Rise of Rurik

Whether or not the Danish leader Hafgen is indeed buried at sea, Rurik can be sure that his political life has come to an end.

There is a power vacuum in Denmark, and someone is bound to come forward like a vulture to seize Hafgen's legacy.

Horrick, Count of Friesland? A Dane who surrendered to the Franks? The nephew of the ousted former Danish leader? This person established a virtual "Viking Zone" in the Frankish kingdom?

It may seem strange to others to hear this, but Rurik knew the Danish law district in Britain and the Norman duchy in France.

He is not a witness to history, but a promoter of history at all.

There are also heroes emerging from this sea area who are writing the heroic era of the North Sea.

If you don't build a ship, how can you fight this battle?

The plan to build the fleet was brewing in Rurik's mind. Now that there is a heavy snowstorm outside, while learning Latin, he has already calculated the initial lineup that the fleet should have.

And this, just wait for the wind and snow to stop, find the shipbuilding expert Hortra by himself, and submit a new order.

Almost every year, the real winter in Ross begins with a blizzard.

This year, it had a light snow start that turned into a snow disaster.

This year is indeed different from previous years. The pine wood is stacked to form a wall that wraps the entire Roseburg, and the bottom is also reinforced with sand and stone. The hardened cement laid to make the wall more explanatory.

It has become an excellent barrier to protect the people. There are fewer snowflakes entering the fence, and the people are sheltered in the warm wooden house, and their psychology is also comforted.

From the light snow to the blizzard, to the restoration of tranquility, the snow lasted for more than two weeks.

The wind and snow washed the world, and people got out of their mansions, breathed in the clear and cold air in the winter sun, and immediately began to clear the snow with the tools in their hands.

Rurik's towering palace, it has become a real ice fortress in the world of ice and snow, standing on the third floor, he can see the frozen sea, and the rows of sleepy piers and sandy beaches. Ships in hard ice.

The winter life of the Rus has begun!

Unlike other Viking tribes, who generally lived at home and survived the winter like a marmot, the Rus even looked forward to the winter in these years.

Winter is a real danger, but special needs give rise to special economic benefits.

Who would come out to work in the winter if it wasn't profitable?

The men of Ross, and even the women in large numbers, were busy producing for the winter for pay.

Going to the north to hunt is no longer a huge risk. Fort Elrond is already a great and steadfast northern fortress. The emerging Fort Fisk is a new stronghold that is expected to expand. Murmansk, all in the construction plan.

Rurik's abundant funds tend to drive the people of Rus to work. People get money, and the backhand is to buy food, clothes, and daily necessities.

The core of the Duchy of Ross is already an economy with strong domestic demand in the Baltic Sea, and she is still on the road of expansion.

The snow had stopped, and on the first floor of the palace, Rurik held a meeting of the duchy.

This session provides guidance for this year's winter life.

First, organize an expedition of 100 people. According to the map and written description provided by Rurik, start from Fort Fisk (Rovaniemi) on the shore of the frozen lake, ride a reindeer sleigh along the glacier, and then take a reindeer sleigh ride along the glacier. Arrived in Murmansk under the guidance of a deer breeder who served in Rus, and immediately established a permanent base to obtain local leather resources.

Second, taking advantage of the winter season, tribal men and women are mobilized as usual.

Third, a monthly welfare allowance of ten pounds of oatmeal and a one-pound bar of soap for all women with children (it is impossible for Rurik to give too much)

Fourth, build a new ship and complete the four-four plan of the four majors, four smalls, at least in a short period of time.

Rurik was a duke with real power, and he was also the most wealthy person, and he had a sacred identity.

Of course, the people who work for him are not all because of their sacred status, because Rurik is really giving money, and everyone can really get a lot of food. As long as you work for the duke, you can get good income. Who would be lazy?

Rurik paid the people to cut wood on purpose in order to build ships.

The time was ripe, and he took his cronies straight to the shipyard of the Hortra family.

Check it out here! Huge wooden workshops form an indoor dock so that it can be built rain or shine.

This construction method is really an innovation, and its significance is no less than the "keel revolution" set off in this sea area 80 years ago.

In other words, even if Rurik did not exist, the shipbuilding industry in the northern Baltic Sea would eventually change the whole world, which is the general trend.

It's just that they haven't built a dry dock yet, and fortunately the big ships they build aren't that heavy.

They only built the hull, and after the key parts were completed, they were pulled outdoors, and the tall mast was smoothly installed with the help of wooden scaffolding.

