How much value do the copper coins stored in the warehouse add to Roseburg's current economic situation?
A large number of copper coins should have been the most common currency in circulation, but now they have largely given way to silver coins.
Copper coins were placed in warehouses, and the dry and cold climate made them extremely difficult to corrode. However, Roman copper coins were simply placed in warehouses, which was really a waste of metal.
Copper coins can be cast into arrow clusters, armor pieces and other tools and weapons, and Rurikben is also interested in making them, such as casting many lamp holders.
There are copper veins in the mountainous area of Roseburg. Its scale is far less impressive than the iron ore, so it still makes sense to develop local copper resources.
Because there is no need for a blast furnace to smelt bronze.
There are as many as eight traditional furnaces in which copper coins and tin blocks are mixed into eight crucibles of extremely hot molten metal.
After the special clay mold is fired, the special flat parts are carefully polished.
They were polished smooth with all their strength, and finally came to the moment of casting.
When the blacksmiths smash the dry-heat mold with hammers, the shiny bronze casting is completed!
Two sets of bronze grinding disc assemblies are completed by jointly casting bronze water from eight crucibles.
Rurik consumed a large amount of copper coins for the millstone. Some people say that this is a manifestation of the Duke's extravagance. Some people speculate about the purpose of the Duke insisting on ordering the blacksmith to cast a rare large bronze piece.
Most people didn't know about this at all. Everyone was thinking about the summer expedition to Karelia. It was said that it was an unknown and brave enemy, so everyone just polished their weapons and waited for a battle.
It was the young blacksmith from Rurik who was responsible for the casting of this large piece. Kamne supervised the work and when the casting was completed, he gave a sum of money to everyone involved.
The sun shines on the bronze grindstone that reveals its true appearance, and the golden light is so dazzling that it blinds the eyes.
Cam, you half-covered your face with your rough hands: "Sir, you say this is grinding? It looks weird. Can you really grind wheat into powder quickly?"
"Of course, it was designed by me, so it must be intentional!" Rurik said, pinching his waist.
Although he was already preparing for the big event of going to Balmok, Rurik seemed to deliberately take the time to order the casting of these things.
Many blacksmiths and helpers came to the casting site to watch. Some unlucky ones were so excited that they accidentally fell from a height.
Old Klavason said nothing, while Kawei struggled to hold up the cooled bronze millstone.
"Ah! How heavy is this? Rurik, you..." Kawei gritted his teeth and forcibly raised the round millstone up, and then put it down heavily.
He twisted his arms and panted: "This thing is too heavy."
"It's only half a stika (about half a meter) in diameter, so you are tired? Have you become weak?" Rurik deliberately teased.
Kawei wiped his sweat and said, "Spare me. You must know the weight of this thing better than I do."
"Then continue to do what I want and find strong men to move to the palace for me."
"Okay. Let's hope it really grinds a lot of flour."
The concept of grinding for most Russians is the stone grinding rod. As for the rotating stone grinding mill, it originated from Asia. It was the Romans who brought this oriental technology to Britain and northern Europe. However, it is really a high-end grinding mill for many Germanic tribes.
Technology, and many barbarians began to work as farmers after the collapse of Western Rome, so they had a reason to use mills.
Rurik also had no way of knowing whether the rotating stone mill really came from the Far East. Perhaps it was first invented in the ancient Mesopotamia. However, he strongly believed that the technology of heavy stone mills must have come from the Far East. The two types of processed grains are
The working principle of heavy tools for powders is different, but the results are similar. Only the rotating grinding disc can grind finer powder, and the rotating stone grinding is more efficient.
Maybe it makes more sense to make a heavy-duty grinder. Due to personal reasons, Rurik still likes rotating metal grinders. As for why he is obsessed with bronze grinders, it is just because it is easy to make. If conditions permit, he will not hesitate to make a heavy-duty stainless steel grinder.
.
Kawei was not a warrior. He participated in the war and subconsciously studied the buildings and tools of the British residents. He knew about the rotating stone mill, but Lord Rurik actually insisted on making a bronze rotating mill!
There are only two grinding disc assemblies to start with, and two more will be cast later.
