Enlightened Empire

After they had left the manufactory with their newest burden, the two cousins walked along the roads of Sillu Island, towards the castle in the distance.

\"Are they heavy, brother?\" Tawo asked and pointed at the copper plates in Sawo’s arms.

\"I do not require any assistance,\" a defiant Sawo answered. Even though his arms were tired already, his old illness – his stubbornness – had reared its head again. He didn’t care how sore his arms would feel tomorrow, he would be damned if he were to be defeated by some money. Never would he give in to weakness.

\"At least we do not have to travel far to exchange the sheets. The castle is right across a single bridge.\"

While Tawo pointed towards their goal, Sawo’s mind was already occupied with larger matters. His drifting eyes had spotted several workers with shovels across from the island. They seemed to be deepening a hole at the side of the river bank for some purpose or another.

\"Say, they have been working on these openings for several months now. What do you think they are building there?\" Sawo asked.

\"It should be some type of sewage or drainage system, should it not? Like the one in Arguna? Why else would they build holes all over the city?\" Tawo looked over to the workers before he made his guess.

\"That seems possible.\" Although his cousin didn’t seem too interested, the workers captivated Sawo. Especially since he recognized one of them as one of his former warriors from his time as city lord.

\"Maybe we could get involved in construction as well,\" Sawo mused. \"After all, most of our men are working in this are at the moment. As soon as the sentences for our old warrior servants and the various bandit groups are up, they will be free men again. By that point, they will have a wealth of experience in construction, more than enough expertise for us to start our own business.\"

\"I am sure a construction business would make good coin in Saniya. With how fast the city is growing, there would never be a lack of work.\" Tawo nodded his head in agreement, which only increased Sawo’s enthusiasm.

\"Yes, and ever since they built the improved roads and the new funerary site outside the walls, the workers have become quite popular in the city. Imagine that, some unskilled workers have more prestige than the former city lord now. This could be our way back up to the top. All we need to do is build things people use every day and they will love us like they used to fear us.\"

\"But even if we wanted to work in construction, our men are still tied up in the labor camps for a few more years.\" Tawo tried to change the subject from their fall of status, something Sawo was usually quite grateful for, though he would never admit it. However, this time things were different. Now that he had found a way back up the social ladder, he no longer felt indignant about his former glory. However, Tawo didn’t know that, so he continued on with his ideas on the feasibility of Sawo’s plan.

\"We need to keep up our merchant business until our men are released. No matter what we choose to do with our men, we will need far more starting capital than what we have right now. Wages, materials... not to mention that we would need some sort of permit to buy the exclusive liquid stones from King Corcopaca’s manufactories. Do you believe we could get a permit like that? And do not suggest we could go without it. If we want to compete with the king’s workers, we need to mitigate our disadvantages as much as possible.\"

\"So that rules out construction work, at least for now,\" Sawo grumbled. \"We cannot compete with their liquid stones, and that so-called king will never hand his secrets over to others, least of all us.\"

\"I believe we should simply stick with our merchant business. It has been nice and steady work, has it not? Maybe we could open an inn or a restaurant in a quiet place once we have amassed enough coin.\" Like he had done many times before, Tawo suggested a quiet life in shame, away from fortune and greatness. However, Sawo was far more ambitious than his cousin.

\"What about going into the craftsman business? Could we not hire a few of them and have them work for us like that king does?\"

With a glimmer in his eyes, Sawo thought back to the jewelry production line they had just witnessed on their visit to the manufactory. All the workers had been lined up along tables, everyone with a different tool or implement before him, all of them working in unison like a massive automaton, all of it for a singular goal:

To produce countless copies of jewelry, to be sold for massive profit. Just how much pieces of jewelry were produced inside of that place every single day? How many worthless plates of copper did they exchange for valuable resources every day? And how many valuables did their finished products gain them every day?

\"Craftsmen? Can we work any trades? Can our former people?\" Tawo asked the usual questions. On any other day, they would deflate Sawo and put a stop to his fantasies. This time however, he would not be deterred.

\"Of course they cannot work trades. You know that.\"

In defiance of Sawo’s confident attitude, Tawo furrowed his brow.

\"I will tell you right away: While I know a few local craftsmen, none of them have any reason to work for us. They would much rather keep their own workshops open and work for themselves. The only one they even consider signing a contract with is the King of the South. And they only do so because of how well his manufactories are run. Not only is it difficult for single workshops to compete with the manufactories, they are also paid massive wages there, more than they could earn on their own.\"

\"In that case, why should we not open our own?\" At last, Sawo revealed the plan he had stumbled upon in his constant search for a better life.

