I Became A Black Merchant In Another World-Chapter 242: Industrial City Abito (4)

In The Prince, it is said:

The moment a ruler is seen as an easy target, his subordinates will stick a knife in his back.

On the other hand, if a ruler remains a figure of fear, he will remain safe.

This lesson has been applied to every ruler, and will undoubtedly continue to be applied.

While it may be a bit different in nature, the same principle applies in international diplomacy.

Once you are seen as an easy mark, others will start to pick away at you.

Just like the Qing dynasty, which, after spouting nonsense about stopping cannons with urine, ended up being a source of easy pickings following a crushing defeat.

“We will supply woolen and cotton fabrics to the Holy Empire at very low prices.”

“And what does that have to do with getting revenge on the Holy Empire?”

Saying we would get revenge on the Holy Empire and then suggesting we sell fabric at low prices is a completely out-of-the-blue statement.

It’s like saying, "Let’s go for lunch" but then responding, "I have plans with my mom for dinner."

Still, despite giving such a ridiculous response, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs did not protest.

“By supplying woolen and cotton fabrics cheaply, we can greatly shake the sentiment of the Holy Empire’s people. Economic damage would naturally follow.”

In this era, serfs—no, most people—view food as a gift from heaven.

That’s how hard it is to survive.

During famines, it’s common for the eldest or second eldest daughters to be sold by their father to feed the family.

If we reduce the income of these struggling people by just 5%—no, 10%—what will they think?

It’s already hard for many to make ends meet, but if the price of cotton fabric drops due to human-made causes, who will they blame?

"The highest-ranking person in their own village."

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs seemed intrigued by my words.

“Explain in more detail.”

“In any country on the Albanian continent, the people not only farm but also buy cotton and wool, weaving fabrics to sell. If they don’t, unless there’s an unusually good harvest, they’ll likely starve.”

This was the case for every country in the world before the Industrial Revolution—or before modernization took hold.

Even in Joseon, the men farmed while the women weaved cloth at home to help support the family or pay taxes.

“So, for the people, weaving cloth is directly tied to survival.”

Medieval people were as foolish and wise as modern people.

Despite this, the foolishness of those times often seems worse than that of the 21st century.

For example, thinking that smoking could cure all diseases and encouraging the whole nation to do so, or believing that bathing made you sick, considering it virtuous not to bathe except on special occasions.

These are all signs of the lack of accumulated knowledge in those times.

So, nobles surely knew how the serfs lived.

If their livelihood depended on the taxes those serfs paid, how could they not know?

“If the prices of cotton and wool fabrics drop drastically, their income will decrease proportionally. For someone like the Deputy Minister or myself, a 10% or 20% drop in income wouldn’t be a major issue, but for poor serfs, what kind of blow would it be?”

If someone earning 10 million a month loses 10% of their income, they’re left with about 9 million a month.

But if someone barely earning 1 million a month loses 10%, they’re left with 900,000 or 1 million, and it becomes nearly impossible to sustain their livelihood.

If their income decreases further, their living situation will drastically change.

They might not be able to eat three meals a day, maybe just one.

And serfs who have to live with 1 million a month for a family of five or six? Talking about it is just painful.

“You really are...”

The Deputy Minister started to say something but cut himself off and continued.

“Such a blow to the Holy Empire, indeed. But to shake up the fabric market in such a way, you’d have to supply a massive quantity. That would cause a great impact on you.”

At this point, I need to clarify that no matter how skilled I am, I can’t single-handedly shake the fabric market of the Holy Empire.

Because even if I tried to monopolize the demand for clothing in the Tuscany Empire, we’d still need to weave at least 20 million to 30 million pieces of woolen and cotton fabrics every year.

How could one company handle that much fabric?

It’s impossible without using modern 21st-century technology.

This is why Sebastian made such a remark when I was pondering where to sell the fabric.

“Why worry about where to sell the fabric or whether it will sell?”

