Chapter 1,246 New Stone Mine

Since the destination is damen ahead, there are also some critically injured and dead people in the riverside area.

As the King of Rus, Rurik cannot just sit idly by and ignore these people.

"Brody!"

"exist."

Rurik looked calm and continued to order: "Take the cavalry and set off urgently. Show our flag this time and bring back all the living people."

"As commanded."

The Ross cavalry went straight to the upstream area in the dust. The sky was already very dark at the moment, but the Ross flag was still clearly visible under the setting sun.

The injured had just experienced an "attack" and they didn't know why the horseman was taking prisoners instead of killing the killer. Maybe those guys just think that everyone is worthless. Even without the horseman taking action, by nightfall the forest wolves would appear and no one would survive until the next day.

But the cavalry showed up again.

The wounded did not resist. Their injuries varied. Those who had lost their fighting spirit and strength looked like they were being slaughtered. They never expected to see the very familiar flag under the sunset.

Everything is like a miracle!

Brody spoke the Ross dialect of Norse, and when they heard the local accent, they felt like they were in a dream.

There are more than 20 people in the Carroll expedition. They are men, women, old and young, just to make a fortune in the new world of the southern Great Lakes.

Now, the wreckage of the huge long ship with a broken keel was washed to the shore. The mast that tied the sail was tilted and stuck in the stone crevice. .

The injured who were able to climb to the shore to rest at first relied on their ability to use their last strength to endure severe internal organ damage and get a rest that seemed to turn the corner. From the time the ship broke to the sunset, half of the people had died one after another.

Children are the worst off. Even if the mother is protecting the child, the child's resistance to disaster is too low.

The children were dead and the dying mother could do nothing.

Either they were seriously injured and continued to burn out the fire of life, or they died of excessive blood loss due to severe skin trauma.

Hungry people are powerless to do anything. This kind of person seems to be intact, but his family and friends die in front of him. The heavy blow is so shocking that his spirit is blurred.

】

When Brody's cavalry launched the rescue, only three women were found to be unharmed. There were naturally bruises on their bodies, but the children they had brought to the world with them on the expedition were all dead. The women's eyes were dull and they were holding their arms. His dead child refused to let go.

Brody didn't know what to do for a moment.

He led his brothers to kneel down and examine all the dead, even those seriously injured who were still alive but destined to die.

He tried to appease the woman and ordered her to temporarily abandon the dead child.

"Don't worry, the king himself came to explore this dangerous river. The king already knows what happened to you. The king wants to save all the living people, put down the bodies and follow me."

After all, Brody is also a ruthless man who fought in the mountains of blood and corpses on large-scale battlefields. He has a strong psychological resistance to seeing corpses, so he lacks empathy.

I wonder what mother would abandon her child who had just died?

With no choice, Brody had no choice but to let all the injured mount their horses. Fortunately, the mothers who were reluctant to bear their dead children were allowed to carry the bodies to see the king.

Brody looked solemn, and the brothers in the 2nd Cavalry were in an equally bad mood.

The arduous expedition had been sapping everyone's morale, and now they had directly witnessed the tragedy.

"Brother!" A brother was serious and slightly frightened. He cautiously discussed with Brody: "This place is scary! The Slavs say that there is a swamp monster called Cherno. It emerges from the mud, destroys ships and kills people." Dead mortal. Could it be..."

"Impossible, our king is not a mortal, but a saint who is loved by the gods. King Rurik is here, and any evil will be brought to justice."

The person who asked the question was also smart. He suddenly realized: "So, those who have not been protected by the king for the time being...are really persecuted by the Slavic evil god?"

"I don't know!" Brody shouted: "Shut up, everyone! Let's go back to the camp and deliver the mission to the king! I hope everyone who survives will be safe."

Many bodies were left at the scene of the incident, leaving Brody with very limited time, so he had to leave hastily.

A handful of wounded were returned to camp, including Carroll's young second wife. It is very regrettable that the old man's first wife has been killed. What's worse is that his young son, his young wife, has become a limp corpse in the arms of his dull-eyed wife.

Seeing the tragedy of his youngest son, the old man's legs weakened and his knees hit the mud. He hugged the child's body and cried so much that he kept mumbling: "You were obviously alive just now! Why... are you dead?!"