In the cement courtyard of the Duke of Ross's palace, a stone-wood structure house has been constructed. It is large in area and extremely empty inside, and some stone piers placed inside appear to be quite abrupt.
The quiet house became lively, and Rurik's female family members squatted on the windowsill on the third floor, almost fainting with shock as they watched the people carrying huge gold nuggets downstairs.
That's gold!
Indeed, the bronze color cast by the special material ratio really looks like gold to these girls.
Gold is more shiny, while bronze is much duller.
The grinding disc and base are smooth as a whole, but there are a large number of extremely special grooves inside. The most important thing about these grooves is that their special shape ensures that the ground wheat particles are constantly pushed to the outside. Workers only need to carefully collect the flour.
That’s it.
It is a very traditional oriental millstone shape with a simple structure and the material is better than stone.
The strong man struggled to lift the shining golden millstone and engaged it with the bearing on the bronze base.
Its practical experiment was carried out immediately. Onlookers watched Rurik personally pour wheat grains into the funnel at the feed port, and then a strong man pushed the wooden pole to turn the millstone.
It has no ball bearings, let alone roller bearings. It is a hard contact bearing that relies on grease lubrication to ensure that it does not require too much effort to rotate.
It looked bulky, but it was actually pretty good, and it quickly demonstrated its powerful capabilities.
Because the coarse whole wheat flour that has been ground quite finely has been continuously pushed out by the millstone!
Rurik put the yellowish-white coarse flour into his mouth to taste the taste. He was not too happy, but the people watching were already chatting lively with smiling faces.
The two bronze millstones were completed in a relatively low-key manner. It was actually a great innovation for the Russian people. However, whether it was great or not can only be felt after people eat a lot of bread and fine bread.
Why treat a strong man as a donkey? Two docile reindeer were pulled to the shed. They replaced the donkeys. Rurik did not doubt the endurance of these large animals. In fact, he had no choice. They could be used here in Roseburg.
The animal power is either reindeer or ponies. Mules are actually the best value for money. But now we have no choice but to use female deer with cut off antlers.
The maids from Britain were quickly given the job of running the mill. They knew the mill and the revolving stone, but...
They were shocked, but after learning that they could get enough toast or bread every day by taking good care of the reindeer, they happily accepted it.
At least when it comes to food and drink, the Duke is much kinder than the nobles in his hometown.
This was an opportunity to show off the strength of the Russians. The old priest from Lindsay and all the maids who were kidnapped from Britain visited the "golden millstone" under Rurik's order.
"This is gold! How great this is! The rich Duke used gold to make millstones." Old Pastor Lindsay covered his heart. He had to admit Ross's wealth.
As for the maids, they had bought meat every day since they came to Rus. When it came to eating enough, they were pleasantly surprised by the kindness of the conqueror, and also wondered why the conqueror didn't grind flour. Now, they realized their simplicity.
Then a woman murmured: "Maybe their hoes are also made of gold."
Rurik did not regard the completion of the bronze mill as a good thing that could be praised, but his family was basically late for the noodles.
Noodles? No.
Rurik's female relatives were all forced to learn to use chopsticks, even the princess Mary. After rigorous practice, she felt that her right hand was extremely flexible. As for eating with her hands, Mary was stunned and felt that
It is the most shameful vulgarity.
They subconsciously connected "wheat" and "rope" and gave the noodles an appropriate combination of "wheat rope".
Rurik didn't take it seriously. Looking at the hot stewed noodles in his bowl, he felt a sense of dislocation in time and space.
The family gathered together, and the top nobles of Ross were on the second floor of the palace, enjoying noodles, which was so common and boring for Easterners a thousand years later.
But for them, this is the most delicious food!
The flour has been sifted, and the fine noodles made from European high-gluten wheat are more elastic. As for the marinade, it is a thick sauce made from onions, seal meat, carrot cubes, salt and thyme picked last year.
They eat noodles like oriental people. Once they feel the taste is great, they all become little wolves.
Otto was surprised that he still couldn't use chopsticks. Fortunately, his son also prepared a sterling silver fork for himself. It was really wonderful to eat this "wheat rope" with the fork.
