Enlightened Empire

"Would the craftsmen line up together, please? A King shall not raise his voice for others." Even though they were only commoners, Tama waved over Corco’s new employees with the same indifference she afforded almost everyone else. Anywhere else in Medala, a meeting with royalty would be considered something special. However, the new king of the south really didn’t want to bother too much with regular Medala etiquette, which was why he had organized this casual meeting. He more than disliked the stiff formalities of the courts. No, he considered them deeply harmful to the proper operation of his country.

Of course, a certain common code of conduct would be useful to smooth out interactions between different organs of the state and speed up many regular processes, but Corco was also aware that anything taken to its extreme will become a perversion of itself. It was no wonder then that the formulaic, rule-laden city of Arguna was the most lawless place Corco had ever been to, in either life.

Even more so, worries over efficiency and proper governance were not the only reason he tried to be chummy with the commoners. No, more than anything else, the move was designed to endear him as a true man of the people. According to his plans, he would end up in direct opposition to the old order of Medala, sooner or later. The only way to spearhead any kind of revolution would be if he wasn’t perceived as a part of the old establishment. Otherwise, he would be far too easy to attack and overthrow by some upstart populist with more charisma than sense.

Thus, the king presented a friendly smile as he watched the two groups of craftsmen collect into rows along the sandy beach of Saniya. For now, they were still strictly separated. There was a small, invisible barrier between the local Yaku craftsmen and the newly brought in Arcavians, but Corco was sure that this would change with time. After all, in the future, as their projects became more and more ambitious, the different professions would be more and more dependent on one another.

Many modern technologies would require the input from multiple fields. It was the reason Corco had decided to start their new training program here at the beach, though in truth he had been looking forward to this for a while. Since they would need to work together, they would have to speak the same language first. Today, Corco would finally introduce them to the wonderful world of standardization.

"Everyone here? Good." With a clap of his hands, the king looked over the expectant faces before him and the eager nods which followed his words. Over the past two days, all of them had received a large number of amenities, each side in their own ways. Technologies, lavish living quarters, special treatment and the prestige related from meeting the king. All of them had more than enough reason to look forward to whatever gifts the king would present them with today.

Even Egidius ignored his dislike for the other clock makers and didn’t differentiate himself from the rest of the group. Instead, he stood at the very forefront of the colleagues he wold otherwise despise as small-time. Almost unblinking in his obsession, Egidius stared towards the constructions Corco had built up along the beach, his omnipresent sketchbook clutched towards his chest. The king’s smile turned a bit wider in response. Unlike everyone else here, the clock maker wasn’t focused on the great personage, but instead on the setups along the beach, the real stars of today’s show.

*He really is ahead of the others.*

In that case, Corco would have to help the rest catch up.

"Okay, I have a question for the collected craftsmen here, for both groups: If you need to measure the length of something, let’s say you make a robe and try to determine how much cloth you’ll need without wasting any, or you’re making a cog to fit into a larger mechanism like a clock, what do you do? How do you determine that you got the size right?" Right away, Egidius raised his hand, even while the other craftsmen were still staring at their feet. In order to move the conversation along, Corco called upon the talented young clock maker.

"Ah, yes. I have built a personal measure, it helps me keep my work consistent." With his free hand, Egidius reached into a side pocket and retrieved a long piece of metal with etched markings. His version of a ruler, no doubt.

"Very good. Anyone else? What about you?" Rather than waiting for an elusive answer from the other craftsmen, Corco simply called one of them up. For now they still had an unnatural awe before his office, but the king was sure that they would get used to his presence, in time.

"Uhm... This servant measures by the finger. About six or seven fingers worth of iron for a knife." The tall Yaku scratched his short stubble as he talked about his own experiences.

"Your name was Asiro, right?" Corco asked.

"Yes, King Corcopaca." Upon being recognized by the king of the south, the blacksmith replied with a smile of his own.

"Very good. That’s another viable method for personal, consistent measurements."

Just as it was established, a sudden voice of disharmony disrupted the casual atmosphere.

"What nonsense is this? A real artisan works on the feel of the thing. How long? How wide? How heavy? If you have no sense for these things, you’re not a real artisan," another one of the clock makers chimed in. Corco remembered the name of this one as well. The man’s name was Xander, a loudmouth and trouble maker.

Unfortunately, back when he chose craftsmen to accompany him to his new empire, the king didn’t have the option to be picky. After all, his father’s death had hit their group out of nowhere, at a time when they had been nowhere near ready for their return. Still, at least Xander knew what he was talking about. His method was the preferred one for most clock makers in Arcavia, and for most craftsmen in general. Still, it was time to move on, so Corco’s second clap shut up Xander’s piercing voice.

