Chapter 320 Facing the stove full of charcoal, Rurik bravely spread a fire
A cargo ship from the north, dragging its heavy body, finally returned to her home port.
This is the transport ship Rurik is looking forward to. It returns safely loaded with ore.
As the escort informed his master of the troubles he encountered along the way, he naturally encountered fierce verbal abuses from Gould's sons. However, the two fat guys faced Rurik and put on a submissive and smiling look.
Sorry for delaying the date.
Although it had been delayed for a long time, Rurik no longer wanted to say anything more.
Standing at the dock, Rurik looked at a group of coolies hired by the Gould family. More than thirty people lined up in an assembly line, moving the ore out piece by piece.
They sweat profusely under the scorching sun, even if the weather is not really hot.
All of them went into battle shirtless, exposing their strong arm tendons and their thick chest hair, demonstrating the strength of a strong man.
"How much ore did you bring back?!"
Rurik put his hands behind his back and looked like an old man, stretching his head and watching the ore piled on the shore gradually turn into a hill.
Under the sunlight, the unique reflection of chromite is like black jade, which fully proves their quality.
How heavy is the ore?
Rurik saw the deep water stains on the side of the transport ship and couldn't help but sweat at its load.
All the ore from the north weighs up to two tons. On this issue, the leader of the Iron Squirrel Tribe, Mechasta, is really very current and diligent. The smelting work in the north continues. In order to complete the tribute that must be handed over to the master as soon as possible,
They also obtained more profits through excessive smelting and trading. For this purpose, the once-downtrodden tribe burst out with unprecedented cohesion and action.
In Mechasta's heart, he felt that he could use various attentive methods to coax the "child" Rurik into a good relationship, and at the same time prove to the Russians that he was an excellent being.
The total weight of the ore has reached two tons, and the effective metal content in it is as high as 69%.
Mechasta tried his best to satisfy Rurik's request. Looking at the mountains of ore, Rurik frowned. The first thing he thought of was not the strong support of Mechasta and his tribe, but Ross.
Does the human tribe have the strength to digest them quickly?
After all, even a blast furnace cannot actually smelt chromite.
The transport ship arrived at noon, and it was already evening after loading and unloading was completed.
The long-awaited ore finally arrived, and the happy Rurik naturally rewarded the transporters with a small sum of money, and Gould's sons also praised it verbally.
The rest of the matter no longer required the Gould family's intervention. Two two-wheeled carts were already in place, and a large amount of ore began to be slowly transported to the Clavarson family.
The crescent moon hangs high in the sky, surrounded by countless stars.
The magnificent Milky Way stretches across the sky, the entire Roseburg Fjord is gray, and the waves continue to lap the coast, deepening the tranquility of the night.
As long as a person stands on a high place, he can see some lights shining on the calm sea of the fjord. Those are the fishermen fishing for herring at night. There are many more people fishing for herring at night than usual. It is entirely because of the Ross fishermen who discovered it.
You can work with the guys to control a big net, sink it in the sea, put some lighted torches on the fishing boat to attract the herring schools, and finally slowly close the net to catch them all.
It is the Ross tribe's increasing fishing demand that forces fishermen to use their brains to maximize the benefits of fishing with the existing technical level.
The sea is dotted with stars, and cod fishermen can even occasionally catch seals.
A large number of catches will be sold at the beach market in the morning. No one worries about holding back the fish caught at night, because the big seller Rurik is always willing to accept the catch. More and more
The fishermen can get a stable income from Rurik. Now, they are no longer just chanting the slogan "Odin's Blesser is Glory", but the two sides have actually formed a close community of interests to support Rurik.
Gram means the stability of one's life, or a guarantee.
Rurik did not rest early this night, and the sound of Hai Bo was completely covered up by the noise of the Klavasen family. A very important mineral processing work was carried out under the chairmanship of Rurik.
"With your good hammers and chisels, try to cut the ore into cubes. Remember! If you complete ten, you will be rewarded with a silver coin!"
Rurik gave the mercenaries orders, and everyone was very happy to get an extra sum of money.
The bonfire serves as lighting. There are a large number of herrings being grilled and skewered near the bonfire. At the back end, there are mercenaries sitting cross-legged on the ground, holding tools to process ore.
The order has been issued, and the only thing left is to see them complete. Maybe this will not be a long process.
Rurik sat on the corrugated wooden steps of Klavasen's house, with the overseer Kawe beside him.
The occasional cold wind from the north adds a touch of coolness to the hot scene and calms the anxious hearts of the sweaty mercenaries.
