Ch 50: Area Division

The refugees’ mood was pacified, however, Vig did not intend to let certain fellows off the hook. Under his strict orders, Joren led the Shield-Bearers to quickly mobilize and arrest the worst-behaved Gentlemen, confiscating his entire estate and expelling him. Once the trial results were announced, the rest quickly paid their arrears, greatly increasing the refugees’ favorability towards Vig. Thus, this refugee incident came to a muddled end. Vig focused his energy on the brewing industry as the next stage of his work.

Regarding the types of drinks, he faced the following choices:

First, the highest priced and best tasting was the wine produced in West Francia. The local area is not suitable for growing grapes, so this option was ruled out.

Second was honey wine, widely acclaimed in Viking society. The ingredients are honey, water, and yeast, fermented in wooden barrels for over a month, and wild berries and herbs can also be added for flavor. Due to the high price of honey, ordinary commoners rarely have the opportunity to enjoy it.

To mass-produce honey wine, the scale of beekeeping must be expanded. For this purpose, Vig especially visited the beekeepers in the countryside.

These people used a kind of woven wicker basket as a beehive, with the top covered with waterproof clay. The beehives were not easily moved, and every honey harvest required damaging the beehive.

Observing the entire honey harvesting process, he casually asked: “Why not design a beehive that allows for repeated honey harvesting?”

“Repeated honey harvesting?” The beekeeper showed a puzzled expression, not understanding what the Lord was talking about.

Racking his brains for a long time, Vig couldn’t come up with a specific structure, so he could only suggest that the beekeeper exchange experiences with his peers and find a way to create a new type of beehive.

“As you command, Master.”

Perceiving the carelessness and perfunctoriness in the tone, Vig regretfully shook his head. Honey production quota could not be increased in the short term, so this option was forced to be shelved.

Excluding the first two, the only remaining option was ale. The ingredients are malt, water, yeast, and herbs. When drying malt, the locals like to use peat as fuel, which seems to impart a unique smoky flavor.

“Why must peat be used?”

Vig asked many commoners with brewing experience. Not only did the locals use peat to dry the malt, but they also used peat to bake the inner walls of the wine barrels afterward, which seemed to be an established tradition.

In the following days, he collected recipes everywhere and learned that ale fermentation requires the addition of a herbal mixture called “gruit（gruit）”, the main ingredients of which are yarrow and winter savory.

In addition, Herigifu found a new recipe from a scroll in the monastery. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she added rosemary and wormwood, claiming that it could extend the preservation time.

A breeze blew past, causing the candlelight to flicker. Watching his wife add various herbs, Vig inexplicably felt like he was observing an alchemy experiment and couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, books don’t lie.” Herigifu spread out the parchment filled with Latin and found that she had missed a sentence in the corner.

“Wait, dear, it mentions that somewhere in East Francia uses ‘Humulus lupulus’ to brew ale. Find a way to get some.”

Humulus lupulus? What is that?

Vig had never seen the real thing and didn’t understand that this word represented hops. Due to his wife’s repeated persuasion, he agreed to this seemingly absurd request, “When I go to York to pay taxes in October, I’ll ask the wool merchants from the Continent for help and ask them to look for the seeds of this strange plant.”

For the sake of rigor, Vig set up multiple sets of control experiments. The number one barrel of ale did not add any herbs, the number two ale added gruit, the number three added wormwood and rosemary, and the number four ale added all kinds of herbs.

After brewing ended, Vig distributed this type of drink to the Shield-Bearers for tasting, and everyone agreed that the number four ale tasted the best. Having selected the brewing recipe, he built a brewery in the west area of Tyne Town, strictly controlling the process flow. Malt preparation, saccharification, fermentation, and barreling were handled by different laborers.

Besides the brewery and the blacksmith’s shop, Vig didn’t have the energy to manage other industries. He had Micham spread the word, announcing that Tyne Town’s taxes would be halved for two years, plus interest-free loans would be provided, to attract small merchants and handicraftsmen from nearby regions to settle down.

Based on his observations and experience in York, Leeds, and Dyfflin, he made the following plans:

Food processing industry: The location of the water mill remained unchanged, and a bakery was built next to it. The livestock market and slaughterhouse had poor sanitary conditions and were prone to breeding mosquitoes and flies, so they were settled in the southeast region（downstream）.

Textile and leather industry: Wool textile industry mainly relied on family-based production. Vig allocated the northeast area to each weaving household, allowing them to play their role on one’s own. Tanning leather would cause serious contamination problems, so the location of the leather workshop was also set in the southeast region.

The blacksmith’s shop was the most important and was chosen in the southwest area, not far from Tyne, for convenient daily supervision. （Tyne is located on the low hill in the southwest corner of Tyne Town. The terrain overlooks the entire town and is close to the riverbank.）

The carpenter’s workshop was chosen near the water-powered sawmill, with all the carpenter’s shops gathered on one street for easy management. The sawmill continuously produced cut wooden planks, selling them to each carpenter, who then produced furniture, wooden barrels, farming tools, and wagons.

The shipbuilding factory was located on the riverbank south of the city. Vikings are skilled in shipbuilding, so they continued to practice their traditional skill.

As for shops such as taverns, pottery workshops, barbershops, herbal shops, and tailor shops, Vig didn’t bother to pay attention and let the practitioners choose their own locations.

In terms of sanitation, given the plague that erupted in the late Medieval period, he stipulated a number of measures, including digging irrigation ditches on both sides of the road, encouraging residents to keep cats, building public baths, strictly prohibiting littering, and organizing a city-wide cleaning once a month.

News gradually spread, and people gradually moved to this newly founded town, even subjects from Derwent and Tees. By October, Tyne Town had more than eighty households, with a total population of nearly three hundred.

In order to make Tyne Town famous, Vig announced that on the 1st and 15th of every month, taverns would offer discounted drinks to attract peasants from the countryside to come to the marketplace. In the early stages, the marketplace would only collect very low taxes, and the tax rate would be increased after it developed.

“Producing basic supplies, accumulating wealth through trade and taxes, and ensuring the continuation of industry through military defense. By achieving these three points, Tyne Town will become increasingly prosperous. In a few years, perhaps the commercial tax provided by the town will surpass the agricultural tax provided by the countryside.”

As for the town mayor candidate, Vig carefully weighed his options and chose a Shield-Bearer with mediocre martial skill but meticulous thinking, “Barfus, this task is your responsibility. Put more effort into it, and don’t let my investment go to waste.”

Learning that he was valued by the Lord, Barfus was overjoyed and immediately knelt on one knee, grabbing Vig’s left hand and kissing it, “I was born to carry out your will, Sir.”

Having settled all matters, Vig led his troops south to York to pay this year’s tribute.