It was getting dark, and Rumia was packing her boots and leather jacket in preparation for tomorrow's grazing.
Rurik did not continue to review the knowledge on the wooden board.
He approached Verya, who was sitting in meditation, and caught her attention.
"Is something wrong? My child."
"There is one thing, grandma. I... I want to make a good thing. I think I can succeed. With it, we can wash our hands very clean. If you wipe your body with it, it will kill the insect eggs on the hair.
, can make the body absolutely clean without any dirt. In this way...when performing sacrifices like this, we can face Odin with absolute purity."
Hearing this, Villa suddenly opened her eyes.
Although Rurik's words are very abrupt, what exactly is the invention he is referring to?
It would be interesting if the so-called invention could bring "absolute purity".
"My child, what are you going to do? Don't hesitate to tell me."
"Yes! I think..." Rurik suddenly thought about it. It seemed that there was no proper noun to describe soap in the Norse language.
He thought for a moment and simply called it "soup" because he wanted to create something called "soup". In order to express it more clearly, Rurik simply called it "soupa".
"We can make it. I need some seal oil, ashes of charcoal, and some salt. Through some means, the seal oil can be made into a dry solid. Rub it on your palms, and your hands will not become greasy.
Remove the tiniest speck of dust from between your nails?”
"Really? Wait! I really want to know what you're talking about."
Vilya immediately said a word, and Rurik sounded like "kasa", which also proved that Norse has related words.
"It is the fruit of a plant. It is said that as long as it is ground into powder and applied on the linen, even the dirty linen can be cleaned."
What is this? Rurik guessed that it might be saponin. He thought about it carefully and was sure that she was talking about saponin.
The word that Villa called "kasa" was a word commonly used in ancient Europe to describe wild saponins. What Rurik called "soupa", he understood that the root of this word was the classical Latin "sopa".
That was the official abbreviation of soap from the ancient Romans.
But saponin is not soap. They have different origins but share the same goal.
Vilia stretched out her withered right hand, but there was dust in the gaps between the long nails that was difficult to pull out. It required an iron needle or a fish bone to carefully pull it out.
"It's true. So, I need some oil, and I believe I will succeed. What I need is not any special plant, I especially need some oil, and I will succeed in the end."
"Is it better than kasa? My child, in fact, I just heard that I have never seen it. Maybe the Danes have this kind of good cleaning product, but we don't have it. My child, you always have fresh ideas.
, you go do it. I will give you some grease tomorrow, you try your best, and I will help you."
Vilia called over to Bona, the lower-level priest who cooked the oil, and whispered a few words to her, intending to prepare some oil as a "toy" for the child tomorrow.
Wei Liya didn't have any intention to question it. After all, it would be too boring to just boil oil every day in winter.
After saving Rumia's life, this little girl has been recognized by Odin and has become a member of the tribe.
Obviously, it is also objectively proven that Odin is still blessing the lovely Rurik.
Then, children’s whimsical ideas need support.
Besides, the results of the invention described by Rurik are an interesting sight.
"Ah! That's great!" Rurik pretended to be as excited as a child and jumped up and down in front of Vilia, making the priest giggle.
From the corner of his eye, he also noticed that Rumia, who was still adjusting her leather coat, was also giving him a happy smile.
A new day has arrived.
Last night, Rumia used a novel steel needle from Novgorod to easily sew the thickened leather jacket.
Vilia felt that the girl's illness was partly due to her thin clothing, so Rumia needed to take care of the gifted leather coat herself.
The clothes became a double-layered structure, with some messy hair and even discarded linen heads stuffed roughly into the middle layer.
Early in the morning, after breakfast, Rurik rushed to the priest's longhouse in high spirits.
When he returned home last night, he told his parents the good news of Rumia's recovery.
Of course, the parents were very happy to see Rurik's smiling face, but Rurik was more concerned about the change in his mother's attitude towards Rumia.
"Congratulations very much."
"Yes, Mom. She has been recognized, and we should all treat her well in the future."
