Chapter 1045： Rurik's Witty Canal Project

The two groups of forests are sandwiched by a swamp with luscious water and grass. Except for the water and mud ponds in the central area, the closer to the forest area, the harder the ground. The Reed River is in sight, and it eventually drains into the Gulf of Finland.

There are so many rivers that drain into the Gulf of Finland, they are indistinguishable large and small. In the past, due to the need for convenient navigation, the Rus had little experience of going deep into the nearby estuary.

In the past, even if there was an investigation, it would not go too far, just because it lacked economic significance to explore new routes at that time.

How is the Reed River? Two longboats moored on the riverbank came in handy immediately.

Carl and his buddy boarded his boat again. When he broke down a few days ago, he was convinced that the riverbed in this section of the river was very shallow. How shallow is it? The silt and silt on the riverbank turned black as a whole, and it was impossible to estimate it with the naked eye.

The newly cut branches were used as probes. Carl relied on this to make sure that even if the branches were inserted all the way, the total depth was only 1.5 meters. It was probably a man standing in the water and barely showing his head.

At such a depth, Ross's horses can barely pass through, and the flow of the river is very slow, so there is no need to worry about the horse's unstable footing.

But the current river channel is not a very good ferry, and it is easy to solve its problem. Arrange the rafts with a lot of hemp ropes, and a pontoon bridge is completed.

In the final analysis, the central riverbed of the river is so deep. The river surface is only 20 meters wide. Either a small pontoon bridge is built, or a riverbed is filled with stones to create a small embankment that is blocked by the river water.

Rurik chose the latter, and planned to transport stones from afar to slowly pile them up to create a semi-submersible **** with a depth of only one meter. It will take into account a stable passage without delaying ordinary ships to continue to explore upstream.

It is necessary to dig a waterway in the swamp, with a width of at least ten meters, and the depth of the center of the waterway must reach one and a half meters to ensure that traditional long ships can navigate smoothly.

To build a checkpoint where the Reed River and the canal are in contact, to collect tolls from merchants for other purposes, to recover the financial investment in digging the canal, and to become a way of future financial taxation.

The Balotavo Camp should be urbanized, and it will not only continue to be the pasture of the calf manor, but also build a hotel-like facility to provide supplies for merchants. At the same time, it is necessary to use the natural peat soil resources here to develop into farmland or dig up the black soil. Then ask the forest for living space, create a larger flat land here, let the grass grow wildly, and expand the range of the pasture.

The waterway, the shallow rocky water, the tax gate, and the new town, these four points were recorded by Rurik and became the four tasks of the construction of the canal.

Rurik can foresee that when the project is completed, a large number of ships will enter Yinermen Lake through the "second route", and it will become more and more prosperous, and the collection of tolls will be a powerful financial supplement. Likewise, it is the facility that revolutionized Calf Manor.

The Wallonda River, which is rarely visited by people, will become prosperous, and the Niu Calf Manor can fully engage in the service industry. At the same time, they turned into canal road classes, focused on guarding the canal, and could get a certain dividend from the toll collection. That's a bonus for **** allies!

Project items are listed on paper and handed over to Governor Medvet in writing.

The Governor did not know much about the future economic development of a canal and was too lazy to pay attention to it. He noticed two important items in the clause: digging water channels and building dams on the Reed River.

So, where did the people who dig trenches come from?

Rurik didn't want to gather his young cavalry to be the people's husbands immediately. Aren't the cattle herders who watched the calf manor on the spot the best people?

Men and women were gathered, and Rurik stood on the wooden cart that was placed diagonally, and preached to the villagers.

He is emphasizing a principle: "The kingdom will dig a canal in the activity area of ​​your calf manor! This king will make an agreement with you! You must participate in it with the strength of the village. When the canal is completed, you will have the right to pay from the toll. You will get one-tenth of the reward. In the future, your calf manor will also focus on guarding the entire canal, catching those who escaped the level, and ensuring smooth routes. You will get permanent benefits because of your current efforts, which is even more than your cattle. make money."

The fundamental principle of the agreement is equivalent to share dividends, and the property rights of the canal belong to the state, which is equivalent to the royal family. It's just that the work of digging the canal should be mainly undertaken by the calf manor, and in exchange they will also receive toll dividends for generations.

The good days of guarding the canal to collect tolls are not people sitting on the riverside with silver coins rolling in? And it was authorized by the king.

Since this is closely related to their own interests, those who realize the doorway are instantly boiling!

Those young and middle-aged people waved their flags and shouted, claiming that they brought their own dry food and shovels to start digging. They even knew that the amount of work to dig the waterway was relatively large, and they did not want people from other manors to get involved.

