The Ross tribe is actively expanding. However, due to limitations in strength and traditional way of life, the tribe's power is not yet able to enter the inland areas of the vast land.
The settlements built were all adjacent to the sea, and the conquered tribes all lived along the river. In short, all the places the Rus set foot could be reached by boat.
The Russians at this stage are obviously a typical maritime people. Navigation and fishing have long been their lifeblood.
In order to maintain stable and smooth exchanges of materials and personnel in various settlements, and to ensure the increasingly important commercial routes, the Russians must take precautions to build a maritime force that can protect their own interests.
Maybe it's too early to build a navy, but the tribe must have one or more fleets that can make all tribesmen feel at ease when they see them.
Since the best shipbuilders in the alliance were recruited with generous salaries, they had to use existing shipbuilding materials to build a huge ship hull.
This ship must be timeless.
Rurik dare not say that if the ship is successfully launched and has the ability to float all the way to America, it will at least be able to swim seamlessly in the entire Baltic Sea.
Contrary to Rurik's ambition was Otto's doubt. He stared at the keel seriously, doubting the reliability of the future ship with a navigator's instinct.
"Rurik, are you sure this will work? It's too long, and I doubt the spliced keel is reliable."
Rurik was not the one to speak on this matter. The shipbuilder Hotra declared his victory in a weathered voice: "Chief, for this ship, my family and I have staked the honor of our generations. If I fail,
, my soul will feel guilty forever.”
"Ah?! You actually have such an attitude?" I never thought that for a ship, a shipbuilder could swear an oath like some soldiers.
"This is our attitude. We are willing to believe in Rurik, and we will...build the ship strictly in accordance with his requirements. Since he is the one who has received Odin's blessing, then our ship construction will also go smoothly."
At this time, Otto focused his attention on his son.
"Rurik, tell me your plan. Oh no! I think you have been planning this shipbuilding plan for a long time."
"Hey, Dad, you really understand me."
Rurik admired Otto very much on this point. After all, he was an old guy who had been beaten by the sea breeze.
He began to list the many ideas he wanted to use on the new ship: "This ship will be purely sail-powered, a cargo ship with a huge load, and a sturdy warship. She will be assembled with a large amount of pine and oak, and will have a large number of
She will use pine gum. She will have a real deck to protect the cargo and provide a place for our sailors to sleep. Wooden cabins will be built at the stern and front of the ship. The bow cabin is a place for distinguished people to rest, and the stern cabin is a resting place for distinguished people.
The cabin is the cabin where the rudder is controlled.”
After just saying this, Rurik noticed that his father was so surprised that he could not open his mouth from ear to ear. Some terms may have appeared for the first time in this world. Rurik did not dare to speak too professionally, so he could only make gestures.
, using more words to describe one concept after another.
"It also needs to have a huge mast, which will be hung with a jib. I plan to place a mast tilted at the bow. After it is hung with a scale sail, we can take advantage of the wind from the lower end of the ship. I will also put a mast at the stern.
Erect a second mast to take better advantage of the wind. She will have the tallest mast of all our ships and will also be the fastest sailing."
The son is making up a beautiful dream for himself. It seems that this dream only needs to wait for one winter and will be revealed next year. Otto estimates that he may not have to wait that long. Look at these Melas who have come from afar and are in urgent need of merit.
London shipbuilders, their busy appearance does not look like they intend to spend the winter in silence and boredom.
Ice and snow must not interfere with their plans, and Rurik will surely supervise them regularly.
While Otto was satisfied, Otto was also a little curious: "Rurik, you actually keep calling the ship her? Is the ship still a woman? Or is it just because you like ships so much that you regard the ship as your woman?"
His father's words made Rurik want to laugh, but the matter of "treating a ship as a woman" was not funny if you think about it carefully.
"Because the Romans called ships women, they even named ships after goddesses."
"Huh? Romans? Rome again, you know a lot about them?"
Otto's words reminded Rurik. Think about it, everyone's understanding of Rome is still based on hearsay. No! Most of the people don't even bother to know anything about Rome.
Rurik immediately lied and said: "That parchment is a relic of the Romans. I saw the record on it, and they called the ship a woman."
"Well, it's really a strange custom." Otto shrugged. He himself had read the parchment book, but he couldn't understand the words on it. Otto was a little timid and wanted to show that he understood a lot. He put on a
As if teasing a child: "Dear, what are you going to name your woman?"
Name? Name my woman?
Rurik almost laughed out loud.
It is indeed a bit funny to think of a ship as a wife. The Romans were indeed the first to give feminine names to ships. All forces in Europe are interested in competing for the legacy of the Roman Empire and are eager to gain a noble status and inherit some of the legacy of the Roman navy.
It is also reasonable.
Otto didn't think it was important to name the boats. He learned that his son had marked the captured fishing boats with clear numbers. This was an unprecedented move, and now he actually wanted to give an elegant name to a single boat.
