Rise of Rurik

Rurik used a first-person plural word, and Rumia didn't think much about it, she was happy for her master.

At this time, she did not realize that, who was following behind Rurik, the master had made up his mind and must give her a gift.

Of course, in Rumia's view, it was a gift, but in Rurik's view, it was actually giving her the necessary reward.

So, how much should Rurik's 100 fine Roman silver coins weigh?

The gross profit of fifty bars of soap is exactly one hundred silver coins, which just happened to reach a very interesting digital node.

Because of the silver coins minted in Rome at the end of the eighth century, according to the order of the Eastern Roman emperor, one pound of pure silver should be smelted into one hundred silver coins.

Rurik was holding a pound of sterling silver, couldn't it be heavy?

But silver, a metal, is always associated with lead when it is mined and smelted. Eastern Rome can purify silver ingots to an astonishing degree, but smelted into silver coins, the mint must add a little lead to it out of greed for ink.

When the Empire accepts the finished product of the Mint, as long as the currency inscription is correct and the weight is basically qualified, it is the so-called best quality currency.

As for the intentional addition of lead, it is not within the scope of consideration.

So this has brought about a very bad situation. The quality of Roman silver coins is gradually declining. On the one hand, the reason is the greed of the Eastern Roman Mint. And every silver coin is cut out a little bit of silver scraps, collected and re-smelted, and a silver ingot can be made out of thin air.

In this time and space, and even in the next thousand years, silver can be described as the universal currency of the world. Whether it is the East or the West, or even South Asia, or even the new continent in the future, the liquidity of silver is better than that of gold.

After all, silver is silver, and it is a scarce metal, not as common as iron ore.

Therefore, at present, the most widely circulated currencies in the European world are silver coins and copper coins. Among them, the kingdom of Frank and Britain, silver coins are the most popular currency of the people. But the Frankish kingdom had its own royal mint, and they minted their own silver coins, in order to emphasize their uniqueness, character and taste different from Roman silver coins.

Silver is silver, and any blacksmith can melt it, separate the worthless lead from it, and cast the molten silver water twice. The blacksmiths with access to, imitated the stamps used by the Frankish royal family, stamped the silver coins minted privately with the appropriate patterns and inscriptions.

Silver coins are to be freely circulated, and they are not as hard as bronze and iron, and pure silver is relatively soft, so it is bound to face bad wear and tear during use.

If you want to maintain the color, that is, to maintain the silver content, of course, after melting it, add silver flakes to restore the silver content. Of course, there are also people who add lead in reverse thinking to maintain the weight, which leads to the increase in lead content in the silver coins that were issued early, and the fineness plummets.

Good traders can easily estimate its silver content - bite.

If you can bite out the teeth marks, it is a good-quality silver coin. Although the lead content in it is uneven, you will not suffer too much.

Europeans add lead to silver coins to make them shoddy, and Orientals have exactly the same routine, which leads to shopkeepers and shopkeepers who must be proficient in mathematics. European scales and eastern scales are also merchants. Necessary equipment.

In the Circum-Baltic region, silver coins from Rome and the Franks, as well as various copper coins, are the most commonly used currencies.

The amount of money is sufficient, there is no shortage of money in this area,

As the Danes looted the South and Britain intensified, more and more of the hot money they looted flowed into the region.

The Danes never tire of attacking the Frankish Empire and Britain, which had already been fully incorporated into the Frankish currency system.

Why?

One of the most obvious reasons is that merchants are not fools. Although they all use silver coins, they prefer whichever one adds less lead to it.

The Frankish Empire issued the latest minted silver coins at the beginning of the eighth century, more than ten years before Rurik was born. Its silver content is as high as 99%. Although the weight is much lighter than the Roman silver coins, the silver content is really high. .

In the twenty years since it was issued, the Frankish Empire and Britain, and even the surrounding Iberia and northern Italy, as well as the Swiss mountains and some West Slavic tribes, all powerful people among them understand the high silver content of the new Frankish silver coins.

Of course, in order to eliminate the wear and tear of the old silver coins, the merchants will inevitably add lead to them. Twenty years is too short, and the lifespan of silver coins generally does not reach the point where they need to be recast.

In Dane society, the common currency is gradually being monopolized by the Frankish currency. Although the Danes and the northern confederation of thinking sub-tribes, later known as the Swedes, had more of a conflicting relationship with each other, their day-to-day dealings persisted.

Merchants are in the Baltic Sea, they don't care which faction their customers belong to, they don't want to betray the silver coins.

Frankish silver coins are already affecting the society of the Sija tribe. Because the Rus tribe is too far north, their tribes mainly hoard Roman silver coins.

The Rus tribe had been aware of a new silver coin years ago that was lighter and better-finished than Roman silver.

Silver is silver, currency is made of silver, and coins delivered in commercial activities are settled according to the weight of silver. This is the only reason why all kinds of silver coins in the European world can be circulated.

