Rurik did not say that he came to discuss making iron plows, nor did he show anyone the wooden planks he had.
He sat obediently next to Lilia and asked many stories about Novgorod.
Lilia thought that the child would ask about Svetlana. She really wanted to introduce her cute and clingy sister.
Unexpectedly, Rurik was incredibly concerned about farmers farming.
"You asked me how people in my hometown farm? How else can they farm? Just use a wooden stick tied with stone chips to plow the field and then sprinkle wheat on it. Wouldn't that be enough?"
"Did you just throw the seeds randomly?" Rurik asked.
"Probably... it's just casual. I see my people walking around and sowing seeds."
"Then what?"
Lilia thought for a moment: "Then press the soil again. Press the seeds into the soil."
"Is this enough?"
"Okay, otherwise what else can you do? I'm not a farmer's wife." Lilia was a little unhappy. She just talked about what she saw and heard, but it didn't mean that she was a farmer's wife. It can even be said that Lilia despises farmers in her heart. As the eldest daughter of the manor leader, she is relatively pampered, and in her concept, the most brilliant person is the blacksmith.
Now, she has indeed become the blacksmith's wife. Even if the blacksmith's shop is dirty, she doesn't mind. She even encouraged her husband to make a batch of iron and bronze farm tool accessories, such as hoe blades and shovel blades with holes, as gifts for her family. In exchange, Kawei will receive strong feedback. Because Lilia has decided that she must go back to her hometown to see her family this fall and report the good news of her pregnancy.
After listening to Lilia's detailed description, Rurik's mind sketched out a scene of Novgorod people farming.
Just cultivate a piece of land, sow some seeds casually, there is no irrigation system, wait until the wheat is harvested in autumn, and rely solely on the sky for food?
It seems that their so-called farmers are still living a life of slash-and-burn farming, and their farming and intensive farming do not take up any part of their lives.
Rurik continued to ask: "So, what are the tools you use to turn the land? A piece of stone?"
Lilia stopped what she was doing and started gesturing immediately.
In this way, Rurik finally understood that the locals had three tools for plowing the land, which were farming tools similar to shovels, hoes for digging soil, and wooden plows.
Yes, a wooden plow.
Rurik learned of an Old Slavic word that apparently meant "wooden plow." Novgorod residents made it out of hard oak with specific twists. The wooden plow was pulled by strong men and supported by women behind them. There is nothing magical about the style of this object. It seems that all farming nations have similar styles of land reclamation tools.
It is a plow at best, and can basically only carve out an indentation in the land that is almost a branch line. Its function seems to be limited to making the land softer, so that seeds can be spread later.
Until this time, Rurik suddenly showed his wooden board and pointed to the pattern on it: "Sister, I came here just for the plow you mentioned. Look at my drawings. I plan to make a good plow."
"Plow?" Lilia looked at the picture, but she couldn't understand it at all.
Lilia's brain is very good. The only reason why she can't understand Rurik's pictures is because she lacks certain knowledge of geometry. She couldn't picture a plow based on Rurik's drawings. Besides, Lilia had no idea what this so-called plow looked like.
Of course, the girl's temporary ignorance cannot be entirely blamed here. The style of plow marked in Rurik's picture does not exist in the whole of Europe.
Because it is a curved shaft plow with a plowshare that can plow the soil to one side. It is planned to make a full metal plowshare.
The plow that combines these technical essentials can be described as high-tech.
What is the current situation of farm tools in Western Europe? Is there any better word to describe it than poor?
Even the most critical component, the plowshare, was only owned by a very small number of Frankish lords. The vast majority of farmers and serfs still use strange-shaped hard branches as wooden plows. It is conceivable that this so-called wooden plow should be thrown away after one use. Poor agricultural tools are also one of the main culprits in limiting food production.
Now, Rurik wants to try an agricultural revolution in the farming areas that his tribe can control.
