king of ros

Chapter 345 Pagan Riga
In February 1067, a ship from afar came to Riga and sailed into this prosperous northern port. Riga has become more and more prosperous in recent years. Ships from all over the Baltic Sea have come here, and the flow of goods in the city has continued to increase.

Riga's role in the Baltic trade was also rising, and the city's merchant fleet grew in size.

And next, Edward Wessex set foot on this land and returned to the north.

The ship came from far away England, and it crossed the North Sea with the Norwegian fleet returning from England's defeat.

Although Edward Wessex played a key role in defeating the Norwegian army at Stamford Bridge and injured the king, Harald still let the man who injured him leave with the fleet. People are not malicious.

At that time Edward and his wife and daughter hurried to the Norwegian berth and asked Harald to take them away.

Seeing this, Harald agreed, and the King of Norway didn't mind helping the in-law.As for the matter of stabbing himself, it really wasn't a problem. Harald didn't care about such things, and he would never hold grudges because of these things.

It's normal for you to kill me and kill you on the battlefield. These are very common times, and even Harald has to thank Edward for his mercy, otherwise he must have died there.

As for what trouble Edward got into, Harald didn't care at all, and no one could embarrass the King of Norway
This is true even if he has already been defeated. If His Majesty is unhappy, he can invade again. North's hometown is full of warriors eager for spoils. Whether it is the Anglo-Saxons or the Normans, they have to appease the king.

Not long after Edward came, there were indeed two English nobles who came to the door with a large number of Thain. They were the rulers of Northern England, the Earl of Mercia and the Earl of Northumbria. Come to them, but Edward firmly refuses.

It is impossible for them to forcefully pull people. Harald is here, and there is no pressure to deter these two useless Norwegian kings. Harold sent troops to rescue these two guys. These two guys even sent troops south. No, Harald despised them both from the bottom of his heart.

There is no doubt that these two people were quickly driven away by Harald directly, and they did not dare to do anything to the King of Norway. These two people still remember how Harald destroyed their army, if it was not for Harald If they come to the rescue, they will be finished, and they can only leave in despair.

After the two men left, the King of Norway understood the ins and outs of the matter.

After Edward left the battlefield of Hastings, he immediately went to pick up his son, but he did not expect the reaction of those Anglo-Saxon dignitaries to be even quicker.

After judging that he was dead, he put the crown on his son Edgar directly in accordance with the order of succession to the throne, making him the new King of England.

As for why it was his son and not Harold's son, because those boys had already fled to Ireland for the first time, obviously it seemed that the throne of England was a hot potato.

For this reason, Edward was forced to go to London, so when the dead Edward appeared, the local dignitaries were naturally panicked, but then there was a surprise. Under the current difficult situation, it is naturally better for an adult prince to be the king.

But Edward's thoughts were completely opposite to theirs. He didn't intend to stay on this land, and came to London just for his son.

It's just that after that, he never thought that his son would actually say that he wanted to be the king.

The meaning expressed by this kid was very firm, and those Anglo-Saxon dignitaries also firmly supported him. Edward naturally made a big fuss about this, and these guys just carried his son to death!

But in private, these Anglo-Saxon nobles told Edward their thoughts, and they didn't plan to keep the crown for long. He planned to give the crown to William in exchange for William's protection.

William would not do anything to them out of reputation considerations, let alone little Edgar.

After all, it was the Godwin family that was hostile to William, not the Wessex family. William's throne came from the confessor. If he persecuted members of the Wessex family, he would be shaking his own legitimacy.

England would rise up against the Normans sooner or later, when they escorted the King of Wessex home so that the throne would once again belong to the House of Wessex.

Edward thought about this idea for a while, well, as they said, this matter is quite operable, and if it doesn't work out, it can really keep the throne of Wessex.

Seeing that Edward was already moved, they also mentioned that there are many opponents of the Normans on the European continent, many forces in France are ready to move, and the King of France, the opportunity will come sooner or later.

When they arrived here, these nobles persuaded Edward to stay, but Edward didn't accept the offer at all. He didn't want to stay here to be some kind of king, and wanted to go to Eastern Europe to live a stable life.

To be honest, the analysis of these nobles is indeed very appropriate. The external environment of the Duchy of Normandy is so bad. After all, there are enemies and hidden mines everywhere.

But what they never imagined was that under the pressure of so many forces, William could still suppress and massacre in England with one hand, expand his power in France and beat the King of France with the other hand... History is so illogical.

However, the main reason for Edward to give up taking little Edward was the child's own will. Obviously, the child thought this was an opportunity, a chance to become the king of England.

