Chapter 1044： The fertile black mud of Barrota's swamp

Rurik's arrival at the Calf Manor was in a hurry, and even the Boyarvsky family of the manor was still established in Novgorod and knew nothing about it.

The people of the manor rarely had the chance to see the king. They saw the heroic appearance of the cavalry, and they constantly observed whether there were familiar faces in the army.

Uski's eldest son is a cavalryman who has made great achievements, but he is in the first team. At this time, some members of the first team went south with the Ostara cavalry to the upper reaches of the Lovady River. They would assist the armed settlers to establish settlements, and by the way, they would also use their mobility to quickly inquire about the surrounding geography.

The people could not see their fellow villagers, not even Uski himself.

They did not fear the king at all, nor the army.

People laughingly gathered around, the elders walking on crutches at the front, holding up their bearded heads and asking the noble king: "What a happy thing it is that attracted the king... and the governor himself to visit us. ."

"There is indeed a good thing." After saying that, Rurik signaled to the soldiers who followed, and waved his fists: "All dismount! Let's rest here for the time being."

The king was tall and powerful, with a youthful face with a dainty beard, a look of dignity and dependability.

Unexpectedly, the queen also brought the prince to visit the manor in person. Svitalana was originally a local, and the people at Calf Manor didn't think she was anything special, but the queen, who had seen her life mysteriously today, didn't know her. The queen dressed as a female warrior. Do not! She is indeed a female warrior, this time, instead of wearing a colorful and gorgeous dress, she looks slim in breeches, a tight top, a belt around her waist, and a sword hanging from her waist.

As for the prince, this little guy is even more mysterious.

Osborn's face is fair and his eyes are bright, and his whole person is very neat, and his temperament is far better than that of ordinary boys.

Out of his own ideas, he attaches great importance to the various old people who are not Boyar in each farm. Although the elderly are old and weak, after all, they know a lot of things when they are old. From the mouths of these old guys, you can find out a lot of things that are not known locally.

"Your Boyar is still in the city, and I didn't inform them when I came here. Don't worry. Old man, I'll let you be the talker for the time being."

"Thank you for your trust. What can I...do for you?" the old man replied cautiously.

Rurik glanced around and found that the onlookers here were rather strange. "Huh? What about your middle-aged man?"

"They? They all graze cattle on a watery meadow to the west. You...know we're not really good at farming."

"Indeed. The explorers who passed by here have told me the situation. Today I am going to your camp in the west. What is it called?"

The old man was startled and realized that things were not simple. "It's called Balotavo."

"Just go to Balotavo! You send out a few guides to help me arrive smoothly. The benefits... of course, it is indispensable."

At this moment, Carl and Brand have appeared in the team, and their appearance made the onlookers understand what happened. What the expedition said was true! It was a night's work, and the king and the cavalry came in a hurry.

Calf Manor immediately expressed its full support for the king's actions. They were willing to provide the army with a batch of agricultural products. Of course, Rurik immediately spent money on the purchase to achieve a win-win situation.

Yesterday, the ten senior manor men who turned the longboat into a barge and escorted the expedition to the big city turned into guides.

Then they had a chance to bring another batch of supplies that they planned to send to Balotavo, so they got on the farm's ox cart and joined the entire team.

Rurik had no intention of staying. He hoped to reach the swamp called Balotavo as soon as possible, so he took advantage of the daylight hours to quickly resupply the manor and immediately headed against the Wallonda River.

The army spent the night on the grassy beach by the river, and the personnel built a bonfire and lit it, and the horses were released on the spot and left to graze on the grass.

The warm lake wind poured into this narrow valley plain surrounded by dense forests, like a wind tunnel, and the wind was quite strong.

The Wallonda River flows quietly, standing on the riverbank full of grass and always taking care not to sink your boots in the mud.

Rurik called Medved to his side. He was in a good mood. He pointed to the calm river: "You see, the current is very gentle, and it is very suitable for our long boat. Do you know anything about this river?"

"I don't know." Medved answered simply.

"Absurd. I made you a local governor, and you should know a lot about rivers."

"I really don't know. But there's a reason for it all, even the people who hide in the forest, they try to explore east as much as possible. Maybe to develop settlements to the west..."

Medved didn't say any more, and Rurik noticed that there was a big problem hidden in it: "How? Could it be dangerous to go west?"

"Alas. If you go too far west, you will meet Mrs. Psko. We have a similar language to them, but we belong to a different community. If you go too far west, you will enter their territory, and if there is friction, it will not be All right."

"Is there such a concern? Pskov, it is already in my conquest plan. It is not a problem to cause military friction, and it saves me from making excuses to attack."

Rurik's remarks were not arrogant. Medved was convinced that the king was serious, and he could not help but cautiously ask: "Does the king want to adjust his strategy by surprise, and start an offensive to the west this year? With all due respect, if we follow the westernmost part of the Great Lakes If the Sauron is going retrograde, it will definitely reach Pskov.”

