While the civil servant leaders were complaining about the future of the war, Rostislav, the owner of the city of Moscow, accompanied by countless entourages, went to Moscow's important source of wealth and weapons, the Blacksmiths' Guild, to inspect the blacksmiths' guild.
The location of the Blacksmiths' Guild is, of course, the Guild District of Moscow. This independent and urban area gathers all the guilds in Moscow. Naturally, the Blacksmiths' Guild is also among them and occupies an important position.
There is no doubt that the guild area has become almost a country within a country with a series of privileges. Ordinary people cannot enter this area without any reason. There is also a separate market in it, but Rostislav has never been optimistic about the future possibility of the guild area.
Worried about losing control.
Because in essence, the leaders of each guild, that is, the guild masters, are appointed by the prince.
Yes, the guilds can elect their masters, but the masters they elect must be approved by the Prince of Moscow before they can serve. If the Prince is dissatisfied, he can reject it and ask for re-election.
Some important guilds even had to submit their list of master candidates to the Rostislav Palace and ask the prince to select them.
Relying on this set of reins, Rostislav controlled the guilds tightly, and the power of the Moscow guilds came from the princes of Moscow, which represented the Moscow government's control over the guilds.
The difference in the background of power is the difference between Moscow's guilds and those in history. Regardless of this small difference, it is this difference that can change many things and allow princes to have a lot of power.
So when Rostislav arrived, the door to the guild area was immediately opened, and then the guild masters knelt down to welcome the prince in.
If the guild area is a country within a country, then the blacksmith's guild is a country within a country within a country. The blacksmith's guild is also unique in the guild area. A high wall surrounds a special area. Those who
The black smoke and the sound of gold and iron inside represent the identity of this area.
The logo of the blacksmiths' guild is a hammer and an iron felt, which clearly expresses their identity. They usually negotiate business with foreign businessmen and find a position.
At the same time, there are also special guards here. These guards wear iron armor and are actually mercenaries with gorgeous equipment. Even if they are placed outside, they can be used as knights for military service. They are hired by the guild.
After all, the things sold by the Blacksmith Guild are not cheap, and sometimes the crimes they face may be a bit powerful.
And now, Rostislav is visiting the blacksmith's guild's workshop under the leadership of Vanigo, the guild master of the blacksmith's guild.
Vanigo is an old acquaintance of Rostislav. When he was fighting against the Akade invasion, he took the initiative to lead a fellow Melia fellow to assassinate the Bulgar army in the back, and let him register here in Rostislav.
However, Vanigo actually moved to Moscow five years ago. He believes that Moscow has more prospects. After all, it has become the largest city in Northeastern Russia as soon as it was completed, and it will definitely be more prosperous in the future.
He believed that his responsibilities to the compatriots in Rostov had been fulfilled. After all, the prince of Moscow had lifted the privileges of the new city of Rostov, and the people of the old city could freely fight for their interests.
Moreover, he came to Moscow with the intention of serving as a permanent representative of the Old City of Rostov. After all, if Moscow issued any order that was detrimental to the Old City, he could immediately use money and connections to mediate.
Soon after arriving in Moscow, he encountered the election of the guild master.
Vanigo was also a very skilled blacksmith himself, so he joined in and eventually became a master.
However, Vanigo, a Melia blacksmith from Rostov, was able to become the guild master largely thanks to Rostislav's appointment.
Although Vanigo relied on his skills to become a candidate for the Moscow Guild Master, there were still several master craftsmen at the same level as him, and their skills were almost the same.
In the end, if Rostislav had not chosen him, it would still be difficult for him to become the guild master. After all, he is not from Muscovite and does not have so many local supporters. Secondly, he is not from Russia, so it is difficult to gain the support of others.
Vanigo certainly knows where his power comes from, so he is now enthusiastically leading the Prince of Moscow into the core of the guild, the weapons and equipment production workshop of their blacksmith guild.
Now the master blacksmith was naked from the waist up and put on a leather apron. It was obvious that he had just come off the line.
Generally speaking, blacksmiths seldom leave their work to do other things when blacksmithing, but blacksmithing is obviously not as important as welcoming the prince.
What Rostislav saw was a scene that made him very satisfied:
The blast furnace not far away is burning brightly, and the molten iron flows into different molds along the channels.
They are now in the manufacturing area of various weapons, including long swords, spearheads, and arrowheads. Since the output is directly linked to the daily remuneration, the blacksmiths are very motivated and work with the cooperation of their apprentices to forge various weapons.
Under the current system in Moscow, these goods have always been marketable, so the guild has always been busy, and both masters, ordinary craftsmen, and apprentices have to be busy all the time.
Moreover, the guild also promotes the subjective initiative of craftsmen by linking product output, quality and treatment.
However, these blacksmiths were originally collected from all over Northeastern Rus, and their skills were above average.
As for the apprentices, they were originally hired to make farm tools, and no one cared about the roughness of those tools. On the contrary, farmers still need such things, which are sturdy and durable.
In addition, many of the smelting tools here were imported from the south by Rostislav at a great cost, such as the blast furnace. Changes in production forms and production tools must be grasped, so that the improvement effect can be seen as early as possible.
For now, Rostislav's choice is extremely correct.
Looking at the rows of blacksmiths who were doing the final work and their finished products, the prince of Moscow showed a satisfied smile. These weapons and equipment can arm his soldiers and bring him wealth.
As time goes by, if no one carries out reforms, problems will inevitably arise in this system.
Moreover, from the perspective of later generations, guilds are essentially feudal workshops. As time goes by, they will inevitably become more closed, thus rejecting other developments, and even creating vicious monopolies, hindering social development and hindering the improvement of productivity.
But it is completely sufficient in this era, or even hundreds of years later. After all, before the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, the feudal workshop was already the highest level of production form...
Anyway, by that time, Rostislav has turned into ashes, and has nothing to do with him and has nothing to do with him.
"Um.……"
Rostislav took out a finished arrowhead from the frame next to a craftsman's workbench and looked at it in his hand.
He also pricked his finger, which was immediately slightly pricked, which made Rostislav very satisfied.
The shirtless craftsmen who were busy working did not notice the arrival of the prince and were still focused on their work.
His apprentice saw the prince, but unfortunately he was called to work before he could alert the master.
And the apprentices dare not disobey. In the master-apprentice relationship of the guild, the master can be said to take life and death from his students, and beatings and scoldings are commonplace.
"good."
Rostislav looked at the newly made arrowhead, then put it back into the small frame, and then left without disturbing the busy craftsmen.
Next Rostislav walked to the guild hall, where he sat on Vanigo's seat. No one raised any objection. This was the right of the prince.
It was also here that Rostislav learned about the quantity of a series of ordnance.
The ordnance purchased by the Moscow princes actually still exists in the blacksmiths' guild. After all, who is better at maintaining ironware than these blacksmiths?
The results of Vanigo's report also made Rostislav very satisfied. According to the armor currently stored, Rostislav is enough to arm another five to six hundred soldiers, which is not a small number.
As for simple iron helmets, there would be more, at least one for each of the three thousand people that Rostislav could absolutely control.