Viking: Master of the Icy Sea

Chapter 155: Administrative Planning

With a consensus reached on all fronts, Viggo and the clan chieftains signed the Glasgow Agreement, marking the official integration of the Northern Highlands into the Duke of Tainburg's domain.

Looking at the population distribution across the regions, Tain County had thirty-seven thousand residents, the Central Lowlands held about one hundred and sixty thousand people, and the Southern Highlands and Northern Highlands totaled roughly fifty thousand. With the signing of the agreement, the population under Viggo's rule swelled to two hundred and fifty thousand.

"Starting from the spring of 849, it took three years to finally bring the entire Northern Marches under control. The vast majority of that time was spent eradicating bandits. None of this has been easy," Viggo remarked.

At this thought, he could not help but be reminded of the trouble-ridden Ivar.

The island of Ireland covered roughly eighty-four thousand square kilometers, slightly larger than Scotland's seventy-seven thousand, yet its population had reached half a million. The difficulty of conquering and governing it far exceeded that of Scotland; it was like a vast, endless swamp that drained all of Ivar's energy.

"Big territories come with massive burdens, and small ones have their petty troubles. Alas, every household has its own mess to sort out."

With order stabilized within his borders, Viggo unrolled a map to prepare for a new round of administrative planning.

First was the Aberdeen region in northeastern Scotland. He planned to establish a new Aberdeen County there. The surrounding land was flat; if fully developed, the arable acreage would be no less than that of Tain County.

Secondly, eight new towns were to be established, placed under the respective jurisdictions of the five counties within the Northern Marches.

In Viggo's mind, the "town" was the most foundational administrative unit. There were simply too many villages scattered across the lands, and the cost of managing them far exceeded the capacity of his administrative system. He had no choice but to let the populace elect their own village chiefs.To maintain control over his territory, he intended to establish a circuit court system:

The judiciary of each county would dispatch judges to periodically tour the countryside, resolving disputes among the villagers and gathering intelligence on public sentiment. When passing judgments, they would strictly adhere to the Tainburg Code.

After two years of constant revisions by Heregyth, the Raven Speaker, Mitcham, and others, this written law was finally drafted. Its structure was modeled after Roman law, but its specific contents were grounded in reality, extensively referencing the traditions of the Vikings, Angles, and Picts to avoid causing unnecessary friction.

The outside world had varying reactions to the emergence of the very first written code of law in Viking society:

Ragnar had long grown accustomed to Viggo's eccentric behavior. Furthermore, as a Duke, Viggo had the right to enact laws within his borders and adjudicate disputes. This move was nothing more than putting various rules down on paper; it could not be considered an overstep.

The King roughly skimmed the contents of the code before casually tossing it to Prime Minister Pascal, instructing the latter to figure out a way to compile a Britannia Code.

When Ivar heard the news, he immediately ordered his men to fetch a copy of the text. As a great noble commanding a population of over two hundred thousand, he genuinely needed a rigorous and standardized system. With the mindset of saving himself trouble and worry, he had his subordinates use this code as a reference for governing his own territory.

The rest of the nobles, such as Leonard and Ulf, were too busy with their own affairs to pay attention to Viggo's latest gimmick.

In their eyes, such a thing was flashy but impractical, far inferior to agricultural innovations like the three-field system, the heavy iron plow, and drainage windmills.

Compared to the nobles, the shaman community of Northern Europe reacted vehemently. This action severely damaged their authority. If the North's Serpent's military prowess had not been so extraordinarily outstanding, they likely would have resorted to physical violence rather than mere verbal condemnation.

As the contents of this code continued to spread, the prestige of the Teyneburg Order completely eclipsed holy sites like Uppsala, and Viggo incidentally acquired a new nickname: "The Legislator."

In late August, Helgi returned to Tainburg with a cargo of goods, arriving just in time for this year's Six-County Football League.

"Here is the ledger. Take your time looking through it. If you need anything, come find me at the football field."

