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.
I never thought that Rurik was incredibly concerned about farmers farming.
"You ask 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 it with wheat. 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 all the seeds into the soil."
"Is that enough?"
"Okay, otherwise what else can we do? I'm not a peasant woman farming." Lilia was a little unhappy. She just talked about what she saw and heard, but it didn't mean that she was a peasant woman. In fact, Lilia's heart
She didn't look down on farmers. As the eldest daughter of the manor leader, she was relatively pampered, and in her opinion, the most brilliant person was the blacksmith.
Now, she has indeed become the blacksmith's wife, and she doesn't mind even if the blacksmith's shop is dirty. She even encourages her husband to make a batch of iron and bronze farm tool accessories, such as hoe blades with holes and shovels.
The film is a so-called gift to her mother's family. In exchange, Kawei will definitely receive a great reward. Because Lilia has decided that she must return to her hometown to see her mother's family this autumn 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 open up a piece of land, sow some seeds casually, there is no irrigation system, wait until the wheat is harvested in the fall, and rely solely on the weather?
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 farm tools that resembled shovels, hoe for digging soil, and wooden plows.
Yes, it's a wooden plow.
Rurik learned an ancient Slavic word, which obviously means "wooden plow". Novgorod residents made it out of hard oak with specific twists, and it was pulled by strong men and supported by women behind them.
Wooden plow. There is nothing magical about the style of this object. It seems that all farming nations have similar style 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 am 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 drawings is because she lacks certain knowledge of geometry. She can't make up the appearance of a plow based on Rurik's drawings. Besides, this so-called
Lilia had no idea what the 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 has a plowshare and can cultivate the soil to one side, we plan to make a curved shaft plow with an all-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 used strange-shaped hard branches as wooden plows. It can be imagined that this so-called
Wooden plows 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 brought about a leap in farming! Even from plowing, sowing and even leveling the soil, a comprehensive change was required to bid farewell to primitive agriculture forever.
The day for the leader's departure is getting closer and closer. Now, the purpose of those selected to participate in the Sorong voyage is no longer limited to grabbing some living supplies.
Some women will board the long-distance ships. They are Novgorod locals. They married Rus in the summer. With the permission of the leader, they can follow their husbands to visit their hometown.
Moreover, 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 when visiting relatives in autumn, they also have some treasures provided by their husbands to their natal family. For example, an axe, and some clay pots.
The most precious 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 also 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 it with the Smolensk people for salt from the Black Sea at a high price. The materials saved will not only benefit themselves, but also benefit themselves.
The Russians can also get more benefits from this.
Almost every man who marries a Novgorod woman is naturally preparing some gifts because he is 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 were increasingly exquisite glassware made by her own hands, as well as iron tools that her husband had remade. She even made some smooth pieces of broken glass and strung hemp rope through the reserved holes.
The earliest glassware was women's jewelry, and Lilia discovered its essence with a woman's intuition. She wore necklaces made of more amber and glass blocks, and also prepared one for her sister and her mother.
But what exactly is Rurik’s so-called special plow?
If it really helps people in my hometown farm, it would be a good thing.
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 Klavason and Kamne. They all sat on the leather mats in the inner hall, listening 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 his best 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 instrument at all.
In metallurgy and making tools, Klavasen can be said to be 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 tools. 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 sharp tool for breaking through land and reclaiming wasteland. Torque? Direction of force? What is force?
What is very embarrassing is that Klavasen has never even seen a wooden plow!
Of course, the Ross tribe also farmed, and what they planted was just a handful of cold-resistant varieties of Nordic onions. Plowing? It didn't exist. Farmers just used hoes and draft axes to ram the ground, and then planted onion roots. Allies of the South
Of course they plowed the land with wooden plows. Clavarson didn't care about those farmers. He didn't even have time to go to the south, so he certainly didn't understand.
Although he knew nothing about plows and their functions, he followed the pattern carved on the wooden board provided by Rurik and built a so-called plow under the supervision of the child. There were no technical obstacles.
