There are some fishermen cutting through the ice scattered on the frozen river, and some people are also swimming on the slopes on both sides of the river.
A large number of small boats were pushed ashore and tied up with ropes. The boats were also covered with thick snow. At first glance, they looked like solid ice blending into the pale earth.
Only the city wall is still the gray-brown color of the wood, which looks unique and eye-catching in the pure white world of the dazzling sunlight.
The sled team turned around and whipped the deer hard, causing the deer to rush up the snow slope with all their strength.
Until now, Ella finally saw clearly the majesty of New Roseburg, the capital of the country. The team looked so small under the city wall mixed with tall stone and wood.
The city is built along the Neva River. The riverside Nevsky Prospekt is the largest road in the city. The two ends of this almost standard east-west road are the east gate and west gate of the city.
Before the sleigh team arrived, the Russian flags flying on each sleigh were seen by the soldiers patrolling the city wall.
The king had already ordered that a large sleigh team from Novgorod would arrive during this period.
On the one hand, the patrolling soldiers went out to greet him, and on the other hand, they urgently notified His Majesty the King.
When Rurik learned of this, he himself was staying at the shipyard in the capital, talking with the old guy Hotla about building a big ship.
Regarding the building of a brand new ship, isn’t what Huotra has been pursuing in this life just to build a super ship?
Eight Aurora-class sailing battleships were built. This old guy felt that this feat had been fulfilled in his twilight years, but he foolishly underestimated the king's dream.
Ark? What is an ark? Is this giant ship a legendary thing, or does it exist in reality?
"The Ark exists, but we may not be able to build it with our current strength. But as long as we continue to improve our technology, it will not be difficult to realize it." Rurik's words were like nonsense, but he made his attitude clear. It is necessary to build a big ship.
. The so-called Hotla family has the ability to continue to improve the Avora-class ships, but now it is really trying its best to build new cargo ships with higher cost performance. This is inappropriate.
The men of the Hortra family still lacked a Stein. The project to build a large ship had been approved. Finally, all the skilled craftsmen came together to discuss the details of the construction. Stein Hortrasson was indispensable.
The messenger hurried to the independent shipyard adjacent to the capital. It is located in the southwest of the capital, facing directly the brackish water of the Gulf of Finland.
The soldier got off the sled and rushed towards him. He was stopped by the guards. After asking what was going on, everyone rushed directly into the large and warm indoor dock.
"What's going on? Is something serious happening?" Rurik frowned and looked unhappy.
They all knelt down and saluted, and the messenger said bluntly: "The king's atonement is really a serious matter. Brothers, the task you assigned has been completed. The sled team from Novgorod has arrived."
An old guy heard this and walked over quickly: "Oh! My son Stein is back? That's great!"
"Exactly." The messenger spoke firmly: "Sir Stein is indeed here. And..."
"My first clerk is here too, right?"
"The scribe arrived safely. She...she still has something important to present."
"Really? I don't know what tricks Ella is playing. Let's go! Go back to the capital!"
Building a brand new ship cannot be built just by giving an order. Rurik felt that he had plenty of time to study slowly with them, but now, it was extremely important to bring back his woman. Because Ella was the younger one among the wives and concubines.
She is younger. In the kingdom's aristocratic system, her original identity is a princess, but her current position is extremely important.
Just like in previous years, if he was not in Novgorod, Ella would be solely responsible for the statistical work after taxation.
His excited heart was not hindered by the ice and snow. Rurik's thoughts were very simple. He welcomed her to his room, listened to her report, and then...
The sleigh was running wildly, and when Rurik arrived at his old palace, the beautiful Ella was already chatting with her relatives and friends.
Only when she entered the city did she understand what magnificence was. The wide Harvest Square was a large flat space surrounded by tall buildings. It was said that the largest building was the attic of the king's new palace, which was taller than the
The red pine is taller, so it is obviously the highest in this vast area, right? It must be a good feeling to stand up and enjoy the scenery.
Not only the palace, but also the residential buildings in the city are completely different from the low single-story houses in Novgorod.
She was traveling on a sleigh on the Nevsky Prospekt, the widest and most important street. The buildings on both sides of the road were the symbols of the country, and the residential buildings were also very impressive.
The first floors of the houses along Nevsky Prospekt are all made of large wooden columns, built with cement and stone, and the second floor is purely wooden. This highly imitates the Frankish medieval residential style, and the construction cost-effectiveness is very good because the base is strong enough.
