Episode 105 — The Separation of Powers in Capital

"Alright, regarding the prospectus for the Gara-Mon Factory, Zect... we should probably go groveling to the Lord and have him dump a massive chunk of the national budget—well, the Felsen public funds—into this, shouldn’t we?"

Garam spoke while tapping the budget figures written on the parchment with the handle of his hammer. Beside him, Edmon nodded while preparing an ostentatious wax seal.

"I agree. For a project of this magnitude, the fastest route is having the Lord—Lord Gustav—approve it as a 'Public Works' project. For the Guild, having official backing makes the requisitioning of materials much smoother."

(And there it is. The second anyone tries to do something big, they immediately look for a government handout. From an OS architecture standpoint, that mindset introduces a fatal vulnerability—a massive bug.)

"...No. I’m not letting Gustav provide a single cent of 'budget'."

"What?! Why the hell not?! He’s the Master of Felsen! How are we supposed to build a factory of this insane scale without mooching off the guy with the most gold?!"

Garam stood up with enough force to nearly kick his chair over. Edmon, too, was looking at me as if I’d just suggested we set the money on fire.

"Listen, you two. 'Public Works' is the hardest system in the world to implement a 'spec change' for. The moment you use the Lord’s money, you’ll have bureaucrats crawling all over this factory. Every time you want to tweak the thread of a screw, you’ll be forced to fill out ten forms and wait a month for authorization. A program that requires legislative approval for every single ‘compile’ is a project where development velocity goes to die."

"...Bureaucratic intervention. True, having those ants crawling all over my ledgers would be nauseatingly inefficient," Edmon muttered, his face twisting in disgust.

"That’s why this project stays in the 'Private Sector.' However, we *will* have Gustav provide the money."

"If we take a loan from the Lord, the interest payments will become a burden. The cash flow until we’re operational would be..."

"We aren’t taking a loan. We’re going to have Gustav *invest*."

"In-vest...? Another one of your strange words, I take it?"

"To put it simply, we’re selling 'Tickets to the Future' of this factory. In exchange for providing the startup capital, we give him a ticket that lets him receive a share of the factory’s future profits—'Dividends'—in perpetuity. Gustav, the Merchant Guild, and the Craftsmen’s Union. These three parties will contribute funds in an exact one-to-one-to-one ratio."

I drew three equal-sized circles on the table.

"Why a three-way split? If the Merchant Guild held the majority, decision-making would be much swifter."

(Spoken like a true merchant. Already trying to secure a majority stake to seize the initiative.)

"That’s exactly what makes it dangerous. The moment one person holds fifty-one percent of the rights, the factory becomes their personal toy. If a merchant holds it, they’ll exploit the workers; if a craftsman holds it, they’ll ignore the bottom line; if the Lord holds it, you get a dictatorship. ...That’s why we split it three ways, creating a system where 'nothing can be decided unless at least two parties agree.' In my world, we call this decentralized governance, or 'Multi-sig'."

Garam crossed his arms and groaned.

"...So, we take the Lord’s money, but we don't give him command of the floor? Why would Gustav agree to such a convenient deal? Giving away a third of the profits just to be told he has no say?"

"He’ll agree. Gustav is smart. A new industry grows in his territory without him doing a thing, and 'dividends' will pile up in his vault automatically, separate from tax revenue. Risk is split three ways, and the return is passive. For a Lord, there is no investment with better ROI."

Edmon’s eyes began to sparkle like a calculator. He hid his mouth behind his fan and let out a low chuckle.

"...Magnificent. Selling tickets for 'rights' that have no physical form, using other people’s money to build a massive production facility... and then forcing the three of us to coexist while monitoring each other. Zect... your mindset tames the very greed of merchants by locking it into a system. This is... a new faith called 'Economics'."

"Mrow. (In other words, to make your own life as easy as possible, you put three predators in the same cage and tied them together so they can't fight.)"

Listening to Tama’s commentary, I finished my Cola.

"Alright, it’s settled then. Garam provides the 'Skill' of the craftsmen. Edmon provides the 'Capital' of the merchants. Gustav provides the 'Credit' of the Lord. We bring those three together in equal parts to launch the Gara-Mon Factory. ...Oh, don't mind me. I'll just be the Advisor. I’ll just 'debug' things if something goes wrong."

"Hmph... A three-way split. I don't like it, but I guess it’s the only way to shut up this bean counter and the Lord at the same time."

"Agreed. Then let us immediately draft an 'Investment Proposal' for Lord Gustav. This is not a petition; it is a sales pitch for a lottery ticket where the jackpot is guaranteed."

The two of them cast aside their previous hostile atmosphere. Already wearing the faces of "Gara-Mon" owners, they began heatedly adjusting the numbers.

(Lord, Merchant, Artisan... once these three gears mesh, a massive industrial complex will practically build itself. The Felsen Industrial Revolution is officially locked and loaded. This is the birth of the world’s first 'Corporation'.)

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