Chapter 370： There are big fish in the Kemi River

The huge wooden house is the mansion where Rurik made his own company. It is a mansion highly imitating Roseburg, which makes Otto feel very intimate.

The flames of the charcoal in the stone-stacked fireplace were very gratifying, and the smoke and dust sprayed into the sky through the chimney, and the whole room was warmed and lightened.

In terms of lighting, it has to rely on the matrix of oil lamps hanging from the beams, and the chrome-iron lamp holders protruding from the wooden walls.

The fleet of ships that arrived with difficulty against the sea breeze from the Arctic docked on the frozen river, and it was not early when people landed.

Now, night has fallen. A large number of residents returned to the wooden walls, and Elon Orava Fort was shielding all residents and guests from afar with a thick wall.

Outside the wall, the early winter wind is even more sharp. Inside the wall, because of the arrival of a fleet of hundreds of people, what was a calm day suddenly became lively.

Otto sits casually on the leather cushion, holding a glass full of spirits aloft, and he salutes Metzasta, the "city lord".

"You did a good job. The wooden houses are neat and uniform, and each house can accommodate at least ten people. You deliberately left them vacant, and you wink."

Mezzasta was a little flattered: "Big Chief, this is Rurik's arrangement. I just follow his decision."

As usual, Jeflo served as an interpreter, and here he added an extra sentence "I am your slave" to make this explanation even more servile of the speaker.

Otto laughed with joy, and drank half a cup of spirits again: "You are very good at talking, you know your identity. You claim that all the tributes that you need to pay are ready? Are you sure?"

"Yes! I dare not say anything."

Otto slowly put down his wine glass, revealing a ferocious look without comment. "You know what I do against traitors and dishonest people."

"I dare not go against it."

Mezzasta is like sitting on pins and needles. He can say that he has gained some benefits from the Ross people, which was also given by Rurik.

This beautiful boy, Rurik, is full of wisdom, at least he especially likes to talk about contracts, and he is also kind in character. Yes, not killing is kindness.

He hopes that his daughter can give full play to her abilities, and it is best to work hard to be favored, so that the tribe can get greater benefits. Rurik and daughter Seporava are here, just the most bystander? They should look forward to a big meal even more.

Otto had no intention of continuing to intimidate, "You said before that you had a magical experience and there are some wonderful things you want to tell me. What is that?"

"Yes!" Mezzasta's hanging heart relaxed slightly: "It's a gift, which is the meal I'm about to serve."

"Fat meal? I'm really hungry." Otto thought for a while, "I learned that you killed some bears, and I saw all the bear skins. They are on the wall of this room." Otto shook his lips. , Especially in the dim light, the bear head with its mouth wide open is extremely terrifying.

"You... never entertain me with bear meat? You roasted a bear?"

"Actually, it's a fish." Mezzasta said calmly, but it made Otto almost spit out the wine he had drunk.

"What is a fish. Did you catch the monster in the sea?"

"It's not a monster. It's really huge. It just stayed and gifted to the great leader."

This incident aroused Otto's interest, so the September adventure of the Iron Squirrel Tribe became clear.

Mezzasta bluntly described that they had met the reward of the gods, and then encountered the salmon tide.

However, the volume "salmon tide", Otto sounded rather absurd.

"Fish? A lot of fish? I heard that the waters here are barren."

"That's it, but the salmon tide happened:" Mezzasta told the truth. "In September, a Ross fisherman was fishing in the river and accidentally found that the fish was moving upstream. When we heard the news, we cast nets and canoeing on the riverside. We cast nets in the river and even caught them in shallow areas upstream. We even saw bears catching fish, so we caught some more bears."

The more he talked, the more excited he became: "Big Chief, only the fish we caught in September will be enough for us to survive the entire winter. Compared to our hometown on the Oulu River, there is no one to grab us here."

"Huh? Is this true?" Otto asked in surprise.

"Yes. We made a lot of smoked fish, dug a cold cellar, and we even stocked some big fish. Big boss, I have never seen such a huge salmon, it..."

"How old is he?" Otto asked with his head outstretched, as Rurik became interested.

Metzasta opened his arms. "It's so long."

"Ah! Where is the fish?"

"The fish is almost ready. I hope this salmon lord can satisfy the chief's appetite."

This was really a pun. Otto didn't notice anything, but Rurik was a little uncomfortable. If it is a huge salmon, it is okay to call it "lord of salmon". This name might be the name of another tribe, and Ruriek sensed the hatred in this person's heart.

Mezzasta will not lie about eating, look at his happy face, only people who don't have to worry about starving will show this pleasure.

Soon a scent rushed into the wooden house first, the wooden door was pushed open, and the outdoor air-conditioning pounced on, causing Rurik to shiver.

The four women of the tribe reasonably carried a huge wooden plate on which was grilled a little blackened big fish.

The low table that had been erected on weekdays was put down, the wooden plate was put down, and the wooden stick that pierced the big fish was suddenly pulled out.