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?!" Klavason 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 about 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, which was actually a combination of the word "bend" and "earth-breaking tool" in the Norse dialect of his tribe. He decided to use this word to describe the curved shaft plow.
Next, production and processing begin.
Klavasen's job is to forge the most critical plowshare by hand.
A piece of wrought iron began to be forged continuously. It became flatter and flatter, and was hammered into the shape of a Nordic forest ax. Then, a very critical operation came. Over there, the iron plate with a special shape was bent.
, and finally forms a curled arc.
Does it have any use? In Rurik's words, this thing digs into the soil. As it keeps moving forward, the soil is brought out along the curly groove, 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’s true that Rurik didn’t know much about wood processing, but when wood and steel are used as structural materials, are there really big differences between them? Rurik personally carved marks on the wood with a dagger, 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. At this time, no nation should have more advanced farming equipment than the Tang Dynasty, but Rurik quietly made his way in the distance.
In Northern Europe, on the Boros Sea, I completed a study of Tang Dynasty very unexpectedly.
Of course, this cannot be considered learning. Does copying one’s own work also count as learning?
To be fair, the curved shaft 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. In addition, it is designed
A sunken plowshare and 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 Rus tribe was born.
"Rurik, what do you think? It can really cultivate land easily?" Klavasen was a little doubtful.
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 easy to use? Undoubtedly, practice is the only criterion for testing truth.
"It should be excellent. Klavason, let's take it and try it now." Rurik said.
"To reclaim land? Then you have to find a piece of wasteland."
"No need." Rurik shook his head and pointed with his little finger at the very smooth and solid sand and gravel at the door of the blacksmith shop. "Just try it at the door. If it can cultivate even here, if it encounters ordinary wasteland,
The effect can only be better.”
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 estates 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 Klavason, 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 of the "plow ox", the sharpest plow arrows of the plowshare pierced into the sandy ground at an angle, 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 did not even breathe tiredly.
At least it easily traveled 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.
The 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 use a hoe or a draft to dig up the land bit by bit. Nowadays, only a strong man pulling a curved shaft plow, the krokaproga, is enough. Behind the strong man walking, the plowing is completed.
soil of.
Lilia and Kamne were fully aware of what had happened. 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, and 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 identity as his son left scratches and returned to 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 experimented, and those who knew the inside story were busy increasing production, this statement naturally fermented among the tribe, and who benefited in the end? Of course it was Rurik.
The plowshare was carburized, followed by surface quenching heat treatment. The plowshare became sharp and hard. It was stuck on a special wooden pole. In order to be more stable, Klavasen tried to use the rosin used to glue ship seams as glue.
I don’t know if the caking agent is effective or not.
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 product, the manufacturing of the remaining products becomes rapid.
Unknowingly, the day for Otto's departure was finally coming. 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 pulling hemp rope
, it has become a high value-added agricultural machinery that was originally empty.
It’s time to put a value on it!
How should it be priced? The Klavasen family still doesn't understand its value. Simply put, the iron used in the plowshare is enough to make two steel swords.
Clavarson never engaged in the blacksmithing profession for the purpose of making money. He was eager to make better tools to make life more comfortable. The making of the curved shaft plow was in line with his temperament.
Of course, he still had to collect the money. Logically, he could ask Rurik to pay two thousand silver coins. He chose to make a major concession, and Rurik happily spent 500 silver coins. Twenty sets of Qu Yurik officially became Rurik.
the property of.
Now, Otto was shocked by the appearance of these production tools and the demonstration in Rossburg. He also instantly realized that these things would definitely help his tribesmen who settled in the east to reclaim the wasteland. Moreover, their ownership belonged to Rurik, and Rurik
Rick is not a good person who makes losses.
The curved shaft plow will be given to the people of New Roseburg and White Tree Manor, just like other tools, they must 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, tax.
And it was the method of "fatting sheep and cutting their wool". Otto couldn't wait to send these tools over!