Rise of Rurik

The messenger Benardick slowly took out the wooden board full of words: "Respected Ross leader, this is the order of the leader, please take a look."

He pushed the plank forward until it was in front of Rurik.

Not to mention, it was the first time he sat on the wooden floor and looked at the many hideous bear heads hanging on the wooden wall, his eyes were all reflective and full of the flames of the bonfire, he really fell in love with this warm house.

Rurik just glanced at the board, and was already laughing in his heart.

Rurik couldn't hold back after all, and laughed: "I thought the leader of the alliance had a high opinion. It seems that his order is only one sentence?"

Benadict was a little timid, "I... I'm stupid and didn't understand the meaning of these symbols."

"Huh? This is clearly our text, you actually..."

"Yes, I really don't understand. Maybe I need to learn."

Rurik didn't know whether the guy was pretending to be modest or completely illiterate. The Western alphabet system is inseparable from the original, it is to allow ordinary people to quickly understand the meaning of other people's written documents, just need no trouble to learn.

"Hey, I've seen the leader himself, and I made an agreement with him." Rurik said eloquently, "This board is engraved with a meaning. He said that the Russ brought your goods, and after the ice and snow melted, they would join the fleet with the fleet. Let's meet together."

"Huh? Is that what it means?"

"right."

Benadict felt a little depressed, he risked freezing to death to touch Rosburg, that is, the representative leader to convey a promise that the Rus people have never forgotten.

This is not an order, just a reminder.

"Does the leader have an edict?" Rurik asked suddenly.

"This... the word of mouth is there. The leader said that he needed goods from the Rus, and he would spend a lot of money to buy it."

Rurik nodded: "I understand. Tell your master, we Russ can meet his needs."

"Oh, that's great, my mission is complete. So, can the villain retire?"

"Are you in such a hurry?" Rurik's smile seemed to have other meanings.

"leader,

You also have..."

"You are a warrior who dares to run into our territory with a sleigh. We will give some rewards to warriors like you."

As soon as he heard the reward, Benardick's heart beat wildly, and he expected the Russ to provide a meal and feed the reindeer fodder by the way.

The result was beyond his imagination.

Rurik's philosophy of life has always been about coming and going, and he intends to entertain the messenger and even the reindeer husband. For the night, they ate porridge, roasted seal meat, carrot stew with yellow roots, and even a glass of ale.

The two lived in a vacant wooden-floored barn, and soon after eating and drinking, they fell asleep wrapped in leather.

In fact, in Rurik's point of view, this hospitality can only be said to be of a slightly higher standard, but it was the best enjoyment in his life for Bernardick.

In his heart he admired the leader of Ross, specifically Rurik. He saw it even more clearly that the great leader Otto had handed over most of the power to his son Rurik.

The two hardworking reindeer were fed a lot of hay, supplemented with some oats.

At dawn the next day, the messenger and his party ate another bowl of wheat porridge and got some hard wheat biscuits.

Benadic received written feedback from the Ross leader, that is, new words were engraved on the back of the clerical board.

Some are in Rune script, which is well-carved. He took a closer look and was astonished. Because these words are not marks drawn by a knife, but smashed with special tools.

In fact, these are some steel stamps made by blacksmiths. Small cast iron blocks are chiseled with mirrored letters by steel cones. Each family of the Blacksmiths League made two sets, one in the Rune alphabet and the other in the Roman alphabet.

For example, the wooden board that Rurik gave back, hitting the steel seal makes the writing of the document faster.

In fact, this is also a trade-off. The early Sumerians used clay tablets as carriers, and used various patterns of seals as writing stationery.

This trick of the Rus is by no means the first, it is just to be able to write quickly at a time when wooden documents are becoming more and more common.

Benardick saw a strange set of symbols at the bottom of the rune letters, which still looked like words.

He didn't understand anything at all and didn't ask anything.

So what did Rurik say on the board? In fact, it was also a sentence: "Noble lord, we Rus will honor our promise."

Rurik used an elegant word to praise the leader of the alliance, which was only the most basic diplomatic etiquette.

The messenger didn't stay in Roseburg, and Bernardick didn't take a good walk in the streets of Rose, so naturally he didn't know the details.

Even so, he could see the strength of the Russ even by looking around.

Just look at the three rows of ships lined up on the frozen beach, who would dare to question the strength of the Rus?

The messenger thing is just an episode of the work of the Rus in March. Rurik and Otto completed the diplomatic meeting and quickly threw themselves into their daily lives.

The blast furnace's flames went out, and it was intact, only because the Kravassons had no iron ore at all. Not only are they short of minerals, they are also short of charcoal.

This huge blast furnace made of clay has been essentially vitrified inside, it has become very hard and high temperature resistance, and the extremely thick sealing soil ensures its compressive ability.

Kamne was once dropped into the furnace. He was responsible for cleaning the residual slag and carbon deposits in the furnace. After many days of cleaning, the furnace was restored to its state.

