Hotla knew that the gold owner was here to see the goods, and it would be superfluous to say more in this situation. He ordered his men to throw down the rope ladder: "Sir, come up and have a look. We will talk in the cabin if we have something to do, but
Hope you like it."
Cabin? That's really fun.
With a flick of his neck, Rurik led Yevro and others, carrying a strange saw, and cautiously climbed the rope ladder and stood inside the cabin without a deck.
Really standing inside, Rurik could really see the internal structure of this caravel-like ship, and it was really in line with his expectations.
Its sides are originally low (even the low keel to the sides is nearly three meters high), and the bow and stern of the ship appear quite tall because of the living space.
Standing inside, Rurik could clearly cut down the oak ribs one by one. Only the bottom planks were made of wood. Rurik could realize that they were all oak.
"Oak! Do we have that much oak?" Rurik was shocked, and Hotla, who had been waiting for a long time, was eager to explain.
"Sir, we did use a lot of oak. Those demolished houses contained a lot of oak materials. I bought them to build your ships. You can rest assured that since the wood ensured that the houses did not collapse for ten years, they will also guarantee our ships.
Extremely strong.”
Rurik knew the habits of local shipbuilders in Rus. The best oak was used for the construction of ship hulls, and the best of them must be used for the keels. For example, ship masts can be replaced by pine wood, which must pass through the Baltic Sea in this time and space.
The various ships cruising around actually have very low requirements for mast strength.
However, the wooden oars of the Russian longships were mostly made of oak.
Rurik squatted down, and he smelled the thick smell of rosin in the hull. His fingers tried to open the gaps in the hull, but no, the rosin between his fingers was clearly visible.
"Huh? Huotra, can you just use rosin for the gaps in the planks of this ship? I... am really afraid that it will leak."
Hotla smiled wildly: "Sir, don't worry about this! After applying pine gum to these wooden boards, I sent people to pour water on them. The wooden boards have all expanded and they will not leak. You are also completely
Don’t worry, the wooden planks will expand further when the ship enters the sea. Sir, are you worried about the barrel leaking?”
Rurik nodded, he was still a little worried.
He was a true layman in shipbuilding and only knew a little bit of superficial knowledge. Rurik thought that he would no longer have to do the same thing.
Rurik was a little surprised whether the bottom of this ship needed to be painted with tung oil.
Wait! Tung oil?
Suddenly, Rurik realized that Westerners have not had the concept of brushing tung oil for a long time, and they probably don't even know what tung oil is.
The fact is that it is simple and crude. Even if the ship is upgraded to a Galen ship, they just do not apply protective coating to the bottom of the ship. When they realize that applying waterproof paint can effectively resist seawater erosion, they have entered the age of iron ships.
In fact, there is no need to worry too much. Oak boards are really hard and naturally resistant to seawater. Therefore, the maintenance costs behind the continuous voyage of large wooden ships are completely acceptable.
There is a huge difference between the seawater in the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Especially in the hinterland of the Gulf of Bothnia, the salt content of the seawater is several times lower than that of the Atlantic Ocean. The Russians have not carefully considered the corrosion of ships by the seawater.
Although oak is very hard, Rurik knew that the oak planks of Galen's galleon could withstand the impact of small-charge solid bullets. It was really hard!
Is it possible to ignore possible hidden reefs even with this hardness?
Rurik saw that these guys had no plans to build watertight compartments in any form. They definitely didn't think it was unnecessary, just because they didn't realize it.
He was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a unique platform reserved in the center of the ship's keel, which must be the base for installing the mast!
Rurik clapped his hands and stood up. There were some aspects that he couldn't complain about. Look at this ship again! Not to mention that it is really big inside. The thirty-meter-long keel and extended ribs create a
It has a large, squat cabin. The core load-bearing parts are all made of oak. Its construction method is exactly the same as that of a cargo ship. Its cargo capacity, Rurik must be equivalent to three cargo ships no matter what!
The belly of this boat is so stuffy that Rurik thinks she looks a bit like a flat-bottomed boat. Her draft must not be deep, which means that she naturally needs some ballast to make her a
The "tumbler" in the sea.
"My lord, what do you think?" Hotla, who was standing at the bottom of the boat, asked flatteringly.
"Very good, I'm satisfied. Have you seen all the wood outdoors?"
"Yes! Sir, thank you so much for the wood you provided, especially the wood used to make the mast. It's great that they have been dried!"
"Then build it quickly! I give you an order! In the next ten days, lay the deck and build the mast for me! By the way, I also need a foremast, which I want to install on the bow of the ship.
A sail. Can you do that?"
"Of course...of course!"
