Rise of Rurik

Everything is in Rurik's calculations. In addition to the 20,000 pounds of grain that was planned to be rewarded, another 50,000 pounds would need to be transported. The sleds used to transport the grain alone would be huge. Fortunately, in the new era, the Ross tribe did not have a shortage of reindeer to pull the sleds. Rurik had never intended to give so much grain to Mechasta's men. Oatmeal is a kind of food that is extremely resistant to storage and has a high energy density. It is the best reward for heavy manual laborers in Northern Europe in this time and space.

If there is any resource worth developing besides a mine on the northernmost beach of the Gulf of Bothnia, it is a tree.

Rurik's mind was full of shipbuilding plans, because he didn't have the financial resources to build an iron-clad ship, and even the iron keel and iron ship ribs were incapable, so he had to rely entirely on hard wood.

Of course, oak is a good shipbuilding wood, but are there large areas of oak trees here? The answer is obviously no. It's not like he's new to this place. After a long march a year ago, Rurik has already concluded that there are many varieties of very cold-resistant pine trees here. There should be other tree species such as oaks, but they need to be looked for.

Even if there is not so much oak, it never means that the boat is not easy to build. Pine wood is definitely not as good as oak, and it is also better than most woods in terms of hardness and toughness.

Rurik also made a mistake, because he didn't take a close look at it seriously, and spent most of his time just observing the distant woods from a distance. He defaulted those forests to pine forests, which were obviously mixed with a large number of Nordic spruces.

Perhaps this is not his fault, because red pine and spruce are both types of pine trees in taxonomy. If you don't observe them up close, they are as straight as Optimus Prime, of course, you can't tell the difference.

The wooden walls and all the houses inside the Ailon Orava Fort are all made of solid pine trees. When the house was built, the interior was naturally filled with a strong smell of turpentine, and the problem disappeared after it evaporated for a while.

The fleet led by Otto successfully completed the last Sorgon this year, and it was also the first time to complete Sorgon in the newly opened tax source.

The wealth of the chief family increased so dramatically that the loss of silver coins was astonishing. All the silver coins had been turned into food, leather, and iron tools. Standing at the bow of the boat, Otto looked at his home in the south, and he thought more and more that his son's explanation was correct.

People live to acquire them, not just beautiful silver coins.

So what awaits him is a comfortable winter? Do not! For the warriors of Ross, the cold winter can only lock the cowards, and the real warriors dare to fight against the harsh nature.

Of course, these are just beautiful rhetoric. Over the past few years, Otto has become more and more fond of encouraging the tribe to hunt in winter, and the tribe is also willing to follow. The era when a piece of buckskin could only be sold for one silver coin has completely passed, and a huge amount of money poured into Roseburg. Everyone seemed to be very rich, but in fact they were still poor.

More leather merchants,

In order to bring more fur goods into Roseburg, some even decided to break away from the former tribe and become the new Ross people to take root. Otto knew that Verdegan, a workshop that raised slaves and opened leather and linen tailors. Rurik named a plan to sell part of the squirrel skin to the man, and Otto decided to fulfill the agreement.

This time, Otto will fulfill all the promises he made to his son. He can only stay in his hometown for only two months, and he has to take his clansmen across the ice sea all the way north.

The once peaceful and boring winter has become lively.

A group of fishermen digging ice to catch seals stayed on the ice for a long time. A large number of seals were sold to the priests to boil the oil, and the fishermen got a bargain. The priests, especially Parla, organized the ten named maidservants under Rurik's command to mainly undertake the heavy work of making soap. In the soap-making industry chain, the peak production capacity is in winter, and it must be in winter, so that the seals eat fat on purpose and make the best soap.

Interestingly, because many families in Rosberg completed their residential upgrades in the past, they followed in the footsteps of Rurik and completed the "Novgorodization" transformation of their houses, that is, upgrading them to woodcut ones. , The homeowner sleeps on a wooden bed. The fireplace system made of stone and clay has greatly guaranteed the safety of residents' heating in winter. Of course, they must also consume a lot of charcoal or wood to serve the stove. After all, the burning ashes were thrown outdoors as waste.

Ashes are plant ash. In particular, the potters responded to the needs of the blacksmiths' blast furnaces to smelt pig iron casting molds. The potters consumed the already barren wood resources of Roseburg, and produced more plant ash. They become the lye raw materials for making soap.

Just like the era a thousand years later, what supports the operation of the world is fossil energy such as coal and oil, which are the blood of industry.