When Rurik came, two new ships of the same class as the Avrora, the hulls of which had been built, were waiting to arrive this winter with the hard and tall spruce from the north. The mast must come from the ice sheet in the north. Compared with summer, the frozen sea has become the best route. A large number of reindeer can pull the mast wood, so-called semi-trailer-like transport of logs, and arrive at Roseburg for final assembly.

The wide wooden door was opened, and the workers were busy cutting and grinding wood, transporting and installing ship materials, and applying waterproof loose glue.

Some female workers were hooded, crouching on the ground and stitching together huge sails.

Rurik made a sudden visit, and Hotra came in a hurry after hearing the news.

"You are here at last, my lord. Take a look at the hulls of these two large ships, the final work we are doing. When the giant trees arrive, it is time to install the masts."

"I'm going up quietly." Rurik said casually, pointing to the bow.

After a while, Rurik was standing on the bow deck, climbing on the carpentry scaffolding, which was exactly the same as standing on the Avrora.

There is an old Hotra, and since he has been stationed for a few years, his family and accompanying friends have naturally formed a community of interests. They don't have such a high-intensity construction plan in Melalen, and they can't make a lot of money from it. Today they employ men in Roseburg to do the tedious and critical carpentry work.

Hotra leaned on crutches, standing on solid ground and looking up at his gold master.

"Sir, how do you feel?"

"Everything is fine. It's just..." Rurik paused, he was already standing in a very high position, standing here just to see the structure of the entire indoor dock and estimate its size.

He got off the hull and had no intention of accepting the hospitality of the Hortra family, and said bluntly: "Let your most capable craftsmen gather. I! I want to announce an extremely important thing."

Hotra patted his forehead and knew that it must be building a new ship. This is a great thing, which means that the brothers can continue to get riches, life will be better, and the influence of the family will increase.

As many as twenty craftsmen gathered around Rurik, the brawny men with shirtless shirts and terrifying chest hair, while the young craftsmen wore sackcloth shirts whose rolled-up sleeves no longer concealed their muscles.

"Huh? Hotra, I remember the best ten people. What? Your team has expanded?"

Hotra smiled and patted several people's shoulders at will: "I have been here in Ross for two years. This is my younger son, and now he has become a good craftsman. You can be sure that we are very strong now. You see, in one summer, the hulls of the two ships were built."

"You mean, with your two indoor docks, you can build two ships in half a year?"

Hotra didn't mean it purely. When he was asked this, he knew that the opportunity was rare and he immediately affirmed: "Yes, that's it."

"Oh, that is, as long as there are enough materials, just you can make four big ships a year."

"There are enough materials, and if we hire more people, we... Indeed."

In fact, Rurik sensed that Hortra was a little timid, but it didn't matter.

He clapped his hands and asked everyone to find a dry place to cover with leather and talk on the spot.

They tried their best to suppress the ecstasy in their hearts. With the information just revealed by Rurik, everyone speculated that perhaps the rich Duke Ross was going to take out four orders in one go? All this before and after the cost of a thousand pounds of silver? Now, everyone knows that the young Duke of Ross in front of him is of excellent character, pays attention to contracts, never defaults on the final payment of the deposit, and is generous. Of all the clients, this adult is the most generous and decisive.

Rurik's request really hit their hearts like a flying arrow.

"Me! I plan to build eight ships as soon as possible! These eight ships will be based on my real needs and will no longer be the big ships as you know them. They are still larger than the average cargo ship, but they are not really cargo ships, and they will not be necessary or necessary. Carry out the task of the cargo ship."

Having said this briefly, Hotra's mind was a little confused: "Sir, what kind of ship is this?"

"The keel is reduced to 20 stikas, the maximum hull height is reduced by 1 stika, and the width is reduced by 2 stikas."

Hortra closed his eyes. He was a lifetime old boatman, and with his eyes closed, he modeled in 3D in his mind, and immediately made up the approximate appearance of the new ship.

"Ah! In this case, the ship will be relatively slender. I know that the ship you ask for must have a deck and a forecastle and stern."

"No." Rurik raised his right hand to signal: "This new boat does not need a forecastle. You have noticed that I actually want a slender and light boat relative to a large boat. I want it to have a leaning boat. A bow mast, a mainmast placed in the center, that's enough."

"Then the poop..."

Before he could say this, Rurik actually laughed out loud. He said proudly: "For these eight ships, I will adopt a brand-new technology that you have never seen before."

"What technology?" Hortra probed warily, as did the others.

"It's a whole new kind of paddle."