The noodles were heavily stained with thick sauce, and Otto opened his mouth with many missing teeth. He was surprised by the elasticity of the noodles and how soft they were after chewing.
I don’t know how many kinds of sensations acted on my mind, completely transforming into the desire to eat.
Happiness overflowed on Otto's wrinkled face!
Rurik knew that his father had a big appetite, and he had been used to it all his life, so he must be fierce when eating noodles. Who would have thought that Otto would finish a bowl of noodles in a short while.
"Are you so hungry?" Niya scolded with a smile, and Otto randomly responded with a burp, making everyone laugh.
Even the little baby Velika started laughing.
"It's a hundred times more delicious than boiled wheat!" Otto held the silver bowl and went to the barrel to get another bowl for himself, poured the marinated meat on it and continued eating.
Rurik looked surprised, and his father's appearance even made him confused.
Otto, why are you so skilled?
"I will eat this every day from now on." Otto finally stuffed his stomach with high-concentration carbohydrates. It was the first time in his life that he had this special feeling of comfort and blood sugar soaring. Ordinary people in this era may not have experienced this in their entire lives.
Can't understand it.
Otto acted like an old naughty boy, clamoring to share the delicious meal with his old friend, and to eat it every time.
"Is this enough?" Rurik asked deliberately.
"Do you have any other tricks?"
"Of course. We're going to make a lot of toasted bread and noodles."
The essence of baking bread lies in fermentation. Although high-quality yeast is difficult to obtain, baking soda can be easily obtained.
There were two bronze mills at first, and soon there were four. They seemed to be in limited number, and their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated.
A large amount of coarse flour was made overnight, and Rurik ordered the servants from Britain to work all night long, even if the reindeer pulling the mill had a rest, so they could do it.
Rurik set a demanding task for them, and he felt that his measures were not inappropriate. Because Ross had to store enough high-quality dry food for a difficult winter expedition!
The art of baking bread was first invented in Mesopotamia in 10,000 BC. At that time, baking was just a hard ball of dough. When the technology was popularized in Egypt, the Egyptian fermentation technology left the bread.
to achieve a qualitative change in taste.
It was brought to Rome, and along with it a complete set of flour grinding, kneading, fermentation and baking techniques, it was passed on to barbarians everywhere, and even to the people along the Baltic Sea and in the dense forests of Northeast Europe.
The Slavic women on Lake Ilmen who married into Rosberg generally knew how to grind wheat grains with stone grinding rods to make flour. Although Novgorod was too cold and was more suitable for growing oats, once wheat was imported from Smolensk in the south,
They made bread without hesitation.
They all believe that oats cannot be made into bread. If oat flour is ground, its loose starch structure is indeed difficult to bind into dough.
As for oats, Rurik actually knew its other name in the East, which is oatmeal.
Although oats have disadvantages in this regard, if they are mixed with wheat, the problem of difficulty in growing can be solved.
Oats are easier to store and more difficult to perish than wheat. The two grains were mixed together and ground into a mixed powder on four bronze mills overnight.
The grinding efficiency of a bronze mill in one rotation is better than that of a woman holding a stone grinding rod and grinding it against a stone slab a hundred times.
Even if a woman pushed the wooden pole to turn the millstone in the middle of the night, the efficiency would be insignificant.
Four bronzes were put into battle, and it didn't take much time to grind a hundred pounds of wheat into coarse flour. Rurik was happy that he got a lot of flour quickly.
It is food for ordinary people to eat, and the germ and bran layers do not need to be sifted out with twine gauze.
When the starch inside the wheat can be fully bonded, even if a large amount of bran is mixed in, there will be no problem other than making the overall bread taste rougher.
Ordinary people have no right to be picky about food. Men and women earn wealth through hard work and then buy food from the Duke. This was impossible in the past. Wheat is still very precious. They make their own bread and pancakes.
Even the crumbs must be picked up and eaten.
Even some spoiled bread is processed like pickled sauerkraut.
No, when the Slavic wives of Rosberg actually started making bread, there were many bright-minded women who deliberately performed a special brewing stunt in front of their Russian husbands.