"Okay, as you can see, there are copious methods to measure things. There is just as many methods of measurements as there are craftsmen here. Everyone does his own stuff. That’s fine if you work by yourselves, but if you want to work for me, it won’t do. In the future, you will receive complex tasks far beyond anything you’ve worked on before. You will need support from a number of apprentices, as well as other untrained workers. Even more, on some projects you will need to work with other craftsmen from different fields. For that purpose, you will need consistent scales among yourselves. Anything else would be a colossal waste of everyone’s time, and an even greater waste of my money."

His introduction done, Corco stepped up, over to the place in the sand where two pieces of wood had been put down some distance from one another.

"Behold, your new precept." With overly dramatic words and great verve in his motions, Corco took a step, from one piece of wood exactly to the other. Even so, he still thought the level of fanfare wasn’t enough for such a momentous occasion. "The meter!" the king concluded as he pointed towards his steps in the sand.

Of course they had defined the meter before, since even back in Arcavia they had long begun to work with standardized rulers, but Corco didn’t want to miss out on this moment. He was sure it would look good in future history books. A large moment would also make it easier for the craftsmen to accept the importance of standards. "This will be your new basic unit of measurement: The standard length of a king’s average step."

While the Arcavians still looked on critically, the Yaku craftsmen were awed into silence.

"You seem unconvinced," Corco said towards the former. "In that case, I’ll show you how useful my new measurements are. Follow me please."

As they marched behind the king, he held up a wooden ruler and began to explain the revolutionary simplicity of the metric system.

"This is a ruler, similar to the one Egidius has shown you before. However, our ruler is very much different from his. First of all, you will see that the length of the ruler is far below a meter. So how do we divide it up then? Instead of making up another arbitrary, smaller length, a meter is divided up into ten decimeters of equal length. At the same time, it is divided into one hundred centimeters and one thousand millimeters. Do these numbers seem familiar to anyone?"

"They’re old Arcavian numerals" Egidius’ voice came from behind.

"Exactly. Easy to remember so long as you know some old tongue, as most people here should know." For once, the common roots of Arcavian and Yakua would prove useful.

Corco brought the group over to a box of glazed pottery. "Here, you see a box with a length, depth and width of one decimeter each. My men have filled the box with pure water. This amount, or volume, of fluid inside you will from now on know as a liter. As for weight measurements, we’re done with vague stuff like stones and chips. You will measure in grams and kilograms. One kilogram has the weight of one thousand grams and will weigh as much as the water currently inside this box, the weight of one liter of pure water at sea level."

As Corco tried to continue his tour, to show off more of his practical toys, a piercing voice interrupted his fun.

"Sir Fastgrade, this is all well and good, but we’re not forced to use this... system, are we?"

"Know your place, commoner. King Corcopaca will be addressed by proper title, or you shall feel the consequences."

Xander, again. Normally, Corco should have chided Tama’s for her harsh outburst, but he really didn’t like being interrupted when he was showing off. Thus, he just turned to the obnoxious clock maker and gave him a harmless smile. "Please tell me what your problem is, then. Maybe I can help you relieve your concerns."

Although he was a bit intimidated by Corco’s calm attitude, Xander still continued.

"We’ve all learned to work in one way. Re-learning all of our stuff isn’t gonna help us any. We’ll only do worse work. Also, wouldn’t our work become trivial if we all were to use these measures? Any man could follow a book and make a clock. What happens to our trade then?"

Corco understood quite well that the second half of his statement was Xander’s real concern. As most craftsmen, the clock maker was worried about the safety of his trade secrets, about someone stealing his means of livelihood. However, Corco would have none of it. After all, here in Saniya, there was no reason for this type of secrecy.

"It seems like you still do not understand, so I will repeat myself again, one last time: Now that the contract has been signed by each and every one of you, I will be responsible for your work arrangements. That includes how you work and what you work on. You might remember that from the contract you signed. If you want to get out now, you are free to do so now, but you will miss out on any rewards we have agreed on before. In addition, I will be forced to judge you as oath breakers under Saniya law."

As Corco kept talking, his words laid themselves over the craftsmen like an invisible hand, pressing them down further and further, until all the Arcavian backs were hunched down in obedience. All except Egidius of course, who was too busy with his notebook, while he marveled at the clever method of weight masurement Corco had presented them with. Everyone else however had been sufficiently cut down to size.

With a smile, Corco observed as any opposition died down before the men could even talk, with nothing but a gaze and smile from the king. It seemed like his plan had been a success. For now, he would insist with soft force and make them use his new metric system. It would be the first small concession among many. By the time it came to turning their small, personal workshops into proper manufactories, Corco was sure he would have to face much less resistance than he might have otherwise.

Things were going well. If nothing else, the measurements of Saniya were enlightened now. With the basics sorted, the future of Medala was just around the corner.