I was now outside the palace waving goodbye to my father as the carriage moved to take me towards the mansion that was given to me during my appearance in the court to be used as my base. It was now fully staffed with people from the palace and directly under my father, after he had removed the already existing personnel. He understood that I would be uncomfortable with people I did not trust so he made appropriate arrangements.
The mansion was just outside the capital borders and situated in the apt direction of the village towards which I was going to construct the new road. It was very accomodating and I had no issues. The troops that were sent were a mix of what came from my father and the first elder. I ordered the captain to help everyone settle down as I would not require most of them the majority of the time and a guard of him and four others was sufficient for everyday purposes.
I made myself at home in the mansion and for the rest of the day I was exploring the place. I had a hearty dinner and called it a night and went to sleep. The next day I made my way to the temporary tent that had been erected where I was to inspect if everything I had required was in acceptable quality and quantity. The place was already filled with temporary worker camps where a thousand workers were easily visible even to the untrained eye. I inwardly praised the officials for such enthusiasm because this was going to be my most valuable resource in the project.
The person responsible to maintain and organise the workers hurried over to my side after seeing my arrival, greeting me politely. I sat in the only chair present inside the tent and asked him to give me a detailed report on the total number of personnel on the site.
He reported that the number of able bodied workers on-site were 1239. The project was supposed to be a long term one that would last for a year at the minimum and this had led to the workers coming to the camps along with their family, thereby increasing the worker population to a healthy two thousand, including the elders and children.
The artisans appointed by my father and the elders had also arrived early morning today. Though very low in numbers when compared to the workers, they had a higher social status and thus were to be treated differently. There were ten blacksmiths, three tailors, two doctors along with their ten assistants and twenty masons.
The blacksmiths were to be tasked with making and maintaining the various tools that were to be used during the project. The work was going to be hard and the use of tools would be equally brutal, so regular maintenance of the old tools and making of new tools was going to be a major task.
The task of construction was always brutal to the clothes and the body equally. The tailors were here to make sure the workers have adequate clothes to work on the project. They would also be useful in the creation of the cheap shoes that I had thought to create to help the workers perform more efficiently.
Any place that has a large human population gathered for long periods of time was bound to require the expertise of doctors. There were always several minor ailments tormenting a large population. Another reason the doctors were so important at his project was the nature of the job. Small cuts, wounds were bound to be common on such a large road construction site.
The masons were going to be my main help and personnel during the whole project. These were the only people who were somewhat familiar with the process of construction. I was going to train them in the basic procedures that I did not wish to supervise personally. Them already being in the profession will help me in not making them understand everything from scratch and they will be able to actually follow my ideas.
The supervisor informed me next of the housing arrangements for the huge population. The workers and their families will be given large tents to stay. The artisans will be provided with personal tents for their stay.
I knew that these workers were already aware of the quality of housing they were to receive here and will make no trouble. My issue was with the sanitation and cleanliness in this unruly camp. Honestly, the most irritating thing about this era to me had been the sanitation. I being a prince myself had to do my business in a way that I did not like, then what about the workers. The accepted custom was to do it in the open away from the settlements or near a water body. This was very poor in my opinion and I wished to search for a better way.
I had set my first task in completing these small details of the camp before actually starting the work.
I was also informed that there were various camps to be set up and that they will require a few days. The various artisans all required various setups before they can be actually useful.
I asked him to arrange ten workers that had sufficient prestige and could become the representatives in them. I told him to arrive with them at the mansion right away. He did not understand the need and repeatedly assured me that he has full control and they will be obedient and hard working. I dismissed his ramblings and asked him to carry out the task. I asked the captain to send one of his men and call the representatives of all the different artisans to the mansion.
I returned to the mansion along with my guards. I had set up a whole area of the mansion as my temporary office to carry out any official work or meetings while on the project.
I quietly sat in the chair and waited for the people to arrive.
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The first to arrive were the four representatives from the group of artisans who were following the soldier assigned by the captain. The meeting hall had only one chair and some sofas on the side, but these sofas were only meant for times of leisure.
