Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 53 Improving Ships
In the following time, Vig inquired in detail about the Berbers' shipbuilding practices, including the types of wood used, the materials for the sails, and the location of the rudder.
As the banquet drew to a close, Bjorn finally escaped the endless questions and, leaning against the wall, walked towards his room. In his dazed state, he saw a pretty figure standing outside the door.

“Princess Eve?” Bjorn rubbed his eyes hard. He didn’t know her very well and stood there stunned for a moment.

The woman leaned closer, exuding a faint, sweet fragrance. "I'm very interested in the Iberian Peninsula, Prince Bjorn. Would you have time to give me a detailed introduction?"

"Uh, of course, Your Highness."

The following afternoon, Vig found Bjorn in the palace gardens, where he was taking a walk with Princess Eve. “Hey,” Bjorn said, “I thought about this for a long time last night and decided that we should learn from the Berbers’ shipbuilding techniques, improve the Viking longships, and produce a large ship suitable for ocean voyages.”

To facilitate navigation on inland waterways, Viking longships had to sacrifice some performance in exchange for greater maneuverability, allowing the Vikings to raid along the river.

However, the future development trend of seagoing vessels is to be mainly based on sail power, gradually phasing out oars and rudders, with larger hulls and greater stability, eventually leading to three-masted sailing ships of hundreds or even thousands of tons.

(In its later stages, sailing battleships generally had a displacement of over 1,000 tons; for example, Nelson's flagship HMS Victory had a displacement of 3500 tons.)
Viggo's idea was to assemble a dedicated technical team to build new ocean-going cargo ships powered primarily by sails, with a full-load displacement of over 100 tons, in order to promote maritime trade.

When the topic of sailing came up, Bjorn immediately became interested and discussed it with Vig for a long time before the two went to the main hall to find Ragnar.

"Hmm, that seems to make some sense."

Ragnar stroked his chin and pondered for a long time. Just as he was about to accept the proposal, Pascal, who was standing next to him, dissuaded him: "Your Majesty, the national treasury has little gold and silver left. Please be cautious."

“Okay.” Ragnar waved his hand impatiently, complaining to Bjorn and Vig:
"Becoming king has made life less enjoyable than before. Every day, countless people surround you, eating, drinking, and defecating. My wife demands jewels, my guards clamor to plunder other countries, and the gentry come to me for judgment over trivial matters. By Odin, these two gentry bothered me for half a day simply because one family's sheep ate another's wheat field!"

Bjorn pressed on with interest: "And then? How did you resolve this conflict?"

"I had the guards throw out two swords and let them fight to the death. Haha, the two of them finally calmed down. Perhaps I should adopt the method of 'trial by combat' and let people fight in public whenever they are caught in an irreconcilable conflict."

After some small talk, Ragnar agreed to their request, "I will provide twenty pounds of silver and find some experienced shipwrights to work with those Berber prisoners to build new ships."

“Your Majesty, thank you for your wisdom.” Vig bowed and walked out of the hall side by side with Bjorn.

The next moment, Bjorn suddenly realized, "Princess Eve seems to still be in the back garden. Is she angry? It's all your fault, Vig."

Before Vig could refute him, his figure quickly disappeared around the corner of the passageway.

After spending more than a week in York and finishing up his business, Vig bid farewell to Ragnar and headed north.

Upon returning to Tyneburg, Helgeve's first words to them were to inquire about the whereabouts of Humulus lupulus.

“I made an appointment with a wool merchant. He will come to Tyneburg around summer to buy woolen fabrics and bring some seeds with him on the way.”

After spending two days being pestered by Herigif, Vig began to inspect the situation in Tyne. He went to the Carpenters' Street in the southwest of the town and placed a large order with fifteen carpenters: "Five hundred bows, ten thousand arrows, and one thousand round shields."

According to the information he gathered in York, King Eric had amassed enough wealth to launch a war after the spring, forcing the nobles of the entire Norwegian region to submit to him.

With a major war imminent, Vig planned to make a quick buck and, if the fighting became intense, produce even more weapons to sell to Northern Europe.

"Yes, sir." After agreeing on the price, the carpenters readily accepted and quickly settled on their respective shares. The skilled carpenters were responsible for making bows, while the less skilled ones were responsible for making arrow shafts and round shields.

For a period of time afterward, Vig would observe the making process of the yew bow whenever he had a spare moment.

First, the carpenter cuts the yew wood longitudinally into rough blanks. The heartwood, which is relatively hard, forms the back of the bow, while the sapwood, which is relatively flexible, forms the belly. The entire process must be carried out along the grain to prevent cracks.

After completion, the rough blank needs to be air-dried for at least six months to reduce the moisture content of the bow material and prevent deformation. Once air-dried, the carpenter uses a knife to scrape off any areas to ensure that the two arms bend symmetrically when the bow is drawn.

During the observation, Vig raised a question: "I have been to Eastern Europe and Constantinople, and their bows require horn, tendons, and fish glue. Why don't British yew bows require these?"

After asking several carpenters, an elderly one finally gave an answer: "Sir, when I was young, I was an apprentice in Wessex. My master received an order to make a war bow with horn plates and tendons. We worked on it for a long time, but we found that the bow would come apart on rainy days. In the end, we failed and offended the nobleman. We had to flee to Northumbria to avoid trouble."

"I see."

Vig suddenly realized that the damp and rainy climate could easily cause the rubber layer to fail, which explained why the English army was equipped with single-piece bows.

Time passed quickly, and it was soon April 846. The storms that had raged in the North Sea all winter gradually subsided, and Viking longships began to arrive from Northern Europe.

According to the information brought by the travelers, King Eric assembled an army of two thousand men and personally led them on conquests. Three hundred of them were equipped with iron armor, with an armor coverage rate of 15%.

Upon conquering a settlement, Eric would typically execute the lord's entire family and banish the shield bearers who had fought and surrendered. Following the Frankish system, he would then appoint trusted vassals as counts or knights to govern the newly conquered lands. Knights were required to serve forty days annually without pay; any overtime was compensated. If a knight failed to fulfill his vassal duties, the king had the right to reclaim the land and the noble title.

"Strange, even the British states haven't fully implemented the fief system, so why did Eric beat them to it?"

Vig pressed for details and learned that Eric had appointed a group of merchants who had traveled to Europe many times as advisors, asking them to recount the history of the Frankish Kingdom, seemingly aiming to become the Charlemagne of the Nordic world.

(Charlemagne, 742-814. During his reign, he vigorously promoted the fief system, and the Frankish Kingdom reached its zenith, encompassing France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy, occupying most of Western Europe. He was later crowned "Emperor of the Great Romans" by the Pope, so the country he ruled can also be called the Carolingian Empire.)
"It seems he was greatly traumatized by the Battle of Northumbria, which might be related to me. Oh well, let's make some money from this war first."

After a brief moment of reflection, Vig quickly found the carpenters and urged them to increase production capacity. This war wouldn't end anytime soon, so it was a good time to make money.

(End of this chapter)