Building a Viking Empire with Modern Industry-Chapter 187: Future Monopoly

At the moment, Ragnar was sitting in his private study, overseeing the ledgers on his heavy oak desk.

There were several memos of critical importance he had to sign off on. Many of these were focused on the procurement of raw materials for his new Iron Fleet.

To accomplish this, Ragnar had dispatched trade envoys to the deep forests of the Danelaw in an attempt to secure an ample supply of old-growth oak timber.

The reason for this was calculated: while the hulls would be iron, the internal bracing and decking still required massive amounts of high-quality wood, and presently the local markets were saturated with cheap pine.

Thus he could acquire his shipbuilding materials at wholesale value.

As for the procurement of coal to fuel the steam engines, Ragnar had already secured the Nottingham mines for some time. Thus he did not need to negotiate tariffs when it came to acquiring the tonnage he was missing from his current stockpiles in Titan.

Ragnar needed a powerful fleet of at least three Ironclads if he intended to enforce a blockade on the Frankish coast.

These ships would require hundreds of specialized engineers and stokers, and he could not simply hire such a vast technical workforce off the street.

Instead, he was at this moment officially signing into corporate law the establishment of the Directorate Navy and had decided to purchase a few decommissioned cogs from Frisia to act as training vessels.

They would be docked in the Humber Estuary, where he would funnel recruits over to the region to train as stokers and naval gunners.

He severely lacked nautical experts for his enterprise. The Kingdom of Northumbria, despite holding a vast coastline, had never bothered developing a standardized Navy. Instead, they merely had unorganized raiding fleets and fishing boats.

Thus Ragnar desired to headhunt some professionals, and in doing so, looked towards veterans of the Frisian merchant fleets to act as instructors to his new recruits.

The capital expenditures for the construction of his Navy were growing by the day, but they were a necessary investment.

Without a powerful Iron Fleet, his future monopoly would never be able to maintain control over the trade routes that would be vital to the success of his Brand.

On top of all of this, Ragnar had to draft a basic training manual for the Navy; luckily, he had a little bit of knowledge of modern naval discipline from his previous life as a corporate auditor.

Many hours passed, and eventually, Ragnar had finished all of the necessary paperwork to start the foundation of the Iron Fleet.

After the last stroke of his quill was signed, he let out a heavy sigh and leaned back in his leather chair while stretching his muscles before expressing his thoughts aloud.

"The work of a Sole Trustee is never finished."

After finishing his administrative duties for the day, Ragnar left his study and entered the dining hall, where he found Gyda and Eadwig engaged in another hostile dispute.

The sight of which instantly brought a sense of market fatigue to Ragnar.

He could not wait to finally buy out this little liability, but it could not be too sudden.

Otherwise, the breach of contract would surely fall on his shoulders, and the other regional managers of Mercia would file grievances against him.

Gyda was furious. Eadwig had made a comment that had visibly depreciated her patience, and she quickly slammed a heavy ledger onto the table before yelling at him.

"You entitled intern! Who do you think you are? How dare you question my accounting!"

Eadwig’s insubordination was becoming more frequent, and Gyda was usually the one who had to audit his behavior.

However, the following words that came out of his mouth invoked Gyda’s ire and Ragnar’s.

"You calculating witch! Just because you share a bed with the Director doesn’t mean you hold the voting rights over my guild!"

Eadwig’s fists were curled as if he were ready to strike, and the Iron Guards were once more moving into position to secure the asset; however, when they noticed Ragnar’s slow approach, the rhythmic clank of his leg brace echoing with a murderous cadence, they immediately held their positions.

The Iron Father wanted to handle this HR issue personally.

Just when Eadwig was about to lunge at Gyda, he felt a heavy, steel-capped cane hook around his ankle.

With a sharp tug, Ragnar pulled the boy’s leg out from under him. Eadwig crashed face-first onto the wooden floorboards, the wind knocked out of his lungs.

As he gasped for air, Ragnar calmly placed the heavy iron boot of his braced leg squarely in the center of the boy’s back, pinning him to the floor.

