Rise of Rurik

Rurik never imagined that Kravassen had been using high-quality magnetite.

He immediately asked excitedly, "Could it be that there are these iron mines in the mountains west of our Roseburg?"

"Of course, is it weird?" Clavason replied indifferently.

"Isn't it surprising? This is the best ore! The best iron ore in our world."

When the child said this, he was boasting that the bitter cold place of Roseburg was actually full of treasures. At least for blacksmiths, setting up a blacksmithing workshop near the mines would indeed bring him a steady stream of wealth.

The northward migration of the Ross tribe to the Rossberg Fjord developed by seizing the area from the Sami, one reason is that the land in the Svealand region was becoming more and more narrow due to the increasing population, leaving it somewhere. New territory development is an acceptable option, in fact quite a few clans and small families have been doing it.

The second reason is to pursue fur resources in the north.

But the clansmen did not know that their pioneering northward expansion not only expanded their knowledge of the world, but the blacksmiths discovered directly exposed iron ore in the mountains.

The blacksmiths don't know anything about the iron content of the ore, the taste, etc. The few blacksmiths in their clan are just happy that the ore is easier to get so they can make more axes, swords, pots , an iron fist, and a nail sorely needed in shipbuilding.

What's more, there are not only a large amount of iron ore, but also a small amount of copper mine in the mountains.

For the Kravasson and his son, it was very easy for them to find iron ore, because they did not know that the fjord where Roseburg was located was the remnant of a huge iron ore vein. Although it was a remnant vein, the iron content of the ore was also high. more than 60%.

In the future, Sweden will find the main ore vein in this area, and get ore with iron content as high as 70%. It is almost a pure magnet and contains no impurities.

Because, located in the northernmost mountainous area of ​​the Gulf of Bothnia, this mineral vein originated from the mountain building movement 1.9 billion years ago, and the very old Finnish Craton was lifted up, bringing part of the iron inside the crust to the surface as a whole.

Due to this geological tectonic reason, this 300-kilometer-long ore vein, although its structure was relatively complex when it was born, will not experience more geological tectonic changes in the next 1.9 billion years, making it very lacking in various Impurities, especially it contains almost no sulfur.

It contains almost no sulfur, and its body is almost a magnet. No giant iron ore of higher quality has been found in the entire earth.

Kravason didn't understand this at all, and didn't understand that because of these innate factors, he could smelt more high-quality wrought iron at the same price than Frank's counterparts. Due to the limitations of geography and vision, he did not know that his smelting had always had a strong advantage.

The iron content of the ore is very high, and it seems that with a little processing, it is a stone tool of very good quality.

Clavason, who saw it, threw the ore into the furnace again, and urgently ordered his son Kavey to adjust the air outlet of the blower.

After that, Kravason took out a piece of hot carbon from another constantly burning stove with a pair of pliers and threw it into the iron smelting furnace. Soon thick smoke appeared. Due to the heat, the smoke almost all collected towards the chimney, which also shows that The phenomenon of thermosyphon is happening.

The charcoal in the furnace was burning, and Kawei was struggling to drive the blower. On the cold days, he was tired and sweaty, and soon this young struggle paid off.

At first, the yellow flames burst out, and the thick white smoke burst out fiercely.

The color of the flame was changing, and gradually it became a bluish flame.

This shows what? Blue flame, the blue flame is produced when the charcoal reaches complete combustion, as the fuel charcoal has reached the limit of heat release in the small stove.

Rurik understood that if Kravassen was not holding a small stove, but a rammed-earth blast furnace as high as three people stacked up in Arhats, a larger blower would supply air for it, and the charcoal in the lowermost combustion chamber would be a white flame. It is only in that state that charcoal really reaches its exothermic limit, and the ceramicized outer layer of thick rammed earth is very good at suppressing heat loss.

Only in that extreme state, iron ore can be directly cast by workers in the state of pig iron water rich in carbon elements.

Ah, just to make a thick hoe, cast iron cast it is mass production.

If the small stove is made larger, since the local magnetite is very high-quality, Rurik thinks that the molten iron of pig iron can be made.

Let's see what else Kravason has to do.

