Public Bidding (1)
A new office and service window had been installed in the trading post building.
It was still temporary, of course. There were plans to construct a separate, standalone building next to the Administrative Welfare Center in the future.
"A Credit Union?"
"A Chamber of Commerce?"
Countless people visiting the trading post to buy and sell goods murmured as they looked at the newly opened windows.
Notices were posted everywhere, but for the outside merchants, the content wasn't particularly worth noting.
Because right there in the very first line, it clearly stated: "Limited to those based in the North, or Northern-native merchants and artisans."
"Hello!"
"Melania!"
The first visitor to find the quiet window was Melania.
She was the very woman who had first taken on the challenge of food delivery, and who made the dumplings that Jamie was still absolutely crazy about.
"Oh, is it coming soon?"
"There's only a month or two left now."
Having originally worked in the Lord's castle kitchen, she was quite close with the lower-ranking officials she had lived and worked with.
The clerk at the window smiled brightly and asked familiarly, "What are you going to name the baby?"
The two chatted for a long time.
"But what brings you here?"
"What do you mean, what brings me here? I saw the notice posted. I want to join both the Chamber of Commerce and the Credit Union. It’s possible right away, right?"
"Of course."
The Chamber of Commerce.
It was a self-governing association for merchants and artisans, organized to maintain order among local businesspeople and to stand together against external threats.
It would also take on the role of monitoring merchants to ensure they didn't collude or squeeze small-scale trading groups, managing markets and shopping districts on behalf of the government, maintaining product quality, and inspecting the proficiency of craftsmen to assign grades.
"Until the executives of the Chamber are elected, the Lord's castle will manage it."
"And after the executives are elected?"
"From then on, they'll have to manage it themselves."
Aiden had no intention of being deeply involved in the Chamber of Commerce.
He believed that the government's job was to create the soil for them to solve problems on their own, even if they arose.
In fact, in the modern world, this would be a clause perfect for merchants and artisans to rise up in protest.
But in a class-based society where the Lord is king, this level of conditional clause wasn't exactly a serious issue.
Aiden was an administrator, not a merchant.
Therefore, he had no choice but to care about both merchants and non-merchants.
He judged that if a merchant made a lot of money, but that money was the result of exploiting the residents of the North, it would be better not to accumulate such wealth at all.
"Melania, you should run for an executive position later!"
"Me? Ha! Where would someone like me have the capacity for that?"
"What's wrong with you?"
"Huh?"
The lower-ranking official helping with the registration at the window was Melania's close friend and a regular customer who had been coming since the early days of the restaurant.
"I've seen with my own eyes how you've been expanding your business; you're fully qualified!"
"Still, how can you call this a business? I'm just running a food shop..."
"Oh, come on! You were the first one to spread the concept of delivery in our North, weren't you? Your restaurant is doing well, right? You even built a chicken farm to supply ingredients to the restaurant stably! And you said you're going to open a second branch near the Cat-folk village in the spring!"
"That's true, but..."
Melania scratched her cheek, feeling a bit shy at the praise coming from her friend's mouth.
However, in her heart, she thought:
'Should I try running?'
One thing she realized after starting her business:
It wasn't that she liked cooking, but that making money through cooking was much more fun.
If she was going to spend her whole life making food and running a business anyway, wouldn't it be fine to wear a title like that once?
"I'll think about it. More than that, you need to help me join the Credit Union quickly."
"Ah, right. Look at my mind!"
"Did you read what the Credit Union is?"
"Yes. A funding organization, right?"
"Exactly. Still, this isn't a self-governing body for merchants like the Chamber of Commerce, but belongs to the Lord's castle, so I have to explain it a bit."
"Even though I read about it?"
"Explaining it is mandatory."
"Ah."
The clerk winked. She added that it was the rule to explain everything about money matters before getting the petitioner's signature, so it couldn't be helped even if it took some time.
"First, the member's capital contribution. You must pay the minimum amount to be recognized as a member."
"It doesn't matter if I pay more, right?"
"Of course. We'll use the capital to lend to members at low interest rates, and we'll also jointly handle things like warehouse rentals, transport costs, and ingredient purchases."
"Certainly, the burden is huge if you do it alone."
"Also, if something happens between members, we'll help each other with family events."
"That's good."
"And also-."
The explanation continued for a long time.
As the first petitioner, the clerks weren't fully accustomed to it yet.
"Should I put the capital contribution here?"
"Yes. The minimum amount is..."
"I'm going to do this much."
"......!"
Melania took out a money pouch with a grin.
"...Melania, you've made a lot of money?!"
"It's all thanks to the customers."
"Like me?"
"Yes, like you."
"Hahahaha!"
Food businesses are quite lucrative once they get on track.