"No. Conquering them is in the plan, and now my plan is to open a second navigable waterway. Do you know my final plan?"

Medved shook his head.

"We'd better build a canal as soon as possible. It doesn't matter if the channel is narrower. The key is that the water channel must be smooth. In this way, in a huge environment, a circular water channel was born..."

Rurik thought so, and built a canal from the Reed River to the Wallonda River. The explorer's investigation report pointed out that even the Reed River has a very slow flow. In this way, every spring, the fleet that intends to enter Novgorod from the capital, go directly to the inland river route of the Reed River and the Wallonda River with a gentle flow, so that they do not have to face the violent Neva River and Volkhov in the wet season. River rapids, so merchant ships can move ahead.

And the fleet from Novgorod to the capital can still take the mature Volkhov River route, and the fleet floats down the river and finally floats to the capital.

Macroscopically, this is a large counterclockwise turntable, a repaired canal, which is expected to greatly reduce the cost of communication between the capital and the agricultural area. And this is the strategic advantage.

Rurik always pays attention to the hydrological situation. He does on-the-spot investigations, observes the flow rate of the river, and investigates the soil and sand at the bottom of the river.

The current expedition is limited to the Wallonda River. After a night of camping, the army continued to retrograde. In the evening of the same day, the slightly tired army successfully arrived at the cattle ranching area called Balotavo.

Cattle, horses, sheep, goats, and reindeer all have a big problem, and this problem is especially pronounced in monogastric horses. If these large livestock are kept in captivity for a long time, there will be serious problems in the body. The so-called digestive system is weakened due to inactivity, which causes diseases, and the hoofs grow wildly and are easily injured due to inactivity.

It is extremely necessary to let the cows graze the grass. Now all the released cows have returned, and they are temporarily driven back to the temporary shed at dusk.

People built bonfire camps on the banks of the river and lived a normal and leisurely life. They fell asleep thinking about falling into the night, and they never thought that they would suddenly usher in the king.

The young and middle-aged people of Niu Cao Manor are all here, and among them are the active soldiers of the Slavic flag team. Soldiers rely on telling war stories to their fellow villagers, and get together to pass the boredom. Now that the king is here, the excitement is enough to make people tremble.

People crowded around, willing to serve the king, even though they didn't know what the king and his cavalry had suddenly arrived in this wild swamp.

Rurik tightened his grip on the reins and motioned Medvedt to follow. He didn't intend to talk to the people who greeted him first, the setting sun illuminated his face orange, and his sharp eyes looked at a large flat land without trees.

"It seems that this is what they call a marshland. There really isn't a single tree, Balotavo."

"It's a rare level. I heard that there are a lot of mud ponds here. I'm afraid this is the reason why there are no trees." Medved continued to look around, and quickly found the clue. He raised his whip and pointed in one direction: "Look there, Your Majesty."

"How?" Rurik turned his face sideways.

"It turns out that a small channel turned into this place. Maybe the stream created a swamp."

Even though the light was a little dim, Rurik noticed the situation on the north side of Camp Balotavo. He motioned for the cavalry to follow him to take a look, and indeed he saw a stream separating from the main course of the Wallonda. The stream was so shallow that the horses didn't even walk without knees.

Wouldn't it be necessary to create a lake if the terrain was lower? Because the terrain is not low enough, it only creates a lot of water.

The hoofs of the horses were stained with blackened mud, proving that there was a lot of rotting silt.

Looking around, the reeds erupted where there were many waters, and the rest of the area was full of green grass.

The black mud stained by horseshoes comes from humus, and the so-called swamp soil is obtained by removing the water. Black means that the place is rich in a huge amount of organic matter, and it has turned into a kind of black soil. If it continues to develop, the black soil will also be peat and eventually become coal.

Lake mud is a fertilizer, swamp mud is a better fertilizer.

Rurik knew a thing or two about the soil data of the Eastern European world, which was, after all, something to be learned in middle school.

It can be said that the huge Dnieper River Basin is rich in water and grass, and its terrain is generally flat. Numerous tributaries infiltrate the huge land, forming a large swamp area. The vicissitudes of life are that some swamp areas have dried up and hardened, and black mud has turned into black soil.

For Eastern Europe, this is the massive "Central Black Earth". To form black soil requires special geographical structure, and must have a long-term infiltration of the land environment, so that all kinds of grass are easy to settle and humus.

As far as Rurik knew, the entire Pripet Marsh in the south of Smolensk began with black soils and continued southward. That's why the guys in the Kyiv community feed so many people even with extremely rough farming.

The reason why the surrounding area of ​​Yin'ermen Lake has the best farmland in the region is precisely because the periodic infiltration of the lake water causes the vegetation to humus and increase nitrogen fertilizer fields. Those fields that are defined as "good fields" are all close to the lake shoreline.

Thinking of this, Rurik concluded with joy: "Medwait, these mud are actually good things."

"It's still a good thing? It's easy to get caught in the horse's hoof." Medved looked embarrassed.