And even if he can't become the king of England, he can be an English lord at worst. After all, William's legitimacy comes from Wessex, so even if members of Wessex participate in the rebellion, he is unlikely to be against Wessex. The people of the Si family did it - and it is true in history.

This kid doesn't like Eastern Europe. He thinks it is too barbaric there. He wants to stay in England no matter what. Although he is young in this regard, he is very determined.

Seeing this, Edward didn't say much, since the child has chosen his own path, let him go, not to mention that his path is quite operational.

Although Edward himself is indifferent to these matters, he still hopes that future generations will live a better life and achieve a higher status.

Therefore, since Edgar chooses, let him go. It is also a good thing to return the throne of England to the Wessex family, so that he will not have to meet his ancestors in the future.

His eldest daughter Margaret also chose to stay in England because she had to take care of her younger brother.

Edward also agrees with this, the sons and daughters choose the road, so let's go, so his wife and second daughter followed Edward to leave.

But what Edward didn't expect was that the two trash from Northern England would chase them all the way. The idea of ​​these two guys was very simple, they just wanted to have more bargaining chips in their hands. How could an adult and experienced Wessex They are stronger than that kid.

Moreover, the selfishness of the two, Edward knew with his toes, the king in northern England must be better than the king in London, and the two brothers had no influence in London.

There is no way, Edward can only go to King Harald of Norway, who is enough to deter these two wastes. The remnants of Norway have not left England yet, and they are still preparing to leave.

Facts proved that his choice was correct. Even if he was injured and could only lie on the bed, Harald deterred the two great English nobles and told them to roll aside, and the two could only leave in despair.

Harald was also quite emotional after learning about Edward's experience. His experience was really full of ups and downs. It would be the same for an adventurer like himself, but for a person like Edward who yearns for stability in his bones, this is too tortured. up.

Then Edward set sail with Harald's fleet and crossed the North Sea.

After following the Norwegian fleet and leaving England full of strife and war, Edward found another ship between the mountains and valleys of Norway. This ship was the product of Harald's personal care. The king of Norway was afraid that Edward would board some pirate ship. The whole family was killed at sea.

Then Edward crossed the strait and entered the Baltic Sea. After entering this ocean, he soon came to Riga, an important city on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

Riga is a city vassaled by Rostislav, and the ruler of the city, the leader of the Joms warband, is also someone he knows, so Edward chose to go to this place.

Over the years, Riga has also continued to prosper, especially after the sphere of influence was divided with Polotsk, the safer city naturally led to more population.

Today's Riga has become a city with a population of [-], and it already belongs to the ranks of big cities on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

Its main residents are Norse people. The constant wars between Denmark and Norway over the years have caused many Norse people to leave their hometowns in search of a safe place, and Riga is one of their choices.

The Norse people have always had a tradition of foreign immigration, and Riga, a prosperous city, has naturally benefited from a large number of immigrants.

And as the Norse countries converted to Christ one after another, the pagans all over the Norse had to find new places to go, and Riga was a good choice.

Moreover, Riga has also completely unified the forces of the Baltic Norse people. The islands along the coast of Estonia have surrendered to Riga, and the Norse settlements on this land are now under the orders of Riga.

The prestige of the Jomus Warband is also growing stronger. This ancient pagan warband is being restored to its former glory and has become a major force in the Baltic Sea.

In Edward's eyes, Riga is undoubtedly a typical pagan ship fortress. Pagans, which are already rare in England, are everywhere on the streets. People fight, swear and trade in the name of Odin and Thor.

The statues of Odin and Thor stood on the side of the road like this, merchants traded under these pagan gods, and pedestrians turned a blind eye to the existence of these gods.

However, there are still traces of Christianity in this city. German businessmen who often settled in Riga established residential areas and established Catholic churches.They are also working hard to preach to the pagans in Riga, but unfortunately they have basically failed to achieve success. There are many stubborn pagans in the local area.

The Russians also have residential areas. They are basically merchants from Novgorod. They also built Orthodox churches, but they basically do not preach.

The enthusiasm of the local residents for paganism can be seen from the recent construction of the Temple of the Gods. Edward saw the scale of the construction site and knew that when this building was completed, there would be another holy place for the northern pagans.

I just don't know why the temple is currently closed, and there is no worker on the construction site.

Edward didn't spend too much experience on these things. He went straight to the ruler of Riga, the leader of the Joms Warband, Thorgill. Because of the token given by Harald, it was still easy for him to meet Thorgill. thing.