"Hey, are you serious?" Kawei teased Rurik next to him.
"What's wrong? Is something wrong?"
"That thing you arranged for my father to do. You wanted to cast a pot? Are you serious?"
"Why not?" Rurik shrugged, "Those bronze pots in the long priest's house must have been cast by your father."
"Yes."
"So what questions do you have?"
"I..." How could Kawei not think carefully about the brand-new problem his family was facing? After all, it was smelting molten iron and casting it directly. Regardless of whether it was successful or not, it was unprecedented.
Kawei thought again: "If you cast an iron pot, can you use it to cook food?"
Hearing this, Rurik wanted to laugh a little. He gently covered his mouth to hide his slightly grinning mouth.
"I thought you planned to cast tools from the beginning, but I didn't expect you planned to make cooking utensils. Since you are cooking food, pottery is enough."
"Oh, you don't understand this. Listen, I either eat boiled food or grilled food. I want to change my taste. Maybe an iron pot can help me realize my dream. I hope your father can succeed."
Seeing Rurik deliberately showing off, Kawei said nothing.
"That's right." Rurik nudged the people around him again: "We need to cast a relatively large hemispherical pot. Can he make the mold?"
"Are you worried about his skills?" Kawei looked sideways.
"I'm...a little worried."
"Oh, this is the only thing you don't have to worry about. My father can make very good mud films, and he can make all kinds of complex shapes. Maybe you noticed some bronze statues of gods in the longhouse of the priests."
"I know this." Rurik suddenly raised his head: "Did he do those too?"
"He made it when he was young. He first carved the wood, pressed the mold into the clay block, and finally burned the clay to harden it. I think you must understand if you are smart."
Rurik nodded. Although this is a bit different from sand casting, since Klavasen has really used a set of primitive techniques to cast many bronzes with relatively complex textures and structures, it must be possible to create a mold for casting iron pots.
Rurik did not personally pay attention to Klavassen's work, just because the task was important. With Rurik's request, the old guy, several potters from the tribe and four other blacksmiths gathered together to study how to make the work.
The mold was made. They had already started making it, and for a while, Klavasen couldn't even think of taking a good rest.
It is a long process to sort and cut the ore and cut the chromite into practical refractory bricks.
Rurik simply stayed overnight at Kravassin's house, and the mercenaries also worked late.
The hard work paid off. When Rurik was woken up by Kawei in the early morning, a message to calm him down instantly dispelled Rurik's anger in getting up.
After rubbing his sleepy eyes vigorously, Rurik walked out of the woodblock and saw a kind of mercenary under his command. The dark circles under their eyes and the frayed skin on their hands fully demonstrated how difficult the work they had experienced.
"Is everything done?"
Although Jevro thought it was strange that he had to work as a stonemason, he still led his brothers to complete the master's request.
He approached Rurik respectfully: "My lord, it's all done, as you can see."
Rurik glanced at it and saw that the ore that once had various shapes had now become square and square, stacked on top of each other like low dark black bricks. He stepped forward and touched it with both hands, feeling its rough texture.
and regular edges and corners.
"Owner……"
"Okay." Rurik breathed a sigh of relief, "After a long wait, the ore has finally arrived. You are worthy of being my loyal warriors. You completed the processing of the ore in one night."
"The next step is to stuff them into the stove?" Jevro asked.
"Exactly. But you are no longer needed for this job. You can go and rest. I will arrange for a short warrior to help me do this."
The refractory bricks Rurik wanted had already been carved, and stuffing them into the furnace was a technical job.
He even felt for a moment that he had acted too hastily. After all, the current situation of the Ross tribe was not so severe that it was necessary to use cast iron to make tools. The traditional forging and processing of sponge iron was enough for now.
Maybe you need to wait until the refractory bricks are ready before building the stove.
The furnace was completed ahead of schedule, and only one step of incineration and hardening work was missing.
The furnace mouth is deliberately designed to be narrow. Now who can get into the dark furnace and act as a "refractory brick layer"?
A most suitable person was selected by Rurik. He was none other than the eight-year-old Kamni!
Kamne, who arrived at Fort Ross, has spent nearly a year in his new home. Thanks to the good food, he was once severely malnourished and as thin as firewood, but now he has become a little stronger.
Being able to make great contributions to his master, benefactor and master, Kamni felt that this was his endless glory.
A thick hemp rope went deep into the dark stove, and Kamne slid down the rope like a monkey.
Although it was dark inside the furnace, the situation changed when a torch was placed inside.
