Auction III

The next morning, Will rode his carriage to the Auction House. After the Auction House was completed Mei moved her office there from the inn.

As the carriage pulled to a stoop, Mei waited out in the cold to greet Will.

"Mei, when it's cold just greet me inside the building. You'll make yourself sick!" Will admonished her.

"No matter the weather, I'll always meet Boss Will outside his carriage," Mei said.

Meeting your employer outside their carriage, was a part of the senior clerk training by the Merchant Guild.

It would not be a stretch to say, the Merchant Guild trained clerks, like the army trained soldiers. Clerks were expertly trained and were professional no matter the time of day.

"Is everything ready for today's auction?" Will asked walking inside his furnished Auction House for the first time.

On the first floor rows of glass containers filled with inexpensive valuables stood on display, on the walls hung paintings, and sculptures stood prominently on the floor.

Will recognized many of the paintings and sculptures from his house. He was surprised to see Elizabeth had put them up for auction.

"Have you spoken to the Merchant Guild? What did they say?" Will asked curiously.

"They were surprised to learn, you were permanently selling the board game and card patents," Mei said.

"And you, were you surprised?" Will asked her.

"No, I stopped being surprised by Boss Will a long time ago," Mei said wryly.

"Okay, I understand. You've known me the longest. But, tell me did the guild buy the patent? Will asked curiously.

"Yes, they bought it for 25,000 gold. They asked, that I pass on their thanks for selling it at an inexpensive price," Mei said.

"Good, I'm glad I was able to get that off my portfolio! I want you to write to Vanessa, and Miles that…." Will paused, remembering he could use space magic.

In an instant, he opened a door to Vanessa's office.

"Vanessa are you here?" Will asked.

"Ahh," Vanessa screamed in alarm.

Will and Mei looked at her cowering in fear.

"Boss Will?" Vanessa asked nervously.

"Hurry up and come here, I want to hold a staff meeting!" Will said urgently.

Vanessa was terrified of what she saw, but seeing Mei and Will, she respectfully crossed through the door and into Yorkshire.

"Is this the Auction House?" Vanessa asked nervously?

"Welcome!" Mei said hugging her.

The Will cast a door to Mile's office, but he was absent.

"Okay, well then it shall just be the three of us. The reason I called you here is that I want to give all my employees a bicycle and 25 silver coins in red envelopes for New Year.

Each of you shall be responsible for making sure all the employees receive these two things.

Also, here is a new recipe for a product I want to sell at my general store. It's called Lavender Lotion, it moisturizes and soothes skin. This should be popular with women. You can get the lectin from soybeans on my father's farm.

Last, I want to meet with all my Senior Clerks every Monday morning. Shall that be a problem?" Will said.

"No," Vanessa and Mei said.

"Okay, there here is your gift!" Will said handing both women red envelopes with a grand gold coin inside.

The Will opened the spatial door for Vanessa and told her to send a letter to Miles, writing what he told her and Mei. Mei and Will bade farewell to Vanessa before Will closed the spatial door.

After leaving Vanessa's new office, Will walked upstairs to the second floor. On the second floor, more glass cases lined the perimeter. Unlike the first floor, the second floor housed more expensive items. Everything from jewelry to dire beast cores could be found on the second floor.

"Any attempted robberies, yet? Will asked.

"One sir, when we first opened," Mei said.

"Was anything stolen?" Will asked.

"No, the clerks summoned the mages and the robber was immediately incapacitated," Mei said.

"What's the handling fee?" Will asked.

"We charge a 2% handling fee upfront, and a 3% seller's fee after an item is auctioned. The handler fee helps us pay to authenticate items, because auctioning them, and the seller's fee is pure profit," Mei informed.

"Good, that aligns wells with my plans. What the public's perception and sentiment towards the Auction House," Will asked.

"The nobility still worry cautious optimistic. The merchants are in love with your latest idea! Most of the items in stock came from merchants," Mei said.

"How often do you hold auctions?" Will asked.

"Weekly," Mei answered.

"What's the biggest problem?" Will asked.

"A strong customer base, and not enough selection," Mei said dejectedly.

