That night, Harozolson visited the leader's house in person. He only wanted to talk to Rurik.
"Haha? You talk to me about building a house? Okay." Rurik welcomed Haro Zuosen.
Before that, Rurik had told his mother, and even his cousin Arik, who was staying at home temporarily before his daughter-in-law returned, about his plans to build a new leader's house. Niya and Arik don't quite understand. Are wooden floors and so-called beds really so wonderful? Maybe it's just wonderful.
Rurik danced and made an introduction. He could not guarantee that his mother was really looking forward to sleeping on the wooden bed.
Since Harold Johnson is here to visit, let’s talk about it.
After listening to Rurik's introduction for a long time, Harozolson shook his head: "I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand. But since you said it's comfortable to live in the new house, it must be comfortable."
"At least it's much better than now." Rurik emphasized with some regret, "Uncle, I think our days of sleeping on the ground should end forever. Although those Novgorodians are relatively stupid, they are somewhat particular about housing. My current house is modeled after theirs, and I think it is very suitable for imitation. Uncle, I see you are also building a new house. You know, there are many older but skilled idlers in our tribe."
"A new house? This...maybe I really need to think about it."
The sun has completely set, but in fact the time is now running out. Everyone is counting the days, and the "longest day" is getting closer and closer, so the night time is already very short.
After returning from the leader's house, Harold Zuosen began to be served by his two latest concubines, but his wife always had a bad face.
On the other hand, Kanuf, a real little kid, started playing with his two little maids who were almost the same age without any care. After all, they are each other's children, and now these three children are all sleeping together in a shack.
Harold Zuosen didn't feel any discomfort at all in this scene, because this man wished that these three children would grow up quickly so that he could have a grandson before his life span ends.
Look at this big family, their current house is too small!
Should this continue?
Although Harozolson thought it was strange that Rurik imitated the Novgorodians in building a house, he did not think that the wooden floor was a clever facility.
Rurik was asking people to build new houses, and Haro Zuosen was also inspired.
After all, since he became rich because of the loot, it was time to renovate his old house or demolish it and build a new one.
After much deliberation, Haro Zuosen felt that it would be more reliable to build a new house.
Although the territory of Roseburg is becoming more and more difficult, the poverty refers to the ordinary tribesmen. Can my status be the same? There are also tribesmen living in this area, whose status is obviously higher. Everyone is a noble person from the tribe who lives near the leader’s house!
Therefore, there are still many relatively flat wastelands in this area, which are completely unsuitable for growing onions. They only grow some weeds during the warm period every year. Is it feasible to spend money to hire idle people to develop wasteland and build larger and more spacious longhouses?
sure.
As a result, the next day, Harold Johnson also took action. He recruited a group of idle people with construction experience, including himself, and more than 20 people went into the hills to cut down trees just to make building materials for new houses.
Rurik was indeed the first to open the scoring, and Haro Zuosen was the first to imitate. The power of examples is infinite, and more tribesmen began to imitate them. Those who returned from victory with money in their pockets renovated their homes for the last time, and some wasteland began to be forcibly developed to build new longhouses.
It’s just that no one has imitated Rurik yet.
"Perhaps, only if they really feel that sleeping on the bed is more comfortable than sleeping on the ground, the entire tribe will gradually tear down the old houses and live in longhouses with wooden floors." Rurik thought this way, he still had to be busy with many things .
For example, after a new longhouse is completed, the rest of the daily necessities still need to be added, especially important bedding items. Those servants will be his right-hand men, so naturally he cannot treat them badly when it comes to sleeping and accommodation. It is the most basic requirement to have mattresses and quilts made of animal skins to prevent servants from freezing to death due to possible hunger and cold.
He has already decided that he must make a batch of quilts that he likes. For example, animal skins can be used as a mattress and fine linen can be used as bed sheets. In this case, it would be better to use linen as a quilt cover with animal skins stuffed inside.
He had already sketched the appearance of the quilt in his mind, and the intimate memories from another beautiful world came to mind again.
Deerskin that is simply tanned is no longer so expensive. Those tribesmen who became wealthy took money, and more people purchased daily necessities on a large scale and rationally.
The existence of demand not only drives up the price of catch, but also drives up the price of leather goods.
Some merchants who still hoard their fur goods in Roseburg no longer need to take the fur goods south to earn profits of 100 or more, let alone worry about the huge risks of long-distance transportation.
Last year, leatherworkers bought deer hides for one silver coin. After processing, merchants often bought two for three silver coins. Merchants can transport high-quality deer skins to the large market of the Melalen tribe and sell them at a high price.
Now, facing the real demand, they have set the price at three silver coins each and then sold them back to the Russians.
Now, the price is obviously deceptive, and those families who are still poor feel regretful and can't do anything about it.