With that said, Helgi took his family and headed straight for the stadium, leaving Viggo alone in the main hall of the keep to tally the accounts.

The Fur Company's profits were excellent this year. They had successfully formed cooperative partnerships with two nearby tribes, using iron tools, beer, and honeycomb coal to purchase furs from them, which saved a tremendous amount of manpower. "Hmm," Viggo murmured to himself, "after deducting the crew's wages, there are six hundred pounds left. One hundred pounds will go toward other expenses, leaving five hundred pounds for shareholder dividends. Not bad, that's an extra one hundred and fifty pounds of income this year."

Closing the ledger, Viggo headed to the newly built open-air stadium in the north of the city. The field's dimensions were roughly similar to those of later generations—about a hundred meters long and seventy meters wide. A few running tracks were left around the perimeter for foot races or horse racing.

The stadium featured artificial earthen embankments, shaped into tiered stands capable of accommodating two to three thousand spectators. Compared to the Roman Colosseum, which was built with masonry and concrete and could hold tens of thousands of people, this open-air stadium was undeniably crude. It looked more like the product of bored villagers trying to entertain themselves.

There were four entrances to the venue, each equipped with a ticket booth. As the match had already begun, the entrances were blocked off by spiked barricades. A group of teenagers who couldn't afford tickets lingered on the outside, standing on their tiptoes to listen to the roaring cheers from within, occasionally arguing fiercely with their companions over their favorite players.

Viggo walked into the stadium through the main southern entrance, feeling as though he had stepped into a torrential flood of screams. The rolling waves of sound pounded against his eardrums and those of his shield-bearers, causing even these seasoned warriors to freeze in a brief daze.

"Crush the Stirling Team!"

"Idiot referee! The other side touched the ball with their hands! Blow the whistle!"

It was currently Tain County playing against Stirling County. The league rules were simple: the six teams (including the newly formed Aberdeen Team) would take turns playing against each other. A win earned two points, a draw earned one point, and a loss earned nothing.

Arriving at the VIP stand situated at the lowest level, Viggo found his brother-in-law and nephew brimming with excitement. The father and son were entirely engrossed in the match. His older sister, Breda, sat nearby knitting a sweater, yawning every so often. The look in her eyes suggested she was watching a bunch of fools.

Viggo walked up to Helgi's side and called back the man's attention. "Stop staring. The score is one to four, and there's less than half an hour left. The suspense is pretty much gone."

"Hey, your Tain Team is losing this badly, and you aren't anxious at all?"

"What do you mean, 'my Tain Team'? The other counties are also under my jurisdiction. It doesn't matter to me who wins or loses."

Ignoring the state of the game, Viggo began discussing the newly conquered Northwestern Isles. He proposed that his brother-in-law take over North Uist Island, which had been left behind by Steinn, and act as a proxy administrator for the entire archipelago.

Helgi had lived in the Northwestern Isles for many years. Having him step forward to pacify the people would make it much easier for the remaining chieftains and knights to accept the transition.

"Fair enough. Once the fleet is resupplied, they can head to Greenland on their own. I will stay here for the latter half of the year to help you stabilize the Northwestern Isles. Now that the business in Greenland is on the right track, Bjorn and I have discussed it. If the two of us take turns standing guard, there shouldn't be any major troubles."

Following that, Helgi mentioned that since he spent most of the year drifting overseas, he wouldn't be able to answer the call to arms during wartime and could only pay scutage.

Viggo picked up his beer and took a sip. "It doesn't matter. We are all family; there's no need to speak of such things."

For the rest of the time, the two chatted while watching the game, deciding to stay behind to help maintain order after the match.

Nowadays, almost every match ended in a massive brawl. The number of soldiers deployed to maintain order had been increased from fifty to three hundred, yet it still wasn't enough to suppress the wildly surging passion of the crowds.

Barbaric, chaotic, and violent—these were the fundamental reasons why King Edward III of England would eventually ban the sport of football in the year 1331.