Building a Viking Empire with Modern Industry-Chapter 180 - 9th Century Steam Engineering

After the dinner with the Vizier, Ragnar spent the evening reviewing the quarterly projections with Gyda before they retired to their private quarters.

As per usual, after a successful hostile takeover, they spent a fair amount of time analyzing the market trends and potential liabilities.

Eventually, the couple fell asleep, their minds buzzing with the sweet hum of efficiency.

By the time the factory whistle blew in the morning, Ragnar once more engaged in his standard routine. Lately, Gyda had been joining him for a portion of the regimen.

Once more, she was in pristine condition, though that did not mean for one moment that she would stop her daily audit of the household staff.

After finishing their morning briefing, the couple took a quick breakfast of coffee and hardtack; when they were finished, they went their separate ways for the day.

Ragnar had to visit Leif the Elder and place an order for the Fire-Lances to sell to the Caliphate soon enough.

As for Gyda, she had to manage the Intelligence Department and collect data on specific competitor movements.

Now more than ever, she was filled with work, as her efforts were critical to stabilizing Ragnar’s monopoly. However, that was a spreadsheet for another time.

Ragnar quickly descended from the Governor’s Mansion and entered the smog-choked industrial district below, flanked by his Iron Guard.

When he neared Leif’s workshop, he motioned for them to secure the perimeter before entering the facility and tapping his cane on the heavy iron door.

After knocking a couple of times, Leif opened the door; he looked more haggard than usual, his apron stained with grease and soot, as if he had spent an entire three days straight working on some unauthorized prototype. When the man saw Ragnar smiling while standing at his entrance, he adjusted his spectacles a few times to see if he was witnessing reality.

After realizing what he saw was indeed the Director, he exclaimed with shock.

"Director!?! I was just about to file a memo that I have something to show you! Quickly, come in, come in!"

Seeing the excited look on Leif’s weary face, Ragnar could not help but be amused, and as such, he limped inside the workshop only to realize it was cluttered with scraps of vellum that looked like schematic designs.

Thus his curiosity was instantly piqued.

"Tell me, Leif, what is so important that you must forsake the company sleep schedule?"

Leif was too excited to answer Ragnar’s question immediately, and thus he rummaged through a variety of schematics on his workbench before finding the right one.

After grabbing ahold of it, he swept the other papers off the desk and spread the parchment across the surface so that Ragnar could witness his newest creation.

When Ragnar gazed upon the blueprints, he was completely and utterly shocked.

He knew exactly what this mechanism was and was astounded that someone could reverse-engineer such a concept in this era without explicit instruction.

Leif had taken Ragnar’s steam concepts, and with further experimentation, had designed a Steam-Driven Pile Driver by himself.

The pile driver was a machine from Ragnar’s previous life; essential for heavy construction but rarely seen in the 9th century.

However, for the time it was designed, it was practically a miracle of civil engineering.

It was a steam-piston device that used a heavy iron weight, lifted by pressure, to drive wooden or iron piles into the earth with rhythmic, terrifying force.

One might not think that is a lot, but in an era where it took fifty men and a week to secure a foundation for a bridge or a fortress wall, a machine that could do it in hours was an enormous advantage.

Most importantly, it could be adapted. Ragnar’s mind immediately raced to the possibilities: rapid fortification of captured territory, the construction of deep-water piers for his future navy, and perhaps... just perhaps... a modification to crush the gates of enemy castles.

Ragnar was stunned that Leif could design such a marvel of industrial engineering and gazed upon the man with newfound respect.

Seeing how Ragnar was staring at him, Leif decided to explain his creation and how he came to invent it.

"Director, while you were liquidating the Midlands, I got dreadfully bored and had a sudden bout of inspiration while watching the blacksmith hammer.

After running the numbers the next day, I realized it was entirely feasible. My thought process is, what if I could design a piston that functioned similarly to your steam cannons, but vertically! I call it the ’Leif-Hammer’! What do you think?"

Ragnar was at a loss for words; this machine was something that should not exist in this timeline without his direct intervention.

