The next morning in Londinium
Vig arrived at the military horse farm outside the city. Four hundred cavalrymen were milling about, including Gunnar.
Given the poor horsemanship of his men, Gunnar decided to focus on one skill: charging with a spear, holding a shield in his left hand and a three-meter spear under his right arm.
Thanks to the improved high-saddle and long horse, the shock to the cavalry's body during the charge was greatly reduced, increasing the accuracy of the spear charge.
Vig stood behind the field and silently watched their training.
Under the warm winter sun, twelve Viking knights lined up in a horizontal formation.
"Forward, at a normal pace!"
The leading knight held a practice lance under his arm, and the spurs thumped softly on the soft belly of his horse. The warhorse under his shoulder snorted and moved toward the scarecrow in the distance.
After moving some distance away, the leading knight shouted, "Forward, quick step!"
At that moment, all the warhorses broke into a trot, and the yellow dust raised by their hooves scared the sparrows on the wooden fence.
Only a hundred paces from the scarecrow, the knight shouted at the top of his voice, "Charge!"
Instantly, the clatter of iron-clad horses' hooves was heard, thick as rain. Thirty paces from the scarecrow, all the lances fell on the target at the same time. In just a few seconds, the training spears pierced the target with great force, and the scarecrow's head split open, sending countless blades of grass flying into the air.
After the training, the senior officer came over to check the results:
five people hit the target, three missed, and four missed.
"Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot!"
He hit each of the four in the face with such force that the surrounding cavalrymen were stunned.
"How can you defeat experienced Frankish knights with such a level? His Majesty gave you an estate, so you want to repay him?"
After two minutes of swearing, it was the turn of the next team of knights to train. After the training, the officer, as usual, lectured those who missed.
Looking at the entire training ground, you couldn't stop scolding them as idiots and wasteful. If the results were too bad,
Zinnar even punished them personally.
After watching for half an hour, Vig sighed to himself: "Am I too kind compared to them?"
Judging by the overall results of the training, Gunnar was quite suitable for commanding the cavalry to achieve such results in half a year. With such cavalry, attacking with weapons, the chances of winning this time increase by 10%.
After the visit, Vig left York and continued on his way. A year later, he found that heavy iron ploughs were becoming more common in Mercia, and almost every family that exceeded the level of wealth of the peasants had an iron plough.
In addition, a three-field system began to be introduced in some fields. If it had not been implemented by a lord and the decision had been left to the people, it would have taken more than ten years to fully implement it.
"With the three-field system widely adopted, the price of spring crops such as oats, barley and peas will fall, and
the price of wheat will rise a little."
On the bumpy saddle, Whig decided to write a letter to Tyne Town asking Geligw to take his time selling the wheat from the warehouse and to gather as much of the crop as possible within a certain time.
When he returned to Oxford, Siowulf's blue flag with a red camellia in bloom was flown from the watchtower.
With the politeness of a nobleman, Siowulf invited his guests to dinner.
"Any news from York?"
"Aslaki gave birth to a boy and a girl. His Majesty was in good spirits. Not only did he hold a feast, but he also promised to reduce taxes in York."
Hearing this, Siowulf quickly raised his glass: "I wish the two newborn princes prosperity."
As the first to surrender, he had a bad reputation among the Anglo-aristocratic class. The key to maintaining his power was to please Ragnar. As long as the new ruler was prepared to defend himself, the lords below him would not dare rebel.
"Last month I bought two fine necklaces with precious stones, one for each of the two princes."
Faced with the actions of his colleagues, Vig did not comment much. Giving the necklaces might increase Ragnar and Aslaki's favor, but it would also anger Queen Sora. Although the latter had been very good lately, he would one day come into conflict with Aslaki, both because of his own reputation and because of his son Uber's right to the throne.
As for Vig, ever since he, Ivar, and Bjorn had set out on their journey through Eastern Europe, their relationship had always been harmonious.
Now that Bjorn had fled to Iceland, he had given up the idea of fighting for the throne. If a war for the throne ever broke out, Vig would have only one choice: to side with Ivar or...
"Fighting, governing the land, fighting bandits, learning English and Latin, and carefully managing relationships with members of the royal family - oh, this is too difficult for me."
Vig's mood suddenly soured. Seeing this, Theowulf thought he was worried about shipbuilding and weapon making, and
patted his chest, answering:
"If you have any needs, just ask. I will prove to Your Majesty by my actions that Theowulf's loyalty is no less than that of any nobleman."
"Thank you."
After leaving Oxford, the crew headed southeast along the Thames. The river flows slowly and collects many streams along the way. When he arrived at Londinium, the river was hundreds of meters wide.
"What a dismal sight!"
At that time, Londinium was far from the cosmopolitan city it was destined to become. It was just a slightly dirty town on the north bank of the Thames. The stone walls left by the Romans still stood, protecting the inhabitants from small bands of pirates.
Once through the city gates, the view inside was especially dismal. The public baths and arena had long since collapsed, and a group of children were playing and fighting among the tall and majestic ruins. Wild grass grew wildly from the cracks in the pavement, filling the people with indescribable sadness.
"The ruins are silent about the rise and fall, and the broken roof tiles still retain their ancient appearance. I think that in a hundred or two years, even these ruins will not be able to be preserved."
In the official residence in the center of the city, Vig showed the county governor Ragnar a handwritten letter and announced that he would take control of the city for a while.
As the forward base of this battle, Londinium will continue to receive supplies from all over the country for the next period. Vig needs to build warehouses and store them in different categories.
At the same time, he needs to accommodate the various troops, maintain order, and prevent them from causing outrages among the population.
Before setting out, Ragnar made a point of emphasizing this. As a royal territory and the future target of the capital, Londinium must not be destroyed.
After checking the ledger, Vig went to inspect the various sites, first the docks at the southern gate.
Compared to the dilapidated and ruined city, there was a sense of prosperity here. A wooden pier juts out into the clear river, and over 30 large and small merchant ships are moored next to it. Workers carry sacks on their shoulders and scurry back and forth along the gangway, shrouded in a light white mist.
Inspecting the goods, it turned out that Londinium's main trading partner was Flanders, exporting agricultural products such as wool, dried fish, cow and sheep skins, and importing glassware, wine, and metals such as iron, copper, and tin.
Yolen lowered his voice and reminded, "My lord, do you want to detain these merchants so that they do not spread the news?"
"I believe Wessex has already secretly informed West Francia. Too late,"
Viger rubbed his eyes tiredly and finally agreed to Yolen's proposal.