Governor Medved vowed to complete the canal dredging by the fall of the following year, and he is already coordinating the operation of the young and middle-aged people of the yowling calf manor.

He had already visited the entire water marsh with Rurik, and he had a deep understanding of this area because of the good chat with the cattle herders. He brainstormed with the villagers, and in a very short time, he came up with the method of digging a trench and decided to implement it immediately.

The second cavalry team was temporarily stationed in Balotavo, and the young cavalry grazing their mounts, also cut down some pine trees to build shacks.

They were ordered to temporarily station here. After all, this trip is considered a military operation. The cavalry team has left the main settlement and is essentially stationed in the wilderness. This is to prepare for independent combat missions in the future.

The pine trees collapsed, and the young cavalry fell efficiently with two double saws. The straight trunk was dragged by many warriors, and then they swarmed up and chopped off the bark with hand axes to form a bare log. Such logs lie directly across the channel of the Reed River, and a large number of logs directly build a bridge, which is then tied and fixed by vines and hemp ropes. The trunks were longer than the width of the river, and a bridge that could only pass through one man and one horse was rapidly formed in the hands of young warriors.

Because according to the information, the Finnish-speaking Savok villages in the lower reaches of the Reed River are generally located on the right bank of the river, that is, the observer faces the lower reaches of the river and points to the right bank.

Considering that the lower reaches of the Reed River are getting wider, I am afraid that the river channel will be deeper. It is not that it is difficult to find a suitable shoal ferry. Since there is a low-cost way to cross the river, it must be done now.

Rurik was commanding the army to build small bridges, and he was by no means doing nothing but overseeing it.

Now it is impossible to return to the capital of New Roseburg before and after the summer solstice sacrifice. He was a little anxious before, but now he simply doesn't want to. Once he had such an idea, he found that his time suddenly became much more abundant, and Rurik deliberately rolled up his sleeves and did a good job.

What exactly is the "Second Waterway"? The Karlbrand expedition will definitely not lie, but this route is related to future economic interests, and Rurik wants to explore it himself. Not only did he want to do this himself, but the original plan to float on the Volkhov River-Neva River route to the capital was canceled, and the team took a new route, and went all the way to the capital by the seaside of the Gulf of Finland, personally proving that the new passage was successful. reliable.

Rurik felt that those cunning merchants were generally unwilling to take risks, and unless the king came forward and said that the "second waterway" was smooth, the waterway could be opened quickly.

He was stationed in the swamps of Balotavo, and immediately dispatched the veterans drawn from the cavalry to gallop back to the great city as messengers.

Heralds have multiple missions.

Recall the Boyarwski family from the Calf Manor and bring them to Balotavo. Ask the first scribe Ella to bring her entire team and all the manuscripts to the Calf Manor quickly, and then assemble at Balotavo.

The second is the order of the Governor Medvet, all of which have the king's messenger to pass to Novgorod, that is, the 1st and 200th troops of the Slavic flag team are temporarily recruited from the city and ordered to bring their own troops. The shovel, on the longboat attached to the Governor's Palace, and then transferred 10,000 pounds of oats from the warehouse, rowed into the Calf Manor, and proceeded against the Wallonda River to Balotavo.

Medvedt is the real governor and also the uncle of the country. He proved his diligence with practical actions. The so-called once the plan for the excavation of the canal is made, it must be completed as quickly as possible.

A large number of people will gather in this water-filled Balotavo with supplies, and their arrival will take a while.

It was a quiet evening.

The bridge over the Reed River has been built, and the cavalry personally passed the bridge to determine that the bridge can fully satisfy the four riders crossing the bridge at the same time. Its width is designed so that only narrow carriages can pass, and it is only equivalent to two meters after calculation.

A group of cavalry was already on the other side of the river, and three teams (ten people) were ordered to explore the environment in three directions.

All they can see is the dense forest, riding horses to walk in the cold temperate woodland, the naked eye can see the pine trees scurrying, and the melodious birdsong in their ears, but they don't know where those birds are hiding.

"You try your best to explore, it would be great if you can find a natural flat in the forest." Rurik ordered, and the three teams were tasked with exploring the forest pastures.

However, all they could find was an endless forest, or the expedition could only foresee forests no matter which direction they explored.

The entire Reed River or Luga River Basin is such a geographical structure. The river water eventually flows into the Gulf of Finland. Macroscopically, the huge arc-shaped river channel constitutes the natural outer boundary of Nova Rosberg.

If a large-scale war breaks out in later generations, the entire Reed River will be a must for soldiers. Then on the occasion of World War II in another plane, the curved line of defense of the Luga River (Reed River) extended to Novgorod. The German army, which had broken through the Luga River line, was able to drive in and attack Leningrad directly, and Novgorod was also occupied.

