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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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The moment of truth for our month-long effort had arrived.
Will we succeed in replicating steel, or will we fail?
Everyone around me stared intently at the blast furnace, filled with tension.
“Please, let it work, please.”
Even if I fail, the Duke won’t withdraw his trust in me or his support for these people.
Even if he’s not a technician, he knows that implementing revolutionary technology rarely goes smoothly from the start.
But if I fail two, three times in a row…
‘My value will decrease. In the worst-case scenario, I’ll be kicked out.’
Even though I’m considered a promising prospect now, if the Duke abandons me, I’ll be left with nothing.
I’m not usually one for prayer, but now I’m desperate enough to cling to Deus.
We’ve invested 10,000 gold coins.
If I fail, it will all be for naught.
“Opening the blast furnace tap! Molten iron will flow out, so everyone take a few steps back!”
The foreman instructed everyone, including me, to step back.
As we moved away, the tap at the bottom of the blast furnace opened.
Crimson molten iron gushed out like magma, and everyone cheered.
“Deus be praised! We’re rich!”
“I’ve never seen so much iron!”
“Drinks are on me tonight, lads!”
From what I’ve learned, the Toscana Empire’s ironmaking technology is quite outdated.
They use kilns similar to those for firing pottery to produce about 300 kg of pig iron, and to obtain steel, blacksmiths have to hammer it for hours.
The blast furnace I built produced about 20 tons of molten iron.
It’s a furnace capable of producing over 70 times more pig iron.
I want to celebrate, but it’s too early to be satisfied.
To replicate money, the reverberatory furnace for replicating steel needs to be completed.
“Foreman, it’s too early to celebrate. The reverberatory furnace is the key.”
The foreman, leaving a few craftsmen at the blast furnace, moved to the reverberatory furnace.
Two craftsmen were sweating profusely, pumping the bellows at the reverberatory furnace.
“Damn, I’m going to die like this.”
“This is better than that damned hammering. Just shut up and pump.”
Foreman Smith, after carefully inspecting the reverberatory furnace, ordered,
“Draw the molten iron!”
Just like with the blast furnace, molten iron flowed out.
As soon as they saw the molten iron, the foreman and team leaders hurriedly scooped some out and started cooling it as quickly as possible.
After the exterior cooled, they quenched it in water and held up the piece of iron.
“It’s steel!! Steel, I say!!! Fuck!!”
It’s unlike the foreman, who usually just speaks roughly but doesn’t curse.
But I, and all the craftsmen here, understand how he feels.
“Over 1.5 tons of steel! Deus be praised!!”
Before I introduced the reverberatory furnace, obtaining steel required unimaginable labor.
I heard it takes two blacksmiths over an hour of hammering to produce just over 1 kg of steel.
And since the work involves constant hammering, which strains the shoulders and arms…
Two blacksmiths can only produce about 4 kg of steel a day.
But now, just two people produced over 1.5 tons of steel?
Taking everything into account and exaggerating slightly, steel production has become 400 times more efficient.
As the person in charge here and a noble, I’ve maintained my composure so far, but…
What good is composure in the face of such a momentous occasion?
“Deus be praised! Let’s get rich!”
When I, someone of high social standing, acted this way, everyone’s eyes turned to me.
It felt like they were asking,
‘Is it alright for you, young master, to celebrate so unreservedly, like us?’
It’s natural to answer when asked.
“Do you think I have blue blood flowing through my veins, unlike you? I’m just a person who wants to make a lot of money and live well.”
Everyone burst into laughter at my jest.
“Do you think nobles live differently from you? Even nobles can’t get married without money.”
In 21st-century Korea, people give up on marriage due to lack of money, but in the Toscana Empire, the reason is slightly different.
You can’t get married without a stable livelihood.
If I were a serf, I’d need the right to cultivate the lord’s land. If I were a craftsman, I’d need a guild membership or a workshop.
They all laughed heartily at my un-noble-like jokes.
