Lathe, it is the "industrial mother machine". Even if it is very simple, it can greatly improve the work efficiency of craftsmen.
The historical trend in Europe that Rurik recognized was that in that dimension, several severe plagues caused the loss of a large number of European populations. Tens of millions of people died, and those who survived still had to survive with difficulty. Since a large number of prime-age workers died from the disease, the remaining people had the capital to negotiate prices with employers.
In this way, Europeans began to greatly enhance the mechanical knowledge they had learned from the technology of building towering defensive castles. They turned their knowledge into new mechanical tools to enhance their production efficiency. The mills that were supposed to be powered by animals and humans were instead powered by waterwheels and windmills.
Especially in the steel and steel industries of Germany and Milan, due to the existence of hydraulic forging, their efficiency has been greatly improved, becoming the material basis for a large number of plate armor knights in war situations.
It can be said that the Rus tribe under Rurik faced a very similar situation.
As a leader who is expected to make a difference, Rurik must find ways to improve the strength of the tribe. The population of the tribe is indeed growing. A large number of foreign women are married or kidnapped, and almost all of them have the identity of "Russian mothers". A large number of babies are being born at an unprecedented speed.
A large number of children are about to be born, which means that the entire tribe’s demand for living materials will surge dramatically in the next year!
What Rurik thought of as a way to avoid material shortages was to exchange economic goods for life-saving materials such as grain and flax from the south through a trade surplus that would benefit the Russians. Another method is to hope to provide excellent production tools to the tribe's settlements, especially better iron tools to Novorosberg and Novgorod, which are mainly agricultural, so that they can collect more food. to fill potential food shortages in the Mother City of Roseburg.
In the final analysis, the only way to avoid these crises in the long term is to improve productivity!
The huge roulette wheel of the water wheel that keeps spinning is like the wheel of history, which can leave the barbaric backwardness far behind!
Now, the first industrial mother machine has entered the stage of manufacturing core components.
As long as the waterwheel can drive a wooden shaft to rotate, Rurik believes that he will soon be able to build an industrial machine, that is, a wooden lathe driven by a waterwheel.
The wood lathe drives a piece of wood to rotate, even if it shakes a little at first. In the end, Rurik will use the "turning tool" in his hand to process it into an unprecedented standard cylinder. This cylinder is not only The first industrial product made by a lathe, it could also replace the previous materials, making the hydraulic woodworking lathe more stable in rotation.
Rurik suppressed these thoughts for the time being. He supervised the mercenaries and installed two stika (196cm) diameter wooden spokes and plank nails that reached the standard on the wooden shaft to make a temporary A "wheel" made of small nails. There are also paddles as long as half a stika on the "wheel" to make the core of the waterwheelposition, it became a behemoth with a diameter of three stikas.
It took a lot of labor to install this giant, and the uncapping of the wooden corrugation made moving it less troublesome.
So, does the waterwheel have a bearing system? It actually exists.
In fact, Kawei took out his hammer, and at the very beginning, he hammered the wooden shaft with a ring of wrought iron that was easy to shape.
The ball bearing system is good, but it cannot be made. Even roller bearings cannot be made.
Rurik had no choice. Based on the principle of being forced to make do, he used this so-called "sliding bearing" of wrought iron with huge tolerances. Compared with the wear and tear of wood, it is still Wrought iron is more wear-resistant. In order to reduce its friction, Rurik had to pour grease into the hard-contact bearings.
The wooden shaft of the waterwheel was temporarily locked firmly, and it was placed on a wooden platform on the wooden floor. . Three additional iron rings were hammered on the bearing, and each iron ring also had a large ground protrusion, which was a kind of "pick".
The plectrum that rotates with the wooden shaft can continuously move the wooden stick of the hammer, just like the principle of a seesaw. The heavy hammer is raised high and suddenly lowered, completing a forging.
Things are developing as Rurik hoped.
On the sixth day, a simple wooden shelter was installed on the waterwheel beside the waterway. Now, Rurik can finally say that his plan has been realized!
The waterwheel is completed! Then take a look at its strength!
Thanks to the beautiful skies during this period, there was only one very weak drizzle in the area for a while, and the weather cleared up quickly after the rain. The weather did not interfere with all the activities of the Russians, making the construction of the waterwheel very smooth.
Rurik was glad that he had not encountered any trouble. Now the pine wood bearing of the waterwheel he longed for was already spinning squeakingly.
