Otto woke up from his daze. He was surprised that he was lying on the ground and unexpectedly covered with a deerskin.
"What's going on? Where are the people? Come here!"
Otto called loudly, and soon, mercenaries with swords guarding him rushed into the house. The visitor was none other than Jevlo.
"Big Chief, what are your orders?"
"What happened to me?" Otto held his head and stood up.
"Yesterday you drank too much and got drunk."
"Oh, really? My son, where is Rurik?"
< p>"He went to the warehouse to check the tributes. He gave me an order to take a few brothers and stand outside the door waiting for you to wake up.""So that's it?"
p>Otto sat up and felt a chill. Then he subconsciously touched around with his left and right hands, and unexpectedly touched a piece of wheat cake.
Jevro hurriedly explained: "Rurik was afraid that you would be hungry after you woke up, so he prepared some food."
"This boy has thought very carefully." Otto tried hard Shaking his head, he finished the cake in a few licks, looking like he was resurrected with full blood: "Let's go, Yevlo. Show me the tributes."
At this time when the sea is about to freeze, a man A fleet came to Ironburg in the far north in order to collect iron tribute.
While Otto was still sleeping soundly, Rurik endured the coldness of early winter. He put on a thick leather coat, glanced at his father who was lying in the lobby and continued to snore, and took Saibo with him. Rava leaves the house.
He summoned more than a dozen mercenaries, put on a very imposing aura, and gave orders to the city lord Mechasta.
The order is to check all tributes.
Coincidentally, the most important supplies were all stored inside the wooden walls. Following the tradition of the Kewen people, a large number of cellars were dug out.
What appeared in front of Rurik were five long wooden houses. They seemed to be semi-underground houses, but there was indeed a cave inside.
Mechasta is in good spirits and is eager to prove loyalty to his true master. Mechasta didn't think it was ridiculous to swear loyalty to a little boy. He and his tribe did get some benefits because of this child, and after their lives settled down, everything turned out for the best. Since what happened in the past has happened, and the Covin people were easily defeated by the Rus even if they united, then just be obedient servants.
Based on this thought, Mechasta personally opened the wooden door of a room, and then, a cold feeling hit his face.
"My lord, this room is filled with axes and spearheads. All the tributes you want are here."
Rurik glanced inside and couldn't help feeling afraid. It's not that he's afraid of pure darkness, but he just can't see what's hidden in the darkness.
"Can't you light a torch?"
"Oh, I'll send someone to light a fire right now." Mechasta said hurriedly.
“No need.Rurik waved his hand and said, "Ask your people to take out all the tributes and place them on the ground for me. I will count their numbers myself." "As a person in power, Rurik must defend his power. When it comes to eating, one cannot be two. "A thousand axes, five hundred spearheads, if one is missing, you will be punished. "
What's the punishment? Mechasta didn't even consider it. It's too easy to fulfill the master's tribute request.
Soon, some men from the Iron Squirrel tribe , began to frequently come in and out of this wooden house, and walked out one after another with bundled axes, just like the Kovin tribe living in the Oulu River. The people there bundled squirrel skins, while the people here gave ax handles. Bundling.
The wooden handles of the axes are tied with hemp rope. A man has ten fingers, and the axes are bundled in ten pieces. They are placed on the hard ground and arranged according to Rurik's instructions. A matrix for easy statistics.
After a while, a ten-by-ten square matrix was arranged. There were exactly one thousand axes. In fact, there were still some axes in stock in the warehouse, but Mechasta had no intention of doing so. Continue to take them out.
The spearheads are also taken out. All the spearheads are simply pieces of metal that have been polished into spear shapes. With the waterwheel free forging system, the hot iron ingots are easy to beat. It was formed into an iron piece, and after some rough polishing, the spearhead was basically formed. It did not have a sleeve, but the blacksmith deliberately left a dent in the iron piece behind the spearhead so that the hemp rope could be tied to the wooden stick.
Is it still required that each of these weapons be a magic weapon?