A name? If you must do this, why not give it a domineering name?! Just like the invincible Red Dragon that the Danish leader boasted.
Since it has a name, what name should be given to the first truly purely sail-powered ship of the Russians?
Since she is an epoch-making product, she should have a resounding name.
"Yes! Just call her Aurora!"
"Huh? Afrola? I thought you would choose a louder name."
Rurik was also puzzled: "Isn't she elegant enough? This ship will be born in the winter, with Aurora shining in the sky. It is the parade of the Valkyries. Dad, this ship is not only a cargo ship, but also a
A special warship."
"Is that so?" Otto thought again, "Wouldn't it be better to name it directly after the Valkyrie? For example, Valkyrie, Brynhildr, or Noren."
"Absolutely!" The excited Rurik slapped his thighs wantonly, and his blue eyes seemed to be ignited with flames. He immediately looked at the shipbuilders and said loudly: "Listen, I named this ship Afu
Lola. After we finish her, the construction of the second ship will also begin, and they will be named after the Valkyrie."
Hotla's wrinkled face began to twitch violently. He was not excited, nor was he inappropriate about naming the ship after a woman. He suggested cautiously: "Rurik, maybe this is inappropriate. I'm afraid that God will be angry.
, we shouldn’t name the ship after Odin’s maid.”
Rurik shook his head: "Really? I don't think it's necessary. Hotla, I asked you to build the ship. Next year! When the Avora starts sailing, if Odin is really angry, she will capsize. I
I don't think Odin would be angry about this."
He wants to believe in a great existence, but does not believe in any strange powers or gods.
Avora is pronounced in Norse according to the dialect of the Ross tribe. She is basically just a noun describing the Northern Lights. In fact, in the final analysis, this word comes from the ancient Indo-European language, and finally evolved into a word describing "Europe"
vocabulary.
Of course, Rurik gave this name to this ship that was still in keel state and the construction plan was basically completed, as long as it still came from his bad taste.
The Ross tribe really needs a ship called Northern Lights as a national treasure.
Otto Ryurik and others stayed at the shipbuilder for the longest time. After all, this place was considered an extremely important stop for Otto to inspect the tribe. He had to inspect the wintering conditions of all the ships in the entire tribe, and even all the shipbuilding in the tribe.
A craftsman's winter work plan.
When the sea freezes in winter, fishing has become a method of drilling holes in the ice sea, and even a special method of holding short spears to "wait for seals".
Otto was fascinated by Rurik's dreamy plan, and he was even more surprised that his son could make a plan with the shipbuilder in a short period of time. No! The plan must have been made when he was in Mälaren. Some thin
There are traces engraved on the wooden board. The traces are not blindly carved. They are the engineering blueprints of the shipbuilding plan! The ships are built according to the pattern described on the wooden board. In addition to their exquisite cargo ship building skills, the most important thing is Rurik.
Direct participation of divine persons.
Otto believed that this would be a huge success. What positive impact would the Aurora have after it was launched? Otto could not make any estimate at all.
Because the situation is more special than Otto could imagine!
What Rurik deliberately built was a high imitation of the Caravel sailing ship.
Because of some sailing games he came into contact with in that plane, Rurik had a little understanding of the history of European ship development. This Caravel sailboat, according to the language of the Iberian people who first built it, is an "oak ship".
It has learned a lot from the experience of the Oriental big food sea-going ships in the sail system, and combined it with the local hull to magically modify it to create such a treasure capable of ocean navigation.
The cargo ships of various Viking tribes are the originators of European sailing ships! The hull of the historical Caravel ship was born from the continuous transformation of Viking cargo ships for five hundred years.
Caravel's huge triangular sail, of course, cannot achieve the greatest sailing efficiency downwind like a hengsail. It is better than being able to turn at a small angle freely, and can even control any wind direction. The stretched sail resembles an airfoil shape, making it a
A series of refined operations means that as long as there is wind, she can sail freely.
A great dream was being realized, and Rurik felt very reassured about the shipbuilders.
Only regarding the cost, Rurik did not intend to tell his father the truth.
For a conventional cargo ship, the quotation given by the Hotla family is already an astonishing five hundred silver coins. The Avora, which is under construction, is more complicated to manufacture and requires more costs. It also needs to be transported in winter.
If it is made by force, the labor cost is also huge.
Hotla made an extremely high offer: three thousand silver coins.
And that's just the cost of the hull.
In order to build the ship's hull, the Hotla family had to hire some Russians to cut down and process the wood, or even simply buy the finished products of local carpenters and blacksmiths. The consumption of rosin as a wood gap adhesive here was also huge, and it became a waste of money
One of the important reasons is that a large part of the three thousand silver coins will fall into the hands of Russian laborers. In the end, the shipbuilder's profit is not amazing.
