Chapter 46: Journey Through the Middle Ages 046

Chapter 46: Journey Through the Middle Ages 046

Louisa was quite fortunate.

While she and Helena were diligently improving the processes for preparing silver ammonia solution and glucose, the search for glassmakers quickly made progress—this wasn’t just luck.

In fact, Maxim hadn’t yet received any news, and the merchant from the Republic of Nice whom Louisa had entrusted wasn’t particularly efficient, but Count Balzac’s power made the impossible possible.

When Count Balzac set his mind to something, it wasn’t just a matter of requesting one or two merchants from the Republic of Nice. Of course, it wasn’t that Count Balzac himself had come up with some ingenious or complex plan; he simply had his trusted aides handle the matter.

He wanted the best glassmakers to appear in the glass workshop managed by Maxim as quickly as possible. As for how to achieve this, that was the job of his trusted aides.

If they couldn’t do it, then the inner circle of the Brudo court, Count Balzac’s favorites, would have to be replaced.

And so, Marco, a glassmaker from the Republic of Nice, appeared before Maxim.

Maxim observed the group of glassmakers in front of him, with Marco at the forefront. Marco had a thin face but a strong build. His black curly hair, deep brown eyes, and the typical Rolandese jawline made his heritage immediately apparent.

Facing his new employer, Marco appeared quite calm, showing neither the unease of suddenly being in a new place nor any eagerness to flatter—in fact, as a glassmaker, Marco was very proud of his skills and viewed them as his solid foundation for survival.

As long as his skills were outstanding enough, other matters were irrelevant… Well, this probably had to do with the fact that he had long realized he wasn’t a particularly adaptable or socially adept person. In fact, if it weren’t for his awkwardness outside of his craft, with his skills, he wouldn’t have remained just a craftsman.

"Previously, you were in a glass workshop in Cité, responsible for melting glass?" Although he already knew the basic information, Maxim asked again. And he started with Marco, knowing that Marco was the key figure among this group.

In theory, glassmakers should know everything from preparing glass formulas and making crucibles to blowing glass. In reality, however, this wasn’t the case. While other aspects were manageable, glassblowing had long been trending toward specialization. Many glass makers didn’t know how to blow glass, and many only knew how to blow glass.

Marco was one of them—he wasn’t a glass blower.

Of course, Louisa and her glass workshop weren’t looking for glassmakers specialized in blowing glass either. They had mainly been producing glass sheets, and maintaining the production of blown glassware was sufficient. Now, Louisa was introducing glassmakers to solve the bubble issues in their glass sheets… which had little to do with glassblowing.

"Yes, sir," Marco answered curtly.

After a pause of two seconds, his seldom-active emotional intelligence stirred for once. Realizing that his response might have been too cold for a first meeting with his new employer, he added, "My previous employer believed the Cité market was vast."

Cité, naturally, had a vast market. As the capital of the Kingdom of Vason, Cité was one of the few cities in the Western world at that time with a population reaching the hundred thousand mark!

Maxim, on the other hand, was far more talkative. He nodded with a smile along with Marco’s words, "Yes, Cité is a big market, who wouldn’t want to be there? And glass, glass is a fragile commodity. Nice’s glass is famous, of high quality and high price, and the wealthy in Cité love it. But transporting glass from Nice to Cité is costly, and the losses are staggering."

"Establishing a local workshop is a great idea… but…" Maxim shook his head and didn’t continue.

As the capital, and as one of the rare "big cities" of the time, Cité’s interests were intricately intertwined. Doing business in Cité, whether small or large, came with its own difficulties—outsiders found it hard to do anything!

The merchant from the Republic of Nice wasn’t clueless; he had also sought cooperation with the Bordon family in Cité.

In Cité, there were no more than 20 families that could be considered noble, and they were the true masters of the city. The Bordon family was one of them.

These noble families were highly complex in composition. Among them were nobles closely tied to the royal family, as well as "urban nobles" who had long monopolized certain positions in the city government. What surprised some was that a few of these families even originated from the middle class—of course, they were the "big" middle class, more akin to the later bourgeoisie.

However, at that time, people still classified them as "middle class" because they shared many characteristics that distinguished them from other groups. For instance, their internal hierarchy wasn’t based on lineage but more often on wealth, and their behavior, though resembling that of the nobility, actually followed its own set of rules.

This might seem unremarkable in later times, but in the Middle Ages, it was groundbreaking enough to unsettle many.

In this era, people were still largely accustomed to "staying in their place," with most of their lives determined at birth. Ideas like "mobility" and the emphasis on hard work weren’t just disliked by the entrenched interests of the upper classes; many in the lower classes also subconsciously resisted them.