Rurik knelt down, untied a bundle of axes, and took out the small hand axe. Hold it with both hands. Even a ten-year-old boy can use these axes. After all, the ax blade is only as big as a young man's hand, and there is no hole in the ax blade to accommodate the stick. After being bonded with easily available pine glue and tied with hemp rope, they were firmly fixed on the wooden handle.
Rurik really knew how to make the two weapons. Free forging can be said to have solved the current situation of Ironburg's absolute shortage of muscular men. The most physically demanding blacksmithing work has become He Shui's job, which is simply hydraulic free forging, and currently cannot produce any fine processing.
Seeing that Rurik was fascinated by what he saw and his little brows were furrowed, Mechasta lowered his head and said, "Sir, how do you feel about these tributes? "
"Feeling? The quality has dropped quite a bit from the ones we originally produced. "
"Ah! Because the men under me have just become blacksmiths, their skills are far inferior to the experienced Ross blacksmiths..."
Mechasta still wanted to say a lot more, but Rurik said twice: "Stop talking. . You did your job and you proved your loyalty. "
Mechasta calmed down and calmed down, and said: "It is my honor to serve you. ”
Of course Rurik likes to hear compliments, and of course he keeps some of his inner thoughts in his heart.
p>For example, these weapons are not well-edged. Even the spearheads still need to be polished. Did Rurik have no intention of blaming them for this matter? He still had no intention of mentioning it.
The slender spearhead is easily crafted into short spears and javelins. These hand axes are not really suitable for felling large trees. After the ax blade is sharpened, it can be used as a good tool for cutting meat and bones. In battle, these small hand axes are completely flexible. Even if the ax blade is no longer sharp, the warrior can smash the enemy's head with one swing of his right hand.
Just like pumpkins and bones, they are basically short sticks equipped with iron heads. Their high flexibility brings flexibility in killing enemies.
For these new blacksmiths of the Iron Squirrel Tribe, if they really gave all the chromium ferroalloy ax spearheads and finely polished them with ore and sandstone, it would take too long.
They are ordnance, or a mass-produced ordnance. Mass-produced ordnance only needs to ensure a bottom line of quality. The rest is how to reduce the investment of manpower and material resources to obtain greater output. With this awareness, Rurik didn't want to say anything. They were just tributes, and a batch of goods would be sent to the Melalen tribe to equip Olegin's warriors.
They must be ferrochromium materials, which naturally have strong corrosion resistance. Although they have not undergone lengthy carburizing operations, after undergoing quenching processing, the sudden cooling forced a huge change in the surface metallography. They are already extremely hard and will negate the advantages of all simple wrought iron weapons.
However, compared to the weapons used by the Russians themselves, these instruments are so-called "monkey versions".
Rurik clapped his hands vigorously and stood up: "I thought about it, and I am generally satisfied."
"So, my master, are you still a little unhappy?"
"It doesn't matter." Rurik shrugged, "You will mass-produce axes and spearheads for me according to this standard in the future. Remember, your tribute will be doubled during the warm period next year. I know. , you can do this."
Mechasta gritted his teeth and said: "Okay, I will keep doing it."
"Do it well, you are good at it. Rewards will be given to you. The rewards you can get all depend on your actions."
Life requires hope, hope and hope, but Otto was swaying under the protection of mercenaries. Coming.
Perhaps the methanol in the liquor did not evaporate completely, or he simply did not sleep well during his homework. Otto was just agitated by the air-conditioning, and his energy was still a little sluggish.
Otto accepted the guidance of the mercenaries, and a group of seemingly idle people gathered together. He immediately recognized Rurik, who was wearing a beautiful ferret fur hat, and also saw the presence of a lot of reflections in the early winter sun, which was very strange for the return trip.
Then he understood something.
The mental malaise disappeared. Otto was so frightened that he simply sat on the ground. He pointed at the equipment on the ground: "Tomahawk! Why are there so many battle axes?"ax? Are they all made by Kewen? ”
Gevlo and his men hurriedly helped the stunned leader up, and Mechasta immediately approached to claim this "brilliant" result.
