Ch.52Guild

There’s a common saying that “money makes money.”

This requires some basic knowledge to understand. Here, “money” doesn’t simply refer to gold or silver coins, but rather to infrastructure, businesses, and the overall industrial situation that can generate income.

In other words, it means “if you invest money to build a foundation, money will naturally flow in,” and Amurtat’s economy, faithfully following this principle, has reached its greatest prosperity since its founding (though it’s only been 8 years).

In fact, this result was inevitable given the development of the steel industry, food processing industry, and tourism, combined with the construction boom and increased population flow due to attracting the Adventurers’ Guild and Alchemists’ Guild.

Educated people went to the Alchemists’ Guild, the uneducated to construction or food processing, skilled individuals opened shops or entered the steel industry, and the spirited ones honed their martial arts at the Adventurers’ Guild. The term “full employment” quite appropriately described this situation.

Naturally, as employment rates rise and unemployment falls, public safety improves and society becomes more integrated. As a result, there were absolutely no gatherings of cultists in Amurtat.

After all, people tend to fall into pseudo-religions when they’re struggling to make ends meet and think everyone else around them is doing better.

So if you ensure people live comfortably, wouldn’t they naturally avoid such cults? The saying “generosity comes from a full storehouse” exists for a reason.

Above all, when citizens prosper, they have more children. And they pay more taxes too.

“Hehehe… money is rolling in by the bushel…”

I savored the sensation of all kinds of treasures piling up in my warehouse with a sly smile.

Food, materials, gold and silver. And copper. The feeling of various weapons and armor accumulating was truly satisfying.

How should I describe it… like cool water filling a parched body?

By the way, the 1,000 officials recruited during the recent refugee crisis must have become quite competent, as the workload for me and my aide had been subtly decreasing lately.

Since the bureaucratic corps of over a thousand could now handle most routine matters, my aide and I could now finish around six in the evening…

Oh?

“Aide.”

“Yes?”

“I just thought of another way to spend money.”

When I said that, my aide heaved a deep sigh and asked me:

“What is it?”

“A clock tower. Come to think of it, our city doesn’t have a clock tower yet.”

“Ah… you’re right about that.”

My aide, who had been wondering what creative money-spending scheme I’d come up with this time, nodded in agreement once he heard it.

Though a clock tower might not seem impressive, it’s quite practical. First, it needs to be massive and tall, which pleases construction workers, and it requires various technologies, making it popular with technicians as well.

It costs a lot of money to attach large clocks on all four sides that must undergo special processes to prevent condensation in hot sun and cold blizzards, but being able to check the time from anywhere in the city was a tremendous advantage.

In this world, clocks are fundamentally luxury items.

Officials like aides and bureaucrats who need precise time typically carry pocket watches, which compared to modern ones, are mostly larger than the palm of your hand and naturally require more resources.

More importantly, they typically weigh over 1kg, making them inconvenient to carry due to their size and weight, which is why there was always demand for fixed timepieces like clock towers.

One of the criteria for identifying a successful tavern was whether it had a pendulum clock or not.

“We’re no longer a rural village, so we should have at least one clock tower. I’ll leave the details to you.”

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

*

“A clock tower?”

“Yes. I thought you alchemists would be perfect for such technical matters.”

“Hmm… I see. That’s fine. We have alchemists here who have participated in clock tower construction before.”

Viriditas of the Amurtat branch responded positively to the aide’s words.

One might wonder what alchemists have to do with building clock towers, but in this world, alchemists are versatile. The very word “alchemy” means creating metals, and without proficiency in metal craftsmanship, one would never progress beyond the Nigredo stage.

Especially for clock mechanisms like pendulum movements and spring devices, alchemists who regularly used various machines and understood how they worked possessed knowledge on a different level compared to blacksmiths who had never created complex machinery.

“Then could you arrange a meeting with the Blacksmiths’ Guild? Even though we’ll take the lead, it’s impossible to build a clock tower without parts.”

“Of course. I’ll summon them soon. You may go now.”

“Yes. I’ll make sure to request it as soon as possible.”

This didn’t mean that blacksmiths were insignificant, however.

If alchemists were the assemblers, blacksmiths were the ones who made the components to be assembled.

After Viriditas left the aide’s office, the aide clutched his head and began to worry.

The reason for his concern was that Amurtat didn’t have a Blacksmiths’ Guild.

With the establishment of the massive factory called Steelyard, blacksmiths, ironworkers, and fuel-supplying pyrotechnicians needed to work together organically, making it difficult to create a guild limited to “blacksmiths” who specialized in the restricted field of forging and casting.

“Hmm… I should consult with His Majesty.”

*

“Then create a large guild.”

“A large… guild, sir?”

“Yes. Divide it into three categories: Metalworkers, Refiners, and Pyrotechnicians.”

Metalworkers meant blacksmiths, refiners were those who produced and supplied iron and steel, and pyrotechnicians were those who supplied fuel.

“Combine these three occupational groups into one large guild. The name… hmm, what should we call it… Yes, the Industrial Guild would work.”

The aide’s concern was simple.

If there’s no guild, why not create one? Though he was told to do it quickly, if I decided to take my time, a mere Viriditas had no standing to object.

“If you understand, go and create the guild now. Didn’t I say it needed to be handled ‘quickly’?”

“Ah… yes!”

As I watched my aide rush off, I sat in my chair and began to think about future plans.

Currently, Amurtat has three guilds.

The Adventurers’ Guild, the Alchemists’ Guild, and the soon-to-be-established Industrial Guild. I included the awkward-to-place pyrotechnicians for this very purpose.

Some might think that having more guilds reduces the monarch’s power, but that’s not the case.

It’s merely the gradual establishment of a bureaucratic system.

Now, with these three guilds as the core, several more guilds will be created, and by establishing an organization to bind and manage these guilds, the domestic economy will come completely under the control of the government led by me.

Just off the top of my head, there are the Commerce Guild and Agriculture Guild, and with the addition of the Adventurers’ Guild and Alchemists’ Guild that can bring in external resources, along with the agriculture, commerce, and industry necessary for maintaining the state, we could easily make decisions on all state affairs, big and small.

More importantly, I can appoint the heads of the remaining three guilds, excluding the Adventurers’ Guild and Alchemists’ Guild.

In other words, it’s an oligarchy where I can freely select the majority of the members. To understand how significant this influence can be, one should study proportional representation.

Another advantage of guilds is that when public sentiment turns ugly, responsibility can be shifted to the guilds.

Citizens are no different from pigs and dogs with fickle minds, so it’s easy to win over public opinion when a “wise and benevolent monarch” makes an example of a “guild that committed wrongdoing” and distributes some feed.

This is professionally known as “cutting the tail,” and in this era where information isn’t as readily available as in modern times, nothing works better.

Another method is “division,” which is essentially sowing discord.

By letting people tear at each other over peripheral issues, they can’t direct their hostility toward me, who reigns over this society… isn’t that what politics is all about?

A fragmented and polarized society always desires a mediator or an absolute ruler.

And as the absolute mediator, I am always ready to embrace my citizens.