, the first floor of residential buildings is also relatively low, and some buildings are built to three floors, and even a so-called micro storage room on the fourth floor is opened at the bottom of the gable roof.
In winter at high latitudes, the sun slants sharply. It is obviously sunny, but the shadows of the tall houses on the south side of the road completely cover Nevsky Prospekt. This situation has never occurred to Ella.
The old palace is far inferior to the new palace. It is just a giant long house with wooden floors. There are many rooms inside, and many stone fireplaces keep the whole palace very warm.
Ella is not Rurik's ordinary wife and concubine. One of her identities is that of old Otto's adopted daughter.
The Supreme King Otto never felt that this false reputation was so noble. His current thinking was that it would be wonderful to live one day at a time and enjoy the family relationship with more and more grandchildren.
The adopted daughter Ella is gentle and gentle. She is definitely not a female warrior. Instead, she manages money and food arrangements for the country. Her level and ability are worthy of recognition.
But Otto never paid much attention to war logistics, and he always had only a vague idea of how much the country's grain warehouses contained. He was a remnant of the old era, but he knew that the special work of his adopted daughter Ella was beneficial to the current Ross.
The returned Ella relied on her adoptive father Otto like a kitten.
Otto caressed his adopted daughter's long golden hair and praised: "Very good, just like Niya back then."
She can act coquettishly to her heart's content and ignore the looks in other women's eyes.
Stroking the soft hair of his adopted daughter, Otto's memory went back to more than forty years ago. At that time, Niya was so young and beautiful. Only the bravest warriors in the tribe could win the favor of the most beautiful Niya. Otto
It was the winner who took the beauty home, and now, everything is in the past.
Niya's face was no longer beautiful, she was already an old lady with wrinkled face and gray hair. Her beautiful face seemed to be left only in her memory.
Otto's sigh was like a needle tip that frustrated Niya's heart. She knew that her old man meant no harm, but unfortunately she was too old. Recalling her past beauty, Niya could only cover up her sigh with a smile.
Both Niya and Otto knew Rurik's intention to recruit Ella. It was very simple. Up to now, Ella was the only one who had not had a close relationship with King Rurik. At this time, the king could not do anything like this.
"She's still too young" is the only excuse. Firstly, other women have become mothers at Ella's age. Secondly, if her belly doesn't move again, the Chinese people will try their best to talk about it. The so-called Ossie
The youngest daughter of the Tara tribe is a "sheep that cannot lay a lamb".
Niya called the lovely Ella over and taught her the knowledge of women as a mother-in-law and adoptive mother.
Rurik arrived late, and he didn't have time to talk to the returning Stein. He just met him and went straight to the palace.
The majestic king wears a golden laurel crown on his head, and his well-groomed beard is full of masculine charm. He is just right strong, and his tall figure gives weak women a strong sense of security. The strength in all senses exuded from his body can easily attract many
The woman looks sideways.
Ella was strongly attracted by his spirit, especially the fact that he suddenly received special verbal education from his adoptive mother Niya. Now she looks at Rurik with more than reverence, but more with affection.
Although some wives and concubines gathered in the palace, things were easier to handle.
He has to take care of the feelings of Queen Svetlana and his concubine and countess Noren, and other women do not matter.
He sat on the leather cushion, deliberately hugging his Ella, and tactfully told everyone: "I asked her to report the tax collection to me, and she will accompany me during this period..."
When Rurik pointed it out, many wives and concubines understood the meaning.
I saw Nolen covering his half-open mouth and muttering with a smile: "Isn't it so simple to report?"
"Hang bang..."
"It doesn't matter. In fact, everyone knows it." As he said that, Nolen's eyes glanced at the queen. She was trying to make a fuss, so what could the queen do?
As the queen, Svetlana is still holding her son. She straightened her body slightly and spoke very generously: "Rurik, you have to treat her well. It is difficult to come all the way to the capital."
"That's natural." Hearing this, Rurik let out a sigh of relief.
The monarch has a lot of wives and concubines. What he fears most is the jealousy of the wives and concubines. A few years ago, he made them swear an oath with each other's blood. Can the oath be eternal?
Rurik knew very well that some of his wives and concubines were not ordinary people. Even Queen Svetlana seemed weak in the past, but the horror was not like that at all. Her weakness was ultimately the result of forced cultivation by her family, and this was not her true intention.
