A stocky cargo ship rode the strong south wind towards the north. A wooden shed was built on top of the ship, and some wooden boards were pieced together to form a deck to isolate the cargo. A distinguished old woman was sitting here.
Niya has long since faded. She gave birth to her youngest son, Rurik, at a very high age, which took huge risks for herself.
After discussing with her husband Otto, she gave Rurik the name. How to explain the meaning of the name "Rurik"? It does have the meaning of "making the tribe strong again", which is what Otto thinks. It is like the ancient memories engraved on the priests' wooden boards. The Russians were very powerful in the past.
Niya has her own thoughts as a woman. In her understanding, the name of her son is clearly "Baby Again", in order to commemorate the two sons who died, and to pay tribute to the only son who is still alive. ardent hope.
The youngest son is loved by the gods. Niya's trip is to see the northern settlement built by the youngest son for the purpose of smelting and forging iron tools.
The long voyage made people feel a little bored. In fact, she had not gone on a long sea voyage for a long time.
"Anna, bring me some water."
"Yes, Master." The Britten maid calmly took Niya's glass and poured it from the bronze pot Boiled pine needle water with honey added.
The boat was shaking a little, but fortunately the glass was cleverly designed.
Niya’s dry lips were moistened, and her anxiety was relieved.
She drank enough water and handed the cup to the servant. With just a glance, her eyes noticed the wooden cross hanging around the servant's neck.
"Ha! What a strange belief. I don't know that my son is the one chosen by the gods."
Niya didn't want to say anything more. The businessman came from Mera last year. The Britton women bought from Lun's market all have some strange ideas. As long as they were given a small house to perform rituals every day, a stick was set up, and a small wooden stick was placed horizontally in the middle of the stick, they could serve with peace of mind after performing the ritual. Niya was a little disgusted but did not stop it. .
The surrounding scenery is always the same, and under the wooden board on which I stand, there are a lot of freshly caught fish and some salted fish. Now, many transport ships are trying their best to rush north as fast as possible in order to deliver this pile of herring and cod to the buyer Rurik before the fresh fish spoils.
"How far is it?" Niya muttered impatiently.
"Distinguished master, wait until tomorrow morning and we will arrive." The captain with a beard but a thin figure complimented.
"Do I have to spend the night on the boat?"
"No. We will rest on the shore."
Hearing this, Niya became even more impatient. Intensified, "Can't we go faster?"
The captain was also embarrassed: "Master, our boat has no oars. We are completely dependent on the wind, but there is no wind at night, and... …”
What else does the captain want to say about night navigation?The question would be a disaster, Niya waved her hand, refusing to listen to anything more.
Even though Ross's ships always have an adventurous spirit, insisting on sailing at night without superb navigation skills is tantamount to courting death. Night sailing is a kind of adventure. If the purpose of the ship is to make a surprise attack at night, there is nothing wrong with night sailing. But with so many ships transporting daily necessities, it’s better to be cautious.
For more than a day, the fish meat that was caught at a relatively low temperature did begin to deteriorate slightly.
But it doesn’t matter, the Russian people are forced to live in a helpless way, and all of them can tolerate this mild odor.
This night, Niya spent the night on the shore.
She was dressed in fine linen and soft ferret fur, and her accessories were gold, silver, gems, or even colored glass beads.
The clothes of the Britten maids are much simpler, just blue-gray cloth. Their simplicity further highlights the nobility of the host family.
But in terms of resting on the shore, the leader's wife Niya, like most of the crew, lived in their own tents, listening to the waves, and fell asleep on the coast of a small island.
She never thought that she could experience such a thing at her age. She felt that she had become a lonely woman in the vast land and sea. It was very difficult to reach the destination immediately and hold the son in its arms.
The sailing continued the next day.
Niya was not happy sleeping on the shore. She did not get a good rest after the fatigue of the boat trip, and she sat in the boat again and felt listless.
Until the captain roared a melodious chant.
"Helmsman! Ahead is the shore! Let's go east!"
All the ships began to turn. Seeing a situation, Niya stood up directly. She lay on the side of the hull. Looking into the distance.
"Is it almost there?" she asked.
"It will be fine soon, Master. When you see a brand-new city, that is our Ironburg."
"Oh, then I am looking forward to it. ”
Niya’s interest was finally aroused, and her eyes curiously looked at the same coastline.
Soon, her fleet encountered a small Russian fishing boat. It was only then that she realized that her destination was really coming.
This area used to be a deserted land, but now it is gradually becoming more humane.
Her full expectations soon bore exciting results.
"What's going on in front? That bayou, is that a wooden wall?" Niya opened her eyes wide to see more clearly, but she was old after all.
The captain standing at the bow of the ship looked excited. He pointed to the wooden wall: "Master Rurik is on the shore! Master! We are about to dock, please be prepared."< /p>
"Oh! Then you really need to make some preparations." Niya's withered face finally forced a smile.
