Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 36 Water Mill
Regarding increasing revenue, Vig's first thought was to develop new industries. Tyneburg, located on the north bank of the river, was ideally suited for building watermills and water-powered sawmills.

He spent most of the day carefully drawing a sketch and then gathered the blacksmith Kader and two farmers who knew how to do carpentry.

"I intend to build a watermill. You guys figure out how to make it work, and there will be a reward after it's done."

"The mill?" Kader was the blacksmith's second son. He arrived two days ago carrying a bag of tools. He was only seventeen years old, short and stocky, with a rather lively pair of eyes.

He took the sketch, glanced at it, and claimed that he had seen this thing before.

“When I was a child, I accompanied my father to work at a monastery. It had various facilities, such as a well, vegetable garden, vineyard, watermill, and water-powered washing room. It is said that their rule was to build the monastery as close as possible to the river so that it would be convenient to use water power.”

Vig nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. If you need any help or other resources, just come and find me."

Having accepted the task, Kader led two part-time carpenters to the riverbank. After selecting a site, he began to recall scenes from the monastery.

Upon closer examination, the working method of the mill is quite simple: water flows and impacts a wooden waterwheel, which drives the millstone through a vertical shaft.

However, upon comparing the sketches in his hand, Kader discovered that the lord's proposed solution was extremely complex, consisting of four gears and some areas marked as requiring metal components.

"is this necessary?"

He ran his hands through his hair to find Vig, who responded casually, "This is a mill structure I learned from the Eastern Roman Empire, which is more efficient than traditional watermills. If you're not sure, you can try making a small wooden model first, figure out the specific principles, and then build the finished product."

Since the lord had spoken, Kader spent the next month and a half studying diligently and even took the time to learn some basic mechanics from the lord, such as the lever principle and pulley systems. After much hard work, he finally made a simple model that was half a person tall.

"Haha, I did it!"

He squatted by the river, watching the millstone turn repeatedly, and couldn't help but shout wildly at the Tyne River, startling the birds on the river surface.

Suddenly, four Viking longships, each carrying over two hundred Vikings, came from downstream.

"The Vikings are coming!" Kader dropped his model and fled frantically. Inspired by him, the farmers working in the fields, along with their families and livestock, rushed toward Tyneburg.

Although more than half of the farmers were also Vikings, they were not foolish enough to trust these unidentified kinsmen. Viking raids on farmers were frequent occurrences in Northern Europe, and driven by greed, so-called kinship held little sway.

At the watchtower in the southeast corner of Tyneburg, Vig looked irritably at the crowd outside the gate and ordered the shield guards to go down and maintain order. "Push aside those cumbersome oxcarts, let the people in first, then distribute weapons to the able-bodied men, and let the women and children hide in the lord's hall. Don't let them run around in the streets."

These farmers are really giving me a hard time. Even though they're on the run, they want to take all their possessions with them. Some even carry a table and chair with them, which leaves Vig speechless.

He turned his gaze to the river, stroking his chin as he fell into deep thought.

"Who on earth is this blind fool who tried to rob me? What's so great about this godforsaken place?"

As of now, there are 61 Anglo-farm households and 63 Viking households in the surrounding area, with a total population of only 470, and not much to plunder.

Upon closer examination, the most valuable items were nothing more than the forty-one pounds of silver Vig had accumulated, two sets of chainmail, twenty sets of iron scale armor, and the Dragonbreath Sword in his hand.

"Fortunately, I spent more than a month digging a trench outside the wall. With this wall, dealing with two hundred people should not be a problem." More than ten minutes later, four longships arrived at the nearby riverbank. More than two hundred passengers jumped off the ship and formed a shield wall, slowly approaching the eastern wall of Tyneburg.

At a distance of only seventy meters, Vig fired an arrow at the open space in front of the shield wall and shouted, "I am Vig Hackenson, the lord of Tyneburg appointed by King Ragnar. I recently took over this area. The territory is barren, so why not head south and find a new target for plunder?"

"Are you 'Chosen One' Vig?" A tall figure emerged from the shield wall and took more than ten steps forward.

"It's a misunderstanding. We didn't intend to rob you. We were heading south to seek refuge with King Ragnar, but we accidentally took the wrong turn."

Did we take the wrong turn?
If I hadn't reacted quickly, you might have already compounded your mistake.

Taking a deep breath, Vig calmed himself down and told the chief to sail south along the coastline. After passing a river mouth (the Tees River), continue south and you will find a large swamp on the shore. Further south, you will reach the Humber River.

"When we reach the mouth of the Humber River, the area is ruled by another lord. We'll ask him for directions then."

"I see?" The chief gave an awkward smile. "The brothers live in eastern Sweden and this is their first time in Britain. But then again, it's not a wasted trip since a shaman came all the way here specifically to see you."

At that moment, a figure dressed in black robes emerged from behind the shield wall. Vig stared intently at him and recognized him as the Raven Whisperer he had met once before.

"Indeed, the omens the gods gave me have come true. You have completely conquered Northumbria and achieved feats never before accomplished."

The Raven Whisperer removed his cloak, revealing a pale, fanatical face, and repeatedly praised the deeds of Ragnar, Ivar, and Vig, drawing enthusiastic responses from behind the shield wall, as if it were a grand fan meeting.

"The Chosen One!"

"The Serpent of the North!" (They mistook Vig's dragon emblem for some kind of serpentine monster.)

"The chosen people of the Aesir."

Having come this far, Vig estimated that the probability of the two sides going to war was very small, so he ordered the Shield Guards to send out a cow, two pigs, six sheep, as well as enough bread and mead to treat the group to a big meal.

After a hearty meal and some persuasion from the ravens, a quarter of the guests decided to stay and settle down, while the rest, having learned that Vig had no plans to wage war anytime soon, chose to continue south in search of adventure.

The next day, with enough food stored up, four longboats sailed away with the current, accompanied by a loud boat song.

"These guys can really eat. Let Ragnar have a headache."

Vig rubbed his dark circles from staying up all night, took stock of the supplies, and found that the wine cellar was empty, the last jar of mead was gone, and there was only a little bit of grain left. He estimated that it wouldn't last until the autumn tax collection time, so he had to temporarily ask the local gentry for a batch on credit to tide him over.

Weary, he rode to the wasteland east of Tyneburg and granted land to the fifty newly arrived Vikings. Among them were solitary single men and families who had come on adventure with their children, divided into twenty-five households, totaling seven hundred and fifty acres.

"Tax exemption for two years, no fighting, theft, or murder."

After giving a few brief instructions, Vig left surrounded by his guards. The commotion had passed without serious incident. For safety reasons, he planned to set up several beacon towers downstream for early warning.

(End of this chapter)