The Rise of Rurik

Chapter 36: Potential Undercurrents

For his son, Otto thought of many things.

On the other hand, Nia is particularly supportive of her son's actions. Every mother hopes that her beloved son will become an excellent person in all aspects. This is a mother's instinct.

On a cold and usual winter morning, Rurik had to suspend training on the slopes due to a new round of snowfall.

The moratorium is a moratorium, and it will continue after the spring. Many children, like Kanuf, are not idle.

Rurik already knew that Kanuf would follow his father to hunt farther north on skis and sleds. There is no need to worry that the hunted beasts will rot, and the hunted reindeer will be pulled back to the tribe in a frozen state like a stone. Moreover, such prey is purely possessed by hunters, and it will not participate in the distribution of wealth within the tribe at all.

Times have changed, and a long time ago, much of the wealth of the tribe would still be distributed more reasonably. For example, fifty years ago, when Priest Veria was still young, there were only more than 2,000 residents of Roswburg at that time. It took half a century for the population to reach its current size because of the multiplication of the population and the immigration of a large number of small families from southern allies.

Those who move in are not very reliable. If there is any major change in the Ross tribe, they will return to the south again.

Once the residents were very close by blood, they were very willing to help each other.

However, the majority of the ethnic group lacks understanding of their own history, and they do not have a clear surname. The residents generally marry early, and even the life expectancy of the population reaches 50 years is relatively difficult.

These factors add up, so that in the past 50 years, Rosberg has grown to the fifth generation since its establishment!

Many residents are so well aware that they and their friends share a common ancestor that it is not clear when asked for specific information. The era of cohesion of the entire clan by kinship and blood is gradually passing, and now the clan needs a person with strong prestige to serve as the leader, and at the same time, the self-awareness of each family is becoming stronger and stronger.

In recent years, the rules for loot distribution on the Sorgon Route have also changed dramatically!

Once upon a time, the chief led people to take the tribute from the servants of Novgorod and brought it back to Rosburg to distribute it equally among all the families.

Today, only families who send people to participate can get most of the tribute, and those who do not participate can only get a small amount of treasure, which gradually becomes a meager welfare. Everyone knows that if this continues, the Sorgon Route will no longer be a "public event" that benefits the entire clan.

The times are constantly changing, and they are rebellious and have no complaints about it.

In the winter, the overland hunting operation will begin, and Kanuf and his father will join the army on the long-distance hunting. They often travel together, and when they encounter a herd of deer, they encircle and annihilate them, and when they encounter a herd of wolves, they surround and annihilate them.

Their hunting is like fighting, and they will try their best to hunt any wild animals they encounter.

If you can hunt ferrets, you can make a lot of money on a piece of fur that goes to the market of the southern allies!

However, the men hunted in groups that looked after each other for more meat. After all, they have a soft spot for venison compared to fishy fish.

The same goes for Otto, who will be involved as a leader.

According to tradition, he can take his son Rurik to go, but now that his son wants to go to Villia to study, he has no choice but to give up.

On this day, Otto prepares the food he needs for hunting at home, so don't worry too much about it.

Because of Sorgon's voyage, the leader made a great contribution. Naturally, the leader's family shared the most wealth.

Otto prepared himself some perfectly dried rye bread, some pickled venison jerky, and even a small jar of honey.

The dry food can be prepared by his wife Haosheng. No, Nia is already using an iron knife to cut the hard jerky into small pieces that are easy to chew.

Otto has more important things to do,

There is a saying that you need to be hard enough to strike iron, and a good hunter must have enough powerful weapons! The hilly mountains west of Rossburg, where there are a lot of reddish rocks. The blacksmiths of the tribe knew that it was hematite, and after a complicated smelting process, iron tools could be made.

Because the iron smelting skills of the Rus tribe in this era were very poor, they had to burn pig iron for a longer time before forging according to their experience. The blacksmiths did not have a higher craft to raise the temperature of the furnace, and all the irons they made were brittle and soft.

They have no concept of the scientific principles, only the experience left by their ancestors.

The warriors of the tribe therefore used the single-edged axe on a large scale, and of course they also used the double-edged sword, a broad-bladed iron sword of shorter length.

Due to the current forging process, and even the forging process of the Danes, they can only produce such weapons. In fact, it is completely sufficient in this era.

After all, Europe at this time is a relatively bad era. The Vikings did not realize that their weapons were too backward. They were amazed that a small amount of sharp swords bought from distant Rome actually cut iron like mud. The Rhodes once dared to use only a pile of wooden sticks and stone spears as weapons to challenge the Ruth warriors in chainmail and armed with tomahawks.

Otto's sword "Destroyer" is a sword that cuts iron like mud. He still does not know that this sword, which his ancestors spent a lot of money to buy from the Roman merchants who stayed in Novgorod, actually came from a sword. farther east. "Destroyer" is a steel sword with patterns, it cuts iron like mud!

Only in the battle with the enemy, Otto will use his own sword, such as hunting activities, more opportunities to use the throwable short spear.

He is making some throwing spears, and the most important thing is to sharpen the sharp edges of the spears. Because of the backwardness of technology, there is no grinding machine here, and Otto has to use the mined whetstone for a long time to keep grinding.

His wife Nia, perhaps tired of honing her voice, suddenly mumbled, "You really shouldn't have taken Rurik, he's just too young. Your decision was wise."

