The priests discussed what Rurik had done, and they all had different opinions.
I never thought that this child would come in person at night.
After all, it was his decision. Bona welcomed Rurik's arrival with a smile and had no intention of mentioning these things again.
"Rurik, why are you here so late?"
"Yes." Rurik looked left and right, and then deliberately sniffed the air: " Now the soap production seems to be normal."
Only this matter makes Poona particularly proud. She pinched her waist happily, "We try our best to buy whale oil. Whether it's the best whale brain oil or the oil from fish skin (they think whales are also fish), I try to buy it as much as possible."
"Still making it at the rate of 40 yuan a day?" Rurik asked.
"Yes, if you have special needs, I will find a way to speed up the process. Maybe I still have to call the girls who help."
"No need. "Rurik waved his hand. He really felt that this speed was acceptable.
In general, even if the priests can only earn 20% of the gross profit by purchasing the processing materials themselves and turning them into finished products, they still feel that this business is worthwhile.
Because in terms of food expenses for ordinary people, two silver coins a month are more than enough. What's more, the priests are very special. They are a small group of people who never worry about eating.
Basically, each priest can earn nearly one silver coin a day working without leaving home. They hardly consume, and few people in the Ross tribe take the initiative to produce consumer goods. No, many priests melted down silver coins to make silver bracelets and rings.
The maximum amount paid to them is ten silver coins every day, which is only three hundred in a month.
For this reason, Rurik’s current most optimistic estimate is that he can get 1,200 dried sharp items a month.
Rurik firmly believed that when Gould, the big businessman who made a lot of money, returned, he would buy them all without hesitation.
He composed himself: "Bona, I have no objection to your soap work. Now, I need something else."
"What is it?"
< p>"It's those salt-like crystals precipitated from the plant ash solution. I need it!" At this point, Rurik suddenly thought, "All you priests try your best. I...produce one pound for me, and I will give it to you. Ten silver coins.""Really?" Bonaben's tired face suddenly trembled.
"I have made a decision. I hope you can make me a pound tomorrow morning."
After making the request, Rurik did not linger.
She soon returned home and was forced to talk to her mother about what happened during the day.
Are you proud? Proud?
No, Rurik was still thinking about the glassware.
Early in the morning, Rurik went to check the plant ash precipitates he needed.
Bona’s wrinkled face seemed to be wearing inkLooking in the mirror, the dark circles under her eyes were shocking, and her steps became shaky as she obviously hadn't slept all night.
What’s worse, Bonahun exudes a strong smoky smell, and the reason is very simple. These priests spent all night burning dead branches and leaves to get so many crystals.
"Rurik, this is what you want." Poona tremblingly carried the small linen bag and opened it immediately.
Inspection? certainly.
Rurik subconsciously stretched out his little finger to dip a little of this strange crystal, and touched it lightly with the tip of his tongue. The extreme bitterness instantly made his scalp numb and his whole body trembled.
"What do you think?"
"This is the taste." Rurik said excitedly.
Poona looked confused, "This is another key to making soap. Do you think it is... delicious? It is obviously very bitter."
"I need it just because of the bitterness. "
Rurik happily got the bag of mixed crystals of potassium nitrate and potassium carbonate, regardless of whether it was a standard pound, and handed ten silver coins to Bona.
In the morning, train the children as usual. This time, Rurik ordered them to bring their own wooden bowls.
The fish is in the pot, and the cooked meat is being fished out one after another. Today's situation is exactly the same as yesterday. The children used their own bowls to hold the meat, and then directly picked up the fish with their hands, feasting like hungry wolves.
They will get more nutrients than others, and their physical fitness will be improved. Of course, this improvement is still not enough in Rurik's view.
Although they are children, if they train every morning, their physical energy consumption throughout the day may be 2,000 calories.
Even if they are children.
They finished eating the meat and walked back to their homes one after another.
Rurik held his waist and stayed at the "large-scale meat-eating scene", still accompanied by two followers, Kanuf and Fisk.
He patted the small bag on his waist, "Let's go, follow me to the blacksmith shop, I hope Klavason succeeds."