"It's also a good thing to be easily trapped in the horse's hooves! This makes it easier for us to dig roads. Moreover, these mud can actually fertilize fields, and can transform bad fields into good fields."

It is a pity that Medved does not have the awareness of intensive cultivation. In recent years, all his achievements have come from expanding the territory for the kingdom. He is a pure native Slav and a rising military star.

The brief inspection in the evening was very brief, but Rurik had a general idea of ​​the local hydrology.

The cavalry team returned to Camp Balotavo, and as a king, he officially visited the local cattle herders and even the two young boys who were the first to contact the expedition team.

The two children are relatives, the elder is called Delaiwei, which means wood, and the younger is called Dulac, which means fool. The names of the two are too casual, this is the principle of cheap names to support them.

They were originally unknown children, unless they grew up to serve the king and made military exploits in the future, they would be able to pay attention to promotion for the king.

Apparently, the two accidentally met the expedition team because of cattle herding, and assisted the team to successfully discover the second passage. Even if the two were just stinky children, their merits could not be buried.

Rurik had intended to promote some local Slavs, so-called neutralizing the power structure. Calf Manor is also a die-hard supporter of Ross, and such loyalty is bound to be rewarded.

Taking this opportunity, he ordered two cowherd boys who had made meritorious deeds to kneel on one knee, imitating the appearance of regular soldiers, covering their hearts with their right hands, and performing the Viking warrior salute.

Under the collective observation of the army and the public, he commended the merits of the two children in person.

"Draevi! Dulac! You two have done a good job in assisting the expedition, and now I specially give each of you half a pound of silver! Also! Don't be a cowherd boy! This king will recruit the two of you as cavalry now!"

Cavalry, that's not something ordinary people can join. Even if the two were cow herding boys, and they were not yet old enough, even if they were old enough, they would not be able to pass the cavalry assessment at all. Because their family is forced to not allow the sudden loss of a labor force.

Thanks to the king's promotion, the parents of the two were here, and they cried out in excitement when they heard the king's award.

My own child has climbed to the sky in one step, and good days are just around the corner.

Rurik called Brody: "Now take these two cubs and arrange for them to do some chores for the time being. Maybe you can make them learn to ride quickly at one stroke. It's all up to you."

In fact, Brody's resistance, absorbing two thin little boys as cavalry is not a joke? Since the king ghost can only follow.

The army is camping overnight in Balotavo, and the real exploration will be tomorrow.

The two cowherd boys got money immediately after being promoted. They happily handed most of the money to their parents or the entire farm collective, and left a few as personal assets.

On a new day of exploration, two boys were the guides. They were placed on horseback, fingered the hard ground in the marsh, and guided the entire cavalry toward the "big river" in the west.

Equivalent to six kilometers of dirt road, it takes some time to walk on foot, but at the speed of the horse team, even the horse can be reached in one hour.

From Rurik in the distance, they saw the mast of the long ship in the distance, and then saw their own ship. Karl and Brand were extremely relieved.

The horse team must have arrived on the banks of the "big river", and now Rurik has followed the naming principle of the original discoverer and followed Karl's description and called it the Reed River.

The Reed River is worthy of its name. The riverside is densely packed with reeds, and its density is far better than that of the Yinermen Lakeside area. What this river can see to the naked eye is that the water flow is very slow, which is how the reeds can grow wildly.

Queen Svetlana took the prince and her sisters Noren and Bejahir, the three of them on horseback, stopped and walked along the riverside, feeling the wind blowing from the new exploration area. Prince Osborn stared at everything around him with big, ignorant eyes, and his mouth was full of milk and he kept asking where it was.

Rurik had no doubt chatted and laughed with the queen and concubines for the time being. He brought the cavalry here with military and economic significance, and now he was on business.

The newly trained 2nd Cavalry had already proved that they could keep the formation on long marches, and it was completely feasible to extend the trip to the capital.

Second and most importantly, Rurik and Medved reached a complete consensus on the investigation of this water marsh.

Is it difficult to dig canals?

I'm afraid the situation is quite simple.

An area was soaked by the river water so that no trees grew at all. UU reading www. uukanshu.com The Reed River (Luga River) infiltrates the land on both sides, and the same is true of the Wallonda River, where a humus-filled swamp is sunk near each other.

Rurik gave Medved a task: "It will be your performance in the future! Organize some boats to enter here, and keep digging out the mud to create water channels. You can dig more and finally create a fully connected water channel."

Medvedt had never thought about such a thing, and now his attitude has changed because he has examined the local environment. The economic benefits of digging the canal are enormous, and it is a great achievement to accomplish this. Secondly, it is not difficult to dig a waterway in the muddy swamp, but it is a matter of continuously piling up human resources.

After a little thought, Medvedt took up the task and even gave an end date for construction. "Next year! Before the fall of 842, the canal can be repaired."

In fact, Rurik felt that the waterway could be dug through this year. Considering that this canal may be the first national project in Ross, this is the first time that it should not be done too hastily.

"It is a promise, and it will be completed in 842!"