Rise of Rurik

Life has returned to stability, and the warm climate also makes life full of hope.

As usual, the Rus do not feel that the climate is warming on a macro scale. The land of the fjord is still barren and the climate is still cold. The short frost-free period is still unable to grow oats and rye, and the situation is even worse this year.

The limited onion fields in the fjord are already in July, and the growth of those onion seedlings is not ideal. There are no pure farmers in the Ross tribe. The so-called planting industry is a small industry that fishermen engage in in their spare time. Planting some cold-resistant varieties of onions is just a flavoring agent to increase life.

Expecting to use the land in the fjords to grow a lot of onions is a fool's errand.

It's just that no one is very concerned about the local planting industry. Who cares about the poor growth of onions?

No one is aware of the big problems lurking in the fields, including Rurik himself, who is still looking forward to this year's harvest in order to buy large quantities of grain from the South.

He was looking forward to the end of August, looking forward to those merchants going north with a lot of supplies.

Rurik, of course, was also very concerned about his father.

Although this winter ended too late, the Sorgon voyage, which was supposed to be spring, was delayed by a whole month!

Last spring Sorgon had to deal with a number of things in Novgorod, as well as a lot of work on the construction of Novgorod, which delayed too much time, which made the return of Otto's fleet delayed.

It was already mid-July, and Rurik had learned that there had been two ships from Novi Rosberg. They were messengers, reporting messages from Otto.

Rurik still didn't know what his father was doing, and he made his own judgment through the news delivered by the former messenger.

Obviously, Otto must be temporarily rooted in Novgorod or Novgorod, I am afraid this year is the spring and autumn Sorgon put together.

Let Dad handle the construction side of things!

Before he could inherit Novgorod and Novgorod, Rurik felt that he needed to implement a long-planned thing.

A small shipment of ore from the northern mines was brought to Roseburg, and all of it was carried to the home of the blacksmith Kravatsen.

As an experienced old blacksmith, Kravason saw the ore reflecting the dark luster and subconsciously recognized its wonder.

As Kawhi showed his father his chrome steel axe,

And used it to violently smash deep dents on the steel sword blank that was supposed to be indestructible, and Kravason's three views were refreshed again.

"This... what kind of magical weapon is this?! Even the steel sword has become a waste?!"

Kawi comforted his father, and his attitude was full of pride.

He pointed to a small pile of ore on the ground: "Dad, my axe is made from these northern ores. Rurik has had great success, I have taught those people how to smelt, how to forge, and even Rurik has invented another A machine that uses river water, forged with the power of river water..."

Kawhi's words continued to wash over Kravason's aging mind.

Clavasson lived for a long time, and he felt well-informed. Even in the face of the magical Rurik, he still regarded himself as an elder. He became a little pedantic and stubborn, but the axe in his son's hand was indeed unusual.

"So that's it? I know some fishermen have got some good axes, but I didn't expect it to be like this. But those Kewen people can't be trusted."

"But they already know how to smelt," Kawhi added.

This alone makes Kravasen tempted: "Maybe you did this wrong, you shouldn't teach them our forging technology."

"But that was Rurik's order, and we must fulfill his order."

"I know! But..." Clavason's darkened eyes couldn't help but tremble. He looked at the flames from the half-man blast furnace and said quietly: "Maybe an era is over. Servant of Rurik, we have become rich enough that the future is beyond my mind."

"Dad, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing...you're back. Well done!"

Kawei still didn't quite understand, he asked subconsciously, "Lilia, where is she?"

"She's in the closet."

"She won't come out to see me?!"

Clavason smiled and complained: "You should go see her! You know what? Her day is coming soon."

Kawei understood what his father meant in an instant, and couldn't help but be overjoyed.

Immediately afterwards, under the watchful eyes of Clavasson, the son who saw this slipped into the inner room to visit his mother and his wife Lilia, who was lying on the wooden bed with a big belly and it was very inconvenient to live.

For the blacksmith, life is not a return to peace, and Kravason is looking forward to a big happy event for his family.

