Lübeck

The essence of human society is a ruthless elimination process.

The fierce competition in the business world led to the collapse of Von Derhua's factory, leaving behind a staggering debt of 420 million.

Von Derhua was eliminated.

As a businessman and a gambler, he accepted the consequences—no matter how small the matter.

That night, Von Derhua slept eternally.

He thought everything had come to an end, but unexpectedly, he was transported to the year 1370.

The dawn of the capitalist age had begun to stir in the northern German city of Lübeck, in the form of a young man named Edward Von Stein.

This young man, with a strong build, blonde hair, and blue eyes, was brutally murdered in an alley behind a tavern.

When Von Derhua's soul entered this body, it fused with his new brother's memories.

"Brother, from now on, I'll live your life. What a time to be alive! Why dwell in the shadows when you can be a merchant?"

"A shortage economy... I've somehow ended up in a world of scarcity."

"Damn it, had I known I would cross over, I should have studied science. I'm a humanities major stuck in this medieval world..."

"Calm down, even if I can't create a steam engine, it's only 1370. With the spirit of an industrial and infrastructural revolution, I can still make hand-crafted factories push products to rock-bottom prices."

"No, that's a mistake. Selling products for next to nothing will lead to disaster. I can't repeat the mistakes of my past life."

"If I succeed in this life, I swear, I will dedicate all my efforts to preventing the emergence of an economy of excess."

Edward's mind raced with exhilaration and wild thoughts.

God had granted him a second chance at life, and he was determined to lead humanity through it all once again.

Why? Because he was a modern man who had crossed over into the past, armed with knowledge far beyond the scope of anyone in this age.

...

April 1, 1370, clear skies.

Edward walked the streets of Lübeck under the morning sun, searching for an opportunity.

A harsh reality hit him—his pockets only contained a handful of copper coins.

He had to find a job...

The city's core was made up of brick buildings, with wood construction only found in the poorer districts.

Edward assessed the materials needed for the city's construction and found himself at the port, unknowingly drifting toward the bustling harbor.

The port was abuzz with activity, workers unloading and moving goods.

The body he had taken over could manage some manual labor for a few days as a temporary means of survival.

Then, he could seek an opportunity to showcase his talents.

As he pondered, he scouted the port for job prospects.

Perhaps working as a sailor would be a reasonable way to bridge the gap...

After walking around the docks, Edward frowned.

In a shortage economy, it should have been easy to earn a living by offering one's labor.

But the pay was dismal.

By 1370, merchants had learned to pay employees just enough to survive, preventing the lower classes from rising.

Employees who were desperate for money were far more obedient than those who were well-off.

Edward, coming from a modern merchant background, was familiar with such practices—wage systems like piece-rate work and the "996" work culture were commonplace.

This approach, however, seemed amateurish to him.

Edward refused to let his labor be undervalued.

Shaking his head with a sigh, he left the port.

...

The Jewish Quarter in Lübeck's harbor city.

Edward entered a lavishly decorated goldsmith's shop.

A goldsmith shop was the precursor to a bank.

In financial history, the first true bank, the Bank of Venice, was established in 1407 in Italy.

Before the era when everyone worked for the bank, it was the Jews who carried out banking transactions, lending and saving money.

To be honest, the Jewish will to earn money was unparalleled.

From 1347 to 1353, the Black Death swept through Europe, and countless lords blamed the Jews for the plague, nearly wiping them out.

Yet, just twenty years later, the Jews not only recovered but became wealthier than ever.

They were a resilient and mysterious people who, in modern times, make up just 1% of the world's population but hold 60% of the global wealth, becoming a dominant force in the world.

In his past life, Edward had dealt with these shrewd and difficult individuals.

They were clever and hard to get along with.

In this life, to survive, Edward decided to reluctantly join the Jewish financial consortium, bringing with him the financial knowledge of the future to this world.

Establishing the world's first bank in Lübeck in 1370 might just be a good place to start.

With this in mind, Edward confidently entered the goldsmith's shop.

He was greeted by a plump man with a monocle.

"Hello! Are you hiring? I'm proficient in mathematics and possess extensive knowledge of finance and management," Edward inquired.

The plump man glanced up at Edward. "Young man, you know quite a lot. What is your name?"

"My name is Edward Von Stein."

"That sounds like a name from a German noble family?"

Edward recalled the memories of his former self. "My father was a baron with an estate. My older brother inherited it, so I came to the city alone to make my own way."

"Ah, we only hire Jews. Sorry..."

Edward nodded and turned to leave...

...

Trust is paramount in human society.

Especially in Europe during this time, people grouped together based on their ethnicity to build trust.

And then, to further strengthen trust, they formed alliances through marriage.

The Habsburg family, for example, relied on strategic marriages to gain power and were famously known as the family that used their lower halves to conquer the world.

Edward was not Jewish, so it was only natural that he would be excluded from this seemingly respectable position.

This was a matter of trust.

Edward's original path in life had been to join the military.

After his brother inherited their father's estate, the typical path for a second son in Germany, in the Holy Roman Empire, was to enter the military.

However, with the establishment of the Hanseatic League and the sudden rise of Lübeck and other coastal cities, vast wealth was attracting young people from all over Germany.

The age of merchants had arrived!

Common folk were considered the private property of lords and were not allowed to migrate. However, noble heirs, especially second sons, were free from such restrictions and flocked to the coastal cities.

Many commoners, desperate for a better life, were willing to become beggars to escape and would do anything to reach the coastal cities.

But soon, these noble second sons encountered a problem.

Without familial connections, there was no trust foundation.

How could they compete fairly with commoners? How could they survive in this city?

Commoners could work as dock workers, selling their labor for food.

Noble second sons could not do this.

Soon, the noble second sons found another way: they turned to the underworld, just like Edward's previous self, who had been trained in martial arts and was physically strong.

But the current merchant Edward had no interest in the underworld. If he didn't change the world he had crossed into, then he would have truly failed God.

But the biggest issue now was that he was running out of food—only seven copper coins remained after buying some bread.

With a heavy heart, Edward returned to his rented room in the slums.

To his surprise, two burly men were standing at his door, waiting for him.

One of the men spoke, "Edward, I didn't kill you yesterday—looks like I went easy on you."

The other man said, "I heard you were walking around the street, and I didn't believe it. But here you are, still alive."

The first man said, "Don't worry, we won't beat you this time. Your debt is cleared. Our boss wants to see you. Come with us."

The second man added, "The boss has some work for you and will pay you. Once you have the money, you can keep gambling..."

Edward's face darkened. The issues from his previous life were not over.

His past self had been a compulsive gambler, arriving in Lübeck alone, quickly making money, and then falling in with a group of noble second sons.

Over time, he developed various bad habits, especially the vice of gambling.

In the basement of a tavern, he lost everything at the gambling table, ultimately accruing insurmountable debt, and was beaten to death by the tavern's enforcers.

These two enforcers were formidable, and Edward's previous self would have stood no chance against them. Let alone the modern merchant Edward, who had crossed into this world.

Perhaps... Edward could use these acquaintances from his past life, though they were little more than thugs, as stepping stones to rise.

Knowing he couldn't avoid them, Edward resolved to turn this crisis into an opportunity.