"Wow! What a big fish." Otto stood up in shock. He had never seen such a huge salmon in his life.

Pre-dinner etiquette? That's a lot more.

Holding the dagger in his hand, he pierced the grilled fish, and immediately cut off a huge fish that was sour. He didn't care about anything, and opened his mouth to gnaw the fish, only then did he realize that the fish had been pickled.

Rurik and Sepolava had leaned close to the wooden table and ate a huge salmon, which of course also shocked Rurik's eyeballs.

And the color of the fish is really beautiful, even if it's already greasy.

The dark orange fish has a lot of white stripes in it. It is an extremely huge salmon.

Salmon is the most common salmon species in the Nordic region. In Liu Rick’s impression, Baltic salmon should have been cherished, but now that I think about it, it’s all because of people’s big mouths that they cherish the fish and have to be raised artificially.

Rurik speculates that the Airon River (the Kemi River) is only now being set foot by humans. For thousands of years, a huge salmon herd has set up its spawning site in Lake Rovaniemi in the upper reaches of the river. They never imagined that the Russ and Corvins, who are good at fishing, have established settlements!

He knows that salmon are all cold-water fish, they live very long and grow throughout their lives. It is also known that this kind of fish has a low fishy smell and tastes delicious no matter how it is cooked. Just based on the current situation, the native European dill, thyme, and Rurico have the ability to obtain a batch, which is a lot of manpower and material resources, and the gain is not worth the loss. No seasoning is not a big problem, high-quality salt is the most important thing.

This fish must have been pickled with the salt provided by Balmerk Travellers. Rurik remembered that he had left some good salt, presumably Metzasta processed this big fish.

Looking at this fish, Rurik felt that the fish had a length of one and a half stika from the head to the tail, and it must be longer than himself. It is impossible for several people to share such a big fish.

Regarding this fish, Mezzasta explained, "For a big fish of this length, catching it is like a battle. We and the Ross fishermen have caught five fish. The biggest fish have been eaten long ago. With this one, I pickled it with the most precious good salt and put it in the cold cellar, just to offer it to the leader."

"You did a good job." Otto twisted his neck, indicating that his son was also stunned.

A piece of fish steak was placed in front of Rurik. It was so huge that he could not finish it by himself. He skillfully picked up the two wooden sticks, used it to pull the fish, sandwiching small pieces of meat into his mouth. The same is true for Sepolava. She dexterously manipulated wooden sticks to eat meat instead of knives and hands, which really shocked Mezzasta.

They are not very accustomed to talking endlessly while eating. Otto has been here for the first time and has been very careful about the construction of Fort Elon. He has a very high evaluation of this place in his heart, and even in some places, it is better than the construction of Shilla Fort.

The designer of the settlement was actually Rurik, and Otto could ask his son directly. Mezzasta is the City Lord after all, and he has a lot of questions that need answers from this person.

The huge fish steak entered Otto’s stomach three times and five times. He drank again, and it was a bit uncomfortable to speak when he was slightly drunk. "Now, talk about those iron tools. Mezzasta, you have learned to strike iron recently. , I want to see your mine, see your shop, see your blacksmith, and ask for a thousand axes and five hundred spearheads. Are you...really finished?"

Mezzasta felt that he still hadn't gained enough trust, so he was angry, "Big boss, they are all in the warehouse. They are very hard axes, comparable to those made by the blacksmiths of Roseburg, even... even steel. A sword can destroy it. You can see it now if you want."

Otto is getting higher and higher. He originally doubted the efficiency of Mezzasta's production. Now he laughed out of his madness, which was actually an alienated drunkard.

At this moment, Rurik should have been the most concerned, although "seeing is believing" is important, he has no doubts.

The reason for Otto’s laughter was quickly revealed by him. He grinned and mumbled, "A thousand magical axes? The people who equip me are very good. The axe is very powerful, and it costs a pound. Haha, sell it again. To the people of Mellaren...Aha, wealth! Endless wealth..."

While talking, Otto actually lay down, smirked a few more words, and then dull snoring kept coming.

Jeflo didn't do any translation, and Rurik didn't want to say anything. Even a general chrome axe can cause great damage to ordinary wrought iron appliances, and it is extremely difficult to corrode.

If it was sold under the banner of "not embroidering the **** axe", the price of a pound of silver would be less. This is a costless thing. The total price of a thousand axe is bound to be close to one hundred thousand silver coins. It is to consider the purchasing power of the buyer.

Rurik believed that the Mellaren could not digest them instantly, and in the end, these instruments had to be used to arm the Rus himself. This kind of benefit is naturally a substantial increase in the combat power of the Ross tribe.

A thousand axes must be real, and this is only four months of production capacity. The warmth in Northern Europe is only five months at most, and the time for efficient iron smelting and forging production is estimated to be eight months optimistically by Rurik. He sat at the dinner table, his little head thinking again. I am afraid that the annual production capacity of the ferrochrome axe of this group of scholars can exceed 2,333.