It's just that Rurik didn't expect the blast furnace to operate for many years. Maybe it would have to be broken down and rebuilt in two or three years.

At the end of March, the Spring Equinox is here!

On March 28, the stars arrived at their correct positions. The high priest Vilia, who was almost breathless, almost lost her appetite, and in a daze, she pointed out the arrival of the date for her successor, Rumia.

This time, it was Rumia who really put on the noble antler helmet and brought all the priests to perform sacrifices on the stone boat altar.

Everyone saw a lithe high priest standing barefoot on the altar where the last snow had been cleared. People were surprised to find that the high priest, Vilia, was just sitting on a sedan chair this time, wrapped in leather and watching all this quietly.

The twilight of the High Priest is well known to be sad.

But in Rurik's heart, since this small-scale sacrifice ended, the era of High Priest Rumia has officially begun, even if she still lacks the last promotion ceremony. She is indeed very young, even young, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that the old priest's time is approaching, and the burden of future sacrifices falls on Lumia's thin shoulders, and she must bear it.

After the vernal equinox, everything changes! The frozen sea is melting at a rate visible to the naked eye, and the once easy-to-walk ice layer has become extremely dangerous.

No, the water flowing into the Roseburgfjord became extremely fast, and the central Scandinavian mountains began to thaw, not only the Roseburgfjord, but also the Kemi River in the north. With the sound, residents of Fort Elrond stood on wooden walls, and even children climbed towering cranes, and they saw the great river Ling in the sun.

Time has quietly entered April, the sea has returned to waves, and all the sights have proved that this year's spring has come in time and normal.

It is this wave that is full of danger, just in the fjord, there are floating ice everywhere.

In early April, a spring rain nourished the earth like precious oils.

The rain was not cold, it was even a little warm.

It was the dampness that enveloped the world that made Rurik feel really uncomfortable.

The only thing that the Rus people are fortunate about is the large number of wood carvings built on wooden piles, which are largely isolated from the mud and dampness.

The snow and ice accumulated on the ground melted rapidly due to this rain, and the mines and rocks that were covered by solid ice in the past were exposed to the rain, and large-scale mining operations will resume soon.

Construction of the Avrora continues these days, even though it is shrouded in continuous rain. Her massive body was exposed directly to the rain, but that didn't affect her solid oak hull at all.

The ship's thick pine deck has been laid, and even the huge rudder with its stern has been refined.

Clavasson and the other blacksmiths, who took Rurik's money, were ordered to make two cogwheels. In terms of craftsmanship alone, these gears are still too rough, and Rurik doesn't expect them to become skilled in precision machining in an instant, because that's too unrealistic.

In line with the principle of being able to use it, after the shipbuilder took over the gear plate, he quickly fastened it with oak wood, and built a hard large wooden gear with a tenon-and-mortise structure.

One of the wooden gears is the core of the steering gear that controls the movement of the rudder, so that when the helmsman turns the steering wheel, he can drive the huge rudder board with a small force to adjust the course.

Another wooden gear, expanded directly into a wooden winch, was installed on the wooden deck. Because of its extreme initiative, it was further reinforced by oak boards, and the Rus even used nails to riveting, in order to improve the strength of the tenon-and-mortise structure.

It is an ingenious two-way ratchet system, which was successfully built only by Rurik providing drawings engraved on the wood and his own guidance.

Of course the Hotra family would build a winch, making a very large real number for the first time.

Because the maximum width of the Avrolla has reached six stikas, the maximum length of the hull's water surface has reached thirty-three stikas. Because of the keel, it looks very slender.

The huge jib sail had been sewn up, it was big and heavy, and only such a sail could withstand the strong winds at sea. Now, the women who eat Rurik's food are also finishing the last and most crucial work, which is to sew the sails to the extremely long beams.

There is only one step left before the launch of the Avrora, but as an armed merchant ship with substantial combat effectiveness, it has not yet been equipped with weapons.

What kind of weapon will she be equipped with?

This is the heavy equipment that Rurik had conspired with Kravasen and Kawhi for a period of time - a six-seat torsion slingshot.

Rurik wanted to reproduce the Roman scorpion crossbow. He had this idea, but it was because the technology of the Rus people was not strong enough at that time.

Now, times have changed.

A carpenter with Ross got an order from Rurik to make some small parts. Some oak corner material is also recycled.

The core components of the torsion slingshot, such as the whale oil and seal oil soaked as the source of torque, the wool and linen mixed rope, the small cast iron ratchet system, the rotatable wooden tray, the angle adjustment lever system, are all mainly built by the Kravassen family. .

With Rurik's technical guidance, the job, although not difficult, took as long as three weeks for the six-seat torsion slingshot to be built.

However, they are not huge existences just by appearance.

They have a uniform style, the frame structure is made of solid thick oak, and its structure is further enhanced by smashed iron bars, that is, the width is only about 50cm, and the "shoe tail" is only about 150cm. The ratchet winch is mounted on the end of the scorpion tail.

