Chapter 360： "Harp Castle" as the mother of the cities of Ross

The wooden houses made up of the mortise and tenon structure of the pure Novgorod style are low and stocky. The owners of the houses one after another used wooden slats to make a fence and delineate a small area to engage in some random breeding.

There are chicken coops or rabbit nests in the fence. These two kinds of livestock and poultry, which reproduce rapidly, have become a major source of meat for immigrants. The captured and domesticated Oryctolagus has been kept in large wooden cages for a long time. Residents often feed large amounts of green grass. In order to cope with the cold winter, they have harvested a large amount of hay. As for the domesticated chickens, they are other people's birds. The free-range chickens often run around, and they naturally nest in the henhouse in winter.

When the grain is harvested, all the chickens are driven into the chicken coop. The grain owners not only have to use wooden flail to ram the bundles of wheat ears to complete the hulling of the oats, but also for the whole family. Fight to disperse any sparrows that come to steal food.

The first harvest season was completed relatively smoothly, and those threshing grounds that were once busy have now become empty places.

Rurik and his party followed Conusson, standing on a hard ground at will. It has been rammed to be flat and hard. Maybe it will only become muddy after many days of torrential rains infiltrate it?

Ramming means desperately compressing the volume of the soil. When it becomes a dense substance, it is a flat, hardened land that humans can create initially that should not appear in nature.

"Is this your threshing floor?"

"Yes, sir. Look carefully, there are still some leftover wheat that has not been collected."

"Really?" Rurik watched as the old fellow Conusson bowed and used his sturdy hands to pull out a grain of wheat embedded in the ground, then rubbed his hands and blew it.

"Is it enough to do this? It's just a grain of wheat."

Konuzon smiled bitterly: "It is very precious to us, maybe... I won't say it."

It was a bit unpleasant to stay in Rick for a moment, and I asked myself how many years I traveled through, I had been hungry. In his concept, easy access to food is a matter of course, and he also understands that ensuring the food supply of residents is the basic task of a government.

To waste a certain amount of food is not a big deal in Rurik.

For them, is the grain really contending?

Rurik thought for a while, does it seem stupid to say something that he wanted to say now?

For example, if they questioned the big millet on the rammed land, wouldn't they worry about too much dust and dross? They would definitely not care, or even have the right to care about what they have or not, as long as the food can be eaten.

Seeing Rurik's dignified face, Connu asked weakly: "My lord, all threshing floors are like this. You see, this area is shared by several families."

"Huh?" Rurik raised his head sharply, "I still think that every household has it. As long as they are willing, I will not comment on it. It is your earthen threshing floor. I have some suggestions."

"Oh, what is that?"

"You should lay the slabs and piece them together to form a flat ground. This way, no matter what kind of rain, it will not damage your threshing ground. You can easily deduct the wheat grains from the soil, indicating that you are not strong enough. With continuous rainfall, this threshing floor has become a mud pond."

Speaking of this, Rurik naturally extended more words.

"Cornuzon!"

"grown ups."

Rurik coughed twice: "Silla Fort is a city. According to Novgorod's words, it is called Nievarussigorod. She must have a value far beyond Novgorod, not a village. You have to contribute to the construction of her. Full responsibility. Now I give you a request."

Konuzon bowed immediately, although he was puzzled as to why Rurik had compared this place with Novgorod: "It's your order, and I will do my best to complete it."

"Very good." Rurik pointed his finger at the ground: "Threshing floor, pave me with stones. Not only all threshing floors, but all roads in the city, we must pave stones. Listen, the future Whenever I come to Fort Shilla, my boots must not be stained with mud."

"Ah?! This request..." Conuson's face instantly became embarrassed.

"Why? Don't the immigrants even know how to dig stones? Or is there no stonemason in your hands?"

Conuson still pursed his mouth.

"What the **** is going on?" Rurik asked.

"My lord, we... there are no stones here."

