Chapter 1049： Information on Pskov, Polotsk, West Dvina

Just as the Rus tribe invaded Yinermen Lake in the early years and forced the locals to pay tribute every year by force, at least half a century ago, Danish explorers infiltrated the Pskov settlement at the southernmost tip of the huge Lake Chud. In the beginning, it was only a peaceful trade. With the development of the times, they mastered strong combat power and were good at fighting in groups, and gradually gained local power.

In other words, it was the local Slavic manor owners in Pskov who chose the people from Denmark. The Danes first settled here in the form of mercenaries and assumed the responsibility of the main military defense in the form of mobile units.

As a result, a small Danish immigrant community adjacent to Lake Chud gradually emerged. Almost all the males of the community acted as warriors. When they intermarryed with local women, most of the children born would also become warriors.

The strength of the Danish community has been quietly expanding, and it is only a matter of time before they become the rulers of Pskov.

With the mercenary leader of the Danish ethnicity as the boss, the Slavs smoothly handed over the power that they should have firmly grasped, and the process of power transfer was extremely peaceful.

In other words, when the Danish mercenaries took control of the local military, they were already the rulers here. Everything is slowly changing, and now, the Danes have elected the strongest among them, Gower Sigfarmsen, to be the "War Chief", the so-called Warchief.

In the area where the Reed River (Luga River) is close to the mouth of the sea, the five people in the boat and rowing were captured.

Rurik has never revealed his identity, so that the other party thinks that he is a high-ranking noble.

In the general concept, a powerful ruler has to be a man over thirty-five years old anyway. Too young is not good enough, too old is not good enough.

For example, he informed Pskov that the Great Chief Goyle was just forty years old, full of strength and wisdom.

The five captured people were treated well as envoys. They could continue to stay on the long ships of the Rus and continue to float, or they could choose to borrow Roman horses to follow the main force.

They prefer to ride horses, since boating is already tiresome, and riding a horse is a novel experience.

These guys have nothing to prove that they are envoys, not even letters carved on wooden boards. It is a bit far-fetched to convince Rurik and his soldiers with just one mouth.

Rurik could never fully trust them, but the description of Pskov by these guys is really rare information.

The man named Bum, who is not tall, has fair skin, pure blond hair and blue eyes, which proves that he is indeed of Nordic descent. Although it was the first time riding a horse, the reins were firmly controlled by another cavalryman, and after a short period of adaptation, he could ensure that he would not fall off.

Beside Rurik, the horse-riding Bohm tried to learn the real name of the tall and strong man.

"Me? Why should I tell you my noble name?"

"Arrogant? You do have the capital to be arrogant." Pom could only hold back his resentment. He smiled, almost lying on the horse's back for fear of falling off the horse. He added: "I can tell you some information about Pskov. After all, my boss hopes that other warriors who believe in Odin will know of his existence."

"You said it was called Goyle."

"It's Goyle, he has never lost a fight, and Zeng Yong stabbed a bear who came into the village to steal food. He is the most powerful warrior in our place. The brothers chose him as the boss, and the local Slavs must also Acknowledge his boss."

Ah! Isn't this the "competition" that has disappeared for a long time.

In the clan, through fighting, a ruthless man was played with strength and then he was the boss. In this way, Ross was eliminated as early as 30 years ago.

Either out of boredom from the trip, or out of the excitement of actually arriving at Ross, this pom gushed.

He has been talking about Pskov, and it seems that this guy is going to try his best to tell everything he has seen and known, just like joining Ross to live a good life.

He was trying his best to accept the local customs, and naturally he also introduced the local military and economic model from the side.

"Those local people are actually our slaves, but we didn't really enslave them. Brothers sent troops to protect them, they paid for food, and then brought beautiful women out to marry our cubs, it's fair..."

Rurik kept it in his mind, and after thinking about it, he suddenly asked some questions.

"Mrs. Psko is hiring you. Listen to you, your boss Goyle can organize a thousand Viking warriors?"

"Of course! If necessary, the locals can be organized to fight again."

"I understand, you can assemble an army of up to 3,000 people." Rurik asked with a face.

"Yes. How?" Bom smiled, and the smile became more arrogant. The whole person simply sat up straight, and looked arrogantly at the young strong man in front of him: "The army of three thousand people, we are very strong."

"It's really powerful, I think... the ruler of Ross will also recognize the power of your leader Goyle."

Rurik just saw through but not through, he believed that these guys could organize an army of 3,000 people. An army of this size can indeed frighten many small clans, but the Rus Kingdom can quickly mobilize 10,000 people to participate in the war, and at least 20,000 people can be mobilized in the future. If it is necessary to mobilize allied armies, the force will be stronger.