Not to mention, she seems to be spinning at a slow speed, but her power is amazing!
The three raised plectrums on the wooden shaft correspond to the three blacksmith stands in the wooden carving. These blacksmith benches use chromium iron hammers and chromium iron platforms, which are smelted and forged from local ores.
During the entire construction process of the waterwheel, a large number of settlement personnel came to watch. They did not know what it was for a while. Finally, when the onlookers saw it with their own eyes, the strange hammer actually started to move automatically. Forging, they suddenly felt that this was a kind of divine power, causing a large number of people to stop the work at hand and rush out.
Kawei and Rurik were standing inside the waterwheel filled with the smell of rosin, and the three blacksmith stations were already in full operation!
Because the most time-consuming work is to forge the sponge iron into iron sheets, and the sponge iron with chromium iron is in a harder state, so the blacksmith must work harder.
The powerful power of the waterwheel drives the three hammers to work tirelessly. Also, because the hammers are fixed with pins, take out the pins, the hammer can be removed at once, so Kawei can accurately control the number of starts at the blacksmith table.
"Hey! It's great. As long as I hold the tongs, it will keep forging for me. Rurik, you are really a god."
Kawei's praise It already made Rurik's ears calluses, "Forget it, I am indeed a god, you don't need to praise me anymore. Just forging sponge iron does not require you to come forward in person and leave it to the mercenaries or those boys ."
"They? They are only eight or nine years old."
"Don't worry, they can do this, my Kamne, absolutely! It’s time for the mercenaries to devote themselves to more important work.”
Kawei also wanted to continue playing in the water forging, when he thought that his and Rurik’s purpose was to make more tools. , the final plastic hammering work is your own priority.
Finally on the seventh day, the waterwheel forging workshop was completed. Kamnier and his ten fellow blacksmiths took over the most basic work of forging sponge iron into nails. The transmission of the water wheel does not stop unless it enters the dry season or the water inlet of the small river is artificially closed during winter. As it keeps turning, workers can keep forging.
We are all human beings. Even in this era, many people are aware of the "infinite beating" power of waterwheels. Some people think of pounding wheat to make flour, and others think of pounding bones to make bone meal. , and even beat the purchased flax rod until it was fluffy.
For now, this waterwheel is dedicated to metal forging.
As for Kawei, his job became to further plasticize the iron ingots into the shape of tools. The chromium iron axes that people needed most finally began to be produced in an astonishing amount compared to the past.
On only the eighth day, which was the entire second day after the waterwheel was put into use, Kawei made as many as fifty chromium iron axes that could be used by directly inserting wooden sticks into them. , it only undergoes quenching heat treatment and has not been carburized at all. However, as a logging tool, it is completely qualified!
As for the mercenaries, Rurik arranged for them to smelt sponge iron and then take the sponge iron out of the hot furnace.
The Kewen people were not idle either, and those who knew how to make charcoal were immediately organized. They opened charcoal-making workshops in the settlements. As charcoal blocks began to be mass-produced, large stoves and multiple small The fuel shortage problem for stoves has gradually been alleviated for a long time.
Time has quietly entered June, and the castle of Ailon-Olava has finally become what Rurik hoped it would look like.
She is a city that exists for steel smelting. Its positioning is completely consistent with the Finnish city Kemi, which was built here in another dimension. Its economic status for a country is completely consistent.
Some Kewen men were also ordered by Kawei to participate in the final forging. The Kewen people began to make the axes and spearheads they needed according to their own preferences. Compared with the beginning, the skills of these people gradually improved. At least in Mechasta's view, his tribe suddenly had more than ten people.Famous blacksmith!
Mechasta saw that the Russians were still building more hydraulic forging workshops. A month had passed, and now the shortage of production tools had miraculously disappeared, and it had even begun to increase. increased surplus.
As the "city lord" of the settlement that was granted power, Mechasta unexpectedly faced a problem - the efficiency of iron production increased by his master Rurik, and the efficiency of transporting and mining the ore himself. Instead it lags behind!
By early June, Rurik already had as many as 300 chromium iron axes on hand that had only been quenched. Even without the "expression carburizing process", they were still very strong.
Rurik finally began to use it as a reward for the fishermen who transported the catch. He set the price of the ax at ten silver coins. It can be said that the price is not high, but its super cost-effectiveness makes fishermen flock to it.
