Otto never imagined that there could be another kind of bow that could shoot arrows through wood and that a child could operate alone.
Admittedly, the way to cock the steel-arm crossbow is very unique and time-consuming. Since the arrows it fires can penetrate the wood, they can also kill bears and wild boars.
This thing is the real "new trick" of his lovely son Rurik.
When Otto was shooting the crossbow himself, he suddenly realized that he didn't need a ratchet winch to wind it up. He put on thick leather gloves, stepped on the bow arm with both feet, and with the strength of both hands, with a roar, he could put the oil-soaked hemp rope bow string on the trigger.
"Hey? Maybe it's most suitable for adults?"
Rurik, who had his hands in his leather jacket, looked at his father's joy with satisfaction: "Dad, this is for adults. Prepared. It can make our warriors particularly powerful, and it can also make many children capable of killing enemies."
Otto's rough cheek was pressed against Muto again, looking at Rurik. Come on, my father bowed slightly forward. He was clearly holding a rifle.
Otto muttered: "The wooden shield has no defensive effect. Isn't it unfair if the enemy's warriors are simply shot and killed? Well, maybe real warriors shouldn't hold With weapons like this, you can still fight like a real man."
The old leader said no more, and he pulled the trigger again. The hemp rope that quickly returned to its place was like a knife, once again shaving off a lot of Otto's beard.
The hardened steel-tipped arrow fired once again penetrated the wooden plank and struck hard on the second plank behind it.
At this moment, eight arrows were inserted into the second piece of wood.
"I'm tired." Otto put away the weapon, threw it to Harold Zosen, who was eager to try, and then shook his arm that was a little sore from stringing it with his bare hands. He approached his son and asked bluntly: "Son, how do you plan to use it? For example, to shoot prey?"
"Of course. For example, to shoot seals."
" Seals?" Otto shook his head: "It's better to hunt bears, or attack the enemy. Tell me, if you command an army, how will you use it..."
< p>Rurik said loudly without even thinking: "Of course, a lot of equipment, use it for hits. Dad, you know, I have a new agreement with Klavasen.""That is, Your arrow array? Okay, maybe it will be effective."
Otto can't imagine a scene of thousands of arrows being fired. Perhaps the big reason is that the Russians organized the so-called army to take some actions. , the military strength is often only about 500 people. Now, the archers released rockets, and the engineers began to get Otto's attention, but it was only for arson.
The crossbow gave Otto a strong shock. He finally patted his son on the head wearing a velvet hat: "Son, you may have a chance soon."
Rurik wasn't sure what his father meant by his words, and he didn't want to pay attention to the crossbow for the time being. He only needs to occasionally run to the blacksmith shop of Clavason to get some spirits donated to his father and at the same time see how many crossbows are completed.
After Saugon's fleet returned, the tribe immediately began its annual spoils-sharing meeting.
Just like the "rules" that were revised again before, the leader's family received half of all tributes! And this is also the result of Otto's great mercy out of joy.
This time, a small group of unmarried young Russian men married their wives in Novgorod. After they returned, they held the wedding of the Russian tribe as usual.
After marriage, young men not only receive blessings from their tribesmen for giving birth to new warriors, but they also have a large amount of food in their hands, so that they can spend a stable and prosperous winter with their newlywed wives.
More than 500 Russian warriors shared as much as 200,000 pounds of grain, which was the reward they deserved.
Each warrior was entitled to about four hundred pounds of oats or rye, among other items.
Russian people are always very busy in the summer. When it comes to the cold winter, people hide at home due to the severe cold. If there is nothing profitable to do, they will not leave home.
Hiding at home, a man can eat a pound of wheat in two days.
Therefore, in the past Sorong voyages, all members of the tribe were eating from a big pot, so that the food allocated to everyone could often only last a month.
What is different now is not only that the tribe has changed the rules for dividends, but also that the tribe has increased its extortion efforts. Now, the wheat owned by the participating families can be eaten sparingly until the snow melts. Not to mention that they have already prepared food for the winter, and the plundered oats are the icing on the cake.
They attributed the reason why they were able to eat for a long time to the wise leadership of their leader.
It can be said that the success of every Sorgon voyage was accompanied by an increase in Otto's prestige.
But Otto is getting older year by year, and the strength he currently possesses will be quickly lost within a few years, and he will eventually become an old man waiting to die.
Every winter, Otto's inner sense of crisis became stronger. Seeing Viglia's rapid deterioration in physical condition over the past year, his worries increased.
