Trapped in the snow and wind, what else can people do in their homes?
Adults told their children exaggerated stories, especially those of the men involved in the Northern Explorations, who told their children that the deer herders were formidable enemies and that their father had defeated them.
Adults do not hesitate to put gold on their faces to gain admiration from their children.
Life would seem very boring if we just told strange stories for a long time.
Many people actually weave and repair hemp rope nets in their longhouses, and repair longboats in larger wooden houses.
This time a large amount of animal skins were brought back. If the skins cannot be processed quickly and the skins rot, using them to make clothes will not be a good choice.
There are a group of professional blacksmiths in the Ross tribe. They found iron ore in the mountains and copper ore further away. Their iron smelting technology is not good. Using ancient technology, they can only smelt pig iron and then beat it to make a good axe.
Compared with iron smelting, their ability to make bronze is better, but the copper mines in this area are rarer and the output is lower.
For most tribesmen, the main way they obtain wealth and food is through hunting and fishing. They make smoked fish jerky and a small amount of leather. While satisfying their own use, they sell extra products or complete transactions within the tribe.
The leather trade was, indeed, usually an internal trade.
Tribal blacksmiths rarely participate in fishing, and rarely participate in large-scale collective hunting. Not even very enthusiastic about the Sorgon voyage led by leader Otto himself?
Why?
Because they are professional blacksmiths.
Every household in the tribe has its own metal equipment, and iron tools are widely used in everyone's daily life.
Those wrought iron tools that have been beaten to a very low carbon content are prone to rust even if they are used. When some tools are severely rusted, they have to be handed over to the blacksmith and paid to refurbish them or buy a new one.
Blacksmiths would go to the mountains themselves, carry suitable iron ore home, and make it into usable tools or weapons after a long process of smelting and forging.
Other than that, the main job is repairs.
Ordinary people, if their wood-cutting ax becomes dull or the blade is damaged, they still have to take it to a blacksmith and ask him to forge it and pay him.
Perhaps the professional blacksmiths of various civilizations were their original chemistry experts.
Blacksmiths have to go deep into the mountains to search for available mineral deposits. In the process of searching, they will naturally dig up some priceless amber, as well as a small amount of rubies and sapphires. They can always find some translucent ores, including crystal clear natural quartz, gypsum, and even alum and mirabilite that are very important to the tribe.
Alum and Glauber's salt can be found in the mountainous areas of this region. Since the date of discovery, the Ross tribe no longer needs to import these two "strategic materials" from the brother tribes in the south, and will even export them on a small scale.
In fact, they are not particularly precious minerals, because they are quite common in rocky mountains around the world.
The central ridge of Scandinavia still contains many mineral deposits. The Ross tribe and the Siiya tribe alliance prematurely discovered that this ridge is rich in iron ore. Perhaps they have not thought at this time that further mining and smelting of these ores will eventually make Sweden and Norway rich.
The few blacksmiths are like the "geological experts" of the tribe. They are more focused on blacksmithing. The alum and thenardite they mine are basically sold out immediately after they are carried back to the tribe.
Especially those allied tribesmen who live in the Ross tribe. Some of them are not only businessmen, but also professional craftsmen.
These people buy and hoard alum and thenardite, and wait for the end of autumn, when the hunters of the Ross tribe will continue to sell the newly hunted animal skins to themselves.
So in some longhouses, it really stinks!
But with the incentive of great wealth, it's totally worth enduring the stench and continuing to work.
Otto, his victorious action brought him a profit of one hundred deer. During the difficult journey back, 80% of the deer either died or were sold by him on the way.
He personally owns fifty fresh deer skins. Although they are fresh, they are actually hardened by the cold.
Otto had no shortage of animal skins and clothing, and he did not expect Niya to complete the complex processing of fifty deer skins alone, and there was not enough material for processing animal skins at home.
He sold all the deerskins and directly earned fifty Roman silver coins of good quality, which he locked in his piggy bank.
In the cold winter, the world is frozen. Not only do the homes of leather merchants stink, but the entire family also falls into the busiest season. Celebrating Hanukkah with the Ross tribe, being able to experience the days without sunshine is really more interesting than at home in the south.
This is also a place of wealth. After processing a complete deerskin, regardless of the cost, you can earn at least one silver coin by selling two.
It can be said that this is a job that seems to be profitable, and the fact is that it is true, that is, it requires a lot of labor from the workers.
Hiding in a warm home, they first pre-process the fresh fur, scrape off the meat and fat on the hide, and wash it with hot water.
Fortunately, there is snow at your fingertips outdoors, and it can be done by melting and boiling it.
Next comes the salt-making process that requires the participation of Glauber's salt, and the odor containing trace amounts of toxicity also escapes. To complete this step, there is also the tanning process involving alum.
When they completed all the processes and the hides became soft and extremely corrosion-resistant, spring arrived, and soon the frozen sea melted enough to resume shipping.
