Chapter 1051： swagger

The Carl Brand team dignified their longboats to infiltrate the night capture team. They returned early in the morning and headed straight for the port and their home.

When the five families returned, they were asked by Rurik to keep silent. If anyone heard the news "Where have you been?", they said to go to the west to see if there was anything good.

Naturally, they did not arouse any suspicion when they mixed into the morning market. People bought freshly caught herring, cod and sea bass on their own, and then bought the hot oatmeal freshly baked in the bakery. The people who have settled in the capital have adapted to a new life, and civic groups are quietly forming, even if its population is small.

Nearly 10,000 people have long lived in the capital and nearby areas, small businessmen are entrenched here, and there are also many Finns who come to work here. The processing of leather and linen is the pillar industry of the capital, so almost all the sheds of the kingdom's huge reindeer herds are near the capital.

The economic industry of the old town of Roseburg was completely transformed into ore mining and metallurgy, and those families who were good at tanning leather spontaneously immigrated to Novosburg-on-Neva.

The leather industry of the Ross tribe has been famous in this sea area since ancient times, and now she is bigger and stronger. As the strife in the Baltic Sea was resolved by the Union Treaty, the economy that had been suppressed in the past erupted in the second year of the treaty's signing. Even merchants from the Danish island of Zealand, also rowed their longboats all the way eastwards into New Roseburg. People who arrived here for the first time were shocked by the size of the city, shocked by the complex and lively market, and even witnessed the public sentence and punishment of the patrol team for catching thieves.

Thieves should cut their fingers and drive away! If you steal more, you will be decapitated. The Danes have their own rules, and it is strange that the Rus only sentence thieves to work such as logging, digging stones, and digging clay, and they understand the crime of being a slave for a year.

Denmark and Sweden are not at all worried about being robbed on the Baltic Sea route. There are always larger armed ships flying the Ross flag cruising in the southern waters. Danish merchant ships from the southwest Baltic Sea, they wear white raven temperament (designed by Ragnar) to prove their identity, replenish and rest on Tombstone Road, and then go straight to the east capital of Rus.

After paying the parking fee, they can take their goods to the open-air market outside the city to set up stalls to sell goods. Salt, grain, and dried salted fish are the most readily available commodities for the Danes. They deliberately sold these low prices, causing the goods to be sold quickly, and then bought a variety of goods from New Roseburg, especially all kinds of leather.

While they were doing business, the ship was fully restored to the Governor's custody, and promised to pay intact if the ship was damaged. Therefore, when returning to the flight, it is natural to pay a higher storage fee. This is more than the "custody fee", which is the commercial tax. In order to control the cost of collection, the berthing fee and the vessel storage fee are the direct tax on foreign merchants.

However, Ross's claim on the surface does not levy commercial tax, and only charges related to the berthing of ships. How to collect the "custody fee" specifically, the collection standard is 1% of the total value of the goods at the time of entry, which is the tariff negotiated in the treaty. The tariffs are collected correctly, but the name is "custody fee", and the extremely low tax rate is very friendly to everyone.

It was a play on words, as if the Rus were not collecting taxes. Therefore, the more prosperous the business, the better the financial situation of the capital. It is obvious that collecting agricultural taxes and handicraft industry taxes from the local area is not as fast as collecting customs duties. What's more, the tax-free policy is fair, and Rurik is benevolent to transit, and all the subjects of the Rus Principality in the kingdom are exempt from tax for all kinds of business for three years.

The governor, Konusson and his son, paid the tax in proportion to the state money, leaving only the proper proportion to operate the governor's palace. There must be corruption here, but Rurik doesn't need a thunderbolt to fight corruption in this period of booming finances. Corruption is of course very abhorrent, just like psoriasis on the body, a small patch is only itching, if it is too much, it can be fatal.

A big problem is that the regime of Ross is not perfect, and a large number of government agencies are either small workshops or non-existent. There are still a lot of legacy of the tribal era in New Rose Fort. The expansion of Ross is as fast as history should happen, and Ross is facing a new era of history.

Rurik did not come here to reform the governor's institution, and it should not be done too quickly until all the scribes could become reliable professional bureaucrats on their own.

He plans to add some new institutions, the most important of which is the state-run large-scale printing house, and then the state-run media organization can be established across the ages.

He firmly believes that people have a strong need to obtain information from the outside world. With the power of the media, the royal family can control everyone's thoughts. To achieve this, the reality of the small workshops in the printing department must be changed. The state-run printing house will be established this year, and there will be some major appointments and personnel adjustments for this.

So, after deliberately dormant for a night, the cavalry hiding in the woodland blew the horn.

Some people who entered the forest early in the morning to look for Mushroom Gu suddenly heard the melodious sound of the horn and were subconsciously shocked. Soon they saw the cavalry team walking out of the forest in a neat line.

Behold! Isn't the blond man wearing the golden laurel crown the king? !

The lance was hung upright on the saddle, and blue and white streamers fluttered. They carried the Ross flag and all dressed the same.