Rurik believed in the old guy's level , after all, he is someone who thinks that he can master metallurgy, gem setting and other technologies well.
Everything was as expected. Rurik saw carefully that Klavasen actually made the so-called "simple version of the manual stamping machine" according to the leak-picking drawings he provided.
This machine is placed in the blacksmith shop with ventilation on both sides. Since it was already completed, Klavasen continued the work of carburizing and forging his sword blank.
Rurik finally came. This time, Klavasen, who was eager to show off his results, not only stopped working, but was also eager to introduce his results.
It turns out that this senior blacksmith is a very professional copper smelter.
Like casting a bronze axe, Klavasen used the clay mold casting technique to create two necessary components.
The blacksmith's small stove uses the help of the leather bag blower to reach a high temperature of one thousand degrees.question.
Tin and lead were added to the bronze, making the melting point of the alloy low enough.
It was precisely because there was still a need to smelt bronze that Clavarson dared to say that he had a large amount of lead on hand.
The two shiny bronze vessels can withstand at least a thousand degrees of heat. They are the core molds for pressed glassware.
The bronze vessel with a groove at the lower end is a container, a bronze mortar. The short and thick bronze rod above is processed to be close to a cylinder, which is the "punch" for pressing.
Although Klavasen is not particularly clear about the principle of leverage, he already knows the wonderful use of leverage. After all, to push a newly built ship into the sea, a crowbar is necessary.
He machined some wooden poles, with iron nails as latches at the lever joints. He made this lever system according to the drawings, so that the bronze punch can enter the bronze mortar quite vertically.
Rurik opened his eyes to admire this manual stamping machine from the ninth century AD.
In fact, as far as the machinery itself is concerned, this type of machinery is not surprising at all.
Similar equipment was used for pressing grape juice in Eastern Rome. Equipment based on this principle has existed since ancient times. The southern part of the Frankish Kingdom has also been a grape-producing area since ancient times. The locals either used unmarried girls to press the grapes with their feet or used wooden mechanical presses. As far as preferences are concerned, nobles still hope to think of those girls when drinking wine.
Hundreds of years later, the Germans used this set of machinery and the engraving printing technique learned from the far East to usher in the printing era in the West.
It is Rurik's technique of pressing glass and directly making it into finished glassware. Countries that can make glassware in this time and space cannot even bring it up.
Because the biggest reason is their material problem.
Rurik has decided to add lead to the raw materials so that the molten glass will begin to melt at just 600 degrees and quickly become as viscous as honey.
As for the toxicity of lead, Rurik also decided to strategically ignore it.
After all, the toxicity of heavy metals such as lead is determined by measurement. Lead glass is indeed poisonous. If you don't use it to hold acidic substances or wine, but just use it as a water glass, its problem is not serious.
After checking the machinery, Rurik suddenly asked: "Maybe we can experiment with clay."
"I've already done it." Klavasen pointed out with a smile. Holding a strange pile of mud.
"Huh? Fisk, help me get that mud." Rurik ordered casually.
Because of the powerful shaping ability of clay, it was pressed into the shape of a cup.
At this moment, Rurik joked: "Haha, maybe we can produce a batch of clay cups like this? Can't it just be fired?"
"I have one "I mean," Klavason said constructively, "Clay is easy to obtain, but the river sand you want is slightly difficult to obtain."
"So you have all the materials I want?"
"Yes, I got everything you asked for. There is only the third thing."
Rurik Patting his waist: "It's here. I didn't even think that the machine I asked to make could also produce clay embryos."
After all, Rurik didn't believe that rough technology could make glass cups. It is very thin. Besides, compared to blown glass, the pressed production process means that the glass must have a very thick base, and even the glass wall must be thick.
Rurik couldn’t help but think of the cat claw cup he remembered. For this cute little thing worth 198, he also worked hard with his hand speed, but failed in the end.
However, the pressing operation of a small local glass factory can use cat's claw molds to press out the same glass at a very low cost.
As a cup, of course high boron glass is the best. But with the current technology, Rurik feels that it is either impossible or that technology accumulation is still needed to achieve it.
