Chapter 383： We must hurry up

Hotra knew that the host was here to see the goods, and it would be superfluous to say more about this situation. He ordered his men to throw down the rope ladder: "My lord, come up and take a look. We will talk in the cabin when we have something to do, I hope you like it."

Cabin? That's really interesting.

With a flick of his neck, Rurik took Jeflo and the others, carrying a strange saw, and cautiously climbed the rope ladder to stand inside the cabin without a deck.

Really standing inside, Rurik really and clearly saw the internal structure of the Caravel ship, she really met her expectations.

Its ship's side was originally low (even from the low keel to the ship's side, it was close to three meters high), and the bow and stern were quite tall because of the habitable space.

Standing inside, Rurik could clearly chop down a single oak rib. Only the materials used for the bottom planks of the ship, Rurik could realize that they were all oak.

"Oak! Do we have so many oaks?" Rurik was taken aback, and Hortra, who had been waiting for a long time, was anxious to explain.

"My lord, we do use a lot of oak. The houses that have been demolished contain a lot of oak materials. I bought them to build ships for you. You can rest assured that since those timbers have guaranteed that the house will not collapse for ten years, it will also guarantee our ships. Extremely strong."

Rurik knows the habits of the local shipbuilders in Ross. The best oak is used for the construction of the hull, and the best of them must be used for the keel. Like the mast of a ship, it can be replaced by pine wood. The various ships that must travel through the Baltic Sea in this time and space have very low requirements for the strength of the mast.

However, most of the oars of the long Russian ships are made of oak.

Rurik squatted down, and he smelled the heavy turpentine inside the hull. His fingers tried to buckle the cracks in the hull, no, the rosin between the fingers was clearly visible.

"Huh? Hotla, you can use resin for the cracks in the planks of this ship? I...I'm really afraid of it leaking."

Hotla laughed, and he smiled wildly: "My lord, you can only rest assured of this! After these wood boards are coated with pine glue, I sent someone to pour water on them. The boards have all swelled and it will not leak. You are also completely Don’t worry, the boat will expand further when it enters the ocean. Sir, are you worried about the barrel leaking?"

Rurik nodded, he was still somewhat worried.

He was a real layman in shipbuilding, and with just a little bit of fur knowledge, Rurik thought he didn't have to deal with it anymore.

Rurik was a little strange, whether this ship should be brushed with tung oil on the bottom of the ship.

Wait a minute! Tung oil?

Suddenly, Rurik realized that Westerners have not had the concept of tung oil for a long time, and they should not even know what tung oil is.

The fact is simple and rude, even if the ship is upgraded to a Galen ship, they just don't apply protective paint to the bottom of the ship. When they realized that applying waterproof paint can effectively resist seawater erosion, they all entered the age of iron ships.

In fact, don't worry too much. Oak board is really hard and it is naturally resistant to sea water. Therefore, the maintenance cost behind the continuous voyage of the large wooden ship is completely acceptable.

There is a huge difference between the seawaters of the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, especially in the hinterland of the Gulf of Bothnia. The salt content of the seawater is several times lower than that of the Atlantic Ocean. The Russ have not considered the erosion of ships by the seawater.

Although the oak is very hard, Rurik knows that the oak board of the Galen Galleon can withstand the impact of a small amount of solid bullets. It is really hard!

Can even this rigidity ignore the possible reef?

When Rurik saw these guys, he had no plans to make watertight compartments in any form. They certainly didn't think it was unnecessary, just because they didn't realize it.

He was surprised to see that in the center of the ship's keel, a unique platform was reserved here. It must be the base for the mast!

Rurik clapped his hands and stood up, in some ways unable to complain. Look at this ship again! Not to mention that its interior is really big, with a 30-meter-long keel and stretched ribs, but it creates a large, chunky cabin. The core load-bearing parts are all oak, and its construction method is the same as that of a cargo ship, that is, her cargo capacity, Rurik guesses it would be equivalent to three cargo ships!

The belly of this ship is so stuffy that Rurik feels that she has such a meaning as a flat-bottomed boat. She must not have deep draft, which means that she naturally needs some ballast so that she can become The "tumbler" in the sea.

"My lord, what do you think?" Hortra, who was standing at the bottom of the boat, asked flatly.

"Very good, I am satisfied. Have you seen all the outdoor wood?"

"Yes! My lord, thank you so much for the wood, especially the wood used to make the mast. It's really nice that they have been air-dried!"

"Then build it quickly! I'll give you an order! In the next ten days, lay the deck for me and build the mast for me! By the way, I also need a fore mast, and I will install it on the bow A sail. Can you do it?"

