Otto, the leader of the Russian people, finally felt that life could be peaceful for the time being, and he could take a good rest for a while before making arrangements for his trip to Novgorod Sorgon this spring. As a result, the entire tribe became restless again, and the reason turned out to be just the son's dream.
The atmosphere in the warm home was solemn, and Rurik sat here with a firm attitude.
One thing that made Otto angry was that his noble son was going to be a shipbuilder.
Otto made no secret of his displeasure: "If you want to build a ship, you can send someone to do it. You actually want to be a craftsman yourself? Hold the hammer yourself. You can give me guidance, but as for hanging with the children of the shipbuilders? You Do you think this is entertainment? Or do you think you can mingle with them and make yourself happy? Listen, you will only make many people think you are not noble enough."
"Huh?" Rurik, who was originally smiling, now stood awkwardly on the leather cushion.
"Tell me, do you still want to continue?"
"I..." Rurik was playing, but he didn't expect Otto to see his thoughts clearly. If you think about it carefully, a leader is really involved with the craftsmen. The leader will be self-satisfied because of his actions to be close to the people. As for whether he has moved everyone, it may be true as Otto said.
Even so, Rurik was determined.
He cheered up: "Dad, this is my decision. It is my boat that is being built, and it only makes sense if I do it myself."
In fact, Rurik still had an idea, just because of his bad taste and desire to cater to history. Because Peter the Great was an apprentice in the shipyard and later became the Holy Lord of Rus. History chose Rurik to lay the foundation for Ross, and he consciously felt worthy of this responsibility. Personally participating in shipbuilding has a strong symbolic meaning, but others do not feel the resonance.
"Okay! That's your decision. My attitude is still against it, but I won't stop you. There is only one thing you must think about."
"What is it?"
"You have to worry about a group of warriors who are good at carpentry, and you have to pay them at least daily food. Is it worth it? I checked, and the current stock of one million pounds of grain is less than 200,000 pounds. As long as you continue to consume Go down and the food will be eaten up soon. The food can be exchanged for 20,000 silver coins, do you want to give it to them? Then this ship is really extremely expensive."
Rurik hesitated for a moment. He thought of something and immediately made his attitude clear: "Dad, this is my decision. In the future, you will understand that the ships we built at a huge cost will also bring us huge benefits." I don’t want to describe an overly bright future, I just hope you don’t have to worry about anything anymore. Now I just want to get your approval and let you call everyone to build the ship in the name of the leader.”
Otto pursed his stubble-covered mouth: "At this moment, just raise your arms and shout. Do you still need me?"
"But you are the leader."
"Haha, I thought you forgot." Otto smiled bitterly, and sighed with a hint of sadness: "You have grown up. Well, I will help you."
Otto's attitude really made Rurik feel a little uncomfortable. For the first time, he noticed his father's old age. Otto's arms are still strong, and his thick beard does not hide the masculine strength he still exudes. Even in recent years, his aging has been obvious.
There is nothing better than an old heart. Seeing that his son was so active, Otto also deliberately delegated power in order to become a happy rich man. Xianyun Yehe is all extravagant hope, he is the big leader. As Rurik, who knows the rules, said, when the whole tribe is summoned to engage in some big things, only the big leader's words will be effective.
No, Otto immediately pulled his son and even a group of influential figures from the tribe together. In the end, he issued the summons. In the still cold temperature, more than a thousand men and women, wearing heavy leather jackets, happily gathered in front of the leader's house.
Some news about accelerating shipbuilding spread wildly among the tribes at the first time. This news was also deliberately spread by Liuli's mercenaries, so as to build momentum for the shipbuilding matter.
Those rumors had obviously turned into legends. A large group of people were spitting thick white mist from their mouths, looking at the leader standing on a high place, thinking about what benefits they could get from shipbuilding.
Otto finally spoke!
A man holding a patterned steel sword, his blond hair and sunken eyes accentuated the weight of his words: "You all know some things! Shipbuilding! The Avora must install the mast within ten days. It is not enough to rely solely on those shipbuilders. For our cause, I call you now. You are the best people in the Ross tribe, and only you can build our largest ship. I order you! Go build the ship!"
In an instant, the crowd was excited!
This lively mood infected the entire Roseburg, and even those who climbed onto the snow-covered roofs heard the roar and clenched their fists to join in the fun.
To this day, Otto still criticizes Rurik's move as a "stupid waste". Otto has lived for half a century. How could he not know that heavy labor will inevitably lead to serious food consumption? Especially in this damn winter, even women can become big eaters. He just felt that his son's generosity was a bit of a prestige.
