Chapter 1044: The Fertile Black Mud of Balota Wozeland
Rurik arrived at the Calf Manor in a hurry. Even the Boyarowski family was still in Novgorod to set up the manor and knew nothing about it.
The people of the manor rarely had the opportunity to see the king. They saw the heroic appearance of the cavalry and kept looking for familiar faces in the army.
Uski's eldest son was the cavalryman who made great achievements, but he was in the first team. At this time, some members of the first team followed the Ostara cavalry south to the upper reaches of the Lovaj River. They would assist the armed immigrants in establishing settlements.
By the way, I also used my mobility to quickly explore the surrounding geography.
The people could not see their fellow villagers, and they did not even see Usky himself present.
They had no fear of the king, nor of this army.
People gathered around with smiles, and the elders walked in front on crutches, holding up their bearded heads and asking the noble king: "What a happy thing it is to attract the king...and the governor to visit him personally."
us."
"There is indeed something good going on." After saying that, Rurik signaled to the following warriors and waved his fist: "Everyone, please dismount! Let's rest here for now."
The king is tall and powerful, with a young face and a elegant beard, which makes him appear noble and reliable.
Unexpectedly, the queen also took the prince to visit the manor in person. Svetalana is a local, and the people in Calf Manor didn’t think there was anything special about her. But today, they didn’t recognize the queen who lived a mysterious life. The queen was dressed as a female warrior.
The appearance. No! She is indeed a female warrior. This time she is not wearing a colorful and gorgeous dress, but slim-fitting breeches, a tight top, a belt around her waist and a sword hanging on it.
As for the prince, this little guy is even more mysterious.
Osborne has a fair face and bright eyes. He is very neat and tidy, and his temperament is far better than that of an ordinary boy.
Out of his own philosophy, he attaches great importance to the old men and women in each farm. Although the elderly are old and weak, they only know a lot as they live. From the mouths of these old guys, you can learn a lot about the local area.
Something unknown.
"Your boyars are still in the city. I came here without notifying them. Don't worry. Old man, I will let you be the talker for the time being."
"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. What can I... do for you?" the old man replied cautiously.
Rurik glanced around and found that the onlookers here were quite strange. "Huh? Where is your mature man?"
"They are all grazing cattle on a watery grassland in the west. You... know that we are actually not good at farming."
"Indeed. The explorers passing through this place have told me the situation. Today I am going to your camp in the west. What is it called?"
The old man was startled and realized that the matter was not simple. "It's called Balotawo."
"Let's go to Balotawo! You can provide some guides to help me arrive smoothly. The benefits... are of course inevitable."
At this moment, Karl and Brand had appeared in the team, and their appearance made the onlookers understand what happened. What the expedition team said was indeed true! In just one night, the king and the cavalry hurried over.
The Calf Manor immediately expressed its full support for the king's action. They were willing to try their best to provide a batch of agricultural products for the army. Of course, Rurik immediately spent money to purchase it to achieve a win-win situation.
Yesterday, the ten men from the manor who transformed the long boat into a barge to escort the expedition to the big city transformed into guides again.
Then, by chance, they happened to bring another batch of supplies planned to be delivered to Balotawo, so they got on the farm's ox cart and joined the entire team.
Rurik had no intention of staying. He hoped to reach the swampland known as Balotavo as soon as possible, so he took advantage of the daylight time to quickly replenish his supplies at the manor and immediately headed up the Valonda River.
The army spent the night on the grassy beach by the river. The personnel built and lit bonfires, and the horses were released on the spot to graze on the grass.
The warm lake breeze flows into the narrow valley plain surrounded by dense forests, just like a wind tunnel, and the wind is quite strong.
The Wallonda River flows quietly, and when standing on the bank of the grassy river, you have to always be careful not to get your boots stuck in the mud.
Rurik called Medvet to his side. He was in a good mood and pointed to the calm river: "Look, the current is very gentle, which is very suitable for our long boats to move forward. Do you know anything about this river?"
"I don't know." Medved answered simply.
"Absurd. I asked you to be the local governor. You should know the river very well."
"I really don't know. But there is a reason for all this. Even the people hiding in the forest are trying their best to explore to the east. Maybe they are developing settlements to the west..."
Medved did not say any more, and Rurik noticed that there was a big problem hidden in it: "What? Is there danger in developing westward?"
"Sigh. If we go too far west, we will meet the Pskov people. We have almost the same language as them, but we just belong to different communities. If we go too far west, we will enter their territory. If there is friction, it will not happen.
alright."
"Still have such concerns? Pskov, that place is already in my conquest plan. Military friction is not a problem, and it saves me the trouble of looking for excuses to attack."
Rurik’s words were not arrogant. Medvet was convinced that the king was serious and couldn’t help but cautiously ask: “Does the king want to suddenly adjust his strategy and launch an offensive to the west this year? With all due respect, if we follow the westernmost line of the Great Lakes,
If the Solon River goes in reverse direction, it will definitely reach Pskov."
"No. Conquering them is in the plan, and now my plan is to open a second navigable waterway. Do you know my final plan?"
