Ch 83: Homeward Bound

After much consideration, Ragnar finally returned north with Aslaug.

Compared to the aloof and arrogant Queen Sola, Aslaug came from humble origins. She had a hearty personality and was skilled in drinking, chess, throwing axes, and archery. She had quite a good relationship with many nobles.

More than ten days later, at an intersection on the outskirts of York, Vig sighed as he watched the royal caravan depart:

“There’s going to be a good show.”

In early July, Vig arrived at the south bank of the River Tyne. Looking across, he saw that the castle on the low hill on the opposite bank was still unfinished.

Arriving at the dock on the northern coast by ship, Herigifu greeted him carrying a baby. Vig gently poked the little one’s face; it felt quite nice.

Early in the year, after Herigifu gave birth to a baby boy, she had someone send a letter to the front lines at Tamworth, including a list of names. Vig, busy at the time registering the Mercian Royal Family’s lands and feeling rather muddle-headed, chose the name “Frode” at the top of the list as the baby’s name.

Returning to the official residence in the town center, Vig and his family spent a few leisurely days on holiday before beginning to deal with various accumulated matters.

First, Vig chose an experienced Viking groom to serve as the steward of the stud farm. On the groom’s suggestion, Vig designated a large area of grassland two miles west of Tyne Town as the new stud farm.

According to information provided by the Frankish prisoners, mares over three years old could be bred, with a gestation period of approximately eleven months. Foals begin basic training at two years of age, learning to carry weight and obey the rider’s orders. In addition, their courage must be specifically cultivated to prevent them from being frightened and losing control on the battlefield.

In terms of expenditure, feed accounts for 60%, requiring a large amount of oats and hay. Manpower costs account for 20%, with grooms’ annual salaries being 5-10 silver pence. The remaining 30% of expenditure is used for maintaining stables, hay warehouses, and other facilities, as well as purchasing tack and herbs.

Vig had already prepared himself mentally for this; the territorial finances were ample, and even if the number of warhorses doubled, they could still be supported.

“Carefully tend to these Frankish warhorses, do not spare expenses. If those stallions have excess energy, you can try breeding them with local mares to increase the number of horses. The resulting crossbreeds should be screened; superior ones will remain at the new stud farm, while inferior horses will be settled at the original pasture in the East Suburbs.”

With the stud farm location decided, Vig took the opportunity to observe the agricultural production in the surrounding area.

After three years of promotion, the vast majority of peasants had adopted the three-field system. With the promotion of the three-field system, a few people began to use draft horses for plowing.

He questioned a small landowner who was working. According to the landowner, horses plowed faster, working eight hours a day, two or three hours more than oxen. Overall, one draft horse could accomplish the work of 2-3 oxen.

“Keeping horses is more expensive; is this really worthwhile?”

The landowner scratched his head, “I think so. Since adopting the three-field system, one-third of the land is planted with spring crops, mainly oats, barley, and peas; the oats produced are perfect as horse feed.”

Therefore, the promotion of the three-field system ultimately led to the increased prevalence of horse plowing in Western Europe?

Stroking the horse collar on the draft horse’s neck, Vig pondered for a long time. Promoting horse plowing was not detrimental to him.

Farmers who work with draft horses for a long time will accumulate some experience in training and controlling horses. When war comes, some young farmers with excellent horsemanship are suitable for conscription as cavalry, reducing the training costs of cavalry units.

After strolling around the suburbs for several hours, Vig went to the livestock market in Tyne Town.

Here, many open spaces were separated by wooden fences. Horses impatiently snorted, flocks of sheep huddled together like moving gray clouds, and livestock dealers wearing dirty aprons walked back and forth, opening the mouths of animals to check their teeth.

He found the market manager and requested the records for the past year.

Unsurprisingly, the price of oxen was indeed gradually decreasing, falling from the previous 30 silver pence per ox to 28 silver pence.

In contrast, the price of inferior horses was increasing, reaching 82 silver pence, while the prices of sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese remained stable.

Finally, Vig concluded:

“If this continues, wealthy farming families owning over thirty acres will gradually adopt horse plowing, while poor farmers with small plots of land will continue to use the lower-cost ox plowing. Oh well, let them choose for themselves; I don’t want them blaming me if something goes wrong.”

A week later, Bjorn arrived in Tyne Town with four longships full of whale fat. Vig went to the dock to greet him and found that the man’s complexion was very poor.

“What happened?”

Bjorn smiled wryly, “When we were out fishing, we encountered waves and were swept to an island in the northwest. There were no trees on the island, and the moss covering the ground was not easy to burn. Almost half of the crew froze to death. Sigh, the original plan was to go south to join the war. Judging by your appearance, I’m afraid I’m too late.”

“Indeed,” Vig invited him to the official residence as a guest and told him about the events of the last six months.

Hearing about the Battle of Ratworth, Bjorn found it hard to believe, “No way, four hundred Frankish cavalry defeated you like that?”

“That’s what happened. If you don’t believe me, go to York. Your Majesty captured a large number of warhorses and appointed many meritorious soldiers as knights, seemingly intending to form a standing cavalry unit. You can visit their training process; after seeing that, you’ll understand.”

“Makes sense.” Bjorn drained his ale in one gulp, letting out a loud belch.

After two days of rest, Bjorn sold all his whale fat, went to York to see the knight training, and visited his father and his second queen along the way.

At the docks, Vig witnessed artisans moving hundreds of barrels of whale fat into the candle workshop to prepare for making whale oil.

After capturing whales, Icelandic whaling ships tow them to the shore, cutting them with a crescent-shaped skinning knife to obtain strips of whale fat about a handspan thick. These are hung in a cool place to be salted and preserved, lasting up to half a year.

Now, the artisans chopped the strips of whale fat and mixed them with water, slowly simmering them in an open-air stove. After a while, they scooped out the upper layer of whale oil with a long-handled ladle. The bottom impurities were removed using a bark filter; each barrel of whale fat could roughly refine one-quarter of its weight into whale oil.

Then, the whale oil was mixed with a small amount of beeswax and poured into wooden molds, wicks were inserted, and after cooling and demolding, a whale oil candle was complete. Its flame was bright, and it burned without an unpleasant odor, making it a luxury item for the upper class.

Throughout the entire territory, only Vig’s family could afford whale oil candles. Most of the remaining candles were sold to Flemish merchants, who then resold them to nobles and monasteries in Francia.

As for gentlemen and small landowners, they usually used tallow candles and oil lamps, which produced black smoke and unpleasant odors when burned. Commoners could not afford these expenses and therefore followed the rhythm of “rising with the sun and resting at sunset,” maximizing the use of daylight and reducing nighttime activities.