Rise of Rurik - Chapter 1385

[Chapter 1,484 You are my distinguished guest]

At the same time, the residents of Koblenz could not ignore the huge cavalry on the other side of the river, with blue and white helmet feathers everywhere.

The wild goose feather assault used for the ceremonial guard was taken out of the leather pocket and stuck on the helmet, and all the lances were hung with Ross flags. Rurik was afraid that the friendly forces on the other side of the river could not see his arrival clearly, so he ordered the buglers of each team to blow A low Nordic trumpet sounded, which was like a call from Valhalla, but in fact it informed the black fox that “the Russian army is coming.”

Black Fox learned from his subordinates who had drifted back from the Duisburg stronghold that the king had arrived, and he took the young Sophia Nassau to Koblenz to stay.

He knew that the King of Russia needed the dignity of a king, so the renovation of the old Frankish military camp and castle was a gift to the king, and it would also be the king’s palace when the Ross army was stationed in the future.

Black Fox arranged what he thought was an excellent station for Rurik. When the cavalry arrived, the expeditionary force would all be stationed in Koblenz.

There are many advantages to doing this, and a great strategic advantage is that as long as Rurik is interested, his cavalry legion can immediately go south to attack Lothair’s forces, thus no longer considering the obstruction of the river.

“My Lord, King Rus is there! No one can ignore the King’s golden crown.”

The black fox standing on the stone wall of the hillside followed the guidance of his subordinates. The soft afternoon sunlight just made Rurik’s golden crown shine.

“I have seen it all. The king is going to Llanstein to temporarily station, and everything is developing according to my plan. Now prepare the ship, gather the brothers, and we will go to Llanstein to meet the king.”

“Ho!” the soldiers shouted, raising their fists high.

The small Lahn flows peacefully into the Rhine, and at the confluence of the rivers lies the fishing village of Llandstein.

It was once a small fishing village and is now an important port in Nassau, but even so it is still small.

Necessary wharf facilities such as clear trestles have been built here, and the slots for long ships to be fully berthed are obviously for the convenience of transporting goods.

There is a large open area at the intersection. Perhaps some farmland can be opened up in this area. They were deliberately abandoned, and it was obvious at a glance that they were used for gathering people.

A group of small barges docked quietly and semi-stranded here, secured with cables and probably out of use all winter.

Rurik looked around and let out a sigh of relief: “Vadi, this is your Landstein? A small town? It’s indeed too small.”

“Your Majesty, how much more can you expect from a fishing village? Compared to your New Roseburg, even Coblenz is a small place.” Wadi complimented.

“You’re too polite. This is your territory. I learned that this village is still the territory of Eric Broken Tooth, right?”

Wadi was startled for a moment: “Have you seen that old guy?”

“In Duisburg. Well, I’m afraid the news of our army’s arrival was also provided by the brothers stationed in Duisburg, right?”

“The king is wise.”

“For the time being… let’s do it.” After saying that, Rurik turned around and dismounted, facing the calm Rhine River, he twisted his hips vigorously, and then looked sideways at Vardi, who was obviously full of words: “It’s been three months. . We walked from Ross to Nassau and experienced so many adventures along the way. Maybe I can finally rest quietly for a while. What do you think?”

“I… I, He Dehe, can help you decide? Maybe.” Wadi narrowed his eyes slightly: “You will not stop nor want to stop. You are more concerned about the situation in this region, and you must want to quickly participate in the battle. If there’s no fight, you take the initiative.”

“Of course, otherwise why would I come all the way here? Listen, it was only the cavalry that arrived first, and the larger navy must have also arrived in Rotterstad. I really want to rest for a while before making any big plans. So Black Fox Where is he? It’s time for this kid to come see me.”

Wadi smiled and bowed: “Please wait a moment, Lord Black Fox will be here soon. Until then, please accept our gift.”

Rurik stopped nagging and ordered the army to dismount and set up camp.