The cavalry remained in column formation, and Rurik ordered the warriors with the horns to keep blowing, so that all early risers were aware of their presence.

When he was really watched by passers-by, he did not interact with these subjects. Rurik held his chin high, showing majesty and arrogance, and now the whole army rushed to the cemetery.

"Let's go! Young warriors, walk past the tombs of the dead warriors, and let their heroic spirits see your style."

Rurik commanded loudly, which immediately caused the spirits of the warriors to shake.

Every day there is birth, and every day there is death.

The tribes of the Viking world have their own opinions about the dead, whether it is cremation, burial or sea burial. In the Danish world, it is an accepted funeral ritual to place the deceased on a boat, cover it with firewood and set it on fire, and then push the boat into the sea and allow it to burn and sink. But in the traditional Swedish world, burials are a bit more.

After all, Ross built a huge cemetery called "Valhalla on Earth", which is a large marked area in the south of the city, where anyone can dig a pit to bury the dead, regardless of race or whether the deceased is a warrior. These are all within the jurisdiction of the Governor's Palace. Since the total population of the city is not extremely large, the rough management model can also be managed.

Some elderly people died suddenly, and today there is a small burial ceremony as in the past.

The Governor's Office is responsible for approving a cemetery for the family of the deceased, the priest sends someone to preside over the funeral, and it is reasonable for the family of the deceased to pay a small fee.

Those who presided over the ceremony were all the lower priests under the high priest's command. These people were all women. Many people did this business because of the misfortune of life. In this way, they cannot remarry, nor inherit the property of their deceased husband, and spend the rest of their lives in the holy priesthood.

The cavalry swaggered through the goal, and their appearance stunned the crowd at today's giant funeral.

The lower priest was surprised that the king seemed to have cast some kind of magic and suddenly appeared, because everyone in the capital knew that the king was still in Novgorod. The king did plan to return to the capital, but he planned to return by boat from the upper Neva River, not on horseback.

The cavalry assembled in front of the funeral crowd, and Rurik glanced at it. The deceased was just an ordinary person. If the soldier himself was willing to dismount and pay his respects in person. Because this is his designated sacred cemetery, members of the royal family are obliged to leave luggage to the deceased warriors, and only to the deceased warriors.

Rurik asked the priest: "Don't be nervous, is the arrival of this king very magical? Where is the high priest?"

One of the leading priests was so nervous that he stepped back three steps in a row, and stammered back: "The High Priest... at the Great Temple. Everything is fine. All right..."

"Very good. Don't be surprised if you continue your ritual." After that, Rurik thought about it. After all, I passed by the funeral scene. The deceased did not seem to be from old Ross, so I should give some "members" appropriately.

A silver coin is his money, which is really polite and affectionate. When the cavalry team left, what they could hear was the constant thanks from the family members of the deceased.

In the eyes of many warriors, the king's move was too performance art, but in Rurik's view it was a cultural heritage.

The queen rode on a horse, with Prince Osborn straddled in front of her. Svetlana at least approached Rurik and listened to the king's teachings to the prince.

"Osborn, you remember. Anyone who is honored in this cemetery is to be solemn, and if you can, try to give a little gift to those who are being buried. It's camaraderie."

The prince listened ignorantly, the boy didn't ask much, just nodded.

The cavalry team successfully passed through the tomb area in the south of the city, and what appeared in front of them was a tall wooden city wall with a cement and stone base. Due to the consideration of construction cost, it is costly to completely stone the city wall, and the wooden city wall will take many years to slowly transform into a stone wall. At least the southern gate of the city is now completely petrified.

Outside the city walls belongs to Guocheng, where there are many shanty towns, and the settlers who arrive later can only build their own settlements outside the main city. Compared with the inner city, although the overall sense of Guocheng is not a slum, this scene immediately reminds people of the condition of the old settlement in the old town of Roseburg. In the past, the ordinary families of the Ross tribe were highly concentrated on the limited land in the fjord, and the longhouses were arranged in random order without any rules.

At least the main road of the outer city is an extension of the inner city. On both sides of the main road, there are not only very serious double-storey buildings, but some new buildings are being built with masonry bases. The visible future is that the outer city will also be turned inward. The city is on par.

The population is only 10,000, which can be said to be dense or too small. The inherent inner city can only satisfy the early settlers, and the latecomers can only expand their living space outside the city, and the city also expands like a pie.

A small family has its own main house, a small courtyard, aqua toilets, and even a handicraft workshop. The more skilled a family is in leather processing, the more flamboyant it is to build their own workshop.

Tanning leather with traditional craftsmanship does not need to mention the stench from animal skins. The mirabilite water used for tanning leather also has an odor. If there is a lack of mirabilite, plant ash can also be used, but the latter is not effective and the smell is more unpleasant.

They work on tanning in the pungent stench, all kinds of leather are processed in big cities, and the air has always been filled with the stench of Dandan, and thanks to the habit of it since ancient times, no one complains about it.

