Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 233 Textile Industry

Comparing the brewing and textile industries, Vig decided to invest his limited funds in the former, leaving the textile industry to private merchants.

In the aftermath of the war, the wealthy merchants of Londinium were either dead or had fled, leaving only a few small traders with meager resources. Vig recruited merchants from the North, mainly divided into three groups:

The Tyne Wool Merchants' Guild, led by the fat country gentleman Harry...

The Pontilian Merchant Guild was a group of Viking merchants of equal status with a relatively loose structure.

The Iris Chamber of Commerce was founded by Iris, Vig's mother-in-law, and is now run by Iris's son, Hosa.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Vig led the group of old acquaintances into a warehouse, introduced the oddly shaped spinning wheel, and even personally demonstrated how to spin yarn.

"Watch carefully."

Grabbing some fluffy, soft long wool strips from the basket, Vig awkwardly twisted the wool to create a short length of coarse yarn that could be caught on the hooks, and then hung the ends of the yarn on the iron hooks in front of the eight spindles.

Then, with one hand turning the crank on the right side of the spinning machine and the other hand firmly holding the wool sliver, Viger rotated the eight spindles rapidly, twisting and stretching the wool fibers into strong, fine yarn.
"Gentlemen, this is the process of spinning wool yarn. The same method applies to flax fibers. What do you think?"

Faced with this groundbreaking technology, the merchants were full of praise, their eulogies filling the warehouse. However, they made no substantial promises, all waiting for the king's terms.

Having known each other for many years, Harry and the others watched Vig rise from Earl to King, and they knew that this man would never suffer a loss easily.

Sensing the slight commotion in the crowd, Vig did not rush to negotiate terms, but instead shifted the topic to trade between Britain and Flanders.

"Britain's textile industry has always had low production capacity, and it can only export wool to Flanders. After the wool is processed into woolen fabrics, some are sold to continental Europe, and some are sold back to Britain. Britain loses a lot of profits for no reason, which I find very distressing. I wonder what your opinion is?"

“Your Majesty is right, everyone has long disliked Flanders.” Harry led the way, and the seven partners joined in the commotion, their voices tinged with genuine emotion—they were indeed envious of Flanders’ profits, but their technology and output were far inferior to their peers, and they could only engage in the laborious and low-profit business of buying wool in the countryside.

Sensing the atmosphere wasn't enough, Vig threw out an even bigger bait.

"When I was Prime Minister, I had access to customs data, and the total registered value of wool exports and woolen imports was £8,000. Because of the poor administrative capacity of the old monarchy, this was only a small part; most of the wool and woolen goods flowed between Britain and Flanders through smuggling."

I estimate that the annual import value of woolen fabrics exceeds 30,000 pounds. With this new spinning machine, we can secure at least 10,000 pounds in orders!

In the early Middle Ages, the textile industry was the most profitable sector. Now, with abundant raw materials, technology, and markets, merchants are becoming increasingly restless.

Relying on their kinship, Hosa spoke first: "Your Majesty, are you planning to borrow money from us to personally engage in the textile industry, or do you have other ideas?"

With limited funds and energy, Vig proposed that merchants set up textile factories for centralized production, authorize them to use the spinning jenny, and pay 20% of their annual sales revenue as a patent royalty.

"This machine is right here. Take your time to look at it. How much you earn depends entirely on your skills."

After signing the agreement, Vig left the warehouse. He figured if these merchants were truly hopeless, he'd have to intervene personally, at the cost of expending his already limited energy and neglecting other matters. Compared to the textile industry, the brewing industry had far fewer problems.

Vig allocated three hundred pounds to the Tyne distillery and sent the manager to the main building of Tyneburg to retrieve blueprints and stills from a room. He then ordered the distillery to be expanded to twice its original size and to begin producing distilled spirits according to the established procedures.

Even before moving, Helgeve had secretly experimented in the alchemical laboratory in Tyneburg and had already figured out a wine recipe suitable for large-scale brewing:

First, the barley is germinated, then the malt is dried using peat as fuel, giving it a unique smoky flavor. After steps such as crushing the malt, saccharification, and fermentation, a spirit with an alcohol content of about 5% is obtained.

After two distillations to remove impurities, a spirit with a purity of 60%–70% can be obtained.

After moving to Londinium, Harrigif distributed ten sample barrels to the nobles and guards, receiving unanimous praise. Those who drank it raved about it, claiming the beverage was potent and far superior in taste to beer and mead, and demanded that the king begin production as soon as possible.

Besides its drinking value, distilled spirits also have a medical purpose, reducing the infection rate of wounds and also intoxicating the wounded, serving as an anesthetic for surgery.

Upon receiving the decree, the brewery acted in accordance with the king's requirements, hiring a large number of laborers to expand the factory. At the same time, the manager also placed an order with the armory to have skilled blacksmiths forge dozens of copper pot stills.

The blacksmiths looked at each other, puzzled. "Bourbon, what's this thing for?"

"His Majesty's decree ordered me to expand the factory and use these strange tools to brew new wine."

Using the king's name, Bourbon fooled the blacksmiths and quickly obtained thirty bronze stills. He cleared a space in the old workshop and began experimenting with brewing new spirits.

Thanks to the Queen's detailed notes and drawings, the first attempt at brewing bourbon was a complete success. The taste was indeed quite good, but the alcohol was a bit strong, causing him to feel dizzy and disoriented the next day, as if he had been hit with a stick.

Other drinkers had similar reactions. Although they felt unwell after drinking it, they couldn't help but drink it again on the second and third days, and unknowingly finished the first batch of brewed wine.

With almost everyone drunk, the Tyneburg Distillery brewed a second batch of spirits in a daze, and the taste was much worse, which angered the supervisor, Bourbon, who cursed loudly.

"Stop drinking! Let's get down to business. If His Majesty finds out, we'll all be in big trouble!"

Out of desperation, he changed his criteria for recruiting new employees, deliberately selecting women who did not like to drink, to avoid them making mistakes due to drunkenness.

In May, the distillery began large-scale production of the new type of distilled spirits, which were then transported by ship to London for sale.

Upon its release, this spirit, named "whisky," garnered widespread attention. Due to its high production costs (5 parts fermentation liquid to 1 part spirit), each barrel sold for as much as 80 pence, equivalent to one-third the price of wine, yet it was still sought after by the upper and middle classes.

The booming brewing industry greatly relieved the pressure on Viggo. With southern Britain ravaged by war, he had been able to rely on the manpower and financial resources of the north to rule the kingdom for the past two years.

"The kingdom is not short of food now. Assuming production can be scaled up, earning one or two thousand pounds a year is not a problem. Phew, we should be able to get through this year."

(End of this chapter)