They paced forward in both directions, and now one step is falling...

Rurik maintained the greatest concentration. He leaned his head and looked at the people walking below. As long as he stumbled, he would fall. At a height of about 30 meters, he would definitely die.

But Lanna looked hard for a while, and simply staggered back and sat down.

She was in a cold sweat, and her feet were more like stepping into a swamp.

Rurik's heart was beating wildly, and he escaped from the danger, sitting next to his frightened queen, looking at her wide-open eyes.

"Are you scared?"

"I...I'm afraid. It's too high. I almost died."

"You're scared. I'm scared too. Ah..." The huge body suddenly lay down, Lurik looked up at the blue sky. There is only the queen here, and he just wants to take the opportunity to confide in the first pillow. "Lanna, do you know?"

"Know what?" So, Svetlana wrapped her leather jacket tightly and lay down beside her husband.

"The past few months have been really dreamy for me. I became a king and I wore a crown."

"Isn't this a happy thing? I seem to hear your melancholy?"

"Wearing the crown, you have to bear its weight."

"Crown? Your golden crown is not heavy."

"But the weight of the kingship rests on my head, and my responsibility is very heavy. I just want to stand on the edge of the cliff like that. If I make the wrong decision, it's not just me but the whole Rose who will fall. We... stand. In a cold high place, as long as the king has the right to stand here, only the king has the right to taste the cold wind..."

Lanna grabbed her husband's arm more and more: "I don't understand. But you are the king, you are the best, you will do everything well."

"I will do everything naturally." Rurik cheered up. At this moment, he also knew that he could not be lazy.

He confided the king's pressure to his woman, and his words were too subtle and philosophical. Lanna really didn't understand, but she had a woman's way to appease her man.

Next year, the king of Rurik will go to drive himself, and then Queen Svetlana will also join the army in the war. The royal family has expressed its strong emphasis on the conquest of Jotaland. The most direct manifestation of this emphasis is that the entire Shilla Fort has entered a state of combat readiness and has become a huge arsenal.

In the city's state-owned iron factory, Kamnier is the general manager, and his craftsmen do their best to finish processing the cast iron blocks.

A large number of woodworkers were substantively hired by the king. They are no longer "stretch soldiers". A considerable number of people have been gathered together, holding parts and full strength to produce arrows.

As for the more highly skilled woodworkers, they are appointed to participate in the production of heavy equipment such as torsion slingshots, trolleys and torsion catapults.

All male groups in the city between the ages of fifteen and thirty have been focused on. The policy of army expansion has been implemented. Governor Konuzon has been ordered to recruit a team of four to five hundred people and fill them with veterans. In the second flag team.

Indeed, the members of the Second Banner team established ten years ago were originally the old guys of the Ross tribe era. It is okay for them to be ordered by the warrior culture itself to let older men continue to be fighters, but it is not a good thing for Ross. As long as conditions permit, the best soldier is still a man around the age of twenty.

However, some special personnel are in principle born from residents of Fort Shilla, but they are not within the conscripting scope of Governor Cornuson.

Most of these personnel are in Novgorod. Their parents donated a cavalry place to their son. The child became a noble cavalry. The so-called proud cavalry unit of the kingdom must participate in the war against Gotaland.

Those wealthy households who had property to donate cavalry to their sons were summoned by the king himself, and dozens of people gathered in the large parliamentary court of Rosduma next to the Old Winter Palace.

The brawny man, who thought he was tall, took firm steps, pacing in the parliamentary court to preach.

"I guess, you actually want your sons to be better, so you have to spend a lot of money to make them cavalry. Now I can proudly tell you that your sons are real warriors. Today I call you to tell you They have all become excellent cavalry. As my highly regarded elites, they must participate in next year’s expedition. The cavalry forces will sweep the Jotalans. The area we all dreamed of in the past will eventually belong to us, and your son will build a huge You will become a great warrior. There will be countless young women spontaneously clinging to your son. They are all eager to give birth to children for the hero. Your family bloodline will also be greatly expanded..."

Rurik said a lot, and he was dry.

With a golden crown, he blew rainbow farts wildly at the crowds of people who had thrown a lot of money, and they were moved to tears.

It is a fact that the cavalry has become the standing army appointed by the king.

All the cavalry warriors are the king's cronies. The father of the cavalry warriors is already very proud of this. Today the king praised it with all his words. Everyone was so happy that they could not find North.

Just seeing them smile, Rurik reveals his true colors.

"You still need better armor and better weapons. As their father, no one wants his son to die unexpectedly, right? They are glorious, but not invulnerable. I suggest that you better spend more money. , Buy brand-new steel swords, iron plated chain mail, and stronger leather helmets..."

Even if some people suddenly realized that the king wanted a group of wealthy households to pay for the heavy equipment. How is that? After all, these equipment are protective gear and weapons for his son. Of course, he must spend money to buy from the king.

Because war is an extremely money-consuming thing, if the value of the spoils is lower than the investment, the expansion of the war seems to be thankless.

He would use his treasury assets to launch this expedition. The strategic purpose of attacking the Jotaland area and conquering it is to face Denmark across the Danish Strait. From then on, it threatens the Kingdom of Denmark strongly, and can also deter or directly annex Norway. After conquering the Götaland region, the Kingdom of Rose will be able to obtain the strategic initiative of Scandinavia. Although the value of such strategic results far exceeds the huge amount of national money invested for this purpose, but if there is something that can save some money The place should be saved.

It would be great if this battle could be induced by the king himself to actively invest in the war for the people. They themselves or encouraged their sons to participate in the war and put a lot of assets into the war, all in order to obtain the spoils of victory and the glory of victory. . Viking families who have never received glory need a big victory to gain glory, and tribes who want to come to servants also need victory to prove that they are also excellent.

Rurik has only one goal. It is said that as long as the people who participate in the war are eager for victory, they will try their best to win. The war to conquer Jotaland cannot be a royal war. It must be a war of all people in the Rus Kingdom. This war must be united across the country. .

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