"Huh? How is it possible? Wait..." Rurik suddenly felt ridiculous, and what was wrong with him, "Huh? Is it possible that this place is really stone-free?"

"I promise with honor that there is really no stone. My lord, if we can easily get the stone, we will carve the stone to build a house. You see, we can only build a house with large and small pieces of wood."

"Oh!" Rurik's little hand patted directly on his face.

He dreamed of building Fort Shilla into a city in the classic medieval style in his mind, so the main landscape of the city should be a large number of granite stones. Castles, walls, roads and houses are full of gray stones.

He looked around and saw that the wooden wall not far away was slowly lengthening. The wooden wall covering the city was obviously a stopgap measure. As long as the materials were abundant, Liulik only wanted to pile the wall with stones.

Wood is the easiest building material for everyone. Red pine is everywhere here, and the forest is often mixed with oak, oak and beech.

The terrain here is flat, and there is a large island at the mouth of the Neva River. Its environment is clearly northern wetland. The fertile land is suitable for farming. I am afraid that there is really no stone nearby.

The facts are as Conuson said, and even the facts are worse than he thought. In history, Peter the Great desperately built a city at the mouth of the Neva River and became the capital of a country. They cut down all the forests at the mouth of the sea. After that, all the stones used for construction came from Vyborg in the north.

The Vyborg quarry is 100 kilometers away from the estuary of the Neva River. It is a tortuous road through the sea of ​​stone.

Pull the manuscript head and dig down. I am afraid that hard granite will not be dug even in the permafrost.

But no matter what the wood is used to build the city, the first thing is the horrible fire hazard, and the defensive city wall built with wood can only block some low-level enemies.

Since granite is not so easy to obtain, wouldn't it be beautiful to burn bricks with clay? The thought flashed by, and Rurik vetoed it instantly.

They get high-quality clay, first they burn pottery and use it to burn bricks, which is simply a waste.

Rurik looked at the land under his feet again. Even though it was difficult to find granite mines and excavate stones to use, the residents of Shilla Fort had to do this.

"Let's stop here." Rurik sighed.

Cornuzon, who was still waiting to hear the new order, immediately asked, "My lord, we are really in trouble with this stone."

"I know. I have decided. You will not ask you to pave the road with stones now, but in the future, our Shilla Fortress must build stone walls and stone pavements. You have to send people to explore the north to find stones. Also beware of possible Karelians."

"Yes."

"Don't worry too much. Our Elon Orava Fort is in the far north, where there are a lot of rocks. I can send someone to dig it there and transport it to use here."

"Oh that's great." Conuson complimented.

"That's it, let's go to the pier and have a look."

There is nothing special about the wharf itself. This time Rurik was mainly investigating the river beach. The plan to build a main road in the city had begun in his mind. While he was still in Shilla Fort, the whole city was still tense. With this good opportunity during construction, Rurik consciously takes the greatest responsibility for the future history of Ross and lays a good foundation for the birth of a city.

Rurik is to temporarily serve as an urban planning expert.

He led a group of entourages walking along the river beach covered with dry grass. There were still many residents here freely stocking their few sheep. Seeing that the crowd in leather armor came aggressively and chose to avoid it.

Rurik saw that a small road had been stepped on the river beach, and there were rutting marks from the two-wheeled trolley.

Suddenly, he stopped.

"My lord, what do you think of the dock?" Conuson asked immediately.

"Very good. I just care about this road."

"Road?" Conuson scratched his head, "I understand that the road will be laid with a stone slab in the future."

"In that case." Lurik pointed to the big river on the left hand side: "From today onwards, it is not called the Ladoga River, but the Neva River. There is also this road, I will name it Nevagata. From now on. , It is the core road of our city."

For this, Cornuzon only cared about identification, and it didn't make any sense.

Rurik knows how to build the city, but his plan is to deliberately fit history. Since the historical Peter the Great built a city here and made plans for the city himself, he must follow the advice of some experts instead of building a house and making plans.