Even if the times are different, the historical opportunities faced are completely different, and the direction of the river will not change drastically in a thousand years. This river has major economic interests for Ross in this time and space, and Governor Medvet also mentioned the possible threat from the western Psko lady, making the entire river area worth guarding.

The answer could not be more obvious. The entire basin of the Reed River (Luga River) determines the land defense lines of the two only "super cities" in Rus, Novgorod and Novgorod. In the future, armed inland ships can be arranged. Launch patrols to make sure no forces sneak up on them.

Rurik remained vigilant. Before he conquered Pskov, the people there were potential threats, so beware.

The team at dusk rested by the river, and the war horses were also released from the reins and allowed to graze freely. Young cavalry soldiers lit bonfires, nibbling on fish caught nearby, and cooking their own wheat.

Rurik was able to have a good chat with Medved, and now the other party was the first to happily propose his own plan for excavating the canal.

"I've made up my mind. The area near your bridge is very soft and suitable for digging. I'll make it a port for the canal, and I'll start digging when my flag team arrives. Also heading to Uski. The old guy and his clan started digging in Balotavo on the banks of the Wallonda River. The two groups of us were digging separately. If everyone works hard enough, maybe the river channel will be initially dug before this winter. "

Digging at both ends? That efficiency is naturally faster.

Rurik nodded: "Just follow this, so I will grant you ten thousand pounds of wheat. This king is not to support idlers. The standard for each day's food is two pounds of oats, and an additional ten silver coins per month is given to each person. salary, paid with the equivalent of food.”

"Then, apart from the autumn harvest this year, the people we organize can work at most for three months." Medved estimated this.

"It's based on three months. Remember, you have full use of the materials granted to you. You pay attention to those young men in the calf manor, and give them silver coins and meals as usual. Remember, you must identify the strong men, the poor and the weak. Can help but not get paid.”

Medvedt nodded: "I'll do it. Also, about digging the canal...I have an idea."

"what?"

"Perhaps, we just need to dredge a small waterway first, and it will be a small stream. The water flows lower. I don't know if the source of the Reed River is higher, or whether it is Wallunda and the terrain."

"At least one is higher."

"So, the stream will continue to wash away the mud, and a small channel will gradually widen and deepen. Even if this is not the case, the water channel will be very soft, which is very beneficial for us to dig. Even our cadres don't need to dig away the mud, just need to dig out the mud. It flips on the bottom and the water pushes the mud away."

Rurik was shocked, isn't that the whole principle of the Yellow River taking away the sediment?

"You! You're so smart." He slapped Medwait with a smile, and that was the highest compliment.

"Just do it according to your decision! Ah, no matter how slow the water flow is, it has the power to carry it. Why don't we dig it tomorrow, and I will let the cavalry give you a head start."

"Thank you so much."

"Why are you thankful? This is Ross' national project. You are in charge of building it, and this king supervises it. And..." Rurik couldn't help pinching his beard. The amount of meltwater, in the next spring flood season, the meltwater will wash all the rivers, and this creek will be washed too, maybe…”

Suddenly, Rurik, who thought of an important point, suddenly got an erection, and suddenly shivered like a hysteria, then he hurriedly sat down and slapped his face like a performance art. Such an inexplicable move made Medwait inexplicable.

"What’s wrong with you?"

"Oops! I'm so stupid! If I'm using the power of the river, why should I wait until the snow melts in spring?!"

Just when Medved was at a loss, Rurik drew his knife and gestured on the soft ground.

He made two deep indentations in the soil, which represented the channels of the Reed River and the Wallonda River, like a sand table deduction.

"No matter which river is higher, the stream we created will definitely flow. At that time, you will build a dam with wood and soil on the higher river to block the original channel! This way the water can only rush into Barlow. Tawozeland, taking away the creek we dug and turning it into a brand-new main channel. The constant scouring of the river is much more efficient than the constant dredging of mud by our civilians. When the river scours deep enough, we will remove the dam ."

"Wonderful!" Now it was Medved's turn to jump with joy.

It is not a problem to block the water-tight dams on the river surface, after all, the Wallunda and Reed Rivers are very limited in width and even more limited in water depth. Of course Medwait thought of using the river water to carry the power, but he never thought that the king could create conditions to super double.

Now is the warmest period of the year, and the water temperature of Yin'ermen Lake can also make urchins swim freely. It is in the window period for such a strong man to soak in the water and carry materials to create a water-blocking dam.

Rurik and Medved played together, and on the principle that time is life, the young cavalry began their excavation the next day.

Their dig site was identified as the entrance and exit of the Reed River (Luga River) of the canal.