The river beach that was once full of mud and pebbles was slightly cleaned up by Rurik’s police, and some wooden piles were removed.After removing the mud from the river, relying on these wooden piles, a pier paved with thick wooden boards that can accommodate eight ships was put into use. The ships that come and go in this way make it easier to unload their cargo, and the settlements have a higher utilization rate of foreign materials.
It can be said that no one realized the need to build a pier.
Rurik gave the order and took out some silver coins and copper coins as reward.
Not only was the pier built, but a wooden walled road leading directly from the pier to the Alon Orava Fort, made of wooden boards embedded in the sand and gravel, was assembled in just two days. People no longer have to worry about wet boots.
The sturdy cargo ship, its big sail is really eye-catching.
Rurik, who gets up early, likes to supervise the work of the blacksmiths the most these days, especially supervising whether the men of the Kewen tribe are studying and improving their blacksmithing skills.
Rurik was also interested in supervising the newly built second waterwheel. Different from the first one, the wheel of the new waterwheel is smaller, and the two hammer heads are not used to knock the sponge iron, but to knock the oat grains inside the stone.
Based on the current conditions, Rurik is not yet capable of developing a practical watermill stone grinding disc system. My purpose is to obtain roughly processed oats, so that subsequent cooking becomes efficient and the eater can better absorb its nutrients. For the traditional stone mortar to pound oat flour, it is turned into a waterwheel and hammer to pound. Of course, the efficiency is not bad, and the waterwheel is tireless.
Rurik already knew that his mother was coming, probably in the next two or three days.
He understands very well, what is "the best gift for parents"? There is nothing better than having their children standing in front of them healthy and healthy.
Rurik thought of a countermeasure.
The working people all have their own tasks. In order to get some rewards from Rurik, and also to get the clear language, everyone works very hard. It is precisely because of this factor that the settlement can be as efficient as possible. Fast construction. Rurik had some experience with this. What stimulated them to work hard was not only the honor of "working for those blessed by Odin", but also the fact that he not only gave them a good meal, but also a little money.
"Is there a leader under Purola who is more sage than me?" Rurik was actually a little complacent.
Of course he has the capital to be proud of, which lies in his strong financial resources.
Today, a large number of ferrochrome and chromium steel tools are sold at different prices, and the daily output value has reached the level of nearly two thousand silver coins. The premise is of course that all ferrochrome tools are Can be sold at a high price.
In short, no matter what the sales volume will be in the future, Rurik can’t care so much. He feels that he must take advantage of the short warm period to mass-produce in order to obtain greater profits in the future.
Rurik also made an economic calculation for himself. The value of various materials consumed by the entire settlement every day may be around three hundred to four hundred silver coins for the time being. Compared with the initial consumption, it has beenThe experience is much less.
To feed a large number of men who do an astonishing amount of physical labor, food consumes the largest amount of money.
Finally, the virtuous economic cycle is on the right track.
A mercenary hurried over to watch the scene of a waterwheel pounding oat kernels. The aroma of wheat filling the air made him intoxicated.
"Sir, the big leader's wife, your mother, she has finally arrived."
"Finally here?!" Rurik turned around in an instant, with words written all over his face. Pleasure.
After a while, Rurik tried his best to gather a group of his cronies and formed a mighty team towards the dock.
At the same time, the docked cargo ship lowered the planks, and with the help of the maid, Niya finally boarded the destination. She looked at the road paved with wooden planks under her feet and couldn't help but marvel.
"It's incredible. Who came up with the idea? Paving the road with planks?"
Someone hurriedly replied: "That's your son."
"It's really Is it him? He is indeed my son.”
Niya did not notice Rurik’s figure for the time being. She raised her head to observe the spectacular scene in the sun.
What is surrounded by the wall must be Iron Fort, oh, it should be called Iron Orava Fort.
In terms of appearance alone, Niya felt its solidity and the strong sense of security brought by its wooden walls and towers, which was essentially different from the more open settlement of Roseburg.
"Let's go, servants, let's move forward." Niya flicked her neck. She estimated that her son was already inside the wall. She estimated that with her son's character, he would be able to build a beautiful house, which could be used as a place for ceremonies and guests, as well as a comfortable bedroom.
She didn't go far when the warm south wind blew on her face. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed a group of people walking towards the riverside building not far away.
Youdao had a tacit understanding. She turned her head slightly and suddenly saw her son who had been away for a long time.
Suddenly, a mother's instinct prompted her to drive her old body like crazy, get off the boardwalk, and run wildly on the relatively moist gravel ground.
Soon, Rurik was hugged by his mother, and she held her tightly in her arms...
No words can compare to this hug, this moment Niya was satisfied. She was very shocked that Rurik actually built a city, but everything he built was not as important as her son.
Only when Rurik complained that he was being held too tightly, Niya relaxed her hand, but she still kissed Rurik's forehead several times.
