Rise of Rurik - Chapter 697

[Chapter 698]

It has been two days since the huge team arrived in Novgorod, and the city has become extremely lively.

This is an exceptionally sunny morning, and even early risers can feel the warmth of spring.

In fact, the temperature at night still dropped below freezing point, which caused astonishing icicles under the eaves of every household every morning.

The icicles are dangerous, early risers knock them off, and when the sun rises high enough, the wooden eaves begin to trickle.

The whole world is thawing, and when the land becomes dry enough, spring plowing will start, and there is not much time left for plowing.

These days Rurik feels like the production team’s donkey.

Busy farming, busy organizing immigration, and calculating time and climate

He didn’t stay in Novorosburg for a few days at all, and this time he returned to Novgorod, back to the parliamentary court here.

Rurik sat in the main hall, and those who had the right to participate in the meeting sat on both sides.

They are the officers of the First Banner Corps, some old guys from the Second Banner Corps, and they are the city’s farming masters and craftsmen.

Old Otto and the local Governor Medved are both present, and Carlota is also among them.

Today’s meeting, all about farming, looked like a military meeting at first glance.

Rurik didn’t make much preparations for this meeting, but he decided on some things that must be done, and even the speeches came out of his mouth.

“It seems that everyone is here. I won’t say polite words, let’s get straight to the point. Today! We are talking about farming! Starting this year, Ross’s young adults will immigrate here on a large scale with their families. I decided to live in the old Pine Needle Manor. A new settlement will be built there to resettle immigrants. The First Banner Team will have the priority to enjoy the land there, and when the snow melts, we will demarcate the fields of each family…”

Rurik is repeating the policy, so that the brothers of the first banner team can really prepare mentally.

He continued to preach: “When we come to Ross, we will cultivate the land well. I found that the local people only claim to be good at using the land, but in fact they only have a rough grasp. You can obviously produce high yields, but poor technology limits the output. I am not saying that the Ross people Just being good at farming, in my opinion, the farming methods we all know in the past are backward. Now it is different, I will directly interfere with your farming operations, so that your behavior of spreading seeds indiscriminately will stop forever !”

Everyone thought that Rurik used this meeting to repeat some things that had been negotiated in the past.

how?

He also wants to teach everyone how to farm?

He is a person blessed by God, so he should have obtained the wisdom of farming from God, right?

That’s a really good thing.

The words were mainly aimed at White Tree Manor, they are the current main population of Novgorod.

The selected farming masters entered the venue. They came arrogantly, but they were directly criticized by the prince for not knowing how to farm.

Self-esteem is naturally frustrated, but the prince should teach everyone new skills.

“Then, Rurik, how will you guide us…” Rigus asked with a hoarse voice.

Here he is very old, and he is Rurik’s father-in-law, and he has been in the dirt all his life. His inquiry represents all Novgorodians.

Rurik stretched out his hand to quiet the agitated people.

“Many years ago, a batch of curved plows arrived here, and you started to plow the land efficiently. I noticed that your food production has increased, but it is very limited. In recent years, more farm tools have entered here, and the situation has not changed. , all because you don’t know better planting techniques and tools exist.”

“Is there a more wonderful way? Is there a better tool? For example, let… the deer you brought pull the plow?” Regus asked again in surprise.

“Deer! Naturally, they are used to pull plows. They are very reliable. Upgrading the land is just loosening the soil, and there is a way to sow seeds afterwards. In the past, you men, women and even children, each holding wooden pots full of seeds, lined up after the plowing It’s stupid, you are wasting seeds badly. You are not allowed to do this from this year, I want you to spread the seeds in one line after another.”

Sow into a thread?

how so?

What’s the point?

Rurik made descriptions in Norse and Slavic languages, and everyone’s doubts were reflected in their expressions.

“I know you’re wondering, but it’s necessary. You can understand that our troops are always lined up to meet the enemy, and our positions are neat, so we always win. On the other hand, the enemy always stands in a mess , was easily defeated by us. Why is this? Because our soldiers stand neatly, and no one can exert their abilities. So I want all the wheat seedlings to line up like soldiers, so that they can fully get the power of the sun. Oh yes, I’m afraid You do not yet know why the wheat grows.”

Arik listened to it for a long time, but he was bored listening to the simple farming, and when he mentioned the soldiers’ positions, he immediately became energetic.

He took advantage of his brother’s moment of concentration to interject: “You said that the wheat seedlings are lined up like soldiers, so it must start from the sowing.”

The cousin’s interjection consolidated his mind, “Yes! I plan, when the plowshare scratches a groove, the seeds will be scattered in it, and we will plant the seeds at the same time when we clear the land and loosen the soil. This will greatly save our time. At least you all know, The timing of planting is very important to us, and we cannot and dare not delay it.”

Everyone understands this description. Since the digging and sowing started at the same time, it is also considered a pioneering work, that is, directly sowing the seeds in the grooves. The people of Baishu Manor have not done this in the past few years when they have Quyuanli.

“Don’t you think that you can just sow the seeds and wait for the autumn harvest. I know that you do a little weeding and don’t take care of the fields. These behaviors are stupid! When you raise cattle and chickens You also have to worry about whether the poultry and livestock are sick, such as neglecting the seedlings when planting the land? You don’t even know how the wheat grows taller and how to scion.”