"Rurik, you must gain experience quickly. Rumia, you must also grow."
This sense of urgency reached its extreme, which is what Otto decided to implement A great plan. The plan began to be quietly prepared among the Ross tribe in November.
It has been more than a month since the Sorgon fleet returned, and the time has also entered December in the Julian calendar.
During this period, the people of the Ross tribe did not stay in their warm homes one by one.
Ice and snow are terrible and harsh to many, but to some braveIsn't it an opportunity to gain profits?
What's more, this year's situation has seen greater changes, and its appearance has really stimulated the hunters of the tribe.
Nowadays, when people spontaneously go out to set traps to hunt ferrets, its attractiveness of profit seems to have been replaced by another kind of prey.
During the clear and short day, snow covered the land as usual, and a terrifying half-meter-thick ice layer appeared in the fjord where Fort Ross is located. The ice did not block the fishermen's thoughts of fishing, such as digging a hole and throwing down the hemp rope and fishhook to catch cod.
However, after fishermen dig holes, they often accidentally poke the seals that emerge to breathe with their short spears.
In the past, the tribesmen caught seals in winter just for their meat, to skin them and then tan them to sell them for money.
What now? Seal oil, which once had limited value, is being purchased by Rurik at a high price.
The explorers were surprised to find that as soon as they left the Rossberg Fjord and entered the vast ice-covered sea, the ice here was thinner and it was easier to dig holes.
There were more than 400 fishermen who blocked the fishing boat and pushed it into a wooden shed. Then he drove the sled and carried the equipment for setting up the tent, and ran to the distant sea to become a seal hunter.
As for Rurik’s maids, they all became soap workers.
Yes, they are real child laborers.
But Rurik did not feel that he was guilty at all. He told his men that the purpose of boiling oil and making soap was to earn silver coins. Later, merchants would use the silver coins to buy food. In this way, everyone Only then can you eat enough. They talked too much and it was difficult for them to understand. Rurik simply repeated a truth: We just have to use today's soap to exchange for our food next year. If we don't make soap, everyone will starve to death.
Those Melalen beggars who are now Russians cherish the hard-earned favors when they think of the pain of living on the streets in hunger and cold.
The first ten maids became the best "soap teachers". They were generally responsible for about six subordinates, forming a team.
Rurik divided the work among the girls’ teams so that the team is fully responsible for all steps of soap production.
Because of the current situation, those hunters with amazing mobility can bring back more than a hundred plump seals every day. Rurik received not only a large amount of fat that exceeded his estimate, but also a large amount of meat.
He really didn’t expect that eating seal meat would become a daily routine.
What shocked him the most was his own Rumia.
"This girl is truly a Sami. What? Raw seal liver has a unique flavor? Bah! The fishy smell is not delicious."
But she has a special liking for seal liver. Rumia, now she does have this important job - being a teacher.
Those wooden canteens have been reinforced, and the so-called reinforcements are actually snow and ice. A leaky shedWaihao has become a closed place, and this place is perfect for serving as a classroom.
It is very strange to say that now Rumia, a Sami who is good at raising deer, has begun to hold the priest's board and tell the history of the Rus to a large group of children.
What is the Ross Tribe?
What is the Siiya Tribal Alliance?
What are Danes again?
There are also mysterious Eastern people?
Rumia now plays a supporting role. When it comes to teaching, Rurik must personally take charge.
Here, the most important content Rurik teaches for the time being is history, or "stories of the past." The children listened to it as a story, and under the dim oil lamp, Rurik saw wide eyes. For a moment, a kind of happiness of being a teacher came to my mind.
It was a bit regretful for him. Apart from his maids, there were only a handful of boys who could receive training here. The boys sitting here are all his cronies. They may not really be here for knowledge, but maybe just because they want to have a closer relationship with the boss
In this case, Rurik simply informed everyone that the so-called " The "human world" is not a giant disk on the so-called World Tree, but a big ball floating on the water. However, it was too difficult for children to understand the world in an abstract way, so Rurik had to make up some stories to justify himself.
The large number of incredible rhetoric made Rumia highly nervous. She felt that the words of the "Son of God" were the truth.
She felt that Rurik was her male god, and there was admiration in her eyes.
Of course, the attitude of all the maids is surprisingly consistent. The master is the greatest person.
Rurik felt that such a life was extremely comfortable. He could not teach knowledge to all the children in the tribe for the time being, so it would be a great good thing to be able to teach his girls clearly.