“Foreman, leave only the essential staff on duty and go have a drink. Put the food and drink expenses on His Grace’s tab.”
“May we indulge without reservation today?”
I see the ghost of a drunkard who died without tasting alcohol in the foreman’s eyes.
Look at his mischievous hand, already shaped like it’s holding a glass.
“Do you think your drinking will even make a dent in His Grace’s wallet?”
The foreman, smiling, repented for his thoughts.
“Ah, we were greatly mistaken.”
“Glad you realized that.”
The repentant foreman gathered the craftsmen.
“The young master has granted us unlimited drinks today! Let’s go!”
Yes, celebrate now.
You need to celebrate the success of the test run so that you can endure the overwork when we scale up production later.
Let’s see, this is just a test run…
What if the Duke invests everything he has later?
Will the number of employees increase tenfold?
“We’ll be short-staffed immediately, so the serfs down there will soon become steel mill workers.”
They’ll start at the bottom, engaging in manual labor, but…
It’s not necessarily a bad thing for them.
Since we’re desperate for people, even though their status will be apprentices, their wages will be better than as serfs, and their status will change from serf to freeman.
“…I hope good things like this continue to happen.”
I truly mean it.
Of course, things aren’t that simple in this world, but…
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The steel produced at Fabio’s steel mill quickly flooded the Firenze market.
“Come and get it, steel for just 15 copper coins per kg! Cheap, cheap!”
15 copper coins per kg of steel.
It’s a hefty sum, about 15 times the daily wage of an ordinary worker in the city.
It seems expensive, but considering that steel requires skilled labor and intensive hammering…
It’s being sold at a suspiciously low price.
“Are you selling wrought iron or pig iron as steel? Do you think I’m blind?”
“Do I look like I’m lying?”
“Why? Isn’t it a merchant’s basic skill to subtly mix sand or sawdust into wheat to increase the volume?”
If the customer is an ordinary citizen or commoner, not a noble, such practices are commonplace among merchants.
Other tricks, like placing good wheat on top and mixing it with half-rotten wheat at the bottom, are also common.
They don’t tamper with the quality of goods sold to nobles, but they inflate the “market price.”
If you can’t even do this, you can’t survive as a merchant in this cutthroat world.
This is why nobles, including Fabio’s father, despise merchants.
“What do I gain by scamming you, Alfredo? You’re a regular customer, and no one buys as much as you do. See for yourself.”
The man called Alfredo immediately checked the quality of the steel.
He hammered it with a huge hammer and poked it with an awl, but…
Not a single scratch appeared.
Pig iron or wrought iron could never be this strong.
“Huh, where did you get this steel?”
“If I tell you, our business is ruined. So, how much will you buy?”
“Give me everything you have. You know this price is absurd.”
“We have 50 tons. Can you handle that?”
“I’ll sell it to the armorers in Firenze, or to the Duchy of Milan.”
Alfredo maintained a straight face, but inside, he was ecstatic.
Steel is as expensive as you can make it, and he’s buying 50 tons at a bargain price?
Even if it takes some time to sell, he’s guaranteed to double or triple his investment.
“Alright, let’s draw up a contract. If there are any defects, I’ll refund the defective portion.”
Normally, a merchant would refuse, claiming they’re being distrusted, but today, he readily agreed to a written contract.
As Alfredo concluded the deal and got up, a question arose.
“But say, what happens to the Blacksmiths’ Guild if this much steel floods the empire? They make a killing from steel.”
The merchant he was dealing with chuckled.
“Do you care? And I heard this steel comes from the Visconti Duke family. I bought 50 tons, so including what others have bought, it must be around 2,000 tons.”
“2,000 tons at two-thirds the current market price? Is His Grace out of his mind?”
Even selling at 30% below market price leaves the Duke with a huge profit margin.
Because, thanks to Fabio, he can now replicate steel at less than 10% of the previous cost.
“That’s none of our business. We just need to make money, right?”
“I heard Duke Sforza is backing the blacksmiths. Those blacksmiths are screwed.”
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