Sogier has not changed much over the years. To put it bluntly, his hair is more vigorous, his body is stronger, and he looks more charismatic. He is quite enthusiastic about Edward's visit. It is rare to see people who used to fight side by side.

It has been a long time since Sogil has seen anyone from the Moscow court. After all, he has been working here for a long time.

However, the leader of the Joms Chapter didn't spend too much time on Edward. He still had a problem to deal with, and this problem came from Polotsk.

Everyone knows the news of Polotsk’s recent mobilization of the army, but for Riga, it doesn’t fully believe in the attack on Lithuania in Vseslav’s mouth. previous convictions.

Riga was once massacred like this. In the end, Polotsk paid some money symbolically, and Riga could only swallow the broken teeth in his stomach.

Therefore, for all the movements of Polotsk, Riga will think that it is aimed at them.

Therefore, vigilance is always the highest, and because of this vigilance, Riga avoided many attacks from Polotsk.

So Riga is now in a state of emergency preparations to deal with all possible emergencies. The Yoms battle group has been mobilized, and the fighters of Odin and Sol are ready to fight.

As for the temple dedicated to the gods, it is actually in a state of suspension. There is no manpower to repair it now. When the current crisis is over, there will be more time to repair it.

As for Edward, after exchanging pleasantries and talking about his experiences over the years, Sogier arranged for Edward to go to Rose with a team to escort him back to Rose.

In this way, Edward embarked on the road to Ross.

Walking on this road, Edward couldn't help but feel that his mood became more and more relaxed. He had stayed in many places for decades, but Rose made him the most comfortable.

Here he has territory, he has things to do, and he has wars to fight, instead of being raised like a disabled person.

After experiencing the pain of being a puppet king this time, Edward yearned for the life of the Northeast Ross nobles more and more, which was much better than being a king.

The Riga team moved quickly, and it didn't take long for them to enter the territory of Novgorod.

And this team is very capable, even with Edward's followers, there are only 30 people.

Everyone is a warrior in armor, presumably because of this reason, there are no unsightly tribes on the road to rob.

Edward has felt the feeling of being spied on many times, but the fact that there has been no attack is proof.

Although he said that he did not encounter any attackers, Edward never expected that they would encounter an army.

At that time, Edward and the others were walking on a dirt road in the forest. This kind of road belonged to the kind that only the locals and businessmen who often came and went on this road knew.

This kind of road is generally very quiet, because there are not many people coming and going, and it is also because of this that Edward and the others were able to notice the movement of the army advancing from afar so quickly.

After confirming that the army was moving, Edward and the others immediately hid in the dense forest beside the road.

Walking on such a trail has always been an unspoken rule. If you find any big team coming from the opposite side, your first action should be to hide to confirm its identity.

Because the large team advancing on such a road probably does not want to be discovered, so for the sake of life, let's hide honestly.

Otherwise, if the body is thrown into the forest after death, then there will be no proof of death.

It's just that what everyone didn't expect was that what they saw next was a real army.

Not long after hiding, a large number of scouts ran across the road they had walked, and after a while, groups of soldiers appeared in front of them.

These warriors were quietly advancing along the trail in the forest. Their weapons and armor were uneven, ranging from iron armor to armed uniforms. However, their identity as Ross could be seen from their faces and the occasional words that sounded in the team.

These are very orderly, they advance in an orderly manner under the restraint of the officers, and there are basically no stragglers.

"Damn it, it's from Polotsk, and I knew they were up to no good."

Just as Edward was guessing the origin of this team, the whispered scolding of the Norse people around him caught his attention.

"People from Polotsk? What do you say?"

Of course Edward was curious about this, how they could tell at a glance that this was a person from Polotsk.

"We have never fought many people from Polotsk. I have long remembered their appearance, and judging by the appearance of these guys, they are still the elite of Polotsk."

The man said as a matter of course, indeed, they have been fighting a lot in Polotsk, and they have been familiar with each other for a long time.

And these words made Edward nervous. Why did the Principality of Polotsk mobilize so many troops to advance on the small road in Novgorod?
When thinking of this question, Edward also realized the key to the problem, what else could such an army appear for.Thinking of this, Edward looked in the direction they were heading, um, yes, this direction is the north, the direction of Novgorod.

It seems that I came back at the right time, and I had to go to the battlefield again when I came here.

Edward thought this way, as a person who had been a king, he basically knew what was going to happen next.

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Polotsk's army finally disappeared. After waiting for a while, everyone moved.

They accelerated their progress, because everyone knew that the news had to be brought to Rostislav as soon as possible, something big was going to happen in the North!
--------

(End of this chapter)