Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 229 Snake and Dragon

Back in Caen, Gunnar saw Robert and Enya off amidst his wife's resentful gaze. Watching the carriage gradually disappear into the distance, he felt uneasy, wondering if "Enya" could play the role of "princess" well.

Suddenly, a servant came to report that the King of Britain's envoy had arrived to discuss the ransom for the prisoners.

Gunnar received the other party in the castle hall, carefully checking the information on the roster, his mood growing increasingly agitated.

"I can't raise that much money."

The envoy had anticipated this, saying, "His Majesty has reminded us that you can use warhorses to settle the debt, three pounds of silver per horse, and the number of horses must not be less than three hundred."

After Ragnar's second invasion of West Francia, relations between the two countries completely broke down. Charles the Bald forbade nobles from smuggling warhorses and used this as a pretext to strip two barons of their lands.

Afterwards, Charles led his army to conquer Brittany again, killing almost all the resisting nobles, thus completely cutting off Britain's access to warhorses.

Upon hearing the terms, Gunnar considered refusing, but the messenger spoke up first, "On the way here, I spread the word in the towns along the way. The families of those prisoners of war have already heard the news. If you don't want to be harassed by them, you'd better pay the ransom as soon as possible. The prices for the eighty-two nobles are listed in the register, and the ransom for the ordinary soldiers is 0.5 pounds per person."

Ordinary soldier?
Gunnar stroked his chin, intending only to redeem the commoners of his own territory and leave the rest to fend for themselves.

After much deliberation, he agreed with the envoy to ransom the first batch of prisoners the following month. Before leaving, the envoy whispered, "Sir, have you considered resuming the smuggling of warhorses? The price is negotiable."

Gunnar shook his head violently. In recent years, "Bald" Charles's power had grown increasingly stronger, and he dared not offend him for such a small profit. Moreover, he still fantasized about reclaiming Britain and was unwilling to sell warhorses to allow Vig to build a large cavalry force.

"Really? That's a shame."

The envoy bowed and took his leave.

Time came to 859.

"It's raining again, are you trying to kill us?"

Having lived in Rendinium for over a month, Vig disliked the local damp and cold climate, the only advantage being that there was little snowfall and no frost.

After exercising for half an hour in the back garden, Vig ate a hasty breakfast and started work promptly at eight o'clock. Earning this little bit of family business was not easy, and he dared not slack off in the slightest.

He spent two hours reviewing documents in his office when Goodwin came to him with a briefing on the cabinet meeting—last month, Vig had specifically assigned a clerk to take written notes during the meeting.

After reading it from beginning to end, Vig rubbed his eyes wearily. "Why haven't the managers of the silver mine replied yet?"

As early as the Ragnar period, the royal family acquired three silver-producing mines, located as follows:
Derby, Nottinghamshire, has lead and zinc veins with associated silver.

Carrington, Cornwall, has copper and tin veins with associated silver.

In the northwestern Cumbria region (located in Derwent and a fiefdom of Ivar), lead mines are associated with silver.

During his time as Prime Minister, Wiegand reviewed the relevant data and converted it into modern units of measurement. The total annual output of the three silver mines was approximately 600 to 700 kilograms.

At the time, Vig suspected that mines in various regions were underreporting their output and planned to send people to investigate, but he resigned before the results were available.

After becoming king, he regarded the three silver mines as his own property, ordering all regions to quickly report their production and transport silver ingots, which were then produced into silver pennies by the royal mint.

Having experienced Viggo's style of doing things, Goodwin did not mince words: "There are major problems with the Derby silver mine. I recommend arresting the mine manager. The managers of the other two silver mines are slightly better off; they must have been delayed on the way."

My money!
Vig's anger suddenly flared.

"Alright, you handle this personally. If necessary, seek help from the standing army. I need to see the investigation results within half a month." After dismissing Goodwin, Vig continued to review various documents and accounts. In peacetime, the most crucial work was finance, and what he hated most was someone stealing money from his pocket.

