Chapter 1127： Forest cats, sled dogs and the route to the north

The real autumn rain has finally begun.

After the autumn festival, when Rurik returned to Stockholm to start the next stage of inspection work, the strong and biting north wind swept the whole world with bleak rain.

The low temperature is not enough to cause freezing rain, and the people at the dock are busy carrying the goods to shelter from the rain, and the streets and alleys that gradually become muddy are deserted.

The prosperous commercial port city seems to be deserted. The whole city is stagnant, and everyone closes the doors and windows, and even seals the gaps with rotten cloth heads and broken leather, so that the cold will not penetrate.

Only the towering chimneys spewed smoke and dust in the rain, and all households with the conditions lit the fireplace to disperse the humidity in the room with the heat brought by burning wood.

Everything is peaceful in the Governor's Mansion. Based on the bad current situation, Rurik didn't want his own people to get sick because of the cold and rain, although some arrogant guys claimed to ignore this problem.

The continuous rain has interfered with the white fox's plan to deliver supplies. He also has a plan to prepare for the eucalyptus. As long as the **** rain doesn't last for two weeks, everything can be said.

If so, it will rain continuously until mid-October. Then the plan to send materials to the capital again this year can greatly reduce the transportation volume.

There is only one thing that everyone is most worried about. As long as the time is delayed until October, Lake Mälaren, the Gulf of Bothnia and most of the Gulf of Finland will start to freeze. When the waters start to freeze, there will be a half-year ice cover. Expect.

Now Frozen does not think that traffic is completely cut off, all parties will organize reindeer sleighs to continue to maintain trade, but the capacity of their trade has plummeted, and the overall cost has also risen sharply. Such trade will be tilted towards high value-added commodities, and the trade will no longer be bulk grains, but salt, walrus ivory, precious bones and precious small animal skins, mainly mink.

Staying in the Governor's Palace Rurik will not be boring.

The fortress-like Gould Island has long since completed the fortress, and the warehouses inside usually accumulate a large amount of grain and flax poles. The Governor's Palace warehouse in Stockholm is also stocked with such bulk goods, only because the capacity on Gould Island is limited.

The grain was piled up like a mountain, and the Governor Baihu decisively ordered some pottery urns to open up a brewing workshop. This is his family's property, and he also uses his own food assets. He just borrows the Ross wine shop belonging to the royal family to sell it to earn higher profits.

The more food there is, the more we must ensure its safety. No, the granaries everywhere have reached the point where cats have to be raised.

Once, wild Nordic forest cats were hunted by hunters for their fluffy and warm fur. Its ability to control mice has been discovered, and it is a very cost-effective choice to raise some forest cats to catch mice to ensure food security.

Velika had nothing to do, and played with the cat of the Governor's Mansion as a pet. She often put her face on the thick fur and laughed at the cat.

Osborn, who has reached the age of running around the most, just ran after the cat, and often made the cat scream indiscriminately, and once made a loud noise.

As soon as the cat screamed, the queen hurried over. Cats have become normal domestic animals in Novgorod, and the number of families with cats is gradually increasing. They want to protect their small granaries with cats, but also ensure that cats will not eat their own poultry.

No matter how small and cute the cat looks, it is still a small beast that is good at catching mice.

She chased her son, and when she picked it up, she criticized him harshly. She ordered that the cat was not allowed to toss and was scratched, but she beat her on the **** a few times as a deterrent, which made her son cry again.

Naogui Nao, the family's fireworks are really strong.

Baihu's sons and daughters have all set up their own families. He is old, and the blond hair on his fat head naturally falls off a lot. As long as you look closely, some of the hair has turned into silver.

Rurik enjoyed the commotion, and when he met the queen who had caught her son with a big meal, he asked her to put little Osborn down.

"This kid! Toss the cat, what if you scratch your hand and bleed?"

As soon as he was put down, the little guy hugged his father's thigh, busy hiding his body and sticking out a pair of big blue eyes.

Rurik held the queen's shoulders to persuade him with good words: "If you are afraid of blood, you are not a real man. Also, this kid has nothing to do with cats, you can just say a few words, don't do it."

"No, I think this kid is getting more and more naughty. It's not good to eat, so I have to stick a spoon in his mouth. No, he must be beaten."

Thanks to Velika running over obediently, picked up her younger brother and quickly disappeared, leaving only Queen Svetlana sighing coquettishly in Rurik's arms.

The queen hopes that the prince she bears can be calm enough, she can't stand the naughty life of her own. As everyone knows, this naughty just proves the power of blood.

Because Lanna at that time was also a naughty crazy girl, this kind of firepower was detected by Otto, and after a few years of observation, he chose to be his son's fiancee.

But he said that Velika was hiding aside with her brother in her arms, and soon the sister and brother were teasing the cat again. Trapped indoors to avoid the extreme cold outdoors, playing with cats has become the only exciting game.

After appeasing his wife, Rurik chatted with the lively governor again.

"Your family has cats now, will you have dogs in the future?"