As a queen in this position, she will definitely use all means to firmly defend her identity as a queen.
This is indeed the case. Even though Lana is still very young, the alienation of people by power has already begun. Her husband has many wives and concubines, and she is very relieved about those who are destined to leave the core of power.
Especially for this Ella, that’s the most reassuring!
Because Ella has lost the title of Ostara noble, the title "Hesturia" is a position. She is only responsible for the compilation of historical documents and the statistical calculation of many logistical matters. Her descendants
They all engage in this type of work. Descendants will not be able to enfeoff land, let alone establish a private army. She and her descendants are equivalent to senior servants of the royal family, nothing more.
Svetlana thinks so, and her relationship with Ella has always been very good.
Rurik gave the king an order, and he did what he said.
After eating a full meal and taking a long hot bath, Ella felt so comfortable that she fell asleep. The exhaustion from the long sleigh ride only worsened, but the special pain made her energetic.
On the first night after arriving at New Roseburg, Ella finally became a woman. She shouted that she wanted to explain the tax report to the king, but Rurik threw the paper bag full of documents aside.
"We should have done this a long time ago. You can report it tomorrow. There is no need for tonight."
"Yes! Brother..."
"Call me king! Ella, you are not my adopted sister, you are my wife! You are my most valued scribe! From now on, there will be successors to the scribes, and the son you will give birth to will be my scribe and historian.
Any troubles have nothing to do with you, do your job well, and all you will get in the future will be happiness."
"Yes! King..."
She doesn't know what "happiness in the future" means, she feels very happy now.
Only here, Ella fully knew the truth, and she came with the documents. By the time of next year's spring plowing, she should have a full belly, and her child would most likely be born next year during the autumn harvest.
She was put through a lot of trouble and rested all day the next day. For her sake, Rurik even postponed discussions with the people of the Hotla family about building a big ship.
Finally, after completing her identity change, Ella took out the thick stack of documents from the paper bag and presented this year's tax data to her husband, the king.
It has to be said that as she has been busy working as a scribe for a long time, her handwriting has become more beautiful and neat during the long period of quill writing. With her status, in principle, she can use paper unscrupulously.
The tax data is one list after another, each one is the tax data of a settlement, along with the population of the settlement.
The managers of each settlement compile their own data every year, such as how many people died, how many people were born, how many men and how many women there are, especially the population of men without disabilities between the ages of twelve and fifty, who are the country’s source of soldiers.
potential.
The specific task of sending people to collect taxes is that the Novgorod garrison escorted the young scribes and arrived in various settlements in batches to start work. Among them, Mstisk, Youth City, and other direct descendants of the old Russian immigrants were mainly
Except for the settlements, they pay their own taxes. It depends on the king whether to charge more or less, or whether to pay taxes. Otherwise, the people in these two settlements are blood relatives, so the preferential treatment strategy at this stage is natural.
As for the Ostara people and the Gran people who have moved in, they are now completely tax-free at the joint settlement of the New Ostara people at the mouth of the Lovaj River at the southernmost end of Lake Ilmen.
, they are vassals, and are applicable to the kingdom's "ten-year tax-free strategy." The situation here reassures Rurik, because the main force of the kingdom's cavalry troops is stationed in New Ostara.
Ella's completion of the report does not mean that she can quietly wait for the gratifying changes in her body.
She prayed in her heart that she would not have menstruation on that day. As long as this did not happen, everything would be fine.
But as the first scribe of the kingdom, how could she remain leisurely as a pure aristocratic woman until the end of December, Hanukkah?
There will be many places where she will be used next, especially this discussion about building a new large ship.
There are two large wooden tables put together in the large and warm indoor dock, and some yellowed papers are spread out on the table.
The charcoal blocks with daggers cut into pen-like shapes were arranged on the table. Rurik personally sketched the big ship he desired in front of the shipbuilders. He was drawing three views and also deliberately drew cross sections. Although his brushwork was very rough, he was good at shipbuilding.
Lao Huotra and his three sons all started "3D modeling" in their minds based on this somewhat abstract drawing to complete their understanding.
At the same time, Ella sat at the corner of the desk with a pen and paper, and the quill dipped in ink started recording formally at any time. Although she knew nothing about shipbuilding, she did not expect that her husband, the king, actually had a lot of experience in the shipbuilding industry. She had no time to think.
Others, focus on their own work.