The charcoal core in the furnace was hot, and facing the furnace about three meters away, Rurik's small face was also illuminated very comfortably.

He paid special attention to the discharge port at the bottom of the small stove. Although the stove was simple, the workers could at least understand the state of the ore inside the stove.

Just now, it was a pile of magnetic black crystal lustrous ores. After a long period of time, it has turned into red and white hot lumps. What has the temperature of the ore become? At least more than a thousand degrees! The magnetism has disappeared because of the high temperature, and the oxygen in the ore reacts completely with the carbon in the charcoal on a large scale, turning it into carbon dioxide and releasing it into the air. The silicide slag had turned into a viscous liquid, it was like molten glass, and Rurik saw too much slag slowly flowing out of the furnace!

The sky outside was completely black, and the iron smelting furnace inside was even a little hot, and the open wooden door allowed some cold wind to blow in. It was no longer cold, and Rurik actually felt comfortable and refreshing.

He has been sitting for a long time, and his hunger is very unpleasant for himself and his servants.

He suddenly asked loudly, "Klaverson, are you okay?"

"You still need to wait, maybe you're hungry? That's alright." Clavason immediately ordered Kavey, who was adding firewood. "You go and tell your mother to give the best meat to our guests. Go!"

Because of tradition, women are not allowed to participate in smelting and forging iron. Perhaps this is not a form of discrimination, it is purely because of the contradiction between the relative weakness of women's strength and the huge physical consumption of iron and iron. A man with an increasing IQ would not ask his wife or daughter to put in heavy physical labor.

Clavasson's wife was also very old, and she was the logistics housekeeper for the blacksmith's family, and it was her who made the jerky that Rurik soon ate.

It seems that the jerky made by the entire tribe has the same taste. The blacksmith provides himself and Rumia with jerky and rough bread. The only thing that adjusts the taste is a little salt that is ground into powder, which is an old onion. starter

Onions, this is something that can be grown in the short frost-free period of the Ross tribe's geographical location. Onions are almost sugar-free, and people don't get much benefit from growing them on a large scale. The only benefit of the onion seems to be the sweetness and spiciness of other textures, which offset the bitterness of the coarse sea salt.

How long has it been?

In fact, three full hours had passed since Otto went home first. The blacksmiths don't have any timers at all, and they estimate the heat entirely by feeling.

"Time should be up!" Clavathon, who had already eaten dinner, ordered. "Kavey, let's go. And Rurik, you'll see our beating."

Rurik pulled Rumia to his feet and couldn't help but take a few steps back.

A large lump of molten ore was pulled out by the iron tongs, and the young and strong Kawei struggled to move it to the iron platform, and then the big hammer clenched in both hands by Cravatson slammed it hard.

A large amount of sparks splashed out because of this knock, and Rurik saw it clearly, and the molten ore immediately collapsed.

"This! This is hot forged sponge iron?!"

Rurik's eyes widened, he had a lot of knowledge beyond the times in his mind, but there were very few opportunities to practice.

The Cravason family's iron work is really a father and son soldier. At first, the son held the pliers to fix the sponge iron, and the father struck it with a hammer.

When the father was tired, he replaced it with his son in time to beat.

The larger the sponge iron is, the smaller it is, in fact, the internal loose and porous structure is smashed more and more densely.

It was beaten for a while and then thrown into the stove to continue heating, followed by striking while the iron was hot.

A long and boring time passed, and the tired Rurik finally waited for the birth of an iron mound.

"What do you think now? Rurik? I specifically hammered it into this shape." Cravason was proud of his face, because their father and son had hammered a lump of sponge iron into a square iron mound with almost angular edges. . New 81 Chinese website updates the fastest computer:

The ore can be made in this way by the original method, the processing technology of the blacksmiths is already very good, that is, the status quo of the iron mound is a large piece of wrought iron that contains almost no carbon.

Clavasson looked flattering: "Now, boy, can you tell me how to make it the hardest iron?"

Rurik settled down and asked, "What would you do with this piece of iron if no one told you those methods?"

"I'll put it in the stove again, and when it's red, I'll take it out and hammer it into the shape of an axe. When it's still extra hot, suddenly put it in the cold snow, and the axe will get harder. But with your father The sword ratio is still too soft."