Is that brewing? No! Some baked flour cakes and unleavened coarse bread were ground into crumbs, just like they used to brew traditional Viking ale, and they began to brew a unique Slavic alcoholic beverage-Kvass
.
At this time, Rurik had only recently learned about it, because the original kvass produced in Roseburg had already been brought to their own dining tables by some Slavic wives. Its taste is not like bitter and slightly sweet ale, but
It smells sour and tastes completely sweet. This life without drinks immediately brings new fun.
These were all huge changes brought about by the arrival of large quantities of wheat from Britain into Rossburgh.
But the biggest change is that the Duke of Ross actually started baking bread!
The potter received a penny from the duke and a physical reward of semolina.
Flour is not only a reward, but also a guinea pig given to them.
The natural fermentation of dough is a skill known in ancient Egypt. In fact, most Russians know this thing, but they just suffered from the fact that wheat was an absolute delicacy in the past and it was difficult to bake bread.
But Arik’s second wife, Asraqi, is a master at baking bread!
A boy was born successfully. He was named Gustav, the son of Asraqi and the second son of Arik. He has now learned to walk.
But Aslaqi was not willing to be an ordinary woman at all, and her bread-baking skills were immediately revealed.
The clay craftsman made a batch of large bread, which had a strange taste and appearance.
Unexpectedly by Rurik, Asraqi, accompanied by her servants and her husband Arik, wrapped a big ball in coarse cloth and brought this treasure to the Duke in the evening.
The mill was still making a squeaking sound, and the British servants wearing turbans were sitting casually eating bread, chatting and laughing, and they avoided the sudden arrival of anyone.
"Let's go and see what my brother is eating. Ah, it smells so good here. I'm almost hungry."
Aslaqi is only twenty years old now. As a Nordic woman, she is in her most beautiful years.
The things she held in her arms were equally fragrant, and the brown slurry liquid in the pottery held by the servant was the Slavic delicacy made by Peravina. Peravina was just too ordinary and pregnant.
The second child is a fact, and she is more willing to continue taking care of the children at home.
Arik came very suddenly, but he saw his brother and uncle as suddenly as those women's dinner at the table.
“It’s all wheat rope (noodles)?”
Otto had just drank some strong wine. His old face was flushed and he casually rolled his eyes at his eldest nephew and muttered: "If you want to come, you should have told me earlier and we will have dinner together. Oh! Did you bring a gift?"
"
"Yes, sir." With a smile, Aslaqi personally opened the linen cloth and took out a huge piece of brown-white bread.
Rurik was astonished. He could tell at a glance that this bread was ten thousand times better than the skill of the clay craftsman who made the oven!
"Sister, sit down quickly." Rurik slapped the table and said excitedly.
Aslaqi nodded, displayed the pottery urn again, and then pulled out the cork. Suddenly, a strange sour fragrance spread out.
No, there's still sweetness in it.
Rurik stood up suddenly, his DNA moved: "kwas!"
"Oh. You know? This was done by Peravina." Aslaqi was also surprised.
"Yes! She is a Slavic woman. Quickly, put the bread and pot on the table. Is this a gift for me? I want to taste it."
Aslaqi nodded. She and Arik came here as a gift and as a greeting to each other from family relatives.
Of course, she noticed that Rossburg was making flour on a large scale, and that Lord Rurik was instructing his men to make and purchase large-scale flour cakes as soon as possible, and that he began to make large quantities of bread.
These are the final dry food preparations for taking the ice and snow road over the iceberg to Balmok.
Is that all? Aslaki is the daughter of a big businessman, and she has a very long-term vision.
"If my family is favored by the Duke of Ross because it is good at making bread, my children will continue to receive glory. I have to develop my skills, build my own mill, and then..."
Aslaqi just wants to show off her skills in front of Rurik. Her main purpose is to be qualified to supply high-quality food to the Ross army.
She has the soul of a businessman, clearly sees the huge benefits, and hopes to take a shortcut to restore and expand the family's power.
Her children have no right to inherit Aric's wealth. Little Gustav will inherit his grandfather's family name. The old Harald family will be revived by a woman who is good at making bread. For sure!