Chapter 383 We must rush to work

Hotela knew that the financial owner was here to see the goods, so it would be superfluous to say more in this situation. He ordered his men to throw down the rope ladder: "Sir, come up and have a look. We will talk in the cabin if we have something to do. I hope you like it."

Cabin? That's really fun.

Rurik shook his neck, led Yevro and others, and carried the strange saw, and carefully climbed the rope ladder and stood inside the cabin without a deck.

Really standing inside, Rurik could really see the internal structure of this caravel-like ship. She really met his expectations.

The side of the ship is originally low (even the low keel to the side of the ship is nearly three meters high), and the bow and stern of the ship appear quite tall because of the living space.

Standing inside, Rurik could clearly cut down the oak ribs one after another. Only the bottom planks of the ship were made of wood. Rurik could realize that they were all oak.

"Oak! Do we have that much oak?" Rurik was shocked, and Hotla, who had been waiting for a long time, was eager to explain.

"Sir, we did use a lot of oak. Those demolished houses had a lot of oak materials. I bought them to build ships for you. You can rest assured, since those timbers ensured that the houses would not collapse for ten years. , will also ensure that our ships are extremely strong.”

Rurik is aware of the customs of local shipbuilders in Rus. The best oak is used for the construction of ship hulls, and the best of them must be used. keel. For example, ship masts can be replaced by pine wood. The various ships that must travel through the Baltic Sea in this time and space actually have very low requirements for the strength of the masts.

However, the wooden oars of the Russian longships were mostly made of oak.

Rurik squatted down and smelled the thick smell of rosin in the hull. His fingers tried to open the cracks in the hull. No, the rosin between his fingers was clearly visible.

"Huh? Huotra, can you just use rosin for the gaps between the planks of this ship? I... am really afraid that it will leak."

Hotla laughed. He smiled wildly: "Sir, don't worry about this! After applying pine gum to these wooden boards, I sent people to pour water on them. The wooden boards have all expanded and they will not leak. You don't have to worry at all, the ship The wooden planks will expand further when entering the sea. "My lord, are you worried about the barrel leaking?"

Rurik nodded, he was still a little worried.

He was a true layman in shipbuilding, and he only knew a little bit of superficial knowledge. Rurik thought that he would no longer have to do the same thing.

Rurik was a little surprised whether the bottom of this ship needed to be painted with tung oil.

Wait a minute! Tung oil?

Suddenly, Rurik realized that Westerners had not had the concept of using tung oil for a long time, and they probably didn’t even know what tung oil was.

The fact is simple and crude, even if the ship is upgraded to a Galen ship, they just don't apply protective coating to the bottom of the ship. When they realized that applying waterproof paint couldWhen it comes to effectively fighting against seawater erosion, it has entered the age of iron ships.

In fact, there is no need to worry too much. Oak boards are really hard and naturally resistant to seawater. Therefore, the maintenance costs behind the continuous voyage of large wooden ships are completely acceptable.

There is a huge difference between the seawater in the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, especially in the hinterland of the Gulf of Bothnia. The salt content of the seawater is several times lower than that of the Atlantic Ocean. The Russians did not take the erosion of ships by the seawater into consideration. Pass.

Although oak is very hard, Rurik knew that the oak planks of Galen's galleon could withstand the impact of small-charge solid bullets. It was really hard!

Is it possible to ignore possible reefs even with this hardness?

When Rurik saw that these guys had no intention of building a watertight compartment, they certainly didn’t think it was necessary, just because they didn’t realize it.

He was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a unique platform reserved in the center of the ship's keel, which must be the base for installing the mast!

Rurik clapped his hands and stood up. There were some aspects that he was unable to complain about. Look at this ship again! Not to mention that it is really big inside. The thirty-meter-long keel and extended ribs create a large, squat cabin. The core load-bearing parts are all made of oak, and its construction method is exactly the same as that of a cargo ship. As for her cargo capacity, Rurik must be equivalent to three cargo ships no matter what!

The belly of this boat is so stuffy that Rurik thinks she looks a bit like a flat-bottomed boat. Her draft must not be deep, which means she naturally needs some ballast. Only by possessing things can she become a "roly-poly" in the sea.

"My lord, what do you think?" Hotla, who was standing at the bottom of the boat, asked flatteringly.

"Very good, I'm satisfied. Have you seen all the wood outdoors?"

"Yes! Sir, thank you so much for the wood you provided, especially those for making The wood of the mast has been dried, it’s great!”

“Then build it quickly! I’ll give you an order! Lay the deck for me in the next ten days. I've built the mast! By the way, I also need a foremast, and I want to install a sail on the bow."

