I Became A Black Merchant In Another World

The first thing that caught my eye was the sight of hundreds of people weaving fabric on looms.

“Don’t rush it; match the speed of the drum with your movements! If the thread gets twisted even once, you’ll have to start from scratch!”

With every click, click sound, the weft and warp threads came together to form the fabric.

Though the process of weaving fabric is something you can easily see in any rural countryside, the important part is that the speed of the drum moving back and forth is several times faster than what a person can do by hand.

Chloe couldn’t hide her surprise at this sight.

She looked like a child who had just seen a new amusement ride.

“Young Lord, this is amazing! Just by clicking with our hands and feet, fabric is being created—it’s hard to believe even seeing it with my own eyes!”

Christina covered her mouth with her hands and opened her eyes wide.

“If this technology for weaving fabric spreads, it will turn the world upside down. I can understand why the Young Lord wants to keep it hidden.”

In fact, since the development of the drum loom, the world has indeed been turned upside down.

Clothing, originally a necessity for living but so labor-intensive it was considered a luxury good, suddenly had its production efficiency skyrocketed by over four times with the latest looms, threatening the livelihoods of workers and businesses involved in the English weaving industry.

Thanks to this, John Kay, who created it, had to seek exile in France.

Sebastian, not having made it himself, shrugged his shoulders and spoke proudly.

“Christina, it’s only been about ten days since the workers started using that machine. Even so, a single worker is making as much as four rolls of fabric in a day. You understand how incredible that is, right?”

A common misconception people have about medieval fabrics, woolens, and the like is thinking that textiles like flax, cotton, and linen are cheap and plentiful because commoners wear them.

However, in this era, the cost of clothing, priced at 100 won in the market, requires at least 65-70 won for labor to produce it.

Surprisingly, therefore, the price difference between luxurious fabrics like velvet or silk that only the wealthy can afford and the cheaper clothes worn by commoners isn’t that significant when viewed as ‘new goods’.

“What if the labor costs, which account for 65-70% of clothing production costs, become 1/4?”

“If we don’t consider the raw materials, that means we can sell it at 1/4 the price of others and still make a profit.”

“Exactly. However, the things the Young Lord made are not just limited to this, are they? Come with me; I need to show you the scutching and spinning machines.”

Sebastian pulled me directly to where the scutching and spinning machines were located.

While the loom that used the drum required complex mechanical designs, the two machines operated in a very simple manner.

The scutching machine had women and older folks inserting cotton bolls and turning a handle, producing an easy flow of seeds dropping out with every turn.

Back on Earth, before this invention, Black slaves had to extract those seeds one by one by hand, a grueling labor that was now so easily handled.

“I created this, but it’s also a real revolution.”

Beside it, a spinning machine made up of eight spindles interconnected began processing cotton and wool into yarn.

It could run just by lightly stepping on it, allowing it to operate at a much faster speed than the small hand-spinning devices.

Sebastian passionately explained to me.

“Thanks to minimizing the effort required to separate the seeds from the cotton bolls and spin the yarn, we’ve reduced the cost of raw materials for the fabric by about 30%. Therefore, if we reflect the decrease in raw material costs and the reduction in production costs, the production cost has decreased by—”

He took a moment to catch his breath.

“By about 20%. So if you sell cotton or wool fabrics at the same price as others, you’ll earn over 4 times the profit compared to the cost. This is miraculous.”

Throughout the medieval and modern eras, fabrics could be exaggeratedly said to be items that would undoubtedly sell once produced.

Historians analyze that the Hundred Years’ War, ignited by the kings of France and England using claims over each other’s territories, actually arose from the competition for raw materials for woolen cloth, “Flanders wool.”

Until it became vicious, England was just a country that made and sold clothes from wool and cotton, but alongside France, it could stand as one of the two great powers in Europe.

Given how significant the clothing-making industry is, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, machines were primarily used to make clothes.

Christina and Sebastian supported his statement.

“This technology could transform our Albania Continent significantly.”

As someone who knows the flow of history, I wholeheartedly agreed.

However, I wanted to keep this technology hidden for at least the next 10, ideally 20 years.

Why? Because if this leaks, everyone would jump into the clothing industry without a care.

