When Otto returned to his hometown of Roseburg, just from the surface, his hometown already had a completely new look.
After returning, he summoned many people and went to the longhouse to see the aging high priest.
As for the ten Balmok travelers who his son claimed were from the other side of the mountain range, Otto only accepted the warrior salute from them as a king for the time being, and promised to have a good chat with them in a few days.
The soothing gravel beach now has a number of wooden trestles.
In the old Roseburg, a large number of ships were pulled directly to the gravel beach, and some were even pulled directly to large wooden sheds. Shipbuilders and carpenters would repair them in the winter. In winter, almost no ship owners would let their ships go. Frozen on the shore by sea ice and wind.
Times have quietly changed!
Look at those trestles, they are owned by the Gould family and are the real docks of the Ross tribe.
There are large and honest cargo ships docked on both sides of the trestle.
They are so heavy that it seems impossible to push them to the coast, and there is no need. Their sturdy bodies have been completely soaked in the sea, and they can withstand the pressure of sea ice.
Compared with the past, the total number of ships in Rossburg was unprecedentedly large, and a gray-white forest seemed to grow on the coast. They were all tall masts and furled sails attached to them.
After all, it's already October, and everyone wants to believe that the sun is still shining brightly now, and the first snow will come suddenly.
The tribe has migrated to the fjord of Roseburg for more than half a century. The locals know the climate and hydrology here very well.
After the first snowfall, the whole world will change. Even if the sea does not freeze instantly and the land is likely to be covered in knee-deep snow, the way of life of the Russian people will also undergo a complete change.
It was a bright and cold start. Otto woke up from his comfortable bed. He gently pushed away his aging wife who was sleeping beside him, and undoubtedly disturbed the children sleeping in the other two rooms. The only son Rurik experienced a thrilling and meaningful life. In the summer of this year, a child is showing his father what it means to be a born strong man!
He stood in the empty hall, filled a few pieces of charcoal into the fireplace, opened the thick wooden door, and felt a fragrant coldness blowing in his face.
It was the Britten maids, who were already cooking the morning porridge as usual.
After a while, the whole family woke up.
The wooden table set up against the wooden wall was put down, and the tiny family that once had only three members has now become quite large.
Rurik is surrounded by four girls who are basically the same age as Rumia, Carlotta, Ella, and Saipolava. They are destined to be Rurik's women, and naturally they are also part of the leader's family. .
A large wooden bowl was filled with boiled wheat, which was salted to make it more suitable to Otto's taste.
Soon, a pottery vat was brought to the table by two maids, containing a large stew of yellow carrots, cabbage and onions.
Now that he has returned to his hometown, a bottle of strong wine has become a standard part of the leader's meal.
Is this breakfast? Not only that. People in Ross often eat breakfast and lunch together. Otto was delighted to eat this hearty meal full of grains, but he also wanted to formally inspect the current situation in Rossburg.
After drinking half a bottle of wine and eating half a bowl of wheat, Otto was really excited.
"Rurik, you did a good job."
"Huh?" Rurik, who was picking up wheat grains with chopsticks, raised his head, and the other girls also put down their chopsticks.
Regarding tableware, Otto never felt that his son or even the men he trained were trying their best to replace the functions of spoons with two wooden sticks. Are children's little hands very flexible? Look at his rough hands, he must be doing it
He can't do anything delicate, such as operating two small wooden sticks. Of course, he is very good at operating two large wooden sticks, and that is the paddle!
Otto did not hesitate to regard "chopsticks" as a kind of alienated oar. Being able to maneuver it dexterously showed that his son had not forgotten his roots. Children from various tribes were really actively working to become Russians.
.
Otto was pleased to see it, so he would like to say a few more words here.
"I asked around and found out that the Gould family's warehouse is indeed full of wheat. There are also several large wooden sheds that have been built on the seaside, as well as slides that have been pieced together from pine wood. I know that the shipbuilders are already in our home.
Settled down. Many talented people have joined us. This is all a good thing you have done."
This praise of Rurik was a bit smug, and he said modestly: "Dad, you haven't gone to the Oulu River in the east to collect taxes from those Covin people. And I, I should also go to the north, to Ellenburg.
Take away the tribute from the locals.”
"Soon, I will organize the fleet to complete the final tribute of this year. You don't need to worry about this. I was just thinking, are you serious? The word has spread. Starting from tomorrow, you will deliberately sell a batch of grain.
?”
"Gould and I have already made an agreement." Rurik said with a serious face, "You complained that I spent too much money, which caused our family's silver coins to shrink drastically. I will sell a batch of grain and a batch of silver coins in the hands of the tribe.
It will return to our hands again. Dad, you know my attitude. Those silver coins are just silver coins. It is not the silver coins that can warm people's hearts in the cold winter, but the food bought with silver coins. In my opinion, only for our tribe
, you and I have never had to worry about silver coins. In the past, when our tribe was short of silver coins and copper coins, life was still going well. Dad, can you understand?"