Roseburg has already formed a handicraft system, and it is too early to upgrade to a rudimentary industry, but the contract system, employment and being hired in the industrial age have already begun to take shape and are in operation.

The system also has a source of energy, which comes from the nearby big trees, the endless power brought by the burning of firewood and charcoal, which contributed to the industrial operation of Roseburg metalware, pottery, glassware, spirits, leather tanning, and soap.

Of course, the start of the construction of the monumental ship depends on the source of timber.

To get a towering tree, you need to go deep inland and drag it to the shipbuilding workshop by the sea. If the Huotra family, the most capable shipbuilders, did not have suitable wood, it would be a luxury to expect them to build a new cargo ship in a short period of time.

Fortunately, this Huotra had already made an agreement with Rurik, that is, some important materials for shipbuilding, and Rurik would find a way for them to get them.

Otto's last voyage lasted only two days, and he was blown by a strong northerly wind all the way back to the fjord where Roseburg sat. Even though these cargo ships are inherently slow, their speed is quite moving because the wind is strong enough.

Rurik lived in Fort Eron Orava and became the supreme leader of the settlement.

He can give orders at will, and the mercenaries under his command, such as Yevro, follow his orders carefully, and other settled Ross people are also willing to obey the arrangements of the future chief.

Do you want to beware of Cowen man-made mistakes? Totally useless.

Mechasta was very happy to see her daughter, treated like family by Rurik. Two children or even who is on the same wooden bed, he really wished his daughter would grow up, as long as she could give birth to even a daughter for Rurik, with children as a bond, the future of the Iron Squirrel Tribe will definitely be better better off.

For settlements in the far north, the snowfall period seems unexpectedly delayed. The temperature dropped almost every day, until the fourth day after the departure of Otto's fleet, the ice floes on the great river were clearly visible.

In fact, Rurik didn't know that ice eggs were born again on the distant island at the mouth of the Oulu River. Their appearance seems like a miracle, but it is actually the prelude to the freezing of the entire Gulf of Bothnia.

The freezing of the northernmost part of the bay has begun, and the temperature will gradually drop to a terrifying low temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius at night. Without thick fur, only the strongest Ross warriors can resist for an hour or two, but red pine and spruce are not afraid of this kind of cold at all. Polar bears and reindeer still operate in such extreme temperatures.

On the tenth day, it was already November 7th in the Julian calendar, and the daytime was already very short. The former sunshine was suddenly covered by dark clouds, and the world became darker. Everyone realized that a snowfall was coming.

The snow has finally fallen!

All those stranded in the "cemetery hill castle" of the mine, especially women and children, led by the priestess, when the sky began to darken, carried soft, or sat in reindeer carts with very limited carrying capacity. , or on foot, walked through the zigzag forest road with a straight-line distance equivalent to five kilometers, and returned to the most solid Ailon Orava Fort, which gave everyone a sense of security.

The heavy snow is coming, and it is not simple.

The outdoor world is raging like a frost giant, and the howling wind engulfs snowflakes like sharp sabers, cutting the stakes of Elronburg. Including the rearing reindeer, they were all driven to a solid wooden deer enclosure. They stopped all work and gnawed on the dry pastures that had been reserved for them.

Even deer, which are extremely resistant to wind and snow, are instinctive avoiders of heavy wind and snow. The wild reindeer will stay in the dense pine forest to avoid snow disasters, and come out to pick up snow and eat grass roots after the snowstorm is over.

As for people, everyone stayed in thick wooden huts. Thanks to the tall wooden wall, it is a strong barrier against the erosion of the north wind. However, there were also two towers that were not so secure from the beginning, but they collapsed under the strong wind in the early stage of the snowstorm.

The remains of the tower appeared inside the fortress, but no one cleaned it up.

The wind and snow were too serious, even if you were wearing thick clothes, it would be a kind of courting death to be outdoors rashly.

Rurik stayed in his own home, and Mechasta and his daughter Seborava were asked to live in. Of course, there is also Yeflo, the Finn mercenary captain, who is Rurik's most trusted thug and the one who will be responsible for him in the future.

There was a heavy snowstorm outside, and the roaring sound was extremely frightening.

The warm interior is another scene. Of the two large bags of oats Rurik brought, one was given to the remaining mercenaries, and the rest was for himself to enjoy.

Like prisoners, they were forced to stay in the wooden huts, eating oatmeal and eating dried fish all day long until the blizzard stopped.

