Riz and Charlotte then proceed to the merchant guild where he needs to register his business. If not, he would be considered doing business illegally.
There are many benefits that merchant guilds give to Bideford Town. For common people, this is a place where they can find jobs especially related to administration but they need to be literate first. They will be directly rejected if they are illiterate.
However, the main point is you can sell and buy things at the merchant guild. This is the biggest benefit the merchant guild has. For small businesses and start-ups, this is very helpful to them as they don't have their own sales channel. They can also buy or order things through the merchant guild.
Of course, the price will be higher but it's convenient. Since the lord is the guild master of the merchant guild, credibility is guaranteed. As for corruption, no one dares to do it. If you get caught doing it, then you're dead and even your family member may die as well.
After all, this is not a modern era where people could get away after being guilty of corruption.
The lord has absolute power in his fief. He can basically exterminate an entire family or anyone he wants so long as they are not of noble status.
After walking for five minutes, Riz finally arrives at the merchant guild. The guild is full of people going in and out.
Once entered the guild, there are several counters in the middle and rows of chairs to sit in while waiting to be called. There is some kind of ticketing system here where a guy will hand over a small piece of board with a number on it. The number there is not your turn, but the number of the counter. Another guy will decide where you will sit according to the arrival order.
That guy points to where Riz should sit and follow his instruction. Riz looks down at the small piece of board and sees the number '3' written on it. Charlotte just stands behind him and remains calm despite her beauty attracting a lot of attention.
It's rare to see women in the merchant guild.
"Is there no woman merchant here in Bideford?", asked Riz.
"Not that I am aware of, young master. Even if there is, the number must be really small. Women rarely enter the business and trade industry," Charlotte replied.
Riz looks to the left and sees there is a bulletin board. Not one but a lot of them. Many job advertisements were pasted there. The right side is where workshops buy, sell or order goods. The variety of services makes Riz astonished.
"Are all merchant guilds offering a lot of services like this?"
"As far as I know, only the merchant guild is located near the main trade route as a lot of services. The guild farther from the main trade route only offers basic services like job recruitment and buying and selling goods. The House of Ryntum is the first noble family to take over the merchant guild during Lord Renault's era. Lord Renault then obligates the registration of business with merchant guilds and collects business taxes via the guilds." Charlotte explain.
'This grandfather of mine sounds so awesome.' he inwardly thought.
Riz then was called to the counter.
"How can I help you?"
"I would like to register for a company"
"Sure. You just need to fill out this form and pay a registration fee of 50 Ros". The clerk handed the registration form to Riz.
Riz start filling out the form but when it came to the name of the company, Riz was stuck. His naming sense is not particularly good.
'What name should I put?'. After a few moments, Riz decided to put 'Gatharix Paper Company'.
"Gatharix?"
"It sounds cool, right!?" Riz with a smug face.
".....", Charlotte stared at Riz's smug face with her beautiful light blue eyes. She wants to say something but at the same time didn't want to hurt her lord's feelings.
Riz ignored Charlotte's stare and handed the form back to the clerk and pays the money. He then asks the clerk, "How do I post a job advertisement?"
"Milord, you need to pay 5 Ros for one job advertisement and 1 Ros for one day". The clerk says with a more respectful tone after knowing who Riz is.
"Alright, I want to post a one-job advertisement for three days". Riz then handed 8 Ros to the clerk.
Riz started writing on the roughly A4 size thin board.
Employer: Rizieri (Gatharix Paper Company)
3 woodcutters (12 Ros per month)
- Man, aged between 14-25 years old
- Those who have experience will be an advantage.
5 labourers (10 Ros per month)
- Three men and two women, aged between 14-30 years old.
- No experience is required.
Those who are interested please gather at Arnold wood workshop in 3 days (11th April) in the morning.
'I guess that's it for now, as for other roles I'll decide later.' Riz gives the board back to the clerk. He then decides to take a look at the bulletin board there.
"There are a lot of people hiring workers". Riz says.
"Many companies post their recruitment here, usually a low-skill labour-related job. Finding someone that can read is already a difficult task. Finding someone who can do an administration job is even harder. Most companies cultivate their own personal staff. After all, which merchant wants to waste time and resources cultivating strangers? Time is money." Charlotte explained.
"Wait...wait...wait, if they're illiterate then how do they read job advertisements?"
"Look at the guy over there", Riz follows the direction Charlotte pointed to.
"That guy will help job seekers"
"I see, you really know a lot of things, aren't you"
"Thank you for your compliment", Charlotte's lips slightly move upward.
....
Three days later...
Riz and Charlotte arrive at Arnold's wood workshop in the morning. There, Riz can see five men and two women in front of Arnold's workshop.
"Hey kid, who the hell are all of these people?". Arnold asks Riz. Arnold didn't know Riz's identity and Riz didn't tell him either.
"Calm down old man, I'm the one who asks them to gather here"
"Alright, alright. Next time, make sure you inform me first. Here are your tools." Riz check to make sure everything is there. "Good workmanship". He praises and gives the remaining 150 Ros to Arnold.
"Of course, I'm the best wood craftsman in this area. Don't forget to come back when you have a new order", said Arnold.
"Don't worry, I will". Riz is pleased with Arnold's works. He exactly follows Riz's instructions and drawings.
Riz turns around and instructs the people there, "Take the tool and follow me".
After arriving at his own workshop, Riz starts to interview them. "First of all, my name is Rizieri, the boss of this workshop. As mentioned in the job advertisement, there are positions for woodcutter and labourer. You will be working six days a week and one day off. If anyone wants to change their mind and leave, please do it now"
Seeing none of them wanted to give up this job, Riz proceed with the interview by asking them to introduce themselves.
'Maybe the 'one day off' attract their interest', Riz thought. In this world, it is normal to work every day.
Three men named Luis, James and Mark respectively are here for the woodcutter position. Fortunately, all of them have experience.
Two men, Paul and Jason, and two women, Mary and Emily, are here for the labourer position.
After everyone finished introducing themselves, Riz asked them "Do you have any questions?"
Emily raised her hand, "Boss, what is paper?"
"It's a new product I develop. You will know soon. Anything else?"
Seeing no one ask anything, Riz starts giving orders to his workers, "First of all, the labourers will clean up this place. Please follow the drawing that I have drawn on the parchment."
Riz already divided his workshop into several areas; the unloading area, steaming and peeling area, beating area, sheet forming area, drying area and sizing area. Some of these will be replaced by machine power by the water wheel. For now, Riz needs to produce a small product first to show to his father. He wants to borrow some money to construct his production line. He only has a little over 8000 Ros which is not enough.
"The woodcutters will follow me to the forest. We going to find some materials".
Riz doesn't know much about plants but he knows that softwood trees are suitable for papermaking because they have long fibres in the wood. He turns around and asks James, he is the oldest one and has the most knowledge about Givry Forest.
"Is there any tree in the forest called pine, spruce, fir or hemlock?"
"Givry Forest has all the trees you mention you mention Boss but pine and spruce are the most abundant available", James told.
"Then, let's get some from each of them. There's no need to cut down the entire tree. We just need a small amount to make a trial product first"