Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 31 Procurement
After dividing the spoils, King Eric began building ships. More than 800 Vikings took their wealth with him and returned to Northern Europe, while the remaining 1,200 chose to settle in Britain.

After bidding farewell to his comrades, Ragnar persuaded the nobles to stay in York for the winter.

"There are only 1,200 people in total. The number is too small and far from enough to control this vast territory. Rushing to disperse will only make us weaker."

“Your Majesty is right.” With most of his men having returned to Northern Europe, Leonard was left with only eighty men. He would never be so foolish as to take over Mancuni with just these few.

Besides him, the other nobles shared the same idea, planning to wait until the following spring when a large number of Viking immigrants would flood into Britain, at which time they would take over their respective fiefdoms.

Having reached a consensus, Ragnar ordered the city's defenses to be repaired and the order around York to be restored. Hearing that Prince Ella had formed an army in the south, he personally led eight hundred warriors to attack him.

Faced with this poorly equipped and demoralized force, Ragnar undoubtedly achieved a great victory, barely escaping with Prince Ella's life.

Watching the prince flee on horseback, Ragnar wanted to mock his disheveled state, but as the words were about to come out, a strange premonition suddenly arose in his heart, as if this man would cause him great trouble in the future.

For this reason, Ragnar relentlessly pursued his opponent for over a month. As the leaves turned yellow, Ella received less and less support and eventually fled into Mercia.

When the first snow fell, Ragnar led his troops back to York. During this precious free time, he began to learn Anglo-Saxon from Pascal.

Surprisingly, His Majesty the King has an exceptional talent for languages, and his progress is second only to Vig, the recognized genius.

"It seems I'm naturally suited to learning foreign languages."

In fact, learning Anglo-Saxon was not the end of the story. The dominant written language in Western Europe at the time was Latin. To fulfill the king's duties, even though Ragnar was fluent in Anglo-Saxon, he still had to learn Latin and arithmetic, studying from morning till night every day. He couldn't help but lament that this life was far worse than he had imagined.

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. This is just the beginning. You will have a lot to do in the future."

Vig responded calmly to his boss's complaints and continued practicing the Anglo-English words he had learned. Although he could speak English before his time travel, the difference between Anglo-English (Old English) and modern English over a thousand years was so great that they were almost two different languages.

However, Vig must persevere no matter how difficult it is. If the ruler cannot speak the local language, he will inevitably be deceived by a minority group such as stewards and tax collectors. In that case, they will find ways to extract benefits from the lower classes, and in the end, it will be the ruler himself who suffers.

As winter turned to spring and the ice and snow melted, more and more Vikings arrived in Northumbria.

In early April, Vig successfully recruited one hundred raiders seeking wealth, as well as two hundred Vikings who intended to settle there, including his old neighbor Yoren from the Gothenburg countryside.

Looking at the twenty or so familiar faces, Vig learned that last winter had been exceptionally cold, and many people had frozen to death. The villagers simply couldn't endure it any longer, so they came to Britain to start over.

"Thank you all for your trust in me. Each household will have thirty acres of land, and no taxes will be levied for two years."

In the early 5th century AD, the last Roman army withdrew from Britain, and the Anglo-Saxons migrated from what is now northern Germany to Britain, conquering the original Celts. Due to the vast land and sparse population, each household was initially allocated 120 acres of land, called a "hide." As times changed, the average land area of ​​the self-sufficient farmers decreased, with the wealthy class owning 30 acres, called "virgates." Above them were landowners, and below them were poor farmers, tenant farmers, and serfs struggling to make ends meet.

(According to the Doomsday Book, in the 11th century, nine percent of England's population were serfs.)
The two hundred Viking peasants were satisfied with the terms offered by Vig. As for the raiders who only wanted money and not land, Vig promised to give them enough to eat, or he would compensate them out of his own pocket.

Having gathered enough manpower, he compiled a detailed list and requested supplies from Gunnar, Ragnar's newly appointed court steward.

“Old friend, I only have sixty pounds of silver in total. Please be lenient.”

"Sure, take whatever you like, and come to me for reimbursement when you get out."

In the palace gardens filled with red camellias, Gunnar lay lazily in a chaise lounge, receiving the attentive service of two Anglo-Saxon maids. He had no time to entertain Vig, instead telling him to go to the storeroom to get his things.

Having failed to become a powerful nobleman, Gunnar had been depressed for the past six months, maintaining his nonchalant attitude. When Leonard, Ulf, and others received supplies, he had found fault with them and ridiculed them severely. When the matter was brought to Ragnar's attention, he only gave them a few mild reprimands.

"Thank you." Vig didn't want to provoke this ill-tempered fellow, so he gestured for several newly recruited shield guards to follow him inside to move things.

Regardless of rank, every Viking who went to sea was equipped with a round shield and an iron axe. Vigg had no shortage of melee weapons, but what he desperately needed was armor. Since he had recruited twenty shield guards, he naturally needed to equip them with appropriate protective gear.

"Twenty sets of old iron armor, twenty iron helmets, fifty longbows, and two thousand feathered arrows."

Under the supervision of four Anglo-Saxon clerks, the guards shuttled between the warehouse and the outside world, piling the ordered supplies onto the wagons. In addition to armaments, Vig also purchased a batch of grain and iron farming tools for tilling the land.

After he finished, he found Gunnar, who was embracing a maid, and asked him where the livestock were.

“Keep them all in the east of the city,” Gunnar said, pulling his right hand from the woman’s dress and casually assigning two minor officials. “Settle the bill first, then have them take you there later.”

Getting off the recliner, Gunnar quickly inspected the supplies in the carriage. "That's all? Forty pounds of silver in total. Shouldn't we have prepared more?"

“We’re just a small family, not as wealthy as Leonard and his gang,” Vig sighed. “We still have fifteen pounds to buy livestock. The remaining five pounds are untouchable; I promised those raiders that if the harvest doesn’t meet expectations, I’ll have to compensate them out of my own pocket.”

"is it?"

Seeing Vig's predicament, Gunnar's mood improved somewhat; it seemed the lives of powerful nobles weren't much better. After a moment's thought, he told the man to take a few extra bolts of cloth with him, "When we head north to take over the fiefdom, the procession needs a flag at the head of the column. Consider this a gift from me."

"Goodbye, brother." Vig bid farewell to the other party, went to the livestock pen in the east of the city to buy ten horses and forty oxen, and with everything settled, led the group away from York.

(End of this chapter)