Chapter 360 The Harp Castle is the Mother of the Cities of Rus
Those wooden houses made of pure Novgorod-style mortise and tenon structures are low and sturdy. The owners of the houses have pieced together a fence with wooden strips next to the house to delineate a small area for some casual activities.
Breeding.
There are chicken pens or rabbit nests inside the fence. These two kinds of livestock and poultry that reproduce quickly have become a major source of meat for immigrants. The captured and domesticated rabbits have been kept in large wooden cages for a long time, and residents often throw them in
They feed a large amount of green grass, and in order to cope with the cold winter, they harvest a large amount of dry grass to reserve. As for the domesticated chickens, they are domestic birds. The free-range chickens often run around and naturally stay in the chicken coops until winter.
When the grain is harvested, all the chickens are driven into the chicken coop. The grain owners not only have to use wooden flails to pound the bundles of wheat ears in the threshing floor to complete the hulling of the oats, but also the whole family.
Go into battle to drive away any sparrows that come to steal food.
The first harvest season was completed relatively smoothly, and the threshing floors that were once busy have now become empty places again.
Rurik and his party followed Konuson and stood casually on a piece of hard land. It had been tamped flat and hard. Maybe it would only become muddy after being soaked by heavy rain for many days?
Constructing means desperately compressing the volume of soil. When it becomes a dense material, it will be a flat and hardened land that humans can initially create that should not appear in nature.
"Is this your threshing floor?"
"Yes, sir. Look carefully, there are still some leftover wheat that have not been collected."
"Really?" Rurik watched helplessly as Konuson, the old guy, bent down and used his thick hands to dig out a grain of wheat embedded in the earth, and then rubbed it with both hands and blew it.
"Does this mean anything? It's just a grain of wheat."
Konuson smiled bitterly and said: "It is very precious to us, maybe... we won't talk about it anymore."
For a moment, Rurik felt a little uncomfortable. He asked himself, how many times had he been hungry during these years? In his concept, easy access to food is a matter of course, and he also understands how to ensure the food supply of residents.
, is the basic task of a political power.
Rurik thinks that wasting a certain amount of food is not a big deal.
For them, is every grain of food really a must?
Rurik thought for a while, would it look stupid to say some of the things he wanted to say now?
For example, if you question whether they are worried about too much dust and dregs when they grow large amounts of grain on the rammed land? They certainly won't care, and they don't even have the right to care about what is available or not, as long as the grain is edible.
Seeing Rurik's solemn face, Konuson asked weakly: "Sir, all threshing floors are like this. You see, this field is shared by several families."
"Huh?" Rurik raised his head sharply, "I think every household has one. As long as they are willing, I won't comment. It's your earthen threshing floor. I have some suggestions."
"Oh, what is that?"
"You should lay stone slabs and piece them together into a flat ground. In this way, no matter how much rain falls, your threshing floor will not be damaged. If you can easily pull out wheat grains from the soil, it means that your threshing is not strong enough. If
The continuous rain has turned the threshing floor into a mud pond."
Having said this, Rurik naturally added more words.
"Cornuzon!"
"grown ups."
Rurik coughed twice: "Novorovsburg is a city. According to Novgorod, it is called Nievarussigorod. She must have a value far beyond Novgorod, not a village. You have to be responsible for its construction.
Full responsibility. Now I have a request for you."
Konuson immediately bowed, although he was puzzled as to why Rurik compared this place with Novgorod: "It's your order, and I will do my best to complete it."
"Very good." Rurik pointed to the ground casually: "The threshing floor, pave it with stones. Not only all the threshing floors, but also all the roads in the city must be paved with stones. Listen, in the future
Anytime I visit New Roseburg, I can't get mud on my boots."
"Ah?! This request..." Conuson's face instantly became embarrassed.
"What? Don't immigrants even know how to cut stones? Or do you not have any masons?"
Cornuson still pursed his lips.
"What's going on?" Rurik asked.
"Sir, we...have no stones here."