The most famous street in St. Petersburg is Nevsky Prospekt, which has even become a symbol of the city. In Shilla Fort, which is located in the same location without time and space, Rurik intends to follow suit.

Throughout the day, Rurik was fortunate that his physical fitness was very good. When night fell, he returned to the longhouse where the leader was, only to feel a little soreness in his legs.

The soft light in the evening is a signal. Most residents just follow the habit of resting at sunset, even if it is the work of building a wall, they did not work overtime.

Otto steamed well in the Finnish-style sauna in the settlement, wiped his body clean with the hot river water, put on new clothes made of linen, and traveled all day in a very comfortable posture. Son.

He was interested in asking Rurik about his journey. Unexpectedly, Rurik insisted on holding a meeting on urban construction as a master.

"Are you kidding? Do you have any new suggestions for building a fence?" Otto originally meant that he didn't want his son to interfere with his own ideas. After all, the construction of Shilla Fort was the greatest feat he claimed in his later years, even his son. It shouldn't be irresponsible.

Rurik was puzzled by the selfishness of his father, and his eyes were determined: "I am serious, Dad, please be sure to approve my thoughts."

Otto's inner displeasure was shown on his face, which Rurik could feel.

Is this old guy afraid that I have doubts about the Shilla Fortress election? It's ridiculous!

Rurik was prepared for this, and even asked Jeflo to get a dry wooden board first, and he also used a knife to mark out the lines, and black these lines with small charcoal blocks to form a simple blueprint for urban construction. He negotiated with Cornuson, but after Rurik’s detailed explanation, who knows what this picture is?

Indeed, Rurik only sketched the course of the river and the arrangement of the streets in the city.

Now, he is mainly facing his father Otto and Conuson, and while showing the plank, he is holding a small stick and making gestures for introduction.

"The island full of rabbits is right north of our dock. I hope to build a fort here as the first line to guard against northern assailants in every sense."

"The wooden wall we are building now wraps our Fort Shilla. I have seen it. One side of it is adjacent to the big river, and the curved wall forms a semicircle. I declare that the name of the big river is the Neva River, and the path along the river must be expanded. Chengda Road, named Nevsky Prospekt, this street is the main traffic road in our city."

"There must be a road under the wall, which connects to Nevsky Prospekt."

"There are four roads that extend vertically from Nevsky Prospekt. They must be built straight. In principle, all roads need to be paved with stones or pebbles. Since there is a temporary lack of historical materials, Cornuson, you should ram the road to make it as hard as possible."

"The wall is made of wood. I don’t think it’s a long-term solution. We heard that when we attacked Gotland, we faced the enemy’s stone wall and our people suffered. Facing the Corvin’s wood and The wall made of soil, we basically did not encounter obstacles. Obviously the stone wall is more important to us. Wood will decay, the stone wall will last, and the wooden wall is a stopgap measure. When we find the quarry, we immediately use stones to strengthen our city ."

"So, Konuzon, you have to build some special houses. A long house for residents to meet and discuss matters. It has to be very large, and the architectural style is based on Novgorod's. You have to build a more comfortable one. Houses, where the supply leader lives. A number of vacant wooden houses will be built, which can be used as warehouses on weekdays. When our Sorgon army stops at Shilla Fort, when there are sufficient accommodation rooms, there is no need to disturb other residents. Also, I hope At the Spring Festival next year, you will tear down all the floorless houses in the settlement and rebuild them."

"Our current position is the residence of the leader. In the future, the house of my family will be built in this position. Sooner or later, I will make it gorgeous. And you, first cover me with the woodcut of Novgorod. I'm not used to sleeping on the ground anymore."

"You have to open up an empty field with at least one hundred sitikas at the gate of the leader's residence. I have a deadline for you to complete the empty field before the autumn harvest next year. It will be the largest threshing field in the city and the square where we will meet in the future. I limit you to relocating the houses in the area within one year, and then you ram the land, and when the conditions are ripe, I will pave it with hard stones."