Speaking of excitement, he pointed to the sky: “The sun gives us the power of the sky. It is the incarnation of Odin and Peron. It is the sun that makes the wheat seedlings grow. If there is not enough sunlight, the wheat will head late.”

He pointed to the earth again: “The mother earth also has great power. Whether it is wheat or cabbage, there should be flax stalks, reeds by the river, and pine trees everywhere. Their roots must absorb the power of the earth. Different regions, the earth contains The strength of the land is also different, this is the difference between good land and bad land.”

This theological explanation is a simple and crude explanation of why the wheat grows, and no one has ever made such an explanation before!

Rurik’s identity is unusual, and everyone believes that he must have told the origin of all this!

Those master farmers realized the influence of sunlight, rain, and the earth on the growth of wheat. As a result, the priests of the farm did not give any explanations. Watch the sky eat.

Only Rurik has ever made a set of explanations that can be justified.

Naturally, there are some elements of strange power and chaotic gods that he deliberately added, but if the so-called “divine power” is understood as a natural law, everything makes sense.

They are all purely illiterate. The local Slavs have their own language, but no writing is available, and at most they are some abstract pictures representing meaning.

The Nordic runes used by Varyags such as Ross are already advanced, and Rurik is already teaching the cubs of Ross to read and write Latin.

Tell them that the root system absorbs nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to grow vigorously, which is a scripture.

He has his own explanation: “We are born as human beings, and our existence itself is favored by God. Since the wheat is ripened by the power of the sky and the earth, what we live on is also the power of the sky and the earth. Then our feces are not complete. The stench is useless, there is some power in it, and they can nourish the wheat seedlings.”

This explanation seems to make sense, but when it comes to the word “shit”, everyone burst into laughter.

If a person accidentally guesses dung, he will be ridiculed by his companions and be unlucky.

Now the princes and lords actually say that excrement is still a treasure, which is really ridiculous.

Rurik also had to keep calm with a smile on his face, waiting for them to gradually shut up.

“That’s the truth. We eat wheat, and the wheat seedlings eat dung. Also, the rotten reeds also contain power. If you put this smelly lake mud in the field, the wheat seedlings will definitely grow better. We regard it as a smelly thing, But it is a delicious meal of wheat seedlings. Ask yourself, can you refuse barbecue?”

Some savvy people have epiphany, such as Carlota, such as Medved.

Those masters of farming were even more brainstorming, and someone stood up happily: “My lord! I understand! When the wheat seedlings grow in a line, we can walk freely through the field. We can drench some buckets full of sticky dung, Put these… ha ha ha… these stinky things on the roots. The wheat’s… mouth can eat this dung and grow better?”

Someone has become enlightened, and Rurik was overjoyed.

But this description is also more funny, and there are endless laughter.

When the atmosphere stabilized, Rurik asked anxiously, “You are right. What’s your name!”

“Mstidar Ugrivich.”

“Very good, Mstidar, I recognize your face now. Wait, I invited you…” Rurik looked at the invited “farming masters”, another identity of them was local carpenter.

They are recognized as farming masters and are directly related to their status as carpenters. During the period of extreme lack of iron, the wooden shovels and plows they made were the best local farm tools. Of course, the use effect was far inferior to the iron farm tools provided by the Ross people.

“I remember that you are all carpenters. Mstidar, you can’t leave after the meeting. All you carpenters stay, and I want you to do something important for me.”

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Being selected by the prince will surely bring great benefits immediately.

Mstidar is also a half-old man. His son has been fighting for the young prince and has earned a lot of spoils. In the end, he can be used more?

He directly called the greatness of the prince, sat down again with a smile on his face.

“You should all find this out. There will be many narrow passages among the neat wheat seedlings. It will be very easy for you to weed, and you don’t have to worry about stepping on the wheat seedlings. It is also easy to spread dung. People need water, and your cattle, sheep, and chickens also need water. To drink water, the wheat needs water! I know that you didn’t water the wheat fields before, which is not right. You can’t completely count on the rain. When the weather is dry, we take water from the lake to ensure that the wheat does not lack water.

I can promise you that as long as the wheat fields follow our resolution, the harvest season will increase by half this year!

You’ll pay more taxes, and you’ll get more output.

In this way, you don’t have to work hard to open up new land. Developing existing farmland to increase its production is the lowest cost method.

”

Rurik said a lot, and everyone was completely taken aback by his profound words, as if the god of agriculture was preaching to the farmers who were digging in the soil.

It’s stupid to attribute all the harvest to the gods, they just believe it, and Rurik is just playing tricks.

He reiterated: “God sent wisdom to the world and gave power to individual people, that is me. I have the responsibility to guide you to explore the wisdom hidden by God, so that everyone’s life will be better and better. In my opinion, spring plowing will be very fast. It’s almost here, as long as the warm weather lasts for a few more days, we should plant seeds. Rigus, is your planting ready?”

“appropriate.”

