Chapter 1083： Nassau and Baden-Baden Spa

It is a good thing that the Baron has returned safely, but what happened to those strange ships and strange people?

The entire lower part of the Lan River basin belongs to the Nassau Baron. Legally, the Nassau family owns a large area, but the vast land is in stark inverse proportion to the local sparse population. The territory is indeed very large, and there are only three really effective settlements: Lan Village (lahnstain), Spring Fort (badenems) and Nassau Village.

Lancun is just a small fishing village located in the main channel where the Lanhe River flows into the Laiyin River. Quan Fort is located in the interior of the Lan River. It is a small settlement by the river. The hills behind it have the remains of a Roman-era fortress. It has been discovered hot springs, but the settlement's greatest feature is its existence as a small quarry.

Ultimately, the largest settlement was in the village of Nassau a little upstream. The Lan River has become very soothing here. The river turns a big bend in the hills and rushes out a fertile watery valley plain. The unique geographical conditions make it very suitable for agricultural development.

In Lan Village, simple fishermen welcome back their baron and become the first locals to learn of the real existence of the Rus.

These people lived in quite a closed life, and without the request of the baron, they would not take the risk to leave their place of residence. There are bears, wolves and wild boars in the forest. These ferocious beasts will attack ordinary people who are alone. It is always the hunter who should beware. Hunting must be done in pairs. As for boating out of settlements, you must be careful. You may be unfairly treated if you accidentally enter other noble territories and are found to be strangers.

unless it's a priest. Only priests can move freely.

Blue Fox and his men released Ludwig in Lancun, and he was able to stay for a while to "appreciate" the village.

Ludwig and his entourage left on foot along the river with the only remaining softness. Nassau knew that he did not need to give any favors, but he was still worried that the lord of the Eastern Kingdom would be attacked by wild animals on the way.

Lanhu persuaded him to feel at ease: "If a bear or wolf kills him, it is his fate. Besides, this man kills people on the battlefield without blinking an eye, maybe a wild beast suddenly rushes over, and he can also draw his sword and kill it decisively. ."

Henry Nassau was not persuaded by this explanation and had no time to think about it.

On the same day, people suffering from the exhaustion of boats and vehicles went ashore collectively.

The sporadic people stationed in Lancun welcomed their fellow villagers from their expedition to the north. The Nassau village soldiers who survived the disaster did not want to go to war. If it wasn't for the Lord Baron who was also instructed to do so, they would also repeat the peaceful life of the past.

Ordinary people, because of their humble status, dare not ask the baron one or two in person. After all, there are rumors that the baron may die in battle, so the eldest son of the baron will naturally inherit the title.

Now, a big living man in Henry Nassau is standing here. Some of the soldiers who went on the expedition have died, and the rest are enough to tell the fellow villagers what happened in the north.

When the real reality is described by these returnees, the people of Lancun feel that the whole world has become bizarre and magical.

Because everyone knows that the entire Nassau Baron is allegiance to the Frankish royal family, because the Earl of Ingol is allegiance to the Eastern Kingdom, and Nassau also deferred allegiance to it. Now everything has changed, the Baron of Nassau has been upgraded, and even the domain name has changed. What does Earl of the Netherlands mean? In this war, the Baron of Nassau got the spoils of a large piece of land at the mouth of the Laine River. The new Netherland county is the suture of Friesland, Utrecht and Nassau, and even the hometown of Nassau has become a an enclave.

But how do ordinary people know the nouns and customs of faraway places. Lord Baron has a new identity, will his life be better?

It is certain that the other side of the war, the rebellious Saxons and their heretical barbarians from the north, won the war, and now the barbarians are here.

Are they really barbarians? The returning warriors can't change their past titles in a short period of time. The so-called non-converters are all "barbarians". Even if the other party is very powerful, there is always some contempt in their hearts.

The villagers consciously distanced themselves from the foreign troops who landed, and learned that these people were anxious to settle in Nassau legally because they had made an agreement with the adults. They are just ordinary people who cannot influence the nobles' decisions, and can only pray that the comers are not despicable strangers.

At the end of the long journey, Lancun was filled with the smell of boiled wheat.

The blue fox brought the "high-tech" of the north, that is, a big iron pot. This is the marching pot of the Rus army, he only brought one, and the rest of the cooking utensils are all pottery urns.

The captured loot and rations, the Saxon food tributes requested, and even the food tributes obtained from Britain, some of these materials were in the hands of the Blue Fox squadron. His essence is a calculating businessman, and now he has an army in hand, and he has to calculate the food and drink costs of these people.

The food he had on hand was enough to support the army for a period of time after arriving in Nassau. After the food ran out, he had to find a way to get supplies.

