How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony

Slowly, the village structure began to reorganize.

Changes occurred in the Chesapeake settlement, where a dozen or so villages of 3,000 to 5,000 people were scattered.

Gradually, people flocked around the shopping complexes, and the village structures began to rearrange.

Surprised by the sudden mass migration to certain areas, Kin Issei and the apostles established shopping complexes in other villages as well, but this only slightly eased the trend.

This is how Virginia's first city with a population exceeding 10,000 was born.

The shopping complexes also doubled or tripled in size, becoming increasingly vibrant.

And then...

"I need to... expand my business."

Tarren, a Welsh carpenter, gathered his family and spoke while looking at the pile of Osello chips before him.

"With this much, I need to hire other carpenters and train new assistants. If we keep working just among ourselves with only one workshop, we'll wear ourselves out."

All the other family members agreed. They could have said it didn't matter if they quit the business if it was too hard, but no one suggested that.

The table they were gathered around was mahogany imported from Asia.

The carpet under their feet was said to be from Persia.

They were drinking black tea imported from China.

...They couldn't give up this lifestyle.

"Let's try living in a palace-like house for once! Let's live luxuriously, that's what I'm saying!"

"I... don't want to nitpick, but a palace-like house seems difficult. There's no one to clean it..."

"Hmm? If we pay a higher price for someone..."

"Who would come? It's not like people are struggling to make a living."

"...Is that so?"

What a strange situation.

Anyway, our family's goal is to expand the business.

Tarren, while tilting his head, declared this.

After the family meeting, he posted job listings on the bulletin board in the middle of the shopping district a few days later and spread the word through his network that he was looking for people.

He also went to the "Chesapeake Port Shopping Complex Management Group" to ask if he could expand his workshop and prepared to move. He imported tools from England and France for the new hires to use.

And.

"..."

"..."

"..."

No one applied for months.

'...That's strange?'

As far as I know, there are plenty of carpenters in this area. Why aren't they coming?

Moreover, he couldn't find apprentices either, despite offering wages several times higher than what he paid in Wales.

"We're in the same situation! It's ridiculous, isn't it? They say young people these days have become so lazy that they don't want to do any substantial work."

Tarren, feeling puzzled, talked with the florist next door, but the situation was the same.

"Me? Work together? Uh... under you? Then I'll have to decline."

"Well, I'm not sure... I'm already busy volunteering to build the cathedral."

"I'm currently working on the new synagogue the community is building."

When he contacted his former carpenter colleagues, they all either claimed to be busy with public projects or openly avoided working under him.

"Well... I wouldn't mind if we were business partners, but working under you is a bit..."

"I'll pay you well!"

"Who works for money these days?"

If not for money, then what does one work for?

...As soon as he thought that, his friend's hand caught his eye.

On what should be an ordinary carpenter's fingers... hung numerous gold ornaments.

Ah.

That's right.

Who would work for money these days?

Money comes in even if they do nothing.

==

The ancient sages said that agriculture is the great foundation of the world and commerce is a lesser occupation.

Honoring the spirit of my ancestors (come to think of it, I don't need to honor their souls. It's the Edo period now), I first surveyed the Agricultural Knights' business status.

Only then did I turn my attention to the trading company run by Raleigh.

With multi-level marketing, agriculture, and various industries all growing, the trading company must be recording tremendous profits. Exports must be two or three times imports...

"Sigh, it's profitable, but it doesn't feel profitable."

"Pardon?"

"With this much production, when I calculate the balance of trade with Great Britain, we only have this much left."

"...Only this much?"

"Yes. It improves when we include trade with France, but not dramatically."

...That's unexpected?

After finishing my conversation with Raleigh, I realized something unusual was happening.

Uh... what?

Our exports: furs, wheat, rye, barley, grapes, wine, aluminum, etc...

Exports from Britain and France: thread, fabric, paper, etc...

...We export agricultural products and luxury goods, while depending almost entirely on imports for industrially produced items.

What is this developing country-like trade structure?

Strange? We're clearly well-off, so why is our economic structure like this?

Suddenly feeling anxious, I visited the shopping complex area for the first time in a while, where shop owners grabbed my arms, imploring me to help them find employees.

"You said there are no carpenters to work? But I clearly saw carpenters volunteering at the cathedral construction site and public building projects?"

"We almost had to cancel our workshop expansion! There's no one willing to be employed, so we barely managed to find a few partners... and the only ones willing to learn are our own children..."

...What's going on?

Then what about all those carpenters enthusiastically building the cathedral? Moreover, they work almost without pay?

Above all, why didn't I know about this?

...Could it be.

"There are no people! I've been a stonemason for 20 years, and I've never seen such difficulty finding workers..."

Stonemasons? The public projects are always filled with volunteers?

"My original work? I was a papermaker, but now there's no one to work with... I'm just living."

...No one to work with? Among tens of thousands of Europeans, you're saying there's no other papermaker besides you?

Upon investigation, apart from food and beverage industries with overwhelming demand like beer or whiskey, and the shipbuilding industry that we directly fostered, there weren't any...

Factory-like operations running at scale.

"I heard you could make a fortune as a carpenter... Do you really need to do this?"

"By dedicating myself to building this cathedral, I can get closer to heaven and leave my name behind. Where else could I find such glory?"

"The names of those who contributed to building this road are engraved here in a row. Being able to dedicate oneself to the community is a great honor."

...

...

Ah.

People aren't earning money.

...I should have brought Mankiw's Economics book from home.