Rurik nodded deeply: "Okay, I'll show you how to make it the hardest iron."

"Ah! I..." The excited Clavathons hurriedly pulled their son over, and the two big men sat on the leather cushions, listening to the teachings from the children.

It would be great if he could learn the art of steelmaking with just a few words, and Kravassen seemed to be doing what he always wanted, but he sometimes suspected that Rurik was just entertaining himself.

Clavason's complexion became solemn, and he couldn't believe it. For example, to make iron hard, just throw the iron mound into the stove and make it red and make into strips. After folding, continue to beat into strips. The cooled iron bars are not quenched at all, and continue to be thrown back into the furnace for heating. They are red-hot and taken out to continue beating, and then folded for further beating.

He widened his eyes and asked, "How is this possible? It's absurd. Does the iron get harder and harder as long as it is grilled and beaten repeatedly?"

Rurik didn't change his face: "Yes, it will get harder and harder, and this is the only way you can achieve it now."

"No way! What's the point of forging when it's red? Iron is iron."

"Then, do you think that the sword that my ancestors got on the battlefield was really a gift from Odin? No! In fact, it was some mysterious blacksmith who forged it in some way. Believe me, just follow my methods. , barbeque and forge ten or fifty times. Although you will be very tired, after this work, the iron is no longer ordinary iron. Its color will change, it will become whiter, just like the day the color of silver when it was cast."

Ordinary iron swords are also gray-white after polishing, which is fundamentally different from the bright white of silver.

"but……"

"Do you still have doubts? Is it about money?" Rurik estimated that he would dislike the exhaustion of more than ten repeated forgings, so he said: "I want a good short sword, and I am willing to work hard. I Please do it according to my method, no matter if you succeed or fail, I will pay you ten silver coins. These ten silver coins are just to buy your iron strength, if you still need money, I will put it in again."

If you have money, what do you get away with? What's more, the son of the leader is really generous.

Kravason's exhaustion was almost wiped away, he suppressed the doubts in his mind first, and did everything according to Rurik's requirements.

In this way, a vigorous beating of steelmaking has officially begun!

In this blacksmith's wooden house near the beach, Rurik couldn't sleep for a long time because of his excitement, so he continued to stay in the blacksmith's workshop, instructing two equally excited workers to strike iron at any time.

Rumia was led away by Kravatsen's wife for the time being, and they went to rest in the longhouse where they stayed, in order to avoid the blacksmith's sweaty place, but in the silent night they could still hear the non-stop beating of Kravatsen.

The sound of hammering seemed so strange, and the nearby residents were all curious. Today's blacksmith must have received a rare large order, forcing him to keep hammering.

Yes, it is indeed a large order, and the gold master has invested nearly 40 silver coins in total.

The value of a silver coin is very high, and Rurik is not really that rich, just because the money comes too easily, all of which are huge profits brought by a short period of soap violence. He and Rumia are quite similar in this respect, neither of them are very clear about the real purchasing power of silver in this time and space.

The seven-year-old Rurik is also a tragedy. The farthest place he has traveled over the years is the hillside west of Roseburg. He has never left Roseburg, and he still doesn't know the real situation of the world outside. Those so-called southern allies are limited to rumors. Only the thousands of visitors prove that allies are real and that they are allies.

The wrought iron was put into the furnace to burn red, it was stripped for the first time, and it was also folded and beaten for the first time.

When Kravassen was about to obey Rurik's request to see him put back into the hot stove, Rurik stopped him abruptly.

"What? Can't you put it in?"

"No! Your stove is too hot," Rurik stopped him.

"Isn't it burning it red?"

"Of course not, you have to burn it barely red, and then put it outside quietly until it cools down naturally."

"why?"

"Because it's called tempering!" Rurik directly uttered the word tempering, describing this processing process at a time, but the principle cannot be explained in a few words. He emphasized: "You just do as I say, and when it cools, you go to red-hot it, and then repeat the folding and forging."

Clavason nodded, and did what the sponsor said without saying a word. He and his son Kawi also really remembered the word "tempering".