Cthulhu Gonfalon

Chapter 684: Vol V Chapter 44

In completing tasks, one generally tended to break down the task into several steps. The different stages were then assigned to specific workers who were in charge of completing their specific sub-tasks in order to successfully fulfill the overall assignment.

To explain this concept, one could use the analogy of building a chair. First, materials such as wood and wooden strips needed to be sourced. The materials were then used to create a basic stool as well as the other parts of the chair, such as the legs and backing. It was only when such sub-areas were completed that the chair could be pieced together.

If a carpenter were to create such a chair, he would start out by finding a suitable tree to cut down. He would then have to treat the collected wood to ensure that it was usable in building before creating the parts of the chair bit by bit. Overall, it would be a grueling and time-consuming process. Furthermore, a single carpenter would only be able to create one chair at a time. If many chairs were required on short notice, one would either have to hire several carpenters or extend the deadline for the completion of the chairs.

However, if one were to utilize the aforementioned concept, the tasks would be split up amongst different representatives who would only need to focus on their own task at hand. For example, those handling the wood would focus on that task, and the end product would be assembled by another group of workers. These workers didn’t need to be multi-talented in several areas as they were only responsible for one part of the process. It was more efficient to utilize such a method as workers needed only to have some basic ability and minimal training to complete a job. One wouldn’t need experts to handle the whole task, such as professional carpenters in the example given above.

As workers would be focused on simple and specific tasks, they would improve at a faster rate in their area and be as competent as professionals after a short period of time. Employers would also worry less about salaries as the workers would not be ranked as professionals even when they improved in their craft. The raises given didn’t need to be as high as the ones given to professionals in particular fields, even when their productivity increased.

Overall, over time, such a process would be highly efficient and allow for the skill level of the workers to even surpass those of the professionals, allowing employers to increase company productions. Most importantly, they also did not need to worry about finding and developing professionals as such an endeavor would require tedious amounts of time (many months or even a few years), especially if the task to master was complicated. In comparison, grooming different batches of workers with specific skill sets would take only a few months and would allow for maximum productivity and profit!

In this world, many handmade or labor-intensive products were in short supply, leading them to become rather expensive. For example, should one desire a chair in rural areas where there was a lack of carpenters, its price may be increased by four or five times as compared to when being sold in an area where chairs were common. In reality, in such rural areas, one may not even possess the idea of owning a chair but rather simply use wooden poles to fulfill the same purpose. Even if the wood could have been used to create several chairs, its price would be but a fraction of the price of a fully crafted chair.

To explain this further, one could use an apt analogy. For example, ever since the Republic of Northwest started utilizing the concept of operational flow to produce armory and weaponry, Nether City had become the biggest producer and trader in the world in these areas. They were even advancing towards the title of the world’s largest arms supplier! Such success came about due to a concept that may have seemed insignificant at first.

While Sui Xiong was not particularly secretive, the Republic of Northwest’s armory and weaponry sectors kept their work extremely confidential and never revealed their methods.

The Goddess of Wealth respected their secrecy and did not deign to steal their secrets. However, she shared the idea of operational flow to a few powerful and confident businessmen. These businessmen were naturally afraid to compete with Void City, probably because of due warning from the Goddess of Wealth. However, armor and weapons were two of many producible items in the world, and they could choose to produce any other item of their choice, such as electronics, decorative items or furniture. As long as the profits could be made, it didn’t matter what the choice of product was; the money would come in all the same.

The Goddess of Wealth could never have imagined that using a business concept would bring about such trouble for her. This distressed her, and the lack of a solution was simply unthinkable.

For the past few decades, the businessmen had no choice but to accept the imbalance in profits and the obligation to give in. They watched jealously and unhappily as the profits that could have been theirs ended up in the hands of others.

But now, they would no longer be obliged to accept such injustice.

Furthermore, in the Commonwealth of Gold Coins, the aristocrats and merchants had always had a tumultuous relationship. Such tension had started from the country’s early years of development and piled up over time. The negative relationship could even be likened to a barrel of gunpowder, which could explode and destroy everything with just one spark.

The accumulation of wealth brought about the question of how to spend such lavish amounts of money. Some people wanted to choose the reliable path of buying land and finding people to maintain the land, while others were enterprising and chose to expand their business. Originally, both methods would bring about a reasonable amount of benefits.

However, over time, the former group would have developed and connected to many aristocrats and lands. On the other hand, the latter group would be connected to several important businessmen. This would then create the dilemma of businessmen gaining profits through peddling goods while aristocrats found themselves falling behind in terms of money reserves and demanding tax payments to make up for the imbalance.

This was the first major conflict between the aristocrats and the Commonwealth merchants. A civil war was nearly started! Eventually, under the mediation of the Goddess of Wealth, the two sides sat down to negotiate, and after almost two years of difficult negotiations, they drafted a tax collection standard that both sides grudgingly accepted.

Later on, the aristocrats desired greater control over the land and wanted to ensure that no man could threaten their rule. On the other hand, the merchants were fiercely protective over their property and did not want to run the risk of any loss. This was the second clash between the Commonwealth of Gold Coins, and eventually, the merchants compromised yet again. Eventually, most of the bigger banks chose to set up their headquarters outside the city, despite the extra expenses and risks that such a move brought about.

The two episodes left the merchants extremely disgruntled, and they were determined to stand their ground should any conflict arise again. They complained that they had already given in twice and requested for the aristocrats to come to a reasonable compromise on their own part. However, having gotten their way twice, the aristocrats had begun to take their wins for granted and were increasingly resistant towards negotiation.

Of course, the Church of the God of Aristocracy also influenced the conflicts that had occurred. The Church of the God of Aristocracy took the stand that the aristocrats should be allowed to rule over their own land and claimed that they should have to answer to no one but the supreme leaders. Thus, they tried to reduce the legal powers of the merchant trade organizations as much as possible.

Such a claim clashed directly with the teachings of the Goddess of Wealth, and the merchants scorned and despised them. The aristocrats pretended to agree with the merchants on the surface but secretly praised and subscribed to such a belief. Lobbyists of the Church of the God of Aristocracy were afforded special privileges and treatment when they visited the mansions in the country.

The Goddess of Wealth was silent for a long time as she mused over the situations that had unfolded.

“Maybe I was wrong from the start. Maybe it really is impossible for a capitalist country to be incorrupt and fully legitimate.”