But it was said that after Black Fox learned that King Rus was about to arrive in Nassau, in addition to his own urgent transportation at the fortress in Coblenz, he also arranged for local farmers to move a batch of supplies and settle them in Llandstein.

A batch of grain and seasonal vegetables, this is staff food.

A mound of hay for the horses.

Before the sun set, Wadi immediately called the villagers to start moving supplies as planned.

Seeing this situation, Rurik ordered each team to send people to get it themselves.

Now the role of the huge reindeer herd has come to an end. After unloading all the pack materials, they basically say goodbye to the pack transport work.

Their existence itself will also end, eventually turning into meat in the bowls of warriors and a lot of leather.

So the ten deer were led to a secluded corner and executed directly, and the deer blood quietly flowed into the Lahn River. It carried a certain sense of ritual like offering sacrifices to the river god, and also officially announced the end of the journey.

Because when the army went on an expedition, a group of deer were sacrificed and their blood flowed into the Neva River. That was already three months ago.

Rauririk didn’t have to worry about setting up camp. Each team under his command had a good meal and slept in the open without causing any trouble. The young soldiers had already accumulated very sufficient camping experience.

He did not ask the entire army to build shacks for long-term living on the spot, all because he heard the Black Fox’s promise that the main force of the Russian army would be stationed in the open space of Koblenz on the other side of the river for a long time, and even the war horses would be stationed as soon as possible. Transported to the other side of the river.

“Black Fox…what are you kidding about?” Under the setting sun, Rurik looked at the increasingly noisy city on the other side of the river.

He saw many people dressed as villagers, who must be idlers watching the excitement. They must all be admiring the style of the Ross Cavalry Group.

The Black Fox did have to take some time. He had to walk from the fortress on the hillside to the pier. It would take some time to get on the boat. At the same time, he also had to drag his fiancée, the real Countess Sophia of Nassau-Koblenz with him. Go together.

Although the brothers still regard Rurik as the real king in their hearts, the status of the brothers has changed now. They are all vassals of the little girl Sophia, and the entire county is also loyal to the ruler of the eastern Franks. Ludwig.

Now that you have entered the Frankish world, you should learn about the local red tape. It seems that you need to implement the cumbersome procedures. When you realize that “procedural justice” is needed, Sophia, Henry Nassau’s youngest daughter who is about to turn twelve, must take his place. Black Fox, as the leader of all the brothers, went to face Rurik, and finally she officially announced permission for the Ross army to station in her territory.

“Really going?!” The girl’s wrist was pulled by the fat black fox and she ran away. It’s fair to say that the hurry of both of them was quite indecent.

“You must go! You must announce it! It is you who invites King Rus to lead troops for protection, otherwise their arrival will not be appropriate.”

“Okay. You’ve always said that King Ross is a young hero. It might as well go to Llanstein to meet him.”

Sophia did not refuse, but she felt a little timid when she learned that she had to face the King of the North directly now.

She wore a Frankish dress and all the jewelry made of rubies and amber. The maid braided her hair and tied it behind her head, fixing it with a hairpin carved from an elephant seal’s tusk. back.

What was covered by the robe was actually a pair of woolen trousers to keep out the cold, and low-cut leather boots.

Sophia’s hairstyle is neither Frank nor Ross, but an imitation of the legendary Roman noblewoman.

Her clothes were equally nondescript, or she began to develop a unique style.

Ross’s clothing, which was modified by Rurik in his early years, emphasized both warmth and sophistication, which was actually the result of his emphasis on “modern clothing.”

Clothes are designed to fit the human body as much as possible, which tests the tailor’s skills and the use of fine steel needles and twine. Fortunately, the problems of talent and tools have been solved.

However, Nassau has been exporting wine to Ross since two years ago, and it is absolutely impossible for the armed cargo ship to come back empty.

The price of turned leather shoes and finished clothes produced in Ross is relatively high. Fortunately, Black Fox has made a lot of profits from exporting wine. The transport ship carries important clothing, shoes and hats, mass-produced cheap iron tools, and even a batch of Large production and overall cheap crude iron nails are back.

