Steel Empire
The Miracle of Industry 2

After showing the Byzantine nobility and merchants an arsenal, Berengar quickly made his way to the next industrial sector area that housed the weapons factory; there were two such facilities in Kufstein, the capital of Kufstein, such an arsenal has been broken down into production for local forces, and production of weapons for export. The export weapons factory was also manned by many workers, who used trip hammers and other water-powered machines to pound steel bars into the shape of swords, spears, war hammers, polearms, arrowheads, etc. 

Arethas witnessed the final process of making the spear in the hands of one of the workers, stacked neatly on a pallet containing hundreds of other spears that would later be inspected for quality control, and only after the shipment was fully inspected, and tested whether they will be delivered to their customers. Berengar knew the importance of quality control, and as such, he did his best to maintain the quality of his equipment. Any equipment approved for export is marked with a K-shaped proof, which symbolizes that the equipment has been manufactured and received approval for delivery within the Kufstein plant. This process, of course, was also used on equipment for his own troops, but it was not important at this time.

"This is an arms factory used to produce weapons from steel produced in the city. Every piece of equipment, such as the armor in our arsenal, is quality checked before it is delivered to our customers. "

The idea of strict quality control was something Bernegar took from his previous life and was not commonly used in this timeline, at least not to what extent he had applied it. Looking at the pile of weapons so heavily loaded onto the wooden pallets, the Byzantine merchants and nobles practically salivated upon seeing it. They all wanted to get their hands in front of them, where they could be sold in the Empire for large profits or used to equip their own troops. 

Berengar had yet to point out the actual warehouse that held his surplus of steel, but he had already captured the interests of the people from the East. From the gazes of their eyes, he knew they would spread this news throughout the Empire, and Berengar would gain various new customers. Arethas, in particular, could not wait to return home and inform the department in charge of procuring equipment for the army of such a great opportunity. After all, the Byzantine Empire was an extremely complex imperial bureaucracy; a general could not simply equip his army with new equipment out of nowhere; it must first be approved by the bureaucrat in charge of logistics. 

After showing off the armory and the weapons factory, Berengar finally dragged the men to the warehouse that held a surplus of steel; after opening it and showing the full strength of his industrial capacity, Berengar finally dragged the men to the warehouse that held a surplus of steel; after opening it up and demonstrating the full strength of his industrial capacity, the merchants and nobles were completely shocked. The shed measures about 5,000 square feet and contains a pile of steel bars stacked onto the roof. The amount of steel in this facility reaches thousands of tons. This is the surplus collected after months of production from the Bessemer converter. 

Looking at the scene before him, Arethas' eyes almost fell from their sockets; his jaw dropped to the point where it almost slipped off. He could not understand so much steel in one place. Steel is a rare commodity, but Berengar has produced it in very large quantities. He could not understand why so much steel was needed. After all, the idea of using steel in a structure was not something found outside the Berengar domain. The steel ingots themselves are sorted into different areas based on their composition and purpose. Structural steel, protective steel, weapon steel, tool steel, and galvanized steel ingot are well arranged in their respective parts. If one was not familiar with this organization, one would think that all steel was the same. 

After confirming that they saw reality, the Byzantine merchants and nobles recovered their consciousness and immediately began to think of taking advantage of this. The merchants, in particular, wanted to resell this steel at exorbitant prices and immediately started making offers to Berengar. A fat and bald man, in particular, approached Berengar with a smile on his face as if the young Count was his benefactor. 

"Count Berengar, what will it take for me to get this small amount of steel to bring back with me to the Empire?"

Seeing the way the man looked at her made Berengar uncomfortable. However, he knew the value of steel and the man's plan. Therefore, he made a figure that he felt was worthy of.

This amount is quite high, considering that 150 pounds of iron can be sold in the UK for 4 shillings, each shilling roughly 1/20 pound of silver. However, this was not iron but ready-made steel, and Berengar monopolized it. There was nowhere else in the world that could make that man obtain such a large amount of steel. For reference, in the modern world of Berengar's past life, a ton of steel bars is worth between 1,000 to 1,500 US Dollars, while one Pound of silver Avoirdupois is worth about 345 US Dollars. However, silver was much rarer in this period, and as such, its innate value was much higher than 21st century America, but again, so was steel. 

The fat merchant's smiling face quickly turned to frown when he heard Berengar's offer. It was a considerable amount of money, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he could charge a higher price when he resold it, because for now, it was, he would be one of the few people capable of bringing a large amount of steel back to the Empire. However, the man still tried to negotiate the price with Berengar.

"How about 1/2 pound of silver?"

However, Berengar shook his head in rejection and clarified his position

"One pound of silver for a ton of steel. That's my offer."

Everyone in the room knew that Berengar monopolized such a high amount of steel, and he could dictate the price as he pleased, even if these merchants were unwilling to pay the price, someone would, and because of that, Berengar took full advantage.it was to pressure these traders. Finally, they gritted their teeth and bought a large supply of steel to bring back to the Empire. Of course, they did not have large amounts of silver, and therefore, they had to return to the Empire, obtain silver, and then return to Kufstein to complete the transaction. However, such a trip was not in vain when the profits they had from steel were huge. 

After completing the initial transaction, Berengar completed a tour of his industrial district and attracted the interest of Byzantine merchants and nobles; they had no idea how Berengar managed to achieve it as he kept them away from Bessemer's converter. Still, he had such a large supply of steel. If they were his neighbors, they would be tempted to attack. However, due to the distance between Empire and Tyrol, it was not something they could do easily. Thus, the Byzantines spent some time in Tyrol to familiarize themselves with Berengar before returning to the Empire, although they would soon return with plenty of silver in exchange for Berengar steel.

Berengar, on the other hand, was rather pleased with the deal he made; he had secured a new market, and with it, another fortune. For the time being, he again prepared his troops for the upcoming war with the Teutonic Order, as well as overseeing the construction of his star fortress and monuments. The work of a Tyrant was never finished.