Otto Just when he stood up, his trembling mouth trembled; "When I came...a year ago, this was just our...temporary camp, and now it is a city. You Kewen people have all become blacksmiths? Even more efficient than our Russian blacksmiths! ”
“It is an honor for me to be praised well by the big leader. "Mechasta quickly expressed his attitude respectfully.
In fact, Otto made a mistake. In terms of iron production, what is the level of Ironburg here? A blast furnace rose from the ground in Screwburg. Since the success of iron extraction, the only thing that restricted the operation of the furnace was the insufficient supply of charcoal fuel and ore. It is a big eater, and its efficiency alone is better than a hundred ordinary furnaces, but it is a real pig iron smelting furnace! What is cast is iron daily necessities, such as a large number of trays, bowls, oil lamp holders, and even large iron pots for cooking. Of course, the cast iron can be weaponized, that is, to make hammers and become useful. Blunt weapons and production tools, just don't expect it to be polished into useful sharp tools.
Otto simply looked at the smelting in the blast furnace and learned that iron ore can also be turned into hot metal. "Water". He just observed this miracle and lamented that miracles always come to the birth of the Ross tribe, without any intuitive understanding of its production capacity.
Now, he was shocked by the axes on the ground. .
He stroked his beard and thought: "If we produce a thousand axes a year, my warriors will soon have only one! No, two handfuls! My warriors will be full of powerful fighting power. ”
Thinking of this, Otto wanted to know more and more how they were made. He shouldn’t ask Mechasta about this matter. Otto knew that all miracles came from his son standing beside him. Rurik.
Let an old leader see a little of the power of technology, and Rurik is willing to oblige.
“Dad, do you want to know? I want to remind you, when you feel frightened, don't sit on the ground again. ”
Otto, who knew he had lost his composure, hurriedly said, “I’ll try my best...as much as I can.” ”
The residents who lived in the tribal era did not realize that the water flow itself was a kind of labor force. The waterwheel systems in the European Middle Ages were one of the few engineering technologies left over from the Western Roman Empire. , the appearance of waterwheels and other water-powered machinery in Northern Europe in the ninth century was a miracle.
No, this time Otto really understood what those wooden houses with huge wheels along the river were. Things.
They are showing miracles from Asgard in the world, aren’t they?
Had it not been for Jevlo’s timely support, Otto would have been there again. On the ground.
What he saw was a Kewen craftsman wearing only a burlap shirt in the cold winter, constantly placing red iron pieces in a small stove.Under the sledgehammer of incredible automatic hammering. It's as if Thor himself gave these sledgehammers divine power and let them be forged by craftsmen.
Otto had no idea that the wooden wheel full of blades that was constantly beating and turning by the water outside the wooden house was the core of the power. Moreover, due to the dry season, the efficiency of the wooden wheel was no longer as good as before.
"Dad, what do you think?" Rurik asked knowingly.
"A miracle! It's a complete miracle!"
"Yes, it is indeed a miracle." Rurik smiled and asked against his will, "Dad, what do you think this means? These hammers will keep hammering for us Russians."
"It's us...no!" Otto's eyes widened, and he looked at his son's beautiful smile, which still showed the innocence and holiness. An inviolable dignity. "It's you! It's Odin, it's Thor, granting you divine power! Rurik, you showed a miracle."
Deny this is a miracle? Rurik did not want to deny it. He deliberately said: "It is these Covin people who surrendered to us who are making iron tools. They have been approved by Thor, which shows that God has approved them. Then, I also recognize their relationship with us." The relationship needs to be very close."
In an instant, Otto understood his son's true intention, which indeed made him very sensitive.
"You want me to admit that they are Russians, or that they are equal to us Russians?"
"I didn't say that." Rurik calmly said said.
"What do you want to say?"
"I am just stating the fact that Thor gave permission to the Corvin people of the Iron Squirrel tribe to use his divine power. That's all."
p>
"You..." Otto gritted his teeth and simply stopped asking.