In this situation, even though Rurik, who was used to seeing the killings on the battlefield, could barely stand by and watch with cold eyes, it felt like a huge stone was pressing on his heart and he could not calm down the depression for a long time.

Beyathil was standing next to him, gently pulling Rurik's arm, hiding behind his majestic figure, and couldn't help but squeeze out some tears from the corners of his eyes. We are all mothers. How painful is it for a mother to lose her beloved?

She can empathize with her. After all, her son Khazal is being forced to stay in Novgorod "in the name of love." The son and his half-brothers grow up and receive education together. It may be of great benefit if it is not opened. But being a mother is actually equivalent to losing a child. What's even worse is that she can't express the corresponding loss.

Rurik had no intention of interrupting the old man's cry. Looking at the mental state of the injured, it seemed impossible to get any more valuable information from them. He had already learned a lot from old man Carroll, and now he only needed to get an overview of the incident scene from Brody after some investigation.

The sky was completely dark, and the entire environment was just as the cavalrymen who had returned with the wounded had feared - terrifyingly lonely.

The environment here is not good. After all, it is a real five-person area. If it were not for the large number of talents in the expedition team, it would be a small number of people to explore, and they would definitely not sleep well at night while camping here.

Summer nights in northeastern Europe are not very hot. Lighting a bonfire is not only necessary to have a hot meal, it dispels the cold on the surface and also dispels the fear in the heart.

The bonfires at Ross Camp gathered into a fire dragon, and any wild beast had to turn around and flee.

Rurik sat cross-legged by the campfire, Brody now beside him.

He got straight to the point: "What did you see?"

"Corpses. The bodies of the injured were lying twisted by the river, as if they had just suffered a defeat."

Rurik shook his head: "That's not what I asked. Where are the stones? Are there really a lot of stones in the river?"

"Exactly. Even though the setting sun was dim, I still noticed that wherever I could see the rivers with my naked eyes, there were rocks of all sizes, some even quite huge. Its texture..."

"What kind of stone is it?"

"It should be granite, probably accompanied by quartz."

"Can you see clearly? You can't see clearly under the sunset."

Brody raised his chest: "Of course I can't see clearly, but I can touch it with my hands. I feel that the stone has an obvious rough texture, and the exposed part of the stone is also slightly reflective under the setting sun. It must have quartz. Besides, I am I brought a sample."

Rurik was suddenly startled and watched the boy pull out a small stone from the cloth bag.

"You kid!" Rurik punched him with a smile: "Why didn't you pay tribute earlier when you brought samples?"

"It's not too late now. Please take a look at it, Your Majesty."

Rurik took the stone and recognized it as a kind of granite at a glance.

Granite is a general term for a large group of rock types. It has even been refined into more than twenty types. This is a very common rock in the formation. When the rock is extruded and breaks through the surface due to the carving movement, the granite begins to be invaded by water. The process of weathering.

Although Rurik's understanding of geology is very limited, he can easily distinguish granite, basalt, shale, sandstone, and even simple mica quartz. After all, there are huge differences visible to the naked eye.

Compared with other rocks, granite is very hard because it contains a large amount of metal and quartz. It is indeed an excellent material for building houses and fortresses. It gradually turned into sandstone after weathering and water intrusion, and finally faced the fate of disintegration.

The time required for weathering is destined to be very long, but it only took more than 10,000 years for the entire Valdai Highlands to form its current environment.

During the last ice age 10,000 years ago, even Yin'ermen Lake not far away was covered by huge glaciers. Under the ice was rock-hard frozen soil. Lakes of all sizes here were all glacial lakes, and the largest The glacial lake is none other than the Baltic Sea itself. However, due to the great earthquake in ancient times, the Atlantic sea water continued to pour in after the earth was opened, and it finally turned into an ocean. Of course, its history as an ocean was also very short.

Brody is not an ordinary person. Not only did he receive some basic cultural knowledge and education, but he also became a hero by his heroic act of capturing the king of an enemy country, and he was qualified enough to receive special training from Rurik himself.

Brody was educated in some knowledge that seemed strange to him. In particular, he had to learn the "Ross version of the periodic table of elements." His understanding of the entire Misgard, the human world, made great progress. As a result of his learning, His attitude towards even the most ordinary stones has changed.