Especially for foreign merchants, the stench from the tanning process is simply an aroma. If there is no such smell, they are worried that they will come here in vain.

There are three major exits in the east, west and south of New Roseburg. The east and west exits are the extension of Nevsky Prospekt, each of which forms two outer city markets along the road outside the city. The road extending from the gate to the south of the city is not wide, and the market derived from here is not large.

Even so, the five people from Pskov who arrived in the capital of Rus for the first time were trembling with surprise at what they saw.

They saw that this was a city with extremely prosperous commerce, and their ears were full of the roar of people shouting, and the air was filled with the smell of obvious tanned leather and the lingering smell of salted fish.

The people who came and went couldn't ignore the appearance of the cavalry, they saw the proud king and the cavalry showing off their might.

I just heard soldiers shouting loudly: "The king is here! Greetings to the king!"

Rurik did not require his subjects to kneel on their knees. Ordinary people stood on both sides of the road and took off their hats and cheered. Only soldiers should kneel on one knee and salute. The so-called kneeling and salute is indeed the privilege of the kingdom warriors.

Today's weather is good and weather matters, the five-person team from Pskov stared wide-eyed as the horse team finally entered the inner city.

They saw the gorgeous costumes of the guards guarding the city gate, and the respectful appearance of the guards when they saw the king.

Brightly dressed but domineering cavalry lined up in neat columns on the slightly narrow southern road, the guards saluted the king, and Rurik gave direct orders.

The captain of the guard in charge of the security of the South Gate gave the order: "Go and inform the governor of the return of this king. Ah! This king is going to take a tour in the capital, and inform the governor to wait in Harvest Square."

The captain of the guard had to rush to do things in person, and a puff of smoke had to report to the low-rise Governor's Palace, which was located next to the huge attic of the royal palace.

The Governor's Palace, where Konusson and his son worked, was the earliest palace in Rurik, and it was actually a large longhouse.

Rurik had his own unique obsession with the royal palace. It was the Tianshou Pavilion-style building that he really admired the Japanese. The ruling center was located on a tall attic, and the whole city belonged to it. The feeling of surging heart surges spontaneously. Of course, in reality, in the Neva River Valley and surrounding areas, where there are no mountains or even hills, tall attics are actually important landmarks that can be overlooked by passing ships, and can function as a beacon to a certain extent.

The cavalry continued to sound the horn, and the costumed team paraded on the gravel road under the city wall.

The news of the king's return does not need to be deliberately spread. Who can have such a pomp? As long as you see the huge cavalry team, you will know that there is a big man coming. Then look at the leader of the team with a golden crown on his head and his golden ponytail flowing in the wind. Who dares to overstep? Only the king has this image.

Rurik personally led the team, and let the people on both sides of the lane cheer with his chin high. The bay windows of the second- and third-story buildings were also opened, and people stuck their heads out from time to time and shouted in greeting. The settlers were almost all Vikings, but the shouting was a Viking battle cry, and the more they yelled at Rurik, the happier they were.

Look, a bunch of young kids are jumping and jumping in front of the cavalry, giggling and running and stopping.

Some young girls also went out because they had just heard that there were many young lads among the cavalry who had suddenly entered the city. It is obvious that those boys must have just come of age, and it is not a bad thing that the childishness on their faces has not disappeared, which must mean that most of these boys are not married yet.

Now who doesn't know that the cavalry made great contributions in last year's war? People are all looking for profit. When the people realize that the cavalry is the most valued arm of the king and the group that is most likely to make great achievements in land warfare, it is a good choice to marry their daughter to a cavalry soldier. What's more, his daughter is also a Viking who speaks the Norse language. Even if Ancestral Hope is not from Old Ross, it is a noble existence. The wise man took the opportunity to applaud the king, and also took his daughter to observe the new cavalry boys, looking for a good son-in-law.

Rurik can of course estimate how these guys feel. Before he set off, he promised his subordinates that after everyone arrived in the capital on horseback, they would solve their marriage problems for many people. This was not an inspiration. UU Reading

This is an opportunity to find a son-in-law. The old Rus family wants to find a son-in-law for their daughter, and the guest merchant family hopes to bring out a beautiful daughter to complete the marriage with the cavalry, and get a higher status in Rus society.

The cavalry team walked around the many lanes of the inner city with an "8" character, and finally entered the bustling Harvest Square, which acts as a grand market.

The news has spread all over the sky, and people who lack fun are pouring into the inner city, so the Harvest Square is overcrowded.

The cavalry assembled here, and they faced the attic palace of the royal family, as well as the sturdy Governor's Palace, the great temple with colorful glass exterior walls, and the Rosduma parliamentary court.

Behind these large buildings is the wide Neva River and the Rabbit Island on the opposite bank.

The high priest brought a group of people into costumes, and the governor Conusson and his son came to pick them up in shock.

Everything came too suddenly. It is undeniable that because of this parade in costume, the sudden arrival of the king has become a fact. As for how the king arrived, there are enough people who are too busy to talk about it.