Chapter 69: Education On Promotion
Brambleford.
A gentle spring rain marked the end of the long, harsh winter. Spring had arrived once again, and the February breeze felt like a pair of scissors, cutting through the remnants of the cold.
The arrival of spring was good news for Simon, but it wasn’t the only good news. The praise for the ox-powered waterwheel from the entire court had also reached Brambleford, carried by the spring breeze.
Following this, eight hundred thousand caps of silver arrived in Brambleford. However, this was just the appetiser. Along with it came a massive order from the imperial court.
"My Lord, this plan is truly brilliant. Now that the ox-powered waterwheel has gained the emperor’s approval, it is required to be used in all imperial estates and government-owned fields across the Eldorian Empire. Even the feudal lords have been stirred and have sent officials to place orders. Currently, the orders for the waterwheel’s rollers have reached thirty thousand sets, amounting to nine million caps of silver. After deducting costs, we stand to make a profit of six million caps."
Percival was ecstatic. The Novelty Trading Company was now the sole official trading company in Brambleford, responsible for distributing all goods produced in the industrial district to every corner of the empire.
At the same time, the Novelty Trading Company also handled external communications, such as securing orders. This time, in addition to the orders from Eldora, there were also numerous orders from various feudal lords.
However, fulfilling these orders would take time. The silver wouldn’t flow into Simon’s hands immediately.
"Ah, cursed productivity." Simon sighed bitterly. If not for the limitations of productivity, he could have earned even more silver.
Still, he was satisfied with the current situation. Perfume, soap, and wine were highly popular across the empire, bringing in a steady stream of silver. Just from these three products alone, the prince’s castle was now earning three million caps of silver each month.
However, while this amount seemed substantial, when spread across the various construction projects in Brambleford, Simon was left with little surplus each month.
The only consolation was that the silver spent was finally showing some results.
Roland had successfully established limestone, coal, iron, and graphite mines. Each mine employed a thousand slave labourers, essentially meeting the production needs of the industrial district.
The transportation of these minerals had also forced Roland to form a transportation team.
This team used horse-drawn flatbed carts, with three hundred carts in total, effectively solving the transportation issues within the territory.
As for the Salt Transport Bureau that Simon had initially proposed, it was officially established under Baldwin’s urging. Taking advantage of Brambleford’s coastal location, the bureau had set up numerous salt fields in the Ashenford area. Now, the domain no longer needs to purchase salt from outside to meet its needs.
The most significant progress, of course, was in the Machinery Department. While Eldora was marvelling at the ox-powered waterwheel, the Machinery Department had birthed another groundbreaking invention, one that would revolutionise the long-stagnant forging industry.
After a month of repeated deliberation between Fjord and Simon, and with the help of precision parts produced by the lathes, the hydraulic forging press was finally completed.
To this end, Simon decisively reorganized the Machinery Department, establishing the first specialised steel workshop in the industrial district. The craftsmen in this workshop would focus solely on steel production and forging.
Various water-powered lathes and manual lathes were grouped into the Lathe Workshop, while other workshops were established for cement, bricks, alcohol, and perfume.
All workshops were placed under the unified management of the Machinery Department.
After muttering to himself, Simon felt a slight sense of satisfaction when he thought about his achievements over the past four or five months. Seeing Percival grinning from ear to ear, he said. "Don’t celebrate too soon. These orders are just trial purchases. Your tasks ahead are still heavy."
Over the past month, while assisting Fjord in producing the hydraulic forging press, Simon had also been busy with the Oxford Academy. He had called all his key personnel to the academy for training.
For Percival, he taught modern business knowledge.
"My Lord, don’t worry. To take, one must first give. Tomorrow, I will visit the domains of the various feudal lords to persuade them to encourage their local wealthy families to purchase the ox-powered waterwheel." Percival said.
Simon nodded. This was a business tactic he had taught Percival, public relations.
"Remember, a truly excellent merchant can sell a comb to a monk," Simon said.
"Product sales depend on promotion," Percival replied smoothly.
Simon nodded. Percival had quickly grasped the basics of business knowledge, but there was still much Simon hadn’t taught him, things that weren’t immediately necessary. When the time came, it would be Simon’s turn to ’shear the wool’ from everyone.
For Simon, human history was not only a history of war but also a history of economics. War was fought for economic gain, and economics was pursued to fund war.
"Understanding this is good. Spending silver doesn’t matter. Your task now is promotion, promote until noble ladies feel ashamed to go out without using soap or perfume, promote until the elite feel embarrassed to serve any wine other than ’Brambleford’s Finest.’" Simon said emphatically.
If the merchants of the Eldorian Empire thought he only had products to offer, they were sorely mistaken. His plans were just beginning, and his methods of amassing wealth were only starting to unfold.
While sending Percival to promote Brambleford’s goods across the empire, Simon also allocated a million caps of silver for public relations.
These funds were, of course, meant to grease the palms of local officials. After all, the empire was still an official-centric society. By winning over the officials, his goods could flow unimpeded, and the officials would assist in promoting them.
After discussing some details with Percival, the latter left with great enthusiasm. Simon sat at the desk in the main hall and began drafting a series of business strategies.
According to his plan, once soap became ubiquitous among the elite and known throughout the empire, it would be time to categorise perfume, soap, and wine into different grades. At that point, slightly lower-quality soap would enter the lives of commoners.
Since this was business, every consumer class had to be considered. Simon’s principle was always to take things to the extreme.
After finalizing the sales strategy for his products, Simon left the main hall and looked out at the bright sunlight.
Bathed in the golden light, Simon seemed to be enveloped in a faint, radiant glow.
The planting season was approaching. Agriculture was the foundation of the domain, as the amount of grain produced would determine how many people he could support and how large an army he could raise.
As he pondered this, Baldwin approached with a young scholar.
This was the candidate Baldwin had recommended for the position of Dunmere’s governor. Once this person was in place, Simon could finally deal with the current governor, Luigi.
"Your humble servant, Viktor Leplace, pays his respects to Your Highness!" The young scholar bowed deeply.
"At ease," Simon said, gesturing for him to rise.
Baldwin then said. "Your Highness, regardless of who bribed Luigi, the evidence of his involvement in smuggling warhorses is irrefutable. According to the law, he should be executed."
Simon’s gaze grew distant. It was time to gradually take control of his domain.