Because stone is a metallurgical ore, a building material, a possible prototype of jewelry, and a weapon that can be launched by a torsion trebuchet.

Clutching the rock specimen in his hand, Rurik couldn't calm down and strengthened his belief.

He stood up and looked down at Brody who was confused: "Everything is true. I dare say that in the land under our feet, we can dig out a lot of rocks just by waving the shovel and digging down. It may not only be rocks, but if we can dig It would be even better to go to iron ore or copper mines.”

What could Brody say? The firelight shone on the king's smiling face, and he had no choice but to laugh with him.

Rurik rested briefly for the night at the riverside camp, and it was during this night that all the injured were treated as much as possible.

After all, expeditions may encounter wounded soldiers. The Kingdom of Rus has certain methods for treating wounds, especially when ordinary ale is continuously distilled and turned into almost a bottle of pure alcohol. As long as it participates in the treatment of injuries, death due to wound infection may occur. Almost never happens.

It is not a panacea, and Rurik's expedition team can't help with internal injuries caused by strong collisions.

By the time the sun rose on a new day, Carroll's expedition was nearly wiped out. The young wife of the old man Carlotar was slightly injured but suffered severe mental injuries.

When Rurik ordered the wounded who died peacefully at night to be buried on the spot, the young woman could not sit back and watch her dead child being "snatched" and buried in the ground. She actually took advantage of the soldiers' unpreparedness and ran towards the Hafen River with the body in her arms. .

The current in the river section was already relatively fast, and she was swallowed by the river water as she wished to die.

This was something Rurik had not expected, and he was also helpless.

"Let's go!" Rurik, who had already mounted his horse, ordered the people standing by the riverside who couldn't let go for a long time: "Everything is fate. Stop looking, let's go quickly."

At this moment, Beyah Hill was a little surprised by her man's ruthlessness. She was riding the same horse, right next to Rurik. "Don't you try to save me?"

"That's not necessary. That was her own decision. Any adventure is full of dangers. You should have encountered more dangerous things than this on the grassland! For example, even in the face of a blizzard, the shepherd sisters have to find their way back. A lost sheep. Dangerous, really dangerous, but worth the risk."

Rurik deliberately used the story of "Little Sisters of the Prairie" that he knew as an example.

"Sheep are important assets. Herdsmen rely on cattle and sheep to survive and must be protected at all times. However, we are exploring." She retorted lightly, "There is no need to skip the expedition."

"Haha, this is the completely different way of life between northerners and grassland people. The purpose of exploration is to obtain leather, gold, or other valuable things. And this king has a strong purpose, Beiya Hill !" Rurik deliberately raised his voice.

"I understand! You've been talking about rocks all the way. I really don't understand why rocks are so special? Unless you can still find an iron mine from here."

"Maybe there are iron ores. Only God knows! But I can be sure that there are indeed stone mines in Demyansk, which was given to you. In the future, your uncle's continuous supply of stones to Russia will be enough for you to make a fortune. My dear , you have to adapt to the new lifestyle as soon as possible."

"Oh, I know you. You..." she sneered.

"What?" Rurik turned his head slightly.

"I wouldn't have thought. You talk more than my brother."

She actually opened her mouth in displeasure. Rurik didn't smile much and continued to look forward.

First, Rurik led all the cavalry to open the way, and here Gorm, Hafen and Carolald all mounted their horses to accompany them.

The pain of losing his family made Carole regret this adventure, and he was extremely envious of Hafen for actually passing the section of the terrifying rock without any danger. Even the Nameless River was named after this old guy.

I'm afraid this is the difference in fate...

Carolald did not die of heirs. His eldest grandson joined the Seventh Banner and participated in the Ross Expedition. His eldest son took some goods and floated to the capital after the busy farming season, so to speak, directly selling a batch of fur goods in order to make more money.

The cavalry was followed by a mighty fleet, with only a few people on the ship manipulating an oar to serve as the rudder. The rest of the people tightened the ropes on the shore, and the soldiers became trackers on the Hafen River.

Rurik finally stood at the site of the incident. He saw corpses, shipwrecks, and even traces of wolf activity.

The carcass had obviously been bitten, and it looked like the wolves had sensed the danger and had fled.