"Hound? I don't need it for the time being." What the white fox said was true, and the conversation changed, his right hand as thick as a bear's paw pointed to the north: "If there is demand, there will be a market. There are people in Melalen who breed hounds and sell them. I think it is profitable. The old Rus people living in the north continue to be good at hunting, especially hunting those small beasts. They bring hounds to the winter hunting. The hounds can not only pull sleds, but also directly catch ferrets, which is really a good thing Woolen cloth."

"Oh? Are there many people buying from the north?!" Rurik was a little ignorant in this regard.

"More and more. In my opinion, this is a very good market. But I don't think how much money can be made by investing in it. Some Meralen nobles are doing the breeding of hounds, and I don't want to mix it up." , he winked at the king and smiled without saying a word.

"What are you looking at me for? I hope this king will recruit some more people to set up a royal dog breeding agency?"

"Oh! It's not a problem if the king wants to."

The white fox woke up, and Rurik thought about it for a moment and then pinched his beard: "It's not impossible. This kind of thing doesn't have to be done because it doesn't make money, you can try it, and I think you can buy it after breeding puppies. East. In my opinion, those Slavs really need the help of hounds to live (housekeeping), and now they are getting richer, they should pay for it.”

East? Hearing this word, Bai Fox couldn't help tingling his scalp. His family was restricted by the king to develop in the east. Could it be that... the king released the tone of lifting the ban after raising hounds?

Baihu tried his best to maintain his concentration, showing that he was not surprised at all, as if he was indifferent to this matter, and said casually, "I'll try it out."

If a hunter breeds hunting dogs, then he can only breed local fierce dog breeds. Nordic hounds have fluffy and thick fur, and the coat color is gray and white with black patches.

It has the reminder of the wolf, and the face has a sense of naivety. It can be instructed to hunt small beasts, and its fierceness may also hunt deer.

In the past, there were people in the Ross tribe who raised this traditional Nordic hound. However, in that era when supplies were not abundant, hunters had to take into account that Dundun would feed their dogs fresh meat, and the cost of raising them might not be able to cover the hunting output. This economic contradiction made Too few people have hounds.

Listening to the white fox, the residents in the north are now living better, and a large number of people have enough assets to add a few special family members.

The excessively long autumn rain that Rurik was most worried about did not become a reality, and it finally stopped.

However, on the first night after the autumn rain, people were surprised to find that thin ice appeared in the outdoor water tank early in the morning.

All the able-bodied were clothed with fur, and the poor in extra layers of linen and shoddy furs patched and stitched from animal hides. All of them were bloated, and both men and women wore furry hats that covered half of their faces.

Rurik prepared huge white fox velvet hats for his two children, especially his own prince Osborn. This kid was deliberately continued with a golden ponytail, and the huge white fox fur was worn on his head, and the white fox's big tail Covers half of the back. The next guy puts on a leather coat made of polar bear skin, and the whole person becomes a little bear.

It hasn't snowed yet, and the royal family is all dressed in polar bear furs, and the overall white tone is eye-catching wherever they go. The white clothes are mixed with blue stripes, which is the characteristic of old Ross. His navy changed into prepared winter clothes, lined with wool and leather, and the outermost layer was put on the linen shirt that Ross used to wear. There were blue stripes on the chest and back, and then he was cinched with a deerskin armed belt. Bravely.

The fleet will continue to go north to visit Roseburg, the place where the dragon is prosperous. There are no longer three ships going to Rurik, but five armed cargo ships next to him. This is the cargo fleet sent by the white fox.

Baihu himself has to lead the team all the way to Tombstone Island. He knows that his father is dying, so he will try to take his family to guard on Tombstone Island this time.

Having inherited almost all the family property, Baihu felt obliged to die for his father. In particular, he had to take his old mother to wait on the island, and he had to convince her to stay calm first.

Gould, the old guy, still kept female slaves in his later years. Because these women gave birth to children, he gave them a decent honor, and he broke away from slavery because of the children. The white fox did not know that his father had applied to the king for the opportunity to be an ordinary Russ for these slaves, and it was approved.

Is Gould being kind in this regard? But his wife, the old lady who gave birth to "four little foxes" was so angry that she didn't dare to scold her husband directly. In recent years, she simply lived with her eldest son Baihu and protested with practical actions. Derek aged more freely.

The fleet entered the sea and moved slightly off the roadway to reach Tombstone Island. Rurik didn't want to waste time. The thin ice in the outdoor pottery urn was a dangerous sign. In this era of no weather forecast, one can only learn from some details When estimating the weather in the future, those undesired signs are always magnified and interpreted, and Rurik is afraid that this winter will be a cold winter.

Eight boats galloped northward with their jibs up against the wind.

The bored people hid in the warm cabins. Along the way, the fleet encountered the northern fleet, which took advantage of the north wind and rushed to the south before the sea was frozen. Those armed cargo ships and Rurik's small fleet faced each other from a distance, and each had their own tasks. They had to hang pennants with special patterns on the cables to piece together a phrase that could be read, so Goldlund could The one who learned of the other party was the royal fleet that wanted to send the scarce supplies to the capital, that is, his subordinates.

