Chapter 1028： 1 group of slaves from Smolensk

, The Rise of Rurik

The three agreed that the mixed cavalry would wait for the return of the Rus army in Novgorod.

They wouldn't go away empty-handed, and Carlotta was sure her men would pay for the unsalable slaves.

There are also more than 200 captured Smolensk villagers in the city of Novostara. These people have survived the winter and have also lost the faith to escape.

Anyone who tried to escape was hanged, and those who were alive had to fight by hunger strike.

The weak will be swept out and buried, and the surviving will be disheartened, waiting for an unknown fate with a succulent meal.

There are men and women among these people, and there are reasons why they were left.

Those farm owners who buy working slaves naturally give priority to buying able-bodied people, check their teeth to judge their age, and observe their reminders to judge whether they are strong or not. Those who were weaker and older, and those with a rebellious look in their eyes were excluded. What a farm needs is an obedient plowing slave.

A similar principle applies to captured women, and all young and attractive women are taken away. Unlike male slaves, their situation is much better.

Some men in the local Slavic farms have no mental cleanliness, even if they don't like the Smolensk people, if they can get and marry the women there, it's okay. Their status in their hometown also determines that they can't afford a large betrothal gift to a woman who is married to another farm in Ming media, but it is not a problem to accumulate 1,000 pounds of oatmeal. Good slaves, some poor looking ones can still be discounted.

Even if you are not picky, since the slave capture operation will continue in the foreseeable future, there will definitely be more beautiful women sent to Yin'ermen Lake. Those poor widowers have a reason to keep saving money. They don't care that their wives are dismissed from the same village because of their low status, and they don't have the heart to worry that their children will also be teased by the same village urchins because of their ancestry. Are they men, or are they more concerned about the beauty of the woman they choose.

Kagan and his steppe ruthless people hunted slaves and captured people indiscriminately, and some "crooked melons and cracked dates" were also taken to the north. In the end, they could only consume the food of the Principality of Ostara.

Carlotta pondered, if the more than 200 slaves could no longer be sold, then she would keep it for herself, or sell it at a discount.

If possible, try to find a big buyer to solve this hot potato as a package. The reason why she didn't want to keep it for her own use was because these slaves were all from the same village, and more than 200 people were already a big force. She used her own knowledge to say that men and women of any tribe could become militiamen if they were organized. , the placement of more than 200 slaves in Ostara, which has a small population itself, is a major security risk.

This is the world where the strong eat the weak. The old Ostara was slaughtered and enslaved because of its weak strength. Now, Ostara has been re-established by the rise of Ross's tailwind, and their strength has steadily improved. They also began to enslave others. Carlota didn't think there was any problem with this, especially since the Smolensk people also took in Vadim, the big rebel who betrayed Ross. They were the enemy, and it was more natural for her to capture the enemy as a slave.

Early in the morning, many iron pots boiled the fragrant wheat. The aroma drifted to the wooden cages, making the slaves inside salivate.

The aroma permeated the entire city of Ostara, as if this was an ordinary spring morning.

The spring ploughing work in the area around the lake is still proceeding in an orderly manner. Due to the focus on animal husbandry, there is no need to expand the arable land in Ostara. The local people are focusing on the breeding of livestock at the current time.

People are busy pulling manic rams into pens full of ewes, and a sturdy ram can make himself mentally exhausted in this warm spring April. Unable to control itself, it succumbed to the madness of natural selection to impregnate all the ewes it saw. Therefore, the "April Ram" is used to describe a man who is promiscuous. Of course, Rurik also has such a strange nickname. In a special context, he actually praises the king as a rare real man in the world, which makes other men jealous.

Goats, sheep, cattle and horses all enter the breeding season in April. Although the reindeer are the other way around, they enter their peak calving period in April.

The dormant poultry in winter are also active. Although there are not many chickens in Ostara, the Duchess's family can guarantee that there will be eggs.

But selling slaves, Carlotta made a lot of food. Kagan is in charge of the catch, Carlota is in charge of the sale, and the wealth is divided equally between the two parties afterwards.