The formal discussion soon took shape. In fact, many craftsmen all understood that the king was not overturning past experience to build a new ship. The king's request was indeed to build a big ship, and it was just a big ship.
What is a big ship? Its keel must be long, its ribs must be many, its masts must be many, and its sides must be high, so that its decks can be built in multiple layers.
Rurik issued several technical specifications for the new ship:
The keel must be no less than 50 stikas (about 49 meters).
The standard draft of a ship should not exceed 4 stikas, and the fully loaded draft should not exceed 6 stikas.
The side height on the water surface should be 4 to 5 stikas. There must be a forecastle and a stern building, of which the stern building should be taller.
There are three main masts and a high-elevation bow mast. Two main masts use triangle sails, and the other main mast uses double-sided scale sails. The bow mast uses single-sided scale sails.
With this technical indicator, Lao Huotra was impressed by the king's courage. He said bluntly: "The keel alone has 50 stikas? When she is completed, she will be a giant ship, and it looks like it will be the Avora."
Three or even four times the size.”
Rurik was hunched over his desk with a sullen face: "I don't want you to sigh. I want your answer. Can it be built?"
"It seems that materials are added on the basis of the Aurora, like a calf growing into a strong cow. The overall structure of the ship has not changed, but it is too big. To build it, the traditional method may be...
..." Hotla was worried. He pointed in particular at the ceiling of the indoor dock: "This place is already too small."
"I know." Rurik shrugged: "It's not even suitable to build on hard ground. We can dig a big pit and build a dam. This is called a dry dock. Once the ship is built, just open the lock and release the water. I trust you,
I will give you a lot of rewards, and I will send people to investigate and obtain the missing wood."
The dry dock shipbuilding method is unfamiliar to the Hotla family, but it is easy to understand. The four shipbuilders marveled at the king's good idea and understood the king's attitude. This work is full of challenges, and it must be full of hardships. The ship materials alone are
It's a troublesome matter, but the king's attitude is very firm. It would be a big mistake for anyone to shirk the matter.
"We need oak, red pine, oak and other wood, especially the keel. It is difficult to obtain oak at any time." Hotla was extremely worried about this matter.
"It doesn't matter. High-quality oak is in the south. I will send people to Novgorod this winter to look for it. I am not quick and easy, especially when building my new flagship, I must first ensure quality. You can start the preparation work first, such as
First dig a big hole to make a dry dock and prepare the wood by yourself except oak. We will start when I have all the oak."
Hotla had an idea in mind: "But the preparation will take a lot of time, maybe a year."
"It doesn't matter."
"I'm afraid I won't survive until the new ship is launched."
Huotra is indeed too old. Rurik sighed softly: "No one will forget your family's contribution to the country. The new big ship will replace the Avora class as the new battleship, and the second ship will be called Huotra."
Call it! Just use your name!"
"That's great. May I ask the name of the flagship?"
Rurik shrugged and said righteously: "It's called the Monarch."
"A very simple name."
"It's enough to scare the enemy." Rurik smiled, and the others also laughed...
As for the so-called new large ship, Ross's previous Avora-class ship was modeled after the Caravel ship. As for the technical indicators of the new large ship, it was the larger Galen ship.
The Spanish galleon is a super-large Galen ship. This type of ship also has a history of development from small to large. In the final analysis, it is the result of continuous improvement of Caravel-type ships. Super-large Galen ships can be built into monsters with a displacement of two thousand tons.
, but the universal type only has a full load displacement of one thousand tons.
What Rurik hopes is the so-called universal type. She is huge enough and can be used as a giant troop carrier, a super transport ship, and a majestic "mountain on the sea." Naval construction has been very financially demanding since ancient times, but a few super ships
The display of the capital ship at the dock will greatly enhance the pride of the people, and is evidence of military strength, as well as super strong force to deter potential enemies and ensure the peace of Russia. From a purely economic point of view, this kind of large ship has the ability to cross the North
The strength of the Atlantic Ocean and the efficiency of transporting materials will be unprecedented, so rushing to the new world in the west is no longer a luxury.
So she must be the Monarch. Even if it takes two to three years, she must be built. If you have the first ship, you must have the second, third, and even eighth!
Rurik ambitiously formulated a shipbuilding plan. When all the data was sorted out, Ella wrote the written document of the shipbuilding plan herself.
The Hotla family responded to the king's order with practical actions. They really began to dig dry dock pits and sea channels on the seaside regardless of the ice and snow, even if it was a slow job...