"It looks like, I may need to increase the number of branches. Lead, the way to the stage," Will said approvingly.

The back of the Auction House was a theatre. To enter the theatre patrons had to enter through the second door. To enter a private box, customers had to walk to the third floor. To get to the stage, Mei led Will to the first floor and then to an underground storage area. The stage was directly in front of the storage facility.

Will and Mei walked on stage to a round of applause.

Today was a closed or private auction. Unlike Will's previous auctions, this auction was invitation-only.

And the only people Will invited were members of the Bourgeoisie. Every member of the group was either a second, third, or fourth son. These noblemen knew their prospects were dreary and sought out Will's help.

After spending a week with these men, Will knew their character and passion. These men wanted to follow in Will's footsteps to become merchants, but they did not have a clue what to sell or produce.

Therefore, this meant they had to depend on Will's inspiration. This fact was not lost on them. They were placing their lives in Will's hands, yet that had complete trust in him. After all, they were Will's fanboys.

Will agree to talk to them and help them on three conditions. First, these noblemen had to register with the Merchant Guild. Second, they bid in his auction. And third, they agree to open their business in Gadreel and do business there for a minimum of 10 years.

These were men of wealth. Although they could not inherit the land and title, their fathers' could easily fund creating a new business.

Many of these fathers praised their son for finding such a golden opportunity.

"Good evening, Gentlemen! I want to thank those in attendance for agreeing to my conditions.

I have a nice surprise for you. Those that rent a 10-year patent, shall also serve on my Trade Commission.

As Trade Commissioners, you would be responsible for increasing Gadreel's wealth through trade and industry.

You'll work with me to open and guard trade routes, increase diplomacy, and set tariffs, customs duties, and financial matters," Will said lifting his arms in surprise.

After meeting these you men, and their Humanist and liberalism ideologies, Will decided he rather has them on his Trade Commission than stuffy old men set in their ways.

These men were shocked. If they sat in the Trade Commission wouldn't they be a person of authority in Gadreel?

To them, Will was their savior. This was a man offering to give them so much, even control over his city.

"Let me grab your leg, I promise to not let go."

"I'll be your brother-in-law, you can marry my sister, she's considered a fairy for her age."

"Bastard your trashy sister is older than Baron vont Ballard's mother!

"Baron, I swear loyalty and am yours to command!" said various noblemen standing up and saluting.

Before Will could tell them their confessions were unnecessary, they all began swearing oaths of fielty.

"Alright, settle down it's no big deal. Just do your best so we call all make more money together," Will said.

Then Will began auctioning off blueprints for the Flying Ginny, the cotton gin, the power loom, and the spinning mule.

Will auction off five power looms for over 100,000 gold, 10 cotton gin for 50,000 gold, 20 Flying Ginnies, and spinning mules for 15,000 gold.

All these machines had one thing in common, textiles. Will plan to build a thriving industrial city, with good high paying jobs.

The industry was the key piece missing in Will's territory. He checked the boxes for education, agriculture, security, and commerce. Yet, he was still missing an industry-unique to Gadreel.

Now Will felt comfortable. With the Dwarves managing the mine, Kurosawa the city, Miles his properties, Elder Thaddeus's acquaintance the academy, and the young bourgeoisie the textile industries, Will knew he put his city on a successful path.

With the textile industries, Will would make money from the sale of cotton, the trade of cotton, and from taxes. Moreover, the industries would drive more laborers down to Gadreel, which meant more tax dollars.

Originally Will planted food crops on the side of the river nearest Gadreel. Non-food crops were planted on the other side of the river near the outpost.

Yet, now he had a dilemma. To power the loom, he needed electricity. Will debated to build to damn the river upstream or create a less invasion hydroelectric plant.

By the time Will died, most countries had removed their dams or were removing their dams, and replacing them with more eco-friendly versions.

A damn would serve as a good fishing and recreation area, but it would also put a strain on the budding fishing industry and the environment.

Yet, besides a dam, Will had no other solutions to generate electricity other than coal power plants. Most of the coal mined went to Blacksmiths.

Yet, given the choice, Will felt the dam was a better idea.