Young people with money in their pockets did not mind paying high amounts of silver coins to buy some animal skins to make more clothes. Times have indeed changed. In the past, you might have to wear your own leather jacket for more than ten years. Now, if you make one or two spare pieces, your dream of luxury can completely come true.
If you can earn high profits locally, why bother transporting it all the way south?
Moreover, Rurik never imagined that he himself would be one of the driving forces behind the price increase.
There are currently up to 80 beds in two longhouses with wooden floors, and new longhouses will continue to be built for the foreseeable future. The purpose of the longhouse with a distant Slavic style is to serve as a dormitory for servants. Considering that I have a lofty dream, in the process of gradually realizing the dream, I must at least ensure that my right-hand men have reliable beds to keep out the cold. clothes and bedding.
In the area of Fort Ross, we often encounter dangerous extreme cold in winter. Even if he sleeps on the ground in such cold weather, Rurik doesn't think that the tribesmen do this deliberately to strengthen their body. The reason may be as simple as they haven’t had a chance to feel the comfort of a real bed.
There are a large number of women in the tribe who are over forty years old, and they are usually worried about their future. They lack the physical strength to go fishing, let alone engage in combat. They need to rely on their husbands and sons, and make some handicrafts and weaving to support their families.
The only value of their existence seems to be to clean up the house for their husbands and raise the children at home.
The men of the tribe did not think that these women had much ability, but they generally knew weaving and tailoring, skills that Rurik urgently needed.
Rurik bought a deerskin for three silver coins, even though he knew that he had suffered a loss in this regard, and he also knew that the deerskin in his hand was most likely captured by the tribe last year.
There is also some cowhide mixed in here, and its price is even higher.
Rurik purchased as many as 200 pieces of leather goods from various large livestock that were perfectly processed and could be directly made into clothes! Two hundred sheets, firstly, to make a complete collection, and secondly, to process some more as needed. This move made even his mother Niya wonder whether her son had a sudden idea of trying to be a fur goods trader.
However, Niya learned that her son had purchased a large amount of linen, and through the women who specialized in cooking fish and meat, he recruited many unemployed female tribesmen and assigned them the task of tailoring.
Her son's behavior confused her, and what happened next was even more confusing.
Because my son still feels dissatisfied with those well-processed animal skins.
A group of tribal women were hired by their sons and began to use knives to cut the leather very luxuriously. After that, there was obviously more work to do.
All leather is cut into a wide rectangle, and its area can generally completely wrap an adult man lying down. Whether it is cowhide or deerskin, they will be wrapped once in linen. Women used their own iron needles or bronze needles to complete intricate stitches with hemp thread. No different, a poor needle has to penetrate thick leather, which really tests the strength and perseverance of women.
However, when they thought about the benefit of getting one silver coin just by completing one piece of processing, when they thought about Rurik being such a generous child, and even though their foreheads were covered with sweat, they also wanted to make a fortune.
Rurik found forty women to do the job, expecting each to earn five silver coins from the job.
But this money is definitely not easy to earn.
Rurik is making "quilts" with available materials. Those imported linens are made into comfortable quilt covers, and the interior is made of a whole piece of downy leather. It is bound to be heavy and truly warm when worn over the body, and its shape does resemble a quilt.
Rurik was a little disappointed with the work of the women. One "leather quilt" actually took two days to process.
He waited for two days, and on the afternoon of June 6 in the Julian calendar, the first batch of quilts finally began to be delivered.
"New bedding supplies? Is there anything more comfortable than my bear skin?" Arik, who had nothing to do for the time being, was enjoying the pleasant afternoon, but was stunned when Rurik reached out and tried to pull him outdoors.
"Brother, don't ask any more questions. Call a few more brothers to help me move my things."
"What other whims do you have? Do you call those things quilts?"
Rurik kept to himself and pulled his cousin's strong arm hard, but Arik was as motionless as an iron weight.
Seeing this scene, Rumia, who had returned from grazing, wanted to laugh, but also a little bit want to cry. In the past few days, she has begun to learn the etiquette of the priests and the prayers. Four months ago, Rurik began to make up the runes and the so-called Roman letters. Rumia can actually spell out the letters engraved on the wooden board. prayer on.
High Priest Vilia didn't think this girl's learning ability was amazing at all. She felt that Rumia must have this level.
Facts have proved that Rurik was right, and so was he. At the end, Vilia once again lamented the wisdom of Odin.
Rumia would return to the longhouse after dinner and recite those prayers in front of Vilia, eventually reaching the point of memorizing them.
For the time being, she must stay close to her master Rurik and listen to his orders.
At least Arik chuckled at his brother's seemingly naughty behavior, and said affectionately: "You can't pull me until you grow up. Rurik, is that thing of yours good? Give it to me. One, I’ll help you.”
"You...you bully me for being young? Okay. You help me move, and I'll give you a baby."
"Oh, this is right."
Arik got up quickly and easily recruited ten peers who were also idle for the time being.
