Rise of Rurik

With the help of the tribe, a large amount of sand was sprinkled on the burning charcoal storage room, and the terrifying smoke finally stopped spewing.

The wreckage of the collapsed furnace was partially cleaned up, and the solidified pig iron was collected on a large scale.

Clavason fulfilled his promise, and he paid the two silver coins agreed upon by the workers who helped smelt.

So far, the situation has turned the corner.

However, the messy wreckage has not been completely cleaned up, and the storage room in the state of ruins is still exuding an anxious breath.

In the evening, at Clavasson's house, the family sat together in a complicated mood, and in front of them was doing Rurik.

Everyone sat on the wooden floor, discussing what to do next.

The oil lamp was lit by the powder, adding an important light to the dim room. The light of the fire shone on Rurik's tender face, and for the Cravatsen family, the desire to make a big stove really had to rely on Rurik's help.

Some die-cast glass squares hold a bit of jerky, and a small bowl of oatmeal.

The oatmeal stock in the blacksmith's house was almost gone, and the last remaining skill was planned to be used for Lilia's body after giving birth. Now, in order to get Rurik's help, Kravassen had to offer his own gift.

Rurik, didn't care.

The fact that the furnace was collapsing was so bad that at first the Kravassons were sitting here with nothing to say.

"What? Don't talk anymore?" Rurik asked deliberately with a sullen face.

"This...what can I say?" Clavasson said with an old bearded face. "I can only beg you to think of something. Hopefully we can make new furnaces."

Rurik smiled calmly, holding the nearly hemispherical glass bowl in both hands, and took a sip of the porridge: "I thought your house had long run out of oatmeal, at least mine is exhausted."

Kawei forced a smile: "The one left is for Lilia, but..."

"I understand." Rurik put down the bowl, "Why are you so diligent? I said it during the day, and now we have a meeting, and I will tell you what to do next."

"How to do it?!" The Kravason father and son stretched their heads in unison.

"Worried? It's okay.

"

"Alas." Clavason patted his head, "I've seen the biggest furnace in my life, and I've seen it collapse. In fact, I want to know how it collapsed. Of course, there are also the special ones you mentioned. Iron, smeltiron, how did it come about."

"Huh? You two senior blacksmiths still don't understand?" Rurik shrugged, finding their confusion absurd.

"If I can understand, I won't let the furnace collapse. Please tell me." Clavasson hooked his head, looking humbly asking for advice. Seeing this, Kawei also hooked his head.

The atmosphere became a little weird.

Rurik smiled and said: "Usually when you smelt ores, sponge iron and slag will only press against the bottom of the furnace, and the bottom of the furnace is hard ground! But now the situation has completely changed, you throw them into the furnace. Too much ore, eager to complete a month's cost of sponge iron with only one smelting, your ambitions are too high."

Clavasson suddenly realized: "Ah! Shouldn't we put so many ore? Oh, we did it ourselves."

"Not only that." Rurik shook his head vigorously, "You have done a great thing, your furnace completely melted the ore for the first time, but your furnace can melt the ore, but it can't hold them well. It turns into water. Iron is very heavy, much heavier than slag! That's the smeltiron, and they're very heavy right at the bottom of the furnace. Your furnace walls are still too thin, and it's just puncturing them."

It may be a bit simple to ask the two blacksmiths and blacksmith apprentices like Kamnee who are leaning against the wooden wall to expect them to have an abstract concept of mechanics in a short period of time.

It is true that they need to spend a little time to understand the "classical mechanics" discovered and summarized by Sir Newton, but this does not mean that they have not realized many truths in their daily production work. For example, the Kravassons have their own experience summarizing concepts such as stress.

Clavasson suddenly raised his head: "Oh! Then increase the thickness of the furnace wall."

"And don't put too much ore next time," Kavey added.

"Huh? That's what you think?"

"Otherwise?" Clavason asked.

"No way." Rurik looked like he understood everything. He raised his chin and kept pounding the wooden floor with his fingers: "My friends, since you can completely smelt iron ore, just like smelting bronze, Everything has changed."