Rurik opened his linen bag, showed these transparent crystals, and said to Klavason: "This is the third raw material. Where are the others? I want to see it immediately. Don't do it again No worries, let’s start right away. I hope we can succeed at night.”
“Okay!” Klavason patted his thigh and quickly went to get the materials.
Soon, Klavasen placed all the materials on a simple wooden table.
What’s there in Knock Knock?
A pile of sun-dried, crystal clear sand with some impurities from a nearby creek.
A pile of dry and whitish processed quicklime.
There is also a pool of deliberately ground lead, specifically lead oxide powder.
Rurik nodded, and finally put his bag of potassium carbonate and potassium nitrate mixture on top.
"What to do next?" Klavason asked.
Rurik pointed with his little hand: "Put them into your hard clay pot, the one where you poured the bronze."
"In what proportion?"< /p>
A professional question, Rurik smiled, "Listen to me now."
Is glass a liquid or a solid? What is its essence? This matter cannot be explained clearly even in the 21st century.
But the principles of making glass easier to process are already very clear.
Microscopically, after the molten silica cools, the molecules will do their best to arrange themselves into hexagonal crystals. The deliberate addition of various alkaline ions such as calcium, potassium, lead, etc. can interfere with its molecular structure.
This allows the glass to melt at very low temperatures, but it can never become a pure liquid.
When it begins to cool down and solidify, these impurities cannot destroy its stability. Some special substances can even make the glass more transparent and clear!
The main component of glass is silica. Rurik vaguely remembers that the so-called lead glass, theThe lead content may be as high as 20%. As for other formulas, you also need to add some, so that the combined effect of a large amount of alkali metals will eventually make the glass easy to melt and become plastic.
In this regard, Rurik only had theories. He had never made glass himself, and now he was doing a bold experiment in Klavassen's blacksmith shop.
At least in the entire Viking world around the Baltic Sea, no one has yet attempted to make glassware.
Rurik informed Klavason of the proportions of the formula.
"Is this the ratio? Are you sure?"
"Yes." Rurik said cautiously: "Just try it like this. If the effect is not good, we will adjust the ratio. "
"Okay. Let's start now"
Compared with Rurik's caution, Klavason is really full of fighting spirit. Looking at the various raw materials he had obtained, no matter how he thought about it, he didn't think it could be related to natural crystals. But Rurik kept saying that people can make artificial crystals.
The hard pottery crucible used by Clavarson to smelt bronze was cleaned of debris. Next, all kinds of raw materials that have become sand and soil are put in.
The crucible was placed in the furnace, and then he put a large amount of dry charcoal vertically, and all the operations were like burning bronze water.
The noble Rurik could not do the job of controlling the air bag blower, so Klavasen asked the curious Kanuf and Fiske to do this job. The two children were very happy to try new toys and pressed the huge air bag here.
With this strong intake of air, the flames quickly burst out.
Rurik stood tall, staring at the condition of the crucible in the furnace.
I saw that the various raw materials inside really began to melt into a shiny paste.
Not only them, but the entire crucible is also glowing.
Even Rurik felt that he saw white flames. He could estimate that his two followers, who were already sweating profusely, had helped the charcoal reach the limit of calorific value.
This is because Klavasen's so-called hard pottery crucible actually contains a large amount of iron. It has become a mixture of silicon and iron and has very good heat resistance.
Klavasen is always paying attention to the changes in the crucible. Until now, he doesn't think there is anything special about the material changes inside the crucible.
"Rurik, I think... the glass you mentioned reminds me of sticky slag."
"Yes, those slags have been cleaned of debris, and we You can get it too," Rurik tried his best to answer calmly.
"Really? But those slags are just a pile of brittle sand even after they have cooled. Is it because of the impurities in them?"
"Of course. Now let the fire Keep burning! Klavason, have you really studied the atomic theory I gave you? These debris contain a lot of carbon, and we must burn them off!Silicone. ”
Anyway, I have already given a set of atomic theory. Although this theory is not the truth, it is at least more reliable than people in other places relying on subjective assumptions to judge everything in the world.
