Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 156 The wind started at the end of Qingping

The excitement continued until September, when the first football league crowned its inaugural champion – Stirling.

Vig was not surprised. This team was entirely composed of iron ore miners, and their cohesion and organization far surpassed that of other teams. They led their opponents by a large margin in every game. If things continued like this, they would probably be the champions for the next few years.

Under the watchful eyes of the entire audience, Vig awarded a bounty of 1.5 pounds of silver to each of the sixteen men (eleven players, four substitutes, and the mine manager, Kaiser, who also served as a part-time coach). This bounty, when converted into grain, was enough to feed the players for twenty or thirty years.

In addition, the winning team receives a silver trophy plated with gold, with the team's name and the year of victory engraved on the trophy.

As a symbol of the champion, the trophy is enshrined in a temple in Stirlingshire for one year, and will be handed over to the next champion the following year.

Handing the heavy trophy to the young men, Vig turned and left, letting the winners bask in the cheers of the crowd.

Feeling the enthusiastic atmosphere, he breathed a sigh of relief. Although the rebellion had been quelled, the wounds in the hearts of the people would take a long time to heal, and he hoped that competitive sports and theater could speed up this process.

In terms of drama, Vigé didn't have time to create on his own, so he referenced many later literary works and some video game plots. The public today has limited knowledge, and these materials will keep them occupied for a long time.

In October, Vig traveled to Lundinium to meet the King without any mishaps.

The only interesting thing is that, in order to win favor, the Berber merchant guild presented Ragnar with a eunuch from the Eastern Roman Empire named Paffeus.

Among all groups, eunuchs posed the least threat to royal power and were more likely to gain the monarch's trust. With his exceptional ability to read people, Paffeus quickly established himself in the palace, becoming a trusted deputy chief steward.

Vig, well-versed in history, remained remarkably calm in response, unlike the boisterous Viking nobles who acted as if they had discovered some exotic creature.

For a long time, the Eastern Roman Empire continued the tradition of using eunuchs, producing many powerful eunuchs, including a distinguished general, Narcissus (480-574 AD).

Among the books in Tyneburg’s collection, there is a parchment dedicated to recording his life, with a focus on the war to recapture Italy.

In the decisive battle against the Ostrogoths, Narses employed a groundbreaking tactic. Facing the exceptionally skilled Gothic cavalry, Narses dismounted his own cavalry and formed a phalanx of spears. He then used a large number of elite archers to unleash a hail of arrows, defeating the Ostrogothic king Totila.

"To defeat cavalry with infantry is truly remarkable. Perhaps the Battle of Crécy and the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years' War between England and France were influenced by Narses."

After the audience, Vig returned to his own territory. According to reports from his officials, the Nordic countries had recently seen a significant increase in pig iron imports, more than doubling the usual amount, and demand for commodities such as grain and tar had also risen accordingly.

So many? Are we preparing for war?

With frequent storms in the North Sea, Vig risked sending an envoy to Bergen to find out information from young Eric.

More than two weeks later, the messenger returned with Eric's reply:

Over the course of nearly six months, Hafdan successively annexed five settlements around Gothenburg. The nobles in the Swedish region were greatly alarmed and sought help from King Eric in the west, requesting that he also assume the title of King of Sweden.

Normally, this would have been a welcome opportunity, but now Eric flatly refused. He couldn't fathom Ragnar's intentions and, fearing to offend him, offered only a small amount of funding, allowing the nobles to purchase ironware at a lower price.

As for Eric Jr. himself, he chose to wait and see; the fiercer the war, the easier it would be to do business. He advised Viggo to focus on making money and not get involved in this muddled war. "We finally had a few days of peace, and now things are in chaos again. Hopefully, this war won't spread to Britain."

The turbulent situation in Northern Europe has led to a significant increase in immigration. By the end of the year, the population of Tyne County had expanded to 45,000, with the number of townspeople reaching 5,000.

In terms of finances, revenue increased to £2,400 in 852, mainly for two reasons.

First, agricultural tax. As each year's graduates entered the administrative system and governance capabilities gradually improved, a total of eight hundred pounds of agricultural tax was collected from the North.

Second, the development of Greenland. Locally produced furs, animal fats, and walrus ivory were transported to Tyne, where artisans crafted them into various products such as leather coats, soft hats, boots, whale oil soap, and jewelry, greatly boosting the market.

On the return journey, the Kirk boats were fully loaded with ironware, wool, beer, and honeycomb briquettes, which were supplied to company employees and surrounding tribes, attracting more and more indigenous people to join the economic cycle with the outside world.

After settling the income, Vig turned his attention to the expenses.

Thanks to the suppression of the rebellion, military spending was reduced slightly, and total expenditure in 852 increased only slightly, reaching 1,500 pounds. In addition, he secretly allocated 600 pounds to produce cloth armor to cope with the increasingly turbulent situation.

Armor production is on track, but the problem of warhorses continues to plague Vig. The horse farm on the west side of Tyne has three hundred Frankish horses, of which about two hundred are available for riding in battle.

Logically, he could spend money to buy more warhorses, given the ample supply on the market. But the problem isn't money; it's the political implications that need to be considered.

Britain's warhorses came from a single source, with nearly 80% coming from the Dukes of Normandy, making it easy for the royal family to estimate the number of warhorses held by various British noble families.

For example, the dukes of Ethelwolf and Theowough, who were not Vikings and whose identities were somewhat ambiguous, kept their horse herds at around two hundred horses each to avoid royal suspicion. Besides Gunnar, Vig possessed the largest number of warhorses; further expansion of the herd could very likely trigger unfavorable speculation.

"The number of armors is easy to conceal. I have now moved the artisans who make cloth armor to a remote corner, and we keep the production and storage strictly confidential. Unfortunately, warhorses cannot do this."

Out of caution, Vig resisted the idea of ​​purchasing warhorses in bulk and instead diverted those resources to armor production.

Before they knew it, the peaceful and leisurely winter came to an end, and it was spring of 853.

The storm in the North Sea gradually subsided, and shipping routes between Northern Europe and Britain reopened. Vig received news from Sweden, and the result was unexpected:

The situation was critical. Nobles throughout Sweden abandoned their last shred of hope and formed a siege network against Hafdan, working together to confront the Sword of North.

For a period of time afterward, the nobles used their savings to buy cheap armor and weapons from Norway, which rapidly increased their combat strength.

In contrast, the Sword of Nors expanded to 1,800 members. The Bearskin Berserkers and Wolfskin Berserkers were powerful, but their numbers were too small, with over 90% being inexperienced trainees.

After several small-scale skirmishes during the winter, the number of elite troops in the Sword of North dwindled, and their combat effectiveness declined rapidly.

When the temperature warmed up, the two sides clashed in a major battle near Kalmar. Facing a coalition army of over three thousand men, Hafdan was defeated once again and had no choice but to retreat to Gothenburg, sending envoys to Rendenium for help.

(End of this chapter)