Kravason and Kavey began to smelt those northern ores that were shipped in. It turned out that it was an extremely laborious task to turn chromite into sponge iron using only a small furnace, and the reason was naturally Small stoves do not maximize the heat of charcoal.

What should I do?

Kawhi began to build a large furnace next to his house, as he had done at Fort Elronorava, and the apprentice blacksmiths, who were still children, under the command of the little blacksmith Kamne, using the clay quarried in the area, began to Build a new furnace.

Clavason has been watching his son's actions, watching him direct the construction of a new stove.

This stove is not ordinary. It is made of a lot of lumps of clay. It was piled up by more than a dozen children into a behemoth of two stika heights!

In a sense, its shape resembles a blast furnace, but it is still an enlarged version of a traditional furnace.

Because of the successful experience of smelting in Elronborg, Kawhi talked to Rurik, and he realized a very basic principle. That is, as long as the temperature is high enough, iron ore can be turned into molten iron, and as long as there is molten iron, it can be directly cast like bronze water.

However, it is easier said than done to completely melt the ore?

Kawhi couldn't hope for that much, but to smelt chromite, he really needed a bigger furnace.

In order to build the nearly two-meter-high stove, it took the children two days just to pile up clay. Inside the furnace, a layer of local iron ore is laid for heat insulation and reinforcement, and the children used it for a day.

The space inside the hearth is actually quite large, and it is enough for Kamne to stand in it alone. In fact, the work of laying the iron ore inside the stack was done by Kamne.

Outside the hearth, Kavey built two steps with stones, and he was the one who pulled Kamne out of the furnace, and then stuck his head out to check the internal structure.

"Yes, so that chromite can also be smelted into sponge iron, and those ordinary ores become easier to smelt."

"Is this all right?" Kamne, who was all dirty, asked weakly.

"Enough is enough, you and your brothers have a good rest, the rest of the work of curing the furnace is my business!"

Is the next thing really just about Kawhi? In fact, he still needs the help of his father Klaverson.

The son and his apprentices had already built a huge stove, and the father and son began to work together to fill the interior with charcoal, and then piled a large number of charcoal blocks around the stove.

The Clavassons had stockpiled a large amount of silver coins, and their monetary offensive soon prompted a group of Ruth artisans to burn a lot of charcoal.

The charcoal was lit, and for the next forty-eight hours, a scorching bonfire would not be extinguished!

The fire burned for two days and two nights, and the whole towering furnace had undergone a qualitative change.

Pottery is made of clay, and now the main material of this stove is clay. When the flames naturally extinguished and the hot embers cooled, what was left was the stove that had been smoked to black coal.

Its whole body has been blackened, and even the sand and stone ground that carries the furnace has been burned to the point of glaze.

About Kravassen's family made a large furnace for more than ten days, and when it was finished, Rurik became the most honored one of the many visitors.

The time is already late July, and it is still a few days away from August in the Julian calendar.

This afternoon was an ordinary day. A large number of fishing boats were working in the waters, and the nearby forests were only woodcutters and lawnmowers. As usual, those deer breeders spent a lot of time grazing and tending to the newborn deer.

People are always busy and life is dull and peaceful.

Under the calm is hidden enthusiasm, everyone is looking forward to the arrival of August, looking forward to the return of those businessmen.

Rurik, however, was attracted by the new masterpiece of the Kravassen family.

According to his own plan, after returning to his hometown, he should try to implement the plan to manufacture a blast furnace, because many housework matters were delayed until the end of July.

Now that the children's military training and cultural education, Rurik doesn't have to worry too much. Hearing that Kravassen's masterpiece has finally been completed, Rurik just instinctively thought that they were spontaneously trying to make a blast furnace.

Rurik brought his valet Kanuf, Fisk, and even the reliable mercenary captain Yevlo to the door of the blacksmith's house with great interest.

The bonfire that had been burning all night was completely extinguished, and a tall, pure black cylindrical stove like a chimney appeared in front of Rurik.

Kawi, who was still checking the stove, soon saw Rurik's visit.