Because the girls here are indeed maids. Rurik does not think that his kidneys are invincible. He can indeed ask for the marriage of some girls. Most of the girls here, they are Just a maid, nothing more. They will marry the boys of the tribe in a completely pure attitude. Rurik believes that these girls with some knowledge will first educate their own children.
Rurik focuses more on the next generation. After all, it takes ten years to educate a generation that lasts for more than a hundred years. For example, it took the old King of Prussia half a century to complete compulsory education across the country. There must be something urgent about education. No.
A comfortable life always passes quickly.
The maids spend a lot of time every day busy making soap. After completing the planned work, they then receive Rurik's cultural knowledge education.
As for a group of boys in the tribe, they are currently busy playing in the snow. Or he went hunting for seals with his fisherman father.
The five -family blacksmiths of the tribe continue to be dingling. They are put on a leather apron, standing in front of the stove and the blacksmith.work under.
The blacksmith's sweat fell into the fire from time to time, causing a strong crackling sound.
Things are very different this year for the Klavason family.
"Dad, is it really right for us to give up on other people's orders? I still want to continue making steel swords." Kawei, who was bending the iron bars desperately, was emotionally dissatisfied and confused.
Klavasen, who was immersed in rummaging through the smoldering sponge iron, did not face his son directly.
The old blacksmith buried his head and said: "I made an agreement with Rurik. I must complete fifty pairs of steel-arm crossbows before the Winter Solstice Festival."
"But This workload is not small. We still need to make a thousand special arrows. Dad, we are blacksmiths who make swords and spears, not bowsmiths."
"We have never been bowsmiths. "Listen, Kawei." At this time, Klavason raised his head. He also took out the red sponge iron and carried it to the blacksmith's bench: "No more nonsense this winter." Leave the sword man to those colleagues, and we will focus on completing Rurik's order. You don't have to regret anything. With fifty crossbows and arrows, we can still earn the money for fifty steel swords. You and I don’t have to worry about customers not being able to pay. Rurik is the richest!”
“The same goes for this.” Kawei frowned and said, “However, I still like to make swords. A man should have his own sword and fight with a sword and a shield. "Forget it! Kawei, you are a blacksmith. We are just making weapons." . What is a good weapon? A good weapon is one that can kill the enemy. It has nothing to do with honor. The crossbow we are making now can be used by Kamne to kill two stikas (nearly two). Meter) height of a strong man."
"Okay. I guess this thing can easily penetrate the thick ship plank, and if Kamne can kill a strong man, he can be called a hero. ." Kawei shrugged and stuffed a curved bow piece that was still in a wrought iron state into a new furnace specially designed for smoldering and carburizing.
Kawei whistled skillfully: "Kamne, bring the charcoal, the rest is your job."
The seven-year-old Kamne, who was thin, hurriedly ran towards the furnace holding a small basket of charcoal blocks. While stuffing charcoal into it, he responded to Kawei's words just now: "The weapons invented by Lord Rurik are the best. I can use them." It kills all the breasts it sees, and then gives the bear skin to my lord."
"Just you? Well, maybe you have a chance." Kawei shook his head and looked. Seeing that the child Kamne was about to get into the furnace, he picked up a hammer and started forging a piece of iron with his father.
Forging iron blocks is the first step in making a steel-arm crossbow. Then Kawei will also participate in the casting of bronze parts and the processing of the oak stock.
Making a steel sword is a process of constant smoldering and forging. But the process involved in making a crossbow is reallyIt's extremely complicated. Kawei, in his heart, he would rather bang steel plates more than the various tedious tasks at present.
No one in the entire Klavason family is leisurely, not even the pregnant Lilia.
This Novgorod girl who is barely sixteen years old, her belly is getting bigger and bigger, and now even the leather clothes can't hide the nature of her pregnancy.
But she still shoulders the important job of making money for her family, which is making glassware and distilled liquor. She even felt that as far as making money was concerned, why should her husband, father-in-law, and even her future son have to go shirtless and work hard to forge?
Isn’t it more profitable to make glassware? Using crystal clear pebbles that are easy to collect in mountainous areas and processing them into transparent cups, you can earn an income equivalent to a sword with some not-so-complicated processing.
She knew that she had no right to dictate a man’s work and decisions, so she had no choice but to keep her head down and busy with her own affairs.
And silently waiting for the Rus’ Hanukkah on the winter solstice.
The entire Ross tribe is also eagerly looking forward to Hanukkah, and even the big leader will inevitably announce a new decision after the festival.
.