Because Rurik himself had already set a certain example to all smart people – farming and fighting in parallel.

When Black Fox realized that he needed to devote his energy to digging for property in his core control area, he first solved the problem of dressing the elite soldiers. The next step was the problem of feeding the soldiers and the people.

The cheap iron nails imported from Russia can be turned into arrow clusters by hammering them, and the finished bent-shaft plows shipped back are immediately used for deep plowing in farmland, not to mention the spearheads and ax blades cast from pig iron. The existence of these things makes Nassau – The County of Koblenz could theoretically mobilize thousands of additional spear-carrying militiamen.

In this period of civil war, all military forces will not think that they have too many weapons in their hands.

The local villagers of Nassau enjoyed the dividends of trade and war, and they began to imitate the clothes of their rulers.

Especially those women who married Normans, because their Normans did not like the way the headscarf covered their hair, they took off their headscarves one after another. This was described by the priests as the indecent behavior of married women, and the priests could only say Just words.

The changes that started in Nassau spread to Koblenz across the river, and all the cultural customs in the region began to mutate silently.

At first, Sophia was a thin girl. Even if she was classified as the youngest daughter of the former Baron of Nassau, her family guarded a poor fiefdom and their life was never comfortable.

She had never seen anything better before. Ever since the fat little black fox and his guys came into her life, everything had changed!

She also realized at that time how poor and shabby her past life was.

She has not yet reached the age of formal marriage, but her engagement to Black Fox has been completed, which is no different from marriage in the eyes of the world.

Living with the black fox, the Gould family’s exquisiteness in eating also affected Sophia.

In just two years, the girl’s skinny face has become rounder, her height has surpassed that of other adult women in the area, and she has also begun to become slightly fatter overall.

The black fox must eat well and drink well. If he has fat meat, his fiancée is indispensable. He eats salted fish shipped from the Atlantic, beef, mutton and game from the region, as well as plenty of dairy products and sweet dairy products. Due to wine, as a rapidly growing girl, Sophia’s figure is developing towards the limit of genetic limitations.

She is destined to grow up to be a slightly fat and tall female aristocrat, who stands out from other skinny local village women.

Similarly, in the eyes of Black Fox, she became more and more charming as a woman, which fascinated him.

When the two arrived at the dock, the remaining soldiers had just completed their assembly.

Black Fox didn’t bother to count all the people and counted as many as they came, and immediately got on the long boat to cross the river.

Rurik knew that sooner or later he would meet the black fox who had been away for more than two years, so he did not need to stick to the little time he had now. He was busy supervising the soldiers to set up camp, and soon his subordinates reported that a small fleet of boats was floating on the river.

“It’s a black fox. It’s definitely a black fox. This kid…” Rurik gathered the captains of each team with a smile. All the nobles present in the army gathered regardless of their rank, including the newly sealed Gdansk on the march. The Duke’s eldest son, Casimir, and the three Sok brothers of Gdynia.

The Black Fox is also a noble after all. Rurik brought all the nobles and senior officers around him to see him, which was a beating and a respect for him.

A group of men gathered together, and the court count of Siegburg and the knights of Songxi, who were always on the sidelines, joined them with their own diplomatic ideas.

Small fleets of boats docked one after another, and jumping off the boats were a group of warriors wearing Ross shirts.

A little fat man was still very eye-catching, and Rurik recognized him at a glance.

“Black fox! You little fox, you still haven’t changed.” Rurik pointed casually at the little fat man and laughed happily.

Black Fox was also very sensible. He led the soldiers forward happily, and after giving everyone a gesture, they all knelt down on one knee.

This move is worth a thousand words and proves that even though he now has a new identity, everyone still recognizes King Ross as the real king.

