The messenger Bernardik slowly took out a wooden board covered with writing: "Dear leader Ross, this is the order of the leader of the alliance, please read it."
He pushed the board forward, until it was in front of Rurik.
Not to mention, it was the first time he sat on the wooden floor and looked at the large number of ferocious bear heads hanging on the wooden wall. His eyes were reflective and filled with the flames of the bonfire. He really fell in love with this kind of warm house.
Rurik just glanced at the wooden board and was already laughing in his heart.
After all, Rurik couldn't hold it back and laughed: "I thought the leader of the alliance had a high opinion. It seems that his order only has one sentence?"
Benedick showed some timidity, "I...I am stupid and don't understand the meaning of these symbols."
"Huh? This is clearly our text, but you actually..."
"Yeah, I really don't understand. Maybe I need to learn."
Rurik didn't know whether this guy was pretending to be humble or if he was completely illiterate. The Western alphabet system remains unchanged, and it allows ordinary people to quickly understand the meaning of other people's written documents. It only requires easy learning.
"Hehe, I have met the leader himself, and I have an agreement with him." Rurik talked eloquently, "This wooden board has a meaning engraved on it. He said that the Russians will take your goods with them and join the fleet after the ice and snow melt. Let’s make an alliance together.”
"Ah? Is that what you mean?"
"right."
Benedick felt a little depressed. He risked freezing to death to touch Fort Ross, just to convey a promise that the Ross people had never forgotten on behalf of the leader.
This is not an order, just a reminder.
"Does the alliance leader have an oral message?" Rurik suddenly asked.
"This... there is an oral message. The leader said that he needs the goods of the Russians, and he will spend a large sum of money to buy them."
Rurik nodded: "I understand. Tell your master that his needs can be met by us Russians."
"Oh, that's great, my mission is accomplished. So, can the villain step down?"
"Are you in such a hurry to leave?" Rurik's smile seemed to mean something else.
"Chief, you still have..."
"You are a warrior. You dare to rush into our territory with a sled. We will give you some rewards for warriors like you."
When he heard about the reward, Bernardik's heart beat wildly. He expected the Russians to provide a meal and feed the reindeer some fodder.
The result exceeded his imagination.
Rurik's philosophy of life has always been to go back and forth without being polite. He intended to entertain the envoy and even the reindeer driver. This night, they ate wheat porridge, roasted seal meat, yellow root carrot stew, and even a glass of ale.
The two lived in a vacant barn with a wooden floor. After eating and drinking, they soon fell asleep wrapped in leather.
In fact, in Rurik's opinion, this kind of hospitality can only be said to be of a slightly high level, but for Benedik, it is the best enjoyment in this life.
He admired the leader of Rus from the bottom of his heart, specifically Rurik's character. He understood even more clearly that the great leader Otto had handed over most of his power to his son Rurik.
The two hard-working reindeer were fed a large amount of hay, supplemented by some oats.
At dawn the next day, the messenger and his party had another bowl of wheat porridge and some hard wheat cakes.
Benedick received written feedback from the leader of Ross, which meant new words were engraved on the back of the wooden board.
Some are runes, which are carved very neatly. He took a closer look and was greatly surprised. Because these words were not scratched with a knife, but struck with a special tool.
In fact, these are some steel seals made by blacksmiths. Small cast iron blocks are chiseled out with mirrored letters using steel cones. Each family in the Blacksmiths' Union made two sets, one with runes and one with Roman letters.
For example, the wooden board Rurik gave back and the steel seal made writing documents faster.
In fact, this is also a trade-off. The early Sumerians used clay tablets as carriers and seals with various patterns as writing tools.
This trick of the Russians was by no means the first of its kind, it was just to enable them to write quickly when wooden documents became more and more common.
Benedick saw a set of strange symbols at the bottom of the runes, which looked like words.
He didn't understand anything at all, so he just asked questions.
So what did Rurik say on the wooden board? It was actually one sentence: "Noble leader, we Russians will fulfill our promises."
Rurik used an elegant word to praise the leader, which was just the most basic diplomatic etiquette.
The messenger didn't stay in Roseburg, and Bernardik didn't take a good walk around the streets of Rose, so naturally he didn't know the details.
Even so, he could see how powerful the Russians were even at a glance.
Just look at the three rows of ships neatly arranged on the frozen beach. Who dares to question the strength of the Russians?
The matter of the courier was just an episode of the Russians' work in March. Rurik and Otto completed their diplomatic meetings and quickly returned to their daily lives.
The flames of the blast furnace were extinguished, and it was intact only because there was no iron ore left in the Kravassins. Not only were they short of minerals, they were also short of charcoal.
The interior of this huge blast furnace made of clay has been essentially vitrified. It has become very hard and resistant to high temperatures, and the extremely thick sealing soil ensures its ability to withstand pressure.
Kamnier was once dropped into the furnace. He was responsible for cleaning the remaining slag and carbon deposits in the furnace. After many days of cleaning, the furnace was restored to normal condition.
But Rurik didn't expect the blast furnace to operate for many years. Maybe it would have to be smashed and rebuilt in two or three years.