Otto, as well as the people of the Ross tribe, did not know that the leather craftsmen among their allies were a hugely profitable business in purchasing the fresh furs they hunted.
Reindeer hide is warmer and has a larger surface area than sheepskin. It itself is quite expensive leather, and the Sami people who are good at raising deer also quickly turned from trade to war after encountering the Siiya tribe heading north. Small clan-based deer herder communities were being destroyed one after another, and this year Otto was simply doing what his ancestors had done.
Deer farmers are losers. There are not many wild deer herds in the first place. Without deer farmers, the reindeer population will shrink sharply.
Today, reindeer are extinct in Jutland and increasingly rare in Scandinavia.
The Danes struggled to raise sheep and cattle so they could only obtain the important leather. Because of conflicts with the Frankish Kingdom and the Slavic Wende tribe, the originally relatively harmonious bilateral trade turned into pure robbery.
The relationship between the Danes and their traditional partners has become increasingly tense, and trade routes have been affected, and they have to take tough measures more frequently to conduct business with swords.
Therefore, the cobblers living in Rossburg can row their long boats directly to the Danish territory, and of course they have to sneak over quietly. Although the conflict between the Siwei Tribal Alliance and the Danes has become more and more serious in recent years, the private trade between the two parties is not really determined.
Everyone spoke the same Norse language, and the language had not become too different due to geographical barriers. The merchants directly claimed to be Danish and the same race as the customers. As for where the high-quality deerskin comes from, the answer is easy to guess - it was stolen from the Finns in the north.
It’s not an exaggeration to replace one processed high-quality reindeer skin with five sheepskins from local Jutland people. Although this is a very risky behavior, if you take the risk of being attacked by the Danes, you can at least make twice or more than selling it to your own people.
This time, there were more than 200 reindeer skins, as well as a large number of Arctic fox skins, ferret skins, wolf skins, and even ten white bear skins. The Ross hunters sold them all in order to quickly exchange for silver coins.
In this way, the locals of Roseburg praised their leader as a "brave adventurer" who bravely helped everyone get a huge fortune.
As for the guest leatherworkers, they almost knelt down in front of Otto, praising the leader's generosity with exaggerated smiles.
The cobblers are busier than they have been in decades. The small number of cobblers has to work at home this time, and even young children must help.
Because the family owner understands that if he spends a freezing winter completing a huge amount of work, the income gained will be enough to give his family a life of food and clothing without worrying about work for two or three years!
Therefore, in the wind and snow, some strange buildings are always emitting black smoke.
It was the tribe's blacksmith shop and cobbler's workshop, where they burned charcoal to carry out complex production work with high added value.
The richest people in the tribe are of course the leader Otto's family, followed by the priests, and the third are the blacksmiths, cobblers, and several particularly skilled carpenters.
It is understandable that the leader is the richest, because according to the traditional rules of the tribe, the leader must legally get more loot. The priest group is completely supported by the entire tribe, and the priests are also composed entirely of women. The number of people is only small, so the per capita wealth seems to be more.
Those craftsmen are ordinary people in the tribe, and their identities also determine that they cannot become heroic spirits in Valhalla.
They can't even be Odin's servants because they believe in Thor.
People believe that Thunder is the incarnation of Thor. This god holds a sledgehammer. In people's concept, he looks like a young blacksmith.
All blacksmiths worship Thor, as do other craftsmen. These people naturally do not need to fight to prove themselves. Although they are people of the same tribe, they believe that they are actually protected by Thor.
Since the heavy snowstorm started, the snowfall actually lasted for five full days!
Fortunately, only the first two days were filled with terrible blizzards, and then it was just plain snow.
But this is not the beginning of peace. Every family's house faces huge safety risks. The heavy snow can easily collapse the roof. So starting from the third day, some residents have braved the wind and snow to clean their homes. The snow at the door was then climbed up to the roof, and the wooden shovel used for digging earth was used to remove the snow as much as possible.
Perhaps only blacksmiths and tanners don't have to worry too much about snow. It's so hot inside their longhouses that the snow on the roofs can't store much, and the slates at the chimneys remain the same.
Rurik spent most of his time these days studying.
Rumia easily finished feeding the few deer hiding in the pen. The only necessary task that Rurik assigned to the girl was this. The rest of the time, he took the girl with him and learned the language of the deer herders through the translation of the Vilia priest.
In a few days, Rurik had learned some of the most commonly used vocabulary, and he also learned all the phrases such as "eat" and "drink water".
In contrast, Rumia also learned many Norse words and phrases. Due to the fact that the Norse language of this era still has many tongue-licking sounds, it would be difficult to master it quickly if one did not learn it from an early age. This has resulted in Rumia's current pronunciation of the language being quite strange. The ancient Sami language of the deer herders does have the tongue-licking sound, but it is not used as frequently as in the Old Norse language.