Niya didn't say much. She feared the gods. Maybe she was wrong to give that girl a bad look now.
Rurik was in a great mood. When he approached the long priest's house, he saw Rumia in furry clothes, using a small leather whip to drive the deer to the foothills. There were also several priestesses who also carried leather whips.
Hold the reins to prevent the deer from escaping.
He hurried over and greeted Rumia happily.
Seeing Rurik, Rumia felt like seeing her biological brother.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Rurik finally told him: "You have to graze well and come back when it gets dark. My sister, I have something important to do today, so you can help me when you come back. If I succeed, maybe we will be together every day in the future."
There is wheat porridge to eat."
The words were spoken so quickly that Rumia could only understand a little bit. In short, Rurik wanted to come back from herding to help him.
"Okay, I will, my brother."
He called her sister, and she called him brother. To outsiders, it seemed like a violation of the master-servant relationship, but she knew that Rurik liked such affectionate calls.
The more this happened, the more Rumia felt the desire to help him.
Rurik actually thinks very far. In the future, the deer herd will multiply and grow, and the tribe will make a lot of money from selling the deer. It is said to be the tribe's deer herd, but in fact, the entire deer herd is their own property. In the end, the leader's family will naturally take over the existing deer herd.
Based on the huge wealth, he has even more considerable wealth.
If soap could be produced, more would be earned from selling it.
The success of soap will be a new beginning.
The situation of the Ross tribe determines that the development of the tribe is very dependent on trade, violent plundering and large-scale hunting, all of which are actions of sitting on nothing.
The production and trade of economic goods was an efficient means of accumulating wealth at the time.
It should be the most normal thing to drink wheat porridge every time.
Breeding deer and making soap are different from the past actions of quickly accumulating wealth, starting from this winter.
Rurik happily entered the priest's cabin, and soon a pottery was placed in front of him.
What is inside this pot is the semi-solidified seal oil that has been boiled.
His little hand tentatively reached into the water to feel its viscosity.
"How's it going? Does this grease suit you?" asked the bored Vilia.
"It seems possible, but..." Rurik stretched out his finger, and there were still some impurities remaining on the attached grease. "Maybe I need to refine the grease and get rid of the residue."
The so-called oil residue is actually the excess components of seal fat cells and even some muscle tissue.
Based on the principle of make-do, the priests do not pursue perfection at all when boiling oil.
"What else do you need besides grease? I'm curious, can these sticky grease-covered hands be turned into something great for cleaning?"
"Of course, grandma. I will do it now, and she will help me when Rumia comes back."
"Really? Maybe I thought I could help you."
"Let me think about it...it's not necessary. If you must help, please ask other priests to come."
Wei Liya nodded, and immediately asked Bona, who was still boiling oil, to come over, and she gave some more orders.
But Bona was obviously unwilling, she just wanted to continue doing her own thing.
Rurik did not embarrass this person, so he just asked: "Bona, please help me boil a jar of hot water. I want to see it boil."
"Just boiling hot water? That's easy. I hope there's nothing else complicated, boy, but I'm still boiling oil. It's Hanukkah soon and you've taken away so much fat that I'm stressed out."
Bo Na endured the dissatisfaction in her heart, and it was true that the grease in Tao Wengli was the success of these lower-level priests.
The backwardness of oil refining technology and the difficulty in obtaining materials have greatly restricted the production of earth soap.
Rurik somewhat understood the reason why Bona was shaming him. The oil in the vat was the result of her hard work.
During Hanukkah, a large number of oil lamps are lit for sacrifice, which naturally consumes a lot of fuel.
Bona wishes her job would be easier, but how could she do so?
Rurik didn't say much. The saponification reaction required frantic stirring of a mixture of lye and fat. In an era without automatic machinery, it was really a laborious task.
Poona probably can't count on it, and the most she can do is ask her to boil hot water.
At this time, the only one who is absolutely reliable is Rumia, who is still grazing.
