novelraw Chapter 123: Mining Area
Chapter 123: Mining Area
Ch 123: Mining Area
Spring, 850.
Temperatures gradually warmed, and the Stirling North Mining Area began operating at full force. To meet the Lord’s production quota, Mine Overseer Kesso decided to recruit more miners for iron ore production.
Currently, the iron mine has four hundred employees: one hundred freed slaves, fifty Vikings, and two hundred and fifty prisoners of war.
The first two groups require wages and bonuses. To cut costs, Kesso repeatedly applied to his superiors for more prisoners of war, but was refused. Helpless, he could only pay to recruit former freed slaves, personally accompanying the new employees on a tour of the mining area.
“Please look, this is our mining area.”
Kesso and thirty new employees arrived at the mine. The land was reddish-brown, gleaming with a rust-like sheen in the morning sun. A group of workers were burning firewood on the ground, then pouring a large handful of cold water over it.
Hiss~
Large amounts of white water vapor rose, the temperature of the surface ore dropping sharply. Due to thermal expansion and contraction, many crevices appeared. Then, the workers inserted wedges along the crevices, repeatedly striking them with wooden mallets until pieces of reddish-brown ore broke off.
The workers picked up the ore and put it into back baskets. Once full, they carried them down the mountain, pouring them into heavy wagons, which transported them several miles away for smelting. Following the heavy wagon, Kesso and the new employees walked for two full hours, arriving at the North Bank of the Foss River.
After six months, a large ironworking base had been built here. The outermost layer consisted of a moat and fortifications. Through the gate of the fortifications, on the north side were the barracks; east and west were warehouses; and along the riverbank were numerous workshops.
First was the water-powered sawmill. Timber felled upstream was transported here, cut into small pieces by the water-powered sawmill, then sent to the charcoal workshop to be made into charcoal for ironworking.
“Sometimes, we sell the remaining charcoal to Stirling across the river. The charcoal you get at the marketplace actually comes from the charcoal workshop.”
Kesso took the new employees for a tour, then visited the hydraulic ore crusher.
Here, a group of workers were carrying ore from the wagons, sending it into several grooves.
The water flowed, the water wheel constantly rotating, gradually raising the forging hammer to its highest point, then releasing it.
Bang!
Under the force of gravity, the hundred-kilogram iron hammer crashed down onto the ore in the groove, then rose and fell again, repeating the process several times until the ore in the groove was crushed into small pieces.
The workers used brooms to sweep the crushed material into the inclined wooden trough below, picking out larger pieces of ore and throwing them back into the groove. They poured the remaining crushed ore into wooden crates and transported it to the next stage.
At this sight, Kesso couldn’t help but sigh, “Back then, we needed to crush the ore with large hammers. That was the most grueling step. You’re lucky; you can avoid that hassle.”
Then, the employees of the next stage put the crushed ore and charcoal into a large iron furnace that was two people tall, lit the flames, and the nearby water-powered blower began to operate, continuously supplying air to the interior.
“Ironworking takes a long time; let’s not watch.”
Kesso led the new employees into the warehouse, pointing to the piles of iron ingots. “These are the iron ingots produced by the iron furnace and transported by ship to Tyne. Pig iron has a high carbon content and poor toughness. It needs to be repeatedly forged by blacksmiths into wrought iron for making farming tools, weapons, and armor. They say there are more than twenty blacksmiths there. Counting their apprentices, the number of practitioners exceeds sixty.”
Yawning, Kesso glanced at the high sun in the sky and told the new employees to go to the dining hall for a meal. The dishes were few: fried fish, stewed fish, pan-fried fish, vegetable soup, and black bread.
“That’s all. Dinner includes a small amount of beer. White bread is provided every five days, and mutton once a month. You can eat as much as your stomachs can hold.”
Kesso sipped his fish soup. When the new employees had finished their food in a gulp, he began to assign jobs. Fewer than one-third of those remaining at the ironworking camp were kept; the rest were sent to mining and transport.
After sending the new employees away, he casually flipped through the roster, feeling that the mine’s transport consumed too much cost, especially the twenty draft horses responsible for pulling the carts. They consumed a large amount of oats every day; one horse ate as much as eight miners.
“Sigh, the horses, the groom, and the workers carrying ore up the mountain are all transport costs. Now that the Duke is urging me to increase production, I’m afraid I’ll have to increase the number of draft horses.”
In a daze, Kesso recalled a strange facility the Duke had mentioned—a railroad car. Two parallel wooden rails were laid on the ground, and the mine cart was placed on the rails. Two draft horses were enough to pull more iron ore.
“Forget it. The camp doesn’t have enough manpower. I’ll consider trying it later.”
Kesso returned to his office. Just as he was about to lie down for a nap, he heard a piercing wail outside.
He quickly ran out the door, rushing into the water-powered sawmill following the scream. He found a worker, pale-faced, with a long wound on his left arm from an iron saw, bright red blood constantly dripping down.
“Damn it, how many times have I told you to be careful during operation?”
At Kesso’s command, two workers lifted the wounded man with a door panel and transported him to Stirling on the South Bank of the Foss River by small boat.
Entering the town, the group hurried to the North Temple in the city center. The temple was a wooden structure with a tall, sloping black roof. The pillars under the eaves were carved with statues of the Aesir Gods: Odin, Thor, and Baldr.
“Come with me; don’t make a sound.”
Passing through the gate, the main hall had thirty long chairs, and a few residents were listening to the Shaman’s prayers.
Kesso didn’t disturb them, having the miners carry the wounded man to the right. After walking dozens of steps, they reached an unremarkable house where a young Female Shaman sat, yawning incessantly. She wore a white coat and looked young, seemingly only sixteen or seventeen years old.
“It’s you again? Every few days something happens at the mine. It’s as if this hospital was specifically set up for your mine.”
The Female Shaman rubbed her eye sockets, gesturing for the men to lift the wounded man onto a wooden table.
After washing her hands clean, she gave the wounded man a small half-jug of beer, then stuffed a rag into her mouth, instructing Kesso and two other miners to hold him down.
“Use more force; don’t let this man move around.”
After washing the wound with clean water, the Female Shaman began to sew it up. Under the severe pain, the blue veins on the wounded man’s forehead burst, like a river fish struggling on a cutting board.
Uh~
As time went on, his stamina gradually depleted, and his struggling lessened until the surgery was complete.
“Let him rest for this period; don’t let the wound get wet.” The Female Shaman wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, writing the wounded man’s name and information in a booklet. At the end, she gestured for Kesso to sign it as a basis for monthly accounting.
“Wait,” Kesso said that two more miners in the camp had a fever and asked for medicine.
“Understood,” the Female Shaman went to the stove on the right, brewed some willow bark medicine, and put it in an earthenware pot to give to him.