Building a Viking Empire with Modern Industry-Chapter 90: Kings are Obsolete

After a successful "Hostile Takeover" of Nottingham and its stable integration into the Jernheim subsidiary network, Ragnar waited a few days for inventory auditing and supply chain optimization.

Now that he had effectively liquidated the competition in the Midlands, he could establish a stable logistical hub to supply his southern expansion, which would go a long way towards establishing a monopoly in England. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

No matter how efficient his "Industrial Corps" was, if they were cut off from their supply of "Nutrient Bricks" and crossbow bolts, it would only mean a drop in quarterly performance; as such, Ragnar and his workforce waited in Nottingham for a few days to fully restructure the local economy before moving out.

During this time, Ragnar personally oversaw his Human Resources department and ensured they conducted themselves in a professional manner.

The captured Saxon Thanes were afforded proper, and the civilians were left to go about their daily lives without harassment, provided they paid the new "Protection Subscription Fee." So long as there was no breach of contract, Ragnar would tolerate their grumbling.

...

Despite Ragnar’s reputation for ruthless efficiency, he was still considered a foreign disruptor in the Kingdom of Mercia. As such, there was naturally a degree of market resistance to his monopoly.

Nevertheless, it never got out of hand. Therefore, Ragnar never cracked down upon it during his stay. Sometimes the potential employees needed to vent their frustrations about the new zoning laws, and Ragnar knew this all too well.

His orders for the "Loss Prevention" team were to build synergistic ties with the locals and only use the "Force-Multipliers" as a last resort.

It was a completely different occupation than the Vikings of old; there was no pillaging, only taxation.

To properly secure the branch office, Ragnar left a specialized unit of the "Range Department" behind: a total of five Torsion Spikes (heavy ballistae) and the necessary engineers to calibrate them.

Word surely would have spread by now of his acquisition of Nottingham, and that might entice King Aethelred to march north in an attempt to break his hold.

Unfortunately for the Saxons, if they decided to march upon Nottingham, they would be met with a fully renovated castle featuring pre-sighted kill zones and 800 men with repeating crossbows defending the ramparts.

Eventually, his supply wagons were fully loaded with confiscated grain, and his army was prepared to march toward the ultimate prize: the trade hubs of the South.

As such, Ragnar once more mounted his massive stallion, Calculus, before standing at the head of the formation.

He checked his pocket watch, looked upon his employees with a calculated nod, and declared the order they had all been waiting for.

"Shift starts now! Forward March!"

Thus an army of over 4,000 men departed from the castle of Nottingham as they set forth for their destination, which was the border of Wessex, where they would engage in another fierce audit for dominance of the island.

As the army marched, the rhythmic stomping of steel-shod boots echoed in the wet English air, and the men began to sing the lyrics to the new corporate shanty.

The sight of thousands of soldiers departing through the city gates into the misty lowlands as they sang about industrial output could be observed by the people of Nottingham as they gazed upon the departing machine with a mixture of terror and confusion.

In the grey drizzle of morning, Ragnar’s soldiers marched with focused expressions on their faces; the drudgery of the march did not dispirit them.

Rather, their overwhelming bonuses and the might of the "Spicy Mix" grenades they carried managed to lift their spirits, knowing that they were able to dismantle a kingdom effectively, and its capital, with minimal overhead costs.

Ragnar hummed along to the tune that was playing, which was a heavy, rhythmic chant set to the beat of a steam hammer a melody he had adapted from the industrial factories of his previous life.

Seeing the rare, genuine smile on the Director’s face, General Bjorn sighed heavily; every time he rode alongside Ragnar, the strange man was filled with a terrifying eagerness to restructure the world.

Bjorn had never witnessed a Jarl so eager to fight alongside his troops at the frontlines.

The complete and total disregard for the traditional safety of a leader baffled him. As such, he could not help but ask Ragnar what possessed him to behave in such a hands-on manner.

"Director, if I may file a query... why are you always the first into the breach? You have a Prime Minister to manage the books and Generals to swing the hammers. Should you not be in the rear, managing the macro-strategy?"

Ragnar’s pleasant hum switched to a sharp, executive grin upon hearing those words before speaking his mind.

"A Chief Executive Officer should always stress-test the prototype personally, Bjorn!"

It was a baffling response that made Bjorn look more confusedly upon his Director.

Of course, that was only part of the reason Ragnar jumped into the fray at the first opportunity he got.

Much like the tech moguls of the 21st century who obsessed over every detail of their product, Ragnar was not only good at "Hostile Takeovers" but thoroughly enjoyed the process.

The adrenaline he felt as the Saxon arrows shattered against his munitions plate, the acrid smell of sulfur filling the air as his Grenadiers cleared a room, and the exhilaration he felt as he proved that physics always beat tradition.

These were things that could not be replicated in a boardroom.

Truthfully, Ragnar did not know when he began to take pleasure in the violence; it was not something he enjoyed in his past life during his tenure as a structural engineer.

Yet he did not feel guilty for it; after all, Ragnar never once proclaimed himself to be a pacifist. In fact, if a modern HR department truly existed here, he knew he would be facing multiple lawsuits.

Yet he was not concerned with modern ethics; after all, he had already died of stress once, and all that presented to him now was an opportunity to build a perfect system in this chaotic second life.

Thus, Ragnar did not concern himself with such subjective things as "chivalry." He had a monopoly to build, and if he was going to be dismantling feudalism, he might as well enjoy the demolition.

"Think of it this way, Bjorn," Ragnar continued, gesturing to the endless rows of grey pikes marching behind them.

"If I sit in the tower, I am just a King. And Kings are obsolete. They rely on hearsay and messengers. But if I am here, in the mud, I am a Manager. I can see the inefficiencies. I can see where the formation lags. I can see which Sergeant needs a performance review."

Bjorn chuckled, shaking his head. "You just like hitting things with that fancy sword, Ragnar."

"That too," Ragnar admitted, patting the hilt of his Messer. "But mostly, it is about the data. Every battle is a dataset. And I am collecting it all."

History would not write about this internal monologue of Ragnar’s personality, for he and his printing presses would ultimately write the history books.

Ragnar knew that future generations might look upon him as a tyrant or a sorcerer. Instead, the textbooks would recognize him as the "Great Modernizer" who rose to the occasion to unite the fractured kingdoms in a time of great economic stagnation, a man who always looked out for the GDP of his people, and most of all, led the North into a new age of standardization and indoor plumbing.