Those wooden houses made of pure Novgorod style mortise and tenon structure are low and solid. The owners of the houses used wooden strips to piece together a fence around their houses to delineate a small area for casual farming.
There are chicken pens or rabbit nests inside the fence. These two kinds of livestock and poultry reproduce quickly and become a major source of meat for the immigrants. The captured and domesticated rabbits were kept in large wooden cages for a long time. Residents often fed large amounts of green grass. In order to cope with the cold winter, they harvested large amounts of dead grass reserves. As for domesticated chickens, they are domestic birds. Free-range chickens often run around and naturally stay in chicken coops in winter.
When the grain is harvested, all the chickens are driven into the chicken coop. The grain owners not only have to use wooden flails to pound the bundles of wheat ears in the threshing floor to complete the shelling of oats, but also the whole family. Go into battle to drive away any sparrows that come to steal food.
The first harvest season was completed relatively smoothly, and the once busy threshing floors were now empty places again.
Rurik and his party followed Konuson and stood casually on a piece of hard land. It had been tamped flat and hard. Maybe it would only become muddy after being soaked by heavy rain for many days?
Ramming means desperately compressing the volume of soil. When it becomes a dense material, it is a flat and hardened land that humans can initially create that should not appear in nature.
"Is this your threshing floor?"
"Yes, sir. Look carefully, there is still some wheat left that has not been collected."
"Really?" Rurik watched helplessly as Konuson, the old guy, bent down and used his thick hands to dig out a grain of wheat embedded in the earth, and then rubbed it with his hands and blew it.
"Does this mean anything? It's just a grain of wheat."
Konuson smiled bitterly and said: "It is very precious to us, maybe... we won't talk about it anymore."
Rurik felt a little uncomfortable for a moment, and asked himself how many times he had been hungry during these years. In his concept, easy access to food is a matter of course, and he also understands that ensuring the food supply of residents is the basic task of a political power.
Rurik thinks that wasting a certain amount of food is not a big deal.
For them, is every grain of food really a must?
Rurik thought for a while, would it look stupid to say some of the things he wanted to say now?
For example, if you question whether they are producing large grains on the rammed land, won’t they worry about too much dust and dregs? They definitely don't care, and they don't even have the right to care about what is available or not, as long as the food is edible.
Seeing Rurik's solemn face, Konuson asked weakly: "Sir, all threshing floors are like this. You see, this field is shared by several families."
"Huh?" Rurik raised his head sharply, "I think every household has one. As long as they are willing, I won't comment. It's your earthen threshing floor. I have some suggestions."
"Oh, what is that?"
"You should lay stone slabs and piece them together into a flat ground. In this way, no matter what kind of rainfall, your threshing floor will not be damaged. If you can easily pull out the wheat grains from the soil, it means that your ramming is not strong enough. If The continuous rains have turned the threshing floor into a mud pond.”
Having said this, Rurik naturally added more words.
"Cornuzon!"
"grown ups."
Rurik coughed twice: "Novorovsburg is a city. According to Novgorod, it is called Nievarussigorod. She must have a value far beyond Novgorod, not a village. You have to be responsible for its construction. Full responsibility. Now I have a request for you."
Konuson immediately bowed, although he was confused as to why Rurik compared this place to Novgorod: "It's your order, and I will do my best to complete it."
"Very good." Rurik pointed to the ground casually: "The threshing floor, pave it with stones. Not only all the threshing floors, but also all the roads in the city must be paved with stones. Listen, in the future Anytime I come to New Roseburg, I can't get mud on my boots."
"Ah?! This request..." Conuson's face instantly became embarrassed.
"What? Don't the immigrants even know how to cut stones? Or do you not have any masons?"
Conuson still pursed his lips.
"What's going on?" Rurik asked.
"Sir, we have no stones here."
"Huh? How is that possible? Wait..." Rurik suddenly felt ridiculous and felt something was wrong, "Huh? Is it possible that there are really no rocks here?"
"I promise on my honor that there is no stone. My lord, if we could get stone easily, we would carve the blocks to build houses. You see, we can only build houses with large and small wood."
"Ouch!" Rurik slapped his little hand directly on his face.
He fantasized about building New Roseburg into a city in the classic medieval style in his mind, so the main landscape of the city should be built with a large number of granite stones. Castles, walls, roads and houses are full of gray stones.
He looked around and saw that the wooden wall not far away was still slowly lengthening. The wooden wall surrounding the city was obviously a temporary measure. As long as there was enough material, Rurik just wanted to build the wall with stones.
Timber is the most easily available building material. Red pine trees are everywhere here, and the woods are often mixed with oak trees, oak trees and beech trees.
The terrain here is flat, and there is a large island divided by the river at the mouth of the Neva River. Its environment is clearly a northern wetland. The fertile land is suitable for farming. I am afraid that there are really no stones nearby.
The truth was just as Cornuson said, even worse than he thought. Historically, Peter the Great worked hard to build a city at the mouth of the Neva River and make it the capital of a country. They cut down all the forests at the mouth of the sea. After that, all the stones used for construction came from Vyborg in the north.