The account can only be shared by selling the slaves. Now the more than 200 people on hand have been consuming Carlota's assets for daily meals. Kagan had already given up the sales share of these slaves, and perfectly got rid of a hot potato.

They are now Carlotta's assets, and she firmly believes that only the rich and powerful Rurik can buy these crooked melons and dates. In order to avoid unforeseen complications during the final transfer, the slaves must maintain a good physical strength.

Armed warriors beat the cages with wooden sticks, and the slaves who were either coveted by the aroma or apathetic were quickened.

The so-called warriors are people who left the nearby farms, their production relations were separated from the old farms, they joined Ostara, and Carlota was their heroine. It was at the time of employment that these peasants stood up one by one, dressed up as Varyags, and did what Varyags would do.

"Hey! A group of animals, get up and eat grass!" Yes, they treat slaves as cattle and sheep.

The vigilant eyes in the cage looked left and right. The slaves were shocked. There were a large number of armed men in front of them, and a large number of horseshoes were heard in their ears. They saw a group of extremely gorgeously dressed cavalry in front of them.

And, that vicious woman.

The slaves called Carlotta a "dangerous thing" and a "mother bear", and used all their knowledge to call her the most vicious terms. After all, Carlotta executed the disobedient in front of the slaves in order to shock and punish them.

After that, all slaves were maliciously starved, just to ensure that they did not have the physical strength to resist.

Obviously today's situation is really unusual.

The bronze lock was opened, and the armed soldiers continued to break into the wooden cage with wooden sticks. They shouted in the Slavic language: "Get out! Don't linger." The sticks they held were also beating constantly, like a shepherd driving a flock.

Slaves with chains on their feet and bare feet in ragged clothes were driven to the various iron pots. The sturdy woman with the big wooden ladle poured the full amount of boiled oatmeal into the huge wooden trough, and the slaves' eyes straightened when they saw the fragrant wheat.

No one dared to rush to enjoy it, for fear of being executed.

Carlotta, who is now riding a horse, is at the scene. He is arrogant and proud of Fisk, who is also riding a horse: "What do you think? These Smolensk slaves are trained like a flock of sheep by me."

"It's an eye-opener, I didn't expect you to have this ability." Fisk really couldn't say anything. He felt awkward and felt that Carlotta had become unfamiliar.

As if listening to the compliment, Carlotta raised her noble chin and shouted in Slavic: "Slaves! All this wheat is for you! Eat it as much as you can! After eating, I will take you to a In a new place, your new master may treat you well."

Are you going to leave this **** place? Slaves who lost their courage paid more attention to the problem of eating. Suffering from half-starvation, they rushed to the wooden troughs, grabbed a large amount of oatmeal with their hands as a spoon, and stuffed them into their mouths. Every wooden slot was scrambling, and the Pecheneg cavalry laughed when they saw it, and the Ross standing cavalry who returned from the expedition were busy watching the spectacle.

Although Carlotta was the mastermind, she didn't have the heart to laugh or watch the show, and explained to the surprised Fisk: "After they finish eating, they will be escorted to carriages. The shackles of slaves will not be loosened, even if So I'm still worried that they will run away. So, you have to help me look after them."

"Really?" Fisk shrugged.

"It's good to be cautious. They tried to escape."

"All right."

Many slaves had finished eating the wheat, and some ruthless people had eaten their stomachs hard. After they regained some energy, they were chained to the flatbed wagons. A rigid cart can **** ten people, twenty-one carriages can take away all the unsalable slaves, and escorted by a total of more than 500 cavalry of various colors to the north along the east coast of the Great Lake.

The cavalry continued to show off their power, and the Smolensk slaves on the carriage deliberately made the local villagers watch and judge.

The cavalry was stationed in the barracks just outside Novgorod, and many slaves were locked in empty barns.

Carlotta had no intention to use the labor of these people, nor did she have the intention to try to arrange it. It was enough to be locked in a shed like an animal, but she brought her son Karl to meet the Supreme King Otto and the Queen Mother Nia.