First of all, a pair of curved shaft plows brings a leap in farming! Even from plowing, sowing and even leveling the soil, a comprehensive change is needed to bid farewell to primitive agriculture forever.
The day before the leader's departure is getting closer and closer. Now, the purpose of those selected to participate in the Sorgon voyage is no longer limited to grabbing some living supplies.
Some women would go on long voyages. They are natives of Novgorod. They married Rus in the summer. With the permission of the chief, they can follow their husbands to visit their hometown.
And Otto has no intention of interfering with such family visits. It can be said that Rurik is constantly changing his mind about foreigners.
Of course, women will not leave empty-handed. They are usually pregnant. In addition to announcing the good news during the autumn visit, they also have some treasures provided by their husbands to their natal families. For example, a handaxe, some clay pots.
The most valuable thing among them is salt!
Marriage is a mutually beneficial method. While the Novgorodians solve the marriage problem of young Russians, they will receive gifts of metal tools and salt. Similarly, the locals will also give their sons-in-law and daughters more wheat. , in addition to the element of care for the daughter, there are naturally more implicit demands for the son-in-law.
What is very interesting is that when the people of Novgorod can get salt relatively cheaply from the Rus, they do not have to exchange salt from the Black Sea with the Smolensk people at a high price. The materials saved among them will not only benefit themselves, but the Russians will also get more benefits from this.
Almost every man who married a Novgorod woman was naturally preparing some gifts because he was immersed in the good news of his wife's pregnancy.
As the eldest daughter of White Tree Manor, Lilia has the most generous gift!
There are increasingly exquisite glassware made by her own hands, and iron tools that her husband remade. She even made some loose pieces of smooth glass and strung twine through the reserved holes.
The earliest glassware was women's jewelry, and Lilia discovered its essence with a woman's intuition. She put on necklaces made of more amber and glass pieces, and also prepared one for her sister and one for her mother.
But what exactly is Rurik’s so-called special plow?
It would be a good thing if it really helps people in my hometown farm.
In the afternoon of the next day, Rurik arrived as promised.
Kawei, who had already received the news, deliberately stayed in the blacksmith shop, along with Klavasen and Kamne. Everyone sat on the leather mats in the inner hall and listened to Rurik's explanation.
For a time, the blacksmith shop was filled with an academic atmosphere.
"Now we have to make a tool that can easily plow the land, that is, a plow, but it is not an ordinary plow. It must have a metal plowshare and a curved neck..."
Rurik tried hard to describe the so-called curved shaft plow in words they could understand.
Klavasen was confused. Although Lilia had some ideas about wooden plows, she could not understand Rurik's idea of the tool at all.
In metallurgy and making tools, Klavasen can be called the top expert of the Ross tribe. Of course, his top level is relative. He has a lot of practical experience and has his own opinions on making instruments. However, these experiences have not become a system at all.
Rurik wanted to use the education of mechanics to make the two experts Klavasen and Kawei understand that the curved shaft plow is really a powerful tool for breaking land and reclaiming wasteland. Torque? The direction of the force? What is force?
Embarrassingly enough, Klavasen had never even seen a wooden plow!
Of course the Ross tribe also farmed, and all they grew was a small handful of hardy varieties of Nordic onions. Plow? nonexistent. Farmers just use hoes and draft axes to pound the ground, and then plant onion roots. Of course, the southern allies plowed their fields with wooden plows. Clavarson didn't care about those farmers. He didn't even have time to go to the south, so naturally he didn't understand.
Although he knew nothing about plows and their functions, following the pattern carved on the wooden board provided by Rurik and building a so-called plow under the supervision of the child, there was no technical obstacle.
Klavasen looked at the wooden board for a long time and said seriously: "I can make it according to the picture. Rurik, you need it very much?"
"Of course, I need a lot."
"Huh? Is it just given to the people of Novgorod for farming? If it is a good thing, why don't we use it ourselves?"