The Vyborg quarry is located one hundred kilometers away from the mouth of the Neva River. The geographical straight-line distance is a hundred kilometers. Transporting stone by sea is a tortuous road.
If you pick up the manuscript and dig downward, you may not be able to dig out hard granite even if you reach the permafrost.
But no matter how everything in the city is built with wood, the first one is the terrifying fire hazard. Furthermore, the defensive walls built with wood can only block some low-level enemies.
Since granite is not so easy to come by, wouldn’t it be beautiful to use clay to bake bricks. The thought flashed through his mind, and Rurik rejected it instantly.
They got high-quality clay and fired it first for pottery and then used it to make bricks, which was a complete waste.
Rurik looked at the land under his feet again. Even if there were all kinds of difficulties, the residents of New Roseburg must find granite mines and dig out the stones for use.
"That's it." Rurik sighed.
Conuson, who was still waiting to hear the new order, immediately asked: "Sir, we really have difficulties regarding this stone."
"I know. I have made up my mind. You will not ask you to pave the road with stones now, but in the future, our New Roseburg must build stone walls and stone pavements. You have to send people to explore north to find stones. Also beware of possible Karelians.”
"As commanded."
"Don't worry too much. Our Ailon-Olawa Fort is in the far north. There are a lot of stones there. I can send people to dig there and transport them here for use."
"Oh that's great," Konuson complimented.
"That's it, let's go to the dock and have a look."
There is nothing special about the pier itself. Rurik's main purpose this time was to inspect the river beach. The plan to build a city main road had already arisen in his mind. While he was still in New Roseburg, the whole city was still nervous. During the construction, given this opportunity, Rurik felt that he must bear the greatest responsibility for the future history of Rus and lay a good foundation for the birth of a city.
Rurik is to temporarily serve as an urban planning expert. night chinese
He led a group of followers to walk on the riverbank covered with withered grass. There were many residents here grazing their few sheep casually. When they saw a group of people wearing leather armor approaching aggressively, they all chose to avoid it.
Rurik saw that a path had been trodden on the river beach, and there were even ruts left by two-wheeled carts.
Suddenly, he stopped.
"My lord, what do you think of the dock?" Cornuson asked immediately.
"Fine. I just care about the road."
"Road?" Konuson scratched his head, "I understand that stone roads will be laid in the future."
"In that case." Rurik immediately pointed to the big river on his left: "From today on, it is not called the Ladoga River, but the Neva River. And this road, I want to name it Nevagata. From now on. , it is the core road of our city.”
Conuson only cared about agreeing with this, which made no sense.
Rurik knew how to build the city, and his plan was actually to deliberately conform to history. Since Peter the Great built the city here in history and personally planned the city, he must have followed the advice of some experts instead of building random houses and making plans.
The most famous street in St. Petersburg is Nevsky Prospekt, which has even become a symbol of the city. In New Roseburg, which was located at the same location in different time and space, Rurik deliberately followed suit.
Throughout the day, Rurik was glad that his physical fitness was very good. When night fell, he returned to the longhouse where the leader was and only felt a little sore in his legs.
The soft light in the evening is a signal. Most residents follow the habit of sleeping at sunset, even if they are not working overtime to build the fence.
Otto took a good steam in the Finnish-style sauna in the settlement, wiped his body with hot river water, put on new linen clothes, and faced the whole day of travel with an extremely comfortable posture. son.
He was interested in asking about Rurik's journey, but unexpectedly, Rurik insisted on holding a meeting on city construction as a host.
"Are you kidding? Do you have any new suggestions for building a fence?" Otto originally wanted his son not to interfere with his own ideas. After all, the construction of New Roseburg was the greatest feat he boasted in his later years, even for his son. You shouldn't make irresponsible remarks.
Rurik didn't understand his father's selfishness, and he looked firmly: "I'm serious, Dad, please agree with my idea."
Otto's inner displeasure showed on his face, which Rurik could feel.
Is this old guy afraid that I will question the New Roseburg election? How ridiculous!
Rurik was well prepared for this, and even ordered Yevro to get a dry wooden board in advance, and used a knife to mark out the lines, and blackened the lines with small charcoal blocks to form a simple blueprint of the urban structure. He discussed it with Conuson, but without Rurik's detailed explanation, who knows what the picture is?
Indeed, Rurik only sketched the course of the river and the layout of the city's streets.
Now, he mainly faced his father Otto and Cornuson. While showing the wooden board, he gestured with a small stick to introduce them.
"That island full of rabbits is just north of our dock. I hope to build a fortress here as the first line of defense against northern raiders in every sense."
"The wooden wall we are building now wraps our New Roseburg. I have seen that one side of it is adjacent to the river, and the curved wall forms a semicircle. I declare that the name of the river is the Neva River, and the paths along the river must be expanded. It became a major road and was named Nevsky Prospekt. This street is the main traffic artery of our city."
"There must be a road under the wall that connects to Nevsky Prospekt."
"There are four roads extending vertically from Nevsky Prospekt. They must be built straight. In principle, all roads need to be paved with stones or pebbles. Since there is a lack of historical data for the time being, Konuson, you have to pound the roads and make them as hard as possible."
