NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11
The time had finally come to reveal the results of a month-long struggle.
Will I succeed in replicating iron, or will it be a failure?
Everyone around me was tense, staring at the furnace as if it would fly away.
“Please let it go well, please.”
Even if I fail this time, the Duke won’t cut off his trust in me or his support for them.
While the Duke isn’t an engineer, he understands that introducing innovative technology doesn’t always go smoothly from the start.
But if I fail a second or third time…
‘My worth will diminish; at worst, I might get kicked out.’
Even though I’m currently seen as a promising talent, being abandoned by the Duke would leave me with no avenue for escape.
Usually, I don’t pray, but at this moment, I’d grasp at anything, even Deus.
Considering the money invested, a whopping 10,000 gold coins.
If I fail this time, that money will all go up in smoke, poof.
“I’m opening the furnace lid! Molten metal will spill out, so everyone take a few steps back!”
The supervisor ordered the workers, including me, to step back.
As we pulled away, the lid attached to the furnace opened.
Red-hot molten metal erupted like a volcano, and everyone cheered, hooray!
“Long live Deus! Now we are rich!”
“I’ve never seen so much metal!”
“Today, I’ll pay for all you brats!”
From what I’ve gathered, the Toscan Empire’s steel-making technology is severely outdated.
It’s like making a pottery kiln just to obtain around 300 kg of pig iron, and if you want steel, a blacksmith has to hammer for hours.
Yet, from the furnace I made, a staggering 20 tons of molten metal spewed out!
I’ve created a furnace capable of yielding over 70 times the amount of pig iron!
I’d love to shout with joy, but I can’t be satisfied just yet.
To copy money, I need to complete the reflector to replicate steel.
“Supervisor, it’s too early to celebrate. The reflector is the key.”
Hearing my words, the supervisor left some artisans with the furnace and hurried to the reflector.
At the reflector, two artisans were sweating profusely while working the bellows.
“Damn, I’m gonna die doing this!”
“This is better than that fucking hammering. Just shut up and keep working!”
The supervisor, keenly observing the reflector, ordered, “Draw the molten metal!”
As it had at the furnace, molten metal flowed out.
The supervisor and the foremen rushed to scoop up some of the molten metal to cool it as quickly as possible.
Once the surface cooled down, they quenched it in water and held up the steel pieces.
“It’s steel!! It’s STEEL!!! Damn!!”
The supervisor, who usually doesn’t swear, was acting pretty uncharacteristically.
But I and all the artisans completely understood his feelings.
“Over 1.5 tons of steel have come out! Long live Deus!!”
Before I created the reflector, obtaining steel required unimaginable labor.
I heard it took two blacksmiths over an hour of hammering to yield around 1 kg of steel.
Since human labor is the main force, and hammering overworks the shoulder and arm joints without rest, two blacksmiths could produce roughly 4 kg of steel a day.
Yet, just with two blacksmiths, we produced over 1.5 tons of steel?
If I take some things away, let’s say it’s at least 400 times more efficient at producing steel.
Being in charge and a noble, I’ve been maintaining some dignity so far, but…
What dignity can stand before such good fortune?
“Long live Deus! Let’s become rich!”
As I, a high-status individual, erupted with joy like the rest, everyone’s gaze snapped to me.
While no one said it, you could almost hear the question in their eyes.
‘Can the Young Lord rejoice without dignity like us?’
If anyone asks, it’s only natural to reply.
“Do you think I’m any different, dripping blue blood? I’m just like you, wanting to make lots of money and live well.”
As I joked, everyone burst into laughter, hahaha.
“Do you think being a noble is any different than living like you? Nobles can’t marry without money either.”
In 21st-century Korea, people might give up on marriage due to lack of money, but in the Toscan Empire, the reasons for giving up are a bit different.
Without a proper job to make a living, one can’t get married.
If I were a peasant, I’d need the right to farm the Lord’s land, and if I were a craftsman, I would need a guild membership or workshop.
Everyone laughed heartily at my un-noble jokes.
“Supervisor, leave only those on duty today and let everyone else head out for drinks. As for snacks or cost of drinks, just charge it to the Duke.”