Rurik lay on the slightly hardened clay after tamping, and shouted towards the entrance of the cave: "Kamne! Arrange the ores neatly against the furnace wall, without any exposure, otherwise the furnace will still collapse!"
"Sir, I understand!" Kamni looked up at the only bright "patio", while he was constantly fighting against claustrophobia in his heart.
At first, energetic mercenaries with long arms handed the ores to Kamni one by one in the furnace, and the child began to pile them nervously according to the agreement with Rurik.
There was no need to worry about the lack of oxygen in the furnace. Just as he was laying refractory bricks with sweat on his forehead, a strong airflow suddenly spurted out from the wall, and the fresh air from the outside world was pouring in continuously.
There were two mercenaries operating the centrifugal blower. These two people did not participate in the work in the early morning. Their only purpose of recharging their energy was to work hard now.
The boy's heart suddenly became excited. Even though it was very difficult for him to lift the forging hammer, he also understood the importance of blowing when smelting. At this moment, he felt that he was standing in the position of the ore, feeling the strong force in the furnace.
When the wind blows, I subconsciously think of how noisy the furnace is when smelting occurs.
The chromium ore piled higher and higher, until finally Kamni had to step on the thrown in wooden piles to spread the ore to a very high position.
During smelting, the highest temperatures were at the waist and bottom of the furnace. Kamnier was ordered to stack double layers of chromium ore at these two locations.
From morning to evening, Kamni was pulled up to eat and rest at noon. Even so, when Kamni faced the sunset again, he was almost exhausted.
Rurik blamed himself a little for treating the servant who needed to be trained as much as he treated a tool that could be discarded at any time. But looking at Kamni's expression, the child was dirty and had a proud smile on his haggard face.
.
"Shall we start next?" Kawei asked confidently.
"Let's start! Even if it's night, we have to start!"
"Hello!"
Rurik nodded vigorously, and immediately ordered Yevro and others who had regained their energy after a day's rest: "Take your brothers to help Kawei, and do whatever he asks you to do."
In fact, Jevlo was full of yearning for a furnace that could completely smelt iron ore. He did not feel that he was just an outsider who was paid to do things, but a participant in the great work.
Casting molten iron like bronze was a miraculous thing that Yavlo had never thought of. Now? I'm afraid a miracle will happen in a few days.
A large amount of charcoal began to pile up into the furnace, and a large amount of charcoal also piled up outside.
The stove disappeared, replaced by a giant tower made of stacked oil charcoal under the night sky.
Drawing on previous experience, the stove was rebuilt on the ruins, but it was already far away from Clavassen's home.
In order to prevent the furnace from collapsing and causing a big fire, a circular trench was dug around the furnace to avoid the most extreme situation.
The night was already deep, and Rick had been staring at his big bloodshot blue eyes all night long. He quietly put on his ferret fur coat and sat quietly on a wooden pile, watching them complete the final stack of charcoal.
.
Kawei, who had a clean face and was already covered in toner, approached Rurik enthusiastically: "The only thing left is a fire. How about you light it?"
"Okay! I'll pass on the fire."
After saying this, Rurik stood up immediately, and his fatigue seemed to disappear instantly.
For a moment, a heavy torch soaked in rosin burned violently in Rurik's hand.
Beside him, Kawei and the mercenaries were cheering one after another, as if lighting a bonfire would sublimate everyone's souls.
Rurik looked left and right again, looking at the dark stove with firm eyes: "Countless charcoal is stacked here, let it burn!"
He lost all his strength and threw the torch, and the dry charcoal began to burn gradually.
At first, the torch continued to burn, gradually igniting the nearby carbon. The fire became more and more intense, and finally turned into a conflagration that reached into the sky.
The mercenaries immediately began to roar, and Kawei also roared crazily. Under the flames, his ferocious face was fully exposed.
Many people were awakened from their sweet dreams, and the soaring fire began to attract the attention of some nervous tribesmen. They wanted to take a closer look, and soon realized that the large stove Rurik had instructed the Klavasen family to make had finally begun the legendary "
Hardening work”.
At the beginning, everyone was very strange. Indeed, they were faced with the largest bonfire they had ever seen in their lives. Of course, they had to stop and watch for a while.
But who would have thought that this fire would last for five whole days! In order to harden a huge furnace, countless charcoal was used, and the cost was definitely not low.
Rurik did spend a lot of money on a stove, and it was all worth it.
The fire that lasted for five days made the tribesmen become accustomed to it, and the time also entered the August wind.
When the bonfire was extinguished, the blackened hard furnace had completed Rurik's dream of an earthen blast furnace. He even felt that the quality of his masterpiece was very good.