"Dismount! Bring a shovel and bury the body on the spot." He ordered.

Forget it, Rurik stood on the bank of the fast-flowing water. Looking around, it was as the intelligence said - there were rocks everywhere in this section of the river.

There are even pebbles washed ashore beside his feet. The ground he steps on is not pure mud. If you look closely, there is a lot of sand and gravel here.

River sand is also an extremely important construction resource.

The Secret of Cement The Kingdom of Rus not only masters its principles, but also has increasingly mature methods of preparing general cement. However, the biggest problem is that it is not easy for the Kingdom to find suitable river sand. Should I use salty sea sand? Or manually knock quartz ore into quartz sand? With skill, a large amount of quartz sand is used to make glass and make a lot of money.

Granite and river sand are treasures, and the environment here is worthy of the name "Demyansk" given to it.

People arrived here one after another. Rurik ingeniously ordered to cut down a small pine tree on the spot, and the thin trunk was chiseled into a cone shape with a hand axe. He dug the pit himself with a shovel and placed the conical wooden stakes into the pit, which was rich in river sand and already water-seeping.

This is like laying a stake and laying the foundation for a new town.

Facing the dense crowd that gathered, Rurik stood on a horse in front of a wooden stake: "I declare! Demyansk will be built here! It is a town given to the princess of the steppe, and it will be the core of the New Uncle Kingdom from now on. !”

Just like what he said, Bayasil needs a title and fief.

The Demyansk County was her fiefdom. In Rurik's vision, the entire Hafen River (Yavin River) basin fell into the fiefdom category. But this is obviously not a very honorable reward. What Bayahir received was a large area of ​​forests, rivers, swamps, and stone mines that should be discovered. There is no permanent settlement here yet, and Demyansk will be the first. one.

Rurik himself would not stay here for long. He laid wooden stakes to lay the foundation for the town, and also asked Gom to paint the local environment so that he could find it for the official construction of the town in the future.

As for local stone mines, do we really need to search for them?

Obviously the forest vegetation in this area is extremely dense, but it is exactly this east-west river channel that the trees on the south bank (actually belonging to the left bank) are surprisingly sparse.

Trees don't grow in swamps, but the terrain there is obviously higher, so swamps don't exist at all.

Since it's not a swamp, what's stopping the forest from thriving? Could it be...

Rurik himself floated to the other side in a boat. Of course, this kind of crossing the river in the rapids was very risky. He finally felt the dangers experienced by the Hafen expedition. This time, he and his brothers rowed across the river in bare feet wearing only single clothes, and put on their boots after reaching the other side without any danger.

He had a hunch that the rocky areas exposed to the sun must be preventing the forest from growing.

He didn't go far, and everything became clear - the quarry was here, quietly facing the sun.

Because the end of the glaciation did not last long, might only thousands of years of wind and sun be enough for the granite to completely weather? The answer is obviously that part of it has been weathered, and only the surface area has been completely weathered.

The ancient Valdai Highlands was originally a large shallow sea, and the Ural Mountains were a masterpiece of tectonic extrusion. The Valdai Highlands, which is not particularly far away from it, are the ripples produced by this extrusion. A mere "ripple" cannot be elevated into thousands. There are mountains with an altitude of 2 meters, but the average altitude of the area is only 2 meters above sea level, which is enough to become a water tower in the huge plain area.

The superficial stones were lifted up, and in some areas the stones faced Yangguan. Only the strongest trees can take root in a small amount of weathered soil, and given time, when the weathering is severe enough, the forest can completely bury the phantom of the stone mine under a dense layer of pine needle humus.

Now Rurik's feet were on stones, and it seemed that as long as he continued to dig, he would find a shield here - a giant rock.

Everything is settled! The Kingdom of Ross successfully found stone mines in the forest, and the stone mines north of the capital New Rossburg were no longer the only ones.

The Demyansk Stone Mine means that the supply of stone to the entire densely populated Ring Ermen Lake can no longer only be transported from the far north, but it can also be supplied to new cities in the south such as Velikiy Luki and Vitebsk. Provide lower cost stone.

The strategic value of the stone mine here is extremely high! Perhaps there are other rare minerals here, which you need to pay attention to when the stone mine begins to be officially excavated.