The wind made the sea conditions a bit bad, and Willika and Osborn were tossed to the point of having nothing to do with each other. People suffered from the violent ups and downs of the sea. At certain times, the fleet was like a roller coaster, and Rurik felt a little weightless. .

He himself has experienced hundreds of battles, and this body has a good adaptability to the harsh sea conditions. This is hard for his wife and children. Even if Svetlana wants to endure it, the seasickness makes her stomach turn overturned, and she avoids embarrassment in her stomach. , she simply tactically fasted on the final voyage.

Finally, the familiar Roseburg Fjord appeared in front of the fleet!

The sea conditions are not good today, but the conditions in the fjords are fine. But there are not many boats sheltering in the harbor, because smart people have already rowed boats on a large scale to the northernmost point of Fort Elrond, and the town of Covinstad on the eastern coastline of the Gulf of Bothnia. People have only one purpose, just like the polar bears and brown bears in northern Europe guarding the river to wait for the salmon in autumn, people also do the work of bears.

The fishermen, mainly the left-behind old Rus people, spent their time weaving huge linen nets, which were deliberately woven into long and narrow widths, so that the kings of several families could temporarily assemble them to complete the blockade of the river channel and catch the migrating salmon in one net.

If the old Finnish Kovin tribe still paid attention to not being exhausted and fishing, Ross was completely the opposite, everyone just wanted to get it on a large scale. No one cares about their tight net, which might make the salmon population sparse, a real problem for all northern settlers - we want more food.

Mines, smelting workshops, cobbler workshops, and even large-scale hunting operations, laborers involved in these industries need sufficient food, and the best supplement here is fishing. Autumn is an opportunity. As long as you fish wildly, the cold air will quickly freeze these roe-rich salamanders. They deliberately collect and pickle the fatty roe, which is then cut open and left to dry over a fire.

Those who have no time to deal with the salamanders are directly frozen and solid, and they are simply stacked on each other to form a "fish wall" and become a reserve food.

They asked themselves, since the autumn of 839, when they regularly revisited and issued a draft order to the people to prepare for the war, it has been two years since their return this time.

A large number of technicians came out of their hometown in Roseburg. They were excellent blacksmiths. They were important ordnance repairers in the war. They could repair worn-out swords and spears on the battlefield, and also took on the task of repairing heavy equipment. Especially the latter, the torsion slingshot requires frequent maintenance, and the damaged wooden parts can be made from local materials, which also requires professional craftsmen to handle.

Most of the fighters from the hometown of Roseburg did not directly participate in the battle, so the losses were small. On the contrary, they still got enough spoils, and the lives of the participants were greatly improved.

The arrival of the king was surprising, and on second thought it was normal.

In Roseburg, no matter how noble the old people were, they had to surrender the power in their hands to their backup.

Let's talk about Harrodsen, who dreamed of being a great leader when he was young. His current position is the governor of his hometown in Roseburg, and in fact, he did get his wish. Legally he still holds the power of governor, but his age is basically the same as old Otto. When Otto, who was once strong as a bear, was gradually losing weight in the face of the terrible erosion called aging, Harrodsen's situation was not optimistic.

His son Kanuf has taken his place.

The once stinky little boy Kanuf has grown into a strong man. His arms are thick and his chest is swelled. Under the thick clothes are bursting muscles and thick fat that hides them.

Kanuf led his troops to participate in a series of wars in 840 and made military exploits, and he was unavoidable to indulge in enjoyment after receiving a large sum of money.

This guy brought his four wives and up to six children, big and small. He personally helped the flowing-bearded old man to go to the pier to see the presence of the king.

Not only him, but also another distinguished old man, the legendary blacksmith Klavathon.

Kravason has been unable to lift his hammer~ but is pleased that his grandson Kusneslav has become a talent. The half-blood boy was thirteen after Hanukkah, according to Viking tradition, and Clavason was worried that his grandson would not be strong enough because of his blood.

Besides, he is not just a grandson. Daughter-in-law Lilia gave birth to another big fat boy. She is still young and obviously can have more children in the future.

The family of blacksmiths who believe in Thor is fond of fire and steel, and they think that forging iron by the stove is the symbol of this man, so the family is authorized to manage the largest iron smelting center in the kingdom, the satellite town of Blast Furnace Town of Roseburg, producing The iron wares continued to meet the needs of the country, and also brought a lot of money. The miners got riches, and the Clavasson family got honor, status, and accessible gold, silver, and precious stones.

As in the past, the hillsides are densely packed with old Rusian houses, although there are now many Norwegian Balmerks, Swedish Mélarens, and Finnish Lapps and Kovins among the settlers. Based on the old tradition, the old Russian appeared on the seashore this time, cheering to the fleet.

Because the king's flag fluttering on the mast will not deceive.

Here comes the king.