"Huh? How is that possible? Wait..." Rurik suddenly felt ridiculous and felt something was wrong, "Huh? Is it possible that there are really no rocks here?"
"I promise on my honor that there are really no stones. My lord, if we could easily get stones, we would carve them to build houses. You see, we can only use large and small wood to build houses."
"Oops!" Rurik slapped his little hand directly on his face.
He fantasized about building New Roseburg into a city in the classic medieval style in his mind. Then the main landscape of the city should be a large number of granite stones. Castles, walls, roads and residences were all covered with gray stones.
He looked around and saw that the wooden wall not far away was still slowly lengthening. The wooden wall surrounding the city was obviously a temporary measure. As long as there was enough material, Rurik just wanted to build the wall with stones.
Timber is the most easily available building material. Red pine trees are everywhere here, and the forests are often mixed with oak trees, oak trees and beech trees.
The terrain here is flat, and there is a large island divided by the river at the mouth of the Neva River. Its environment is clearly a northern wetland. The fertile land is suitable for farming. I am afraid that there are really no stones nearby.
The facts are just as Konuson said, and even the facts are worse than he thought. Historically, Peter the Great desperately built a city at the mouth of the Neva River and made it the capital of a country. They cut down all the forests at the mouth of the sea, and all the buildings thereafter
The stones used are all from Vyborg in the north.
The Vyborg quarry is located a hundred kilometers away from the mouth of the Neva River. The geographical straight-line distance is a hundred kilometers. Transporting stone by sea is a tortuous road.
If you pick up the manuscript head and dig downward, you may not be able to dig out hard granite even if you reach the permafrost.
But no matter how everything in the city is built with wood, the first one is the terrifying fire hazard. Furthermore, the defensive walls built with wood can only block some low-level enemies.
Since granite is not so easy to obtain, wouldn't it be nice to use clay to bake bricks? The thought flashed across his mind, but Rurik rejected it instantly.
They obtained high-quality clay, first fired pottery, and then used it to make bricks, which was a complete waste.
Rurik looked at the land under his feet again. Even if there were all kinds of difficulties, the residents of New Roseburg must find granite mines and dig out the stones for use.
"That's it." Rurik sighed.
Cornuson, who was still waiting to hear the new order, immediately asked: "Sir, we really have difficulties regarding this stone."
"I know. I have made up my mind. You will not ask you to pave the road with stones now, but in the future, our New Roseburg must build stone walls and stone pavements. You have to send people to explore north to find stones.
Also beware of possible Karelians.”
"As commanded."
"Don't worry too much. Our Ailon-Olawa Fort is in the far north. There are a lot of stones there. I can send people to dig there and transport them here for use."
"Oh that's great," Konuson complimented.
"That's it, let's go to the dock and have a look."
There is nothing special about the pier itself. Rurik's main purpose this time was to inspect the river beach. The plan to build a city main road had already arisen in his mind. While he was still in New Roseburg, the whole city was still nervous.
During the construction, given this good opportunity, Rurik felt that he must bear the greatest responsibility for the future history of Rus and lay a good foundation for the birth of a city.
Rurik is to temporarily serve as an urban planning expert.
He led a group of followers to walk on the riverbank covered with withered grass. There were many residents here grazing their few sheep casually. When they saw a group of people wearing leather armor approaching aggressively, they all chose to avoid it.
Rurik saw that a path had been trodden on the river beach, and there were even ruts left by two-wheeled carts.
Suddenly, he stopped.
"My lord, what do you think of the dock?" Cornuson asked immediately.
"Very good. I just care about this road."
"Road?" Konuson scratched his head, "I understand that stone roads will be laid in the future."
"In that case." Rurik immediately pointed to the big river on his left: "From today on, it is not called the Ladoga River, it is called the Neva River. And this road, I want to name it Nevagata. From now on.
, it is the core road of our city."
Conuson only cared about agreeing with this, which made no sense.