Fortunately, Rumia has basically learned the words that are most commonly used in ordinary life, and she has to use the newly learned words immediately in order to communicate with her master.
But is Rurik really the master?
This little boy who is three years younger than himself, he bluntly claimed that he would rather call himself sister.
In fact, the child had intended to call him that from the beginning, but he didn't understand Norse at that time.
Rumia was even more moved because of this. What she longed for most was her family. As long as she had a family member who was willing to love and care for her, a lot of the pain in her heart would be gone.
It has been the fourth day of snowfall, and the snowflakes are more dense than yesterday. Everyone believes that the snowstorm season will soon pass.
During these days, Rurik led his servants to a very intense study life in the long priest's house, at least that's what Otto thought.
The lives of Otto and Niya have also become more boring. They are more willing to hide in their warm house and watch their young son play during the boring winter. Although for several years, every cold winter, my son used a wooden stick to draw strange symbols on the ground.
Just seeing this little guy makes the couple content.
One silent night, the heartache that Niya had endured for many days finally broke out.
She asked her husband: "It has been several days. Rurik has been living in the priest's cabin. Are you really relieved?"
"Of course I am relieved that the child is studying. He said that he will not only be our leader, but also the leader of Novgorod and the leader of many deer herders. This child is challenging my authority. He His ambitions are also very ambitious." Thinking of many things that had happened, Otto had mixed emotions. Facing his wife, who was as old as himself, there were some things he really couldn't say.
"But he is a seven-year-old child."
"Ten years from now, there will be a seventeen-year-old child, my Niya. He loves to learn very much, and he will grow into a wise man. His words are not lies. You also know that Rurik was learning from Arik's Pei He went to Lavina to learn the language of the Novgorod people, and now he is learning the language of the deer herders. To become the leader of foreigners, of course you have to learn the language of foreigners, so you don’t have to worry about anything. He is your son forever. It’s all yours.”
"But I still like the way he runs around the house or messes around with sticks."
"Don't worry." Otto sighed, "Tomorrow, I'll grab him and his little servant. The servant is also learning our language, and I'll just take a look at the girl's results. Listen, tomorrow We have to clear the snow from the roof, because if the roof is damaged, it will be difficult to repair."
"You reminded me, I'll prepare the snow clearing tools now."
"Prepare some more food." Otto added.
"Well, Rurik is very light. If he climbs to the roof to clear the snow, I won't worry about the house collapsing. But you..." Niya chuckled, "He is too heavy, you must not go to the roof. Like last year, I was worried that the house would collapse."
"Then you can't completely count on Rurik. Prepare more food. Rurik goes to the roof, and the servant must follow him. Rurik wants to eat meat, and the servant must also eat meat. Prepare enough for two people. "
"Huh? Why? Just a servant." Niya seemed very unconcerned. "Just give the servant something to eat, like some shark liver or something."
What Niya actually means is that the food given to servants is a reward. Even though it is a reward, it should also be rewarded with unpalatable food that only satisfies the stomach, such as shark liver. Who would be willing to eat this strange-smelling food if it were not to survive. .
Otto rejected his wife's idea. It was not because Otto was kind, but because he was his son's servant.
"It's better to prepare more." Otto ordered, "You don't know, Rurik said in front of the priest that the servant is his future helper. Rurik eats meat, and the servants also eat meat. I don't know. Why, Rurik pays special attention to this servant."
"That's strange. I've seen that servant before. There's nothing special about it."
"No!" Otto shook his head, "It must be special for our son. Because he personally tamed the servant. Don't say anything about the servant in the future. If the servant is disobedient, he will keep it. We don’t need to interfere if we are punished.”
"Okay. Let's call Rurik back, and... and the servant named Rumia. As long as that servant does a good job of sweeping the snow, I will reward her. But you, that servant doesn't do a good job. I can’t take care of that much, Rurik is my son, if he can’t bear it I won’t care, I will personally punish the servant who doesn’t work!”
Sensing his wife's tough attitude, Otto deliberately asked: "What will you do?"
"I... at least... at least give that servant a slap in the face and warn that servant that he will be punished for being lazy."
Otto originally wanted to laugh wildly, but thinking about the incident a few days ago, his mouth that had just been opened closed again. "Don't think about it and go back to sleep. We have to clear the snow tomorrow morning."
Otto said no more, wrapped himself tightly in the animal skin and continued to rest, but his mind was full of thoughts.
For the sake of the girl named Rumia, the son boldly resisted his authority and held his own sword.
Not to mention, if this brat’s grandfather still has his grandfather’s grandfather, some of his ancestors must have entered Valhalla, and they should have seen this scene in the sky. They will also be happy for their unruly descendants.
Also, my own era is about to pass. Maybe in ten years, the Ross tribe will be Rurik's era.
Chief, times have changed.
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Chapter 79 The Leatherworker’s Work
