Rise of Rurik

Rurik's eyes widened as he observed, and the ten silver coins he saw were placed in a clay cauldron.

The blacksmith's one-meter-high furnace looks like a volcano made of clay, and the mouth of the furnace is blazing with red flames.

Kravason's son, Kawhi, pressed and pulled the bladder blower. With every movement, the fire at the mouth of the stove was a violent dance.

"What is it doing? Increase the temperature?" Rurik asked deliberately.

"Yes, future leader."

"Just call me Rurik, I'm very interested in your work."

"Really?" Clavasson murmured in his heart, because so far no leader has paid attention to smelting.

Ruri affirmed: "I will continue to watch your work. I want to see how you turn ore into iron blocks, and iron blocks into my sword."

"What? You... do you still know this?!" Klavassen paused and looked at Rurik's delicate face, "Don't tell me, you know our work?"

"Huh? Weird? Because there's some waste in the ore, you lit the charcoal fire to take the waste away, and you continue to beat the rest to get the iron. But if you're grilling copper ore, and adding something else, just You can get hot water. This water is not ordinary, it can be poured into special clay molds, and many things can be made, such as the basin in the high priest's house."

"You...you actually..."

Clavasson's beard was trembling, because Rurik was not supposed to know the work of a craftsman, but what he had just said was the basic principle of metal smelting. In fact, as long as you master this principle, any blacksmith can turn ore into a piece of iron.

People who really understand the whole process don't find it complicated, but complain about the hardships of the forging process.

Those who don't understand the situation will think that the blacksmith used some kind of magic to turn the stone into an axe that can cut wood. Most of them at least understand that if they burn their axe red, the axe will be deformed by knocking and beating, and their understanding basically stops there.

It is very technical to extract iron or copper from the ore.

"What happened to me? As I said, I'm very interested in your work," Rurik emphasized.

"Oh,

that is really good. My little master, may our work satisfy you. "

"Keep doing it, I have nothing else to do before the ice and snow melt." Maybe it was because he briefly described the principle of smelting, which made the blacksmith feel too magical. Rurik casually put on a pretense: "Don't be surprised, I am the one who got the wisdom of Odin, and I also got some inspiration from those wooden boards in the priest's longhouse. Now, please turn silver into accessories."

"Okay." Clavason nodded deeply, and urged his son Kawhi to make persistent efforts to burn the fire vigorously.

Rurik, at this moment he was pulling Rumia who did not understand at all, and the two witnessed the change of silver coins.

If you just burn a bunch of charcoal fire, its core temperature can hardly reach 800 degrees.

But make a stove out of clay, put an opening under the stove, let the charcoal burn in it, and the temperature can reach 900 degrees, which can melt sterling silver.

If the air outlet of the original bag blower is connected again, more oxygen will enter the furnace, and the temperature will exceed 1100 degrees, and pure copper can be melted at this temperature.

Therefore, this small furnace of Klavassen is fully capable of smelting pure copper, and it is also capable of smelting bronze and casting bronze castings.

Rurik didn't have to think to know that melting bronze was the limit of this little furnace.

Want to melt iron? impossible!

In the far east, the state-run iron smelting factory in the Han Dynasty used clay to burn bricks and rammed earth to build a huge blast furnace. A blast furnace is equipped with multiple blowers, and each blower is actually a series of more than twenty small blowers. Furthermore, the blower in the Han Dynasty was of the animal-powered winch-pulling type, which was a very complete mechanical system, much more advanced than the traditional Western airbag compression type.

Strong oxen are driven to turn huge winches, and wooden gears are converted into the power of the blower. In fact, the system is replaced with electric drive, the wooden gears and blades are replaced with metal, and it is a standard electric blower.

Therefore, multiple blower arrays blow a huge amount of gas into the blast furnace, and there is also a large amount of oxygen and more charcoal to complete the combustion.

Although its temperature has reached the extreme high temperature of 1400 degrees for a short time, it still cannot reach 1500 degrees of pure iron melting.