Although Hotla was a little timid, the thought of doing this job was a vote of confidence to the Ross leader. He and his family could only succeed. Even if the Ross leader's requirements were too harsh, they must overcome and succeed.
"Then, let's sit down and talk." Rurik put his hands on his waist in front of him and twisted his waist, as if he was going to fight.
"Sir, you..."
"Let's talk about it first." Rurik composed himself and said solemnly: "I have provided you with a batch of excellent materials, so the reward for you will be reduced."
Once money was mentioned, the entire Hotela family stopped working and listened warily.
Hotla was nervous and asked tentatively: "It's about money, maybe..."
"This is my harbor, this is my territory, you don't want me to choose. I have provided you with a large amount of building materials, and I will deduct two pounds of your ten pounds of silver coins. Do the math, are you really
Is there any loss? Besides, I have decided now that I will take my people and build this ship with you."
The development of the matter was completely beyond Huotra's expectations. It was promised that the shipbuilding would be completed by his own family. He never thought that the financial owner had decided to do it himself.
A layman can also build a ship?
It’s better to think about the money issue first.
Excellent shipbuilders are more sensitive to mathematical calculations than others. Hotra is wily. He closed his eyes and did some mental calculations, and realized that the value of the northern hardwood provided by Rurik was actually very significant. After careful calculation, the so-called reduction
At a price of two pounds, they, the shipbuilders, still made a profit.
Besides, you don’t have to cut the wood yourself or hire lumberjacks yourself. The materials are delivered to your doorstep by the sponsor, so why should you complain?
It seems that Rurik wants to roll up his sleeves and become a small shipbuilder himself?
He had to ask carefully: "Sir, are you in a hurry?"
"Of course! I'm very anxious! Ten days! I need to lay the deck and put up the mast within ten days. Tell me, do you have enough manpower?"
"This... is probably enough. Sir, maybe we can't think about reaching the sky in one step. Ten days is too short, and my men have limited manpower."
Rurik twisted his neck and felt a little unhappy: "When you were in Melalen, you claimed you could finish it quickly, and now you break your promise?"
"This is happening at the same time, sir. I thought it would only take the time to build two cargo ships to complete it. Even during your absence, we were working hard to build it, but the more we built, the slower the progress. She is ours
The largest boat the family has ever built, we lacked some experience.”
"Lack of experience? Or manpower? Or materials?" Rurik asked.
"Everything is missing."
"All missing? I didn't come here to listen to you talking nonsense. I see that the main body of this ship has been completed. Isn't the detailed part very time-consuming?"
"Yes." Youdao, who is afraid of someone when he is sixty years old? Huotra is almost sixty years old. He is not afraid of Chief Melalen, and naturally he is not afraid of Chief Ross. It is just because of money issues that he has to remain respectful.
"The ten-day period is too short. Just to install the mast, I have to make some preliminary preparations, which may take ten days."
"That's because you have few people. Listen, let me tell you my attitude. In the Ten Heavens, I must see that the ship's deck is installed and the mast is installed. You say I am too impatient, but I say there is strength in numbers.
How many shipbuilders do you think can complete it in ten days?"
"This..." Hotela felt that things had become too complicated, so he casually added a number: "Two hundred people, at least two hundred people who know how to be a carpenter."
"That's it? I'll give you a thousand! I'll summon the carpenters from the entire tribe to work together to build this ship. I will also personally participate, at least to carry some wood."
Rurik himself was moved by his words, but what Hortra felt was a threat to his wealth.
"Sir, if you... gather a thousand people, it will cost you a lot, right? Are you really in such a hurry? We people will work slowly. When the ice and snow melt, the ship can still be launched."
"Is it enough just to launch it into the water?" Rurik shook his head, "I want it to have the ability to sail, and I want to take her to Melalen to show off. Did you think from the beginning that as long as the ship can float on the water, it will be done?
Mission accomplished?”
Hotla didn't know what his sponsor had been through. He could see now that this kid had risked his life to get a big ship. Rurik was obviously willing to get the ship at any cost, so what about his family's reward?
"So, our silver coins..."
"Don't worry, I won't be without you. I don't want to talk about money here. I just want to plan a progress. I will complete the entire construction progress at any cost. Now let's sit down and talk..."
Ever since he saw Vilia's extremely old appearance, all people must die, and Rurik sincerely hoped that before she died, she could see the departure of the largest ship that the Russians could own.
The extremely cold winter is an anomaly after all. This year's spring will come normally, and the sea will thaw in early April.
Race against time! Race against nature! Race against time against the end of Vilia!
It would be best to tow the completed Aurora all the way to the ice with deeper sea water before the ice and snow melt, so that the ship can launch naturally after the sea ice melts.