The cavalry who returned first told Old Otto something that made him sigh, that his first grandson, Regraf, who had been well-fed by him, left Ross almost forever.

The fate of that child is on a distant island, and after all, his mother's Twilight will also migrate from the shore of Yinermen Lake to the distant Britain.

Otto didn't know the strength of the Principality of Saxony. Fisk himself couldn't tell. He only reported that the great King Rurik had been engaged to Regraf, and his fiancee was the princess of the Principality of Saxony.

The most important thing Otto lacked now was his grandchildren. All the girls who had been selected by him became mothers, which must have been the grace of Freya and the blessing of Odin. The remaining grandchildren of all the girls were male.

Suddenly, a large number of princes emerged from the Rus royal family, of which Prince Osborneslav was the most honorable. The little guy has grown up now, just as delicate as Rurik was when he was a child, and also has the harmonious facial features of Queen Svetlana.

Empress Dowager Niya dotes on this grandson who will inherit the power, while Old Otto, based on his own creed, hopes that his heir will become a ruthless person ahead of time. He could not forget the great willpower shown by Rurik when he was young, and he clearly stated his ambition when he first learned to speak. It was a miracle, a great proof of Otto's blessing.

However, Osborn, like an ordinary boy, did not show precociousness.

When Carlotta brought Carl back, the four-year-old boy had the appearance of Rurik between his brows. The boy had pure gold hair and a taller stature.

As a duchess, Carlota needs to become more ruthless in order to rule, and also cultivates her son's fortitude and determination, and even fierceness.

Such a brat, Otto, looked the most comfortable. As long as he looked through Carl's eyes, he felt that this kid was indeed his grandson.

Otto, who had age spots on his face, didn't want others to see his aging. He sat upright in the spacious house. Fisk saluted him half-kneeling, and Carlota and Kagan saluted him as big nobles.

Carlotta even pressed her son's restless head with one hand, forcing him to kneel on his knees to see his grandfather.

"You came very quickly, and some of the attendants told me that you also brought a lot of slaves? Does it matter?" Old Otto was too lazy to be polite, and his voice was hoarse and concise.

"Exactly. Father, that's my... gift to my brother." Carlotta said sweet words with a calm attitude.

"Your brother Rurik is about to arrive. It will take some time for them to sail against the current. I estimate that they will arrive in three days at most. Isn't it a great loss for you to give him a slave? Or, you want to be a good sister."

"No loss, Rurik will pay for it."

"Okay, that's your sister and brother's business." Otto's eyes were still sharp, and he could see the rebelliousness of the boy who was kneeling on his knees.

"Karl. You've grown up..."

"Yes! Grandpa! I'm already a warrior, so at least I have to get down on one knee."

The little boy was just the right age to be good at being pompous, and his babbling kept attracting old Otto's interest. He waved his hand gently: "Boy, come to me soon."

Carlotta let go of his hand, and saw that the boy rushed to Grandpa's side like a sword, but he was pushed down by an arm, but Carl fell. The boy did not cry, but stood up swiftly, pouting his lips inexplicably.

Such a move also surprised Otto, who could not help but praise in a hoarse voice: "Carlotta, you have educated your son very well. Karl will be a good warrior."

Carlotta, who had just been taken aback, realized that this was a boring trial for the old man, and it was a good thing for the old man to be happy.

"But he's only four years old," she said.

"He'll grow up soon enough to be a real warrior when he's twelve. If... your biological father would be happy in Valhalla when he saw you had such a son. But don't worry, it won't be long before. I'll go there and tell him about it..."

"Father...you." Carlotta listened to the drums in her heart.

After all, Otto is almost seventy years old, even if his body is not as good as the day, if he continues to hide in a warm house like this, he might not be able to live until he is seventy years old.

He no longer expects to live too long, and being the supreme king has essentially become a mascot of shock and deterrence, just to make it clear to all the nobles that there is still a venerable guard in the rear after the Wang Shi expedition. .

"Kagan." Otto hurriedly changed the subject, "I know that you are going back this year to inherit the khan throne. Since then, have you...really rarely come to the north?"