Then my profits would shrink.

‘To be a person of high value, you must do what others don’t or can’t.’

“So this technology must never leak. If even one piece of it slips out, it will harm our family’s profits.”

I’m not some altruist, and I have no intention of sharing this newly created technology for the advancement of humanity without expecting anything in return.

“I agree; the technology the Young Lord developed shouldn’t just be used for others’ good.”

I patted Sebastian on the shoulder.

“I came up with this idea, and while the craftsmen carried it out, it’s not a small feat what you did in creating the framework for this factory, Sebastian. What do you want? If you ask, I could even grant you a title of knighthood based on your contributions.”

Though I also held a title of knighthood, it wouldn’t be a significant issue.

Although it’s not like we’re in Joseon where slaves can own other slaves, a knight can certainly create a knight among his retinue when needed.

‘Of course, the title of a knight isn’t something so common.’

“Then can this old man indulge in a bit of greed?”

“The process of reporting to the Imperial Herald is a bit cumbersome, but if you pay, it can be done. Since we’re at it, I’ll even create a nominal territory for you. Your salary will rise according to the tax of that territory.”

I could report a few households in the village where this factory is located as Sebastian’s territory and just give him the taxes generated there.

This is a kind of loophole, but the herald that oversees the nobles is a puppet agency of the Emperor, so if I request it and provide a ‘business expense’ (bribe), it should be resolved.

Chloe, who had been following along without quite understanding my conversation with Christina and Sebastian, sincerely congratulated me.

“Congratulations, Master Butler!”

“Haha, thank you for the congratulations. I thought I would never have anything to do with becoming a noble in my lifetime.”

Strictly speaking, a master butler is practically treated the same as someone with a title of knighthood…

But there’s a clear difference in treatment between a noble and a formal noble.

Christina congratulated Sebastian and then turned to me with advice.

“Didn’t the import duty on the seaweed we’re exporting to Guillaume City get exempted? How about packaging the fabric produced here as wrapping for the seaweed in boxes? That way, we can avoid the customs duty on woolen and cotton fabrics.”

While it’s not commonplace, it’s common in our Empire to wrap precious art pieces or valuable goods in soft fabrics.

Seaweed is indeed a precious medicinal material.

If we push the envelope a bit, it’s not impossible…

“But the quantity is too much. There will be limits.”

“If the mayor of Guillaume and his superior, Duke Guillaume, agree, we can eliminate customs duties. Just say you’re willing to give them political donations that amount to half the customs duties.”

Political donations—also known as bribery.

And there’s no one who doesn’t enjoy a bribe.

“The mayor of Guillaume is looking to elevate his status to nobility, so he needs to spread money around to the central nobles. Therefore, he will need these donations.”

“Even if you silence the mayor, his Duke will catch wind of it.”

“From the Duke’s perspective, it’s better to receive some of the leftover customs duties from the budgeting for Guillaume City and the Duke’s territory rather than mishandle the leftover customs duties from the woolen fabric. He’ll be able to pocket more money.”

Politicians absolutely need slush funds.

Especially in this era, where a prominent ability to carry out policies that others oppose requires ‘independent funds.’

“You’re right; with just a bit of persuasion, we could save half the customs duties on woolen and cotton fabrics.”

To ensure stable tax evasion—I mean, tax saving—the bribes must be minimal.

One mustn’t be too greedy; knowing when to be satisfied is important.

‘Even just saving customs duties like this should amount to over a thousand gold coins every year.’

“Alright, then we’ve wrapped up the factory inspection, so it’s time to head out for our first transaction.”

I need to go there to avoid customs duties and to smoothly navigate future transactions.

This time, there’s nothing special to deal with there, so I can return quickly.

“Sebastian, I’m very satisfied with the factory inspection today, so please host a gathering for the employees working here tomorrow night and give them generous bonuses.”

“Yes, understood.”

And I had dinner with the executives of the factory that day, discussing our business affairs.

From our conversations, it was clear that the business was running smoothly until now, like a boat sailing with the wind.

A week after the factory inspection.

I arrived in Guillaume City once again.

“Look over there; I see the harbor! It’s Guillaume City!”

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