Rurik didn't hate wine at all. He actually knew that the people brewed ale that was very low-grade. It had a mellow taste and was quite bitter. If hops are added, ale is upgraded to beer. In an era when beverages were extremely scarce, ale became a very important beverage compared to tasteless pure water.
He is still less than eight years old, and he still enjoyed the so-called mead this winter.
There are two types of Russian mead. One is diluted honey and then fermented. Its taste is like a syrup.
The other is a concoction, which is bitter ale mixed with honey. Ale wine has a slightly higher alcohol content than fermented mead, but not everyone likes the bitterness. Adding honey makes a big difference.
Including the story about Novgorod women’s collective wedding, the wine that the newlyweds quoted as drinking wine was actually ale mixed with honey.
There is even a saying here that life always has bitterness and sweetness coexisting.
Of course, people in the southern European world can also get a large amount of wine as a delicacy. Some wealthy people and nobles who are addicted to wine have not developed alcoholic liver disease, but have developed diabetes in advance!
Rurik took his father's hand and headed to Gould's seaside cabin. He also brought his servant Rumia with him. She sees the world with a heavy responsibility.
The day was still short. When the soft light of the setting sun shone on the ice of the entire beach, Rurik saw the black shadows shaking on the sea. Needless to say, those guys were still catching seals.
Human damage to nature is still limited. The Russians have captured all the wild reindeer in the area, and seals are still easy to capture.
The population of Arctic seals is very large. In the Baltic Sea alone, the seal population in this region is still close to half a million. After all, they are a kind of mammal, and their special fur blocks the erosion of salt water. They are similar to fresh water and sea water, so there are still traces of Baltic seals in Lake Ladoga and even some rivers further inland.
Rurik knew that after purification, seal oil is a slightly yellowish transparent oil, and after it solidifies, it is almost pure white. At present, all soaps are made from it, and seal oil does not have a serious odor. If it were not for the brown color of the plant ash solution, the soap made by myself should be translucent white!
Just now in the soap warehouse, Rurik learned that Gould's excitement about soap came partly from the color of the soap. In this time and space, people are extremely short of all consumer goods. Anything with bright colors can move people. Businessmen, with their keen eyesight, will naturally see business opportunities immediately.
After a while, Rurik stood in front of Gould’s so-called mansion.
It is said to be a mansion, but its appearance is not outstanding. Unlike other houses, Gould had ordered his entourage to clear away all the snow on the roof, exposing its rows of wooden boards.structure. The herringbone formed by this plate alone does show different architectural features from the Ross tribe.
"Let's go, great leader. I had the house renovated last year. I hope you won't mind how messy it is."
Messy? Gould actually spoke with great humility. Ryuri took Rumia's slender arm and followed his father Otto into the house.
This is a huge warm long house. It still has no floor, but the sand and gravel on the ground have obviously been processed, that is, they have been tamped flat by heavy objects.
What Gould calls messiness does not exist at all. The place is obviously beautifully decorated, and the overall layout appears to be very neat.
In fact, it is still an integral longhouse, with wooden boards dividing the interior into a living room, a servant's living room, and the master's bedroom.
There are some shields hanging on the wooden walls, as well as axes with gold patterns that are both decorative and practical. There are also some raised wooden supports holding bronze oil lamps.
Compared with other houses, Gould's long house has better waterproof performance because its roof is made of multi-layer wooden boards. Although there are no ceramic rainproof tiles here, Gould still achieved the effect of tiles by using hard oak planks arranged at random intervals.
Standing in the middle of the hall of the house, Rurik looked up and could only see the largest wooden beam in the longhouse.
The wooden beam is the structural key of the entire longhouse. It can be imagined that if this wooden beam is used as the keel of the ship, it will not be a problem to build a thirty-meter-long transport ship.
Three iron cables hang down a large bronze chandelier, which in turn holds up to thirty-two oil lamps. They are arranged in a radial pattern with mathematical beauty. Thanks to this large matrix of oil lamps, the entire house is It looks quite bright without the need for a bonfire.
The oil lamps on the walls were all lit, and with the largest chandelier, the whole house was very warm.
After a moment, Gould clapped his hands and called his entourage to the living room.
There were four warriors, two young maids, and a man wearing a linen robe.
