Chapter 84 Starting from the Ashes of Plants and Trees

As the sky darkened, Rumia arranged 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 attracted her attention.

"Is something wrong? My child."

"One thing, grandma. I...I want to make a good thing. I think I can succeed, and with it, We can wash our hands very clean. If we use it to wipe the body, it will kill the insect eggs on the hair, making the body absolutely clean and free of any dirt. In this way, we can perform sacrifices in this way. Absolute purity facing Odin."

Hearing this, Vilia suddenly opened his eyes.

Although Rurik’s words are very abrupt, what exactly is the invention he calls?

It would be interesting if the so-called invention could bring "absolute purity".

"My child, what are you going to do? Don't hesitate, tell me."

"Yes! I think..." Rurik suddenly thought about it, and seemed to have no intention of doing so. There seems to be no proper noun for soap in Sri Lanka.

He thought for a while and simply called it "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 Will it become greasy and remove even the tiniest dust from the gaps between nails? "Really? Wait! I really want to know what you're talking about."

Villa. Immediately speaking a word, Rurik sounded like "kasa", which also proves 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 smeared on linen, even dirty linen can be washed clean."

What is this? Rurik guessed it might be soap locust. He thought about it carefully and was suddenly sure that she was talking about Zaojiao.

The word "kasa" called "kasa" by Villa was a word commonly used in ancient Europe to describe wild saponins. What Rurik called "soupa", he understood, was derived from the classical Latin "sopa", which was the official abbreviation of soap by the ancient Romans.

However, saponin is not soap. The two have different sources of resources, but they have the same goal.

Villa stretched out his withered right hand, but there was dust in the gaps between the long nails that was difficult to pull out. It required iron needles or fish bones 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 more useful than kasa? My child, in fact, I just heard that I have never seen it. Maybe the Danes have this kind of cleaningWe don’t have the good stuff to use. my child. You always have fresh ideas, just go for it. I'll give you some grease tomorrow, and if you do your best, I'll help you. ”

Vilia called over to Poona, the lower-level priest who cooked the oil, and whispered a few words to her, meaning to prepare some grease as the child’s “toy” tomorrow.

Wei Lia Leah didn't mean to question it. After all, it would be too boring to just boil oil in winter.

After saving Rumia's life, this little girl has been recognized by Odin and has become the leader of the tribe. One.

Obviously, it is objectively proven that Odin still bless the lovely Rurik.

Then the child’s whims need to be supported. < /p>

Besides, the result of the invention described by Rurik is really an interesting sight.

“Ah! How wonderful! Rurik pretended to be a child and jumped up and down in front of Vilia with the spontaneous excitement, making the priest giggle.

He also noticed from the corner of his eye that he was still arranging his leather coat. Rumia also gave herself a happy smile.

A new day has arrived.

Last night, Rumia used a novel gift from Novgorod. Steel needles made it easy to 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 jacket herself.

The clothes became a double-layer structure, and some messy hair and even discarded linen heads were roughly stuffed into the middle layer.

Ruri had eaten breakfast early in the morning. Ke 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, his parents were very happy to see Rurik. ’s smiling face, and 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 the girl a bad look now.

Rurik was in a great mood. When he As I approached the chief priest's house, I saw Rumia, dressed in fur, using a small leather whip to drive the deer to the foot of the mountain. There were also several priestesses who were also holding leather whips to prevent the deer from escaping.

He hurried over and greeted Rumia happily

Seeing Rurik, Rumia felt like she was seeing her biological brother.

The words were spoken so quickly that Rumia could only understand a little bit. In short, Rurik was going to finish herding by himself and come back to help him.

"Okay, I will, I will 's younger brother. ”

He calls sister, calling him younger brother. To outsiders, it seemed like a violation of the master-servant relationship, but she knew that Rurik liked such a term of endearment.

The more this happens, the more Rumia desires 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 that it is a tribe's deer herd, but in fact the entire deer herd is its own property. In the end, the leader's family will naturally have even more considerable wealth based on the existing huge 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 are all actions that take nothing away from the mountain.

The production and trade of economic goods was an efficient means of accumulating wealth at the time.

Drinking wheat porridge every time should be the most normal thing.

Building deer herds and making soap are different from the past actions of quickly accumulating wealth, starting from this winter.

Rurik happily entered the priest's wooden house, 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, feeling its viscosity.

"How is it? Does this oil suit your taste?" 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 oil and get rid of the residue."

The so-called oil residue is actually 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, these sticky things that will coat your hands with grease can be turned into something good for cleaning?"

"Of course. Yes, grandma. I will do it now, and she will help me when Rumia comes back.”

“Maybe I thought I could help you.” Think about it...it's not necessary. If you must help, please ask other priests to come."

Villa nodded, and immediately asked Bo Na, who was still boiling oil, to come over, and she took another shot. Order.

But Pona was obviously unwilling. She just wanted to continue doing her own thing.

Ryurik did not embarrass this person, so he just asked: "Bona, please help me boil a jar of hot water, I want to see it boiling."

"It's just Boiling hot water? That's easy. I hope there's nothing else complicated, kid. It's going to be Hanukkah soon, and I'm stressed out with all the grease you've taken away. Looking at the dissatisfaction in their hearts, it is true that the grease in Tao Wengli is the success of these lower-level priests.

The backwardness of oil refining technology and the difficulty in obtaining materials have greatlyThe manufacture of earthen soap has been greatly restricted.

Rurik somewhat understood the reason why Bona shamed him. The oil in this 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 oil.

Bo Na hopes that her job will be easier, but how can 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. At most, she can be asked to boil hot water.

At this time, the only one who is absolutely reliable is Rumia, who is still grazing.

Perhaps Bo Na will change her mind in the end. She will definitely make her hands greasy and have some fishy smell from boiling oil. These nasty stains are difficult to remove and require frequent hand washing, but are easy to fix with soap.

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 in.

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 waiting, 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.

The plant ash in the pottery urn forms a very thick suspension in which the rich potassium nitrate component is being dissolved, including a small amount of sodium nitrate. In a high-temperature environment, these substances are undergoing chemical changes, that is, they gradually turn into highly alkaline liquids rich in potassium nitrite.

The corrosive ability of this alkali solution on 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 he poured the clear solution into another clean pottery urn, and then boiled 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 table 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 to form a very fine powder, which can be quickly integrated into the liquid during subsequent work.

Those small particles of suspended plant ash took the whole day to gradually settle.For this reason, 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 something strange in the indoor air. Then she looked at her beloved Rurik. The child was staring at a pottery urn.

Rumia was sensible and did not 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 said softly answer.

"Bona, bring some dried meat." Villa continued to close her eyes and ordered casually.

Rumia is a ten-year-old child after all. She is cautious but also full of curiosity. She noticed that the breath was coming from the pottery urn that Rurik was staring at. What on earth was that?

She walked over quickly, carrying a small wooden tray with some thick dried marinated fish.

"Rurik. Do you want to eat?"

Rurik glanced at the sister and stood up quickly.

"I have noticed that you are back. You came just in time. Rumia, wait now, I will get another urn."

She does not need to have it now. If you have any questions, just 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 vat.

Under the dim yellow oil lamp, a brown liquid visible to the naked eye with a unique smell 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 very strange."

"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 remove the semi-solidified seal grease in another pottery urn. It turns into a slightly high-temperature liquid that can be barely touched by the index finger.