Adam Smith said that the division of labor is the greatest force driving economic development.
According to the famous pin factory story...
If one craftsman can make 10 pins in a day, then if 10 craftsmen are gathered and a thorough division of labor is implemented, they can produce up to 48,000 pins.
To be honest, that was an exaggeration to emphasize the effects of division of labor.
‘It may be unrealistic to reach 48,000, but 3,000 should be doable.’
Even that would yield more than 30 times the efficiency compared to individual craftsmen making the pins.
In short, it means that goods are produced at a speed that was unimaginable before.
“The most important factor in the Industrial Revolution was the steam engine, but the production increase during the early Industrial Revolution was driven by the advanced division of labor.”
When James Watt created the steam engine, in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, there was nothing other than steam engines, steam pumps (machines for pumping water), and machines for making clothes.
But it was the division of labor that succeeded in increasing production efficiency.
And over time, various machines were invented.
“Even without the steam engine, it would still be like an Industrial Revolution.”
As I approached the factory, black smoke from burning coal rose from the chimney.
Perhaps because I had notified them in advance that I would be visiting, the factory manager came out to greet me personally.
“I am Schumacher, the person responsible for the weapons factory that Baron Rothschild appointed. Today, I will personally show you how the factory operates.”
“Thank you in advance.”
Schumacher led me inside the factory.
Inside the factory, the space was divided into several large sections.
One area was for melting steel in huge furnaces and casting weapons, another was for refining the cast weapons and processing them into usable shapes.
There was also an area for making sheaths, handles, and other parts, and a final area for assembling the parts into finished weapons.
Each of these large sections had anywhere from dozens to over a hundred workers.
Back when the guild system existed, it would have been impossible to even attempt creating such a large-scale factory because the guilds would have caused a huge uproar.
I couldn’t help but feel a slight twinge in my nose.
“There are 500 workers here in the factory, and as you can see, all tasks are thoroughly divided.”
“I’m glad to hear the division of labor is progressing as I requested.”
“How is the hierarchy within the factory?”
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Before the modern era, the military only had officer ranks, and soldiers didn’t really have ranks of their own.
It was a foolish thing to treat someone like a chief sergeant the same as a new recruit, just calling them all “soldiers.”
But when the higher-ups realized how inefficient that was, they began to introduce ranks for soldiers.
Private, Corporal, Sergeant, Master Sergeant, and so on, with different rights and pay according to rank, and that greatly increased efficiency.
Naturally, the same logic applies to factories.
“The supervisors of each section were all former guild masters who had managed dozens of apprentices and journeymen. They are very skilled at what they do.”
The guild masters, even though they were the heads of a corrupt and entrenched power structure, had genuine skill.
If not for their skill, they wouldn’t have risen to such positions despite the political maneuvering among artisans.
‘In company politics, only competent people rise. If a fool does it, they just get criticized.’
“Below them, there are foremen who give orders to 10 employees. They tell them what they need to do, and if there’s anything wrong, they correct it. At the same time, they handle important tasks that can’t be done just with brute strength.”
The greatest advantage of division of labor is that it greatly reduces the number of skilled workers needed to operate the factory.
Previously, skilled technicians with plenty of experience had to supervise and also perform many of the important tasks.
Because of this, they had to hire multiple skilled workers to do the job of 4–5 simple laborers.
By simplifying the work as much as possible and making it fast...
‘The need to hire expensive technicians drastically reduces.’
The quality of each product may drop a bit, but...
For someone who’s starving, would they care about the small differences in taste when they eat?
As long as the food is edible, and it’s cheap and plentiful, that’s the best.
“Thanks to this, we’ve reduced the need to hire expensive artisans or hard-to-find senior apprentices.”
In the Tuscany Empire, there’s probably no one who takes care of their workers’ pay as much as I do.
Even common serfs, as long as there’s no famine, can eat three meals a day without fail in the Rothschild Barony.
In fact, I pay these artisans and workers more than others working in similar jobs elsewhere.
But this is a necessary expenditure.
If you’re going to spend, it’s essential to avoid unnecessary costs to make a profit.
If there are 30 outside directors listed in the company, each earning tens of millions of gold coins, how can the business operate smoothly?
You’ll go bankrupt just paying their salaries.
“We’ve reduced labor costs significantly, but how many matchlock guns are we producing per day?”
From what I know, I’ve heard that in a workshop with about 10 artisans and apprentices, making 5 matchlock guns per day is the limit.
It takes time to make the iron parts of the gun, especially the core components.
They have to be hammered and shaped, and then the grooves inside have to be smoothed out.
‘Hammering and smoothing, some of that work can be substituted with labor...’
Here’s where we can really see the effectiveness.
If they’re producing more than 250 guns a day, that would be more efficient than the existing workshop system.
“Thanks to the division of labor and proper distribution of tasks, we can produce up to 600 matchlock guns per day if we focus solely on them.”
That’s nearly 2.4 times the number of matchlocks produced by 500 employees.
While it may not be at the level of the Industrial Revolution, we can certainly say that we’ve made significant progress toward changing the world through division of labor.
“At the moment, the workers here aren’t fully in sync, but once they become more accustomed to the work, we should be able to produce up to 750 per day.”
The total number of matchlocks I need to deliver to Malik is 30,000.
Therefore, if everyone gets used to their work, we can meet the required quantity in just 40 days of running the factory at full capacity.
Of course, in peacetime, there’s no real need for such a large number of matchlocks.
During peacetime, we will be producing weapons, armor, and tools, but...
‘There will likely be a large-scale war soon.’
Someone will probably write in history books that I masterminded all of this, manipulating and slandering people.
I’ve just lit the fuse on a bomb.
And I plan to make massive profits from the explosion.
“Very promising. Then for the next 40 days, let’s focus on making matchlock guns. I have places that urgently need them.”
“Understood, Baron.”
“And how are the workers being paid?”
The factory manager hesitated for a moment before responding.
“For the supervisors, we pay them 6 gold coins a month, for foremen, 3 gold coins, and for regular laborers, 2 silver coins each.”
Even though the supervisors were former guild masters, they were likely making more now than they did in their previous positions.
After paying off debts and other costs, they probably had around 40 gold coins left each year.
The foremen, who had opened small workshops, probably earned around 20 gold coins annually.
The regular laborers, who were forcibly recruited from the slums, receive 2.4 times the salary of regular city workers.
‘The salary is high, and the welfare benefits are on a whole different level.’
“I’ll give them exactly 50 days. Within that time, I want 30,000 matchlock guns made.”
A slight tension appeared on the factory manager’s face.
“30,000 guns in 50 days?”
“That’s right. However, if they manage to meet the deadline, I will pay all workers a month’s worth of salary as a bonus.”
The key to managing workers is not frequent dinners or nagging from the boss.
It’s paying them the fair reward they deserve.
Sometimes you have to offer big bonuses too.
“Can you do it?”
“Of course.”
“I trust you. I’ll take my leave now.”
Shortly after I returned home, Sebastian rushed in to find me.
“Baron, an urgent letter has arrived.”
“Who is it from?”
“It’s from Mayor Guillaume.”
If Mayor Guillaume is contacting me, it must be something urgent.
“What does it say?”
“It’s about the war between the Kingdom of Lyon and the Holy Empire.”