I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 155 Jewish Merchant
The next morning, after Luke finished practicing his newly recovered horse archery skills, he immediately called the two of them to formally assemble the sled.

"First, lay the pine logs on the ground, aligning the sides and leaving three and a half feet of space between them."

"Robert, go and heat up a pot of pine resin."

"Okay!" they said in unison.

Little Maiman first flexibly aligned the pine wood in parallel, and then, without Luc's instructions, he automatically took the oak board and embedded it in the groove, and took the wedge-shaped wood made yesterday and nailed it into the wooden hole reserved by Luc little by little.

Looking at the base of the sled, Luc nodded secretly.

Building a sled is actually not difficult. The key lies in whether the material can withstand use. Oak is hard and difficult to grind, which is a suitable material. However, in order to reduce friction, Luc simply polished it with sand and gravel, then took some animal oil and applied it to the bottom of the wooden board. Then he mixed rosin and beeswax and added a layer of waterproof and anti-corrosion material.

Beeswax is another valuable item provided by beekeeper Oliver.

In other words, honey and beeswax are extracted together.

When Oliver extracts honey, he cuts the honeycomb, filters out impurities, then boils it to melt and puts it into pottery. After cooling, beeswax is naturally formed.

Beeswax was a true luxury item, used in sealing wax for letters and fine candles, as it was smokeless and durable. Many aristocrats and churches used only beeswax to demonstrate their nobility.

Luc had been using beeswax sparingly, but when making beeswax, Oliver, the experienced beekeeper, made a rare mistake, resulting in a lot of defective products. Of course, Luc forgave him, as everyone makes mistakes for the first time, but if it happened a few more times, Luc would punish him.

Fortunately, this batch of defective products was used on the sled, and we could also see the effect.

While the two were working, Luc was not idle either. He picked up the third piece of pine wood that had been unused.

Luc raised the axe and with a few clicks, he split the wood into four pieces, each twenty inches long. He gave it to little Maiman, who was almost finished assembling it, and asked him to insert the four pieces of wood into the mortise and tenon joints reserved yesterday and stuff them with sawdust to press them tightly. When little Maiman finished and turned it over, there was an oak skateboard with a parallel bottom, covered with vertical parallel pine beams, and short wood supports between the four legs to form a stable triangular frame.

Seeing this, Luc waved his hand and said, "Robert, throw the vines you made yesterday into the hot grease, then take them out and let them cool down. After they cool down, roast them slowly over the fire for me!"

The sled is used to pull things, so it needs to be able to bear more weight than ordinary tools. The vines soaked with resin are stronger and can be wrapped around the joints of the sled to prevent it from falling apart.

While Robert was roasting, Luc went to the woodshed and picked out a pile of wood of similar length.

That’s right, this sled is not used to carry people, but to carry cargo, and this batch of wood is the guardrail.

It was already afternoon when Robert finished getting all the vines ready. Luc went to take a look at the salt factory. The progress of the salt factory had become stable. With the addition of Geller, the two of them worked well together after a period of running-in. Paul also became more adept at it, and Jill had no problems at all.

If we leave out Ryan and Old Eike, the people at the salt factory can be said to be the best treated group under Luc. Not only because the industry is important, but also because the work is so hard and tiring.

Not only did Luc reward them with some small things every now and then, he also guaranteed that when the land was divided next year, all three families would get more arable land.

As for Eugene, based on his good performance during this period, as the only real slave in the manor, Luc also made him a promise - after working for two years, he could leave the mine and return to the Knight's Castle to live as Luc's serf.

This made Eugene overjoyed, and he kept thanking Luc. After all, although the serfs were still miserable, they were better than miners.
After saying goodbye to the people at the salt factory, they brought little Charlie back to the Knight's Castle. Little Maiman and the others had already started tying up the sled. Seeing that it was almost done, Luc said, "Bring the tree nets over here, Robert. Cross them around the sled base like you would a fishing net. Little Maiman, go to the livestock area and find some hay to fill in the nets."

"Yes!" Luc took little Charlie's hand and walked slowly to the warehouse.

Little Charlie was very excited along the way. He kept rubbing against Luc, wagging his tail fast, and panting with joy.

Luc also stroked the dog's head with a smile. He had deep feelings for this hunting dog, which was the closest to him no matter how many times its owner changed. If we put aside the species, it was the first life to accompany him.

"Haha, old buddy, I might have to trouble you again next time."

As his status gets higher and higher, the only one Luc can still call a buddy is probably this dog.

Luc took out his shears and cut the horsetail. He twisted it into a rope and then used a small piece of leather, wool, and rattan to weave a pad. He called little Charlie over and put the pad and the rope on him. Looking at the confused but still jumping little Charlie, Luc laughed out loud: "You'll be in trouble later."

The man and the dog spent a rare moment together, and the little Maiman's sled was completely finished, including the guardrails. Luc strode over to look at the lightweight sled, shook it with his hand, and found it to be very solid, but he needed to practice to see if it could be used.

"Little Charlie!"

Luc called out and harnessed it to the sled, and the shiny-coated hound immediately turned into a sled dog.

Following Luc's command, little Charlie rushed out quickly, and the sled behind it also took off. The oak runner pressed two shallow marks on the snow. Luc, who was originally worried that little Charlie would be unwilling, found that it seemed very excited with its tongue sticking out, running around happily over and over again, causing everyone who was still building the wooden wall in front to look over here.

Little Charlie's sled brought long-lost excitement to the people who were doing heavy and boring work. Because it was cold, the few children who had already evacuated from the watchtower screamed and ran after little Charlie, laughing as they ran.

Luke watched this scene, then turned to Maiman and said, "The ponytail rope is a little short. You can improve it later."

"No problem, sir."

Just like the wooden wall, the task initiated by Luc had been completed, and the next step was to hand it over to others. He shouted several times before calling little Charlie back. Just as he was about to lead the sweaty little Charlie into the wooden fort to wipe his sweat, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves coming from afar.

Squinting my eyes, I saw that it was Jean who was riding on the small travel horse.

Luc stopped in his tracks, "There's news!"

……

"Sir, this is what happened."

He took a big gulp of hot water, took Yu Han's leave, and told Lu Ke all the information he had found out.

Luc, who was sitting in the main seat against the wall on the first floor, tapped the corner of his chair and uttered a few words after a while:

"Jewish caravan?"

"You mean, David has something to do with the Jewish caravan?"

(End of this chapter)