If Otto really has some scientific literacy, he should be able to see the constantly rotating wooden shaft. The raised wooden blocks of the bearing form a cam structure longitudinally, which is the driving force for the operation of the hammer lever. . He is a man who is shrewd in power calculations, but he is not a craftsman, and he does not even look down on the craftsmen themselves. He only admires brave warriors. A young blacksmith like Kawei should be looked down upon by Otto. However, Kawei has long shown a warrior side and is proficient in iron smelting, which gives Kawei more advantages and personality charm.
Otto watched for a while, he became more and more fascinated, and sighed: "I can't believe that your people are still giving birth on such a cold day. Since God has rewarded you, I should also give A little reward for you."
Mechasta was shocked when he heard Jevro's translation. He immediately knelt down, as humble as a hound, which pleased Otto all the more.
But these people are all Rurik's servants after all, so this matter should be decided by oneself. Otto looked at his son: "Rurik, they are your servants. In the name of the great leader, I ask you to reward them with some rewards."
"Me? Is it necessary?" Rurik He asked deliberately. He was also surprised that his father was probably not drunk yet. You know,It is said that he used to be strict and stingy towards all kinds of servants.
"You must reward, otherwise you will be sorry to the gods. Let's do this!" Otto slapped his head and pointed at the kneeling Mechasta's forehead: "I will give you 10,000 pounds of grain as a reward for your hard work. And loyalty is also a response to God's favor. I will order your master to give you a reward."
Mechasta was not excited at the first time. He felt that this matter was a bit strange. Since a large amount of precious oats might land in his stomach, only a fool would refuse.
Seeing how determined his father was, Rurik had already planned a way to cultivate loyalty based on more "carrots" from these scientific people, so he had no worries now.
"Then I will also provide you with some food." Rurik expressed his position directly in the language of the Kovin people: "I have also obtained some magical wood, which will be processed into extremely elastic long Bows are more useful than your short wooden bows. Since you can shoot arrows, I will give them to you. When there is a war in the future, you will send troops to fight for us."
This is the purpose of sending troops. Let's fight", this is the most significant promise! Mechasta knew about the hateful Salmon Lord tribe. Even though they had fought against the Rus, because they had become a servant army, they still enjoyed a lot of freedom and were not like their own tribe. Once there was substantial disloyalty, You will be severely punished by the Russians.
Fighting side by side clearly means getting a higher status among the Russians.
Isn’t there a living example in front of you? Jevro the Finn, this man is obviously of a higher status than many Rus's simply because he is a loyal warrior.
Mechasta made a promise: "My people are all excellent hunters, and having a good bow is a better hunter. We look forward to an opportunity to serve the Rus."
Jevro cleverly added words to the translation, making Mechasta's words even more respectful.
"Hahaha, maybe the battle you are eager to prove yourself is not far away! You Kewen people must be well prepared."
A war, is there really a war? Chief Ross's words didn't sound like a drunken joke.
Mechasta smiled and complimented on the outside, but he was muttering in his heart. Are the Rus really planning to attack the Tavastians next year? Although the Kovin people are constantly fighting among themselves, if the Tavastians invade, the tribes will still have to unite, otherwise everyone will have to be those people's slaves.
But Otto and Rurik really had nothing to say. Both of them were aware of the huge risk of war, which was also an escalation of the war with the Danes and Gotlanders. Tavastians? Otto is simply not interested in these guys. Of course Rurik was not interested in them either, even the Karelians were more interesting than them.
If the soldiers found some fun in the war, it was to plunder the gold and silver of the Gotlanders. It turned out that those guys were really rich.
Otto suddenly had an idea, that isIt is to let the archers composed of the Kovin people go on board, so that when their nephew Arik robs the Gotland fishing boat, the Russians will have a greater tactical advantage. Moreover, these Kewen archers will definitely be extremely useful. They are just slaves. They are not paid like mercenaries, and they have no right to distribute the spoils. They are just a tool, even if they are approved by God and use divine power here. Blacksmithing is just a tool that the Russians can control. It is indeed important to maintain and treat your tools well.