Chapter 11
The time had finally come for a month's worth of effort to show its results.
Would they succeed in replicating iron or fail?
Everyone around me was tense, staring intently at the blast furnace.
"Please, it has to work, please."
Even if I failed this time, the Duke wouldn't cut off his trust in me or support for these people.
Although the Duke wasn't a technician himself, he would know that introducing innovative technology is difficult to get right from the start.
However, if failures continued two or three times...
'My value would decrease, and in the worst case, I'd be kicked out.'
Although I'm considered a promising talent now, if I was abandoned by the Duke, I'd inevitably become a lost cause.
Usually, I didn't even pray, but at a time like this, even I felt the urge to cling to Deus.
The money invested was as much as 10,000 gold coins.
If we failed this time, all that money would be lost.
"Opening the bottom hatch of the blast furnace! Molten iron will flow out, so everyone take a few more steps back!"
The supervisor instructed the workers around, including me, to step back.
As we moved a bit further away, the lid attached to the bottom of the blast furnace opened.
When the red-hot molten iron gushed out like magma, everyone cheered.
"Praise Deus! We're rich now!"
"I've never seen so much iron before!"
"Drinks are on me today, you bastards!"
From what I've learned, the iron-making technology in the Tuscan Empire was quite backward.
In our country's terms, they would make something like a kiln for firing pottery to obtain about 300kg of pig iron, and if they wanted steel, a blacksmith would have to fight with a hammer for hours.
Now, about 20 tons of molten iron had spurted out from the blast furnace I made.
In other words, I had created a furnace that could produce over 70 times more pig iron.
I wanted to cheer out loud, but it was too early to be satisfied.
To print money, we needed to complete the reverberatory furnace that would replicate steel.
"Supervisor, it's too early to rejoice. The reverberatory furnace is the key, isn't it?"
Hearing my words, the supervisor left a few artisans at the blast furnace and moved to where the reverberatory furnace was.
At the reverberatory furnace, two artisans were working the bellows, sweating profusely.
"Damn, we're going to die at this rate!"
"This is still better than that damn hammering. Shut up and work the bellows."
Smith, the supervisor who was intently observing the reverberatory furnace, ordered:
"Take out the molten iron!"
Just like with the blast furnace, molten iron flowed out.
As soon as they saw the molten iron, the supervisor and foremen hurriedly scooped up some of it and began cooling it as quickly as possible.
After the outside cooled, they quenched it in water and held up the piece of iron.
"It's steel!! It's steel!!! Holy shit!!"
This was unlike the supervisor who usually only spoke roughly but didn't swear.
However, I and all the artisans here fully understood his feelings.
"Over 1.5 tons of steel has come out! Praise Deus!!"
Until I made the reverberatory furnace, unimaginable hard labor was needed to obtain steel.
It's said that two blacksmiths hammering for over an hour could only produce about 1 kg of steel, which says it all.
Moreover, since the work was done by people, they had to continuously hammer, overworking their shoulder and arm joints.
It's said that two blacksmiths could produce only about 4 kg of steel in a full day.
But now, just two people made over 1.5 tons of steel?
Subtracting this and that and exaggerating a bit, it means steel production has become about 400 times more efficient.
I was the person in charge here and a noble, so I had been maintaining my dignity until now...
But what frozen dignity in the face of such a joyous occasion?
"Praise Deus! Let's become rich for once!"
When I, who belonged to the higher ranks in terms of status, started jumping around like this, everyone's gaze turned towards me for a moment.
They didn't say anything, but I could feel them asking:
'Young master, is it alright for you to rejoice in such an undignified manner like us?'
It's human nature to answer when asked.
"Do you think blue blood flows in me unlike you? I'm the same person, and I want to make a lot of money and live well too."
As I joked, everyone started laughing heartily.
"Do you think nobles live differently from you? Nobles can't marry without money either."
In 21st century Korea, they say people give up on marriage due to lack of money, but in the Tuscan Empire, the reasons for giving up on marriage are a bit different.
You couldn't marry without a proper job that can support you for life.
If I were a serf, I would need the right to tenant farm on the lord's land, and if I were an artisan, I would need a guild membership permit or workshop, etc.
Everyone held their stomachs laughing at my un-noble-like jokes.
"Supervisor, leave only the staff on duty today and go drinking with your people. Just put the cost of food and drinks on His Grace the Duke's tab."