Because regarding the matter of shipbuilding, as the big leader, Otto can issue an order ordering the tribesmen to prepare their own food and tools to participate in some shipbuilding matters. As for the rewards they can get, of course they will participate in this year's Sorgon voyage. qualifications.
Since his son insisted on taking out the food, he couldn't say anything else.
Otto decisively pulled Rurik to his side, and in front of everyone, the future leader of the tribe announced the specific work of shipbuilding and what kind of rewards those involved would receive.
Rurik solemnly announced his plan based on his own ideas and even the results of discussions with the shipbuilders.
A big ship needs to be built quickly, so it is absolutely impossible to recruit people who are good at fishing and paddling or who are infirm.
Rurik hired all the other shipbuilders in the tribe who were willing to participate. The results of it? All the local shipbuilders are here! Behind Rurik's great surprise was Xiao Jiujiu who couldn't think of this group of people for a moment.
What do local shipbuilders think? Youdao is that foreign monks can chant scriptures. The Russians have never had the ability to build cargo ships for decades. They can only build extremely low-side long ships. Who would have thought that the Hortra family and their friends immigrated from Mälaren? , the first boat built by that group of people in Fort Ross was a behemoth.
Only fools would ignore the "wonder building" of their peers and let them take advantage of the opportunity to steal technology.
As for the group of muscular men, their registration was obviously very simple - they had nothing to do in the boring winter, and their wives were pregnant, which made their lives even more boring.
A person with strong experience will not decide to go for a month just because of a long hunting. An ambitious person will be eager to get more after getting a bounty. They are all careerists, hoping to perform well in front of the leader to gain new possibilities for themselves and their children's future. Of course, the most direct reason is Rurik's crazy food supply.
To build a large ship, Rurik would not provide them with even a single silver coin.
But until the masts of the ships were erected, he would provide two pounds of wheat per man per day.
Although one silver coin can buy ten pounds of wheat, the exchange ratio appointed by the chief family has been stable for more than half a year. However, now the grain inventory is getting less and less, and the amount of grain released from the warehouse is also much smaller. Even if they have money, it is now difficult for them to buy even a pound of grain.
As the saying goes, whatever the human body lacks most, the body's instinct will drive the mind to obtain it. The daily diet of the Russian people is almost entirely fish. They are extremely short of carbohydrate intake, so after they began to eat a large amount of wheat as never before, they could not bear the pain of losing it, because it really comes from the DNA deep in every cell. shout.
Rurik recruited more than 500 people. They were either shipbuilders themselves, masters of lumberjacking, or good at carving wood. There were even a few strong men who claimed that they could pull a long ship ashore with a single cable.
Rurik does need a large group of tough men, because the first task given to this group of people is extremely challenging!
An astonishing number of blond strong men gathered in front of the shipbuilding plant in Huotra. With such a large number of people, the head shipbuilding craftsmen didn't know what was going on.
As Hotla walked out of the factory to negotiate with Rurik, he quickly smiled.
It only took a day, but the strong men who assisted in the shipbuilding arrived? !
The entire majestic crowd took action. They had been divided into groups by Rurik, relying on the person with a higher reputation among them as the so-called squad leader to tell them to perform their respective duties.
Some groups specialize in logging, targeting the small pine trees near the tribe that are only suitable for firewood and charcoal.
Some groups were responsible for twisting existing thin cables into large cables as thick as an arm.
Some groups began to use various tools to further cut the spruce poles used as masts.
Some groups operate two-man saws, axes and scrapers to cut the incoming northern pine into planks.
The work of some groups is extremely strange, as if it has nothing to do with shipbuilding. They are just responsible for digging holes in an area designated by Huotra.
There are only some participants, and they participate in very special ways.
Building a big ship, how could such a big thing be done without the help of the blacksmith alliance of the Ross tribe? How could the most capable Klavasen and Kawei be missing?
The first earthen blast furnace of the Ross tribe, it just completed a casting operation in the harsh winter. The blacksmith apprentices from Novgorod braved the severe cold and led the reindeer herds carrying the ore back. In just one cast, Klavassen completed all the ore smelting. He couldn't expect the power of a group of children wielding pickaxes to smash into the mine, nor could he expect how much ore the team could transport back.
Finally, a batch of ore was shipped back, and the huge blast furnace produced a batch of iron ingots in just one smelting.
Thanks to their understanding of "atomism," blacksmiths throughout the Ross tribe understood the differences between pig iron, steel, and wrought iron.