The short Kagan slowly raised his round head, and he first called Otto "father" in the still lame Norse, then added the suffix of Khan.

"That's why I can't move between the South and the North for a long time. I'm Prince Pecheneg, and if I don't inherit the status before my biological father's soul returns to the sky, there must be someone who wants to dominate the power and calls himself a Khan, a civil war said. It might happen. To avoid that, I...have to leave."

"Ah, that's your destiny. You have to talk to your Rurik brothers about it. It's up to you in the future, and I want your blessings."

"Thank you, Father Khan." That's all, Kagan covered his heart with his right hand again, kneeling and bowing his head deeply.

Kagan behaved very well in the territory of Rus. He led his cronies to **** Smolensk, and even if he held arrogant soldiers in the Novgorod region, he did not commit any crimes. The Pecheneg cavalry, in the form of armed merchants, maintained a fully opened north-south trade line with the Krivic armed merchants in Kyiv. They are simply doing business, and even the Pecheneg people have been staying at the southernmost tip of Yinermen Lake for a long time, and they do not go to the settlement area in the northern part of the lake unless necessary.

The people do not reject this group of outsiders who do not destroy the fields, step on the seedlings, or steal, and expect them to continue to deliver the best slaves.

Kagan, like his subordinates, was stationed in the camp outside the city. Based on the principle of coming, he brought his own entanglement and bought goods in the prosperous Novgorod city.

They just waited here, and they didn't wait long.

Free-range children on the northern river were the first to see the sudden appearance of a large number of masts and the flying Ross flag on the Volkhov River.

A large number of dragon-headed longships are going retrograde, with countless blades undulating regularly, and their sails are tied up. The warriors are still advancing at a relatively fast speed with pure human power, but no one can stop.

Novgorod, where there are a lot of families, queens and princes, old kings and queens, countless cronies, and their own great ambitions.

Rurik simply won the prize with the honor of the king, and took the lead in the career of paddling with the attitude of an old Rus.

Riding a long boat on a long boat is an immutable ancestral method, and his arms always start to sore, but he is still struggling.

Because fields appeared on both sides of the desert that should have been deserted, as well as a few people watching the theater and calves leisurely grazing on the grass.

"Finally home!" King Rurik shouted, and then ordered: "Paddle fast! Unite with the family!"

The last words were contagious. The warriors proved to Odin and the gods that they were real men. After all, the loot they grabbed was to improve their lives. They had to prove it to their wives, children, and parents. What a man.

Rurik's flagship accelerated under his personal control, each wing ship stared at the flagship, and the entire fleet, which had turned into a serpent formation, began to accelerate.

Finally, the people of all Novgorod City heard the distant sound of horns resembling roaring from the north, accompanied by the sound of drums. A large number of people gathered at the pier to welcome the triumphant army.

Old Otto put on the gilded helmet again, and unlike the cavalry he had received before, he shouted at the squire: "Bring my gilded armor! I will meet my son in a shirt!"

The attendant did not dare to disobey, but Otto was really old He was quite heavy in armor and stomach, and he finally reached the shore with the support of the attendant. He seemed to be able to stand up by himself, but in fact, there were always two strong attendants pulling his belt on both sides and pulling the whole person up.

In the eyes of the people, the reclusive old king is still a brave man, even with his gray beard there, he has lost the majesty of thirty years ago.

His golden armor is really dazzling in the sun. Queen Lanna is holding Prince Osborn, and behind her are a group of wives and concubines in the harem holding their children. Even the top scribe Ella came with her son in her arms.

It is undeniable that Otto's clothes are the most eye-catching. The expedition soldiers who are constantly approaching the city can see the man cast in gold at the dock from a distance. Who is he? Who has such a domineering armor? !

That is Otto, the old leader of Ross. He is so tough at his age. After all, he is also the one who was given a mission by Odin!

Otto became a beacon-like existence because of his golden armor. Rurik saw the old man from a distance and could not help but sigh: "The real ruthless man is still you."

Forget it, there was another roar: "Brothers, hurry up! Let the people from my hometown see our style."