"Oh, then put it in a large clay cauldron." Kawi suddenly realized that he found a way to take out the molten iron.

Rurik's hands clapped hard on his little face. He didn't know whether to praise Kawi's linear thinking or to judge him for being pedantic.

"Don't think about the cauldron! You just listen to me. We will work together to build a brand new furnace, but the internal structure will be unprecedented. You must make it according to my orders and it may be successful."

The Kravassons looked at each other, and the two had no objection.

Taking the opportunity, Rurik immediately taught all the blacksmiths and apprentices present about the blast furnace.

As for how Rurik understands this knowledge, he is quite aware. This is the advanced theoretical knowledge he has as a traveler. Because of the old blacksmith like Klavasen, Rurik believes that the father and son still Continue to turn your theory into reality.

Here, Rurik had to sigh with emotion for the dedication of the eastern ancestors to smelting.

Perhaps, the ancestors of the East accidentally used copper ore in the process of burning pottery. In the history of pottery burning for thousands of years, the mixed use of copper ore, tin ore and even lead ore made them develop bronze smelting technology by themselves. .

In order to cast larger bronzes, larger furnaces must be used to smelt more bronze water. The ever-increasing demand is forcing continuous modifications to the furnace.

The furnace is getting bigger and bigger. In order to facilitate the collection of bronze water and the disposal of slag waste, the outlet and slag outlet are set up.

In order to make the combustion more complete, high-quality charcoal was used, and a large animal-powered blower was used to inject more fresh air into the furnace.

Compared with the skins owned by the Rus, the East has already used more advanced bellows and wooden fans, and their blowing efficiency is amazing.

More air enters the furnace body, and even charcoal can reach its calorific value limit, so in the age of bronze smelting, the height of Chu people can already reach the extreme high temperature of 1400 ℃. It is entirely because of the selection of ore materials that the weapons of the Chu army have a large amount of copper-iron alloys.

Smelting technology has reached an extreme height, and the urgent ordnance consumption of war has forced the East to have a great demand for further improvement of iron smelting technology.

However, the Russ tribe does not have a particularly huge demand for war now, but the threat of war always finds itself. In a challenging era with strong enemies and ambiguous allies, Rurik yearned for a relatively peaceful development opportunity, but the successive slaps in the face of the times made him see a bloody reality - weakness is sin .

Except for some 20-year-old young people in the tribe who are eager to make a fortune through looting under the banner of revenge, Otto and Rurik's attitudes have already tended to open up wasteland to obtain new living space and produce their own products. Supplies are needed, especially grains like oats and rye.

Now that a vigorous production campaign has begun in several new settlements under Ross, there is a huge demand for a large number of metal tools, weapons.

There are only five families in the Naihe Ross tribe who are professional blacksmiths. The young blacksmiths are still a group of apprentices less than ten years old. It is still unknown when the men of the Iron Squirrel Tribe have excellent blacksmithing skills.

It is when the blue and yellow are not connected, and it is when the Ross tribe is quite weak.

So even if the Kravassen family didn't take the lead in making a new furnace, Rurik would have to build a blast furnace. After all, compared to burning ore to make sponge iron, it is far less efficient than direct pig iron casting to make tools. Although the quality of pig iron production tools and weapons is extremely worrying, it depends on who you are comparing with. Since the opponent is usually wrapped in cowhide, and only the elite wear chain mail, to deal with this kind of enemy, the spear head made of pig iron, which is thick and heavy, is not a big problem. As for casting it into bones, gourds, or warhammers, and using blunt tools to crush the enemy's bones and bones, there is no problem.

The new furnace that Rurik mentioned, its top priority is naturally the thicker furnace wall!

In order to make the furnace stronger, of course, it needs to continue to be piled up with clay and fired into a giant pottery. Its interior is preferably refractory layered with high-temperature resistant chromite ore from Fort Elronorava. Perhaps after doing this, the furnace's ability to resist pressure is still weak, so Rurik hopes to continue to stack sand and soil outside the furnace after the furnace is built, and finally ram it with a sledgehammer to become a solid mound, in order to make the furnace a solid mound. Do not collapse.

