Distilled liquor, just as a very stimulating drink?
Rurik was not addicted to alcohol and knew that drinking alcohol in his current body was tantamount to suicide. He even estimated that once his tribe members experience the feeling of being drunk and ecstatic, there is a high probability that they will not be able to let it go.
Those priestesses indulged in the craft ale sold by merchants, and after drinking it, they turned into a puddle of mud. If a man gets strong liquor, it is normal for him to drink it until he suddenly dies.
But, spirits, it's a good thing.
Make some good spirits that are spicy and provide a quick hangover experience that can be a moneymaker.
Rurik does not have huge hopes for making big money from it.
If you can create very pure alcohol, you can change many things.
It is extremely difficult to produce alcohol in large quantities in this time and space. The raw materials for making wine must be grains rich in sugar. In order to make a good wine, a lot of wheat must be consumed.
Raw materials? It's probably not a problem.
Rurik does not need to be responsible for the survival of other tribes people. As long as he has the ability to obtain a large amount of wheat, it is his own business how to use it.
You don't even have to devote yourself to grain brewing. In fact, you only need to buy ordinary ale with low alcohol content and process it yourself.
The so-called finishing is distillation, and it is enough to develop a set of distillation equipment that can be used in this time and space to achieve the purpose of concentrating alcohol.
In the final analysis, to fulfill his promise to Gould, Rurik must come up with a set of stills.
How is alcohol distilled?
The problem may not be difficult in theory.
For the blacksmiths, life suddenly became very promising. Everyone is busy, and the price of being busy is a lot of money.
A large number of looted silver coins from the Gotlanders were circulated in Roseburg. Their appearance really gave a powerful shot in the arm and stimulant to the economic development of Roseburg.
Silver coins were accumulating from craftsmen of all kinds, and this was exactly what the blacksmiths were facing.
The blacksmiths did not participate in this year's war. As a result, they continued to make money from the soldiers with their craftsmanship.
In the case of Klavason, this old guy has orders lined up for Hanukkah, which is also the winter solstice. He frequently ordered his son and his valet Kamne to pull a two-wheeled cart and run to the mountains not far away to mine iron ore, and also dig out sand and calcium oxide.
He himself was never idle, and his hairy hands were often sweating by the stove. The heat often baked his arms, making them look like two one-foot-long grilled lobsters.
Work including pressing glass has not stopped. Although making glassware is indeed a good way to make money, its audience is limited. For ordinary people, metal tools and weapons are necessary, and glass cups are just a luxury. Ordinary poor people do not have the financial resources to live such a luxurious life.
The work of pressing glass did not stop, and a young woman took over this magical job.
Lilia, the eldest lady of the White Tree Manor in Novgorod, had the ability to learn about Varyag's iron smelting skills, and she actually also understood some of the essentials of blacksmithing. But she never imagined that after more than a month of frequent practice, she had become a glassmaker. Based on a woman's delicate nature, strong patience, and curiosity about magical things, her level of making glassware is still improving, and she even has many ideas of her own.
For example, while the glass is still hot, carve some patterns into the soft surface.
After all, the raw materials for making glass can be said to be everywhere. The price at which it was sold shocked Lilia at first, but now it is normal.
The raw materials were collected by her husband and father-in-law. At first, she only personally manipulated the die-casting tools made by Rurik. Later, she wore thick leather gloves and personally brewed the molten sand and mixed the pure molten silica. , and add necessary alkali metals such as lead dioxide and calcium oxide to it.
Or because of the "Periodic Table of Elements" Rurik placed in the blacksmith's place, her worldview has been completely subverted.
It was as if he had become a magician.
What is there a saying? If you didn't study physics and chemistry, your life would be filled with magic and wonder.
She asked herself, if she didn't know the so-called elements, how could she have thought that the crystal clear cups all came from tiny yellow sand.
Although she still believes that these are "miracles of God", she was lucky enough to be close to a god and gained this magical power.
Today, the man of God came unexpectedly.
As usual, Rurik and his men spent every sunny morning on the lush hillside, sweating profusely while holding swords and shields. Everyone learned to fight during the fight, studying each other's fighting routines, and discussing what kind of shield wall was the most powerful.
Rurik came, on the first day of August in the Julian calendar, with his own ideas.
"Oh! My little master, are you also here to collect your benefits today?" Seeing Rurik coming alone, Klavason hurriedly threw his hammer and the sword embryo back into the furnace.
Klavason then shouted: "Lilia, go back and get the money."
"Okay! Father." Lilia also stopped wiping the glassware and hurried back to the longhouse to get the silver she had prepared in her bag.
After a while, Lilia stuffed the bag of silver into Rurik's little hand.