They are blacksmiths, just like shipbuilders. Although their group that believes in Thor is compared to other existences in the Ross tribe, they also represent the highest technology of the tribe.
They were innovative, especially after learning about "atomism" from Rurik, their worldview was greatly subverted.
Kawei, he didn’t even need Rurik’s personal guidance. So-called knowing the main components of air and the main components of cast pig iron, this young man has figured out the "fried steel method" to make steel.
However, it cannot be said that Kawei is a genius with an IQ of 200. He just tried to forge the cast iron ingot with a hammer. As a result, he was so strong that he smashed the iron ingot into a pile of broken pieces, and then angrily threw these things into the small stove. He hoped to keep blowing, so that the so-called gas with the symbol "O" would take away all the damn "C" in the iron ingot. As a result, these small pieces of iron fused into a lump in the furnace. When they were fished out, they could finally be forged. As he became more proficient, Kawei became more proficient in using the steel frying method, and the efficiency of forging steel swords was greatly improved.
The father and son Kawei and Klavason were busy making steel swords. Lilia spent her free time nursing the child, focusing on glass molding, while Kamne and the child focused on the distillation of spirits.
Until Rurik returned and gave the blacksmith an order: make a batch of nails.
Of course the Russians know what nails are, but they used to be very expensive. Besides, the tribal shipbuilders all use mortise and tenon structures, so why do they need nails?
Only now, Rurik needs a lot of nails, but they are not used on ships.
The heavy preparation work was the first job for the strong men. They received a death order from Rurik, in fact it was a death order from the big leader. Forced by the undoubted majesty, everyone risked their lives.
They were working hard, but the preparations still lasted for seven days!
Rurik fulfilled his promise and actually paid as much as eight thousand pounds of oats to compensate for the loss of physical strength of the strong men. Even so, the strong men are still eating the dried meat they have stored in their own homes, or buying frozen hard seal meat and cod meat from hunters.
Rurik also mobilized his group of children as usual, but what can these children do? They just followed the instructions, collected branches and sawdust everywhere, used them as fuel for cooking, and did as much auxiliary work as possible. They even gathered together to sing Russian folk songs, or hum some beautiful songs that Rurik urgently taught them, to relieve the tension and anxiety of the strong men from the heavy work.
The most strenuous tasks here are of two kinds.
A group of people were using scrapers to painstakingly cut the mast wood, which was about half a meter in diameter, into one-third stika, and the other end was also cut down to only one-fifth stika. According to Hotla, even for this big ship, it still doesn't need a big mast.
There is also a group of people who are actually making accessories for the mast, that is, a beam that is fifteen stikas long, which is also the "crossbar on the mast." Its design requirements are too long, so it has to be two pieces of wood. The materials are mortise and tenon, and they are also bound with hemp rope.
Any Ross ship has a horizontal beam, but the one being made now is extremely special, just because it must be hung with the sail tilted, so that when the sail is set, it becomes a huge triangle sail, which is the so-called "Latin Sails". Its advantage is obvious, that is, while allowing the Caravel-style boat to have extremely high speed, it also has the ability to move quickly in any wind direction.
Another arduous task was to build a mast that stood on the sand and gravel, and a scaffolding that was sloping.
A spruce tree about ten meters long that was not further processed was dragged to the pit by more than thirty strong men, and then another thirty strong men lifted it and another thirty strong men pulled the cable before it stood upright. pit. In fact, this work is a rehearsal for erecting the mast of a large ship. It is to ensure the safety of the hull. No one dares to act recklessly.
The sloping scaffolding is for transporting mast wood. The height of the ship's side that must pass through the Avlora can reach three stikas. It is also the tallest ship that all Russians have ever seen! In order to quickly build this scaffolding, Rurik did not have time to tolerate his men working with the mortise and tenon structure, so a batch of iron nails made in a surprise attack were put to great use.
Until the eighth day, everything is ready!
One hundred strong men and thirty strong stags were designated, especially those self-proclaimed strong men, who asked for mercy and received mercy, and Rurik placed them in the most critical place.
The ground was still covered with snow, and although the wind was not so forceful, its cold still caused the clear water to freeze.
Everyone had an unprecedented meal of wheat porridge in the morning. This was Rurik's order!
At the same time, a total of at least 4,000 people, men, women, children, and even businessmen living in Fort Ross, gathered near the Huotra shipyard, and even anywhere where they could enjoy the wonderful scenery.
