The admiration and excitement on Gutenberg’s face faded, replaced by the stubbornness and wariness peculiar to a craftsman.
He believed that technology should be shared; he felt it was the only way to drive the world forward.
The reason the various guilds had stagnated for so long was precisely because they clutched their little secrets so tightly.
He looked at Allen, whose eyes were so deep that the young noble seemed impossible to read.
“Young Master Allen, what do you mean by this?” His voice dropped.
“Don’t misunderstand, I’m not here to suppress technology.” Allen’s tone was calm, yet it carried a certain weight of authority.
“On the contrary, I hope to work with you to put this great invention into the hands of everyone who needs it.”
“Then why buy the workshop? My research can only continue if I stay here.” Gutenberg’s brow furrowed. This was his greatest concern.
“You should look at it from a different perspective. If I don’t buy it, will you even be able to continue your inventions?”
Allen asked in return, his tone suddenly sharp.
“Master Gutenberg, you are an intelligent man. If those fat, greedy bastards in the Blacksmith Guild found out about the existence of the printing press, do you think they would award you a medal of honor? Or would they crawl into your workshop in the middle of the night and smash this treasure to bits?”
Gutenberg’s expression shifted slightly. His lips moved, but no words came out.
Allen knew he had struck a nerve. He took a thick, oil-paper bundle from Marianne and slowly unfurled it in front of the group.
“Master, take a look at these. Perhaps they will change your mind.”
Several rolls of blueprints were spread across the workbench. Gutenberg took only a single glance before his breath hitched. He lunged forward, his eyes nearly pressed against the paper.
‘This… is this a blast furnace? A completely new design!’
His fingers lightly traced the complex structures on the blueprints as if he were stroking a priceless treasure.
“Correct.” Allen nodded.
“This blast furnace is more heat-resistant, and the structure of the furnace body has been optimized. As long as we can reach higher temperatures, we can smelt pig iron of a much higher quality than what is currently available.”
He pulled out a second blueprint. “This is a new design for a hydraulic blower. It can deliver air into the furnace more efficiently, significantly increasing the combustion efficiency and the furnace temperature.”
Then came the third blueprint, the most critical one.
“Finally, the coke ironmaking method. By heating coal in the absence of air, we remove volatile impurities. The resulting coke burns at a temperature far higher than charcoal and is much purer, which will drastically improve the quality of the iron.”
When Gutenberg realized the content of the pages, he gasped, his body swaying slightly.
As a veteran craftsman, he understood the immense value of these technologies all too well!
Especially the coke!
It directly solved the greatest dilemma currently facing the smelting industry — the increasing shortage and high cost of high-quality charcoal.
Allen’s focus on coke ironmaking had actually been a coincidence.
While chatting with the butler, he had unexpectedly learned that the Flanders province of the Kingdom held rich deposits of open-pit coal, and that coal had already entered the daily lives of local residents.
However, coal had not been widely promoted throughout the Kingdom for several reasons.
First, there was the resistance from vested interest groups.
The charcoal system was controlled by nobles and charcoal merchants who owned vast forests; using coal would directly destabilize the foundations of their wealth.
Resistance and sabotage were inevitable.
Second, the conservative Blacksmith Guild viewed new technology as a scourge.
They used guild regulations and various schemes to obstruct the use of coal to maintain their technological monopoly.
Most importantly, there were technical bottlenecks. Smelting iron directly with bituminous coal introduced impurities like sulfur and phosphorus, causing “hot shortness” in the pig iron.
This made the iron extremely brittle during forging and almost impossible to use.
Charcoal, having fewer impurities, produced high-quality iron.
Additionally, coal combustion required a stronger air blast and higher heat resistance from the blast furnace.
These technical difficulties deeply troubled the blacksmiths of this era.
The comprehensive technical solution Allen provided — the new blast furnace, the high-efficiency blower, and the coke production method — solved these problems almost perfectly!
No blacksmith who truly loved his craft and yearned for a breakthrough could refuse such a temptation.
Gutenberg struggled internally. He looked up and stared intently at Allen, his gaze a mix of fanatical obsession, awe, and confusion.
“Young Master Allen, you… who exactly are you?”
“Someone who wants everyone to have enough to eat.” Allen smiled and rolled up the blueprints.