This was the result of long-standing conditioning by the ruling class, as well as an inherent "conservatism" in human nature. Much like the peasants of ancient China, as long as they could survive, they were content to endure. As the saying goes, in feudal society, there was nothing more revolutionary than landless peasants, but also nothing more conservative than peasants who still had land to till.

The Bordon family itself had deep connections to the royal family, and in recent years, it had grown closer to the rising "middle class," even forming marital alliances with prominent families of middle-class origins… This was likely why the merchant from Nice had aligned with the Bordon family.

Coming from Nice, a republic that thrived on commerce and had a strong commercial atmosphere, it was only natural for him to align with such a family.

Perhaps at the time, the choice of the merchant from Nice seemed sound, but in hindsight, it was undoubtedly a failure. One could only say he was unlucky, as the Gentian family also happened to venture into the glass industry.

It wasn't that the Porton family feared the Gentian family, but it simply wasn't worth confronting them for a small gain—after all, the Gentian family was one of the most prestigious families in Cité and also the wealthiest family there!

Of course, this excludes the royal family and the major nobles who resided in Cité due to their connections with the royal family.

As one of the few major cities at the time, Cité's market was large enough to accommodate two new glass workshops. However, the glass workshops of the merchant from Nice and the Gentian family were both substantial in scale and too similar in market positioning—both aimed at the high-end market. And in Cité, even the high-end market was limited, leading to fierce, cutthroat competition.

The Gentian family didn't directly cause trouble, even though they had the power to do so as the local authority.

On one hand, they considered the Porton family's reputation—after all, the merchant was under their protection, and causing too much trouble would risk offending them. On the other hand, it was unnecessary, as there were plenty of other ways to make things difficult.

The simplest method was that the Gentian family was well-acquainted with the high-end orders in Cité, from the royal court and grand churches to various wealthy households. Some didn't even require the Gentian family's glass workshop manager to visit; knowing that the Gentian family had opened a glass workshop specializing in high-end glass, they would prioritize them for their needs.

As they say, the high-end market is very narrow! It's a small circle (relatively speaking, individual orders are often larger than those of ordinary households). Once the Gentian family's workshop took the orders, the merchant from Nice's workshop was left with nothing. Over time, his workshop naturally couldn't survive.

It was at this time that someone approached him to buy his workshop. The merchant from Nice, already in a difficult position, quickly signed the sales contract and swiftly left Cité, the place of his sorrow... Even if it was a 'fire sale,' there weren't many buyers left at this point, and finding one was truly a blessing from God! After all, everyone knew that such a glass workshop was simply unviable.

The person who bought the glass workshop was from Count Balzac's circle, not for the workshop itself but more to take over the craftsmen's contracts—ordinary workers were relatively free to come and go, but the higher the skill level, the longer the contracts employers would sign, unless they worked independently.

After all, the quality of many workshop products relied on a particular master craftsman. If such craftsmen could leave freely, production would be impossible.

Of course, employers also had to offer something in return for long-term contracts, such as a signing bonus or promises of high wages and benefits (by the standards of the time)... Otherwise, why would any skilled craftsman sign a 'bondage contract' for no reason?

Count Balzac's people disposed of the glass workshop, essentially selling the building. Then they brought the craftsmen back, along with other glass craftsmen they had gathered in Cité. As a major city, even such highly skilled workers could be found with some effort.

Besides Marco, the merchant from Nice's workshop had two other master glass craftsmen, both brought from the Republic of Nice—one could imagine that he had grand plans initially! But the outcome was dismal, and the craftsmen ended up benefiting Countess Louisa.

The three glass craftsmen, led by Marco, were somewhat uneasy but not panicking. Such highly skilled craftsmen were always hard to find, and once acquired, they were valuable assets. So, having gone to great lengths to obtain them, it was unlikely they would be used for manual labor. They would continue doing what they were doing.

And since they were still working with glass, what did it matter where they worked or for whom?

Maxim chatted with these glass craftsmen, getting to know them initially. Then he took them, along with their families, to their accommodations.

"...The workshop is quite large, so it's not like those small workshops where the front is the shop and the back is the living and working area. The housing is separate but very close to the workshop—this is also a grace from Countess Louisa. The housing is free, and it won't be deducted from the agreed-upon wages."

"Oh, you might not know, our employer is a very noble lady, Countess Louisa. Her father is the lord of Brudo, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, Countess Louisa will inherit Brudo and become the Countess of Brudo."

"For those who are married with wives and children, each family gets a bedroom and a living room. As for the unmarried bachelors, each has a separate bedroom and a shared living room for every three people."