Rurik spoke with great interest. How could Otto, who was slightly drunk, understand what he said? Besides, Rurik's words were quite profound.
"In my opinion, silver coins, copper coins and gold coins are not that important. We do need them, but we cannot rely on them. In my opinion, the most important materials to maintain the stability of our tribe are two kinds, food
and clothing. The most important thing is food! As leaders, we must reserve a large amount of grain and dried meat, just like the immigrants from New Roseburg in the east did..."
What Rurik wanted to describe was that the core of the economic operation of the Rus tribe under his rule was the food standard.
Grain standard, this grain refers to various foods that are durable and can be stored to perform certain monetary functions.
Now, the warehouse that can store up to 800,000 pounds of grain is really only owned by the Gould family. Is it risky to store all the grain there? Rurik thinks it is extremely safe.
Gould himself is like a secondary wolf showing his soft belly to the alpha wolf to show his loyalty. This old guy who claims to have less than ten years of life is frantically giving birth to his own heirs in order to survive under the new leader Ross.
a noble status and even a brighter future.
Big businessmen like Gould had the motivation to build larger warehouses in order to hoard huge amounts of supplies.
The Ross tribe is essentially a thriving economy. In the final analysis, everyone is fighting for food. However, the medium of trade in this world is gold and silver that does not decay. If trade is only trapped within the tribe, it is composed of gold, silver and copper.
Is the monetary system still that indestructible?
The entire tribe has not noticed that the Ross people's commercial transactions have relied heavily on silver coins in recent years. Since visiting the Melalen tribe and hearing about other deficiencies, Rurik felt that the current situation in Rossburg was extremely abnormal.
The root of the abnormality is that even now, a large number of Ross families still have a large amount of silver coins. After all, the victorious plunder a year ago, coupled with daily trade, the amount of silver coins eventually circulating in the Ross tribe is approaching the terrifying 20
Thousands of pieces!
The specific manifestation of this is that the Ross people have suddenly become rich! The tribesmen intend to spend more, and the labor costs of shipbuilding, charcoal making, pottery making, etc. have increased significantly. Knowing that they have started to pay taxes when doing business in Rossburg, a large number of
The southern businessmen came anyway, vowing to make a lot of money from the Russians.
Merchants could indeed make a lot of money, but they were also fond of the extremely high-quality iron products that the Russians began to manufacture in large quantities, including many ordered steel swords. For these instruments, they were willing to spend huge sums of money.
What are the consequences of this?!
A large number of silver coins are still circulating in the small world of Fort Ross, but the economy based on silver is extremely fragile. Silver coins are not credit banknotes, and there are almost only two ways to obtain them, trade and war, both of which contain many hidden meanings.
Big uncertainty. Rurik's understanding of history is that countries that rely heavily on silver capital will encounter serious social crises once the supply of silver becomes abnormal or it is replaced by another monetary medium.
Although the signs of the crisis did not exist in Rosberg, Rurik had to think carefully about his future. It would not be wrong to say that his worries were unfounded, and he had to establish a plan B.
Since the selling price of wheat is fixed at ten pounds of oats for one silver coin, oats must have certain monetary attributes.
If there is a silver shortage, the Russians will have to organize a large army to go south to rob the Gotlanders who like to bury silver. How much they can grab depends on luck.
This is not the case with food, which is much easier to obtain than silver coins.
The dinner table was no longer quiet, as Rurik continued to express the importance of his "food standard".
Although he didn't understand, why didn't Otto feel his son's great wisdom?
After the meal was finished, Otto put on his majestic clothes, followed by a group of entourage, and even Rurik himself, and inspected the entire Rossburg as a monarch.
He first came to the dock area, where more than twenty cargo ships of very similar styles docked neatly and quietly. The scene was shocking.
Beside some other trestles, there are a large number of long boats arranged horizontally. The bows without any sculptures extend from their keels, and a very thick hemp rope secures them.
How many ships were parked here? Otto didn't need anyone to tell him. He reached out to count them himself and came to an astonishing conclusion - more than a hundred ships.
"Huh? Do all these boats belong to you?" Otto, who was shocked, hurriedly asked Gould, the owner of the dock who was eager to say something.
"Not entirely. The big leader, along with Rurik's twenty ships, are also docked here. You see, those ships have ship numbers. There are also some tribesmen's ships. They paid a little money to dock here.
"
Another surprising news.
Otto stroked his son's little head: "Your ship? You built twenty ships in one summer?!"
"They are the ships of the Gotlanders that Arik captured." Rurik answered truthfully. "But I recruited the best local shipbuilders in Mälaren. Dad, what do you think of those ships on the beach?
What are the raid-constructed buildings for?”
Otto, who was quite sensitive, stamped his foot: "Shipbuilding?"
"Yes! There is an old man named Huotra. Dad, look at these cargo ships. Almost all of them are made by this old man's family."
The stocky cargo ship does give people a sense of security. The large mast that towers into the sky makes the entire ship completely overwhelm the longship. Seeing it at such a close distance, Otto has to admire its majesty. What Otto sees is Gur.