"When... Of course!"

Although Hortra was a little timid, the thought of doing this work by himself was a nomination for the leader of Rose. He and his family could only succeed. Even if the requirements of the leader of Rose were too demanding, they had to overcome and succeed.

"Then, let's sit down and talk." Rurik pinched his waist with both hands in front of him, twisting his waist, as if to struggle.

"My lord, you..."

"Let's talk about it first." Rurik settled down and said solemnly: "I have provided you with a batch of excellent materials, so the reward for you will be reduced."

As soon as money was mentioned, the Hotla family stopped working and listened vigilantly.

Hortra was nervous, and asked tentatively: "The question of money, maybe..."

"This is my harbor, this is my site, you don't want me to choose. I have provided you with a large amount of building materials, and I will deduct two of your ten pounds of silver coins. You have a good calculation, are you really Is there a loss? Besides, I have decided now that I will take people and build this ship together with you."

The development of the matter was completely beyond Hotla's expectation. He said that the good shipbuilding was done by his own family, and he never thought that the Lord Master had decided to start it himself.

A layman also came to build a ship?

Let's consider the question of money first.

Excellent shipbuilders are more sensitive to mathematical calculations than others. Hotra is savvy. He closed his eyes and made a mental calculation, and realized that the northern hardwood provided by Rurik is of great value. Calculating carefully, the so-called reduction of the price of two pounds, they still make a profit.

Besides, you don’t have to log or hire loggers yourself, and the material is delivered to your door by the owner. What else do you have to complain about?

It seems that this Rurik is going to roll up his sleeves and become a little boat builder himself?

He had to ask carefully: "My lord, are you in a hurry?"

"Of course! I'm very anxious! Ten days! I need ten days to lay the deck and erect the mast. Tell me, do you have enough manpower?"

"This...is probably enough. My lord, maybe we can't think about going up to the sky in one step. Ten days are too short, and my manpower is limited."

Rurik twisted his neck, feeling a little unhappy: "When you were in Mälaren, you claimed to be able to complete it soon. Now you have broken your promise?"

"Now and then, sir. I thought it would only take the time to build two cargo ships to complete it. Even during your absence, we are still working hard to build it, but the more the construction progresses, the slower it will be. She is us The largest ship built by the family, we lack some experience."

"Lack of experience? Or manpower? Or materials?" Rurik asked.

"It's all missing."

"It's all missing? I'm not here to listen to your faint words. I think the main body of this ship has been completed. Is it time-consuming for the minutiae?"

"Yes." Youdao is a person who lives sixty, who is afraid of anyone, Hotra is almost sixty years old, he is not afraid of leader Mellaren, naturally he is not afraid of leader Ross, just because of the problem of money, he wants to maintain a respect. . "The ten-day period is too short. Just to install the mast, I have to make some preliminary preparations, which may take ten days."

"That's because you have few people. Listen, let me tell you my attitude. In ten days, I must see this ship finish installing the deck and the mast. You say I am too impatient, and I say there are too many people and more powerful. How many boat builders do you think can finish it in ten days?"

"This..." Hotra felt that things had become too complicated, so he said casually: "Two hundred people, at least two hundred people who know carpenters' mates."

"That's it? I'll give out a thousand! I summon the carpenters of the entire tribe to build this ship. I will personally participate in it, and at least carry some wood."

Rurik himself was moved by his own words, but what Hotla felt was a threat to his wealth.

"My lord, you... it costs a lot to gather a thousand people, isn't it? Are you really so anxious? Those of us work slowly, and the boat can still be launched when the ice melts."

"Just launching is enough?" Rurik shook his head, "I want it to be capable of sailing, and I want to sit with her and go to Mellaren to show off. From the beginning, do you think that as long as the boat can only float on the water, it will be done? Mission?"

Hotla didn't know what happened to his gold master. He could now see that the boy had already given up his own money in order to get a big ship. Rurik is obviously willing to get the ship at all costs, so what about his family's compensation?

"Then, our silver coins..."

"Relax, you are indispensable. I don't want to talk about money here. I just want to plan a schedule. I will complete the construction schedule at any cost. Let us sit down and talk about it now..."

Since seeing Veria's extremely aging appearance, people are bound to die, and Rurik sincerely hopes that she can see the largest ship that the Rus can have before she dies.

The extremely cold winter is abnormal after all, this spring must be normal, and the sea will thaw in early April.

Grab time! Take time with nature! The final fight with Veria!

It's best to drag the Dacheng Aphrodite all the way to the ice surface with deeper water before the ice and snow melt, so that the ship will be launched naturally after the sea ice melts.