Planning roads and building a square are a hundred times more important than building the leader’s residence, Rurik thinks so.

Especially for a square, Rurik actually thinks it is more interesting to call it "Senate Square" or "Hermitage Square", because the place opposite the Rabbit Island is the Winter Palace, the Tsarist Parliament Building and the huge Senate Square sitting on the ground. , It was the place where the party members started in December 1825.

Building a square paved with stones is certainly shocking for people of this era. All Ross people should be proud of having such a square.

The practical significance of building the square is that Shilla Fort needs a large space that can handle all kinds of affairs in the open air. When the farm is busy, it is a threshing ground and a large amount of materials arrive, and it is a material distribution center. If a foreign enemy enters the bandit, the Rus can take up arms and assemble in the square to get the leader's order to defend their homeland.

Here, to the south of the square is the city’s granary, which is also the center of the city.

Rurik pointed to the wooden board and kept explaining. Now Otto knew he was completely stupid and misunderstood his son. The son does not have any objections or doubts, he is very supportive of his own city location, and even his preference for it is obviously stronger than himself.

Children actively inherit and carry forward their father's business, which is the delight of any father.

Otto was pleased to see that his son had extraordinary insights into urban construction. After listening to the explanation, he finally understood the picture on the wooden board. Why did he think it was so funny?

Seeing that his son had finished speaking, Otto smiled gratifiedly: "Rurik, you have done a good job, and the city will be built according to your plan. This is your picture..."

Rurik let out a long sigh of relief: "Dad, do you have any questions."

"Hey, doesn't your city plan look like a harp?"

As soon as the voice fell, everyone in the house burst into laughter (lack of entertainment in life, everyone laughs very low).

Rurik glanced hurriedly, and couldn't help having fun.

Not counting the fortress plan of Rabbit Island, the outline of the city theme is indeed like the letter D, and there are four paths in it. Doesn't it look like a harp?

There is no harp in the hands of the Ross people. Many people in Ross have seen it. It is an instrument that some Mälaren people will play in their leisure time. The spiritual life of the Ross people has always been boring, but all small things can turn into chattering for months. They compile ballads but do not have suitable instruments, even bone flutes and skin drums are rare, not to mention the harp, a treasure that needs to be refined.

There are no professional musicians here, and the priests of various tribes who control the instruments are sometimes used in sacrificial places to enhance the solemn atmosphere.

The priests of Mellaren have a harp, which is also owned by a few merchants, and its use has been rare.

Otto was in the mood, he smiled and said, "In my opinion, I need to give the city a nickname."

"What is it?" Conuson asked urgentlyAccording to Rurik's decision, our Shilla Fort is like a harp, it is called Harpabroge (Harpabroge). "

If "Shilla Fort" is a name given to the city, then "Harp Fort" is an elegant nickname. Everyone was also very happy when they were laughing, the nickname of Harp Castle spread quickly, and this fully shows that the urban construction plan of Rurik will be implemented.

The era chose the mouth of the Neva River and Lake Ilmen as the original place of prosperity for the Russ. However, in any time and space, this geographical location must be a core area of ​​the "Russian unified country". She needs elegance and historical weight , It is even more necessary to have a scientific urban construction plan from the beginning.

Rurik boasts that he has done this, and his people will build the city according to the plan. Then, future generations will also be grateful to their ancestors for creating this true "Mother Ross City" in the context of the current time and space.

In fact, Rurik did not like Kiev for personal reasons, even if it was a veritable granary. The name of "Mother Rus City" was thrown at Novgorod, but it should not be thrown at Kiev. The battle between the two cities will not exist at the root, and Fort New Ross, or the "Harp Fort" at the mouth of the Neva River, will be regarded as the "mother of the cities of Ross".