"Now, let's start!" The one who issued the order was actually Otto. In front of him, there were a group of menacing strong men with golden chest hair carrying cables on their shoulders, as well as a herd of reindeer.
Someone roared, and the entire team began to move slowly.
At this moment, Rurik, even his Carlotta, Ella, and even Lumia were taking her Lumi, standing at the top of the scaffolding, looking at the hull of a large ship, being slowly moved by the Russians. Pull out slowly.
The Ross tribe does not yet have dry docks, and any ships must be built on the shore and then hauled out to sea by manpower. Rurik estimates that the Avora, which is modeled after the Caravel ship, has a standard displacement of only fifty to sixty tons, which means that this ship is a fifty-ton giant!
Fortunately, there was ice and snow everywhere, and the Russians pulling the ship were outnumbered. The hull of the ship was like a cicada that had just shed its shell, and little by little it left the factory where it was created. Under the watchful eyes of thousands of people, under the eyes of a strong man They were pulled to the correct position in the roar of their red heads.
The hull came to a standstill, and the strong men hurriedly retreated to catch their breath and rest. Another group of people immediately took action and placed the prepared pine wood on the lower end of the ship's keel to act as sleepers.
There was no need to doubt these sleepers, they surrounded the hull, but made her a tumbler on the snow.
"It's your turn now! Hotla! You take command!" Rurik, who was standing on the scaffolding, gave the order and immediately evacuated.
All the crazy efforts are for the present. Hotla slapped his old face hard and ordered those who were fully prepared to start taking action.
The rope was wrapped around the prefabricated mast, and its size was reduced a lot. Its actual weight is now only 800 kilograms.
This is still an extremely heavy wood. There is no other way. It must choose the core wood of spruce, which is the most resilient and hardest part. It has been machined to fit nicely into the base in the cabin, and the installation work has begun!
The mast that had been stuck on the ground for a long time had a distance of eight meters above the ground. It was a solid fulcrum to hold up the cable. In this case, there were as many as thirty strong men dragging the cable, and more than ten people were pushing and pulling at the back. The mast quickly tilted and pushed the thickest end deep into the cabin, and successfully resisted the preset baffle. .
The next thing is to solve the problem using the principle of leverage. In fact, if the mast hadn't been so heavy as never before, the Hotla family wouldn't have come up with this idea. All they needed to do was install a mast on the cargo ship and make a scaffolding. But it was just scaffolding, and it was a skill that local shipbuilders in Russia did not know.
Those Ross shipbuilders who sneaked in to learn skills are now smiling in their hearts.
In the end, as many as a hundred strong men participated in handling the mast. The heavy mast became frivolous, and it and its stable posture just stuck in the preset position.
The mast is completely perpendicular to the keel. It is so vertical entirely because the Hotla family used the "pendant method".
The mast stabilized, pointing straight toward the sky.
The scene fell into temporary silence after a muffled sound. For a moment, everyone cheered.
"Ah! We succeeded!"
"It's God! God has favored us!"
"If the sails are installed on this ship, it will be able to sail soon!"
"The largest ship ever in Ross..."
Various cheers were heard. Rurik looked at the mast that he had put up with great effort and great cost. He wanted to laugh wildly, but for a moment he felt unable to laugh.
If Rumia hadn't hugged him and cheered excitedly, Rurik could have managed a smile.
This smile is a bitter smile...
To be honest, it was strange that Rurik could laugh so hard. Counting the funds invested in Ironburg (grain is also counted, equivalent to seventy pounds of silver coins), and the funds invested in the past few days (grain is equivalent to nine pounds of silver coins), plus the rewards promised to the Hotla family (reduced Edition) of eight-pound silver coins, the current investment in the Aurora is roughly eighty-seven pounds. .
Wait! Eighty-seven pounds is a little less! Rurik estimated that if the subsequent planking and a huge sail were included, her actual price would be less than a hundred pounds?
The Aurora is really a hundred-pound lady, and her cost has seriously exceeded the budget ten times!
This is actually the case, but all R&D expenses and supporting equipment expenses are added to it.
Rurik thought about it. If he built a torsion slingshot for ships, that would be another huge amount of money!
"The navy is so expensive. Even a big ship has a huge appetite for gold!" Now, Rurik truly understands why the navy is an aristocratic branch. Just a caravel imitation ship costs twenty times as much as the first ship. Ordinary cargo ship!
It's better to think about it. At least the Russians have finally increased the tonnage of a single ship to the fifty-ton level in practice.
Even if she is just floating on the sea, Rurik believes that the Aurora can dominate the entire Baltic Sea.