"Paddle? Haven't you given up on paddling and asked us to change to sails?"

"Not all." Rurik shook his head, "Ross is the oar, and our duchy has the best oar. Now, my duke, I should make Ross's oar great. I have invented a new kind of oar, that It's an oar like a spinning conch shell."

"This... what is this? Paddle?"

Rurik was a little surprised. He didn't expect Hortra to put on a puzzled expression. Looking at the others, could it be that they didn't understand propeller technology?

Propeller propulsion technology is essentially an excellent technology of divergent research of "Archimedes screw pump".

He added: "It was a wooden pole that was slanted into the water from the hull. There were specially installed paddles on the wooden pole. The wooden pole drove the paddles to rotate, and the whole boat could be propelled. And our people just Standing in the poop, stepping on the plank, driving the gears to rotate, and making the wooden pole follow."

Since it was something they had never seen before, it was difficult for them to associate the real thing.

But these men understood the importance of bronze gears to ships.

The Avlora is extremely maneuverable, not because of her wonderful jib, but because of her stern rudder, which extends from the poop into the sea. She can do high maneuvering maneuvers such as short turns, which are difficult for traditional paddle longboats to do.

In the current situation, it is difficult for them to understand what a ship's propeller propulsion system is by relying on one mouth, but the new technology must be reflected on the new ship.

The atmosphere was a little awkward, and Rurik cleared his throat again.

"I am by no means on a whim. You don't understand new technologies, so I will teach you. I will work with blacksmiths to create the corresponding materials, and I will also be with you in the days to come to guide you in building new ships."

"Oh! That's great," Hotra said, "So, can you tell us what the result of using the new technology is?"

Rurik shrugged: "You're still doubting. That's all. The result is that from now on our ships can move forward in calm waters, enter and leave ports more smoothly, and no one can see anyone paddling, and will I feel that the ship is clearly furling and still moving forward, so I must have obtained the power of God.”

It sounds wonderful.

But this was not the most important purpose of Rurik's trip.

He cleared his throat again, pinched his fingers, and said, "The new eight ships, bigger than the cargo ship, smaller than the Avrora. They're going to start building quickly, and I've even thought of the names of the ships."

"Name, what is it?" Hotra asked again.

"Don't worry. You've finished these eight, and you have four more Avlora-sized ships to build. I've already made up my mind! Your indoor docks are so big that you can build two each. This winter, you must If four ships can be built, there will be four in the next summer."

"This... my lord..." Hotra coughed and declared that he had something to say.

Rurik speculated: "Do you think I am asking too much?"

"No. My lord. Actually..." Huotra looked around and raised his aging chest after seeing the eyes of his brothers: "As long as you give enough money, the supply of materials will be smooth. We can do all this this winter. Eight ships were built."

"Are you sure? I don't want this to be bragging."

"We don't brag."

Things seemed to be far beyond his estimates, and Rurik simply had the courage to say: "Well, next summer and next winter, we will build four more large ships. In this way, we in Ross will have eight large ships and eight medium-sized ships. I have already thought about it. Well, the big ships are called cruisers (fast ships), and the smaller ones are called destroyers (as their name suggests). This year is the end of 832, and by the spring of 834, I will see these sixteen warships! Rest assured, Funding is never an issue, I just want to get the big boat as soon as possible."

The craftsmen immediately began to discuss it, and Rurik thought they would spend some time discussing it, after all, it was a big project.

Unexpectedly, the speed of their decisiveness is the blink of an eye.

Hotra gave a serious answer on behalf of all craftsmen: "We totally agreed, and even negotiated the price of each boat."

Their decisiveness is beyond imagination!

The Principality of Rus must clearly define the Baltic Fleet. After all, in the current historical stage, almost all the activities of the Rus people are in this inland sea.

Perhaps three large ships of the size of the Avlora were enough to suppress Denmark's sea power, and the actual combat proved that this is probably the case. But there are only three and four ships in the big ship area. How to demonstrate Wuwei and perform tasks in the vast territory of Ross?

Besides, the Avrora was only a big ship in these bad times, and the full displacement might be able to pile up to three hundred tons at the risk of overturning. But the Gothenburg capsized, the standard displacement exceeded one thousand tons, and the full-load displacement could be close to two thousand!

It is for this reason that Rurik defines Avlora and others as light sailing ships, which are so-called cruisers.

Eight cruisers, eight destroyers.

This is the 88th Fleet Plan formulated in the winter of 832 by the Duchy of Rus, and this is just the beginning.