"The wall is made of wood. I don't think it is a long-term solution. We heard that when we attacked Gotland, our people suffered a loss when faced with the enemy's stone wall. Facing the Kovin people's wood and We basically encountered no obstacles with walls made of earth. Obviously stone walls are more important to us. Wood will decay, but stone walls will last forever. Wooden walls are a temporary measure. When stone mines are found, we will immediately use stones to reinforce our cities. .”
"So, Konuson, you are going to build some special houses. A longhouse where the residents can gather to discuss business. It needs to be very spacious and built in the style of Novgorod. You also need to build a more comfortable one. Houses for the chiefs to live in. We also need to build a number of vacant wooden houses, which can be used as warehouses on weekdays. When our Sorgon army stops at New Roseburg for supplies, there will be enough accommodation rooms without disturbing other residents. Also, I hope During the Spring Festival next year, you will knock down all the floorless houses in the settlement and rebuild them."
"Our current location is the chief's residence. What will be built on this location in the future will be my family's mansion. Sooner or later, I will build it into a gorgeous place. And you, first build me the Novgorod wooden ridges, I’m not used to sleeping on the floor.”
"You also need to open an empty space with at least a hundred sitikas at the entrance of the chief's residence. I give you a deadline to complete the empty space before next autumn harvest. It will serve as the largest threshing floor in the city and the square where we will gather in the future. . I will give you one year to move the houses in the area, and then you will pound the land. When the conditions are ripe, I will pave it with hard stones."
Planning roads and building a square are a hundred times more important than building a chief's residence, Rurik thought so.
Especially for one square, Rurik actually thinks it is more interesting to call it "Senate Square" or "Hermitage Square", because the place opposite Rabbit Island is where the Winter Palace, the Tsarist Russian Parliament Building and the huge Senate Square sit. , it was the place where the Decemberists revolted in 1825.
Building a square paved with stones must have been shocking to people of this era. All Russians should be proud to have such a square.
The practical significance of building the square is that New Roseburg needs a large space that can handle various affairs in the open air. When farming is busy, it serves as a threshing floor and when a large amount of materials arrive, it serves as a distribution center for materials. If a foreign enemy invades, the Russians can take up arms and gather in the square to get orders from their leaders to defend their homeland.
Here, to the south of the square is the city's granary, which is the central area of the city.
Rurik pointed at the wooden board and kept explaining. Now Otto knew that he had completely stupidly misunderstood his son. My son had no objections or questions. He was very supportive of his choice of city location and even preferred it significantly more than himself.
Any father is happy when his children actively inherit and carry forward their father's legacy.
Otto was pleased to see that his son had extraordinary insights into urban construction. After listening to the explanation, he finally understood the pictures on the wooden board. He just thought why was it so funny?
Seeing that his son had finished speaking, Otto smiled happily and said: "Rurik, you have done a good job. The city will be built according to your plan. It is your plan..."
Rurik breathed a long sigh of relief: "Dad, do you still have any questions?"
"Hey, doesn't your city plan look like a harp?"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the room burst into laughter (life lacks entertainment, everyone's laughter level is low).
Rurik took a quick look and couldn't help but feel happy.
Not counting the fortress plan of Rabbit Island, the city-themed outline does look like the letter D, with four paths in it. What does it look like if it doesn't look like a harp?
It is true that the Russians do not have an instrument like the harp. Many Russians have seen it. It is an instrument that only some Malaren people play in their spare time. The spiritual life of Russians has always seemed boring, and every little thing can turn into a topic of conversation that lasts for months. They compiled songs but did not have suitable musical instruments. Even bone flutes and leather drums were rare, let alone treasures such as harps that required precision processing.
There are no professional musicians here. Those who control the instruments are mainly priests of various tribes. They sometimes use them in sacrificial places to enhance the solemn atmosphere.
The priests of Mellaren have harps, and a few merchants also own them. The occasions for its use have always been rare.
Otto was in high spirits, and he said with a smile: "In my opinion, I need to give the city a nickname."
"What is it?" Conuson asked urgently.
"According to Rurik's decision, our new Fort Ross is like a harp, and it is called Harpabroge."
If "New Roseburg" is a name given to the city, then "Harpsburg" is an elegant nickname. Everyone was also very happy when they laughed, and the nickname of Harp Castle spread quickly, which fully demonstrated that Rurik's city construction plan will definitely be implemented.
The era chose Lake Ilmen at the mouth of the Neva River as the place where the Russians first prospered. However, in any time and space, this geographical location must be a core area of the "Russian unified country". It needs elegance and historical depth. , it is even more necessary to have scientific urban planning from the beginning.
Rurik boasted that he had done this, and his men would build the city according to the plan. Then, future generations will also be grateful to their ancestors for establishing this true "Mother City of Rus" in the current context of time and space.
Rurik actually didn't like Kiev for personal reasons, even though it was a veritable big granary. The title of "Mother City of Rus" should not be thrown to Kiev if it is thrown to Novgorod. The battle between the two cities will not exist at all. Novo Rossburg at the mouth of the Neva River, or "Harp Castle", will be regarded as the "mother of the cities of Ross"