At the end of March, the Spring Equinox is here!
On March 28, the stars reached their correct positions. The high priest Vilia, who was almost breathless, almost lost her appetite, and in a daze, she pointed out the date for the arrival of her successor Rumia.
This time, it was Rumia who put on the noble antlered helmet and led all the priests to perform sacrifices at the Stone Ship Altar.
Everyone saw a lithe high priest standing barefoot on an altar that had been cleared of the last of the snow. People were surprised to find that the high priest Vilia was just sitting on the sedan chair this time, wrapped in leather and watching everything quietly.
The high priest's death was sadly known to all.
However, in Rurik's heart, since the end of this small-scale sacrifice, the era of High Priest Rumia has officially begun, even if she still lacks the last promotion ceremony. She is indeed very young, even young, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that the old priest's end is approaching, and the burden of future sacrifices will fall on Rumia's thin shoulders, and she must hold on.
Everything has changed after the Spring Equinox! The frozen sea is melting at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the ice that was once easy to walk on has become extremely dangerous.
No, the stream flowing into Rossberg Fjord became extremely fast, and the central mountains of Scandinavia began to thaw. Not only Rossberg Fjord, but also the Kemi River in the north, the broken ice made a terrifying sound. At the sound of the sound, the residents of Ironburg stood on the wooden walls, and even children climbed onto the towering cranes. They saw the great river Ling in the sun.
Time has quietly entered April, and the sea has returned to waves. All the scenes prove that this year's spring has come in time and is normal.
This wave is full of danger, and there are floating ice cubes everywhere in the fjord.
In early April, a spring rain nourishes the earth like precious oil.
The rain wasn't too cold, it was even a little warm.
It was this world that was shrouded in humidity that made Rurik feel really uncomfortable.
The only thing that the Russians are thankful for is the large number of wooden houses built on wooden piles. These wooden houses are largely isolated from the mud and moisture.
The ice and snow accumulated on the ground melted rapidly due to the rain. The rocks in the mines that were once shrouded in ice were exposed to the rain. Large-scale mining operations will soon resume.
During these days, even though it was shrouded in continuous rain, the construction of the Aurora continued. Her huge body was directly exposed to the rain, but this had no effect on her solid oak hull.
The ship's thick pine deck has been laid, and even the huge rudder at the stern has been meticulously constructed.
Kravasin and other blacksmiths, with Rurik's money, were ordered to make two gear plates. In terms of craftsmanship alone, these gears are still too rough, and Rurik does not expect them to instantly become talents who are good at precision machining, because that is too unrealistic.
Based on the principle that it can be used, after the shipbuilder took over the gear plate, he quickly fastened oak wood on it and built a large, hard wooden gear with a mortise and tenon structure.
The wooden gear is the core component of the steering gear that controls the movement of the rudder, allowing the helmsman to turn the steering wheel and drive the huge rudder plate with very little force to adjust the course.
Another wooden gear, enlarged directly into a wooden winch, was mounted on the wooden deck. Because of its extreme flexibility, it was further reinforced by oak boards. The Russians even used nails for riveting to improve the strength of the mortise and tenon structure.
It is an ingenious two-way ratchet system, which was successfully constructed after Rurik provided the drawings engraved on the wooden board and his personal guidance.
Of course, the Hotla family can build winches and create a huge real first.
Because the maximum width of the Aurora has reached six stikas, the maximum length of the hull on the water surface has also reached thirty-three stikas. Because of the keel, it looks very slender.
The huge triangular sail has been sewn together. It is large and heavy. Only such a sail can withstand the strong wind on the sea. Now, the women eating the food provided by Rurik are also completing the last and most critical work, which is to sew the sail to the extremely long beam.
There is only one step left before the launch of the Aurora, but as it is essentially an armed merchant ship with strong combat effectiveness, it has not yet been equipped with weapons.
What kind of weapons will she install?
This is the heavy equipment that Rurik conspired with Klavasen and Kawei for a while - a six-seater torsion slingshot.
Rurik wanted to copy the Roman Scorpion Crossbow. He had this idea, but he suffered from the fact that the Russian technology was not strong enough at that time.
Now, times have changed.
A carpenter from Rus received an order from Rurik to make some small parts. Some oak wood scraps were also recycled.
The core components of the torsion slingshot, such as the wool and linen mixed rope soaked in whale oil and seal oil as the source of torque, the small cast iron ratchet system, the rotatable wooden pallet, and the shooting angle adjustment lever system, are all built by the Klavasen family. .
With Rurik's technical guidance, although the work was not difficult, it took up to three weeks to complete the construction of the six-seat torsion slingshot.
However, they are not huge beings just by looking at them.
They have a uniform style. The frame structure is made of solid rough oak, and its structure is further strengthened with bent iron bars. The width is only about 50cm, and its "shoe tail" is only about 150cm. The ratchet winch is installed at the end of the scorpion tail.