“I can teach all of these techniques to you and your fellow craftsmen free of charge. I have only one condition — you and your workshop must join my ‘Mutual Aid Association.'”
“Mutual Aid Association?” Gutenberg was stunned again.
“The Handicraft and Labor Mutual Aid Guild,” Allen explained.
“We don’t play those games of seniority and technological suppression that the traditional guilds do. Here, technology is shared, profits are divided, and we progress together.”
“But the Blacksmith Guild…” Gutenberg’s voice was thick with worry.
“To hell with the Blacksmith Guild!” A hot-tempered master craftsman nearby finally couldn’t take it anymore and spat on the ground.
“Gutenberg! Have you forgotten how they withheld our refined iron stock last time and then turned around and fined us? Those bastards!”
“Exactly!” Gutenberg’s apprentice added, his face flushed with anger. “Master, those assholes only care about keeping their hundreds of years of old rules. If anyone tries to change anything, they want to kill them!”
The workshop erupted in indignation. Clearly, the resentment had been building for a long time.
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
Allen led Gutenberg to the workshop entrance and pointed toward the street, where sturdy men wearing red armbands over uniform outfits were patrolling.
“They are the Workers’ Patrol under our Mutual Aid Association. One of their duties is to protect the personal safety and property of our members. You no longer need to fear threats from the Blacksmith Guild; their hired thugs won’t stand a chance against them.”
Gutenberg narrowed his eyes, studying the men carefully.
‘They look a bit familiar…’
‘Wait, aren’t those members of the Balas Gang who usually collect protection money in this neighborhood?’
But now, those once-unruly street thugs and outlaws stood tall and straight. The hostility in their eyes was gone, replaced by a sense of… discipline?
Their captain had the demeanor of a professional soldier — sharp, efficient, and clearly not someone to be trifled with.
It was obvious that this Workers’ Patrol was no ordinary civilian organization, but a group with a paramilitary character.
The thugs hired by the guilds truly would be no match for them.
When the professional soldier saw Allen, he stopped at a distance, struck his chest with a fist, and gave a standard military salute.
Cold sweat broke out on Gutenberg’s back. Just how much terrifying power had this young noble accumulated in the shadows where no one could see?
His hand had unknowingly reached into the darkest corners of the city, recruiting and reforming those dark forces to serve his own ends.
After a long silence, Gutenberg let out a long breath, as if a weight of a thousand pounds had been lifted from his shoulders. He turned and bowed deeply to Allen.
“Young Master Allen, we’re with you!”
Allen reached out and firmly grasped the man’s rough hand. “Welcome to the fold, Master Gutenberg.”
Thunderous applause and cheers erupted within the workshop.
“Oh, right, there is one more little thing.” Allen acted as if he had just remembered something and pulled one last blueprint from the bundle. “I’d like to trouble you to help me build this.”
Gutenberg took the blueprint, and upon seeing it, his brows knitted into a tight knot.
The object on the paper was extremely complex, composed of countless springs, gears, steel wheels, and triggers.
It was as precise as a clock, but he couldn’t see the purpose of the thing at all.
“This is?” Gutenberg looked up at Allen in confusion.
A mysterious smile appeared on Allen’s face. “It’s called a ‘Wheellock Gun.’ Do you think you can build it? No matter the cost or the time required, I want as many as you can produce.”
Gutenberg put on his reading glasses and leaned over the blueprint to study it meticulously, muttering to himself.
As a craftsman, his curiosity and desire for a challenge were completely ignited.
“I… I should be able to make it.” Gutenberg spoke cautiously after a long pause.
“But… Young Master, this structure is too complex. The requirements for materials and processing precision are incredibly high. Every single part would need to be meticulously polished and tuned by the most skilled craftsmen. The cost will be very, very expensive. Forgive me for asking, but what is this used for? A new type of… weapon?”
“You could call it a type of weapon.” Allen didn’t deny it. He handed over another, simpler blueprint.
“This is a ‘Socket Bayonet’ to go with it. It can be fitted onto the end of the barrel for use in close combat. You can try to manufacture them together.”
The blueprints Allen provided included two formats: a short, compact wheellock pistol and a longer wheellock musket better suited for aiming.