"Mom, are you satisfied?"
Rurik's question made Niya a little embarrassed. What could she say?
"Satisfaction, I am only satisfied if I hold you in my arms. What do you think?"
"Okay." Rurik shrugged, "Maybe I should apologize, I concentrated on the construction of the settlement, and I did not return to my homeland for more than a month. I should have done so earlier.Click to visit you. ”
“It’s not in the way. Niya pinched her son's smiling face, showing her tenderness as a mother: "I'm here, I see you are healthy." Well, and your women are in good health. ”
Carlotta and Ella, they affectionately called Niya “Mom”, and naturally received a warm hug from Niya.
They are the little girls of the Iron Squirrel Tribe. The girl Saipolava is still a little dull and cautious. For this reason, she cannot get closeness from Niya. Of course, Niya can't be close to such an outsider. In fact, Niya doesn't care about her son's first servant Rumia. No matter how intimate it is,
Rurik's ambition is naturally to build a "huge Rus", but most real Rus people only understand the concept of "Russ". There are thousands of tribes, and a few people want to establish an alliance led by the Ross tribe and command some tribes as slaves. This is the highest ambition.
Can't say they are stupid. Simply because they lack a larger perspective, most Russians firmly believe that the Kovin people are slaves of Rurik himself, and the surrendered Kovin people also position themselves in this way.
As everyone knows, the Kovin people are the slaves of Rurik himself. , living together for more than a month, Rurik saw the cooperation of these residents of the Kovin Steel Squirrel tribe and their compliance with his performance. He felt that he had conquered their souls. In this way, these Kovin people could no longer be said to be A slave, but a tribesman.
He thought so, but Niya didn't think so.
So when Rurik took her to visit his great masterpiece. , Niya marveled at the solid and safe wooden walls built in the settlement, the thick, spacious and large number of wooden houses, and the buildings for various living purposes. However, she found it difficult to accept that the Kovin people, or Rurik, could be built under her nose. Walking around casually
They don’t know about their slaves?
Niya just kept her thoughts in her heart, and she didn’t want to interfere with any of Rurik’s actions. , then he thought, there must be something else hidden behind Rurik letting his slaves move around as they pleased.
Rurik was anxious to show his mother his achievements, especially taking her to see how comfortable he was inside the wooden wall.
The light inside was a little dim, and the wooden windows were opened, and the interior was finally bright.
In this wooden house, Niya felt a little bit like home. After all, the current Russian wooden house construction model has tended to be more efficient in Novgorod.
Niya sat on the bedside, sitting on the sheets made of soft leathern white bear skin. .
She recognized that this was a bear skin, and she knew it and brought it back from her hometown. It was really obvious how her son got it.
She then thought about it. Sleeping on a bear skin, what a heroic warrior!
Niya has been visiting for a while, and she is the most distinguished guest. Now, she is staying in the bedroom of her son’s residence,With sons and "adopted daughters."
“I am very happy that you built many houses. Ironburg is the most beautiful settlement I have ever seen. There are so many houses here. I can see that even the humblest slaves live in warm wooden houses. Rurik, you must have given your slaves a lot of things.”
Rurik immediately affirmed: “That’s natural. If the slaves are hungry, who will give me a job if they starve to death?” ”
“That’s true, but I noticed that you were too kind to them, especially the Corvin people. I saw those steaming saunas, and you actually allowed them to build this.”< /p>
"Huh? Is this weird?"
"Of course it's weird! You actually built it inside the wooden wall. Bathing is a private matter. Now, you... ..."
Rurik didn't think there was anything wrong. He consciously understood the reason for Niya's displeasure. "Maybe I should build some wooden houses for cleaning myself outside the wooden walls. It doesn't matter. I asked them to clean themselves after finishing their work every day. We Russians all jump into the river with soap. Those Covin people like to sit in the sauna for a while and then go to the river with soap. Now, many of our Rus warriors also feel that the Corvin way of cleaning is better."
"That's just man. Rurik, you must prepare a place for me to clean, just like ours. Roseburg."
"Huh? Mom, you are actually hopeful."
"Yes." Niya chuckled, "My son, this is unlucky. This journey is like standing in a pile of fish. I want to clean myself, and I want to wash you with my own hands. And this night, right here, Niya. He patted the bed with a smile: "My son, you must accompany me tonight. I have decided that I will stay here for a few days, and you must accompany me every night."
"Okay. "Rurik didn't reject it, he just asked: "What about the situation in Roseburg? Dad and the others may be coming back." "That's his business too," Niya continued with a smile. "Your father has a big job for men. He will not be in any danger. He can handle everything. Rurik, I am satisfied as long as you are here."
Rurik smiled awkwardly Laughing, he thought for a while, maybe his mother's stay here would stimulate the people's enthusiasm for construction, and it could also be interpreted as a subtle hint to other people that the chief family attaches great importance to Ironburg in the north.