Rurik walked in front of them, followed closely by Rumia.
A small team formed, and it seemed that the leader was the kid Rurik at the head of the team.
The team turned into a place where ordinary tribesmen lived. In a sense, this was the "lower city" of Roseburg, where tribesmen who lacked power and status lived together. They were the poorest people in the tribe, and now things have changed. Because of the end of the plundering war, some people suddenly became rich, causing many people to regret that they missed the opportunity to make a fortune.
If I had known that a sneak attack on the Gotlanders would go very smoothly, I would have followed suit!
Arik watched his brother approach some simple houses and actually started chatting with women with wrinkled faces.
The woman said a few words, then went into her home with a smile on her face, and came out carrying a lot of things like linen bags. Looking at their efforts, Arik guessed that there must be something in the off-white cloth bag.
Just when Arik was hesitant, Rurik called enthusiastically: "Brother, come here and take the baby, I'll give it to you."
"Baby? In the cloth bag?"
When Arik took the so-called cloth bag, he realized that it was not the so-called bag at all.
Arik subconsciously opened it with his hands. This did not require any explanation at all. He also understood that this object was an existence that resembled a blanket. Feeling the texture, he estimated that the inside of the linen cloth was a whole piece of leather.
He keenly noticed that the blanket was wrapped in a layer of gray-white linen, and there were quite careful stitches on the linen. This thing is indeed not an ordinary leather blanket, it is really made too square, and a strong desire to possess it surges into Arik's heart. He wished he could use this as his bedding for tonight.
"Arik, lift it up a little higher!" Rurik said loudly: "Don't hesitate, look at the quilt falling to the ground."
"Oh! I'll lift it up right away."
Arik raised his arms and lifted the entire stretched quilt off the ground, and Rurik could see its entirety clearly.
The tall and strong Arik did lift it up, and Rurik could see half of his cousin's uncovered calf.
"Rurik, this thing is quite heavy." Arik muttered from behind the quilt.
"That's right, it's heavy. Deerskin itself is not light. What do you think about using it as bedding?"
"Maybe it's comfortable. Oh, thank you for the gift."
Rurik touched it personally, and he couldn't help but admire the tailoring skills of a tribe's women. In this case, they should be able to complete more complicated tailoring tasks assigned to them in the future. The Ross tribe can even develop a tailoring industry as a result.
Making clothes has been a labor-intensive industry since ancient times. In the era before sewing machines, organizing elderly women to work together to make clothes was an operation that maximized efficiency.
As for the sewing machine, the old-fashioned pedal-operated sewing machine, Rurik didn't think it was that complicated. Because it is a mechanism combined with special-shaped gears, it makes it possible to thread needles uninterruptedly. In addition, with the power of pedals, thick cowhide makes it easy for needles to penetrate.
For now, making a sewing machine is still a long way off. Perhaps only when tribes have a large-scale demand for clothing, the development of relevant machines will become truly and realistically meaningful.
According to Rurik's request, his brother Arik folded the quilt in half several times until it could be held in his hands.
"Rurik? Where to go next?"
"Go to the next house and get another one." After saying that, Rurik took out a silver coin from the cloth bag hanging on his waist and put it into the woman's hand, which was full of wrinkles and calluses.
Poor laborers have such palms.
Looking at the hands of a pair of poor people so carefully, a feeling of pity came to my heart again.
Think about your mother. She doesn’t have to run around for a living. The hardest thing she does on a daily basis is to cut some dried meat and cook some food. Can this be considered hard work? No.
So my mother deliberately left a nail on her little finger, not just to show that she was different from ordinary women.
Rurik continued: "I'm very satisfied. You have all the materials. Keep doing it for me. We'll deliver the goods at the same price."
I saw the woman bowing with a grateful face, and a few tears squeezing out of the corners of her crow's-feet eyes.
The woman promised: "Oh, Odin's child, thank you. I will do the rest well, and I will do well wherever I am needed."
Rurik could tell that the woman was talking about "Odin's child". It seemed that a silver coin was really important to her.
But for me, there are already too many silver coins.
Take another look at this huge Roseburg! Looking at this simple house, it is indeed very different from my own home and the housing nearby. In short, it is more simple.
The gap between the rich and the poor in Roseburg is so big, so why should we give money to some poor tribesmen?
That doesn't work. Teaching people to fish is the right answer. Through this incident, Rurik fully understood that the poverty of many tribesmen may simply be because they have lost the physical strength of their youth and cannot fish and fight on a large scale, causing their living standards to plummet as they grow older.
Whether they are men or women, when they get older, if we can provide them with some work opportunities that did not exist before but are within their capabilities, they will get paid for their work and buy food and clothing to survive as much as possible. Ah, this is quite harmonious.
The productivity of the tribe will also be improved as a result.
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Chapter 168 Building a new house and making a new quilt