Grabbing the schedule is already a political task.

Rurik and the shipbuilders did it, and the atmosphere of the conversation just now was a bit tense. All the shipbuilders of the Hortra family have also served. They have never seen a client urging them to build ships like this in their careers.

So they are really conscientious.

Compared to other craftsmen, they are serious, but they don't spend all their time on shipbuilding. In winter, the daytime is always short. They can't continue to work under the extremely dim light of the oil lamp, and if the oil lamp is not well taken care of, there is a danger that the entire plant will be burned.

They actually work less than eight hours a day. Although they are building ships for more than three months, they doze off passively for quite a lot of time. Anyway, the deadline requested by Chief Ross

So long, why bother? Besides, the material of the mast has been bothering everyone.

After really sitting down, Hortra was willing to have a good heart-to-heart talk with this energetic benefactor.

"Originally, the subject of the mast troubled us. The local pine trees were not good enough. I was stupid to use the technique of splicing the mast. Now that you brought the spruce wood, this problem was finally solved."

"Of course, I stayed in the north for so long, mainly to solve this problem. Don't worry, I don't know anything about ships." Rurik boasted, in fact, he really only knows about shipbuilding.

Hortra sighed and looked around again: "Look, this is the will of God. Although the time has lagged a lot, we still got the mast material."

"How about? It's okay to stand the mast? I saw the wooden block in the center of the cabin with a perforated base."

"There is no problem with standing the mast. I will use the unique technology of our Merlaren shipbuilder, and the integration of the spruce provided by you. Oh, if it is longer, it would be better."

With that said, Rurik suddenly felt that he was wrong to cut the spruce wood.

Rurik asked hurriedly, "Don't you think ten stikas won't work?"

Hotra's face was distressed: "If it is a general cargo ship, of course it is okay, but this ship is too big, it should have a higher mast. It is also too thick, as a mast, we don’t need half of it. The diameter of a stika.” Having said that, Hotla had a major question in his mind, and he had to ask the sponsor: “My lord, I’m very curious, it’s an extremely heavy piece of wood, don’t you know some methods... …To put it on the sled?"

"Of course! We used a crane."

"crane?"

Rurik again talked about the rare vocabulary. Yes, the Hortra family and other shipbuilders, they only know how to use levers, and they have never seen high-tech equipment.

"Hey." Rurik sighed slightly, "I will build a crane in Roseburg. I don't know what method you use to install masts on the ship. When my crane is built, it can easily lift various weights of wood. , The work of installing the mast will become easier."

"Oh, that's wonderful."

Hotla couldn't express expectations for something he hadn't seen or heard of, his words were full of perfunctory.

Rurik didn't blame him either, so Jeflo took out the double saw that was still prepared to show the wonder of this thing.

This saw is already big, it has been exposed to the public's eyes for a long time, but no shipbuilder knows what it is.

"Ah?! Can this thing replace the scraper and the axe, and quickly break the wood?" Hotra's face was filled with disbelief, and everyone else had their heads out of question.

Rurik's immature face squeezed a wicked smile: "I know you don't believe it. Jeflo, show them with your brother."

A crowd of people were in a large factory building, and useless wooden blocks were scattered everywhere on the cold sand. The mercenaries were really not white muscles, and Rurik felt that they had cut off a dry pine in only twenty seconds.

The flat section shocked all the experienced shipbuilders, who passed the double saw, and quickly understood all the truth.

The long and thin piece of iron is unusual. There are clearly countless tiny "axes" on it. If a piece of wood is chopped by an axe a hundred times in an instant, wouldn't it break in an instant? Even with the extremely small axeHotra thought this, and he instantly realized the true meaning of the saw.

They finally showed expressions of admiration, and Rurik did not forget to put gold on his face: "This is a new tool I invented in Fort Elon in our north. With it, two children can also knock down a big tree. Trees. I know that you have been using scrapers, planers and axes to deal with all kinds of wood. That's enough. This thing is called a saw. With it, your work efficiency will be greatly improved."

Compared with other tools, the craftsmen present could see that the so-called saw, its structure is indeed quite complicated, that is, the processing efficiency and effect it brings are very good.

"It will be given to you, and we will make more saws in the future. Listen, your shipbuilding tools should also be replaced with the best ones. You will also have to spend money to buy new saws in the future, but this one is not necessary."

Hotla was overjoyed: "Is this really okay? It...probably the most amazing tool I have ever seen."

"Accept it! Now I have given you the best tools, and I will gather the strongest men to participate in it. I repeat, within ten days, we must erect masts. If you have any difficulties, tell me and I will do whatever it takes. Finish it."