Rurik knew how to build the city, and his plan was actually deliberately in line with history. Since Peter the Great built the city here in history and personally planned the city, he must have followed the advice of some experts and was not a random person.
Build a house with blind planning.
The most famous street in St. Petersburg is Nevsky Prospekt, which has even become a symbol of the city. In Novorosberg, which is located at the same location in different time and space, Rurik deliberately followed suit.
Throughout the day, Rurik was glad that his physical fitness was very good. When night fell, he returned to the longhouse where the leader was and only felt a little sore in his legs.
The soft light in the evening is a signal. Most residents follow the habit of sleeping at sunset, even if they are not working overtime on building the fence.
Otto took a good steam in the Finnish-style sauna in the settlement, wiped his body with hot river water, put on new linen clothes, and faced the whole day of travel with an extremely comfortable posture
's son.
He was originally interested in asking about Rurik's journey, but unexpectedly, Rurik insisted on holding a meeting on city construction as a host.
"Are you kidding me? Do you have any new suggestions for building a fence?" Otto's original intention was not to let his son interfere with his own ideas. After all, the construction of New Roseburg was the greatest feat that he boasted in his later years, even if it was his son.
You shouldn't make irresponsible remarks.
Rurik was puzzled by his father's selfishness, and he looked firmly: "I am serious, Dad, please agree with my idea."
Otto's inner displeasure was reflected on his face, which Rurik could feel.
Is this old guy afraid that I will question the New Roseburg election? How ridiculous!
Rurik was well prepared for this and even ordered Yevro to get a dry wooden board in advance. He also used a knife to mark out the lines and blackened the lines with small charcoal blocks to form a simple blueprint of the urban structure. He and Konu
Song discussed it for a while, but without Rurik's detailed explanation, who knows what this picture is?
Indeed, Rurik only sketched the course of the river and the layout of the city's streets.
Now, he mainly faced his father Otto and Cornuson. While showing the wooden board, he gestured with a small stick to introduce them.
"The island full of rabbits is just north of our dock. I hope to build a fortress here as the first line of defense against northern raiders in all senses."
"The wooden wall we are building now wraps our New Roseburg. I have seen that one side of it is adjacent to the river, and the curved wall forms a semicircle. I declare that the name of the river is the Neva River, and the paths along the river must be expanded.
Chengda Road is named Nevsky Prospekt. This street is the main traffic artery of our city."
"There must be a road under the wall that connects to Nevsky Prospekt."
"There are four roads extending vertically from Nevsky Prospekt. They must be built straight. In principle, all roads need to be paved with stones or pebbles. Since there is a temporary lack of historical data, Konuson, you should pound the roads and make them as hard as possible."
"The wall is made of wood. I don't think it is a long-term solution. We heard that when we attacked Gotland, our people suffered a loss when faced with the enemy's stone wall. Facing the Kovin people's wood and
We basically encountered no obstacles with walls made of earth. Obviously stone walls are more important to us. Wood will decay, but stone walls will last forever. Wooden walls are a temporary measure. When stone mines are found, we will immediately use stones to reinforce our cities.
."
"So, Konuson, you are going to build some special houses. A longhouse where the residents can gather to discuss business. It needs to be very spacious and built in the style of Novgorod. You also want to build a more comfortable one.
Houses for the chiefs to live in. We also need to build a number of vacant wooden houses, which can be used as warehouses on weekdays. When our Sorgon army stops at New Roseburg for supplies, there will be enough accommodation rooms without disturbing other residents. Also, I hope
During the Spring Festival next year, you will knock down all the floorless houses in the settlement and rebuild them."
"Our current location is the chief's residence, and what will be built on this location in the future will be my family's mansion. Sooner or later I will build it into a gorgeous place, and you, first build me the Novgorod wood carvings,
I'm not used to sleeping on the floor anymore."
"You also need to open an open space with at least a hundred sitikas across the length at the door of the chief's residence. I give you a deadline to complete the empty space before next autumn harvest. It will serve as the largest threshing floor in the city and also the square where we will gather in the future.
