king of ros

Chapter 19 The Hypocrite
In the wild and ancient northern land, the sunlight shining through the tent woke up Prince Rostislav, who put on a woolen overcoat and climbed out of the camp bed.

Walking out of the tent, what Rostislav saw was the iconic black hat of the Black Cap Army. These riders guarding the border for Ross were chatting carelessly about killing and robbing. The appearance of the prince of Norse City just caught the group of nomads. That's all.

The Blackcaps didn't like this Rurik boy, he always looked at them with accusing hypocrisy when he was plundering slaves, as if he was a saint of morals, but he led them to attack the village of poor Chude, pretending What kind of saint? I don't know if he has some serious illness.

"Father said he would be back today."

Guan Yang, the flag bearer, appeared next to the prince, and he was very excited.

"I don't know what to investigate. Except for those in the mountain castle, no Chude people dare to stand in front of us."

Following Yang's words, Rostislav looked at the mountain fortress on the hill. Compared with the so-called "mountain fortress" they once conquered, this mountain fortress has a deep and wide moat, and there are various traps in the moat. And the huge wall made of stones is one of the most powerful fortresses in Estonia.

Coupled with the dozens of wealthy villages radiating from this mountain castle, this is the basis for Aral to lead the tribes of Chude.

But now the villages are reduced to ashes, and the fields once full of crops have been trampled by soldiers' iron boots and erected to accommodate the tents of the army, filled with the tridents of the wise and the crows of the ruthless, and the tents of the coalition army have killed the mountains high above. The fort is surrounded by it.

"Anyway, let's go meet Lord Veshatta."

Rostislav didn't want to say anything more about the war, the atrocities in the war made him a little upset, and he didn't want to talk more.

Yang couldn't help but glanced at the prince strangely. The young flag bearer seemed to be a little strange recently. Rostislav always showed disgust and intolerance when he captured slaves and burned villages. Maharaja, shouldn't these things be considered as natural as breathing?

However, Yang never expressed his doubts in his heart. Rostislav is the lord, he is just a subject, and the subject should not judge the monarch indiscriminately.Lord Rostislav is just too merciful, and believes that time can make him fade these weaknesses.

The two passed through the noisy camp, and Glanwa and a few soldiers followed behind them. After Yuriev's battle, his father's soldiers had completely convinced him and served him as their lord.

The coalition army camp is very busy. Countless craftsmen are stepping up to make various siege equipment. Engineers hired from the imperial capital are debugging their precious ballistas. Grandpa spent a lot of money for these ballistas.

The morale of the Russians and the Norwegians was high. What Rostislav heard most was the discussion of how much loot was in that mountain fort. No one thought they could lose. The veterans regarded the next battle as an inevitable victory , the newcomers are full of desire to join the battlefield to win glory and wealth. Everyone is eager to kill and war.

"Ah, someone just came."

When the two walked to the gate of the camp, they saw a procession approaching, Yang couldn't help but said excitedly.

Rostislav raised his hands to his forehead and recognized that the leading rider was Veshata whom they were waiting for.

Veshatta was riding upright on the horse, behind him were Russian soldiers with bulging bags and smiling faces, and the captives tied in chains hung their heads and sobbed behind them, and the accompanying black hat soldiers laughed and pointed at the slaves. Give pointers and have fun with these people looking embarrassed.

"It seems that father has won a lot of spoils."

Yang said excitedly, but immediately looked at his prince with worry, but fortunately Rostislav's face did not show much fluctuation.

"Master Veshatta, it seems that you have won a victory, congratulations."

"It's nothing more than solving a few tribes. Such a small group of people dare to resist. It's really beyond their control, but it made my young man rich. But I won't tell you more. The soldiers need to be repaired, and the slaves have to be resettled."

Veshatta looked indifferent, those battles were really childish, just one round of charging, the Chude people fell apart, and then it was a happy burning, killing and looting.

"Of course, it's up to you."

Rostislav made way for the prince's army to pass, and the Rus soldiers and black hats quickly passed in front of him, and the next ones were the miserable slaves.

The slaves were full of sadness visible to the naked eye. They were depressed, like a group of walking corpses. Most of their relatives and friends died at the hands of the Ross people. It was extremely lucky to survive, but after experiencing a huge blow, they lived and died like this. What's the difference.

But what is even more tragic is waiting for them. Most of the men in these people will either be used as human fuel for oars on ships, or work as cattle and horses on a certain farm for a lifetime. As for women, if they are lucky, they can marry someone who buys a wife If you are a bachelor, if you are unlucky, you will have to spend your whole life in a women's branch hospital.

Looking at the ragged slaves, and the black-capped riders beating and scolding and frolicking around them, Rostislav couldn't help but think of his teacher's teaching, "The way of ruling is the way of leading beasts and cannibalism." The times are so apt.

And he can only be thankful that he is a noble Rurik. If unfortunately he is captured, someone will take care of him and someone will redeem him. As for these ordinary people waiting to be slaughtered, their fate is like a weak branch in a storm, which may break at any time.

Many times Rostislav could not help feeling compassionate, his modern values ​​could not tolerate these ugly things, but these are the norm in this era.

Even his entourage and soldiers took all this as a matter of course and participated in it, so what could he say and do?

Rostislav knew that he was too hypocritical for many around him, and indeed for this day and age.

Although he has been in this era for almost ten years, it still takes time to accept the cruelest side of war.

In the past years, he was too well protected by his father, and he was not able to get in touch with these cruelest scenes, and now he will pay the price for it.

But fortunately, this is only a small problem after all. Although Rostislav can't understand all this, he will not refuse orders and command because of this. From this point of view, he is indeed very "hypocritical".

Thinking of these things, Rostislav couldn't help laughing at himself, he was really hypocritical, like a cowardly jester.

But what Rostislav didn't know was that in the besieged hill fort, the real jesters were putting on a clumsy political drama.

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(End of this chapter)