Grantville Gazette 38

know what the up-timers say about that.'

'Nothing good,' Friedrich said. 'What is it you want to do that Merkel objects to?'

'I want to try making paper using wood, but Merkel thinks it's too risky.'

'Can you make paper out of wood?'

'The up-timers did, and they made a lot of it.'

'What do you call a lot?' Friedrich asked.

'One factory up-time could make more paper in a single minute than I currently make in a week. In a single day, one up-time factory could make more paper than all of England imports in a year.'

'It's much the same story in brick-making. Some of the up-time kilns could make up to a hundred and fifty thousand bricks a day.'

The two men stared at each other. 'We have a long way to go to catch up,' Gottfried said. If Merkel isn't interested in letting you make paper from wood, what about going out on your own? Can you afford a mill of your own?'

'My savings are enough for a regular mill, but I'll need to borrow if I want to take advantage of the advances in papermaking technology. However, the big problem is finding a source of wood. Everything local already has someone's name on it, and while I could move to somewhere where there is spare wood, I need access to people with the technical knowledge to help me with the chemistry.'

'You are a bit stuck. If I hear of someone local with some spare wood, I'll let you know. How much do you need?'

'If I could get a couple of dozen trees a week, I could match what I'm making at Merkel's.'

'Fifteen reams a day?'

'Of good quality writing paper,' Gottfried said.

'What's so special about good quality writing paper?'

'It sells for a hundred dollars a ream. Paper for newspapers sells for only fifty dollars a ream, but you do get twice as much newsprint per ton.'

'Hang on, half the price for twice as much paper? Surely that makes for the same income?' Friedrich asked.

'Same income, but the costs are higher. You are, after all, making twice as much paper.'

'Well, I wish you luck.'

Gottfried snorted. 'I'll need it.'

****

Gottfried arrived at the usual tavern after work and fell into a chair. 'Merkel's gone too far this time.'

'What's he done?' Friedrich asked.

'He brought in an up-timer consultant to Taylorize the operation.'

'What is Taylorize?' the man on the other side of Friedrich asked.

'Oh, sorry. Gottfried, this is Caspar. He started work at the brick works today,' Friedrich said.

Gottfried reached out and shook the man's hand. 'Pleased to meet you. It's an up-time term, Herr O’Keefe says the idea is to take a complex task, such as making paper, and break it down into a series of simpler tasks. It means that you can make paper with people who haven't served an apprenticeship.'

'So Merkel won't need to employ you any longer?' Friedrich asked.

'No, he'll still have to employ me, or someone like me, to set everything up and make sure everything runs smoothly. The real saving is he can replace the skilled workforce with a cheaper, unskilled workforce and still keep production levels up.'

'How much do the unskilled workers earn?' Caspar asked.

'About twenty dollars a day,' Gottfried said.

'That's more than I earned as a charcoal burner.'

'Is that why you left charcoal burning to work for the brick works?' Gottfried asked.

Caspar shook his head. 'I've been forced out of the woods my family has worked for over a hundred years by the new coke. We used to supply the forges of Kamsdorf, but no more. Everyone uses coke now.'

Gottfried stared at the man. He'd never thought of charcoal making as being a desirable job, but here was someone who sounded like he missed it. 'Surely you're earning better money at the brick works?'

'Better money,' Caspar admitted, 'but I miss the hills.'

'Can't you sell the wood for something else?'

Caspar shook his head. 'We only had the right to use coppice wood for charcoal. As soon as we stop making charcoal the rights revert back to the owners.'

'Who are the owners of the rights?' Gottfried asked.

'The city of Saalfeld owns the land my family works.'

Saalfeld

Veronika checked the latest tax invoice she'd just finished typing. It seemed correct, so she inserted another invoice and typed a second copy. Every form had to be typed out three times-one copy for the customer, one copy for the office, and one copy just because someone seemed to think they needed a third copy. It made for a very boring existence, only relieved by the occasional call to the reception desk. She let her mind drift for a moment, dreaming of how much better things would be when she gained her GED.

'Excuse me!'

She looked up to see a man waiting at the desk. 'One moment,' she called as she hastily finished the invoice she was working on before hurrying over to serve him.

'How can I help you?'

'I would like to talk to someone about taking up the coppice rights to some woods that I believe have become available,' Gottfried Spengler said.

Veronika studied the man. His broad shoulders stretched the woolen fabric of his doublet, while his legs were covered by heavy full-length woolen trousers in the new up-time pattern. He also looked sufficiently affluent that it probably wouldn't be a waste of Stephan's time to speak to the man. 'You'll want to talk to our land lease specialist. If you'd like to take a seat, I'll see if he can see you.'

She left Catrin to watch the desk while she left reception to talk to Stephan. She found him in his office with his nose buried in a massive legal tome. 'Stephan, there's a man in reception who would like to talk to someone about taking up coppice rights.'

'Coppice rights? I wonder what he wants to do with them.' He took off his spectacles and polished them. When they were cleaned to his satisfaction, he put them on. 'And you think it might be worth my time to talk to him?'

Veronika nodded.

'Well, go and get him then.'

****

An hour later Veronika watched Stephan escort his visitor out of the building. It must have been a most productive meeting to have taken so long. 'What did you talk so long about?' she asked Stephan when he returned from showing his visitor out.

'Coppice rights,' Stephan said most un-helpfully.

'But what would you find to talk about for an hour?' Veronika asked.

Stephan stood tall and puffed out his chest. 'I'll have you know coppice rights can be very complex.'

'You can't have been talking about available coppice rights all that time,' Veronika insisted.

Stephan smiled. 'We could have, but we got to talking about why Herr Spengler was interested in purchasing coppice rights.'

Veronika sighed, and glared at Stephan. 'Why does a man who looks like he's a journeyman want coppice wood?'

'He wants to use wood pulp in place of rag pulp to make paper.'

'Can he do that?'

'He believes so. Certainly the up-timers seem to have done so.'

'How much money does he have?' Catrin asked.

'Catrin!' Veronika cried. 'You shouldn't ask questions like that?'

'Well, what else is there worth knowing about a man?'