On the eve of lunch, a guard announced that an envoy from the Kingdom of Norway was waiting.

"Let him in."

Soon, the envoy entered the room, looked at the man sitting behind the desk, wearing a black robe embroidered with gold dragons, and bowed respectfully.

"Did Eric need something from me?" Vig was in a hurry to eat and didn't bother with formalities.

"Well, he heard that you have ascended the throne and made a special trip to congratulate you with gifts."

The messenger took out a list from his robes: the gifts of white bear and white wolf skins were not valuable in price, but were of symbolic significance—since ascending the throne, Eric the Younger was the first monarch to acknowledge his rule.

"Thank you very much."

Suddenly, Vig remembered something. "Your king previously ordered three two-masted sailing ships from Tyneburg Shipyard, but that deal was canceled because I'm building a standing navy and the shipyard can't free up any other capacity."

How about this: I'll return the entire deposit, and in return, I'll gift little Eric two Kirk boats as a parting gift.

The envoy accepted the offer. Vig was currently in the limelight, and it was not advisable to cause trouble with him. Moreover, he would get two Kirk ships for free, and the king would not make things difficult for him when he returned.

In the afternoon, Vig was still processing documents when, after some time, a guard came to report that the Queen and the two princes' entourage had arrived on the outskirts of the city.

"Hiss, how could I have forgotten about that?" Vig summoned Utgard and ordered the Royal Guard to go and greet him.

Last month, Herigel wrote that they had almost emptied the entire Tyneburg this time, including luggage and most of the servants, totaling fifty supply wagons. Vig had even specially dispatched a company of rangers and an infantry battalion to meet them.

In the evening, Helijif stepped down from the carriage and looked around at the luxurious mansion before her. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She had always looked forward to moving into the palace, but given her husband's frugal nature, she figured that was unlikely in the near future.

After dinner, Vig returned to his office to work on documents, while Helgeve sent the two little ones to bed.

"Show me around," she said, as her maid led her around her new home. For a long time, the office on the second floor remained lit.

Upon entering, Helgef saw her husband sitting behind his desk, his chin resting on his hand, his gaze fixed on the bronze mirror, lost in thought.

Walking up behind him, she stroked her husband's soft hair and sighed softly, "Thinking back to the past, you argued with people many times, saying that your emblem was a dragon, not a snake, but everyone said it was a snake. This time when we came to Rendinium, I heard everyone mention you, and they all changed their tune, saying that you, the dragon of Asgard, have descended to earth and are destined to conquer everything. Haha, fate is just like that."

Gazing at his blurry reflection in the mirror, Vig remained calm and uttered a few words in Chinese, "A gentleman should possess the adaptability of a dragon or a snake." He then switched to Norse and said:

"Actually, it doesn't matter. I've taken it all in stride. Let them call me whatever they want. Snake or dragon, I started as a Nordic peasant. There's no point in arguing about that. The gods never stipulated that someone born a peasant must be a peasant for life."

Royal power is not sacred. Slaves can become emperors (Macrinus, the first Roman emperor of African descent, had been a slave, gladiator, soldier, and Praetorian Guard commander before ascending the throne in 217 AD), wandering knights can become emperors, and even sandal vendors can become emperors. Ultimately, emperors and kings are those with the strongest armies. The so-called 'sacred and inviolable power of the monarchy' is merely a lie used by the nobility and the church to deceive the common people.

“You haven’t changed at all over the years,” Harriet was already used to her husband’s outrageous remarks.

She leaned down, her soft arms wrapping around her husband from behind, half her body resting on his back, thinking to herself:
"Perhaps knowledge is a curse; the more you know, the lonelier and more troubled you become. Vig is like that, and so am I. I've been a loner since childhood, to the point that I couldn't find any playmates and was often nagged by my parents."

With his knowledge and intelligence, it's fortunate he married me; sometimes we can even have a conversation. If it were someone like Asura, an ignorant and incompetent person who only knows how to chop people up with an axe, we probably wouldn't even be able to exchange a word.

(End of this chapter)