Gyda gazed at Ragnar with a cold, appreciative smile on her lips; she loved it when her partner enforced the corporate hierarchy and liquidated those who insulted her.

This was not the first time he had taken decisive action to protect her authority.

She instantly recalled the time Ragnar had restructured the command staff during the hostile takeover of York.

It only took a few seconds for Eadwig to regain his breath, and when he did, he panicked; he had no leverage and was completely immobilized.

When he finally craned his neck to look up, he saw Ragnar staring down at him, his monocle reflecting the harsh gaslight. Eadwig did not immediately realize that Ragnar was casually adjusting his cuffs while standing on him.

Upon seeing the boy’s furious gaze, Ragnar stopped adjusting his sleeves and put on a terrifyingly blank expression as he looked down at Eadwig.

Ragnar slowly leaned his weight onto his cane, increasing the pressure on the boy’s spine, but not enough to permanently damage the asset. Afterward, he coldly stated a clear policy.

"If I hear you questioning the CFO’s ledgers or see you attempting a hostile action against her again... I will permanently terminate your contract."

Eadwig put on a tough facade, despite the intense fear he felt in his chest, before scoffing at Ragnar’s words.

"Is that a threat?"

Ragnar, however, coldly tapped his cane against the floor before responding.

"It is a corporate guarantee."

With that, Ragnar lifted his boot and walked over to the Iron Guards in the room who witnessed the entire display; he nodded to the shift supervisor who was about to intervene before his arrival and said with a polite corporate smile on his face.

"The Figurehead is experiencing burnout; escort him to his quarters so that he can review the employee handbook..."

Hearing this, a pair of heavily armored guards marched over to Eadwig and lifted him off the floor by his armpits, where they then responded with the required corporate greeting.

"Right away, Director," before escorting the boy to his room. All the while, Eadwig threw a tantrum.

"Let me go! I own the mines! I am not burnt out, damn you!"

After he was no longer visible and his screams were muffled by the heavy doors, Gyda smirked slightly before offering a professional critique.

"Experiencing burnout? Really? That was your official statement?"

Ragnar chuckled alongside his partner as he approached the table and poured himself a cup of black coffee.

"It maintained plausible deniability, didn’t it?"

After saying that, the couple resumed their review of the daily output quotas for a few moments; they became ever closer to discussing the profit margins of the new steam hammers, that is, of course, until Ragnar spotted Elfrida sitting at her spot at the dining table with a deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face.

The entire time she was sitting quietly in her spot observing the physical altercation, and now that Ragnar was so casually discussing industrial output after pinning a boy to the floor, she did not know how to react.

As such, Ragnar froze into place before awkwardly addressing his sister-in-law.

"Oh, Elfrida... I didn’t see you reviewing the inventory."

Hearing this, Gyda immediately cleared her throat; she had utterly forgotten Elfrida was present and had lost herself in the efficiency of the moment.

As such, she quietly closed her ledger and straightened her posture.

After doing so, she quickly recovered her professional demeanor and sat in her seat. Elfrida was frozen in place as if she had just seen a hostile merger up close.

She had no idea how to react to the scene in front of her, and thus she just began to stare at her empty plate.

Luckily not long after, the catering staff arrived, and with them, the evening meal was prepared for Ragnar and his board.

This scene broke up the awkward silence that had permeated the air... allowing Ragnar and Gyda to recover from their display of raw authority just moments earlier.

Thus Ragnar enjoyed a highly efficient meal with his family, all while calculating the day he could finally lay the keel of the DIR Gyda.

He needed to secure more iron plating, which could only be smelted in the new blast furnaces.

If not for the logistical risks that involved rushing the construction, he would have gladly ordered double shifts by now.

However, the Iron Fleet and its launch were of vital strategic importance to his future monopoly.

Thus he would never allow its existence to be public knowledge until after he had already begun to dominate the shipping lanes.

These were the projections that flowed through Ragnar’s mind as he dined in silence with his executives.