Rurik separated at least one small room in the house, and that was the house's toilet, which was actually a dry toilet for squatting. Only this cubicle is the coldest in the whole wooden house.

Because of his death order, those batch-built houses all have such independent toilets. At first, people felt that this design did not bring much convenience as imagined, until the snowstorm came.

It was another extremely boring day, and the indoor lighting was entirely dependent on firewood and slow-burning oil lamps. In order to save fuel, the overall lighting time is not long.

The porridge in the wooden bowl was finished again, Mechasta wiped his mouth, and with the soft light of the fire, he picked up the wheat grains in the bowl and stuffed them into his mouth.

"Rurik, after the snowstorm is over, are we really going to find the big tree and cut it down?"

"We've been talking about such a topic for the past few days, why do you still think it's impossible?" Rurik shook his head, "You are the leader of the tribe, you must complete this matter for me. Don't worry, when it is done, you will be able to do it again." I won't treat you badly."

"But, that's a big tree!"

"Are you still struggling with this? Could it be that your people really dare not cut down the big tree when they see it?"

"Yes. I really don't dare." Mechasta will never try his best. His tribe does not have any technology and ability to cut down a tree that cannot be hugged by his arms.

"Ah! But my men dare."

"That is." Mechasta hurriedly complimented, "You Ross people are brave and have such abilities."

Rurik felt that he was sarcasm: "Huh? Do you think that as long as you are strong enough? The soldiers under me are just one head higher than your men. They are not even as strong as bears. Do you think we How to do it? Let me tell you! Rely on wisdom." As he spoke, Rurik pointed to his own brain.

Anyway, being idle is idle, Rurik straightforwardly explained that some of the mercenaries under his command, and even the settled Ross people, many of them knew how to cut down giant trees. But they never showed Mechasta this skill. The reason is very simple, there is no demand.

With Viking logging, trees of any size can be felled safely and in a targeted manner, and all that is needed is a forest axe.

Rurik popularized the techniques he had learned, although he hadn't actually implemented them himself.

"Wonderful! It's really a good technique." Mechasta hurriedly clapped his hands and applauded, did he understand? Before he saw a real lumberjack in actual combat "Viking logging", how could he associate with something he had never seen before?

With a smile on his face, Rurik proposed another tool that even Gevro hadn't added - a saw.

It is a very long iron bar with a large number of small "teeth" in it. If one tooth can only bite a small mark, and a thousand teeth bite continuously, it is a huge wound.

Mechasta and Yevro had never seen a saw, and Yevro especially had never seen a saw, neither in Mälaren nor in Roseburg.

This is an extremely unfamiliar tool, although it has appeared in this area of ​​Europe long ago.

Rurik also knew that Ross's craftsmen had only tools for working wood such as axes, scrapers, and planers. It is also reasonable to think about it without a saw, because making it is also somewhat difficult under the existing technical conditions. Ross craftsmen did not spontaneously research him, perhaps just because they have not been exposed to the concept, that is, "there is still such a logging method".

"It's not difficult to make a saw, but after it's done, even a child, or even..." Rurik simply pointed at Saiporava and then at himself, "The two of us operate the saw without swinging an ax at all, just Could make a tree fall with a bang."

What he announced was so tempting and added to the fun of the boring hours.

The forest in the extreme north has not been developed in any way, and there are quite astonishing reserves of excellent trees in it. It is necessary to find them and turn them into ship materials.

How to make a saw? Rurik has already thought of a countermeasure. His subordinates are equipped with weapons made of two materials, pure iron and ferrochrome. It is not difficult to reduce low-carbon steel to mature iron, and the blacksmiths of the Iron Squirrel Tribe have this ability. Wrought iron is soft, and it can be easily chiseled with sharp, sharp-edged dents by a hardened chrome iron chisel. The rough saw blade is then carburized and quenched to become hard and flexible, and each tooth can be sharpened with iron ore. In fact, the saw blade doesn't have to be too sharp. In theory, even if it is an iron bar that rubs against the tree trunk crazily, it will still cut the tree trunk abruptly.

The plan has been made, and the next step is to wait for the wind and snow to end.

Those wrought iron and mild steel axes will be returned to the furnace, and will be beaten into long and thin iron bars, as if to make a steel sword. Maybe make more batches, and the children of the Iron Squirrel Tribe can become a group of bear children who can efficiently destroy the forest. At least in this era, children with high-efficiency logging abilities are really excellent labor force.