.I will give you one year to move the houses in the area, and then you will pound the land. When the conditions are ripe, I will pave it with hard stones."
Planning roads and building a square are a hundred times more important than building a chief's residence, Rurik thought so.
Especially for a square, Rurik actually thinks it is more interesting to call it "Senate Square" or "Winter Palace Square", because the place opposite Rabbit Island is the Winter Palace, with the Tsarist Russian Parliament Building and the huge Senate Square sitting on the ground.
, it is the place where the December Party uprising took place in 1825.
Building a square paved with stones must be shocking to people of this era. All Russians should be proud of having such a square.
The practical significance of building the square is that New Rossburg needs a large space that can handle various affairs in the open air. When farming is busy, it is a threshing floor, and when a large amount of supplies arrive, it is a distribution center for supplies. If there is an invasion from a foreign enemy, the Ross people can take up arms.
Gather in the square and get orders from the leader to defend their homeland.
Here, to the south of the square is the city's granary, which is the central area of the city.
Rurik pointed at the wooden board and kept explaining. Now Otto knew that he had completely stupidly misunderstood his son. His son had no objections or questions. He was very supportive of his city location and even had a clear preference for it.
to oneself.
Any father is happy when his children actively inherit and carry forward their father's legacy.
Otto was pleased to see that his son had extraordinary insights into urban construction. After listening to the explanation, he finally understood the pictures on the wooden board, but he thought why was it so funny?
Seeing that his son had finished speaking, Otto smiled happily and said: "Rurik, you have done a good job. The city will be built according to your plan. It is your plan..."
Rurik breathed a long sigh of relief: "Dad, do you still have any questions?"
"Hey, doesn't your city plan look like a harp?"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the room burst into laughter (life lacks entertainment and everyone has a low laugh rate).
Rurik took a quick look and couldn't help but feel happy.
Not counting the fortress plan of Rabbit Island, the city-themed outline does look like the letter D, with four paths in it. What does it look like if it doesn't look like a harp?
There is indeed no musical instrument like the harp in the hands of the Russian people. Many Russian people have seen it. It is an instrument that only some Malaren people play in their spare time. The spiritual life of the Russian people has always seemed boring, but every little thing can turn into a harp.
Months of talk. They compiled songs but did not have suitable musical instruments. Even bone flutes and leather drums were rare, let alone a treasure like a harp that needed fine processing.
There are no professional musicians here. Those who control the instruments are mainly priests of various tribes. They sometimes use them in sacrificial places to enhance the solemn atmosphere.
The priests of Mellaren own harps, and a few merchants also own them. The occasions for its use have always been rare.
Otto was in high spirits, and he said with a smile: "In my opinion, I need to give the city a nickname."
"What is it?" Conuson asked urgently.
"According to Rurik's decision, our new Fort Ross is like a harp, and it is called Harpabroge."
If "New Roseburg" is a name given to the city, then "Harpsburg" is an elegant nickname. Everyone was also very happy when they laughed. The nickname of "Harpsburg" spread quickly, which fully illustrates the
, Rurik’s urban construction plan will definitely be implemented.
The era chose Lake Ilmen, the mouth of the Neva River, as the place where the Russians first prospered. However, in any time and space, this geographical location must be a core area of the "Russian unified country". It needs elegance and historical depth.
, it is even more necessary to have scientific urban planning from the beginning.
Rurik boasts that he has accomplished this, and his people will build the city according to the plan. Then, future generations will also be grateful to their ancestors for establishing this true "Mother City of Rus" in the current time and space context.
In fact, Rurik didn't like Kiev due to personal reasons, even if it was a veritable big granary. Novgorod should not have been given the title of "Mother City of Rus", but Kiev should not have been given the title of "Mother City of Rus". The battle between the two cities will
It does not exist at all. Novo Rossburg at the mouth of the Neva River, or the "Harp Castle" should be regarded as the "mother of all the cities of Ross"