The four representatives were observing their new master. This was supposed to be the first project undertaken by the young prince and from what they had heard by the various officials and gossip, this was more of the king giving in to the prince's indulgence than actual work, so they assumed that the young prince calling them was for them to advise him, seeing that they were his seniors and certainly more experienced. This was the reason that even though they had arrived before royalty of the kingdom they did not show excess enthusiasm in greeting the young prince.
I asked the various representatives to introduce themselves and their previous place of work and experience so that I have a clearer idea of what and how much to expect out of them. I understood very well that the various officials were sure to not send their best but I had hoped for people with a bit of experience in their fields because I myself had no profound knowledge about these fields and if they turned out to be pure newbies my plans will not proceed very smoothly.
As if they already knew their own hierarchy between professions, everyone looked towards the middle age man wearing better clothes than the rest, as if asking him on how they should proceed with the introductions. The man understood and stepped forth and introduced himself as the head doctor that was assigned to me. His name was Atul.
In the previous week that I had spent in the castle I understood that being a respected doctor in these times was very hard. The requirements for being a doctor were very high in this era. First, there was no designated school or ashram where people of the medical profession gathered and passed on their teachings like they did for the art of war and ruling. The knowledge of medicine in this era was only passed down from the master to the student. It was considered a great privilege if a respected doctor was willing to take you under their wing and tutelage. At any given time, even a kingdom as big as ours did not have more than eight or ten respected doctors.
The second requirement was the high cost of learning and the time required to be invested to become a doctor. Most apprentices only become qualified to be called doctors and set out on their own when they have already reached ages above thirty. To learn the art of medicine in this era meant knowing the various medical benefits and losses that were associated with the various medical ingredients like plants, shrubs and animals. They also have to understand and learn to identify the ingredients that are very hard to find in the wild and also define their quality.
These requirements made the doctor profession a job associated with high learning cost, long dedication and luck. This also meant that if one had to learn they had to be rich enough to support their studies, which most of the time meant that this job will be exclusive to the sons of officials or nobles who have no chance of inheriting their father's post or position. The dedication required was another one of major hurdles that most fail to overcome.
Like the current setup, where there were two doctors that arrived here and they each have ten assistants. These were none other than teens who were under their tutelage and were trying to become doctors. The sad reality was that among these twenty it was highly likely that none would become a qualified doctor. If the doctors were lucky one or at most two of these would stick until the last and become qualified, most would end up leaving and helping out their fathers after taking a minor role in the household.
There sure is an exception to the above, it is when one of the best doctors in a kingdom or empire highly favours a commoner and spends his own money and time to raise him with all his efforts to turn him to be a successor but it was very, very rare.
When I was first told that two doctors have been assigned to me, I was honestly surprised because I already understood their importance during my stay in the castle. Doctors were usually very prideful and most did not like working with others as it would diminish their own prestige and they have to share with the other doctor. As I said, respected doctors were generally old so when I looked towards the middle-aged Atul introducing himself as the doctor I was surprised and sad that the officials have certainly sent me newbies.
After Atul had introduced himself, I could not hide my curiosity and asked him about his past employment and history. He responded by proudly stating that he and his brother, the other doctor in the camp, were highly favoured apprentices to the head doctor responsible for the personal care of the second elder and his family along with almost half of the officials and that they had completed their studies last year. He was stating it proudly because it was rare for two people from the same household to become doctors and that too below the age of forty.
What he thought as an achievement was nothing more than disappointment in my eyes, but I did not convey it to him and rather politely greeted him and thanked him for the efforts he will have to put in the future.
I had already ruled out both him and his brothers as people with the potential to invest in and decided to check if any of their apprentices had what I was looking for and if I did find someone he will be quickly taken under my wing and I will guide him properly by making use of the basic day-to-day knowledge that was rare in this era but common in the modern era.
After he finished his introduction and saw my polite response without any additional flattery or asking for advice, there was visible discomfort on his face but he did not let it out and rather went back in line while the next came forward for the introduction.
__________
NOTICE: Comment and vote for the future path the story should take on the selection of the doctor candidate that the MC should choose.
A] An apprentice from the two doctors that have arrived for the project
B] A commoner kid from the workers
C] Wait for the story to pass the road building arc and then decide
Do comment and vote for what you guys think should be the candidate for the doctor candidate.
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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