However, complex alloys with a large amount of sulfur, silicon, manganese, carbon and other impurities have been turned into molten metal at the extreme high temperature of this ancient giant blast furnace.

The huge demand for metals in the Far East forced state-run iron smelters to build giant equipment.

It was a giant blast furnace that could smelt more than 40 tons of ore at a time, and each smelting was a protracted battle. They generally don't pursue the crazy 1400 degrees, and they don't risk the life of the blast furnace or even the collapse of the furnace to do so.

When the liquid silicide slag flows out and the ore turns into a large amount of sponge iron, all the hot sponge iron is taken out, beaten by thousands of craftsmen, and then directly quenched into rough pig iron.

As for the refining of pig iron, and even making iron into steel, it is another complete process flow.

This is the advantage of the East. The huge population has a huge metal consumption market. There are nearly ten million self-cultivation farmers in the prosperous era. They are the foundation for maintaining the operation of the country. Their demand for iron agricultural tools must be met.

The market forces artisans to refine their skills from generation to generation.

In the Shang Dynasty, the rammed earth blast furnace was invented, and the Chu State realized the high temperature limit of the rammed earth blast furnace. In the Han Dynasty, a giant rammed earth blast furnace was established, and in the Jin Dynasty, various technologies for mass production of steel were invented.

By the ninth century AD, the iron smelting ability of the East was no longer an order of magnitude in production capacity compared to Europe in the Middle Ages, and the quality far surpassed that of Europe.

If there is anything lacking in the East, it is that the steel forging that was born in the Indus Valley has not been fully learned. However, this technical disadvantage will inevitably spread to the East with the commercial network.

But in Western Europe, their blacksmiths only know how to toss the ore, and finally beat it into pure iron, which is the so-called soft wrought iron with almost no carbon, and use it to make all kinds of weapons and farm implements.

The situation in Northern Europe is exactly the same. Those steel from the Indus Valley that flow into this region because of special channels, the weapons made with it are magic weapons.

The same is true of Cravatson. His blacksmithing and calcining techniques were all learned from his fathers, who also learned from his grandparents. If you follow it further, the blacksmithing skills of the Ross tribe all come from the Roman Empire at least 800 years ago.

The stove had a blue flame, indicating that the charcoal fire had begun to burn completely due to the excess air entering.

Such a flame already shows that the temperature limit of this furnace has been reached.

"You are optimistic, silver will soon become water!" Kravason said deliberately, in order to attract the attention of the leader and future leader.

The hard clay crucible was clamped into the furnace by iron tongs, and the flame instantly turned yellow due to the change of temperature.

But after a short time, the cyan flame completely enveloped the whole crucible.

The silver coin was completely perceptible with the naked eye, the portrait of the Roman emperor on it was flattened, and then the silver coin lost its round appearance, like a small tower collapsing, and after a while, there was a hot metal liquid in the crucible. .

"Haha, this is the knowledge that Thor gave us blacksmiths." Clavasson shook his beard and said proudly, "Boss, you have Odin's blessing, and we have Thor's blessing. Now the silver coins have melted, Then put it in the mold and cast it.”

"It really is Thor's blessing." Otto's eyes widened, because he himself was the leader, but he didn't know why the metal was burned into water.

Here, we do not have the abstract concept of "liquid", all flowing things, except for milk and oil, are simply a kind of water. Of course it's not water! Some silver actually has the fluidity of water. Isn't this the magic of Tuer?

Of course, the most shocking thing was Rumia. Rurik, who was standing beside her, felt the tremor of her arm, and heard her muttering—magica.

magica, an ancient Latin word, has been integrated into the life of the Norse people, and has also infected other peoples.

"It's not magic at all, Rumia, don't be surprised," Rurik said suddenly, "Dad, it's not Thor's blessing either."

"Huh? Wasn't it the blessing of the child or what?" Cravason was in a happy mood, but when he heard the words of the future leader, he was upset but could not refute it.