"Is he... okay? Lord Rurik." Metzasta asked, stretching his head.

"Of course he is fine, but we are all tired from the long trip. He drank again..." Rurik asked suddenly and seriously, "Now tell me what happened to you on the iron."

Rurik quickly understood how the Corvin defeated at Fort Elon Orava could accomplish the powerful iron smelting with just over three hundred people.

Of course, there are excellent furnaces, amazing efficiency of hydraulic free forging and the enthusiasm of new blacksmiths. It also lies in the management of the tribe by Mezzasta. For example, there are a group of women in the mine who are actually using sledgehammers, pickaxes and axes made of ferrochrome to dig ore. Those reindeer carts were simply driven by children to transport ore on hard-cut roads. Even the people who manipulated the waterwheel forging were helped by tribal children.

Rurik, who knows a lot about the production of industrial products, understands the efficiency of these hundreds of people, both men and women, who participate in iron-making with a posture of almost an "industrial population". They spontaneously form a division of labor. Rurik is more convinced This is the wisdom forced out by the pressure of the tribute.

In fact, they began to show strong development potential as early as July. If they are lazy, a city that stands in the bitter cold will not rise up.

Even so, it is a miracle that three hundred men, women and children, for four months, processed the ore into nearly two thousand ironwares of various kinds. Rurik knows a little bit about the inside story, that is, the axe and spearhead they make are almost all for war service. Therefore, the axe is small, which is extremely convenient for combat. The spearhead is slender and can be used as an excellent javelin with a wooden pole. Therefore, it is very economical in the use of iron materials.

There is a lot of space in the wooden walls of Elronburg, and even if a large number of wooden houses are built, Rülik can deliberately build 500 compactly. If you don't care about the quality of life, it is perfectly feasible for this settlement to cram 3,000 people.

The core element that constrains the population size of a settlement is the food supply. Cities can be very cold, as long as the supply of food and water is sufficient, humans can take root.

Rurik has confidence in this extremely northern settlement, that is, its population. It should be reasonable to maintain more than a thousand people at present.

There are actually a large number of salmon taking the Airon River (Kemi River) as the necessary waterway for breeding. Not only did he think about it, he also understood why there are a lot of polar bears and brown bears wandering here. They are fancy salmon resources here.

Before Mezzasta had finished drinking, he was able to report many things to Rurik, and let his daughter act like a baby in his arms again.

"Master, is it appropriate to let the chieftain sleep here? He...should go to the wooden bed." Metzasta cast his eyes and motioned to the wooden house.

Rurik glanced at the snoring old man and shook his head regretfully; "Just let him lie here to sleep, and the fireplace will keep him warm."

"But... he is the chief."

"But I am your master." Rurik gritted his teeth and emphasized.

"Okay...Okay." Metzasta calmed down, he felt that he understood what he had heard, as if he didn't know anything.

Like Jeflo, he certainly felt that Rurik’s decision was wrong, so he suggested: "My lord, I can take a few brothers and put the leader on the wooden bed."

"No, I have decided."

With Rurik's decisive appearance, Jeflo felt an unprecedented strangeness. In an instant, he realized an obvious thing: his son was actively replacing his father. Everyone has a dark side in their hearts. For example, the dark side of Jeflo is trying to take revenge on his slaves, but after so many years, who is the enemy?

He estimated that Rurik would wish Otto died in peace, so that he could take over power sooner. If this is the case, Evlo is willing to be a pawn.

In fact, the problem is not so complicated. Lurik just can’t stand Otto’s hangover appearance Although the Ross people should be in contact with spirits before responding, although spirits are already important in the tribe. Medicament. Otto has really picked up a treasure. Since the realization of the technology of distilling low-alcohol ale into spirits, who is the biggest beneficiary? Good things must of course be enjoyed by the big boss first. No, as long as he has a strong drink, this guy wants to have a good time.

Soon, Fort Elon Orava fell into real silence. Metzastad accumulated a lot of mature experience when he fought against the Salmon Lord tribe for a long time in the former hill fort. For example, how to quickly build a wooden wall, how to arrange a night watchman.

The cold wind of the North Pole has blown away all the clouds, and the bright moonlight illuminates the whole land. The flames inside the city walls were fierce, crackling noises one after another, and the night watchmen who rubbed their hands by the bonfire were all shifting guards. Those night watchmen standing on the tower wrapped up like a bear can hear penetrating clangs coming from the waterwheel, and they can also hear the weak waves hitting the muddy shore. Not far from the pier, the ships that docked are also faintly swaying along with the slowly freezing river.

The guests from Roseburg are already lying in the wooden house reserved by the unknown. They are full of food and drink and are screaming and sleeping. The shouts cannot be hidden by the north wind.

The night watchmen worry that the days ahead are getting colder and colder. They all have a hunch that the first snow is approaching. So, is the leader of Ross's fleet going first? Or should the wind and snow come first?