Klavasen's question was meaningless. Rurik puffed up his chest and said in a commanding tone: "This is not only my decision, but also the decision of the great leader. The leader has given you an order. You must make ten pieces before departure. You have to finish.”
"Ah? So many?!" Klavasen was startled, "You know, I also have a job of making steel swords, and even some axes..."
"We will talk about that later. You must build the plow I want. Because it is related to the reclamation of our New Roseburg settlement next year. Listen! Our tribe is going to start farming!"
"So that's it? Let's get started." Klava stood up and made a very positive statement, "Rurik, what exactly do you want? At least give it a name."
"Name? It's krokaproga."
Rurik invented a word that actually combined the words "bend" and "earth-breaking tool" in the Norse dialect of his tribe, and he decided to use this to describe the curved plow.
Next, the production and processing begins.
Klavasen's job is to hand-forge the most critical plowshare.
A piece of wrought iron began to be continuously forged, and it became flatter and flatter, and was hammered into a shape that resembled a Nordic forest ax. Then, a very critical operation comes. Over there, the iron plate with a special shape is bent, and finally forms a curled arc.
Does it serve any purpose? In Rurik's words, this thing dug into the soil, and as it kept moving forward, the soil was brought out along the curly grooves, leaving a ravine for spreading seeds. From now on, when farmers sow seeds, they will be sprinkled accurately in the ravines.
Klavason basically couldn't understand this rhetoric, but Lilia somewhat understood the subtleties of it.
Kawei is responsible for the processing of wood, and Kamnier is the one who does it.
But who would have thought that Rurik, who seemed to be just relaying "Odin's wisdom", was actually a man of action through and through.
It is true that Rurik doesn’t know much about wood processing, but when wood and steel are used as structural materials, are there really big differences between them? Rurik used his dagger to personally carve marks on the wood, the so-called chisel position. He accurately determined the length of each wooden part and personally guided Kawei's processing.
The European-style scraper processes a naturally bent oak branch at a slow speed. This object is the curved shaft of the plow. The rest of the parts are processed around this curved device.
The Quyuan plow and other plowing artifacts appeared in the Tang Dynasty. In 829 AD, the East was still the Tang Dynasty. In this era, no nation should have more advanced farming equipment than the Tang Dynasty, but Rurik quietly completed a study of the Tang Dynasty in the far northern Europe, on the Poros Sea.
Of course, this cannot be considered learning. Does copying one’s own work count as learning?
To be fair, the Quyuan plow is not a complex instrument in terms of structure. Its magic lies in lowering the position of force, which not only saves effort, but also makes the movement of the dragged object more stable. There are also concave plowshares designed for it, as well as sharp plow arrows that penetrate the ground diagonally.
These designs can be described as treasures made using a lot of mechanical knowledge.
When Rurik explained his design plan in public, just one day later, on the afternoon of the next day, the first curved shaft plow made by the Ross tribe was born.
"Rurik, what do you think? Can it really reclaim land easily?" Klavasen was a little skeptical.
The curved shaft plow with various parts assembled is placed in the shed of the blacksmith shop.
But Rurik also reproduced this treasure through his own knowledge. Is it really useful? Undoubtedly, practice is the only criterion for testing truth.
"It should be excellent. Klavason, let's try it now." Rurik said.
"To reclaim land? Then you have to find a piece of wasteland."
"No need." Rurik shook his head, pointing with his little finger to the sand and gravel at the door of the blacksmith shop that had long been trampled into a very smooth and solid ground. "Just try it at the door. If it can even be cultivated here, the effect will only be better when it comes to ordinary wasteland."
Clavarson shrugged and casually ordered Kamne: "Go! Bring the hemp rope."
Perhaps Europeans will never be able to make good use of oxen, especially in today's era. Even if some families and manors have wooden plows, it is the farmers themselves who are the driving force.
In the Rus tribe, the "cow" that drags the curved shaft plow is the strong Kawei.
As for Klavasen, he stood behind the curved shaft plow, holding the handle with both hands, so-called controlling the direction of travel and ensuring that the plow would not tip over.