"Is it alright if we eat and drink without restraint today?"
I could see the ghost of alcohol that died without drinking in the supervisor's eyes.
Look at that naughty hand, it's already changed shape to hold a wine glass at the thought of drinking!
"Do you think however much you eat and drink will even scratch His Grace the Duke's wallet?"
The supervisor repented his sin with a laugh.
"Ah, we really had a big misunderstanding."
"That's fine if you understand."
The supervisor, who had realized his mistake, gathered the artisans.
"The young master said we can drink as much as we want today! Everyone, charge!"
Yes, keep rejoicing now.
If you rejoice when the test succeeds, you'll be able to endure even when you're suffering from overwork after increasing the production scale much more later.
Let's see, now it's just a test production, so it's only this much...
Later, when the Duke seriously invests, even pulling in souls...
Will the number of employees increase about 10 times?
"We're short on manpower right away, so soon those serfs down there will become ironworks slaves too, right?"
They'll be dragged to the ironworks and start from the bottom, engaging in simple labor.
It won't be a bad story for them either.
Because manpower was urgently needed, even though their status would be apprentices, their wages would be better than when they were serfs, and their status would change from serfs to freemen.
"...... I hope only good things like this continue to happen."
I sincerely think so.
Of course, things in this world aren't that easy, but still.
**
The steel made in the ironworks built by Fabio quickly flooded the Florence market.
"Come on, just 15 copper coins for 1kg of steel! It's cheap, cheap!"
15 copper coins for 1kg of steel.
It's a large sum, about 15 times the daily wage of a general worker in the city.
It was not a small amount, but considering that steel could only be made by grinding away skilled labor like artisans.
It was being sold at a suspiciously low price.
"Are you selling wrought iron or pig iron and calling it steel? Do you think my eyes are crooked?"
"Do I look like I'm lying?"
"What's wrong with you? Don't you know that as a merchant, it's basic knowledge to mix in sand or sawdust inconspicuously to increase the volume when selling wheat?"
If the trading partner was not a noble but an ordinary citizen or commoner, increasing the volume like this was something every merchant did at least once.
Besides, it was basic to put good wheat on top and mix in half-rotten stuff at the bottom.
They didn't mess with the goods they sell to nobles, but they cheated by inflating the 'market price'.
If you couldn't even do this much, you couldn't survive in the industry of honest merchants.
This was why nobles, including Fabio's father, despised merchants.
"What good would it do me to cheat you, Alfredo? You're a regular at our shop, and there's no other customer who can handle as much volume as you. See for yourself first before you speak."
The man called Alfredo immediately checked the condition of the steel.
He tried hitting it with a huge hammer and pricking it with an awl.
Not a single scratch appeared.
Pig iron or wrought iron could never be this hard.
"Huh, where on earth did you get such steel?"
"If I tell you that, our business will go bankrupt. Anyway, how much are you going to buy?"
"Bring out everything you have. You know too, this price doesn't make sense."
"Can you handle our volume of 50 tons?"
"I can sell it to the armor makers in Florence, or to the Grand Duchy of Milan."
Alfredo was maintaining a poker face by force, but inside he was jumping for joy.
Steel is worth whatever price you ask, and he's buying 50 tons at a bargain price?
Even if it took some time to dispose of, it was certain to make a 2-3 times profit.
"Alright, then let's write a contract. If any defective ones come out, refund for the defective amount."
At other times, even a merchant would have sold it with pure grit, asking if you don't trust them, but today they willingly wrote a contract.
As Alfredo was getting up after finishing the deal, he had a question.
"By the way, if so much steel floods the empire, what happens to those blacksmith guild guys? They were the ones who made a killing with steel, weren't they?"
The merchant he was dealing with smirked.
"Who cares? And from what I hear, this steel comes from the Visconti ducal family. I took 50 tons, so including what others bought, it'll be about 2,000 tons."
"2,000 tons at 2/3 of the current market price, has His Grace the Duke gone mad?"
Even selling 30% cheaper than the market price, the Duke still had an obscenely large profit left.
Because thanks to Fabio, they could now replicate iron at just 10% of the previous cost.
"That's none of our business. We just need to make money, don't we?"
"I heard His Grace Duke Sforza was backing those blacksmith guys, looks like they're all screwed now."