Rurik knew very well how profound it was impossible to talk about things in depth. He had mastered a large number of later metal smelting proper nouns, and this Kravason simply did not understand.

He suddenly thought of a good example, raised his body and said: "For example, iron, there are impurities in the ore, and there is necessary iron. We want iron and no debris. The priests cut the white flesh of the seal and slowly separated it in the pot. Produce useful oil, not useless dregs. Could those oils be similar to iron?

The oil is left outside the house and it solidifies very quickly, at least once it is roasted with fire, it becomes hot oil.

It also includes water. It is ice outside. Ice cubes can kill a deer, but water can only soak its fur.

So everything in the world should be like this, as long as the temperature is high enough, everything will melt.

For example, these silver coins are not the blessing of Tuoer, but Odin, the creator of the world, made a rule. Thor is the son of Odin, and he can only follow the rules set by his father, not create a new one. "

Rurik's statement is of course nonsense, and there is indeed a scientific basis for it. In order to take into account the understanding of the audience, he had to move out of the myth.

And that's really his advantage.

Rurik understood the information of those wooden boards, which made him have a deeper understanding of the Nordic mythology system mastered by the Ross tribe in this time and space than ordinary people. In a sense, as long as the mythological system is fully understood, such a person in the tribal community is a good material for natural priesthood.

Cravathan was old, and he naturally became stubborn. He could not change his beliefs because of the words of the future leader Rurik, and gave up Thor to obey Thor's father Odin.

But Rurik's words do make sense.

This kid is unusual! If he is not blessed by Odin, but by Thor. I am afraid that such a child will become the best blacksmith, because the mere seven-year-old's understanding of metal smelting is far better than that of his son Kawei!

Because of his excitement, Clavason's hairy hands trembled uncontrollably, and he was no longer able to take out the hot cauldron.

He ordered his son, "Cavi, you! You go get the mold, pour the silver water in it, and finally put a gem on it. Go!"

Kawhi immediately stepped aside, and taking advantage of this neutral period, Kravason walked straight to Rurik and said tremblingly, "My son, maybe you can be the best blacksmith."

"What? Blacksmith?!" Otto was displeased when he heard it, "He's going to be the next leader."

"Yes! My leader, but Rurik is really a happy person, and it is very likely that he has received revelation about smelting from God." After saying that, Kravason lowered his head and looked humble, "Child, Please tell me truthfully, do you... do you... know better smelting technology? I believe you should."

"Me?" Rurik was a little flustered, wasn't he being pressed by a bearded old guy this time?

Hide your abilities? Pooh! I've been hiding too much.

Rurik's eyes widened, and he announced solemnly: "Yes, Blacksmith Kravasen, I have observed your furnace, and I can say that your furnace is very bad. It is like a rusted axe with a hole in it. A ship of many kinds. Such a furnace can only smelt some of the most mundane things, and it cannot make a good sword at all. If it has anything to be proud of, it can smelt gold and silver, and make some jewelry."

Clavasson breathed a sigh of relief. He no longer found Rurik's criticism unacceptable, and it was clear that the kid knew the way to change some very difficult issues.

He asked in a low voice: "The leader is your father. You know that sword of the Destroyer, and everyone knows that you held that sword tightly. I dreamed of making a sword that could rival it, But I don't have that ability at all. I'm just a mortal, humble as a grain of sand on the seashore, without Thor's blessing at all, if you..."

"I can! I'm not a blacksmith, but I know some methods, I haven't tried them, and I believe these methods can be successful." Rurik said bluntly.

"real?!"

When Cravason was full of joy, Kavey found out from the box the corresponding clay molds for making jewelry that had not been used for a long time, as well as a tightly preserved thumb-sized ruby.

"Dad, Rurik must be wise, and you'll have to tell him later what you have to say. Now, let's finish the jewelry first."

"Oh! Good!" Clavason was shocked, happily trying to get rid of the jewelry.

Because once that's settled, it's up to Rurik to teach the skills he knows.