A composite cable was wound twelve times, with a crossbow arm made of mild steel inserted into the center. They are made thick so that they do not bend significantly when stretched. The crossbow arm made of iron has a greater dead weight, but considering the structural strength of the material, Rurik struck a balance.
It's not like he never thought about making a giant steel-arm crossbow. When he thought about the large amount of materials required, the cost of maintenance, and the effects that could be achieved, he decisively gave up.
Rurik had thought deeply about casting bronze cannons and preparing pharmaceuticals to bring the Russians into the gunpowder age in one fell swoop. The theory is that theory, and it can be realized in practice, but it means the huge human and material costs to realize it in the future, as well as the output and the results that can be achieved. The input-output ratio is destined to be unequal at the moment.
Whether it's a heavy-duty steel-arm crossbow or gunpowder-related equipment, their technological level is too high! The current Russian people do not have the ability to control it.
In the final analysis, it is a matter of money.
For example, the torsion slingshot designed by Rurik uses mild steel parts, pig iron castings and bronze parts, which are enough to create many exquisite weapons. The best weapons made from these metals will definitely be sold for a total of five hundred silver coins, and this is only the cost of the metal materials.
Specially made mixed material hemp rope is money, and processed hardwood is also money. All kinds of things are pieced together to form a torsion slingshot. Rurik estimates that its construction cost has reached at least 600 silver coins.
Maybe this money has always been small money to Rurik, but it’s not!
Because the Avrora will be equipped with six torsion slingshots, Rurik will have to invest an additional thirty-six pounds of silver in terms of armament alone.
The dream of buying a ship with a thousand silver coins, the so-called ten pounds of silver, came to nothing. The reality was like a slap in the face, making Rurik realize that the navy was an aristocratic branch like never before.
After all, the torque slingshot is just a launcher, and its "cannonballs" are still money.
Fortunately, Rurik thought about the issue of ammunition as soon as the weapons were being constructed.
If the torque was made of modern industrial fibers such as nylon, the power of this slingshot must be extremely powerful. Rurik had no choice. This slingshot was the most powerful weapon he had created using the existing materials and technical capabilities of the Ross tribe. Therefore, from the very beginning, its material determines that it will not sustain a large amount of torque, so in order to obtain the maximum killing effect, it is necessary to make a fuss about the ammunition.
Rurik designed three weapons.
The first type is a cone-shaped cannonball-style cast iron projectile weighing only half a pound. It must decelerate quickly after being launched, and its flight lacks stability. It can only be used as a close combat weapon, such as knocking out enemy ships. A hole.
The second type is the short spear commonly used by the Russians. For flight stability, it only needs a thin wooden tail fin glued to the end to become a kind of javelin. In a real war, Rurik estimated that this weapon would be the most commonly used.
The third type is very similar to the first type, except that the material is a fired pottery block, or simply a lump of glass containing a lot of iron smelting slag. For hard targets, it is natural to use cast iron projectiles. For soft targets, flying a brick Rurik is probably enough.
After the weapon is built, it is natural to conduct some testing. Experiment, it has undoubtedly become a new topic of discussion in Roseburg. Everyone knows that Lord Rurik has invented another weapon, which seems to be more powerful than the crossbow.
A slightly empty coastal wasteland became a testing ground, and people saw a series of very good results while exclaiming.
After many days of testing, Rurik came up with a number of technical indicators. What else could he say? Although he was not satisfied in his heart, but this was the current era. Long-range weapons generally could only reach a certain level, so we couldn't expect too much.
Although the three-bow crossbow has a range of up to one thousand meters, it is not a magical weapon that a tribe of only 10,000 people can afford, not to mention that the Russians do not have this technology.
Tests of the marine torsion slingshot concluded that it shoots various projectiles flatly at a low initial velocity, and its effective range is less than about 60 meters, but it can shoot about 150 meters when thrown. Yes, Rurik has already merged the concepts of stika and meter in his mind.
It does have a short range, but the energy stored in cast iron projectiles is amazing. About fifty meters away, it can still make an obvious big hole in a pine board as thick as a finger. It does not penetrate oak planks very well, after all, this is the strength of oak, but how can an ordinary enemy have a ship made entirely of oak?
Cast iron projectiles can be made with a sharper head, or even a special mold can be made to directly cast a tail fin for it, so that it has stronger stability and penetration, and its main job is to dig holes in enemy ships.
When it launched a short spear with a tail fin, it set a record of a maximum throw of nearly 200 meters. A large amount of data shows that its range is about 160 meters, and it will naturally fly farther if there is a favorable wind.
The short spear relied on gravity to accelerate, and the spearhead dug deeply into the mud, requiring a strong man to pull it out. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that if this is used on the battlefield, it can shoot at the enemy's formation outside the range of the enemy's archers, and directly nail some unlucky enemies to the battlefield, giving the enemy a huge blow. My heart was shocked.
In the same way, those clay and glass projectiles also fly a long distance and are designed to hit the enemy's soft targets.
These six torsion slingshots can be used in land warfare and become the tribe's heavy land warfare weapons. However, the future of the Ross people is destined to be extremely dependent on the sea, and these weapons must become excellent "ship destroyers."