As long as the Ross tribe wants to do business with the brothers in the south, the proportion of Frankish silver coins in the tribe's own money box will quietly rise. If there is no big accident, it will be a matter of time before the Frankish silver coin replaces the Roman silver coin.

In European macro trade, silver coins from Eastern Rome flowed into the Frankish Empire in large quantities, and the official mint of the Franks melted Roman silver coins and minted silver water into their own.

Maybe the Frankish Empire did not make a clear statement, they were trying to establish a Frankish Empire hegemony covering the whole of Europe, and their silver coins have spread rapidly throughout Europe.

With a bag of silver coins, Rurik happily returned to the longhouse. It didn't take much time for him to come and go, and as soon as he entered the door, he couldn't wait to announce a good news.

"I brought back all the silver coins! Come and share the money!" Rurik also deliberately showed his sackcloth pocket, and the clanging sound of metal collision attracted the intense attention of the priests.

If all the soap is sold, everyone gets a fortune. As long as everyone prepares the oil used in sacrifices in advance, all the excess oil is made into soap!

The priests knew very well that boiling oil was the key to everything. As for making the ash water, the child Rurik needed to give some guidance at this time.

They were happily boiling, as if their arm soreness had been relieved, they were in a good mood, and they were in a good mood when they saw Rurik's return.

"Rurik, you! You brought all the money back?" Bona hurried over, her face wrinkled with joy and unsightly wrinkles. starter

"Of course...of course."

For a time, Rurik actually felt fear. This group of priestesses, when they were doing the sacrificial ceremony, all acted slowly. When they heard the jingling of money, they all turned into hyenas eager to eat fresh meat, rushing over with a howl.

"Now it's your turn to fulfill your promise," said Bona urgently.

"Okay. It's just that you will come back later."

To ensure justice, Rurik placed all the silver coins in a ten-by-ten matrix on a leather mat.

Even in the daytime, the priest's house is still lit with oil lamps, and the lights shine on the silver coins, and the portrait of the Roman emperor on it really shines.

The expressions of the priests fully proved their emotional agitation. If it wasn't for reason to restrain their inner impulses, Rurik firmly believed that this group of priests would be hungry for food. For the ownership of silver coins, more than a dozen people would be beaten to death.

At the critical moment, Villa stood up to preside over the overall situation, and she was also shocked to see so many silver coins.

Why wasn't she shocked?

Because in the thinking sub-tribe society, each tribe regards animal skins as a very important value standard reference object for commodity transactions.

Scandinavia has long provided high-quality hides for people in the south. As the resources of the beasts withered, they had to raise cattle on some small plains, and some brave people went to remote places to hunt wild reindeer, and even more. Treasure small fur animals, such as ferrets, which are especially treasured.

They can't feed the cattle very large, so the product of the cut hide is not much different from that of an adult reindeer.

In the memory of High Priest Villa, when she was young, the cowhide and deerskin of her adult body was worth one Roman silver coin, but today the value is roughly the same, about one-fifth of the value of a Roman ounce of silver.

The one hundred silver coins Rurik displayed could buy one hundred cowhide or deerskin.

For example, a piece of cowhide can be made into a high-quality leather garment, as well as leather boots, gloves and hats.

Veria was supervising here, and the excited lower priests could only lick their faces and watch the distribution of Rurik's wealth when he sat down.

Twenty silver coins were picked out in full view, and then piled up in front of Villa.

"Grandma, count."

"Okay, my child."

The silver coins are so precious that even if Rurik seems to have distributed the amount to the priests, he can instantly tell with the naked eye, and Veria still needs to count them one by one.

According to the "employment contract", the priests should be paid so much, and how to allocate and use them is also their own business.

Rurik believed that they would take care of the silver coins according to the new rules they had just established, but those things were not very related to him.

The huge sum of the remaining eighty silver coins is his original silver capital.

It can be dangerous for a child to hold such a large sum of money.

Isn't it dangerous? There is a saying that ordinary people are innocent and guilty. A person who lacks the ability to protect his own property is a big fat sheep in the eyes of the strong.

He was only seven years old, and his personal safety actually depended on the protection of priests and parents. Today, the priests of the church make soap and develop a means of making money for the priests who are actually poor. In fact, they are also strategically tying their own safety with the rights and interests of the priests.

But will there be outlaws who loot their belongings? A child is hanging around with a heavy silver coin in his hand, and a good person can be malicious when he sees it. This is human nature.

The people of the Ross tribe are still simple, and they will definitely not risk the risk of being hunted down by the whole family to attack the son of the leader or the leader's home.

At least in the past few years, Rurik had never understood that there had been robbery cases within the tribe, at most trivial disputes. The elders coordinated, and the two sides bridged the conflict based on the relationship between each other's common ancestors.

Therefore, there are no legal provisions in the tribe, only some "rules" established by word of mouth.

Next, Rurik collected the money, which seemed to be the safest by far in his own money cabinet.