A composite cable was wound twelve times, with a mild-steel crossbow attached to its center. They are made thick so they don't bend significantly when stretched. The crossbow made of iron has a greater self-weight, but considering the structural strength of the material, Rurik took a balance.

It's not that he never thought about making a giant steel-arm crossbow. When he thought of the large amount of materials required, the cost of maintenance, and the results that could be achieved, he decisively gave up.

Rurik had thought carefully about casting bronze cannons, preparing potions, and bringing the Rus people into the age of gunpowder overnight. The theory is that kind of theory, and it can be realized in practice. It is the huge human and material cost of realizing it in the future, as well as the output and the effect that can be achieved. The ratio of input and output is destined to be unequal at present.

Whether it's a heavy steel-armed crossbow, or a gunpowder-related device, their technology level is too high! The Rus people who are so high now do not have the ability to control it.

In the end, it's a question of money.

For example, Rurik's Torsion Slingshot, which uses mild steel fittings, cast iron castings and bronze pieces, is enough to create multiple superb weapons. The best weapons made of these metals must be sold for five hundred silver coins in total, and this is only the cost of metal materials.

The specially made mixed material hemp rope is money, and the processing of hardwood is also money. All kinds of things are put together to form a torsion slingshot. Rurik estimates that its construction cost has reached at least 600 silver coins.

Perhaps the money was always small for Rurik, but it wasn't!

Because the Avlora was to be fitted with six torsion slingshots, Rurik had to invest about thirty-six pounds of silver in terms of armament alone.

The idea of ​​getting a boat with a thousand silver coins, that is, the so-called ten pounds of silver, was unsuccessful. The reality was like a slap in the face, which made Rurik realize that the navy is an aristocratic arm.

The torsion slingshot is just a launcher after all, and its "cannonball" is still money.

Fortunately, as soon as the construction of the weapon began, Rurik thought of the issue of ammunition.

If the torque is made of modern industrial fibers such as nylon, the power of this slingshot must be particularly huge. Rurik was helpless. This slingshot was the most powerful weapon he had created using the existing materials and technical abilities of the Ross tribe. So from the beginning, its material determines that there will not be a lot of torque, so in order to obtain the maximum killing effect, it is necessary to make a fuss about the ammunition.

Rurik designed three weapons.

The first is a half-pound cast iron projectile with a conical shell style. It must decelerate quickly after being fired, and its flight lacks stability. It can only be used as a close combat weapon, such as knocking out enemy ships. a hole.

The second is the short spear commonly used by the Rus. For flight stability, it only needs to glue the tail of the veneer at the end, and it becomes a javelin. In real wars, Rurik reckons that this weapon is the most commonly used.

The third, which is very similar to the first, except that the material is a fired pottery block, or simply a lump of glass containing a lot of iron smelting slag. For hard targets, cast iron projectiles are naturally used. For soft targets, it is estimated that flying over a brick Rurik is sufficient.

After the weapon is built, it is natural to carry out some experiments. Experiment, it has undoubtedly become a new topic of discussion in Rosberg. Everyone knows that Lord Rurik has invented another weapon, which seems to be a more powerful existence than the crossbow.

A slightly empty nearshore wasteland became a testing ground, and people saw a series of very good results in exclamation.

After many days of testing, Rurik came up with a number of technical indicators. What can he say? Although he is not satisfied, but this is the current era, the level that long-range weapons can generally only achieve, and we can't expect too much.

Although the three-bow crossbow can reach a range of one thousand meters, it is not a magical weapon that a tribe of ten thousand people can afford, not to mention the Rus people do not have this technology.

The marine torsion slingshot has been tested and concluded that the initial velocity of all kinds of projectiles is not fast, and the effective range of flat shooting is less than about 60 meters. Yes, Rurik has merged the concepts of stika and meter in his mind.

It does have a close range, but the energy storage of the cast iron projectile is amazing. About 50 meters away, it can still punch a large hole in the finger-thick pine board. Its penetration power to oak plank is not high, after all, this is the strength of oak, but how can an ordinary enemy have a ship made of all oak?

Cast iron projectiles can make sharper heads, and even make special molds to directly cast a tail for it, so that it has greater stability and penetration, and its main job is to drill holes for enemy ships.

And when it launched a short spear with a tail, it created the largest projectile record of nearly 200 meters. A large number of data show that its range is about 160 meters, and if the wind naturally flies farther.

The short spear uses the acceleration of gravity, and the spear head is deeply digged into the mud, which requires a strong man to pull it out. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that if this is used on the battlefield, it will be able to shoot at the enemy's formation outside the range of the enemy's archers, and nail some unlucky enemies directly on the battlefield, giving the enemy a huge amount of energy. heart shocked.

In the same way, those clay and glass projectiles also fly a long distance, targeting the enemy's soft targets.

These six torsion slingshots can be used for land warfare and become the heavy weapons of the tribe, but the future of the Rus people is destined to be extremely dependent on the sea, and these weapons must become excellent "ship destroyers".