As a result, only one girl was embarrassed on the spot. Sophia had no idea that her man and the ordinary soldiers would suddenly kneel down. After they were knighted, they were unwilling to kneel down to Ludwig, but…

What surprised her even more was that she found that she had become eye-catching enough. She was the only one standing alone. King Ross was a young giant with a golden crown on his head. When she saw such a king for the first time, she was instinctively in awe. Then she noticed Ross. Wang Jing looked at him in surprise and became even more awed.

However, Sophia knew that she was not allowed to kneel to this king at any time. She was a countess recognized by Ludwig, and there was no reason to kneel and surrender to the king of a foreign country.

Besides…

“You?” Rurik stared at the girl’s face with interest: “You are Sophia. The youngest daughter of the Nassau family, you are Henry’s daughter. I have known about your existence for a long time, and I have met you by chance in the Netherlands. Your two brothers have finally met you in person.”

The words were spoken in Latin, and Rurik also learned that because of her noble status, the girl would learn Latin from a priest anyway. This was a required course for Frankish noble women in this era, even if Latin could not be used in daily life.

After hearing this, Sophia bravely walked forward with light steps, inadvertently showing off the rose leather boots she was wearing.

The girl stood in front of Rurik, raised her delicate chin and looked up at the young King of the North, then grabbed the robe and skirt with both hands and squatted down slightly, performing the etiquette exclusive to female nobles.

“Why bother with formalities? I have already learned that you are Black Fox’s fiancée, and now I have brought my army to your couple’s territory.”

“It’s not… it’s not like that.” Sophia continued to be brave, her heart was beating wildly, and her whole body was trembling slightly, not from fear but from excitement.

“how?”

“I! Sophia Heinrich de Nassau-Coblenz-Saar, the real lord here. As a count, I invite…” She had to calm down, took a deep breath and announced in a high voice : “I invite King Rus and his army to station in my territory.”

“Oh?” Rurik’s eyes lit up, and he looked at the black fox who was still kneeling, thinking that it must be this kid’s trick.

For a girl to speak some very formal diplomatic words and announce such a big event, Rurik had to look at the couple who were about to get married with admiration.

Because after all, this kid Black Fox should have just turned eighteen.

Her high-profile announcement like an adult had already attracted the ridicule of a group of nobles behind Rurik.

“Stop having fun!” Rurik turned his head and scolded, then looked at Sophia’s face: “Is this a formal meeting?”

“Forget it. Forget it. Black Fox…his official identity is Baron Wiesbaden, I am the earl of this region, and these soldiers are also my soldiers. UUReading www.uukaｎｓｈｈ” The girl Hexia With a heart that was so determined that he jumped out of his mouth and faced a group of kneeling warriors, he ordered: “Fighters! You can continue to respect King Rus, but I am your lord. Now all stand up! This is an order!”

The girl’s words were sonorous and powerful, and everyone was startled. Rurik was also startled, and couldn’t help but think that this girl might also become a general in the future. In that case, it would be too weird in the Frankish world.

Being a Countess or a Duchess is not shocking. A female noble who holds military power and lives like a male warrior is probably something that other Frankish nobles cannot understand or tolerate, but in the Nordic world, all this is nothing.

Seeing that the kneeling warriors were still hesitant, Rurik asked in a low voice in Norse: “You all get up. After all, you are Nassau’s vassals and not mine. If you continue to recognize me as the king, I will be happy. But Don’t forget, your identities have changed now.”

Everyone stood up one after another, and Black Fox patted the dust on his body, thinking that Sophia’s words just now were definitely not rehearsed in advance – this little girl actually dared to actively promote her power in front of King Ross.

“Now they are all up. Sophia, am I your guest now?”

“Yes. You all are, and…we are always allies.”

“Indeed.” Rurik nodded, looking at the coexistence of timidity and arrogance on the girl’s face under the sunset.

“Oh, Sophia Nassau, you look a bit like a female lord in the north. As a Frankish noble, have you been deeply influenced by your subordinates? This is not bad.” Keep your inner words in your heart, compared to After meeting the Black Fox, Rurik now confirmed that the local de jure ruler was this little girl and was very optimistic about her future.

[End of This Chapter.]