Medved shook his head.
"We'd better build a canal as soon as possible. It doesn't matter if the river is narrower. The key is that the waterway must be smooth. In this way, in a huge environment, a circular waterway is born..."
Rurik thought so and built a canal from the Reed River to the Valonda River. The explorer's survey report pointed out that even the Reed River's flow was extremely slow. In this way, every spring, people who wanted to reach Novgorod from the capital
The fleet directly travels along the slow-flowing Reed River-Walonda River inland route, and does not have to face the violent Neva River and Volkhov River rapids in high water periods. Therefore, merchant ships can move in advance.
The fleet from Novgorod to the capital can still take the mature Volkhov River route, and the fleet will float down the river and eventually reach the capital.
From a macro perspective, this is a large counterclockwise turntable and a constructed canal, which is expected to greatly reduce the communication costs between the capital and agricultural areas. And this is a strategic advantage.
Rurik always paid attention to the hydrological conditions. He conducted field investigations, observed the speed of the river water, and investigated the river soil, river bottom sand and gravel.
The current investigation was limited to the Valonda River. After camping for a night, the army continued to march backwards. In the evening of the same day, the slightly tired army successfully arrived at the cattle grazing land called Balotavo.
Cattle, horses, sheep, goats, and reindeer all have a big problem. This problem is especially prominent in horses with a single stomach. If these large livestock are kept in captivity for a long time, they will have big problems. The so-called digestive system is weakened due to inactivity and causes diseases.
, hoofs grow wildly due to inactivity and are easily injured.
It is extremely necessary to let cattle graze. Now all the cattle that have been let out have returned and are temporarily driven back to the temporary pens at dusk.
People set up bonfire camps by the river and lived a normal and leisurely life. They thought about falling asleep at night, but they never expected that the king would suddenly come to them.
All the young men of Calf Manor are here, and among them are active soldiers of the Slavic Banners. They participated in the war of 840 but did not get much loot. The soldiers told the war stories to their fellow villagers and got together to kill the boredom. Now we are welcoming
When the king comes, the excitement is enough to make people tremble all over.
People gathered around, willing to serve the king, even though they had no idea what the king and his cavalry were doing when they suddenly arrived in this wild wilderness.
Rurik tightened his grip on the reins and motioned for Medvet to gallop to follow. He had no intention of talking to the people who were coming. The sunset made his face orange, and his sharp eyes looked at a large piece of flat land without the cover of trees.
"It seems this is what they call a swamp. There really isn't a tree in Balotavo."
"It's really a rare flat land. I heard that there are a lot of mud ponds here. I'm afraid that's why there are no trees." Medved continued to look around as he spoke, and soon discovered the clue. He raised his riding crop and pointed in one direction: "Hurry, my king.
Look there."
"How?" Rurik turned his face sideways.
"It turns out that there is a small waterway that turns here. Maybe the stream created a swamp."
Even though the light was a little dim, Rurik noticed the situation on the north side of the Balotavo camp. He motioned the cavalry to follow him to take a look, and indeed saw a stream separated from the main channel of the Valonda River. The stream was extremely shallow.
The horses don't even get up to their knees when they step on it.
If the terrain were lower, wouldn't it mean to create a lake? Because the terrain is not low enough, it would just create a swampy land.
The horseshoes were stained with black mud, proving that there was a lot of rotten mud here.
Looking around, reeds bloom in places with lots of water, and the rest of the area is covered with green grass.
The black mud stained by horseshoes comes from humus, and what is obtained after removing the water is the so-called swamp soil. The black color means that this place is rich in organic matter, and it has turned into a kind of black soil. If it is allowed to continue to develop, the black soil will become peat.
, eventually turning into coal.
Lake mud is a kind of fertilizer, and swamp mud is a better fertilizer.
Rurik knew a thing or two about the soil information of the Eastern European world. After all, it was knowledge that was required to be learned in middle school.
It can be said that the huge Dnieper River Basin is rich in water and grass, and its terrain is generally flat. Countless tributaries infiltrate the huge land, forming large swamp areas. The changes in the vicissitudes of life have caused some swamp areas to dry up and harden, and the black mud turned into black soil.
For Eastern Europe, this is the large-scale "Central Black Soil Area". To form black soil requires a special geographical structure and a long-term infiltration of the land environment, so that all kinds of grass can easily settle and humus.
What Rurik knew was that starting from the entire Pripet Swamp in the south of Smolensk, and continuing southward, there were black soil areas. This is why those guys in the Kiev community, even with extremely rough agriculture, still feed a lot of people.
human reasons.
The area around Lake Ilmen has the best farmland in the region precisely because the lake water periodically infiltrates and causes vegetation to become humus and increase nitrogen to fertilize the fields. Those acres defined as "good fields" are all close to the lake shoreline.
Thinking of this, Rurik concluded happily: "Medved, this mud is actually a good thing."
"It's still a good thing? It's easy to get caught in horseshoes." Medved looked embarrassed.
"It's easy to get caught in horseshoes, which is a good thing! This makes it easier for us to dig roads. Moreover, the mud can actually fertilize the fields and transform poor fields into good fields."