"Brother, look at these pieces of silver, not a single one is missing." She stammered in the Norse language she studied hard.
Because of the marriage contract, and the marriage contract will almost never change, now Lilia always calls Rurik "brother", and she is the only one with this status who enjoys the privilege of calling Rurik by his first name.
Rurik took a serious look at the girl. Underneath her quiet appearance was a hint of the sophistication of a laborer. There is also the glassware now made by her herself. When the merchants return in large numbers, they will surely turn into huge wealth.
Rurik counted the money carefully, no more and no less than one hundred and twenty. This money is the so-called contract dividend, and 10% of Klavasen's profits from steel products must be given to Rurik. One hundred and twenty silver coins, which means that the Klavason family made a profit of one thousand two hundred silver coins in the last ten days of July.
Mild steel products themselves are hugely profitable, but what makes it easy for many blacksmiths to make money is the inflation caused by the inflow of large amounts of silver coins.
"Next, do you still want to go to those shops to collect money? My little master, please allow me to keep you here and drink some water here." Klavason said politely.
"Drink water? That's fine." A heavy amount of silver hung on his waist. Rurik randomly found a wooden bench and sat down leisurely. Seeing this, Lilia hurriedly poured a fresh cup of daisy tea in a beautiful patterned glass and handed it over.
After all, it was late July and early August, and a large number of wild flowers were in bloom in the meadows under the mountains and forests near Roseburg, the largest of which were chrysanthemums. Year after year, it’s time to collect chrysanthemums.
Taking a sip of chrysanthemum tea, Rurik subconsciously crossed his legs.
Yes, he is a real master in the blacksmith shop in Clavason, and he is a big benefactor who needs to be well supported.
"Kawi and that Kamne, are they going to the mountains again?" Rurik asked.
"Yes." Klavasen, who was standing respectfully, said hurriedly, "I have a lot of orders. The wooden boards for writing contracts are piled together, which is more work than I can do in my entire body. Little master, it seems that you will get more than a thousand silver coins." income.”
"Oh? Doesn't this mean that your income will exceed 10,000 silver coins again?!"
"Of course." Klavason smiled and felt happy in his heart, but suddenly he had a lot of money, and he felt that his life had become a little confused. Because blacksmiths are generally not people who pursue luxury, and everyone's fun often lies in making the best iron.
Chrysanthemum tea is much better to drink than pine needle water, and it can also improve the body's immunity.
Rurik didn't want to die at a young age due to a sudden illness, so he quickly drank the tea and explained his wishes like an uncle.
"Clavason, now I have another job that makes a lot of money, and you have to help me."
"Oh, it's up to you." Clavarson complimented.
"It's nothing else. Remember the wine I mentioned? I'm going to make the best wine, one that's spicier than the so-called good wine those merchants sell. So much so that it can burn."
"What? Burning?" Klavasen searched his ears: "My little master, what exactly did I hear just now? The best wine? Burning? The best wine can burn?"
"Yes! It's burning." Rurik looked at the embarrassed old guy without changing his expression.
"How is that possible? Wine is wine, not charcoal. How can it burn?"
"Do you think it's ridiculous?" Rurik asked deliberately with a sullen face.
"I..." Klavasen thought, this Rurik was not a mortal, it was normal for him to continue to create miracles, but he couldn't imagine the ale burning. "Wine, that's wine! It can put out water, how can it burn?"
"Of course wine can burn, but we must take away the water inside, and the remaining essence is the essence of wine. Klavason, you already know that this world is made up of many elements, and you have already set foot on it. After entering the realm of God, do we still have to question anything?”
"I...I dare not speak nonsense."
The so-called "god's domain" was the most bluffing thing, and Clavassen didn't dare to ask any more questions. He only asked for a guide on how to create flammable wine.
"How to make it? It's distillation. For this I need you to make some special glassware. Don't worry, I will help you in the next few days until we turn the existing ale into flammable water." Here is Rurik Special emphasis is placed on the word "steam".
"Like pure water, can it still burn despite the aroma of wine? Oh, I really want to see this miracle, let's get started."
Klavasen's suspicion could not be eliminated before seeing the burning alcohol. He chose to take the whole family's determination to unconditionally support Rurik and accompany this seemingly child, but in fact a man of divine power, in his work.
An attempt to create distilled liquor officially began!
If it's just for making distilled wine, why do you have to use glassware? Are there any problems with ancient stills and using pure wood materials to make various containers? Of course there is no problem.
Bronze is used as the raw material here to process a very high-quality distiller. Of course, Klavasen can also do it with his current craftsmanship. He is also capable of making seamless pipes made of bronze.
Rurik had already thought about the cost issue, and even more thought that he was just conducting an experiment.
