079

I went to the port, everyone who participated in the raids was already there ... when I arrived they started weighing gold and silver.

From the Kingdom of Northumbria, apart from nice memories, we brought 501 pounds of gold, 3000 pounds of silver, of which two thousand came from the treasury of King Aelle. There were even more other metals, such as tin, bronze, lead, and copper ... there were over 1000 slaves alone and as always, my share was a third of the stolen valuables ... today I gained 167 pounds of gold and 1,000 pounds of silver (68 and 408 kilograms) and 350 slaves.

The crews of the two ships that King Harald of Agder sent were allowed to take 50 pounds of gold, 300 pounds of silver and 80 slaves. Of course, they also had other gains. The rest was shared by my people.

I ordered my part to be transported to a Slavic village, and with such an amount of gold and silver, I could start another project. Some time ago I was trying to make coin dies and hammer and now I was ready to make my own coins, my plans were to issue 3 gram gold coins and 6 gram silver coins.

Both versions are to have a wolf's head stamped on the reverse. The obverse will bear two inscriptions, the first "Wolves will tear whoever becomes a sheep" and the second "Kattegat" below it... I didn't have to add my name, a little more time and the wolf head symbol will be known all over Scandinavia and beyond. The introduction of a more civilized monetary system will certainly help both economically and will increase my and Kattegat's prestige.

As for the slaves, apart from selecting two slaves who were to serve in the house, I assigned the rest to the appropriate jobs.

The merchants who did not leave Kattegat were surprised by the amount and variety of goods my people started selling. The most popular were textiles, wines and slaves ... probably the news of our wealth will spread even more in Scandinavia. Local beers, sea salt and furniture were also very popular with merchants, making industrial islands was a really good idea and thanks to the large number of new slaves, I will be able to create one or two more such islands, one will focus only on food production, and the other either on brick production or find another use for it.

I called my hrid to a meeting to discuss further plans.

- Our last raid was a great success, but also a big failure. We lost a lot of people, so there are no more raids planned this year, and ships will not be rented. Until our people understand that war is more than a fight in an inn. Leif, One-Eye, Tostig ... you have to teach them not to break ranks, obey orders. They also need more experience, but they will gain it here on the spot. Take our people and go to conquer the rest of Hordaland, then the Kingdom of Sogn and the Kingdom of Hålogaland. If there is time, we will also attack the Kingdom of Geirstad and the Kingdom of Vestfold. (Ulf)

- Ulf, do you want to conquer all of Norway? Do you want to be king? You have ambitious plans ... (Rollo)

- Yes, see what has been done in a few years with one small settlement ... and now think what can be done with the whole kingdom. (Ulf)

- Will you take part in the fights? (Erik)

- No, I need people ... commanders who think for themselves. Perhaps I will be involved in the attack on Geirstad. (Ulf)

- What are we going to do with the local Jarls and Kings? Not everyone will want to ... (Erik)

- Kill entire clans, men, women and children. Then relocate some of the inhabitants to the Kattegat area ... if they all resist, burn entire settlements and kill them all as a warning to others. (Ulf)

- We will need silver, food and other supplies for the war. (One-eyed)

- Everything that our people rob is theirs and I always have profits from this raid ... so there is no shortage of silver. Food will also be found... One more thing. Floki, we need more longships as well as merchant ships, you will have a lot of work this year. (Ulf)

- (giggle) A lot? How many do you need them? (Floki)

- When a woman asks if my tits are too big, you'll always say no ... similar with ships ... I want a lot of them. (Ulf)

We discussed a few more topics, I proposed creating my private army out of the best soldiers. Ulfhednar will be an elite group of specially selected warriors, equipped by me, paid from my purse and only under my orders... but this is only after conquering a few kingdoms.

After the meeting was over, I took two female slaves into the kitchen and left them for Siggy and Hild to take care.

- Hild are the new slaves, explain to them what to do and what is the hierarchy in this house ... they are also your responsibility. (Ulf)

- Yes, Lord. (Hild)

There was nothing interesting about these two, their only task is and will be work ... I didn't even ask for their names.

In the evening with Lagertha I went for a walk in Kattegat. There was a cheerful atmosphere throughout the settlement, people were still finishing their last deals, celebrating their newly acquired wealth and wasting it on alcohol. Helaga had fun in the company of Floki and Torstein, Ragnar and Thor sat at one table with them, and One-Eye was groping a slave girl ... and Athelstan was with them too.

I knew Ragnar had chosen a priest for himself in the slave split, but I didn't mind ... my power was slowly consolidating and one priest couldn't change that anymore... Ragnar also has no ambition to take power, and in the series it happened by accident. It is also unlikely to win the support of the people, under my rule they had more wealth than they ever had.