The land on both sides of the Neva River is not frozen soil. Especially the large area at the mouth of the sea is full of silt land and sandbanks. They have been quite hardened. With today's construction standards, you don't have to worry too much about land subsidence when building large houses on them.
problem, but if you are considering building a dry dock to build a large ship, you must carefully consider this issue.
Just digging dry docks and sea canals is a problem. Fortunately, in terms of manpower, Ross can mobilize some people in the capital who want to make some extra money. Although the siege technology is all crude methods, simple machinery can still be put into use.
And single-person tools such as shovels and shovels are quite abundant.
According to the estimates of the Hotla family, the excavation work will continue until next spring plowing as expected. For pure excavation, hiring 200 people is enough.
They drew up a project plan themselves and placed the plan in front of King Rurik.
Because the property rights of the dry dock and sea channel will belong to the king, Rurik is Party A, and the Hotla family is Party B. The "Project Plan" lists the labor costs, the cost of wooden construction machinery, and even the Huote who is responsible for this matter.
What proportion of compensation should the La family deserve?
In Changming's room, Rurik lit an oil lamp and studied the clauses word for word, muttering as he read.
"They plan to only give rations to the workers? It will save me money."
"I also paid for the winch made of wood? I paid for the cable? So in the end these equipments belong to me? You won't keep them for your own use?"
…
Rurik's muttering attracted Ella to come over and ask, "Is there anything you want me to do? I mean, I can continue to be a scribe."
"No need for the moment. But..."
"You can leave anything to me."
"That's fine." Rurik put the documents aside, "The dry dock matter can come to an end. If they want funds, I will provide them. And you..."
"As commanded."
"I haven't said it yet."
Ella smiled and snuggled next to him again, enjoying the tenderness to herself. "I will do a good job."
"Okay, it's still a scribe's job. I've sent people to look for big trees on both sides of the Neva River, especially in the woodlands south of the river. Not only to build a new wooden tower for this year's Hanukkah, but also to prepare materials for building big ships. You
It happens to be here. When the wood arrives, you can make statistics on the condition of the wood, so that I can have a good idea."
"I'll do it well."
Royal logging teams poured into the forest. They were ordered to look for Nordic oak trees, namely oak trees and oak trees, as well as tall spruce and red pine trees. Oak trees and oak trees are the most important. According to the plan, the country will reserve a batch of these trees.
The logs are dried in the shade and used as strategic reserves to provide high-quality keels, ribs and masts for the shipbuilding plan.
Of course, spruce and red pine can also be used as mast wood. If there is a sufficient supply of oak, they will naturally move aside. They will be cut into a large number of boards, equivalent to the muscle of a large ship.
The climate in Northern Europe is always cold, and it is generally not suitable for all kinds of oak trees to survive. Rurik still places his hope of obtaining a large amount of oak trees in the Novgorod region in the south. As soon as oak trees are found, they will be cut down immediately and transported by water.
Rafting in Greater New Roseburg.
Now, Ross's finances are quite strong. The tax cuts have reduced a lot of tax revenue, but this year's tax base has increased significantly! Ella's work can't go wrong, and the report she compiled clearly points out that those "hiding"
"The so-called Ilmen Slavs who grew up in the forest and enclosed their land have already passed the tax holiday after completing their forced relocation. They have a large population and have opened up a large number of new fields. Even though the quality of the new fields is not good and the output is limited, they
After all, taxes have been paid. The oats paid by the new tax-paying farmers have greatly made up for the tax exemption.
It is conceivable that when normal taxation resumes next year, the total amount of tax and grain will be guaranteed in the future.
Because the population of the eastern part of the Rus Kingdom has exceeded 150,000, and accurate statistics show that the population is even more! Those Slavs who were forcibly relocated to Lake Ilmen are like mushrooms that suddenly sprouted after the autumn rain in September. Their huge
The population size is staggering.
And this is the fact. The total population of the Ilmen Slavs is quite large, but they are diluted by the even larger sea of forests.
The "search operation" of Novgorod Governor Medvet will continue. This operation is not only to find the hidden people, but also to expand the scope of people's knowledge. Because the world just west of Lake Ilmen has great influence on Mei
De Wet was very unfamiliar with it. He only learned from the map provided by the king that as long as he continued to run due west, he would be able to find a huge mountain called the Ural Mountains. To the east of the mountain was this huge world that could not be described in words.
Medved's men did not find the big mountain the king mentioned, but they learned about a small lake.
The size of the lake is not important, the key is the existence of Ilmenslav villages in the area.
The order was of course to forcibly move the locals to the Lake Ilmen area, but the villagers refused. Medved's men had gone too far to the west, so they captured some villagers and evacuated before winter.
return.
They did not harm these prisoners anymore, but were integrated into the villages adjacent to Lake Ilmen.
All this information was compiled by Medved's men into a report and then delivered to Rurik on the sled.
The unnamed lake had a name that was not a name in the mouths of the captives - a big water.
In fact, that is Lake Valdai, which is a relatively high point in this vast northeastern European plain. This plain is also named after this inconspicuous lake, namely the Valdai Hills.