Besides , his theory is completely correct when it comes to general chemical reactions.
Klavasen seemed to understand but at least he had completely understood one thing, such as what fire is not. Substance, but "a violent reaction when substances are recombined"
Compared with sea sand, Rurik feels that river sand is most suitable for making glass. Of course, if you can get a lot of natural crystals, use them. It would be best if you smash it into pieces and melt it to make glass. The reason why sea sand is not good is because there must be a lot of small shells in it, and it is troublesome to remove these debris.
The crucible has been being heated, and Klavasen has filled it with several new charcoal sticks to support the continued heating.
He gently shook the crucible with the tongs, and gradually noticed the substance that resembled molten slag. , it is indeed very different from real slag.
It is definitely not the kind of viscous molten slag, and it is no longer the shiny and high-heat "water" like bronze water.
"Luri. Gram, do you think this thing is like honey? ! "Klavasen deliberately teased.
"Huh? It looks a bit similar, it's the kind of warm honey. I really didn't expect it to become so runny after adding lead. "
"Is it okay now? It's been a long time. "Clavason urged, "Your two followers also seem to lack the strength to press the air bag. ”
“Then let’s get started!” "
Rurik held his breath, and Kanuf and Fisk stood up panting. The three of them watched Klavasen clamp the crucible with pliers and walked towards the "simple manual stamping machine" that had been made machine. ”
Isn’t this the first time Klavason has done this?
He carefully tilted the crucible and stared at the paste-like molten material falling freely into the bronze mortar.< /p>
"Start? Rurik? " He asked.
Rurik hurriedly leaned over. He gently poked his head and saw that the molten material in the bronze mortar was obviously cooling down rapidly. "Let's start! Once it cools we can no longer plasticize it. "
"Okay. "Klavasen moved the lever handle: "Ah! After I came into contact, there was really a force that prevented me from continuing to suppress it. ”
“Keep pressing. Until it reaches the level I designed. "Rurik urged.
"Then I will use my strength. "With a dull roar, Klavasen pressed the bronze punch to the designed limit.
Rurik was pleasantly surprised to see that the still red molten material, like butter, was flabbergasted along the edge. Seeing this, Rurik drew out his steel sword without hesitation and started cutting. These molten substances, Rurik suddenly had a feeling of cutting through the sticky and heated material.Ginger candy feeling. He completed the circular cut on the bronze punch rod, cutting off any unnecessary scraps.
"What should I do next? Should I lift it up?" Klavasen asked, and before Rurik could answer, the old guy was already on the rise.
Rurik hurriedly ordered a ban.
"What's wrong?"
At this moment, Rurik suddenly thought of something. In a panic, he suddenly thought of annealing. Otherwise, the cooled glass will easily crack itself.
"Klavason." Rurik ordered suddenly.
"What are your orders?"
"Let go now and light a pile of firewood. Well...just let the firewood burn naturally. I need the hot ashes inside."
p>
"Ashes? Okay."
Lighting a fire is as simple as taking some briquettes from a still-burning stove and lighting a firewood outdoors. When the flames began to light up, Ryuri ordered his two followers to start tending to the pile of firewood.
Klavason came back and asked: "Is it okay now?"
"Okay, just lift the lever. I think there will be no resistance." ”
Rurik estimated that as the glass shrank, the bronze rod responsible for stamping would not have any resistance, but this was the result.
Now, the bronze mortar is no longer a red molten substance. It has completed its plasticity. Rurik is satisfied to see that it has become transparent!
Although its temperature is still over 100 degrees, ordinary touching, like picking it out with tongs, will not cause it to deform or disintegrate.
That’s what Klavasen did. When he used pliers to pick out the glass, everyone was shocked!
"Ah?! This? Is it a crystal? Rurik, we made a crystal cup like this? Oh, it's even wonderful. I'm going to put it into the water and see how he fills it with water. "Like this."
"What? You want to quench it? Never!" Rurik stopped and put the thick-walled pressed glass with a light brown color into the bucket. , indeed, the glass cooled instantly, but when Klavason took it in his hand, he saw the terrifying cracks on it.