“First, one of our family’s craftsmen has successfully developed a special machine that quickly spins thread and weaves fabric. Using this machine will reduce the labor involved in weaving fabric by up to 90%.”

The Deputy Minister covered his mouth with both hands.

It seemed like a bit of an overreaction, but it’s perfectly natural to react like this.

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Among the nobility, there are probably few who have ever done the actual weaving or spinning themselves.

And those who have no concept of how much labor goes into it would naturally be taken aback.

“Right now, it costs about 20 denars to make a shirt for the workers.”

This would probably be the case in any country.

“If we use the cotton fabric made in our Rothschild factory, we can sell the same product for 6 denars and still make a profit.”

Clothes are light and take up little space, so the transportation costs are practically nonexistent, and the cost of raw materials only accounts for 15% of the price of the clothing.

About 80% of the cost is labor.

So whether you sell a shirt for 20 denars or use Rothschild factory fabric and sell it for 6 denars...

“If we sell a shirt for 20 denars, the profit margin would be around 2 denars. If we use fabric from our factory and sell the same shirt for 6 denars, we’d still make 2 denars.”

During the Industrial Revolution, people were producing clothes like crazy.

With the invention of looms, spinning machines, and sewing machines, all you had to do was make the clothes, and the money would follow.

Everyone naturally focused on making clothes like madmen.

“How could anyone resist the temptation of money?”

“I will sell the clothes to the Holy Empire at about 60% of the current price. Of course, that won’t be enough to deal a fatal blow to the fabric prices in the Holy Empire.”

Even if we work our factory like machines during the Industrial Revolution, we won’t meet the demand of the Holy Empire.

Even with steam engines, that fact won’t change.

“We’ll sell them in the border region between the Kingdom of Lyon and the Holy Empire through smuggling. We’ll disguise ourselves as merchants from the Kingdom of Lyon.”

At that, the Deputy Minister’s eyes widened as if his blinders had been removed.

“If that happens, the people near the border will become very unsettled, and the local nobles will want nothing to do with it. Naturally, they’ll say this.”

This is a tactic that even ordinary politicians and leaders, not exceptional heroes, use to survive.

“Blame it on someone else for everything.”

How could a madman with a mustache in Nazi Germany become a dictator?

It’s because he blamed everything on the Jewish people, saying, "This is all their doing!" while claiming all the glory for himself.

Would the noblemen of the Holy Empire, who are just as smart as modern people, not do the same?

“It’s all the evil deeds of the Kingdom of Lyon, trying to bring down our Holy Empire!”

Conspiracy theories run rampant even in modern society.

There are fools who believe that children shouldn’t get vaccinated, people who think the Earth is flat, and those who claim that the U.S. never landed on the moon.

Now, consider what the serfs and most common people, who don’t have access to proper education or media, might think.

“Then, everyone will naturally want ‘another war.’”

The Deputy Minister’s face turned pale as he looked at me.

“Does this make sense? Well, it’s not that it doesn’t make sense... It seems quite possible. No, it seems very likely.”

“The Tuscany Empire will be completely removed from the line of fire. And, as the Holy Empire will be preparing for war with the Kingdom of Lyon, they will naturally want to align with us. After all, they won’t want to be stabbed in the back.”

Let’s think about it logically.

Even the evil Germans couldn’t handle having two fronts.

That’s why Hitler was so eager to crush France and Britain as fast as possible, and why he tried to cozy up to the U.S. by declaring, “We love capitalism.”

The Holy Empire is smarter than Nazi Germany, so they’ll likely act according to my predictions.

“Then, we can extract an apology for this matter, can’t we?”

Of course, if war breaks out, traveling back and forth between the Kingdom of Lyon and the Holy Empire will be blocked by land, but that can easily be solved by traveling by sea.

“That’s a very sound idea. Alright, then I’ll organize your plan and report it to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. I’ll take my leave now.”

The Deputy Minister stood up immediately and hurriedly walked out.

Why is he in such a hurry?