He jumped down the nearly one-meter-high stone steps at a brisk pace, ran straight to Rurik regardless of how dirty his body was, and then pointed to his masterpiece with great interest: "Rurik, look! I finally reproduced it in my hometown. It's a great furnace."

"I know what you're doing."

Rurik stopped talking nonsense, and rushed to the stove with his professionalism. He subconsciously reached out his small hand to touch the stove, and then looked at his finger, which had been soaked in carbon.

"The stove is so dirty?! You won't wipe it?"

"Is it necessary?" Kawi asked curiously.

"Oh, maybe not really necessary. Well, the stove is cold, and you haven't used it?"

"Of course! How do I use it if you don't come to see it? I want your review!"

Although it was flattering, Rurik liked it.

Coincidentally, Clavason, who was wearing a full-body cowhide jacket, came with a large bundle of pure black charcoal strips.

"Yo! Rurik, you are here at last. Are you here to see my son's masterpiece?"

"certainly."

"Then look at it! Soon, we will start smelting." Kravason's very confident attitude fully shows that he is going to do a great thing.

Rurik didn't care about getting his hands dirty either. He touched the stove and walked around the bottom of the stove, carefully examining the whole structure of the hearth.

At this moment, Klavasen, who was standing on the steps and kept throwing charcoal blocks into the stove, was also gushing.

Rurik ignored Kravasen's nonsense, keeping his eyes on the bottom of the stove.

"Strange, this furnace is very blast furnace. But it's definitely not a blast furnace."

"There are only two openings through which the iron pipe of the bladder blower can be poked, and the positions are also on the upper side. A large opening is designed at the bottom? This is obviously the slag outlet. As for the iron outlet, alas, there is really no."

"Ah, is it possible that Kawi still has to stand on the steps, risking his face being burned, and just use tongs to pull the sponge iron out."

"Sponge iron?! Can such a large furnace only burn sponge iron? Can't it burn molten iron?!"

It was only now that Rurik began to pay attention to Kravassen's eloquence.

It turned out that Kawhi told his father all of his ideas, and Cravason was not pleased with his son's extremely promising feat. The daughter-in-law is about to give birth soon, and the son is making the biggest stove in the family history. In pride, Klaverson gave his son unprecedented assistance.

Rurik stopped wandering, and he listened to Kravassen, and thus understood the blacksmith's intentions.

Things did not exceed Rurik's expectations. Because they had never seen pig iron, they only got the concept of molten iron from themselves. As for how to create it, it only existed in the concept.

"What about Kravatsen, my Kamne, and your apprentices? Where are they?" Rurik asked suddenly.

"Oh, they went up the mountain to dig ore with rattan baskets on their backs."

"Ah? You just let them go with a group of children? No adults watching?"

Clavasson suspended his work: "They have weapons. Besides, there are no beasts in this world for a long time. You really don't have to worry about anything."

do not worry? Rurik remembered that those children were not even ten years old, yet...

wrong! The era is 830, those children were never cowards, they were forced by the times to become men from the bottom of their hearts.

It was a coincidence that Rurik came to see the new furnace in action, and to learn of the great work conceived by the Kravassen and his sons.

Now that the furnace is made large, more sponge iron can be smelted. To smelt so much sponge iron naturally requires a lot of charcoal.

A large amount of charcoal is consumed in exchange for a large amount of sponge iron. As long as the sponge iron is completed, the rest will be easy to do.

For a long time, the Kravasen family used a small furnace to smelt sponge iron for a long time, and then the furnace finally broke down, and Kawei built a new furnace half a person high. A year later, a giant stove has popped up! Through linear thinking, Karawassen is acutely aware that the newest stove is energy-generating sponge iron.

What is the biggest factor limiting the production capacity of your own ironware? The supply of ore is probably not the worst, but the lack of preliminary smelting of a large amount of ore is the biggest constraint.

After all, you don't need a high temperature to reheat the sponge iron to the point where it can be forged. As long as you store a lot of sponge iron, the rest of the work will be easy.