The crux of the subtlety of the problem is that a force that can organize an army of 3,000 people has settled in the southernmost part of Lake Chude and some rivers further south. Geographically, they are not far from Lake Yin'ermen. The army is so strong that the core army is still mainly Vikings of Danish ethnicity. This Bohm's mere claim that "we can do this" is puzzling.

"The First Minister of the Ming Dynasty"

Rurik couldn't help asking his soul: "What is it that forces you to assemble an army of three thousand? Who is your supposed enemy? in."

Boom didn't think about bluntly denying: "We just want to communicate with you, how can we be enemies with Ross? We are all Odin's warriors, and there is no reason to be unhappy. Besides, we just didn't communicate with you in the past, not Ignorance of your existence. We are neither deaf nor blind, and who now does not know that the rulers of Rus own most of the oceans (referring to the Baltic Sea), and even our homeland, Denmark, is allied with you. We also know that last year you were in the Franks and those who believed The pagans fought a battle, and the victory belonged to the warriors who believed in Odin. Ross is admirable."

"There's still such a thing?" Rurik couldn't help but put on a timid, wry smile on his face.

Really ashamed, a group of hidden Danish immigrants from Pskov all know about the major events in the Baltic Sea and Saxony. Why does Ross even have a powerful force hidden around him, only know its name but not its strength?

But Bohm didn't answer the question, and Rurik had to push again.

"Actually, we are on the lookout for the Polotsks. This is how the natives of Pskov describe them, the Pola () people who live by the river."

What are the Bora people? From the word Rurik you could tell that the guys were calling themselves "farmers," but it sounded almost the same as the word "white."

Rurik thought for a while, and he already fully understood that the word pointed directly to Polotsk, but it was different from his own perception: "Polotsk people? They also speak the Slavic language, right? You and them have a relationship. What hatred?"

"Crime?" Pom curled his lips: "At first, Mrs. Psko didn't like them, and now we warriors from Denmark don't like them either."

"There is no hatred for no reason. Why?"

"It's really strange. Only Odin's warriors have ever cut off the river and asked passing ships to pay the toll. Why are those Polotsk people? They dare to ask us for money?!"

"So what? Fight them?"

"They're too many to fight. Besides, the brothers are mainly doing business before they cross the big river over there, and then they encounter those hateful Polotsk people. The big deal is that we don't go in person, we go to Riga and take the After the fur and grain are sold, go away." As he spoke, there was still resentment on Pom's face.

This guy has a lot of information. Riga? big river? What is this all about?

However, Rurik knew about Riga, and it was not the first time he had heard the word, because Latvians, Livonians and Estonians had fled to Saaremaa, mostly because they fled in their hometown in fear of crime. Make a living as a pirate. Saaremaa Island is a place of exile for sinful people from various forces in this era. Now the island is firmly controlled by Ross, and Ross also knows some things on land from these people. For example, the trading city of Riga.

The various factions of the Pan-Baltic people always communicated with each other to do business, and the traveler from Denmark was a good medium of exchange.

The Baltic Sea is said to be small, but it is also huge when it is said to be large. A long ship sailing lonely on the vast sea can always hide its identity. What's more, the Baltic Sea is now under the control of the Rus Kingdom. In the past ten years, the shipbuilding industry led by the Kingdom has developed rapidly and unprecedentedly, and the number of ships in the entire sea area has finally increased.

All people of insight are aware of this remarkable change. The era of free navigation in the past has ended, but it has also opened up another new era of free navigation. It's just that the people of the new era must admit the strong rise of Ross, and the fact that Ross has integrated most of the northerners.

The Vikings who lived in Riga and even entered Pskov were all Danes. Due to the years of wars over the fishing grounds in the past, the Danes would not take the initiative to invade the Central Baltic Sea. Ocean-going Danish ships operate along the coastline of continental Europe in the South Baltic Sea, which is the most traditional route of the Hanseatic League.

The route connected Oberritdt, Pomerania, Prussia, Courland, Semigallia, Livonia, until Riga, the Latvian-owned trading city of the sea.

Riga and Latvia are the same word, the locals call themselves Latga, and it is Liga.

In the end, Rurik basically understood the situation, and thanks to the aggressive Boom, he spared no effort in gesturing with his hands to let the listeners know what he was talking about.

So Rurik, who was eager to find out valuable information, treated the five guys with delicious meals when the team was resting at night. They were served good meals, and even had some ale to satisfy their hunger.

Rurik even called a young male scribe under the command of his top scribe, Ella, and told him to keep his banknotes as far away as possible from the five.