“Are we allowed to eat and drink whatever we want today?”
From the supervisor’s eyes, I could see a ghost longing for alcohol.
Look at that sneaky hand; it’s already shaped like it’s holding a wine glass at the thought of drinking!
“Do you think whatever you drink will leave a dent in the Duke’s wallet?”
The supervisor laughed off his guilt.
“Oh, we had a huge misunderstanding.”
“Now you know.”
Repenting for his mistake, the supervisor gathered the artisans.
“The Young Lord has said today you can drink as much as you want! Everybody, let’s go!”
Yeah, keep celebrating for now.
If the test succeeds, we can celebrate again later when production scales up, even if we work ourselves to the bone.
Let’s see, right now it’s just a test run, so…
What if the Duke seriously invests his heart and soul later on?
Wouldn’t the staff multiply by ten times?
“Since we’re short on hands right now, the peasants down there below will soon become slaves at the steel factory?”
They’ll be dragged to the steel factory and start as simple laborers.
For them, it might not be such a bad thing.
With their urgency, even if they start as apprentices, their pay will be better than during their peasant days, and their status will change from serf to a free man.
“…… I hope only good things continue from now on.”
I sincerely wish for that.
Of course, affairs in this world aren’t that simple.
The steel produced at the factory built by Fabio quickly hit the Florence market.
“Here, here, 1 kg of steel for just 15 silver coins! Cheap, cheap!”
15 silver coins for 1 kg of steel.
That’s about 15 times the daily wage for an average laborer in the city.
It does seem rather expensive, but considering that steel can only be produced by using skilled artisans, it’s suspiciously cheap.
“Are you selling wrought iron or pig iron as steel? Do you think I’m blind?”
“Do I look like I’m lying?”
“Why should I care? Isn’t it common sense for merchants to mix in sand or sawdust when selling wheat to make it look like more than it is?”
Every merchant has probably done such things when dealing with regular citizens or commoners.
Mixing in half-rotten goods beneath good ones is basic, too.
They won’t mess with the goods sold to the nobles but will inflate the prices for ‘market price’ to swindle them.
If you can’t even do this much, you won’t survive among legitimate merchants.
This is why nobles like Fabio’s father look down on merchants.
“What do I gain by cheating you, Alfredo? You’re a regular customer at our shop, and there’s no one else who can handle the volume like you. Let’s just say it face to face.”
The man known as Alfredo immediately checked the condition of the steel.
He struck it with a huge hammer and poked it with a awl.
Not a single scratch appeared.
Pig iron or wrought iron can’t possibly be this solid.
“Where on earth did you get such steel?”
“If I tell you that, my business goes under. So how much are you buying?”
“Put everything you have on the table. You know this price doesn’t make sense.”
“Our stock is 50 tons; can you handle that?”
“You could sell to the armor-makers in Florence or to the Duchy of Milan, right?”
Alfredo maintained a poker face, but inside he was ecstatic.
Steel is worth whatever you ask for; buying 50 tons at a bargain price?
Though it might take some time to dispose of, a profit of 2 to 3 times is assured.
“Alright, then let’s write a contract. If there’s any defect, refund me for that amount.”
At another time, merchants would have stubbornly insisted on trusting no one, but today, they quickly penned the agreement.
As Alfredo was about to get up after concluding the deal, a thought crossed his mind.
“By the way, what happens to the blacksmith guild if so much steel floods the empire? They used to be the ones making big bucks from steel, right?”
The merchant he was dealing with chuckled.
“Are they non-existent now? And I heard that this steel comes from the Visconti Duke’s household. I’ve got 50 tons; if other folks bought some too, it should be around 2,000 tons.”
“2,000 tons at 2/3 the current market rate? Has the Duke lost his mind?”
Selling even 30% below market price, the Duke still has heaps of money left over.
Why? Because thanks to Fabio, they can replicate steel for less than 10% of the previous cost.
“That’s not our concern. For us, it’s all about profit.”
“I heard Duke Sforza has been supporting the blacksmiths, so they are in for a rough time.”