Rushing for the construction deadline has become a political task.
Rurik and the shipbuilders were convinced. The atmosphere of the conversation just now was a bit tense. All the shipbuilders in the Hotla family were also convinced. In their careers, they had never seen a customer urging them to build a ship like this.
So they are really hardworking.
Compared with other craftsmen, they are considered serious, but they do not spend all their time building boats. The daylight hours in winter are always short, and they cannot continue to work under the extremely dim light of oil lamps, and the oil lamps
Without proper care, there is a danger that the entire factory will be burned down.
They actually worked less than eight hours a day. Although the shipbuilding took more than three months, they spent a lot of time dozing passively. Anyway, the construction period required by Chief Ross
It's so long, why bother with it? Besides, the material of the mast has been bothering everyone.
After actually sitting down, Hotela was willing to have a heart-to-heart talk with this energetic donor.
"Originally, the problem of the mast bothered us. The local pine trees were not good enough. I planned to use the technology of splicing the mast. Now that you have brought the spruce wood, this problem has finally been solved."
"Of course, the main reason I stayed in the north for so long was to solve this problem. Don't worry, I don't know anything about ships." Rurik boasted, but in fact, he really only knew a little bit about shipbuilding.
Hotla sighed and looked left and right: "Look, this is God's will. Although the time lags a lot, we still got the mast materials."
"How is it? Is it okay to stand the mast? I saw the holed base made of wooden blocks in the center of the cabin."
"There is no problem with standing the mast. I will use the unique technology of our Mälaren shipbuilders and the spruce integration you provided. Oh, it would be better if it was longer."
Having said this, Rurik suddenly felt that his method of cutting off the spruce wood was wrong.
Rurik asked hurriedly: "Isn't ten stikas enough?"
Huotra looked embarrassed: "Of course it would be no problem if it was an ordinary cargo ship, but this ship is too big. It should have a taller mast. It is also too thick. As a mast, we don't need half a mast."
The diameter of a stika." Having said this, Hotla had a major question in his mind, and he had to ask the sponsor: "Sir, I am very curious, that is an extremely heavy wood, do you also know some methods...
…Put it on the sled?”
"Of course! We used a crane."
"crane?"
Rurik mentioned that rare word again. Yes, the Hotla family and other shipbuilders only knew how to use levers. They had never seen any high-tech equipment.
"Hey." Rurik sighed slightly, "I will build a crane in Fort Ross. I don't know what method you use to install masts on the ship. When my crane is completed, it can easily lift wood of various weights.
, the work of installing the mast will become easier.”
"Oh, that's wonderful."
Hotela couldn't express his expectations for something he had never seen or heard of, and his words were full of perfunctory.
Rurik didn't blame him, so Jevro took out the two-man saw that was still ready and showed the wonder of this thing.
This saw was already large, and it had been exposed to the public for a long time, but no shipbuilder knew what it was.
"Ah?! This thing can actually replace a scraper and an ax and break wood quickly?" Hotla's face was full of disbelief, and everyone else stretched out their heads in doubt.
Rurik's childish little face forced out an evil smile: "I know you don't believe it. Yevro, bring your brothers and show them."
A group of people were in a large factory building. Useless pieces of wood were scattered everywhere on the cold sandy ground. The mercenaries really didn't grow muscles in vain. Rurik felt that they sawed through a dry log in just twenty seconds.
pine wood.
The smooth section shocked all experienced shipbuilders. They passed the two-man saw around and quickly understood all the reasons behind it.
The long and thin piece of iron is unusual. It clearly has countless tiny "axes" on it. If a piece of wood is struck a hundred times by an ax in an instant, wouldn't it break instantly? Even if the ax is extremely small.
This is what Hotela thought, and he instantly realized the true meaning of the saw.
They finally showed expressions of admiration, and Rurik did not forget to put gold on his face: "This is a new tool I invented in our northern Eronburg. With it, two children can knock down a big tree."
Tree. I know you have been using scrapers, planers and axes to deal with various types of wood. That's enough. This thing is called a saw, and with it your work efficiency will be greatly improved."
Compared with other tools, the craftsmen present could see that the structure of the so-called saw is indeed quite complex, but the processing efficiency and effect it brings are very good.
"This is given to you. We will make more saws in the future. Listen, your shipbuilding tools should also be replaced with the best ones. You will also have to spend money on new saws in the future, but you don't need this one."
Hotla was overjoyed: "Is this really possible? It... is probably the most magical tool I have ever seen."
"Take it! Now I have given you the best tools and will call the strongest men to participate. I emphasize again that we must erect the mast within ten days. If you have any difficulties, just tell me and I will do whatever it takes.