"Of course!"

Although Hotela is a little timid, the thought of doing this job is a pledge to Chief Ross. He and his family can only succeed. Even if Chief Ross’s requirements are too harsh, they must overcome them. and succeed.

"Then, let's sit down and talk." Rurik put his hands on his waist in front of him and twisted his waist, as if he was going to fight.

"Sir, you..."

"Let's talk about it first." Rurik calmed down and said solemnly: "I have provided you with a batch of excellent materials, so the remuneration for you will be reduced.”

Once money was mentioned, the entire Hotla family stopped working and listened warily.With.

Hotra was nervous and asked tentatively: "It's about money, maybe..."

"This is my harbor, this is my territory, don't leave me alone" Choice. I have provided you with a large amount of building materials. I will deduct two pounds of your ten pounds of silver coins. Do you really have a loss? Besides, I have decided to take people with me. You work together to build this ship."

The development of the matter was completely beyond Huotra's expectations. The shipbuilding that was promised was completed by his family. He never thought that the financial owner had decided to do it himself.

A layman also comes to build a ship?

Let’s think about money first.

Excellent shipbuilders are more sensitive to mathematical calculations than others. Hotla is wily. He closed his eyes and did some mental calculations, and realized that the value of the northern hardwood provided by Rurik was actually very important. . After careful calculation, they, the shipbuilders, still made a profit by reducing the price by two pounds.

Besides, you don’t have to cut down the wood yourself or hire lumberjacks yourself. The materials are delivered to your doorstep by the sponsor. Why should you complain?

It seems that Rurik is going to roll up his sleeves and become a small shipbuilder himself?

He had to ask: "My lord, are you in a hurry?"

"Of course! I am very anxious! Ten days! I need to lay the deck within ten days OK, put up the mast. Tell me, do you have enough manpower?"

"This is probably enough. Sir, maybe we can't reach the sky in one step. My manpower is too short. Limited."

Rurik twisted his neck and felt a little unhappy: "You claimed that it would be completed soon when you were in Melalen, and now you broke your promise?"

"It's one moment at a time, sir. I thought it only took the time to build two cargo ships to complete it. Even during your absence, we were working hard to build it, but the more we built, the slower the progress. She is ours The largest ship built by the family, we lack some experience. "Lack of experience? Or lack of materials?" Rurik asked.

"Everything is missing."

"Everything is missing? I didn't come here to listen to your nonsense. I see that the main body of this ship has been completed, and the details are very time-consuming. Time?"

"Youdao, who is afraid of anyone when he is sixty years old? Huotra is almost sixty years old. He is not afraid of Chief Melalen, and naturally he is not afraid of Chief Ross either. Due to money issues, he had to remain respectful. "The ten-day period is too short. Just to install the mast, I have to make some preliminary preparations, which may take ten days."

"That's because there are few of you. Listen, Let me tell you my attitude. I must see the deck and mast of this ship installed in ten days. You said I was too impatient, but I said there is strength in numbers. How many shipbuilders do you think can complete it in ten days? ?"

"This..." Huotra felt that things had become too complicated, so he casually said: "TwoOne hundred people, at least two hundred people who know how to work as a carpenter. "

"That's it? I'll give you a thousand! I summoned the carpenters from the entire tribe to work together to build the ship. I would also be involved myself, at least moving some of the wood. "

Rurik himself was moved by his words, but what Hotla felt was a threat to his wealth.

"Sir, you...convene a group of people. Thousands of people, you have to spend a lot of money, right? Are you really that anxious? We people worked slowly until the ice and snow melted and the boat could still be launched. ”

“Is it enough to just go into the water? Rurik shook his head, "I want it to have the ability to sail, and I want to take her to Melalen to show off." Did you think from the beginning that as long as the ship could float on the water, the mission would be accomplished? ”

Hotra didn’t know what his sponsor had been through. He could see now that this kid had risked his life to get a big ship. Rurik was obviously willing to get the ship at any cost, so What about the reward for my family?

"So, our silver coins..."

"Don't worry, it will be yours. I don’t want to talk about money here, I just want to plan a progress. I will complete all the construction progress at any cost. Now let’s sit down and talk...”

Since I saw Vilia’s extreme aging, Of course, people are bound to die, and Rurik sincerely hopes that before she dies, she can see the departure of the largest ship the Russians can own.

The extremely cold winter is after all, this year's. Spring will come as usual, and the sea will thaw in early April! Race for time with nature!

The best! The fully constructed Avora can be towed all the way to the ice with deeper sea water before the ice and snow melt, so that the ship can be launched naturally after the sea ice melts.