The largest cargo ship owned by Germany, it is also the largest ship in Fort Ross.
Gould seized the opportunity to boast about himself, but unexpectedly Rurik's bold words came again: "Dad! What are these ships? I have made an agreement with that Hortla, and his family will spend the entire winter making more ships for us.
A large cargo ship. In this way, if you go to Novgorod to ask for tribute, you won't need too many ships to take risks on the sea, and you won't even need oarsmen to work. It will rely entirely on wind power."
"Pure sail?" Otto didn't have so much confidence in this. "If the sail is really easy to use, why shouldn't I use it when I come back? Boy, are you sure you can do it? Who can do it?"
"Of course, because it will be a brand new style of sail, the sailors trained by the Gould family will have the ability to control it."
Rurik deliberately kept things secret. Seeing his son's confident appearance, Otto didn't ask any more questions.
Since everyone was paying close attention to the ship, Otto went straight to the shipbuilding platform on the coast that was under construction.
Before entering here, the sound of ding-ding-dong-dong attracted the intense attention of Otto who was outside.
I saw a group of people approaching menacingly, and the workers who were carrying the wood had already gotten into the wooden shed out of fear.
Soon, the men who lived with sticks and a group of bare-chested shipbuilders walked out of the shipbuilding shed they had built to welcome the arrival of Chief Ross.
Otto had never seen Hotla, and he completely instinctively regarded a strong man with tendons all over his body, arms full of sweat, and extremely developed golden chest hair as the so-called Hotla.
"Are you Hotla? A shipbuilder? I think you are more suitable to be a warrior holding a war hammer to fight for me."
Otto was dressed gorgeously on this trip. In order to show his nobility and beauty, the amber necklace around his neck was now mixed with some stained glass. Everyone knew Rurik, but this child called him dad, so he must
It's the leader of Ross.
The real Hotela was on crutches and slightly tilted his head towards Otto.
At this situation, Rurik was surprised: "Hotra, are you...sick?"
"Perhaps it is because I am not used to it when I first came to Rossburg." Hotla immediately raised his head: "Distinguished leader, I am Hotla. I am building a big ship for Ross. Everything is an agreement between me and your son.
"
Big ship? There is no sign of the ship now?
Look at this old-looking man, who is actually the best shipbuilder? Otto really can't believe it.
Otto soon understood the reason. Hortra himself had become the "chief engineer", and the men and women of the family were the craftsmen who actually turned the design into a finished product.
Huge ship, it doesn’t even have a shadow now!
Otto approached the dimly lit wooden shed. Everything about the shed revealed that it had been built in a hurry. The smell of pine trees in the house was very strong, which meant that the trunks that made up the wooden shed were only recently felled pine trees.
Compared with other shipbuilding sheds, this shed is the tallest.
When you think about the huge space inside, it can't just accommodate a larger ship. In the final analysis, the routine of shipbuilding is to build the hull first, then push it outdoors and install the mast.
"Where's the ship? I see it's empty here. Who's your name is Hotla? He's the best shipbuilder in Mälaren. Hasn't the big ship you built for us not started yet?"
"It's just the beginning. Everything starts with the keel." As he said that, Hotla used a walking stick to reach the extremely thick wooden pole on the ground. "Sir, this is the keel of the new ship."
"It? Are you kidding?!"
"I'm not joking." Huotra said very seriously.
Rurik immediately tugged at his father's clothes: "He did not lie."
Otto was still surprised. He pointed at the keel: "You call this a keel? Don't you think it's too strange? It's actually two pieces of wood... No!"
Otto suddenly realized that this keel with a mortise and tenon structure was actually made of quite dry wood.
Rurik simply told the truth: "Dad, many people demolished their old houses in the summer, and I bought that beam. You see, the two longhouse beams are put together. Since they have been built in the past few years,
Ten years have proven their sturdiness, and the ships built from them must also be strong.”
Otto sighed slightly, "You boy, I really have you. But..." Otto realized something was wrong here again, and the more he thought about it, the more his heart trembled. "How long is the keel of your ship?"
"That's thirty stikas." Hotla said proudly.
"Ah! So long?!"
Although this length is a requirement that Rurik revealed when he was in Mälaren, now that it has been implemented, it is also a challenge to Hotra's shipbuilding level. Since the funder feels that it is reliable, as a worker, he must also
What nonsense?
Rurik's presence here is to embolden himself! Hotla looked at the walking stick and said seriously: "It's so long! Great leader, the Ross tribe will have a big ship. I dare say that there is no second ship in the entire alliance than her.
More powerful."
Hotla is so confident. Looking at his son Rurik's determined face, what else does Otto have to question? They will build the hull in the wooden shed throughout the winter. Even if it is cold, windy and snowy,
It will not affect their progress.
Because Rurik had already planned a plan, which was to launch a large ship in the next trade season and launch a new voyage to Sorgon, so as to show off the authority of the Rus to the conquered people.