When the hull was completed, a large number of strong men had to be gathered and dragged outdoors along the slide. At that time, a pine tree from Eronburg in the north was transported and turned into the main mast of the ship.
It is a normal decision to use straight red pine as the main mast, but can it be used as the keel?
If you are building just an ordinary ship, pine wood can certainly be used as the keel. Since this time you are building a huge ship that challenges the strength of the shipbuilder, it must be built with stronger oak.
Shipbuilding has always been a very expensive business. How large a ship can be built is also an evaluation indicator of a country's manufacturing level.
Logically, Rurik should ask these people to dig a pit and build a waterproof embankment with wood and sand. This is a dry dock, which is the key to building large ships.
Obviously, in the current situation of sudden construction, there is no time to dig a dry dock.
The Aurora had to be built on flat land, but fortunately it was not extremely large, and the existing manufacturing technology could handle such a behemoth.
Rurik is currently unable to estimate the true cost of a large ship. If the expensive hull cost will account for the vast majority of the finished ship, the final cost of the Avora must be four thousand silver coins.
It seems that this money is not much for Rurik, but he currently cannot control even a silver mine. The root cause is that the Russians cannot issue currency that is accepted by all tribes. It is inevitable that food will become a special currency. IV.
One thousand silver coins corresponds to 40,000 pounds of grain.
The Caravel type sailboat itself is a small boat. Her displacement is only about fifty tons, but when fully loaded, the displacement can reach an astonishing eighty tons. She is a small ship with a large belly. Because she has a slight
The flat hull makes the ship's center of gravity extremely low after loading cargo or ballast, and it looks like a tumbler when standing on the sea.
What Rurik expected most was this effect, even if the ship would cost him a lot of money.
The Avora, which was built with a huge investment, must be a milestone. How many ships of the same class will be built in the future? Rurik has an expectation in his heart.
"I must have at least ten ships, or more. In the future, these ships will become the main force in transportation. Of course, they are very expensive. If I can sell more high-value goods, I can buy a huge amount of grain from Malaren.
, it’s not a big problem.”
The ship construction plan started with the Aurora. What can support the construction of her and the subsequent sisters is ultimately food.
On this day, Otto and his men completed the investigation of the tribe. He stayed in key areas for a long time, and naturally left the less important places after taking a few glances. For example, Otto has not realized until now, like
What does it mean for Vodgen to immigrate with a group of slave women who are good at sewing?
In Otto's mind, it was only natural for the women in the family to make all kinds of clothes for the men. Otto had no concept of making money by processing garments and opening a tailoring factory.
Rurik thinks this is of great significance. The tailoring workshop of Vodgen and the large shipbuilding workshop of Hotla are clearly a kind of enterprise. They can create more wealth. As the chief family, they have the right to collect more
taxes.
The balance of the "big money box" is seriously insufficient, and maintaining a large amount of advanced reserves was originally the financial backing for Rurik to implement a series of plans. Although the backing has now become a huge amount of food, and the control of a large number of silver coins and copper coins that can be used flexibly,
Still very important.
On the second day of Otto's inspection, a food market arranged by the chief family was unexpectedly formed on the cold beach.
A large group of tribesmen who were interested in buying oats gathered together with their money, and it was so chaotic that Rurik was so startled that he thought that this group of tribesmen would soon engage in violent looting, or even cause a stampede.
Fortunately, with their experience in distributing loot, neither Otto nor Rurik could sit back and watch the tribe fall into confusion.
The mercenaries followed the leader's orders and maintained this. They gradually formed a line and waited for the opportunity to buy food for themselves amidst constant complaints.
The huge scale finally weighs one hundred pounds of fresh wheat, and the buyer puts it into a pottery urn or a burlap bag and takes it away.
The upper limit of the grain distribution this time is 100,000 pounds of grain, which is enough for 1,000 people to receive it once. Rurik will receive 10,000 silver coins from the sale.
Rurik disagrees with his father's plan to release grain on a large scale. The truth is that grain is the private property of the chief family, and most of it is Rurik's private property. How to use it should be arranged by the owner of the property.
The tribesmen do not have a reliable granary, but they do have a lot of silver coins. If they put out a large amount of grain rashly, they will cause the grain to be damaged due to their poor storage, and the gain will not be worth the loss.
Rurik boasts of a strategy to release food slowly. When the people of the tribe have almost eaten enough food, they will release the next wave of 100,000 pounds of food. For example, the food will be released every two months, so 800,000 pounds of food will be released.
It is really possible to carry it until the next harvest season through a special distribution method. In a sense, it is to use limited grain reserves to achieve the magical result of "having wheat all year round".
Of course, this is still a stopgap measure when food reserves are extremely low. If there is really a lot of food, then the Russians will start brewing wine. It is not surprising that there will be drunkards lying down and snoring everywhere.