Allen didn’t lack money and possessed substantial mechanical knowledge himself.
Therefore, he intended to skip the early, clumsy stages of hand cannons and matchlocks, which relied on open flames and were heavily affected by the weather.
As for more advanced rifled muskets, current craftsmanship lacked mature rifling techniques, making mass production difficult.
Thus, considering the current technical level and practical needs, Allen decided to use the wheellock mechanism — with its higher precision and better reliability — as the exclusive weapon for the elite core members of the revolutionary army.
The advantages of the wheellock gun were obvious: it didn’t require a pre-lit match or a fire source.
Soldiers could carry a wound-up wheellock mechanism and priming powder, ready to fire quickly at any time.
Its mechanical ignition was more stable than flintlocks, which required a violent strike against flint, reducing interference with aiming at the moment of firing and thus improving accuracy.
Simultaneously, its ignition success rate was much higher than flintlocks, which were easily affected by weather.
The primary reason the wheellock gun was never mass-produced in the history of Allen’s original world was its complex structure and high cost, making maintenance difficult.
However, for a revolutionary army that couldn’t — and didn’t need to — equip muskets on a massive scale at this stage, equipping a small number of these “premium” weapons was actually the more practical choice.
Since they weren’t going for quantity, they could pursue quality.
Furthermore, once they mastered wheellock manufacturing, developing the relatively simpler flintlock mechanisms later would be much easier.
The true tactical value of the wheellock gun lay in its ability to support entirely new tactics that would leave the medieval armies of this era speechless.
For example, sniping tactics where skirmishers equipped with wheellock muskets could perform precision hits to pick off the enemy’s core elite members.
Combined with the socket bayonet, soldiers could transition into pike formations after firing to deal with cavalry charges, greatly increasing tactical flexibility.
Another example was a new cavalry tactic — the Caracole. Cavalry equipped with wheellock pistols would form several rows, with each row firing in turn at the approaching enemy lines.
After firing, the first row would immediately turn left and move to the rear of the formation to reload, while the second row took their place to fire, continuing the cycle.
This tactic was incredibly effective against pike formations of heavy infantry. The enemies could do nothing but take the hits, having no way to counter.
If the enemy could no longer threaten the cavalry or began to retreat, the pistol-armed cavalry could act as shock troops, charging in to slaughter the infantry.
Against enemy shock cavalry, the pistoliers could charge directly into the enemy formation and use their pistols to fire at the weak points of heavy armor at point-blank range.
After exhausting their ammunition, they could continue the fight with swords or withdraw in a timely manner.
For slow-moving medieval knights who relied on heavy armor, flexible and accurate wheellock gunners would give them a profound lesson that “times have changed.”
After looking at the socket bayonet design, Gutenberg understood that this new weapon could be used like a spear, but he was still curious about how this gun with mechanical parts for ignition actually harmed enemies.
When Gutenberg shared his doubts, Allen simply maintained his mysterious smile.
“You will understand soon. Once my specially formulated gunpowder is ready and you test it yourself, you will see how it will completely overturn this era on a military level.”
Another “era-changing” invention!
Gutenberg realized that by following this Young Master Laval, everything he encountered or created was a feat worthy of the history books. A surge of pride rose in his heart.
“No problem! Leave it to me!” Gutenberg promised, patting his chest. “Later, the Young Master must personally demonstrate how to use it.”
“Of course, I would be happy to,” Allen agreed with a smile.
Allen’s various schemes were gradually bearing fruit. He was truly pushing humanity toward the interstellar age through his own efforts.
Although the current reforms were still far from that era, once the wheels of history began to turn, they would move faster and faster.
Any old powers attempting to block their progress would eventually be heartlessly left behind.
Watching the glowing molten iron and the sweating blacksmiths, Allen couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.
How was the steel tempered? It relied on human wisdom, sweat, an indomitable spirit, and the relentless pursuit of a better future throughout this long cycle of reincarnation.
The corner of Allen’s mouth curled into a faint arc.
‘Well, since this world doesn’t seem to want me, the “Heir of the Villain,” to live a quiet life, I’ll just have to do my best to reshape you into something I like better.’
Allen couldn’t help but imagine a beautiful future where everyone treated the Yuri works he wrote by hand as precious treasures.