Seeing the samurai, Otto almost instinctively grasped the hilt of his sword.
Seeing this, Gould waved quickly, and the fat on his face trembled: "My leader, don't be nervous. You see, these are my people, and there are some who live in another longhouse. ."
Otto relaxed a little and joked: "Gould, it seems that your life is very nourishing, but you still need young women to serve you, but does this make other things for you? Women are disgusted?"
"You mean my maids? Hey, they are just humble slaves. Did you notice their red hair? These are two Britons. , maybe you don’t know very well, but the Danes have always captured some slaves from the island called Britain in the west in recent years, and even we can spend some money to buy some.”
“This... …I have heard somethingSmell, but we don't need those servants. ”
“But you have also made changes. Gould glanced at Rumia beside Rurik and pointed out: "You also chose a maid for your son." You are indeed different, and I also think you intend to make this humble deer herder your son's wife. I have found out the truth. You are really a little strange. The treatment you give your servants is too high! ”
“Don’t mention this matter any more. Otto waved his hand, "You have someone bring me the blanket. I want to rest." And put your good wine and meat on the table. I want to see what good wine you are talking about. "
"Okay! "Gould slapped his thigh and asked the skinny man to bring the food. It turned out that this man was just a chef.
He asked the chef to bring the food that had been prepared, and what followed was There are leather blankets and low wooden tables.
Many tribal people have no table to eat at all, just because there is no urgent need. Otto usually sits cross-legged when eating, and puts it on the table. Nibbling on the meat in the pottery pot, or drinking the soup with a spoon from a set of bowls
Gould's life was so particular that he looked at the cold barbecue on the table. Tuo actually felt a little uncomfortable.
The barbecue was cold, and what was served was actually beef, with a thin layer of butter attached to it. Rurik was completely satisfied like his father. The same care was taken, but poor Rumia could only sit aside and watch obediently.
The dinner was cold beef, some rye bread and some side dishes. The sweet taste of dried cranberries is precious.
As wealthy as Gould, he didn’t feel that this treat was inappropriate for the great chief of the Ross people, because he could also eat it on weekdays. These foods.
The most important thing about this dinner is wine!
“Great leader, please wait a moment and I will get you my treasure. ”
Gould stood up and walked into his bedroom. After a while, he walked out carrying three transparent bottles.
He actually held a transparent bottle. Bottle!
Rurik was bored and tried to cut the cold roast beef into pieces. He felt that he could not eat such a big lump. The two children could always kill the Rumia given to him.
He saw the three glass bottles that Gould was only holding. Their almost pure and transparent appearance was really shocking.
It is as if these bottles did not come from the ninth century AD at all, as if some time traveler deliberately left them in the cracks of history. In the end, the extremely cheap bottles, which cost only a dime, became Gould's. Baby.
But it’s not really a bottle from a thousand years later.
Gould proudly placed three cakes of different colors on his low table. The liquid was still sloshing, and Rurik could see the bubbles in it.
The heights of the cakes varied.There are differences, the shape details are also different, and there is a crooked texture in some places.
After looking closely, Rurik relaxed his mood and confirmed that she was not from the future, but rather from this era and was created by some magical craftsmen.
Rurik had already made an estimate in his mind about the origin of the bottles. Perhaps they came from Eastern Rome or Persia. As for glass, it was given the name "glass" to the East because it was produced in Persia.
Gould proudly faced the astonished leader Otto and boasted: "Great leader, maybe compared to wine, these three bottles of mine are the greatest treasures."
"Yes...I...I know. This is a crystal bottle, and you actually have such a treasure."
When Rurik heard his father's words, the hairs all over his body stood up in an instant. The words crystal and bottle were spoken twice in Norse and became a combined word. The co-author's father knew the concept of crystal bottle and also knew its value.
Gould shook his head: "No. It is not a crystal bottle, and it is not as precious as a crystal bottle. It may come from Rome, or it may come from further east. In short, in order to get these three bottles , I spent a lot of money. Think about it, I spent twenty gold coins on each bottle.”
“It’s so expensive to sell a bottle for the price of a ship. Only people like you can do it." Otto praised with envy.
“Now you can do it too!” Gould boasted, “Your son has earned a huge fortune for you, and I know this very well. You see, now those soaps have made the lovely Rurik became extremely wealthy."