With the coin pocket hanging from his waist, Rurik continued to stay in the warm priesthood.

He looked into the eyes of Rumia, who was waiting, and instructed: "Go to herd, and drive the deer back when it is dark. You don't want anyone in the priest's house tonight, you follow me home, and I will arrange for you. Something. Well, something good."

"Okay, I'll go when I'm ready." Lumia nodded.

Deer, they are their own deer! Running away with a deer? That would be very stupid, and would die of starvation and cold.ァ新ヤ~⑧~1~中文网ωωω.χ~⒏~1zщ.còм

Rumia has found a new place for herself, and it's not bad to be Rurik's servant.

It was precisely because the deer herd belonged to Rumia, that the deer did not feel nervous when they saw their old master.

The herd of deer used to be a behemoth of three hundred individuals, but now it has shrunk to twenty. It is impossible for them to reproduce to the scale they once were in ten years!

While Rumia was driving the deer to peel off the snow and eat the grass, Rurik was like a soap production engineer.

Since the priests have the benefit and desire more, then continue to manufacture.

As long as the fat they hold can withstand consumption, wouldn't it be beautiful to turn it into soap?

But their situation was obviously a little worse. The key work of stirring the wooden stick to create the saponification reaction, their arms were sore, which could not be suppressed by willpower.

They boiled enough fat to make enough viscous soap to fill thirty-five wooden boxes.

Until evening, no one's work satisfied Rurik. What to do? Keep stirring!

Rumia has returned with the herd of deer. The big mouths of the deer have pushed through the thick snow, and one by one is the venison lawn mower. They gnawed a belly of hay and returned to their deer enclosures.

After an unknown amount of time, even Otto, who had eaten dinner, came to the longhouse to find out.

Otto reported to Vilia the huge cashback brought by the soap, and also brought strong demands from the tribe for more.

Silver coins are not a problem, everyone needs cash.

"I see that they are still making, and their condition is not very good." Otto asked worriedly: "Great priest, can they make thirty-five tomorrow?"

"This……"

Rurik was here, and Vilya had drawn the conclusion from him that the priests had limited power and that they needed a vacation.

She said in a hoarse voice: "My chief, you can ask your son, he understands everything. He wants to go home and sleep tonight."

"Okay." Otto nodded.

The son had been in the chief priest's house for some time, which was inappropriate.

Otto summoned his son, and immediately ordered a few words.

"Dad, I'll be back tonight. The priests will work a little longer so the soap can be poured into the molds and sold as a finished product by tomorrow evening. You can't be in a hurry, Dad."

"I try not to be in a hurry." Stroking his son's forehead, Otto really felt more comfortable. Not only because of his old age to have a son, and the reason why his son is a strange man.

The son washed his hair with soap, and his blond hair was as comfortable to touch as a golden ferret.

Of course, Otto and his wife, Niya, both washed their hair with soap today. Those who bought the soap finally enjoyed the long-awaited ultimate cleanliness today, shouting that the money was worth it.

In this way, for those clansmen who did not buy it, Otto came here to see his son, and secondly, to urge the goods.

Rurik couldn't help yawning, and he undid the pocket from his belt and put it in the palm of his father's large hand.

"Dad, it's all my money. For safety, they're all in our money box. I think it's the most appropriate."

"This... this is your money, maybe you need a money box of your own." Weighing his son's money bag with the palm of his hand, its weight surprised the old man.

"Oh? Is it?" Rurik pondered a little, he could have a piggy bank himself. "Okay, Dad, get me a money box, and I'll use it to save money later. But my own money box has to be in our house."

"Of course, my boy."

"Dad, I have to supervise their work for a while. When the soap is all poured in, a priest will escort me home. Now..." Rurik glanced at Rumia, "bring my servant back first. Go home. Dad, you have to tell mom that you must treat her well in the future and try to treat her as a daughter."

"Oh, is that right? Well, I'll try my best." Otto nodded again, and with his big hands, he tried to sit obediently with a pair of Rumia who didn't want to cause trouble. "Servant, come with me now."

Hearing this order, Rumia shivered subconsciously, and there was a strong sense of tension in her eyes.

"Dad! You want to call her Rumia! You want to be rude," Rurik protested.

"Okay, Rumia, come here." Otto tried to be gentle with a servant.

What else can Rumia do, now she can only be at the mercy of the villain who hurt her family. It would be fine if Rurik was by his side, but now I have to be at the mercy of this big villain?

Seeing her nervous face, Rurik made a funny color, and then gently comforted: "Don't be afraid, everyone knows that you are recognized by Odin and are our clansman. You go back first, and I will give it to you when I go back. A present for you."

a gift? Security is the best gift.

Rumia nodded in understanding, she followed closely behind Otto, walked out of the warm priest's longhouse, faced the cold outside, and walked quickly to the warmer chief's longhouse.

Maybe today I want to be the servant who pours wine, fuels wood and cleans up for the leader.

I hope Rurik, who will protect himself, will come back soon.