An earth blast furnace, its structure itself is not complicated.

Since the furnace is designed to deal with the separation of molten iron and slag, the density of the two substances is very different, so it is not difficult to place the slag outlet and the discharge outlet in different positions.

The so-called difficulty, I am afraid, lies in the blower.

Since the four leather-bag blowers of the Kravason family are replaced by a group of strong men with big shoulders and round waists, it seems that it is not a problem to promote the full combustion of the charcoal.

But wait! This kind of blowing method itself is difficult to replicate, because it is impossible to hire people as strong as bulls as labor force.

So at this meeting, Rurik focused on two very important construction proposals.

There was no paper to draw a design plan, and Kravasen provided a pair of wooden boards, and Rurik used the tip of a meat cleaver to draw the basic structural diagram of an earth blast furnace on the wooden board. Because they also had a lot of experience in making utensils according to Rurik's blueprints, Kravason and Kawei's abstract understanding ability improved greatly. They understood the blueprint of the earth blast furnace and couldn't help but applaud.

However, there is only one other design drawing, two senior blacksmiths carefully looking at the oil lamp, still a little confused.

"What is this? I can't understand." Even the young Kawi was completely at a loss when faced with the "centrifugal blower" that Rurik took out.

"This is a special blower. Although it is made of wood and belts, your carpentry skills are outstanding. I believe you can make it according to the drawings."

In fact, the difference between the wooden "centrifugal blower" created by Rurik and the similar products after a thousand years is probably only the difference in material. Its essence is a turbocharged system. As long as its airtightness is done well, its efficiency is better than that of a bellows-type blower, but its production requires a test of mechanical knowledge.

It's just that its production is more complicated, and Dongfang is more willing to use cheap bellows and exhaust fans, which are all-in-one blowers.

Although the centrifugal blower of the fan car is also used for smelting, its appearance is too rare, and its simplified version is more used to hustle rice and wheat.

Looking at the two with solemn expressions, Rurik deliberately stimulated with words: "If you can't do it, I'll have to hire a better carpenter."

"Then let me do it!" Clavasson clenched his teeth and sat upright, and then gave some instructions to his son Kawhi: "Tomorrow we will start the operation, you bring the children and hire another group of people, you guys To make the stove. And I, I also hired a group of carpenters to work together to make Rurik's blowers."

Rurik was a little stunned: "Huh? You decided to hire someone?"

"Why not?" Clavason widened his eyes curiously.

"Oh! It's not surprising, it's just...it's nothing. Just do as I say."

After a meeting was over, Rurik returned to his home feeling excited.

He was imagining a wonderful picture, and his family was discussing the thrilling things that happened during the day.

Seeing his son's return, Nia directly grabbed his hand and asked about the situation of the blacksmith's house.

"Are you worried about them? Mom."

"Of course! They should be fine." Nia was a little puzzled by her son's disapproving expression, "Are they really okay?"

"They are all fine. The fire is out and the furnace will be rebuilt tomorrow."

"Oh, I hope the stove doesn't collapse again, it's horrible."

"That won't happen." After that, Rurik called all the female relatives of the family to his side, especially Sister Carlotta.

"Now that the Ostarans have not all moved to New Roseburg, they must settle down, and I don't think they are too happy to move again."

The words were for Carlota to hear. As the leader of Ostara, she nodded: "You are right, although it was agreed last year that they will all move out today. I am here, and of course everyone doesn't want to leave."

"Hey, you are their leader after all. But you are good at herding. You need a warmer place to graze cattle and sheep. Roseburg is not very suitable here."

Carlotta was quite surprised, she muttered weakly: "Rurik, I'm obviously your woman, are you trying to let me leave... leave."