It is a pity that Medvet has no sense of intensive cultivation. In recent years, all his achievements have come from opening up territories for the kingdom. He is a pure local Slav and a rising military star.
The brief inspection in the evening was extremely brief, and Rurik was able to roughly understand the local hydrological conditions.
When the cavalry returned to the Balotawo camp, he formally visited the local cattle herders as a king, and even the two little boys who first came into contact with the expedition.
The two children are related to each other, the eldest is named Delevy, which means wood, and the younger is called Dulac, which means fool. Their names are too casual, and this is the principle of making a living with a cheap name.
They are originally unknown children. Unless they grow up to serve the king and achieve military success, they will not be promoted by the king.
Apparently, the two met the expedition team unexpectedly while herding cattle, and helped the team successfully discover the second passage. Even though the two were just some bratty kids, their achievements cannot be ignored.
Rurik originally intended to promote some local Slavs, so to speak, to neutralize the power structure. Calf Manor was also a die-hard supporter of Rus, so he must be rewarded for such great loyalty.
Taking this opportunity, he ordered the two cowherd boys who had performed meritorious service to kneel down on one knee, imitate the appearance of regular soldiers, cover their hearts with their right hands, and perform the Viking warrior salute.
Under the collective observation of the army and the public, he commended the two children's contributions in person.
"Drevi! Durak! You two have made great achievements in assisting the expedition, and now I will give you two half a pound of silver coins each! Also! Don't be a cowherd boy! I will recruit you two as cavalry now!"
The cavalry is not something that ordinary people can join. Even if the two of them are cowherd boys and are not old enough, even if they reach the original age, they will not be able to pass the cavalry assessment. Because their families are forced by life to not allow the sudden loss of a child.
labor force.
Thanks to the king's commendation, their parents were both here, and they cried with excitement when they heard the king's commendation.
My own child has reached great heights in one step, and good days are ahead.
Rurik called Brody: "Now accept these two cubs and arrange for them to do some handymen for the time being. Maybe you can also make them learn to ride horses in one fell swoop. It's up to you to decide."
In fact, Brody resisted. Wouldn't it be a joke to recruit two thin little boys as cavalry? Since King Ghost can only obey.
The army will camp in Balotawo for one night, and the real exploration will begin tomorrow.
The two cowherd boys got money immediately after being promoted. They happily gave most of the money to their parents or the entire farm collective, leaving a few coins for themselves as personal assets.
For the new day's exploration, two boys served as guides. They were placed on horseback, pointing at the hard soil in the swamp, and guiding the entire horse team towards the "big river" in the west.
The six-kilometer dirt road takes some time to walk on foot, but at the speed of the horse team, it can be reached in one hour even if the horse is free rein.
From a distance, Rurik could see the longship mast in the distance, and when they saw their ship again, Karl and Brand were extremely happy.
The cavalry must have arrived at the "big river", and now Rurik has followed the naming principle of the original discoverer and followed Karl's description and called it the Reed River.
The Reed River really lives up to its name. The banks of the river are densely packed with reeds, which are much denser than those on the shores of Lake Ilmen. What is visible to the naked eye is that the water flow in this river is very gentle, which is why the reeds can grow wildly.
Queen Svetlana took the prince and her sisters Nolen and Bayahir on horseback and walked along the river, feeling the wind blowing from the new exploration area. Prince Osborne stared at the surroundings with his big ignorant eyes.
Everything, milky milk in the mouth, mumbling, kept asking where this is.
Rurik was undoubtedly chatting and laughing with the queen and concubines for the time being. His coming with the cavalry had military and economic significance, and now he was doing business.
The newly trained 2nd Cavalry has proven through actions that they can maintain their formation for long-distance marches, and it is completely feasible to extend their journey to the capital in this way.
Secondly and most importantly, Rurik and Medved completely reached a consensus regarding the investigation of this swamp.
Is it difficult to dig a canal?
I'm afraid the situation is quite simple.
An area was so saturated by river water that no trees grew at all. The Reed River (Luga River) infiltrated the land on both sides, and the same was true of the Wallonda River. Wherever they were close to each other, there was a lake filled with humus.
Rurik then gave Medvet a task: "It's your performance from now on! Organize some ships to enter here and keep digging out the mud to create waterways. You can dig more and finally create a fully connected waterway."
Medved had never thought about this kind of thing. Now that he has inspected the local environment, his attitude has changed. The economic benefits of digging a canal are extremely huge, and completing this task is a great achievement. Secondly, digging in the mud swamp
The waterway is not difficult, but it is just a matter of continuous accumulation of human resources. The peasants sit on the long boats and use "giant spoons" to continuously dig out the mud directly below, and then throw it to the sides with all their strength.
After thinking for a while, Medved accepted the task and even gave a time for the completion of the construction. "Next year! Before the autumn of 842, the canal can be repaired."
In fact, Rurik thinks that the canal can be dug this year. Considering that this canal may be Ross's first national project, this is the first time to take action and we should not rush it.