Obtaining supplies from the Baron of Nassau seemed like a reasonable choice, but the army of 500 people faced only a mere 2,000 Nassau people, and the locals were simply unable to support them.

Therefore, when the blue fox came to the idea of ​​looting Koblenz, it was not abrupt. It seemed to be a fat sheep with a pestle at the door of the house, waiting for the food supply to run low.

At present, the food is still relatively abundant, and considering the long-term stability, Blue Fox intends to show his kindness to all ordinary people in Nassau.

The bonfire crackled, and the blue fox holding a batch of silver coins immediately bought out today's catch from the fishermen in Lancun. The villagers provided the most local European perch. Blue Fox mercilessly showed his lavish spending, one perch and one silver coin. Of course, he wanted to enjoy it with his cronies. The fisherman’s hands trembled in shock.

Because some fishermen have debts to the nobles, and today they just sold a few fish. In disguise, the foreign Russ helped them settle their debts.

Let those who have impure beliefs go to hell! Outsiders are rich and willing to help the poor solve their economic problems, they are good people. Besides, the foreign leader of the Rus, as long as he is not blind, can see the sterling silver cross hanging on his chest. This... is actually a friend.

From now on, I will give a little favor. Henry Nassau does not understand the behavior of the blue fox. He simply thinks that this guy does whatever he wants because of his wealth.

Henry Nassau casually got together with the blue fox to roast the fire, while waiting for the roasted fish to mature.

European perch spines are good. After scraping the scales, treat the spiny crest and tail and skewer them before grilling.

The fish is grilled and blackened on both sides, sprinkled with some salt and ready to eat.

Henry Nassau was holding the grilled fish in both hands. He was so excited that he couldn't help but sigh: "One fish, one silver coin, you are really generous."

"It doesn't matter." Blue Fox replied casually.

"Okay. I'll wait for the porridge you cooked. Ah... It's really a good night's stay. I'm very relieved that you kept your restraint and didn't disturb my village." After Liao, Henry started to eat.

The blue fox looked at this guy again, smiled and ate the fish on his own.

Lanhu has never been a good person. He has to calculate whether anything is profitable or not. Unsurprisingly, he has learned some tricks from Rurik, such as showing mercy to the poor and accepting it as a dog. .

Therefore, there are many such "loyal dogs" under his command. Except for a very small number of real Vikings from Rus and Sweden, there were a group of Viking Saxons who could not get along in Denmark, and even a group of Saxons who converted to God.

There is also a fairly reliable Slav entourage, Vadi from Oberritt.

As the Earl of Gothenburg of Ross, the blue fox condescended to develop in the hinterland of Frank on the orders of the king, and he would leave after the task was completed. However, the team he led did not have to leave, but the "other" of the Gould family who arrived later. A fox" took over.

Therefore, in line with the principle of complete voluntariness, to join the Blue Fox team, you must make a commitment - convert to God.

The already full blue fox patted his belly: "It's great to have a priest in your village. Look at the people..."

"How?" Henry glanced at him.

"There are still many people who haven't converted to your god. Just in time, when you find your pastor in your village, let's hold a public baptism ceremony."

"You...you...really willing?"

Henry Nassau was a little excited. He was not a priest after all, but after these outsiders converted to God, he would not be embarrassed as a nobleman.

"Of course. That's the first order of business in your village. I'm also going to talk to your priest. The man must speak Latin, and we'll have a great conversation."

"That's true."

There are some words to bury in his heart. Henry Nassau was sure that even if these ruthless people were converted collectively, they could still be robbers with peace of mind, but they would only make sure that the rabbits would not eat the grass on the edge of the nest. That's fine too...

The next day, the people who suffered from the fatigue of boats and cars slept until noon, they had another meal, and in the afternoon they maintained sufficient energy to officially plunge into the Lanhe River.

That night, the fleet docked and camped at Quanbao.

The current significance of this place is that of a quarry, with a population of less than 50 people. They excavate rocks and cut them into pieces and transport them back to Nassau Village. Their work can be described as extremely leisurely.

The name of Quanbao comes from the Roman ruins on the hill. The hill was originally a permanent Roman fortress hundreds of years ago. The available building stones were successively moved back to their hometown by the Nassau people, and they continued to thin the local area. Granite is dug under the soil layer. It is precisely in the cracks of these rocks that there are vents that heat the groundwater, and the hot springs can flow by themselves.

The hot spring has not been developed and utilized because it is too hot and far away from large settlements. Only mining workers can use the resources here to wash clothes and take a bath.