"Why are you bringing this up? Rurik doesn't participate in hunting. He went to Veria to study for the first time today. This is what you hoped." stop.

"Actually...actually I..." Nia thought about a lot of things, and the iron knife in her hand that cut the bacon also paused.

Nia raised her wrinkled forehead and looked at her husband: "Otto, actually, for my son, I don't want him to be so keen on fighting."

"He doesn't have a choice. He's a boy, he'll be a man. He has to fight."

"But..."

"I know what you're thinking!" Otto calmed down, he also thought of many sad past events. "Neus, and Togra, their deaths were an accident. You and I are very sorry."

The couple mentioned Rurik's two older brothers who died. It was a great tragedy to lose a child at an old age, until Nia managed to give birth to a healthy child at a very high age.

In fact, the fact that Nia succeeded in giving birth at the age of forty was an uncompromising miracle on earth.

Rurik, who was born, did not cry or make trouble at the beginning of his birth, which fully reflected his strong and resolute character.

At least that's what Priest Veria explained. The most prestigious priest had never encountered anything like this in his seventy-year life, and naturally had to give some supernatural explanation.

Nia can't control that much, no matter whether Rurik is "Odin's blessing", first of all, he is his only flesh and blood. Nia, who had lost two sons in a row, was almost fifty years old, and she couldn't stand the new blow at all.

She hopes that her son will not be exposed to anything dangerous, although she knows how selfish her thoughts are, and it is also against the values of the warrior, and it is also disgusting to her husband.

She still explained her thoughts to her husband, and she naturally got Otto's objection.

"You don't have to worry about anything. Let Rurik stay at home, or stay in the priest's longhouse for a lifetime? He looks safe, but what's the difference between that and a coward. Nia! You have to understand! When our son could speak, he himself told us that he was the man who was going to be the leader. Everything was his destiny! If we dared to stop it, we would be instantly ill and die."

Otto's words were threatening, and Nia suddenly asked: "But you still allow him to go to Veria. Why? Why do you support this?"

"Alas! That's his own choice, and we can't interfere with him too much. My attitude will never change. I don't want Rurik to get too close to those priests."

"Are you afraid of being infected by them and forgetting to fight?" Nia asked.

"I did think so, and there are other factors." Otto calmed down and looked at his wife, "No one knows Veria better than me, she is not an ordinary woman! Now I am really glad, Willy Ya has a huge prestige in the tribe, everyone trusts everything she says at the altar, and she still supports me as always. Kevilia is too old! Her life will end soon, after all she is A person."

Nia could hear the deep meaning of her husband's words, but she really didn't understand.

"What does it mean?"

"I'm a little worried about that Bona." Otto said solemnly: "A good leader cannot be controlled by that group of priests. I heard of those Franks, their priests are more powerful than the leader! Who is the leader? What? Maybe the priest is!"

Of course, what Otto said here is not the real situation. In fact, the monarchs and nobles of the Franks have a very high respect for the Holy See, and the power of the Pope is indeed increasing. When the news spread to northern Europe, it was Otto's remarks that Vikings generally understood.

"That Bona is not an ambitious person." Nia retorted.

"I hope so. When Veria dies, Bona will succeed. Will she have ambitions by then? Nia, you and I are too old, maybe we won't be able to see our Rurik. The wedding day. We can't take Veria's word for it completely, I even think that Veria deliberately said that Rurik was blessed by Odin. Did Odin really grant blessings, and how do mortals know?"

"No! He is blessed." Nia said firmly.

"Okay, I hope so." Otto continued to pick up the whetstone, "I still don't want Rurik to get too close to those priests. If Rurik is infected by their words, will he slowly He has become obedient only to the priests. So even if Rurik becomes the new leader, will his ambitions still be realized? Because in that case, he has to obey the priests."

Nia couldn't help but tensed when she heard the crux of the problem: "If that's the case, maybe we really should call him back."

"No need." Otto shook his head: "After this period, he can no longer go to Veria to study."

"So you only let him study for a few years, like twelve years old?!"

Twelve years old, in the traditional concept of the Ross tribe and even the allies of the southern thinking Asians, when a boy reaches the age of twelve, he should fulfill the obligations that many men should have. .

Otto explained: "It all depends on Vilia's lifespan. At the wedding ceremony a few days ago, I saw that she was too old, and in another year or two, she may no longer be able to wear the antler helmet. Perhaps, before Rurik was twelve years old, Veria was dead. By that time, I don't think Rurik would have learned much from Bona."

Having said this, Otto sighed again: "I tell you, my dear Nia. Veria is great, I can prove it, I have learned some knowledge from her, so I know how to be very good. Good governance of our tribe. I have always believed that if Veria were a man, she would have been a leader for a long time. Don't mourn her status, she is our wise man and is highly respected by all.

But that Bona! She is not wise, and she knows nothing except the recitation of some incantations by the priests of the festival. "

Nia nodded: "I basically understand. You hope that Ruric can learn some knowledge from Veria, and you hope that Veria will not live too long."

"Yes. Rurik has to be trained to be a brave combatant, he has to be strong, he has to have the ability to beat a lot of people, and he has shown that talent and it has to be strengthened. I will pick a warrior I can trust to train him. I love him, and I have to push him to the lead in this way."