Maybe Bona will change her mind in the end. She will definitely make her hands greasy and have some fishy smell after boiling oil. These bad stains are difficult to remove and require frequent hand washing. If you use soap, it can be easily solved.
After a while, a jar of boiling water was placed in front of Rurik, and he poured some gray charcoal ashes into it.
Rurik had no clear idea of how much ashes should be poured into it.
He tentatively understood that if enough ashes were poured, the key potassium nitrate content would be higher.
He held a wooden stick in his hand and stirred vigorously. After a while, the clay vat became a jar of hot black water.
The priests just looked at it curiously but did not interfere in any way.
The next thing is actually to wait, for which Bona is slightly relieved, the child will not disturb her work for a while.
"This way you can take a rest." Rurik stretched his arms and threw the stirring stick aside casually.
The plant ash in the pottery urn forms a very thick suspension, in which the potassium nitrate-rich component is being dissolved, and a small amount of sodium nitrate is also included. In a high-temperature environment, these substances are undergoing chemical changes, that is, they gradually become rich in potassium nitrate.
Potassium nitrite is a highly alkaline liquid.
The corrosive ability of this kind of lye to ceramic urns can be ignored.
It still has too many impurities, and its concentration is difficult to estimate.
Rurik had his own way, which was to wait for the liquid to cool down and all the suspended impurities to sink to the bottom, then pour the clear solution into another clean pottery jar, and then boil it again.
The waiting process was a bit boring, and Rurik was not idle.
The crude sea salt used by the Ross tribe is mainly table salt, but also contains bad substances such as magnesium chloride that brings a bitter taste. However, these substances can all play a beneficial role in the process of making soap.
Rurik got half a palm-sized piece of salt crystal from Vilia. God knows how long they had to boil the low-salinity seawater to get such a piece of salt.
He pounded the salt vigorously into a very fine powder, which could be quickly blended into the liquid during subsequent work.
Those small particles of suspended plant ash took the whole day to gradually settle, so Rurik waited until Rumia returned from grazing.
There was a burst of noise outside, and after a while, a very tired Rumia returned to the big wooden house with the priestesses who were monitoring her.
Her nose was keenly aware of some strangeness in the indoor air. Then she looked at her beloved Rurik. The child was staring at a pottery urn.
Lumia was sensible and didn't say much. She cautiously approached the pen-obsessed Priest Vilia, sat down and reported the completion of her work.
"Very good, you can't rest now. Go eat something first, then go to your master and obey his new orders."
"Yes." The girl replied softly.
"Bona, bring some dried meat." Villa continued to close her eyes and ordered casually.
Rumia was a ten-year-old child after all. She was cautious but also full of curiosity. She noticed that the aura was coming from the pottery urn that Rurik was staring at. What on earth was that?
She carried a small wooden tray with some thick dried fish and marinated meat on it and walked over quickly.
"Rurik. Do you want to eat?"
Rurik glanced at this sister and stood up quickly.
"I have noticed that you are back. You came just in time. Rumia, please wait now while I go get another urn."
She doesn't need to have doubts now, she just needs to work hard.
An empty pottery urn was placed on the ground, and Rumia was ordered to hold it firmly with both hands. Rurik carefully held the plant ash solution that had basically settled, and poured the upper clear liquid into the empty urn.
Under the dim light of the oil lamp, a brownish-yellow liquid with a unique smell that was visible to the naked eye was poured into the empty vat. Rurik hoped that it would be pure enough, but in the end some dregs were poured in, but that was irrelevant.
"What is this?" Rumia asked curiously, "Water? It's weird."
"It's not water. It's very dangerous. Do you smell a strange smell?"
Listening, Rumia nodded vigorously.
"That's right." Rurik smiled confidently, "In order for us to gain wealth from this, Rumia, remember what you see now, and I will order you to make these in the future."
The basic separation of the solution and the slag is still the beginning. Next, the help of a flame is needed to evaporate the excess water, and to turn the semi-solidified seal fat in another pottery urn into a small amount that can be barely touched by the index finger.