"Huh?" Rurik hurriedly denied: "I just said that your clan will leave Roseburg sooner or later. This place is too barren. I'm afraid I will also leave this fjord in the future. New Roseburg is warmer and suitable for grazing and planting. , the waters there are also suitable for fishing. Our destiny is to leave this fjord, so we need more tools."

The private household said some nonsense, and Rurik hurriedly clapped his little hands: "You guys just reached the furnace and collapsed, but you don't know that the Kravasen family has completely smelted iron ore into molten iron!"

Although Rurik's words were a bit exaggerated, these remarks completely exceeded the cognition of the female family members in the family. It's not that the Carlotta sisters have never seen iron smelting, so here are the two girls, Rumia and Seporava, who have accidentally learned about the principles of iron smelting.

"The ore has turned into water, can't it be cast?!" Carlotta asked in surprise.

"Yeah, you're so smart."

Carlotta smiled shyly, and in just a moment, she finally understood all Rurik's hints.

"Ah! We cast tools, cast iron ore everywhere. Can each of us Ostarans have our own axes, shovels, and manuscripts?"

"Yeah." Rurik smiled: "It's really time to arrange for your clan to open up the wasteland, and they will bring a full set of tools. By the way, there will also be heavy plows. At that time, I am afraid I will inform the big chief. Arrange for you to lead your tribe to New Roseburg to build a settlement called New Ostara. Maybe yours will…”

Carlotta felt a little lost, but he also showed the temperament that a leader should have for the first time.

She raised her small chest and looked into Rurik's eyes: "Even if I were a child, I would revive my tribe. My destiny is to be your wife, and my tribe is your tribe."

"That's right. But your people will pay taxes in the future. It's a contract. When the brand new furnace starts to mass-produce tools, I will give a lot of tools to your people, but they will give it to me from generation to generation. Pay the tax. I think you know the concept of tax! They have to pay a portion of the grain harvest and leather, and it's all for our Ross tribe's expense."

Carlotta sighed silently, and she felt that Rurik's words made sense: "Your tribe..."

For a moment, Rurik laughed when he consciously made a slip of the tongue.

"Well, maybe I should spread an idea."

"What philosophy?" Carlotta asked.

"That's what Rose is. Is she a tribe, an alliance, or everything we have? In my opinion, whether it's you, the Kewen people, or the deer breeders, as long as it's in the same group as us Rose people, that's Rose. As long as he agrees with my father, and me and my descendants as the leader, then he can call himself a Rus."

Rurik felt that what he said was very clear. Here, the four female relatives still felt inexplicable, or that Rurik's ideas were a bit advanced, and the atmosphere was cold.

What can Rurik do in the face of embarrassment? He smiled awkwardly, gritted his teeth and simply said: "Forget it! Let me briefly say that after many years, I succeeded the leader. As long as I agree to be loyal to my big leader and swear to me, I will agree that he is a Russ. , he can also call himself a Russian. In the future, the Kovins, the deer breeders, the Ostarans, and the Novgorods, we are all Russians.”

Rurik is madly suggesting a concept called "", that is, "nation-state", in order to integrate multiple ethnic groups with different languages ​​and cultures into a new state form, or to merge into a combination of many previous tribes cultural nation.

The concept is too advanced, and the atmosphere is still cold.

It's not that they show resistance, in fact, their concept of ethnicity is very vague. Even the Ostarans, they never mind condescending to a strong man, all they need is a stable living space. They didn't even linger on the concept of "Ostara", which was meant to describe an island. The survivors can only be accommodated by the kind-hearted Ross tribe, what else can they ask for?

The scene was too embarrassing, and Rurik simply waved his hand, "I'm tired, I just want to rest now."

"Then scrub your body and go to sleep immediately." After that, Niya immediately summoned a maid to prepare hot water.

I am afraid that Nina understands what her son said here. She marvels at his ambition, but is worried about the uncertainty of the future. But he is really too old, the future should be bright, just like his son described a pair of smelting molten iron to make iron tools with unprecedented efficiency, I am afraid this is the only one that he can see in his lifetime.