The construction period is already a long time. This was a political mission.

Rurik and the shipbuilders completed the conversation, and the atmosphere of the conversation just now was tense. All the shipbuilders in the Hotla family also accepted it, and they had never done it before in their careers. I have never seen a customer urge them to build a ship like this.

So they are really conscientious.

Compared to other craftsmen, they are serious, but they are not serious. All the time is spent building ships. The daylight hours in winter are always short, and they cannot continue to work under the extremely dim light of the oil lamps. If the oil lamps are not taken care of well, there is a danger that the entire factory will be burned down.

They actually worked less than eight hours a day. Although it took more than three months to build the ship, they spent a lot of time dozing passively. Anyway, the construction period required by Chief Ross was so long. Why bother? Besides, the material of the mast has been bothering everyone.

After really sitting down, Huotra was willing to have a heart-to-heart talk with this energetic donor.

" Originally, the mast problem bothered us because the local pine trees were not good enough.I was stupidly planning to use the spliced ​​mast technique, and since you came with the spruce wood, the problem is finally solved. "

"Of course, the main reason I stayed in the north for so long was to solve this problem. Don't worry, I don't know anything about ships. "Rurik boasted, but in fact he really only knew a little bit about shipbuilding.

Hotla sighed and looked around again: "Look, this is God's will. Although there was a big time lag, we got the mast material. "

"How is it? Is it okay to stand the mast up? I saw the perforated base of stacked wooden blocks in the center of the cabin. "

"There is no problem in erecting the mast. I will use the unique technology of our Mälaren shipbuilders and the spruce integration you provided. Oh, it would be better if it was longer. ”

After saying this, Rurik suddenly felt that his method of cutting off the spruce wood was wrong.

Rurik hurriedly asked: “Isn’t it possible to use ten stikas?” "

Hotla looked embarrassed: "If it is an ordinary cargo ship, of course there is no problem, but this ship is too big, it should have a higher mast. It's also too thick. As a mast, we don't need half a stika's diameter. "Having said this, Hotla had a major question in his mind and had to ask the sponsor: "Sir, I am very curious, that is an extremely heavy wood. Do you also know some methods... to install it? On a sled? ”

“Of course! We used a crane. ”

“Crane? ”

Rurik mentioned that rare word again. Yes, the Hotla family and other shipbuilders only knew how to use levers. They had never seen any high-tech equipment.

“Hey. Rurik sighed slightly, "I will build the crane in Fort Ross. I don't know what means you use to install the mast on the ship." When my crane is built, it will be able to easily lift timber of various weights, and the work of installing the mast will become easy. ”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. ”

Hotla could not express his expectations for something he had never seen or heard of, and his words were full of perfunctory.

Rurik did not blame him, which made Yevlo He took out the two-person saw that was still ready to show the wonder of this thing.

This saw is already large, and it has been exposed to the public for a long time, but no shipbuilder knows what it is.

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“Huh? ! This thing can actually replace a scraper and an ax and break wood quickly? "Hotra's face was full of disbelief, and everyone else stretched out their heads in doubt.

Rurik's immature face squeezed out a wicked smile: "I knew you didn't believe it. . Jevlo, took his brothers and showed them. ”

A group of people were in a large factory building. Useless pieces of wood were scattered everywhere on the cold sandy ground. The mercenaries really didn’t grow muscles in vain. Rurik felt that they only needed 20 seconds. , and sawed off oneDry pine wood.

The flat section shocked all experienced shipbuilders. They passed the two-man saw around and quickly understood all the reasons behind it.

The long and thin piece of iron is unusual. There are clearly countless tiny "axes" on it. If a piece of wood is chopped a hundred times by an ax in an instant, wouldn't it break instantly? Even though the ax head is extremely small.

This is what Hotela thought, and he instantly realized the true meaning of the saw.

They finally showed expressions of admiration, and Rurik did not forget to put gold on his face: "This is a new tool I invented in our northern Ellenburg. With it, the two children It can also bring down a big tree. I know that you have been using scrapers, planers and axes to deal with various types of wood. This thing is called a saw, and your work efficiency will be greatly improved. ”

"It is given to you. We will make more saws in the future. Listen, your shipbuilding tools should also be replaced with the best ones. You will also have to spend money to buy new saws in the future, but This one is not necessary."

Hotla was overjoyed: "Is this really possible? It... is probably the most magical tool I have ever seen."

" Come on! Now I have given you the best tools and will recruit the strongest men to participate. I emphasize again that we must erect the mast within ten days. If you have any difficulty, just tell me and I will complete it at any cost. ."