The country's productivity problem lies here. The population is still absolutely insufficient, so the large territories that have been conquered will lack manpower to defend them. At best, those new territories belong to "controlled areas" or "spheres of influence." Rurik's response from Novgorod
The report spoke highly of it, and it is gratifying that the population in the area around the lake continues to expand healthily.
The entire king is essentially divided into three large parts: the Rus Principality part, the Swedish part and the Finnish part. Sweden has a population of at most 30,000, and Finland in the broad sense has a population of only 30,000. The Viking population in the Rus Principality reaches a huge 30,000 (
Among them, the number of children accounts for 60%), and the Slavic population exceeds 100,000.
There are 200,000 people in the kingdom, and the number that can be directly ruled by the king reaches 13 to 140,000. Although the mobilization power of a kingdom in the Middle Ages is not very good, the current population size alone is already the largest in Europe.
Rus is indeed the overlord of Northern Europe because of its strong navy and ability to mobilize 10,000 soldiers.
There will be a kingdom war next year, so the Hanukkah festival to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new must be done well.
A tall wooden tower was built as usual. It was still built in the shape of a chimney, and the grease-rich pine wood was stacked, making it extremely flammable. In order to make the burning effect more brilliant, a batch of fish oil, whale oil and seal oil were added.
It was also very luxurious to burn it into a liquid state and pour it on the pine wood. The wooden tower was covered with a layer of grease, and a large number of pine branches and old wood were piled on the base. Before the lighting ceremony, the 111 reindeer used for sacrifice were all of the same color.
Stacked under the tower.
This year's Hanukkah festival, thousands of people are waiting for the fire tower to burst into flames, so that everyone can sit around the fire tower and bake comfortably while waiting for the new sun.
In recent years, Hanukkah has become more and more grand. People, both noble and low, are looking forward to the war that started in 840 AD. They can get spoils and honors. Everyone estimates that the king will come up with some new tricks during the festival.
Sure enough, this is really a gorgeous and gorgeous pattern!
That's one hundred and eleven reindeer!
This number has a special weight in the traditional life of the Vikings. Sacrifice to Odin is very particular, and the top sacrifice is the heads of one hundred and eleven slaves.
A considerable number of people do not object to human sacrifice based on current values. After all, the sacrificial objects are slaves, and slaves are not considered human beings.
However, here in the Principality of Ross, slaves who are not considered human do not exist at all. There are people who are equivalent to slaves. They are untouchables at best. After living for a period of time, their informal untouchable status is gone. Warrior culture is still respected, and those who have the right to interpret their beliefs
In the past, Rurik established a fact - the noble souls of those who live under the rule of Rus, believe in Odin and fight for the royal family can enter Valhalla.
With this explanation, even the lowly Ludi people can be recognized by the royal family through military exploits.
Rus has been offering reindeer sacrifices since ancient times. In the past, they were too poor to offer many sacrifices. Now the deer herd in Rus is extremely large, and the priest Rurik thought there was nothing wrong with bringing out hundreds of deer.
Even the people lamented that this was a waste. If the deer skin was peeled off, the antlers were dug out, and all the remaining deer meat was burned to ashes, wouldn’t it be a waste?
The fire tower, which is hotter than the scorching sun, is burning, and the air is filled with the enticing smell of barbecue. It is venison burning in the fire. Thousands of people stay far away to avoid being burned, watching a fire dragon rising into the sky.
Then he sighed as the venison was roughly burned to ashes.
The fire tower was very huge, and it took five days until only warm white ash was left.
The heavy workload before Hanukkah made Rurik feel particularly tired. According to Viking tradition, such a festival requires a lot of eating and drinking, and eating and drinking can also cause fatigue.
Times have changed. Today's materials are more abundant than before, and the royal family has more food and drinks.
Old Otto was always drunk, and Rurik's wives and concubines were not exempt from the custom. Both men and women had to drink orally on this festival.
The ale brewed from oats simply could not meet the demand, and it gave way to the better-tasting low-alcohol wheat wine in the royal family, as well as the warm-tasting flammable spirits.
As a real man, you can be a real man by taking a gulp of burning liquor and quickly covering up the flames of your beard that you accidentally ignited.
Men's entertainment is so simple. They drink burning vodka from glasses and complain that their stomachs are so warm, as if the fire is still burning in their stomachs.
Not only the royal family and many Viking immigrants, but also the huge Slavic people are happy to imitate the Vikings, especially in terms of drinking. How can we survive in this peaceful and snowy world without drinking? Alcohol accelerates
The blood flow accelerates and the muscles heat up. People don't know and don't bother to know the secret. They just know that the whole body is very warm after drinking alcohol.
This was not possible before, but now that supplies are plentiful, small Slavic families everywhere have begun to make their own brews without any worries. Although the brews are low-alcohol ales, they deliberately wait until major festivals to drink them.
Naturally, people who can enjoy fine wines are concentrated in the capital city of Novorossberg. Rurik's state-owned brewing factory is in the city. The distilled spirits can be sold at high prices. However, there are a group of businessmen living in the capital for a long time, and they have money to spend.
