I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 150 Building a Factory
There was no still or condenser, and even safety and hygiene standards were not met. DuPont frowned as he watched the entire production process and felt that he could give up ale.

Although the ale in this world does taste pretty good, much better than the beer he drank in his previous life, we are now considered wealthy, so we should just forget about this cheap, mixed-up drink.

After witnessing the wine production process, DuPont completely lost its mystique surrounding red wine.

Holy crap, where did this young girl come from, stomping on grapes? Even middle-aged women rarely see this. A group of men just rinsed off briefly and then went to stomp on grapes with their bare legs. They probably didn't even wash the soles of their feet properly. It made even a holy knight feel nauseous.

"Where would there be so many young girls? Besides, how could a group of little girls have the strength to do this kind of work?" The dwarf couldn't help but laugh when he heard DuPont's question. "Of course, I've also heard of those high-end products, such as elven ice wine, which is made by elven maidens. But elven wine costs at least 5 gold coins a bottle, and it tastes sour and unpleasant. It's nothing like ale."

Bergman beer, on the other hand, is produced with much more care and attention to detail. It is brewed entirely by dwarf artisans, who not only drink while working, but also maintain high hygiene standards.

"It's probably because they drink it themselves," DuPont thought.

"The beer industry is now basically stable. There are other breweries in Harua, but specialty products like Bergman beer have extremely high requirements for the variety and are almost impossible to mass-produce. It can be said that unless there is unrest in a certain country, it will be difficult to sell them at a high price."

"As for the workers' income, it's just so-so. It's definitely much better than farming, but even if I wanted to make a lot of money, it would be basically impossible." Bergman stroked his thick, long beard as he spoke. "So there's neither the need nor the ability to expand production. The most crucial thing is that there's no profit. That's why the mages look down on my small business. You've really gone to a lot of trouble."

DuPont nodded, but his mind was on something else entirely.

This winery must be opened.

It wasn't that DuPont suddenly had a change of heart and decided to serve the people; rather, it was that they were planning for the future.

Firstly, Harua's society is somewhat distorted, and the parliament has probably noticed the problem; otherwise, it wouldn't have pushed forward his proposal, which was clearly destined to cause chaos and discontent.

Harua has over two million people, nearly a third of whom are skilled in magic. Although advancing to level 1 mage has blocked most people, if you include registered users and apprentices living in other countries, there are still around 40,000 mages.

In this context, Harua's main exports are magical items, scrolls, and alchemical potions. The only ordinary goods that can be considered commodities for sale are wine. For particularly close relationships, they might even sell high-end magical artifacts like airships, each worth six figures. They can also quickly construct mage towers and castles; in short, as long as the money is right, anything is possible.

Selling just one airship or taking on one large project each year is equivalent to the tax revenue contributed by hundreds of thousands of farmers.

In this environment, it can be said that all goods and supply chains depend on mages, which is one of the reasons why mages in Harua have special privileges and why the service industry is particularly prosperous and there are many beautiful women.

The world of Faerûn is known for its open-mindedness. Getting a few strokes of the hand might earn you silver or even gold coins. A month's work can be equivalent to a farmer's year's work. In a world where money can buy youth and the future, even a fool would know which option to choose.

With its powerful export industry and unparalleled theoretical strength, Harua enjoyed a long period of peace. Under such circumstances, although the system was unhealthy and irregular, the country could not possibly be poor, thanks to the taxes paid by the magic shops and academies alone.

But DuPont knew of the impending major problem: perhaps only a few years of turmoil would arrive, when gods would walk among mortals seeking a way back to their divine kingdom, the goddess of magic would die unexpectedly, the magic network would lose its master and fall into turmoil once again, countless mages would lose control of their magic and detonate their skulls, and any industry that relied on magic would be wiped out.

Harua survived that period, but just thinking about it makes one realize how terrible the price would be. As a mage, Dupont didn't care much about the numbers on paper, but if he could change something along the way, he wouldn't mind doing it.

After all, there will likely be a major reshuffle then. If he performs well, it's not far-fetched that he will be rewarded for his contributions and even become immortalized by the voters.

Thinking of this, DuPont couldn't help but scratch his head.

My warrior and barbarian levels combined are higher than my mage level. I hope my brain won't explode when Miss Mi really dies, right? Pshaw, I'm getting off-topic.

The industries that ordinary people rely on for survival depend on mages. When mages can no longer cast their magical spells, the country will inevitably be on the verge of collapse, and countless tragedies will occur.

After all, everyone is used to being waited on hand and foot. If even using a magic trick could cause a concussion, then life would be unbearable.

In this situation, the real economy becomes more important.

Harua now has more vineyards than wheat fields, and cash crops outnumber food crops. This is not a healthy ecosystem. Once the magic ships can no longer transport food, the survival of these two million people will be a problem.

So, it turns out he really can't sell the land deeds in Whitestone City and his hometown. He just needs to build more granaries in those estates and store enough grain. Then he can just lie there and do nothing, and that will be a great achievement.

However, grain has a shelf life, and he needs more land and money to buy grain. He also needs a pretext to buy it, otherwise hoarding grain might attract attention and drive up the purchase price.

Therefore, opening a winery would be very necessary.

The purpose was to hoard grain, and brewing wine was just a side effect. It also brought a good reputation, so it was like killing many birds with one stone.

However, the few thousand gold coins he currently has are probably not even enough to start a business.

Building a proper large granary would require a lot of money, not to mention the costs of breweries and grain procurement. It's safe to say that unless there's a period of turmoil, it would be a losing proposition, and the losses would continue for several years.

If it's more reliable to bring in investors to this kind of business, would anyone be willing to invest in a business that loses money?
Believe it or not, there really is one right here.

DuPont looked at Paladin: "What do you think about us investing in a brewery?"

“That doesn’t seem very reliable. I feel that what the dwarf said makes a lot of sense. This industry doesn’t seem to have any future…” Deva thought for a moment, “Not to mention that the ale isn’t very hygienic. I don’t want to drink that kind of stuff anymore.”

“Of course we need to make it as clean as possible when we do it ourselves. We’ll make three different products: high, medium, and low-end.” DuPont can talk about this with ease, which is his greatest knowledge advantage: “The best ones are sold exclusively to acquaintances and professionals. Even if they are a bit more expensive, they can afford them.”

“We can consider selling mid-range products to pubs or for export. Our main goal is to sell high-end products, and we’re fine with these as long as we don’t lose money.”

"The worst wheat is used to make alcoholic beverages for ordinary people, focusing on high quality, low price, and cleanliness. It doesn't matter whether we lose money or not, since the leftover residue can be sold to livestock farms as feed."

"Once the brewery is built, farmers won't have to worry about selling their grain, we can give some conscientious workers a good wage, everyone will be able to drink delicious and clean beer, and we'll also help those people find a proper and respectable job."

The more DuPont spoke, the brighter the paladin's eyes became, and the girl even began to draw inferences from one instance to another: "Even if we don't make money, as long as we don't lose too much, it's something we should do. It's better than letting the gold coins get moldy in our storage bags, and it's better than simply giving them away to maintain the dignity of ordinary people. It's definitely a good thing."

“That’s right, that’s what I’m thinking.” DuPont was very pleased. Who says paladins are all one-track-minded? “We’ll go to the manor in White Rock City and see if it’s big enough. We can use the land there to build the factory and save money on land purchase.”

"Ah."

(End of this chapter)