This is great! Warmer periods arrived, and fishermen's catches began to increase significantly. In order to obtain cost-effective iron tools, the Russian fishermen succumbed to their interests and began to transport supplies to the northern settlements on a large scale.
Thanks to the cooperation of the fishermen, Rurik has basically solved the problem of "insufficient food".
The situation has become very delicate. There are too many fishermen transporting the catch and people’s appetite is limited. What can Rurik do? They came in exchange for high-quality chrome tools, and Rurik immediately raised the price to twenty silver coins for an axe. The fishermen took out their catches or silver coins to complete the purchase.
So in June, Ellon Orava Castle was no longer a big mouth that swallowed gold, and she finally began to generate real economic benefits!
Throughout May, a huge amount of wealth was invested in the construction of new settlements and the initial "heavy industry" of the Russians, which finally began to show its strong vitality in June!
Rurik himself is the owner of this mine! The Iron Squirrel tribe of the Kovin people are the guardians of the mines who obey Rurik's orders.
Their entire tribe has completed the most thorough transformation. Their economic activities have completely changed from simply catching squirrels to an economic model based on the steel industry and supplemented by hunting, fishing and logging. It is precisely the steel industry that makes these gentle wealth also increase in value.
Rurik tacitly allowed them to accumulate their own wealth, and Rurik himself harvested more from it.
Ferrochromium and chromium steel tools are being produced at a rate of close to one hundred per day, and the entire settlement has become an ancient steel factory. Looking at Europe in this time and space, excluding the East Roman controlled area, the current daily production capacity of Rurik's "steel factory" can be called the first.
Ah, in these lousy times, the production of one hundred hand axes per day with an ax head as big as a fist is actually a great achievement.
The Kewen people who have made great contributions have received a weak dividend. It is this dividend that has saved them from worrying about hunger and cold. The men and women of Corvin were grateful to Rurik;We have gained stability, food and clothing in peace, and the future is full of sunshine.
Rurik is also full of hope for the future. He now hopes that the settlement can produce iron tools crazily, so that during the harvest season, he can exchange for a large amount of food transported by southern merchants to ensure that the thousands of people in the Ross tribe have oats and rye that they can eat for a whole year, and even a large amount of vegetable.
Oh, there is also a lot of flax. The women of the Rus, as well as the women of Kovin and the women of Ostara, their dexterous and great hands have to treat the entire Rus. The people below weaved a large number of patterned cloths to make everyone feel warm and comfortable, as well as beautiful and decent.
Time is rushing towards the summer solstice. For more than a month, Rurik has been staying at Elon-Olava Fort.
The situation is completely different from the situation in early May. After a lot of "pollution" from human activities, the desolate world has become different!
For example, the Covin people armed with chromium iron axes were able to cut out a relatively narrow road from the settlement to the mine. They had no time to clear the tree roots, and they did little to clear the thick pine needles on the ground. A road was born anyway, which improved the efficiency of the teams transporting ore.
Of course there are some changes, and reindeer began to appear in the transport team.
Some reindeer were transported from Fort Ross. These deer had been fully trained for use, and they quickly adapted to their own identities. They carry leather pouches, usually containing two pieces of ore, and are cared for and driven by deer herders who come by ship on orders.
Also in early June, Niya knew that her son Rurik had been struggling in the north. She stayed in her hometown and heard the messenger sent back by her nephew Arik, reporting that the "Two Hundred Heroes of the Sea" had made extraordinary achievements. A great victory, but there was no news about her husband and the Sorgon army.
Her husband Otto is old, and Niya’s heart is increasingly focused on her baby son.
Finally, she couldn't bear the longing for her only son, coupled with her strong curiosity about the northern settlements. Niya finally boarded the Gould family's cargo ship heading north, and was somewhat miserable having to stay with a large amount of fresh catch. Niya already knows the power of the chrome steel axe, and her son has succeeded, so she needs to find out more!
My mother actually came to visit? !
The messenger who arrived first half-knelt in front of Rurik to report the matter.
"She is here? Just herself and no other servants?"
The messenger replied: "There are several Brython maids and no one else."
< p>"Where is my Rumia?""She... the high priest is still teaching her lessons and etiquette. Sir, you know, it will be the summer solstice soon. Maybe then you will also I want to return to Roseburg to participate in the sacrifice."
"We will talk about it then." Rurik shrugged. He welcomed Niya's arrival and let her see the birth of "Iron City". Then he threw himself into her arms and rubbed her to satisfy her.An old woman's longing for her son.