“Very good. Your land has been surveyed and mapped. I hope you can sow seeds according to my method. Don’t worry, I will invent a sowing tool, and sowing will become very easy.”

Seeding tool?

Those with keen ears sat upright.

Rurik has already explained why wheat grows and matures from a philosophical level, and the theory needs to be proved by practice.

Any preaching is not as good as letting the farmers directly see the increase in production, but they have no new operations before, and Rurik knows that in order to gain their trust, he must make a big show—the prince himself plowing.

“I will work myself on the fields of the old pine needle manor, and also in Novgorod. I will use a new tool, the plow to turn the soil, the tool to spread the seeds into the grooves, and the last tool to bury the seeds .”

This is simply a big pie, and everyone is muttering what kind of new tool this will be.

The meeting finally broke up. Since Rurik is the person representing the gods, he said that farming according to the new method can produce high yields. This is by no means a lie.

Rigus and Medved walked out happily. The father and son discussed the possible beauty of autumn, and then hurriedly inspected the prepared grain.

Carlotta is even more hopeful. She has a large amount of oats in her hands, and a small amount of wheat supported by Rurik (mainly for experimental purposes).

She had already understood the new farming elements mentioned by Rurik, and wrote them down on paper in Latin terms.

More than a dozen old farmers were deliberately left behind, all eager to see the miracle of an unprecedented bumper harvest immediately.

Rurik did demonstrate a miracle, that is, he suddenly took out a roll of paper, and unfolded it into a mechanical structural diagram.

Real carpenters can draw spatially in their minds, even if they have not received training, this is the accumulation of experience that allows them to directly make up the entire set of processing techniques.

The picture of Rurik is not complicated, the principle is the transformation of the existing Quyuanli.

A wooden funnel is installed behind the plowshare, and a wooden pipe leads directly to the bottom parallel to the plowshare, so that the wheat grains leak out and fall right into the groove behind the cultivated soil.

There is an inclined wooden pole at the rear end of the funnel, which is connected with a baffle, which acts as a shovel to move the soil and cover the seeds.

The three of them are one. At first glance, the whole sowing process seems to be nothing more than a combination of humans and animals pulling the plow and plowing through years of plowing.

Rurik asked them to look at the picture first, and then he pointed at the picture with a wooden stick and then preached.

Whether they are masters of farming or carpenters, they are proper intellectual talents in Novgorod, and they are elites to be firmly attracted.

“I will collect the plows from the whole farm, and the ones I brought back recently. I may gather a hundred curved plows, and you will have to remodel them. I know this is not a big problem for you, and it will take some time before the ice and snow completely melt. .I don’t want to hear that the time is too tight to finish. I will pay you a lot of money. You only need to complete the transformation of a plow, and I will pass the inspection, and you will get… five silver coins. Think about it See, you may all be rewarded with half-pounders.”

Needless to say any more, the reward that Rurik proposed made them tremble all over, coupled with the unstoppable smiles on their faces, this group of old guys seemed to be collectively insane.

The combined use of plows and seeders has been done in the East for hundreds of years, as well as the use of irrigation and farmyard manure, which ensures a bumper harvest of fifty seeds for one seed. Unlike the traditional Slavs, where nine In the century, it is still a bad output for five or six sons.

Rurik was full of confidence. He felt that he was indeed the god of agriculture.

In this way, the local people directly skipped a long period of agricultural development, and suddenly began to come into contact with intensive farming techniques. Even if they learned a little, they would be much better than before.

Of course, the cold climate here is destined to limit the upper limit of growth.

Even though they must have learned it clumsily at the beginning, once they started to implement it, it was a huge leap forward from before.

Their past agriculture was extremely backward, and they no longer had to worry about losing anything.

The carpenter set to work, using a host of tools provided by Rurik.

They ding ding dong dong began to transform Quyuanli on a large scale, and they even fought at night like never before for the reward of silver coins.

In a very short time, the first modified plow was produced!

Its structure is actually very compact. The wooden “leak” of the seeds is almost attached to the rear of the plowshare, and there is a wooden partition mechanism to control the speed of the seeds falling.

Since the parts are mass-produced separately, carpenters make one kind of part separately. When the first plow is assembled and fixed, the subsequent products will be produced continuously.

Although there is no large-scale experiment yet, Rurik has personally verified its reliability in the wooden shed.

Next, just wait for the plows to be transformed, the ice and snow to melt, Lake Ilmen to completely thaw, and the land to become dry again.

Rurik has already made up his mind.

In the past few days, he has not simply instructed the craftsmen, he has specially written some documents, and together they are a set of books teaching the Ross people how to farm the land.

He wrote four copies in Runic Norse, Romanized Norse, Romanized Slavic, and Latin, and had his concubines copy them for future distribution.

This will first benefit Ross immigrants, most of whom can understand runes.

As for the local Slavs, the soldiers of the Slavic Banner Squad had some words that they could understand after thinking about it.

Of course, they can all read pictures!

Rurik almost drew some caricatures, which are actually “farmers’ farming pictures”, which makes wives and concubines copy them better than gourd paintings.

This is already a document with the nature of “Nong Jing”, and he once again felt that he needed a wooden movable type printing machine.

[End of this Chapter]