After leaving school, Vig toured the various workshops in the city. He was most impressed by the brewery.
Today, a vast field of hops is being cultivated on a wasteland west of Tyne Town. As the plants gradually mature, workers are experimenting with large-scale brewing.
Using technology inherited from Germany, workers first dry and crush the malt, cover it with clean water and boil it over a low heat, keeping the water warm for a while. They then use sackcloth to separate the wort from the spent grains, resulting in a cloudy, sweet wort.
. The wort is then boiled over high heat, hops are added and the boiling continues for an hour. Then, after cooling naturally, yeast is added and fermented for two weeks.
Thanks to the chemicals in hops, beer can be stored for up to six months, making it ideal for export to northern Europe for profit. The Vikings were fond of their drink, but the yields of local grain were low, making large-scale brewing impractical. So the demand for imported alcohol was extremely high.
"Is this brewed beer?"
After taking a sip, Vig discovered that the beer was quite tasty. Although it was not as tasty as mead or wine, it was relatively inexpensive and did not compete with the other two, making it suitable for the middle and lower classes.
Nowadays, a full barrel of beer weighs about 50 kilograms, and requires 10 kilograms of barley to produce, as well as a certain amount of hops and herbs. With labour costs, each barrel costs about two pence, and the selling price is eight pence – a perfect profit.
"At last I have discovered a new source of income. It is very difficult to make money," he sighed. He planned to expand the area of hop growing and develop brewing, making it the second pillar of industry after textiles.
Later, Vig visited four taverns in Tyne Town and came across the Welsh chieftain Shrike, who was buying a shipment of alcohol.
"Are you satisfied with your new territory?"
Vig settled three Welsh tribes that had voluntarily surrendered to him in the west, northwest and north respectively, where the plains and hills met.
According to his plan, the Welsh settlers would have enough farmland to provide them with a basic standard of living. To improve their lives, they would hunt in the mountains, hone their skills as trackers and archers, and become skilled mountain infantry.
"Your Excellency, we are very pleased. We are currently building houses for each family and we want to finish them before the heavy snows come,"
Wig replied without further ado. He offered to help Shrike pay for it, and watched as the Welshmen left.
A week later, a dry cargo of iron ingots, rushed from the north, arrived at Tyneborough Docks. With enough iron in hand, Wig no longer concealed his ambitions, and instructed passing ships to help spread the word on their return to northern Europe. In the name of the Serpent of the North, he called on all who wished to raid to gather at Tyneburgh the following year for a grand event.
"Remember, it is best to arrive before May next year. Do not delay too long."
In addition to northern Europe, Whig also sent envoys to the south, who visited the various knights' estates in turn, hiring them to fight for the high price of three pounds of silver, and then generously sharing the spoils.
As the news spread, the Pictish nobility in the north responded. With the help of lords such as Arkansas of Edinburgh and Hughie of Glasgow, the Northern Alliance was formally established in late November. Its main objective was to counter the Viking threat.
To weaken the enemy, the alliance stopped exporting iron to Tyneburgh and sent messengers south to gather information.
Five days later, the ship from Edinburgh arrived at the Tyne docks.
A cold wind howled and snow fell heavily from the sky. Many ships were moored at the docks, but the docks were empty except for five indifferent militiamen warming themselves by the fire in their house.
"At last we have made it to the last day. It has been a hard day."
"Indeed, drinking is forbidden on duty. Never heard of such a rule in my life."
The Tyne garrison and security force now numbered one hundred men, forty of whom were permanent mercenaries. The remaining sixty places were filled by lottery among the inhabitants of the city, which was carried out over a period of two weeks. The five men in the house were among the few unfortunate.
After several complaints, the messenger sensed the approach of strangers. Five militiamen with round shields and iron axes rushed out of the house, questioning the uninvited guests.
The messenger raised his chin proudly: "I represent the Northern Alliance and I want to discuss something with your master."
"The Northern Alliance?"
Despite the fact that the militiaman did not know what it was, he, appreciating the respectable attire of the man, led him through the southern gate and headed straight for Tain Castle, located on a low hill to the southwest.
"What a magnificent building!"
Compared to the wooden fortresses of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling, the stone castle before him was truly magnificent, perhaps the tallest structure the messenger had ever seen.
How much had it cost?
After crossing the drawbridge and the eastern gate, the messenger entered the castle. Directly before him was a wide open space where dozens of soldiers were training. To the right was a long row of low barracks, and to the left were storehouses, stables and kitchens.
As the messenger crossed the open space, he could not help but cast aside his arrogance and stopped at the main building, awaiting news. Five minutes later, at the call of a servant, he ascended the steps to the hall on the second floor.
As he passed through the thick curtains, the messenger felt the air suddenly grow warmer. Looking out, he saw stone fireplaces on each wall, with wood burning brightly, serving both for lighting and cooking.
Pulling at his collar, the messenger slowly approached the dais at the end of the hall. As expected, there sat the one he had come to visit: the Serpent of the North.
"My name is Vig. Do you speak Latin?"
The messenger nodded and introduced himself in Latin, introducing himself as Morgan, a nobleman from some unknown place.
After a lot of useless nonsense, he got down to business: "I hear you're raising an army and planning to attack the North?"
In time, word of the Whig's attack on the North spread throughout Britain. There was no point in lying, so he answered flippantly:
"Yes, we will attack next year."
The messenger paused for a moment, unsure how to respond to the calm of the Serpent of the North. He took the glass of wine handed to him by the maid, sipped the warm beer, and said: "You have no reason to attack us. It's against the rules." "
Rules?"
Wig came up with a seemingly reasonable pretext for war: "In recent years, Pictish raiders have often crossed the border to attack my lands. They say that someone is behind this. In view of the repeated calls of the people, I have decided to raise an army to eradicate the unrest."
To strengthen his persuasiveness, he asked the shield-bearer to hand over a list of detailed reports of previous raids by the raiders, of which there were thirty-two, more than half of which occurred in 847.
"In addition to these attacks, which resulted in casualties, there were also countless cases of theft of cattle and wheat."
With the introduction of the three-field system and heavy iron ploughs, the harvest gathered by local farmers began to be exchanged for silver coins, which was 1.4 times the previous amount.
The standard of living rose sharply, which attracted more and more bandits. After a few years, there were fears that gangs of thousands of robbers would appear.