Only someone like himself who had reincarnated into the world with future knowledge should be able to devise such an advanced piece of infrastructure, and yet, Leif had invented it from scratch loosely based upon the principles of existing equipment that Ragnar had developed.

It was truly astounding.

Ragnar could not be more proud of the man he placed in charge of his R&D department and smiled fervently at Leif before clapping him on the shoulder.

"Leif, my friend, you just earned a Preferred Stock Option!"

Hearing Ragnar’s words, Leif was shocked; he knew with Ragnar’s corporate reforms that Stock Options were becoming the ultimate status symbol, surpassing even traditional titles, but never in a million years did he think such a prestigious reward would fall into his hands.

By now, Leif was extraordinarily well-paid as the head of Titan’s R&D, but he could not buy equity.

In particular, Ragnar intended to introduce the ’Industrialist’ rank for members of the common people who exceptionally served his Brand.

Thus they were ranked higher than Thanes but below the Board of Directors.

Until now, Ragnar had not found a commoner worthy of such a title, but with this game-changing invention by Leif, he would finally be able to introduce it to his corporate hierarchy.

Hearing such praise from his Director, tears began to swell in the old man’s eyes as he thanked Ragnar for the bonus.

"Director, thank you! I will reinvest it immediately!"

Ragnar merely shook his head and adjusted his monocle.

"Do not thank me; you have earned the dividends yourself! Your efficiency is second to none among the workforce!"

After taking a few moments to collect himself, Leif finally realized that Ragnar came here for a different reason, and thus he began to inquire about the details.

"Director, why are you here? Another rush order?"

It was only now that Ragnar remembered his original intentions for arriving, and as such, he carefully placed Leif’s blueprints into the man’s hands before putting his own upon the desk.

"The design is much simpler than the Flintlock and not as effective.

However, I hope that this ’Fire-Lance’ can be produced so that I can sell them to the Caliphate! It is essentially a matchlock mechanism."

Seeing such a simplistic design on the table, Leif eagerly grinned before asking the thought on his mind.

"How many units do you need and what is the deadline?"

Ragnar did not hesitate to declare his demand.

"Preferably thirty units, and by the end of the week. I need to demonstrate their effectiveness to the Vizier before the fiscal quarter closes."

Leif scratched his soot-stained beard for a moment while thinking about the supply chain. Eventually, he answered Ragnar’s question with a toothy smile.

"Give me five days; I need to retool a production line for these Fire-Lances; by then, we should be able to produce them with acceptable tolerances."

Ragnar smiled and nodded before returning to the blueprints Leif had made.

"Set up a prototype line for the Leif-Hammer as well; I want one operational for the new dockyards. This machine will be a force to be reckoned with in our infrastructure projects!"

Seeing how eager Ragnar was to implement these new machines he developed brought a smile to the old man’s face, and he quickly gave Ragnar a thumbs up before proudly proclaiming.

"Leave it to me! I will be happy to produce as many as the budget allows; I hope that they may bring profit to our Brand!"

Thus Ragnar gave one last piece of advice.

"Get some rest, Leif; you deserve it; burnout is a liability we cannot afford."

Hearing that Ragnar cared about his condition, Leif almost broke out into tears; however, he managed to choke them back before responding with a wide grin.

"Don’t worry, Director; I will sleep after I have filed the paperwork for the new line."

Ragnar nodded before proceeding out the heavy iron door. He still had several things to go over throughout the rest of the day.

Namely, he had to visit Bishop Aethelwold and check to see the progress of his "spiritual restructuring."

He had been managing the hostile takeover too long and had not focused enough attention on the PR campaign of his new order.

As he walked towards the newly renovated Cathedral of Industry Ragnar began to wonder if any of his other exceptional subordinates would surprise him with significant innovations; only time would tell.

One sure thing was that Leif was an outstanding engineer for the times he found himself in, and Ragnar fully intended to help the man vest his shares.

Unfortunately, Leif was already an old man and would most likely not serve him for too many additional fiscal years.

Thus the need for a Technical Institute and the fostering of exceptional apprentices were more important than ever in Ragnar’s mind. The Brand must outlive the Founder.