Rurik stomped his feet in regret, and shouted loudly: "How can you quench the fire? This is not blacksmithing, it must not be quenched. Otherwise, why do you think I asked you to light a bonfire? I want it to cool down slowly, so that it won't break."
"Is there such a thing?" Klavason played with the quilt with three cracks in his hand, and then placed it on the wooden pillar. It's light and feels like a stone. With just this knock, it suddenly completely shattered and fell to the ground into many transparent and beautiful fragments.
Rurik knelt down and picked up the debris on the ground. Although it was a pity, when he looked at these fragments carefully, for a moment, a trance that spanned time and space suddenly occupied Rurik's mind.
No matter what, thisThe pieces were indeed glass. Although it is not completely transparent, it has a light brown color. But this texture is also a kind of beauty!
Rurik was no longer angry. After all, he was not well prepared and did not even have the original annealing equipment.
"Child, don't be angry. Please forgive my recklessness." Klavasen's tone was obviously coaxing Rurik, as if he was really coaxing an eight-year-old child.
Rurik smiled and nodded: "For our ultimate success, we will always fail once or twice. Now that we can make up for our mistakes, let us consume all the materials."
p>After saying that, Rurik carefully picked up all the fragments to avoid scratching his hands.
With the experience of failure, the next work becomes easier.
Since the materials prepared by Klavason were actually very large, especially the lead, Rurik suspected that this old guy was also engaged in exchanging silver for lead.
The new work of pressing glassware has begun, and the old but powerful Klavasen is still the main force.
The old guy couldn't help asking a question from his soul: "Rurik, I remember what you said, it's easy to make things with lead, and people will become stupid? Since you asked me to put so much lead in the raw materials Powder, wouldn’t we become fools if we used it?”
“No.” Rurik shook his head, “I’ve seen the high priest use it for so many years. Drinking water from a bronze cup, she has miraculously lived to be seventy years old, but she is still the wisest person."
"But as you said, lead is poisonous."
"Its toxicity is absolutely true, but if you just use it to hold water, the toxicity can be ignored. Besides, maybe a person will die of illness before he becomes an old fool because of an illness. Anyway, we You can do it without adding lead powder. The cup is still a cup, but it takes longer to burn and you have to press it with more force."
"Oh?" Clavarson smiled. Well, I would rather use more strength than you to become a fool by drinking from a glass. "Haha? Are you worried about me? I have already decided." The leaded glass can be sold at a lower price, as long as one silver coin. As for the glass I use, of course it will not be leaded. I will give you a reward, and you blacksmiths have formed a guild. Take care of the work of making glass. As usual, we sign an agreement, you divide the work into glass, and we discuss how to make money."
"Okay! At least make this, even if it's a cup. Selling a silver coin is faster than me making a steel sword. Haha, I think you would never agree to sell a cup for just a silver coin."
"That's true. "Rurik suddenly thought that in this era, glass bottles were originally a luxury product for the nobility, and they were mainly consumed by them.
Poor yeoman? What they need to solve most urgently is metal farmersThere is a problem. It is enough to have wooden cups and buckets on weekdays.
Since the buyer's market is like this, it is indeed ridiculous to say "one silver coin and one cup" without thinking.
After all, you have to cheat those big players, isn’t it ten silver coins for a cup? As long as it's cheaper than the glass bottles made by Gould!
Soon, Klavason ran out of all the raw materials. Specifically, it was also because Rurik was the first to use up all the potassium carbonate and potassium nitrate.
The glassware has not yet become a real finished product, at least they have become quite transparent. They are still hot enough to blanch raw meat!
A pool of firewood gradually turned into the last embers, and its temperature was still four hundred degrees! This temperature is not enough to soften lead glass, but this firewood is the simplest so-called "annealing furnace" Rurik can think of.
A total of twenty glasses were buried in ashes under the shocked eyes of Kanuf and Fisk.
Klavason asked: "Rurik, what should we do next?"
"Let's wait!"
"What is the right time to wait?"
p>
"When the embers are completely extinguished, we take out the cup so that it won't break easily."