Just like merchants today, you sometimes need to borrow money in order to buy the rugs you want to resell at a profit, and then you pay that money back, often with interest, once you've resold the rugs. This is called mercantile capitalism, and it was a global phenomenon, from the Chinese to the Indian Ocean Trade Network, to Muslim merchants who would sponsor trade caravans across the Sahara. But by the 17th century, merchants in the Netherlands and in Britain had expanded upon this idea to create joint stock companies. Those companies could finance bigger trade missions and also spread the risk of international trade. But the thing about international trade is sometimes boats sink or they get taken by pirates, and while that's bad if you're a sailor because, you know, you lose your life, it's really bad if you're a mercantile capitalist because you lost all your money. But if you own one-tenth of ten boats, your risk is much better managed. That kind of investment definitely increased wealth, but it only affected a sliver of the population, and it didn't create a culture of capitalism.