As the weather gets colder, the hot springs gushing from the ground form small streams, and the water flow cools quickly and finally pours into the Lan River.

It was the first time that the guest house was informed that there was a hot spring here.

The hot spring is not surprising. Henry Nassau very directly pointed out that the huge Mainz area, which is now the main station of the East King ** team, among which the small town Wiesbaden is famous for its hot springs. In Worms, not far to the south, it is already Ludwig's core territory of Bavaria in de jure. There is a hot spring area in the hilly area near Worms, which is simply named Baden-Baden, so-called here. Lots of hot springs.

The entire area was once home to a Roman legion, and Nassau sat on the lower Ram River with forts, whose clusters stretched to Mainz, Worms, and Frankfurt. At that time, the Roman legions were wary of the Franks and Alemannis in the north. After all, it was the Franks who had the last laugh.

The Nassau family has no record of history, and villagers can only learn fragments of memories from the past through word of mouth. For Henry Nassau, his family seems to have been allied with the Franks since ancient times, but in his generation it is betrayal for a better future.

Therefore, the three settlements of Baden-Ams-sur-Lahn (Spring Castle), Wiesbaden, and Baden-Baden already exist and are named after the springs. They are geographically close to each other. Just below the channel of the river is the geothermally active area.

In times of abundance, such a geographical feature was suitable for the construction of sanitariums, and in fact it was discovered by explorers in Roman times. Romans who love bathing first built a hot spring bath in Wiesbaden, which was actually the supporting infrastructure for the Roman legionary camp. Later, these facilities were inherited by the Frankish nobles. Frankfurt am Main is a palace built by Charlemagne.

Is the current Eastern Kingdom King Ludwig still in the mood to relax in a hot spring bath? He didn't have time to do that.

Even though the Spring Fort near Nassau Village has hot spring resources, Blue Fox is keenly aware that it can be used, and now is not the time to transform a hot spring bath.

People only think about enjoying themselves when they are rich, and he learned that the life of Nassau villagers has always been relatively difficult. People are busy improving their livelihoods, how can they be in the mood to enjoy it?

Did the Nassau family really love their kin? He has always done well, and he is no different from other little lords.

In the past, the Baron of Nassau and the Earl of Laningo were allies. The weak Nassau wanted to pay tribute to Ludwig, the great noble of the Eastern Kingdom. This was because Ingo helped transport supplies all the year round. The amount of tribute is not large, but the entire Nassau Baron has this population, and they can't grow a lot of food on the relatively barren land, so they can only think of other ways to develop.

They have been developing agriculture, but for various reasons cannot be rich.

Even so, the spiritual world of the people is also full. Ordinary people don't have to think too much. They go to work every day, go to church once a week, participate in festivals, and they can live a hard life.

Why is this so?

It is because of the geographical structure of the place. Hot springs are a treasure, but the soil here is thin, and only the valley plains between the hills are suitable for farming. Land reclamation is also a kind of risk investment. If land reclamation has a high probability of bringing benefits, the enthusiasm of the people cannot be restrained at all. Nassau Village adheres to the rough agricultural methods of the past, coupled with the lack of fertile soil, there is not much surplus of wheat and oats planted every year, and it is normal to have a lack of harvest for many years.

However, in such an environment, grapes can be planted on the hills, and cattle and sheep can be raised in the wasteland of the valley and plain These all require up-front investment, and farmers who are already short of money have turned into tenants of the Nassau family in large numbers. , It is fundamentally infeasible to go to the mountains to open up fields and acres to develop grape plantations without the motivation to invest to buy cattle and sheep.

Because the entire Nassau Baron is the territory of the Nassau family, and the top of the hill is the property of the nobles. "The open mountain forest hunting rights have been mercifully given to you, so don't think about it any more." The Nassau family thought they were very kind, but unfortunately, this "kindness" did not turn into a lot of wealth. The people are not wealthy, and small families have to give birth to a large number of agricultural populations. However, many children die at a young age, and high births lead to high casualties. This is the reason why the entire Nassau Baron has only more than 2,000 people.

In the final analysis, the region is fertile and barren, and it can make a fortune if it is done well with livestock and grape growing, and then buy food with the money earned by trading dairy products, meat and wine.

The Nassau family lacked a business mindset and lacked an incentive to invest. If it weren't for the war, Henry Nassau would have lived a peaceful and peaceful life. He would not even keep his own name. He could only be marked as a "Baron of Nassau" by his descendants, and his descendants would continue to be a baron. and continue.

But the history that belongs to the family has been completely changed! The Nassau family no longer had to wait until the thirteenth century to develop through the spring breeze of Shinra, and now the family must develop in the Netherlands in one fell swoop.