Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 46 Wealth
As 150 soldiers from three turtle ships surged onto the city walls, the defenders completely lost hope of turning the tide. In less than half an hour, the remaining soldiers were forced to lay down their weapons and surrender.

Upon arriving at the Lord's Hall, Vig found Ivar removing his armor and bandaging a wound on his left shoulder.

"Damn Sven, he ambushed me with a squad of heavy crossbowmen. Do you have any information about him? I'm going to use his skull as a drinking bowl."

"They escaped." In front of the many soldiers, Vig recounted the experience with a gloomy face, and the hall was immediately filled with laughter from the crowd.

“This man is worthy of being called a king? Hiss,” Ivar’s thick eyebrows furrowed as he continued to treat his left shoulder injury, aggravated by the movement.

In the afternoon, Ivar summoned two thousand residents and more than a thousand warriors. He and Vig walked side by side onto the second-floor balcony to declare their status as rulers of the town.

"Who is in favor? Who is against?"

No one dared to question it. The faint sobs of women and children could be heard from the crowd. Ivar had no time to pay attention to the wailing of the defeated and signaled his men to pile the looted treasure in front of the hall.

Before dividing the spoils, he grabbed Vig's arm and said, "The person we should thank most for this battle is Vig Hackenson. His warships and strategies saved the lives of many warriors and helped us capture Dufielin ahead of schedule. Odin above, may his deeds be known far and wide until the end of the world."

Led by Ivar, thousands of people chanted Vig's name in unison.

"The Serpent of the North!"

"The Serpent of the North!"

"The Chosen One!"

"The Serpent of the North".

Cheers resounded from all directions, and the nickname "Serpent of the North" clearly overshadowed "Chosen One." Obviously, the general public regarded the five-clawed golden dragon on the banner as a strange serpent.

Suppressing his urge to complain, Vig participated in the money-sharing session led by Ivar, with the following proportions:
The warriors received 50.50%, Ivar and Vig each received 10.50%, and the remaining 10.50 was divided between the two noble families, Mancini and Lancaster.

“My dearest brother, you choose first.”

"Are you sure?" After a few seconds of eye contact, realizing that Ivar wasn't joking, Vig climbed over the railing and jumped from the second-floor balcony to the ground to select his spoils.

Despite Tyneburg's dire need for manpower, he had no intention of taking the slaves back with him, as their loyalty was questionable and they were like a ticking time bomb.

After a moment's thought, he selected two sapphire and gold brooches. Nowadays, British nobles liked to wear such ornaments on their chests, and he and Helgeve should also have a decent brooch, so as not to lose face in public.

The next moment, someone loudly reminded him: "A total of ten pounds of silver, you still have a quota of two hundred and thirty pounds of silver."

In the next few minutes, Viggo demanded 150 pounds of silver, 50 sets of damaged iron armor, three intact heavy crossbows, 60 light crossbows, and all the Latin books.

After confirming that the inventory was correct, he instructed his men to load the spoils onto the carriages and watched with great interest as the others made their choices.

For ordinary raiders, the most sought-after items were armor, iron swords, silver coins, and jewelry; spirits and slaves were in the second tier, and cloth and iron tools were in the third. Grain and livestock were difficult to carry and therefore the least popular.

As dusk approached, most people were satisfied, and under Ivar's hospitable hospitality, the entire town descended into a three-day celebration. That night, Ivar got completely drunk, repeatedly patting Vig on the shoulder, "You've done me a great favor this time. Remember to ask for my help when you attack the Picts."

"It is expected to take another two years."

In Vig's view, attacking the north was not particularly difficult; the key lay in how to govern this unfamiliar land. If handled improperly, it could easily lead to a protracted counterinsurgency war.

After careful consideration, he planned to first train a group of officials who were literate and capable of arithmetic, and then consider sending troops north once he was fully prepared.

After the banquet, Viggo's fleet sailed north along the coastline. During the voyage, he overheard a sailor mention "Giant's Causeway" and immediately became interested.

Where is this natural wonder located?

A tall, young pirate replied, "It will take another half a day to sail north."

As dusk fell, the fleet arrived at a desolate and strange beach. The tide was receding, and jagged gray stone pillars gradually emerged from the receding water, their hexagonal facets gleaming with a bronze luster in the setting sun.

These stone pillars, each over ten meters high, are arranged so neatly that they form a seawall stretching for several kilometers, as if meticulously carved by a giant with an axe.

"By the gods above!" The crew members jumped off the ship, some drawing short axes and hacking at the stone edges, leaving only whitish scratches where sparks flew. After a brief discussion, they all agreed that this spectacle was the work of a giant.

As time passed, the tide receded further, revealing more stone pillars slumbering beneath the sea. Suddenly, Yoren pointed to the horizon:
"Look! These stone pillars lead to the sea!" Indeed, tens of thousands of stone pillars are visible, as if a bridge to Jotunheim is emerging from the water.

(Jotunheim, one of the Nine Realms in Norse mythology, is a desolate and cold place inhabited by frost giants and mountain giants.)
Compared to the others, Vig remained calm. Later geographers explained that these basalt columns had nothing to do with giants, but were formed by the cooling and solidification of volcanic lava, dating back tens of millions of years.

"Hey, have you guys seen enough? Let's find a place to camp and cross the sea tomorrow morning."

After landing at the mouth of the Derwent River, Vig spent three days traveling and returned to his territory in late May.

Looking at the dragon flag fluttering in the wind above Tyneburg, Vig finally put his worries aside. When he was away from home, his biggest fear was that his own territory would be looted.

"My dear, are you back?"

Heligef was reading on the wall, enjoying the warm sunshine. When she saw her husband, she dropped her book and rushed to greet him, even losing a shoe in her haste.

The woman ran and threw herself into Vig's arms, who casually ruffled her long, dark chestnut hair a few times. "How's the situation in the territory?"

"The summer grain harvest went smoothly, and we have successively received two groups of Viking farmers, totaling 105 households."

Taking the sapphire brooch from her husband, Helgeve wore it on her chest: "The heavy iron plow is much faster and deeper than the light wooden plow, and it is enthusiastically sought after by gentry and small landowners. I allowed them to make imitations on the condition that one-third of their land be allocated to implement the three-field system. Nearly half of them refused and preferred to use the original wooden plow."

"No rush. Once the oats and peas are harvested in the fall, they will naturally realize the advantages of the three-field system."

The territory was running smoothly, and Vig and his wife enjoyed a rare period of peace until June when they encountered a new problem.

(End of this chapter)