Tyranny of Steel

Weeks had passed since Berengar returned to Kufstein, and during this time, he had been focused on expanding his naval capacity. Compared to the Venetian Arsenal, he still lacked output, even though he had three shipyards equal in scale, if not more significant. 

The reason for this was simple, a lack of experience on the part of the workers who created the ships from the prefabricated components. The Venetians had centuries of experience building vessels, and as such, they could crank out a single ship every day. 

Whether or not they could manufacture the cannons necessary to equip these vessels was another story. After all, they were using relatively small-bore primitive bronze cannons at this point. Bronze is a much rarer material than Iron, and of course, more expensive. The Venetian warships also lacked broadside cannons, with their armaments exclusively being located at the fore and aft positions.

Compared to the Venetian Arsenal, Berengar's shipyards in Trieste and Pola, dedicated to Naval Armament, were only capable of producing one ship every four days. However, these ships were fifth-rate frigates with a total of forty-four 24 lb cannons on board. As such, his Navy began to expand rapidly in terms of the number of vessels available, and thus Berengar had to boost recruitment efforts towards his Navy.

As for his Merchant fleet, it was also growing rapidly, with one clipper being built every three days. While Naval power was necessary to secure his dominion over the region, a properly established merchant fleet was necessary to establish trade across the Mediterranean. 

At the moment, Berengar's Grand Army was 50,000 strong and was the most well-equipped and trained army in all of Europe. However, his Navy severely lacked comparison, with only 10,000 recruits over the past year, which was barely enough to field 45 vessels. 

At the moment, Berengar was in the middle of implementing an essential resource to his Naval Vessels. He was honestly surprised that he had not thought of such a thing before. His vessels were currently using inferior hemp rope, and he was planning to improve it with superior manila rope when he reached the Philippines, much like how the Spanish had done in his previous life.

However, Berengar came to a sudden realization that he had a far more valuable resource and a vast stockpile of it that could be utilized in the manufacture of rope for sailing vessels. This material was, of course, high carbon steel.

Beginning in the 1830s of Berengar's previous life, steel wire rope had started to replace the traditional manila rope used by most sailing vessels. The reason for this was that steel wire rope was superior in strength, durability, and flexibility compared to textile rope.

Due to the advancements in steel-making technology and the massive supply the Europeans were able to produce during this time; they used such materials to improve the rigging of their sailing vessels.

As such, Berengar had begun to place an order to construct high carbon galvanized steel wire where it would be converted into ropes for sailing and replace the existing hemp ropes that were used on what few vessels Berengar had available. 

It was best to make these innovations as early as possible. As such, Berengar had begun to implement them for all new vessels in the future; he also planned to convert the ropes on the existing ships as quickly as he could manage. 

After drafting the designs and sending them to his industrial district within Trieste via a courier, Berengar sat back and relaxed in his dining hall. Just when he was about to sip some tea, he received some shocking news from one of his servants who had appeared before him.

"Your grace, Sir Andronikos of the Byzantine Empire is here to speak with you..."

Upon hearing this, Berengar sighed before getting up from his seat and approaching the great hall, leaving behind his tea in the process. When Berengar arrived, the man from the east had a broad smile on his face as he greeted the young Duke of Austria.

"Your grace, it is good to see that you are well!"

Berengar put on a smile as he greeted the man who had long since become his primary means of trade with the East since Arethas had become engaged in his campaign for North Africa.

"And you as well, my friend, tell me how is the war effort going in Egypt and Lybia?"

Andronikos sighed as he heard this question and revealed the results of the ongoing campaign. 

"For the most part, it is going well; we have seized a quarter of Egypt and Libya and are currently expanding forward. However, the Knights Hospitaller, who has supported us for some time, has begun to withdraw. 

Those fanatics realized that we were being supplied by Austria and immediately became offended. Stating it was either you or them, we chose your support. Seeing as your weapons are superior to the men they provide for the war effort."

Berengar chuckled at this comment before shifting the conversation to the issue at hand.

"Tell me, Andronikos, why are you here in Kufstein?" 

The Byzantine man smiled before pulling out a ceramic jar; he revealed the contents within after opening it. Berengar was shocked when he saw what was inside the container. Small dark brown beans that Berengar instantly recognized. 

The young Duke's eyes grew wide with excitement when he saw what was in front of him; as such, he grabbed ahold of one of the beans and sniffed it to make sure he was not dreaming. What Andronikos had brought him was something he had desired since he arrived in this world; it was none other than coffee!

As such, Berengar immediately inquired about where Andronikos had gotten such a thing.

"Tell me, my friend, where did you get this?"

Andronikos was surprised that Berengar asked where he obtained the coffee beans, not what they were; nevertheless, he began to inform Berengar of his recent discovery.

"Not long ago, I was invited to Ethiopia by one of the local noblemen; when I arrived, I was served this bitter tea, except it wasn't tea, and it provided substantial benefits such as an increase in energy and focus. The Ethiopians explained to me that this is God's gift to the world, and they call it coffee!

Naturally, I bought an ample supply of it, and the first thing I thought of when I returned home was the potential that such a product has. While we in the Empire have access to the trade routes in the Mediterranean, it would be difficult for us to sell the substance further into Europe. 

As such, I thought of a trading partner with a significant deal of reach further inland, and immediately your name came to mind.  Allow me to brew a drink for you to see for yourself how excellent this product is. If you enjoy it and think it has as much potential as I do, we can discuss importing it into Kufstein, where you can resell it to the rest of Europe!"

Berengar naturally accepted his offer and led the man to the kitchen, where he ground the beans into a fine powder before boiling water and adding it through the filter to create a cup of coffee. Berengar tasted the bitter black substance with a smile on his face while nodding his head.

"It is wonderful, but don't you think it would taste better with something added to it? Maybe some milk and sugar?"

Andronikos had not thought about this, and as such, was interested in the topic. Therefore Berengar made a mixture of the coffee with milk and sugar added to it before handing a cup to Andronikos. After the man sipped from the ceramic cup, his eyes widened, and a giant smile formed on his face.

"This tastes so much better than the coffee by itself! Your grace, you are a genius!"

After hearing this, Berengar merely smiled in silence and drank from his cup of coffee. Finally, he had acquired one of the many things he missed from his previous life in the twenty-first century.  After the two men had drunk their fair share of coffee, Berengar began to speak to Andronikos about his decision. 

"I will buy as much of the material as you can give me, and I would be more than happy to sell it across Austria and the neighboring regions. Considering your lack in trade routes to the North, the two of us combined can sell this fine substance across all of Europe and make a major profit off of it!"

After hearing this, Andronikos smiled; the remaining details about what the cost was for importing the coffee and what Berengar would resell it at was negotiated over a breakfast, where Berengar and Andronikos introduced coffee to Linde, Honoria, and Henrietta, all three of which fell in love with the drink. 

With milk and sugar added to the mix, coffee would become a desirable commodity within Europe in due time; both Austria and the Byzantine Empire would make a fortune off of the monopoly they would establish over the substance. After all, few in Europe had contact with Ethiopia and were unaware of where the strange drink originated from. 

Berengar was delighted to know that by supplying the Byzantines with arms in this timeline, they were capable of recapturing large swaths of Egypt and Lybia, where they immediately took advantage of the newly gained territory to send trade expeditions into Africa, in doing so bringing Coffee to Europe over a century earlier than it had been done in his previous life's history.

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