The fog in the small world of the Baltic people in Eastern Europe finally began to dissipate. This world, which was very close to the Ross influence and indeed knew almost nothing, finally gradually revealed his face.

After communicating with the Latvians on the Riga side, as well as other forces, it was finally time to realize what had been imagined many years ago.

Similarly, the name of the big river has also been raised.

Locals call it the Daugava River, and its other name is "Dvina River in the West".

The West Dvina River Rurik is of course known, and its source is even in the vast Valdezze, north of Smolensk, between the new town of Lukiholm (Great Luki) in Rus. South. This marshland has been a must for the horse team for several years. Three large rivers pass through this place and become an important symbol of travel.

It was the presence of a group of forces near the upper reaches of the West Dvina (the Daugava) that annoyed Pskov locals and Danish immigrants alike.

The Polotsk people rely on the river to establish village alliances, cultivate farmland, raise cattle and sheep, and then fish in the river, everything is understandable. This area is their territory, and they also have their own village armed forces and elected chiefs.

Who knows whether the long boat that suddenly appears is an enemy or a friend, these are irrelevant, the key is that they think the river is their property, and it is merciful to confiscate the boat without force, so it is not normal to charge some tolls? They also expanded outward, looking for new pastures to open up new farmland, and even hunting further afield. Especially hunting behavior, directly encountering Mrs. Psko, friction and conflict are inevitable.

Because they are all Slavs, the Pskovs belong to the East Slavs, and the Polotsks are the Hislavs. Their languages ​​are not identical, and there are cultural differences. They are very clear about these situations.

The Danish immigrants in Pskov did not have direct waterways to the West Dvina River, either by taking a dry road and turning into the new waterway. Either go to Riga by taking the ready-made small waterway, and then turn into the West Dvina River.

No matter how you turn it, the end point of the southern inland waterway is actually Smolensk. After the ship passes through the swampy area, it can be evacuated after selling the supplies. Everyone knows that once you enter the Dnieper, you can go to the very far south, and things can be sold for big prices. But there are more powerful forces in the South, and trade risks are too great. At most, everyone sells things to Kyiv, and only a few adventurers dare to continue south.

The conversation by the campfire continued.

"Strange! It's strange. You have the ability to keep going south, why don't you try to go north? As long as it is peaceful trade, we in Ross are very welcome. In fact, as long as you enter the ocean from the northern exit of Lake Chude, you can meet us." What K said, but it sounded very strange to the five people.

"We are Danes after all, and we are afraid that we will be caught and killed by you when we go to the north." The talkative Bohm continued to repeat his words.

"Times have changed. Now that Denmark, Sweden, Rus, and all the northerners are all aligned, why should we kill you? That's a reason, though. You've been reluctant to go north for fear of unnecessary conflict."

"There is another big reason." Eric among the five said cautiously: "We only know that you have established a settlement in the bay, but no one knows its scale, let alone whether peaceful trade can be a happy transaction. If... it's just a small village, why should we go there?"

When he said so, the other brothers had already rolled their eyes. For a while, Eric also felt that his words were rough. He did not apologize, still holding his bearded head up, and boldly looked into Rurik's eyes: "Young man, we are at sea. It's been too long. We just want to do promising deals."

"I see. Rurik squeezed his beard and nodded: "I understand a lot now. It is a pleasure to meet you, rest assured, I will arrange for you to meet the ruler of Rus. Now, I can tell you the name of Lord Ross, his name is Otto. "

"Is it the noble Otto? It's respectable." Bom spoke first, and the others also praised.

Rurik's words are not nonsense. He still conceals his identity as the king of Ross, but his own father Otto is the "super king", and it is reasonable to call him a king.

"Otto is getting old, and soon his son will be the absolute king of Rus. The most important thing is that you still know very little about Rus. What you misunderstand as a small village is the largest city in Rus and the north The largest settlement in the world. She is called New Roseburg, which is our destination. Rest assured, what you have said is absolutely of great interest to King Rose, and I will arrange for you to meet him well."

The five of them looked at each other in a very happy mood. It was already the second night of their journey. The Ross Colts showed rare friendliness and hospitality. Of course, if they really fight, they will definitely reveal their brutal nature.

It seems that times have really changed, and Ross, Sweden and others have really changed their old policies, and even benefited the Danes who are far away.

They wanted to see the hustle and bustle of the biggest city in Rus, and the journey was coming to an end.

Because of the salty smell in the air, even if the salinity of the sea in the Gulf of Finland is very low, sensitive people can still perceive the salt in the morning mist.

The mouth of the Reed River is not far ahead, and then it takes only a whole day's work (intel from Carl's team) to go east along the coastline to reach the capital.