"My son is still too young."
"No! I can see that he must be a business genius. Great leader, and future leader, I am eager to cooperate further with you."
While taking advantage of this dinner, Gould frantically released his kindness. Rurik could hear this man's flattery. Youdao means you can't wait until there is no profit. The reason why a senior businessman can say a series of flattery words must be that the businessman feels that in-depth cooperation means huge business opportunities.
Since the other party showed strong goodwill, Rurik, who kept silent, directly expressed his decision.
"Gould, I like these bottles of yours. You don't have new ones yet? I have a lot of money now, and if I can, I hope to buy them from you. I will make one The price you are satisfied with.”
“Really?” Gould’s mind whirled wildly when he sensed the business opportunity, and he immediately responded respectfully, “I’m sorry, my little master, these are the three I have here. , I am very reluctant to part with them, but I will try my luck in the south. If I can buy them at the market, I will offer them when I return in the autumn."
"Okay, you are the best. So we can find out whether they come from Rome or from the more eastern world." Rurik was very interested in this, and for a moment he began to think about the possibility of making it himself.
Put a piece of naturalCrystal is carved into cups, and many ethnic groups around the world know how to make them. During China's Spring and Autumn Period, kings such as Chu State already had their own World Cup. In the Tang Dynasty, such cups were called "luminous cups", and poems about luminous cups of grape wine have been circulated.
More ancient ones are like the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. In the tombs of the temple, there are not only crystal cups, but also weapons made of meteorite.
Rurik felt that these glass bottles came from Persia, and were trafficked by food merchants to Eastern Rome, and then resold to Gould. The merchants had to make money every time they resold them. , the so-called twenty silver coins is one-fifth of a Roman pound of gold! It's a huge sum of money!
He knows very well that the main component of glass is silica, so the most critical raw material for making glass is quartz sand. For example, large pieces of beautiful crystal crystal columns are crushed, then melted and re-plasticized. , has the glass been made that can be used?
Rurik thought of the high-temperature gelatinous slag flowing out of the blacksmith's furnace. When the slag cools naturally, it has a glass-like texture.
Maybe when the Persians were smelting iron or making pottery, they discovered that ores and pottery clay containing a lot of quartz sand would become special after being heated. This was the creative way to directly burn quartz sand, and some chance coincidence created an almost transparent cooling object.
By adding some lead soil, a by-product of smelting silver, which is the so-called lead dioxide, and calcium oxide that is widely available in mountainous areas, practical glass can be made. But it is not pure, and impurities that are difficult to remove cannot guarantee absolute transparency, so it is more appropriately called colored glaze.
After sorting out the knowledge in his mind, Rurik felt that there seemed to be no problem in the craftsmanship of using sand from the coast and lead from the blacksmith shop to create a glass container in the remote Roseburg.
Look at these three glass bottles. They are obviously blown bottles. It can be seen that their makers already have very mature "bottle blowing" technology.
Cheap glass bottles were actually produced efficiently during the era of great industrial development in the 20th century. Even in the 19th century, bottles were all blown out by craftsmen. Even so, in the 21st century, there is still a huge market for professional bottle blowing craftsmen.
The reason for the magical physical properties of glass still does not have a very reasonable scientific explanation, and it still puzzles people in the 21st century. This mass of calcium silica and lead-based material has strong plasticity after heating, and craftsmen since ancient times have been able to shape it into a variety of shapes.
In addition to becoming daily necessities, they can even be transformed into weapons, such as using glass as arrows or other things.
Looking at the three bottles of wine Gould laid out, if one bottle contains pure "water of life", that is, spirits purified to 97%, it is no longer considered wine. This glass bottle can be used as a fragile container for incendiary weapons.
Wine? Pure wine?
Rurik immediately figured out how to make glass, and even came up with the ideaDiscuss this with Blacksmith Clavarson and put his great money-making plan into action.
His attention suddenly shifted to the three bottles of wine on Gould's desk.
Of these three glass bottles, the left one is dark red and should be wine. The color of the middle bottle is yellowish, which may be honey fermented wine or ale. As for the bottle on the right, it can’t be filled with plain water!
Gould kept saying that they were all wine. Could it be that the bottle on the far right contains...