The manufacture of large-scale distilled liquor is definitely not something a skilled person can point out. A group of brewers who have never seen distilled liquor can build high-efficiency stills to quickly mass-produce spirits.
Could the Rus produce distilled liquor on a large scale? Of course you can, and even very much you should.
If Russians don’t drink strong alcohol, then are they still called Russians? Even Rurik has already thought of the most appropriate name for the future spirit - vodka.
The problem now is that you must use your own theoretical knowledge to complete a practice from zero to one, that is, you must first complete laboratory-level alcohol distillation to prove that the Russians can do it.
In this case, what best suits current needs is a series of transparent and easy-to-shape containers. It must be transparent so that the operator can actually observe the specific progress of the distillation reaction.
Bronze is not good, and ceramics are even less good. Although they are all materials that can be selected for distillers, nothing is better than glass nowadays.
To make glassware into stills, the Kravassins were already acting under Rurik's personal guidance.
If glass is blown rashly without the guidance of a professional, not only will the craftsman be unable to blow the glass well, but the hot air that comes back can instantly destroy the worker's lungs, causing the worker to die. Therefore, Rurik did not dare to let the blacksmith take risks. The Russians still mastered the technology of die-casting glass. Even the production of large-scale glass stills was still based on the die-casting process.
A set of large bronze die-casting molds has been produced. Together with the attached lever system, it took Clavarsen four days to make such a brand-new "glassware die-casting machine".
Rurik also had some regrets about this. It was just a set of "special manual punching machines" with a simple structure. Is it really difficult to manufacture it? But the truth is more realistic. If it weren't for Rurik's personal guidance, Klavasen and Kawei would never have thought of a machine composed of a combination of levers. In other words, there are no mechanical devices in their lives, because when Rurik came, there were machines. A machine made of wood is still a machine.
At this point, it is already August 5th, and the flammable wine still does not exist.
This afternoon Rurik came again as usual. He had already collected all the silver from the blacksmiths. This was his "steelmaking dividend".
Compared with the profit from this money, Rurik was more concerned about whether the special task assigned to Klavasen was finally completed.
"It's finally finished. What do you think? Rurik." Facing the wooden structure machine that was as tall as a person that he pieced together, Krava couldn't help but sigh with emotion for his many days of hard work.
"I think it's okay. I hope it works as well as it looks."
Rurik looked particularly at the huge bronze mortar and the pressure punch. These two sets of mechanisms will not make the craftsmen of this time and space feel unfamiliar. This combination is simply an enlarged version of the stone mortar. It is precisely for this reason that casting such a special bronze piece really tests the smelting ability of the blacksmith.
Compared with other blacksmiths, the smelting levels of Klavasen and Kawei have improved by leaps and bounds in the past year. In order to smelt sponge iron more efficiently and even carburize sword embryos on a large scale, a larger mud furnace has been put into use.
In a sense, the blast furnace technology of the Orientals is to continuously create larger-scale furnaces under the concept of maximizing smelting efficiency, and eventually quantity turns into qualitative change. The huge furnace has extremely powerful temperature locking capabilities and a more powerful blower, allowing the blast furnace to maintain extremely high temperatures for a long time and continue to smelt molten pig iron.
The Klavasen family's new furnace is only about 50% larger than the previous furnace, the furnace wall is thicker, and there are two bladder blowers.
The new furnace was more efficient in smelting iron and cleaning up the ash. Of course, it melted the bronze liquid in the clay crucible with unprecedented efficiency.
After consuming a lot of bronze materials and constantly debugging, the lever system was finally put into production.
But then again, Klavason really had some doubts.
"Rurik, do you think it's really worth it for us to spend a lot of bronze materials to make such a set of machinery just to make a large glass vessel?"
"Why isn't it worth it? Of course it is."
"I... am just a little worried. If your plan is completed, this machine will have no use."
"Are you afraid that I will waste it?" Rurik smiled, "My friend, why don't you use it to continue making large glass containers? Don't you think that it can replace wooden barrels and become a new way to store ale, or something else? A container for what?”
"Huh? That's true. For example, storing the flammable wine you mentioned? Although I prefer oak barrels."
Rurik shook his head, and then he took a good look at the machine he asked to make. His little hand especially reached into the bronze mortar, and especially touched the huge bronze punch that reflected golden light, and he couldn't help but shake his head.
"Rurik, do you feel something is wrong?" Klavason asked.
"There's a problem." Rurik turned his head, and the golden ponytail on the back of his head swung. "The mortar is too rough. I think you need to polish it a little better."
"Well, since you're so insistent, this job still takes time."
"It doesn't matter." Rurik shrugged, "If it is not smooth enough, our vessels cannot be made. By the way, before die-casting, a layer of charcoal powder must be brushed inside to prevent adhesion."