At the time, this structure was common in urban housing, whether for the poor or the rich. The basic elements of a house were always a bedroom and a living room, with the rich simply having more rooms.

In this setup, the bedroom was for sleeping and little else. The living room, equipped with a fireplace, typically served as a kitchen, living room, and dining room—essentially, all activities other than sleeping could be conducted in the living room.

Upon arriving at their accommodations, many were impressed. These rooms were quite good for the time—each room had windows for light and ventilation, the roofs were newly replaced and unlikely to leak, and the walls had been freshly whitewashed with lime, making them clean and bright.

Additionally, the rooms were fully furnished, meaning the workers would now have proper beds to sleep in, rather than makeshift mattresses.

The women particularly liked the cabinets in the living room, which made storing food convenient (there wasn't much need for storing utensils or cookware, as ordinary households had very limited supplies at the time).

The tables and chairs were also sturdy and durable—this might seem like a basic requirement for furniture, but at the time, unless you were from the upper class, most furniture was of poor quality!

It's not that such housing was unaffordable for them—as highly skilled workers, glass craftsmen earned decent incomes, often surpassing many small merchants! But this was free, a 'benefit' given to them!

Moreover, not only the 'masters' but even the apprentices received the same treatment, which was unheard of.

In fact, many apprentices were already adults and had learned the craft of glassmaking. However, due to guild control over the 'master' title and their incomplete long-term apprenticeship contracts, they remained apprentice workers... This was clearly unreasonable, but such irrationality was deeply ingrained. In any city with guilds, this was the norm.

Even as a noble, Countess Louisa couldn't easily overturn this... However, in her own domain, she could be more fair and reasonable, and that was her own affair. Giving apprentice workers some deserved treatment was part of that fairness and reasonableness.

Marco gave a cursory glance at the house where he’d be staying for a while and then stopped looking. He turned to Maxim and asked, "Sir, when do we start working? I heard the workshop is desperate for workers... I want to see where we’ll be working in the future."

Marco wasn’t picky about housing, or rather, he didn’t care much about anything other than glass. As long as it was habitable, that was enough. In his experience, any housing an employer provided met that basic standard. After all, his skills were truly excellent, and even a tightfisted employer had to give some perks.

His quick look earlier was just to gauge whether the employer was tightfisted or generous. The conclusion, of course, was 'generous,' even excessively so. An overly generous employer had its perks—workers would be fiercely loyal, and conflicts in the workshop would be fewer. But there were downsides too—such employers often mismanaged their businesses. After all, being unable to calculate properly made it hard to run a business successfully.

Back in Nice, Marco had seen at least half a dozen 'prodigal sons.' They were generous and kind, and people liked them. But after they inherited their family businesses, it often didn't take long before they started losing money. When they couldn’t keep the business afloat, bankruptcy was inevitable.

Of course, from a worker’s perspective, a generous employer was always better. Besides, the new employer was the future Countess of Brudo. An employer like her couldn’t possibly go bankrupt, right?

Maxim’s smile widened at Marco’s enthusiasm. He said cheerfully to everyone, "Oh, no need to rush. Take these two days to settle in, and start work next Monday... Does anyone need more time to settle in?"

No one objected, accepting the plan.

Back then, wages could be paid daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. However, generally speaking, only day laborers or those with unstable jobs were paid daily. Quarterly or yearly pay was usually for live-in workers like maids.

Most stable, independent workers were paid weekly or monthly. Since they’d moved to the Troyes glass workshop and signed a new contract, it was stipulated that wages would be paid weekly. So starting on Monday would make it easier to get their next paycheck, right?

Though glassmakers were well-paid skilled workers, they were still workers, and many lived paycheck to paycheck... Some couldn’t wait to start working right away!

When Monday came, the craftsmen showed up promptly at the workshop. Maxim first took them to familiarize themselves with the place where they would work in the future and their future 'colleagues.' Then he pointed to a glass furnace and said, "The workshop plans to build a new furnace, so we need to add more manpower."

Building a glass furnace wasn't something that could be done in a few days, so the glass workshop had already planned to expand production. However, the original expansion plan didn't require searching for top-notch glassmakers from Nice. Locally recruiting some apprentices, along with the existing 'masters,' could have completed the expansion.

Following Maxim's direction, everyone saw two very new glass furnaces, one of which was in operation while the other was unused—glass furnaces were like this. Since the bricks and stones of that time couldn't withstand high temperatures, the furnaces had a limited lifespan and needed to be replaced every few months.

