The Rise of Rurik

When spring returns to Scandinavia, the “trade season” of the year begins again, and of course, trade often comes with conflict. Those longships that disappeared in the bays suddenly reappear. The Danes and Norwegians once again explore towards Britain, or head south along the coastline.

The various tribes of Scandinavia, in addition to the inevitable conflicts with the Danes at sea, began to engage in regular trade with the Slavic peoples across the sea. The Rus tribe here does the same, trading with their southern relatives and also doing business with the more southerly Slavs. The only difference is that the Rus tribe has mastered the secret route of a waterway deep inland.

It’s a long voyage; last autumn’s Sogon voyage encountered an attack by the Gotlanders, making what was once a safe route now fraught with danger. Nevertheless, as long as the army is arrayed and the battle axes keep banging on shields, the formidable aura can make the locals of Novgorod obediently hand over their treasures.

In fact, if they were a tribe with strong combat capabilities, the Rus would trade peacefully with them, striving to avoid conflict. But those people are wealthy yet weak, and in the lawless 9th-century Baltic region, might makes right! They don’t even consider plundering a sin.

In early May of 822 AD, the spring Sogon voyage is launched again under the leadership of the chieftain Otto, this time the fleet cleverly skirts the coast of the Finn territory, slipping to the mouth of the Neva River, and then the path ahead is clear. The tribute demanded by Otto, the Svegs are as cowardly as ever. At least that’s what Otto thinks.

The obsequiousness of the Svegs delights Otto and his warriors. In a moment of generosity, Otto for the first time gifts each of the few family chiefs a small piece of amber, a token of reward. Could this small piece of amber signify a subtle change in the relationship between the Rus and the Svegs of Novgorod? Maybe, maybe not. Otto simply out of his own pleasure, gave the commonly seen amber in Scandinavia to a few family chiefs. But for the Svegs, this might be the start of a thaw in their relationship with the Rus after their encounter.

As early as 754 AD, explorers of the Rus tribe found the mouth of the Neva River to the west. The place was desolate, with thatch under the snow. Bears and deer roamed here, and their fur might be the only value of the place. But as they found the river leading inland, a warm land unfolded before them. They went upstream, initially trading with the huge village of Novgorod, until they realized that the people there were not excellent warriors, and malicious ideas arose.

In the first few years, the trade between the two tribes was normal, until Otto’s grandfather’s time, when they began to trade with swords. If they could physically force them to hand over wealth, it was a very profitable business. After all, the Rus tribe didn’t want to occupy the land of the Svegs; just take enough treasure and then leave in their dragon-headed warships.

In 822 AD, both Sogon voyages were successful. The situation remained the same in 823 AD. Otto was pleasantly surprised to find that by symbolically giving some amber, the Svegs would happily bring out many treasures. This was completely different from the previous normal trade and the profitless plundering. The tribe only needed to symbolically offer something insignificant, and the Svegs would generously bring out treasures.

Novgorod is a huge settlement, a small city surrounded by many villages. Its dominance is by several families in the city, with the rest of the small villages being vassals of Novgorod. The population of the entire area has exceeded two hundred thousand, the land there is at least more fertile, and the climate is milder. They can produce more wealth, and actively trade with other Sveg tribes in the south. Every year a large amount of wealth from Novgorod flows into the pockets of the Rus tribe, with a population of less than eight thousand.

Now, as long as they don’t clash with the Danes, under the leadership of Chief Otto, the wealth of the Rus tribe keeps expanding, right? Otto returns triumphantly with a large amount of treasure, once again becoming a hero of the tribe. The whole tribe is full of confidence in surviving another winter.

Liu Li is already two years old, and he has to accept his unique identity as Rurik. “Rurik, Rus. Damn, am I destined to lead these Vikings to Eastern Europe to establish Kievan Rus?” “Is that possible? Look at these people, they are Vikings! Aren’t they supposed to plunder England?” “Damn, they actually named me Rurik.”

Inside the frail body of two-year-old Rurik, there resides a true adult. Over the past two years, he has basically figured out where he is, realizing the fact that he is a Viking. Liu Li knows little about the historical development of Russia and the concept of Vikings, which he imagines as a group of sea madmen with horned helmets, round shields, and battle axes. Vikings, they seem to be a group of pirates who do all kinds of evil. But the reality completely overturned Liu Li’s imagination.

His tribe, known as “Rus,” means “rowers.” He estimates that the tribe has only one city-state, Rusburg, and guesses that the population of the settlement is not large. They don’t have any horned helmets, but they do have a large number of leather and iron helmets with eye and nose protection. The classic dragon-headed warships, forest axes, and painted round shields are real. And the most real thing is probably their food.

Over the past two years, Liu Li was weaned early. He felt that he had to eat meat before he was one year old. In the following days, only occasionally could he eat not-so-good-tasting bread. Most of the time, the food he could eat was various meats. Yes, various meats, and those not carefully cooked.

He saw the tribe’s fishermen hunting seals in the Baltic Sea, casting nets for herring, fishing for cod, even shark fishing. Perhaps it’s the land here that’s too barren, people’s food mainly depends on marine fishing, and trade with southerners for cattle and sheep. As one of them, Liu Li also had to eat the same meals as them.

A sheep, its skin peeled off for clothing, its meat completely eaten, followed by almost all of its organs, and even its bones could be further utilized. The taste of the food is quite crazy, but the extremely young Liu Li had no choice but to eat these strangely flavored meats, even shark meat.

Historically, Rurik will establish a Slavic state in Eastern Europe and name it Rus. Moreover, Rurik was invited by the locals to be a prince. Liu Li finds it absurd, but his name does sound undoubtedly “Rurik,” and “Rus” is indeed the name of his tribe. He is happy that his biological father, the son of the tribe chief, is a very strong white man, albeit always emitting an annoying smell. But he should be a qualified father, as his birth mother Nia said, the biological father is also a qualified chief.

The entire tribe respects his biological father, and they are already in awe of him, an infant. The situation is not just because he is the offspring of the chief, but because of a prophecy from the tribal elders — the chief’s son will bring prosperity to the tribe.

“Well, I don’t know what kind of life historical Rurik should have. If my destiny is to become a chief in the future, leading them to collectively migrate to the vast plains of Eastern Europe, they can indeed prosper. But by then, their descendants will no longer be Vikings.”

All of Liu Li’s thoughts are hidden in his heart.