Chapter 3: The Beginning of the Revolution
Louis arrived back at the manor with a massive smile on his face, "my lord, you won't believe what I found!" Following behind him were five women.
"What is it Louis? Who are these women?" Asks Mondaeus curiously standing up and walking in front of Alexander his hand reaching for the sword he is not currently wearing.
Louis looks slightly confused at Mondaeus and the women take half a step back nervously, "Mondaeus, these are the servants who worked at this house previously, can you calm down please?"
Mondaeus turns back towards Alexander with a slightly sheepish grin, "I guess being in a new place makes me slightly jumpy…"
Alexander stands up and pats Mondaeus' shoulder as he walks past him, "Welcome ladies, I assume you are all interested in starting your jobs here again. Can you please each introduce yourselves individually to me?"
A large buxom woman with dark hair steps forward first, her large body dressed in an ankle length dress and apron despite the heat of this southern region, "I be Susan, my lord. I was the cook at this house and do wish to be the cook again"
Having been a commander in the army Alexander was used to the numerous accents of Halgran and recognised the north-western twang to Susan's speech. "ah, excellent, then our meals will be in your care. I assume Louis has told you what the pay will be?"
She responds, "that he did, and I wouldn't ask for a piece more, my lord".
Alexander nods glad that each of these women have already been informed of the working conditions.
The next woman to step forward is a young blonde lithe beauty, "I am Amis, my lord, and I was the maid here whilst the previous lord was present."
Amis' confidence was surprising for someone so young, she was a similar age to Maria back at the palace and had the same jovial attitude to her.
"You are originally from the Capital? I will be happy for you to serve as a maid here" he responds.
"Yes, I am from the Capital, is the accent that obvious my lord?"
"It would seem so" Alexander chuckles.
Alexander goes through the other three women meeting them each in turn. Saria the seamstress, an older greying woman who would be less of an employee and more of a contractor when needed. Khara the undercook, a young woman similar to Amis but from the south of the old regions of Halgran, who would serve under Susan. And finally, the second maid, Teri, an older woman of perhaps her mid-thirties.
After having Susan quickly prepare a quick lunch of bread, cheese, and preserved meats, the trio set out to explore the town and investigate current affairs in further detail. Alexander was particularly shocked when they reached the edge of town to find a large number of men working with large mortar and pestles, pounding the large pestle into the mortar and other with wicker disks flicking something into the air.
Confused Alexander turns to Louis, "Louis, what are they doing?"
Louis turns to Alexander shocked by his ignorance, "my lord, they are husking the wheat in order to separate the chaff from the grain…"
Alexander looks puzzledly at the workers having found his first issue to solve, "so many men for something so simple… How are the heads separated from the stalks?"
Louis just pointed over a small shade where a number of elderly men could be seen stripping the heads from the straw with small knives. Alexander was appalled at the inefficiency of this method compared to an even slightly mechanised method.
"Can you take me to where the flour is ground?" he asks as his mind whirs slowly developing a design for a solution to the problem. "And I want to meet any carpenters in the town as well"
The miller's wasn't much better, apparently must of the town subsisted on a grain porridge because the miller used his own strength to turn his small mill, since the lord had left he had essentially abandoned producing bread favouring working as a farm hand as it was more sustainable.
The carpenter's were thankfully somewhat competent although they could clearly be improved. They used a pit saw a system which used a pit and a two man pull saw to cut boards by hand, one man in the pit being showered by the fine wood dust. Their horse voices made it clear that the wood dust was having a negative impact on them, but for some time this method would be acceptable and changing it wasn't the major priority right now.
Walking back towards the house Alexander was thinking about how to make his plans work, "The cliffs closer to the shore are limestone aren't they?"
"I believe so, why do you ask my lord?"
"The houses here have a white coating, is that baked lime?"
"I would assume so; would my lord like to see where baked lime is produced?"
"Yes, actually let's go there before returning tonight"
With a slight sigh Louis responds, "yes my lord"
The lime kiln was more than anything Alexander had hoped for. According to the townsfolk it wasn't used particularly often but it would produce roughly a short ton of baked lime whenever it was lit. It was a real, working flare kiln, with this strong and effective cement was easily within reach.
Turning to Louis with excitement in his eyes Alexander said, "have this lit tomorrow and find me a work crew of thirty to forty men, I will have designs for a project tomorrow."
That night Alexander immediately went to his room and went to work drawing designs for what he was going to build. The designs were rough to say the least, a quill was not an effective writing implement and Alexander insisted on used feet for everything, so he could easily envisage the design in metres. Not to mention the difficulties of writing by tallow candlelight.
The next morning Louis came to Alexander's room and knocked on the door. When Alexander opened the door, it was clear the only one who had actually slept in the room was Lucio, who was curled in the centre of the large bed.
"My lord, I forgot to ask, how much do you intend to pay these labourers? I will go out recruiting before breakfast, the fall harvest is soon, and most men are busy." Says Louis.
Alexander attempting to do the maths in his head tries to work out how much an average labourer makes a day as opposed to monthly. Finally completing the rigorous mental maths Alexander responds, "12 pieces a day, copper of course. That should be enough to attract some men to work this very important project. Also, please show me to the masons"
Eventually reaching the masons with Louis' help Alexander shows them his drawings explaining what he needs them to do. They tell him that it should take them a weak to produce what he has shown them in the design, but it will be costly, a whole silver crown as all of them will have to work on the project together. Alexander considers this well worth it and travels to the carpenters next. Showing them his designs, they suggest an even longer time of perhaps a fortnight just to achieve what he is asking and a similar price. A fortnight should be just in time and Alexander eagerly agrees.
A quick breakfast of fried lamb is eaten before Alexander sets off again with Louis to meet the work team. He leads the large gang of men down to the south of the lake to the short stretch of river closest to the sea. Here he marks one long skinny rectangle parallel to the shore and one much larger one just eight yards from the other. He orders the gang to dig both rectangles to a depth of two yards. The men begin their work eagerly excited by the high wages they are being offered. Louis still confused by exactly what Alexander is planning is somewhat disgruntled by then being appointed foreman of the work-site for the day being told to pick a foreman from the men and pay him a full sixteen pieces a day and make him aware the position can be taken if the team doesn't work hard enough.
Later that afternoon the lime kiln is lit, and Alexander looks on with both excitement and trepidation, the entire plan will literally be resting on this kiln working effectively enough. The kiln will take at least a day to burn and another to empty, but afterwards there should be just about enough lime for the entire project.
Three days later Alexander on his daily visit to the site to find the narrower rectangle now fully dug. In the past two days Alexander had, had carts come to the site and dump rubble rock from the mines. The quicklime had also been brought and was being intentionally shielded by some wooden boards from any possible rain. Sand was brought up from the beaches and dumped alongside these materials. Now it was time to begin the next stage of construction.
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