This, as a king, you may gain a lot of violence.
But the work of distilling liquor was also integrated into war preparation materials.
It is possible to purify the wine to 90° with current technology, and it is also possible to purify the water of life to 96° with caution. Rurik gave instructions to purify it to 75° and then seal it in a glass bottle.
A piece of paper smeared with rosin gum is pasted on the bottle, and the word "medic" in Roman letters is printed on the paper. At this stage, there is no medicine more suitable for treating trauma than high spirits. There is no anesthetic for treating wounds of wounded soldiers, but people who are drunk can be anesthetized.
.
It is the existence of strong liquor that makes today's Russian soldiers not afraid of injury. War will inevitably have casualties, and hundreds of people have died in battle. If they slowly die of fever after being injured, can such a soul still go to the Hall of Valor? Fortunately, strong liquor
It is a magical thing, and the people have reached a consensus based on their own understanding. The flammable liquor has been blessed by God and can kill all filth and curses. Injured soldiers basically cannot die.
In this way, the people in the state-owned breweries received this order, and they felt that their work was extremely noble.
The days are getting longer and longer, and the time has come to AD 840. Although it is not his birthday, according to tradition, everyone says that His Majesty the King is already nineteen years old, and he must make great achievements in his prime.
Long before Hanukkah started, a small sleigh team came from Novgorod, carrying a letter - a letter from friends in Pecheneg.
Rurik had an estimate of Kagan once again uniting with the Kiev people and organizing a cavalry caravan to do business in Russia. They came at the right time, just like the gods gave Russia a chance to win over mercenaries.
But Kagan mentioned his sister Beyathil and the marriage.
This incident surprised Rurik. After thinking about it for a while, he suddenly realized: I did say last year that I could marry his sister.
Kagan really took it seriously. I am afraid that this matter was the result of discussions between the nobles of the Pecheneg Khanate, because this was a marriage, and with this marriage, the Pechenegs must have greater demands.
"At least, that Beyahil must be a beauty and be able to listen to me honestly..."
Rurik has not publicized this matter yet. After all, he will return to Novgorod soon to implement some very important things. Kagan will discuss everything after returning.
The huge sleigh team assembled again, and the king and almost all members of the royal family rushed to Novgorod.
But King Otto and Queen Mother Niya did not leave.
Otto no longer had the heroic demeanor of the past. He especially remembered whether he was about forty-seven or forty-five when he had a son. Now his son was nineteen years old, so he was almost seventy years old.
"Oh God! Do I still have a great mission? Do I have to witness my son's expedition in the kingdom?"
The more Otto thought about it, the more he felt it must be the case, so Rurik simply complied with his father's wishes.
The Supreme King is now too weak to even go out for a hike. He needs a group of soldiers to accompany him when he goes out. If there is nothing serious, he can stay there peacefully.
The carefully woven chainmail is hung with rows of thin copper sheets on the front and back, and each piece of copper is plated with gold. This is a golden scale armor that is more decorative than practical, and can show the wearer's nobility. Otto enjoys such etiquette
Even his new leather helmet was plated with gold, and the feathers on the top of the helmet were mixed with blue-dyed goose feathers.
This ceremonial armor was not heavy, but Otto realized that it was a bit difficult for him to put on one. Fortunately, he had no problem standing while wearing it.
Plans for the creation of multiple sets of ceremonial armor were given to his favorite Kamne.
Kamne did not dare to neglect, let alone covet the gold and silver delivered by the king. The gold-plated and silver-plated armor was ceremonial, and wearing it on the battlefield was an act of seeking death.
Therefore, a batch of strong armors are also being built, which will be delivered to senior personnel of the army. Ordinary soldiers can wear iron armor on a large scale. In principle, this is feasible. It is to make a thousand sets of chain mail or iron plate armor. Work
The quantity is so huge that the extensive work will take several years for the state-owned blacksmith shop.
Fortunately, the armor rate of Ross's enemies is very low. As long as they are not fighting Roman armored cavalry, Ross's protective gear disadvantage is not a disadvantage.
New Rossburg has entered the peak period of war preparations. As the days get longer and longer, the working hours of various craftsmen will be extended. Or is it because the day for the army to gather is not far away, and the merchants and craftsmen are ready to move. The so-called every soldier of the Ross army must at least
He has a decent physique, and this kind of person is definitely not a poor man. When going to the battlefield, no one feels that they carry too many supplies. The merchants and craftsmen are busy stepping up production, trying to sell supplies to make a profit for the soldiers.
The real large-scale war preparation material reserve work is supervised and implemented by the governor of Fort New Rose, Conusson and his son. Things such as the time for the army to gather and the number of troops are state secrets. Rurik did not even inform the governor of this secret. He only explained this arrangement: You must
Prepare dry wheat biscuits for five thousand men for a month's campaign before March, and other ordnance must be prepared regularly.
This is equivalent to saying that the king will conduct a large-scale gathering in March. Obviously, the king will not have time to supervise this year's spring plowing this time.