Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 234 Market Order
In late May, the textile factory invested in by the Tyne Wool Chamber of Commerce produced its first batch of woolen fabrics.

In Harry's mind, making money was important, but gaining the King's favor was even more important.

He strictly followed the king's instructions and recruited two hundred employees to set up a textile factory. From washing and combing wool to spinning, weaving, and subsequent rinsing and cutting, everything was done in the textile factory.

In contrast, the other two competitors chose to outsource some processes to save on investment, but at the cost of inconsistent product quality.

Of the three companies' products, Harry's is undoubtedly the best. The only drawback is that high-end products such as dyed cloth account for a relatively small proportion.

In the British market, indigo and yellow fabrics are more common and cost 2 to 3 times more than undyed fabrics. Indigo dye is provided by locally grown woad and yellow dye is provided by senna.

The dye for red fabric comes from madder, which is expensive and falls into the category of high-end luxury goods.

The dye for purple fabric came from a type of Mediterranean snail. The secretions of tens of thousands of snails combined could only yield one gram of dye. To dye a single Roman robe, it would require the consumption of over two hundred thousand snails. The extravagance of purple clothing was beyond the imagination of ordinary people; only the imperial family of the Eastern Roman Empire could afford it.

When Gunnar entered Rendinium as a conqueror, the purple cloak he wore was the first time most commoners had ever seen purple textiles.

After inspecting the samples brought by each merchant, Vig asked, "How are the profits? Can we further expand production capacity?"

Harry forced a confident smile. "After selling this batch of goods, I'll immediately acquire the land near the textile factory and continue expanding production. I've also convinced those two dyeing workers to teach more apprentices. In a while, the production of blue and yellow cloth will increase. As for red cloth and dyed cloth with intricate patterns, well, that might be a bit troublesome."

Vig: "No rush. Seize the market with mid-to-low-end products, make enough profits, and then enter the high-end market. The school is developing water-powered spinning machines and looms, which will be put into actual production within two years. With these advanced machines, you are destined to defeat your Flanders counterparts in this competition."

To further motivate the businessmen, he offered an extra piece of good news: he promised to send all three of Harry's grandsons to Royal Court School.

“Work hard, and perhaps one day I will bestow a noble title upon one of them.”

Following Harry's lead, the remaining two merchant guilds also expanded their production. Leonard of Manchuni, having heard the news and having some spare cash, wrote to Vig to inquire about acquiring the textile machinery.

The fact that the vassal took the initiative to enter the textile industry greatly surprised Viger, who directly granted him the right to use the spinning jenny, with only one requirement: to pay patent royalties every year.

Encouraged by the King, Britain's textile production capacity surged, with large-scale textile factories appearing in Tyne, York, Mancuni, and Londineum. This news reached Flanders, quickly causing concern among those involved in the industry.

In early August, messengers from Bruges arrived in Londinium.

Nearly a year after the war, the city still had not recovered. The messenger observed the number of ships docked in the port and the flow of people on the streets, and judged that the population was only three thousand.

After entering the city, the envoy visited the textile factory, where the factory was still under construction. He endured the dust and looked around, but he did not find the mysterious textile machinery he had expected. Instead, he got himself covered in dust.

Left with no other option, he went to the palace, where a large number of hired laborers were building a stone wall. The messenger stood at the gate for half a minute, and the guards, assuming he was looking for work, gestured for him to go to the tall, burly foreman.

“You have misunderstood. I am an envoy from Bruges, requesting an audience with the King.”

“Bruges,” the guard asked with surprise, “is there such a country?” “Bruges is not a country, but a town in Flanders, which belongs to West Francia.”

"Understood," the guard replied after hearing the explanation, and then led the person into the palace shortly afterward.

After a body search and a long wait, the messenger entered the second-floor office and saw a man in black dealing with a pile of documents on his desk. To his left was a calculating tool that was said to be an abacus, which he would occasionally fiddle with.

"Your Excellency, may I ask where the King is?"

The man put down his pen and paper and replied in fluent Latin: “I am Vig Tänburg. Speak quickly and don’t waste the time of the people behind me.”

The envoy looked slightly surprised, then composed himself and asked on behalf of Bruges' textile industry: "Your Majesty, there are rumors that you used magic to create a machine that can spin yarn automatically. Is that true?"

In the Middle Ages, literacy rates were low, and people tended to mystify the unknown. Vig was helpless and responded with frustration.

"Yes, there are indeed textile machines. And the number of textile factories will only increase, not decrease. Are there any other problems?"

Looking at this composed expression, the envoy was speechless. This pagan king was clearly determined to make a fortune, and no one could stop him.

Over the next week, envoys from Ghent and Antwerp arrived one after another, hoping the king would rescind his order and respect the long-standing market order, but they were driven away by Vigé.

"Order, rules? As the king, why should I abide by your rules?"

Britain's development of the textile industry would inevitably affect the interests of Flanders. The conflict between the two sides was irreconcilable. Vigé was too lazy to deal with these envoys and continued to encourage the construction of new textile factories in the country.

Based on the current rate of development, assuming that water-powered spinning machines and water-powered looms are put into use, the textile industry's production capacity will meet domestic demand within five years.

"Britain has a population of over two million, plus the markets in Northern and Eastern Europe, which is enough. It doesn't matter if the Franks blockade us."

At this moment, the attendant who came to deliver the documents heard the king talking to himself and suddenly had another idea. "Your Majesty, the surplus textiles are suitable to be sold to Iberia, where the people are much wealthier and their purchasing power far exceeds that of the poor farmers in Northern and Eastern Europe."

"Iberia?"

Vig tapped the table with his left index finger, showing interest in the proposal. The problem was that the turbulent environment of the past few years had scared away the Berber merchants of Rendyneum, and they wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

The aide continued, “Why not send the navy to open up trade routes? More than a decade ago, Bjorn led a few oar-powered longships deep into the Mediterranean. Now we have built two-masted sailing ships, which greatly improves our ocean-going capabilities. With Bjorn’s nautical charts and your maps, we can accomplish this task.”

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(End of this chapter)