What a weird scene!
Rurik stood aside and watched with interest, while Kamne and Lilia, the two Novgorodians, only had shocked eyes.
Because, the plowshare has begun to move forward!
Due to the driving force of the "plow ox", the sharpest plow arrows of the plowshare were tilted and pierced into the sandy ground, and finally the entire plowshare sank into the ground.
Kawei is twenty years old. He started doing odd jobs for his father when he was less than ten years old, and today he is already a young man with great strength and strength. He didn't even take a breath of exhaustion. The curved shaft plow controlled by Clavason easily traveled at least ten meters!
Wherever the plowshare passed, there were only deep dents and unusually soft sand and gravel. Under the sun, those tiny pebbles that had never seen the light of day were already reflecting light.
Two men even had fun plowing the fields.
The curved shaft plow suddenly turned 180°. Klavasen did not think there was anything troublesome about this change of direction. Little did he know that it was this deft turn that was its third advantage.
What are all the advantages? In the past, it was necessary to dig loose ground bit by bit with a hoe or a draft, but now only a strong man pulling a curved shaft plow, and the krokaproga is enough. Behind the strong man walking past is the cultivated land.
Lilia and Kamne were fully aware of what was happening. They already worshiped Rurik's wisdom, and now Rurik has become the "god of agriculture."
All in joy!
Soon, many people in the tribe began to comment on the large dent at the door of Klavasen's blacksmith shop. Some good people even made up a story. The so-called terrible sea planarian came ashore, and the monster was afraid of the god Rurik. His son's identity, he left scratches and retreated into the sea.
Who knows whether this statement is just a story, or a meddlesome person trying to curry favor with the leader and his family.
In short, because there were no outsiders watching when the Quyuan Plow was being experimented, and those who knew the inside story were busy increasing production, this statement naturally spread among the tribe, and who benefited in the end? Of course it’s Rurik.
The plowshare is carburized, followed by a heat treatment of surface hardening. The plowshare became sharp and hard. It was stuck on a special wooden pole. In order to make it more stable, Klavasen tried to use the rosin used to glue the seams of the ship as an adhesive. Rurik didn't know whether it was effective.
The rest of the wood was oak, and the small oaks that might have grown into the keels of the ship were felled by Kawe, and they became accessories.
With the success of the first one, manufacturing of the remaining products became rapid.
Unknowingly, the day for Otto's departure was finally coming, and Klavasen and Kawei had seen the power of the curved shaft plow, and they made twenty sets! That is, the curved shaft plow body and the hemp rope used for traction have become a high value-added agricultural machinery that was originally empty.
It’s time to set a value for it!
How to price it? The Klavasen family still didn't understand its value. The iron used in the plowshare was enough to make two steel swords.
Clavarson never entered the blacksmith trade for the purpose of making money. He was eager to make better tools to make life more comfortable. The production of Quyuan plow can be said to be in line with his temperament.
Of course, he still had to collect the money. Logically, he could ask Rurik for a reward of two thousand silver coins. He chose to make a major concession, and Rurik readily spent 500 silver coins, and the twenty sets of curved shaft plows officially became Rurik's property.
Now, Otto was surprised by the appearance of these production equipment and the demonstration in Fort Ross, and he instantly realized that this thing would definitely help his tribesmen who settled in the east to reclaim their wasteland. Moreover, their ownership belongs to Rurik, and Rurik is not a good person who makes losses.
The curved shaft plow will be given to the people of New Roseburg and White Tree Estates, just like other implements, and they will have to pay for it in the future! The so-called reward will accompany them throughout their lives and even their descendants. The chief family will also benefit forever.
What is this called? This is tax, this is tax.
And it is the method of "fatting sheep and cutting wool". Otto couldn't wait to send these utensils over!
Tip: Enter "giant panda literature" in the search engine to find this site, thank you.
Chapter 237 A plow is needed