While the old furnace was in use, the new one was being built. Because they were preparing to expand production, they had even built an extra one.

In fact, it wasn't just the glass furnaces; the crucibles used to melt glass were the same. They were very labor-intensive to make because they couldn't have any cracks, no matter how small. Therefore, they had to be slowly dried over low heat, taking months to complete. Once made, the crucibles only had a lifespan of three months.

Maxim continued, "...Of course, your most important task is not to increase production for the workshop, especially you, Master Marco. Regarding you, Countess Louisa has even personally inquired—she didn't go to such great lengths to hire you for the kind of work that ordinary apprentices could do."

"Your talents and those of your companions must be used for things that others cannot do... I've heard that you are very skilled in glassmaking, but your task in the coming period will still be very challenging. Our esteemed employer hopes that you can improve the quality of our workshop's glass, most importantly, reduce the bubbles in the glass, and ideally eliminate them completely."

"For this purpose, a significant increase in cost is acceptable."

What Maxim was saying now was very important, essentially outlining the focus of the work for the newly arrived glassmakers. Logically, even if Marco didn't care about anything other than glass, he should have listened carefully. But at this moment, he really couldn’t hear anything!

From the moment he saw the glass rolling machine used in the Troyes glass workshop, his eyes widened, and he couldn’t look away!

Marco was a 'glass enthusiast,' a 'glass expert,' even a 'glass fanatic'! He dared to say that there was no glassmaking technique he didn't know, but this one in front of him was truly something he had never seen before!

The glass rolling machine made by Louisa's people used the roller rolling method. Two counter-rotating rollers squeezed the raw material, with one side being the molten glass and the other side producing a glass sheet with uniform thickness and a smooth surface.

At that time, glass products were mainly made by blowing, casting, or pressing.

Blowing was the mainstream method, but casting and pressing, though 'primitive,' had their advantages in making certain special glassware, so they hadn't completely disappeared—the emerging blowing method was flexible, and theoretically, as long as the glassmaker's skills were good enough, any complex shape could be achieved.

Casting, on the other hand, had the advantage of low technical requirements. As long as a mold was made, molten glass could be poured in, and it was hard to fail. Generally, casting was used to make large solid glassware, many of which were decorative sculptures. Since they weren't hollow, there was no need to blow them.

As for pressing, it mainly involved a mouth mold and a male mold. The mouth mold would take in the molten glass, and the male mold would press down. Each type of glassware required a corresponding set of metal mouth and male molds. The advantage was that it didn't require making a new mold every time, as in casting, which was tedious and time-consuming. It also didn't demand the high skill and experience of the glassmaker, as in blowing.

Additionally, the efficiency was truly high—one press produced one piece of glassware.

However, no matter how good pressing was, its limitations were obvious. The male mold had to press down and then lift up, which meant it could only be used to make glassware with a narrow base and a wide mouth. Otherwise, the male mold couldn't be removed. Moreover, the glassware couldn't be too thin, or it would easily fail.

As for the surface of the glassware not being smooth enough, that wasn't even the biggest issue.

Marco watched as the molten glass was squeezed out between the rollers. Since the round rollers rotated uniformly and counter to each other, the force was more evenly distributed than in pressing, and the resulting glass sheet didn't have the problem of being unsmooth—someone was manually cranking the handle to control the rotation of the rollers. Another person was responsible for spraying water on the freshly pressed glass sheet to help it cool and solidify quickly.

After all, there is a conveyor belt composed of a row of slightly downward-sloping rollers... Here, the 'tension' of the conveyor belt ensures the 'flatness' of the glass sheet and prevents the pressed glass sheet from piling up at the discharge port, which would affect the subsequent pressing of glass—hence, the glass sheet must quickly take shape!

Otherwise, the still soft glass, influenced by gravity and the shape of the bottom rollers, would surely deform the originally smooth glass sheet.

As a glass sheet travels down the roller conveyor belt to the end, someone immediately scores it with a glass cutter at the position where the glass sheet has just been pressed and formed.

At this moment, a nearby roller, operated by a worker, lifts up and with a shake, the glass cleanly breaks off. It is then transferred to a horizontal roller belt, conveyed a short distance, and moved by workers onto a cart—these glass sheets still need to be sent to the 'annealing furnace' for annealing.

Marco had never seen glass produced in this way before. The process is divided, seemingly scattered, yet everyone works in unison. From a production standpoint, it is unpretentious, yet beneath this unpretentious surface, it is more powerful than any flashy glass-blowing technique!

Continuous glass sheets are rapidly produced, like a mighty river of glass sheets... Human effort, of course, cannot compare to this natural might!