\"Our own manufactory?\" Tawo looked at his cousin in confusion. \"How would we even begin to do that? Let us assume we managed to collect enough money, thus ignoring the most obvious hurdle to your plan. We would still have no artisans, no property large enough to build a hall like that, and no machinery.\"

For a while, there was a lull in the conversation since they had reached the edge of the island. They nodded towards the guards on both sides on the bridge, before they crossed over to Rapra Island without much fuss. After all, many people were crossing in and out of the castle every day, so even for commoners, it was hardly the taboo zone it used to be under Sawo’s rule. In fact, since their faces were known around town, they were let through without a word.

For citizens of Saniya it was that simple, even for despised ones. Of course they wouldn’t be let into the castle proper, but their goal would be somewhere along the castle walls, they presumed. Once they had left the gaurds far enough behind to restore a semblance of privacy, Sawo reopened their discussion.

\"Getting artisans would be simple, I assume. All we need to do is wait. I hear that most of the king’s workers inside those manufactories have exclusive contracts and can only work for the king, but those contracts are timed for five years. In fact, many of them have already run for one and a half years.\"

\"So you want to hire them as soon as they are freed from their earlier obligations,\" Tawo realized.

\"Even sooner if I can. I would rather offer them a second contract that becomes active as soon as their old one expires. We need to be fast before the king or someone else gets the chance to hire them. I am confident that we will find many interested parties. After all, by then the city will be flooded with workers in search of work. Imagine that: All at once, our old followers will be released from their labor camps. At the same time, the local and foreign craftsmen will be released from their contracts and all the young apprentices within the city will come of age and look for work independent of their masters. By then, finding proper workers for our own manufactories will be as simple as finding copper in Kapra. We will only need to pick them off the streets. And you could even make use of your connections and get your acquainted craftsmen on board. That way, we have some more experienced masters to lead the younger ones. As for us: we have ample experience with the organization of large groups, be they administrators or soldiers. That is something no commoner in the city can match us on. On the other hand, our craftsmen will know how to actually make things. It is a perfect plan. Even if we are merchants, who would look down on the masters of dozens of craftsmen? Not to mention the coin we will be making.\"

Tawo remained silent for a moment, but the former city lord could tell from his cousin’s expression that he was tempted by the idea.

\"While your plans are good, compared to a construction company, we would need even more starting capital for a manufactory,\" Tawo concluded in the end. \"We would need a massive piece of land somewhere in the city, and the wages would be quite high as well. Not to mention the tools and machinery we may need. Would the king’s manufactories and foundries sell us tools to compete with them?\"

\"We can consider those minor problems once we encounter them. For such issues, there are always solutions, legal or otherwise. For now, we still have about three years of time left before our plans can become reality. Our first step should be to get rid of these damn copper plates and make some real money instead.\" He bounced from one foot to another to readjust the sliding plates in his arms.

\"Are you sure you need no help, brother?\"

Rather than answer his cousin’s concern, Sawo used his head to point towards a table that was set up beneath a temporary roof of cloth in front of Rapra Castle’s outer gate. Rather, he was pointing towards the portly young foreigner who sat behind the table and the large scale next to him.

\"Maybe that would be the place to solve our money problems? I see no other spot of interest here.\"

\"If this was an official coin exchange from the kingdom, why would there be so few people around?\"

Apart from a handful of merchants who lingered around the edges of the island and a few guards before the castle gate, the empty space in front of Rapra Castle was free of people.

\"Asking seems to be a wiser choice than endless puzzlement,\" Sawo said and moved towards the stall. Maybe the stall’s owner would put the heavy copper out of his hands and maybe he wouldn’t, but Sawo would certainly not stand around here until his arms fell off.

\"Hello there, good man,\" he said to the chubby foreigner garbed in Medala cloth behind the table. \"We were told that the city castle is trading in copper for more stable currency. Is this the place to do so?\"

\"Ah yes, friend. You have found the right spot! And what a spot it is!\" Far more enthusiastic than he had any right to be, the strange foreigner jumped up and reached over the counter for a greeting. Since Sawo had his hands full, he shook Tawo’s hand instead.

\"Did you come a long way?\" the official asked as he marched around the table and pointed at Sawo’s copper burden. \"Please let me take these off you.\"

Once the official had taken the copper from Sawo, he motioned towards the chairs in front of the table with his chin.