Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party that Traveled to Another World

Could it be that Earl Graman wants to share the technology of making paper and porcelain with everyone?

This thought came to the minds of many people present.

But... is it possible?

Put yourself in his shoes. If you have the only technology in the world, the things you produce can bring you huge profits, and as a noble of a fiefdom, you have enough power in your hands to scare off those who are secretly plotting.

Would you be stupid enough to share it with others?

"Earl Graman should just want us to sell those things to farther places for him, right? Although the output is small now, it will definitely increase in the future."

"Perhaps, the Earl means to give local merchants a lower ex-factory price to support commercial activities in his territory."

"Well... this is not bad, we should be able to make a lot of money from the difference between buying and selling."

Bennett and other merchants who have not yet been involved in the trading of paper and porcelain thought so.

Then they heard the following sentence:

"Some of you have guessed correctly. I will authorize you to use certain technologies and processes at the right time, and use everyone's strength to expand the output in the territory."

When the lord said this, the people below were in an uproar.

Everyone didn't care about being reserved, and they whispered and talked in groups of three or two, and the conference hall began to be noisy.

...

Paul took a sip of water to moisten his throat while everyone was talking.

Technology diffusion and supporting industry and commerce are things he has been thinking about for a long time. Although the invention and sales of papermaking, porcelain, and harvesters have doubled the fiscal revenue of the lord's mansion, the corresponding expenses have also doubled.

The daily consumption of the army, the manufacture and maintenance of weapons, the salaries of officials and workers at all levels, and the water conservancy projects built in the vast rural areas all require huge expenses. The remaining money is not enough to support the various subsequent plans in the lord's mind.

He did think about raising the prices of the things he sold, but those things were not necessities of life. If they were too expensive, people would just stop buying them and live their lives as they should.

For example, if you couldn't afford porcelain, you could still have pottery. People could still drink water and eat food. That's how it's been for thousands of years.

There was no need to hold onto things like paper, which had a low profit margin and high turnover. Others could copy it with more thought.

After some consideration, he set his sights on the power of the people and decided to support a group of powerful "private enterprises" in Arda and Bairdin, so that the Lord's Mansion could collect more taxes.

But some industries still needed to be restricted, such as machinery manufacturing like harvesters, and steelmaking and ironmaking in the future. In order to prevent technology leakage and let more powerful potential opponents pick peaches, they still had to be firmly placed under the direct control of the Lord's Mansion at the current stage.

For example, harvesters, not to mention the manufacturing, even the purchase is restricted. Now only customers in Arda and Baildin are allowed to buy them. Unless the market in these two places is saturated or the agricultural upgrade is completed, foreign customers will be allowed to buy them.

Of course, if there are capable people from other places who get a few machines through some means and imitate them, there is nothing good to do. Anyway, the more we can stop them, the better.

Some things must be released after we have established an absolute advantage.

However, such "light industries" as papermaking, porcelain firing, and planned salt making, food processing, and textiles do not need to be too cautious. They can be opened to the private sector now to increase tax revenue in the territory.

The scope of diffusion still needs to be controlled. It can only be in Arda and Baildin, otherwise it will be a bargain for other lords.

After consultation with the State Council, the Lord's Mansion will control the above industries through technology licensing.

The authorized private factories or workshops will be sent by the Lord's Mansion to guide production and train apprentices, but they must also be supervised by the confidentiality personnel stationed by the Lord's Mansion to prevent the production process and technology from being stolen.

As the number of workers who master new technologies and new processes increases, it has become increasingly difficult and inhumane to concentrate them for closed management as before.

Therefore, the State Council is studying new management methods, and the existing ideas are as follows:

Skilled workers are strictly prohibited from emigrating to other places. Violators will be severely punished or imprisoned;

Improve the treatment of workers and set a minimum salary for workers. Whether it is government-owned or private, they must comply to keep talents in the local area;

The Bureau of Confidentiality will classify sensitive technologies as confidential matters and strictly prohibit outflows. Workers or operators who master these technologies will be classified as confidential personnel and their control will be strengthened.

Paul hopes that through the above measures, the emergence of people like "Samuel Slater" can be delayed.

In addition to complying with confidentiality obligations, private operators must also pay a technology usage fee to the Lord's Mansion every year. Such good things cannot be given for free.

Of course, if they develop new technologies and processes themselves, they don't have to pay this fee.

Paul is eager for a wave of inventions and creations to emerge in his territory. For this reason, he uses the patent system of his previous life as a template and urges the State Council to formulate a "Patent Act" to protect the interests of inventors. He believes that it will be completed and issued soon.

Although the patent system in the previous life had various drawbacks and was criticized by many people, such as weakening the role of market regulation to a certain extent, restricting competition, hindering technological progress in a certain sense, hindering the widespread use of inventions and creations, and even leading to the emergence of some patent speculators.

However, the patent system has more advantages than disadvantages in general. It uses legal and economic means to encourage people to invent and create, so as to promote scientific and technological progress and economic development. This was also an important factor in promoting the British Industrial Revolution at that time.

No mistakes, one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one bar!

…

After everyone discussed for a while, Paul roughly talked about the content of technology licensing, including the obligations to be observed by the authorized party and the confidentiality regulations of sensitive technologies.

Everyone had no objection to this.

On the one hand, it was a good thing to be able to obtain the exclusive technology of the Lord's Mansion. If there was no corresponding effort, they would suspect that it was a trap.

On the other hand, no one wanted to have too many competitors. The Lord's request to prevent the outflow of technology was naturally welcomed by everyone.

"Do you have any suggestions?"

Paul had been talking all along, and now he wanted to hear everyone's opinions.

After a while of silence, someone finally raised his hand boldly.

Paul extended his hand to this person and made a gesture of invitation.

"Lord Graman..."

The one who raised his hand was Bennett. He was a little nervous. After all, it was the first time he had a one-on-one conversation with the master of this land.

But he still mustered up the courage to continue: "If we invest in the industry you want to open, we need to buy a site, equipment, and hire workers. These are not small expenses, so can we..."

He paused and whispered the rest of the words: "...Can we reduce some taxes in the early stage?"

As soon as these words came out, the hall was silent.