Although labor costs increased as the scale grew, unlike in the modern world, there were no expensive rent costs, no platform entry fees that were essentially daylight robbery, and no promotion costs where you paid whatever they asked, so restaurants that had established themselves like Melania's were literally raking in money.
'Storing money in a wardrobe just makes me worry about thieves.'
The Credit Union also served as a primitive bank. At the same time, one-stop investment was possible.
Melania, who noticed this, decided to bet her future on the potential of the North without further ado.
Thump, thump-!
"Oh my!"
"What's wrong?"
"The baby just kicked my belly."
"It must be cheering for you."
"That must be it."
The baby in her belly seemed excited about its mother's decision too.
***
"The number of subscribers is increasing rapidly?"
Aiden, who received the report, asked with a surprised face.
No, what kind of neighborhood was this to have subscribers increasing like that?
"Hehe. There are many people who have two or three jobs. Farming in spring and summer, hunting in winter, and chopping wood when work is slow."
In summary, it meant that anyone who had experience making and selling things was joining the union.
"Should we make only merchants of a certain scale join?"
"There's no need for that. There was already a regulation from the beginning, wasn't there? That if there's no continuous commercial activity, the membership status is revoked."
"That's right, isn't it?"
"Then leave it alone for now."
It wasn't illegal, and they were just small business owners, so there was no reason to stop them.
'Where would there be a proper mid-sized trading group in the North to begin with.'
Everyone was just starting out, so if he discriminated by scale already, there wouldn't be any members left.
"We should make a union for farmers right away too."
"Actually, I heard there are farmers who feel left out. Some even came to the window and said, 'I also grow and sell crops, so aren't I half a merchant?'"
"Excuse me, Administrative Officer."
Kalisa interrupted.
"If so, rather than creating a separate union for farmers, how about creating divisions within the existing Credit Union?"
"Divide it into divisions?"
"Yes. If we have a merchant division, an artisan division, and a farmer division separately, and manage and coordinate funds, it would be much more efficient."
Aiden nodded with a very satisfied face.
"That's certainly true. Logistics could also circulate within the union itself."
"It will also become easier to check the types and quantities of goods needed between merchants and farmers."
"And that would be much more efficient?"
"Yes."
"Good, let's proceed with that. Oh, let's make one more division. A welfare division should be enough."
Welfare.
Work that enriches life.
"I think it will be needed as educators, scholars, healers, or religious figures increase in the future, so let's make it in advance."
Keeping one's feet on the ground while looking further ahead.
That was what Aiden thought administration was.
'Hmm?'
But for some reason, Jamie's expression wasn't very good.
"What is it? Is there something bothering you?"
"Ah, no. I think it's a very good plan, Administrative Officer."
"Then why?"
"That is..."
Jamie, who was scratching his head, revealed his inner thoughts with an expression that suggested it was suffocating just to think about it.
"I'm worried that the windows might become paralyzed."
"Window paralysis?"
"Yes."
"Is the manpower that lacking? You placed enough staff since it's the beginning. You said they were gaining experience and their consultation proficiency wasn't bad, right?"
He had clearly checked the report that the number of complaints handled by one clerk was increasing.
"That, if the agricultural division is created, it will probably fall back to the bottom again."
At Jamie's words, Aiden thought, 'So what?' but then his eyes widened as if he had been struck by lightning.
"...Illiteracy rate!"
"Yes. Merchants often learn numbers and learn to read letters, even if it's stumbling. But farmers..."
"It would be a miracle if they could write their family members' names."
Jamie nodded.
"It can't be helped. Let's hold information sessions. The illiteracy problem won't be solved overnight."
"Yes. I will prepare to dispatch staff to each village to explain the union to groups and take questions."
"It will take some time."
"Still, this will be the most efficient way."
"Anyway, illiteracy rate. I need to get my hands on this too, eventually."
If the North grows in the future, the illiteracy rate will increasingly become a stumbling block.
It's obvious that as society becomes more sophisticated, the level of knowledge required will also increase, and if the Northerners can't keep up, it's obvious that outsiders will end up taking all the key positions and the honey pots.
Looking at the cases of numerous developing countries in the 21st century, education of insiders was essential to prevent them from only doing good for outsiders.
'Still, suddenly eradicating illiteracy here.'
Aiden wasn't unaware of it.
But it was also true that he just wanted to ignore it.
Setting aside functional literacy, in the Korean Peninsula, it's the national rule that everyone learns to read and write by the time they are eight years old.
The MZ civil servant, who didn't feel anything from the local elder's boasting about working at a night school for illiteracy eradication, had zero experience in eradicating illiteracy.
The closest thing he had done was operating a Korean language class for foreign workers.
'But even this was all outsourced.'
All the Aiden of his previous life did was post a business bidding notice, select a decent company, operate it, receive satisfaction surveys, and decide whether to replace the company or renew the contract.
'...Hmm?'
Wait, no?
Can't I just outsource it this time too?