Building the First Industrial Empire in Another World

The two arrived at the headquarters of the Merchant Guild. They stepped down from the carriage and proceeded their way inside.

The receptionist handled them as expected and they were escorted to the Guildmaster’s office.

Actually, this was becoming a familiar routine now.

The guards at the upper floors already recognized them.

The reception staff knew their names.

Several guild employees even nodded respectfully as they passed through the hallways.

The Helmarte Soap Works had become one of the Merchant Guild’s biggest success stories in recent memory.

Which was precisely why Ernest found the current situation so strange.

Because if Laurent truly believed in the company...

Why allow an obvious copycat to emerge so quickly?

Moments later, they arrived before the large wooden doors.

One of the guards knocked twice.

"Guildmaster Laurent. Master Hollen and Master Ernest are here."

A familiar voice responded from inside.

"Send them in."

The Guildmaster looked up from a report.

Then immediately smiled.

"Master Hollen. Master Ernest."

Actually, Laurent seemed to be in a remarkably good mood.

Which only made Ernest more suspicious.

The two sat down across the desk.

Laurent folded his hands.

"So. What brings the two of you here today?"

Ernest wasted absolutely no time.

"Silver Brook Hygiene Company."

The Guildmaster blinked.

Then laughed softly.

"Ah."

That reaction alone told Ernest everything.

He knew.

Of course he knew.

The Merchant Guild knew practically everything happening in the city’s commercial sector.

Laurent leaned back in his chair.

"I had a feeling this meeting was about them."

"Then perhaps you can explain something to me." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The Guildmaster raised an eyebrow.

"Go ahead."

Ernest crossed his arms.

"You have an intention of investing in our company, and yet you granted permission to another soap company to operate. That doesn’t make any sense," Ernest

Actually, Laurent did not look offended.

Nor defensive.

Instead, the Guildmaster simply looked amused.

Like he had expected this exact conversation.

Then he slowly leaned back into his chair.

"Tell me, Ernest."

"What?"

"If another forge wanted to open tomorrow, should I forbid it because Hollen already owns one?"

Hollen immediately frowned.

"That’s different."

"Is it?"

Laurent looked toward him.

"It is," Hollen replied. "Soap is his invention."

The Guildmaster nodded.

"Correct."

Then he folded his hands together.

"And yet the Kingdom of Belfast has no law granting ownership over ideas."

Ernest hated that Laurent was technically correct.

Because he was.

The Guildmaster continued.

"If someone invents a better wagon, should every carpenter be forbidden from building wagons?"

"No."

"If someone builds a better mill, should every waterwheel be outlawed?"

"No."

"If someone discovers a more efficient furnace design, should every blacksmith be forced to continue using old methods?"

Again.

No.

Actually, Laurent’s argument was difficult to refute.

Not because Ernest agreed with it.

But because the kingdom genuinely lacked a framework protecting innovation.

From the Guild’s perspective, soap was simply another commercial product.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

Then Laurent pointed toward Ernest.

"The moment you sold your first soap bar, the product entered the market."

"The moment it entered the market, people observed it."

"The moment people observed it, people copied it."

He shrugged.

"That is commerce."

From a historical perspective, he wasn’t wrong.

Many industries throughout history operated exactly like that before patents became widespread.

The first successful manufacturer made money.

The second copied.

The third improved.

The fourth undercut prices.

Eventually an entire industry emerged.

Then Laurent smiled slightly.

"What surprises me is that you are surprised."

That annoyed Ernest slightly.

Because he had already accepted competition.

What bothered him was something else.

Then Ernest leaned forward.

"Fine."

"I accept that competition exists but not in such a way that they blatantly copy our product, and what’s worse, their soap is bad. It will not only harm them but us. What if they associate the failure of that company to ours? It will affect the sales. And by speaking of sales, I have a ledger with me with a report of our sales from the day we started."

Ernest handed him the ledger and Laurent took a look at it. And he was visibly impressed.

"The reason why I’m delaying such haste investment is because I’m studying the trend and the market. And based on that, the soap has a brighter future. You wanted to invest before and I refused and now I can make an exception now. You want to make money from our success. This is the opportunity."

Hollen looked at Ernest with shocked eyes. "Wait? Don’t tell me, you are finally agreeing."

"Yes, I’m finally agreeing that Guildmaster Laurent and his associates can invest in our company to further our expansion in different cities. In exchange, I want you to take back whatever licenses you gave to that company. After all, their product is bad anyways."

Laurent’s expression immediately changed.

The amusement disappeared. He did not even look at Hollen anymore.

His attention focused entirely on Ernest.

Because the proposal just shifted dramatically.

Moments ago, Ernest was complaining about a competitor.

Now?

He was discussing investment.

"The Helmarte Soap Works is a partnership. Hollen is the financier and I’m the operator, my shares in the company are 35 percent and his shares are 65 percent."

"If I’m going to invest, I want shares as well."

Ernest looked at Hollen, since he has the majority of the shares of about 65 percent.

"You think you can dilute your shares to make way for our new investor?" Ernest asked.

"That depends on how much he’s going to invest," Hollen replied.

Then Ernest looked at Laurent. "How much money you plan to invest in our company?"

"My associates and I had a meeting, and they want to invest five million. I will represent them."

Hearing those words, Ernest and Hollen’s eyes widened a bit. Five million riels, that’s a lot of money, however.

"We already made that money in less than four months," Ernest said and added. "And you say that you represent a consortium of investors which you will represent. Five million riels won’t just cut it, not to mention be part of the ownership stakes. You know what the company needs?"

"What is it?"

"Is that I want it to be the standard soap maker of the entire kingdom? I want the company to have a manufacturing plant in every major city. Not all at once, but at least they have different branches. Five million won’t cut it. We also plan to invest in research and development to improve our products and make other hygiene products. If you want in, you need to invest around ... .twenty to thirty million riels."