The Mechanical Era

Chapter 126 Problem With Farmers

?It took two days for the stone mason to form a proper blueprint for the sewer system that Kant had requested. Like other sewage systems, it will follow a branch-like pattern, with a few main tunnels, connected to smaller tunnels. With that, they calculated the number of materials they would need and sent a letter to the respective manufacturers.

Over the last month, a few firms were popping up in the city, especially construction material companies, who were betting their fortunes on the city growing in the next few years, thanks to the policies Kant had undertaken a few months back. With that, it brought a good supply of materials and equipment to be used.

Constructed started in the early morning of the 26th of Nummum, 5018. Using caravans, large quantities of cement, bricks, and labor traveled to the construction site. As promised, 35 knights, all wearing brand new, but cheap cotton clothing. They reluctantly swallowed their pride, took up a shovel, and started digging where they want them to.

While the knights dug the tunnels, many others were working on making the cement. Using water, sand, and cement powder, they were able to make the mortar pretty quickly, and start laying bricks. Like before, the labor itself is specialized. While some made the cement, others brought the cement over to the others so that they can lay down the bricks.

As the knights dug, a few farmers came over to see what was happening. Seeing that they were building some kind of structure, one brave soul went over to ask what they were building. Upon hearing that they were building a sewer system, everyone residing in the area was terrified that they were to lose their homes and their livelihoods.

With that in mind, a few set out to visit the new King, to voice their concerns about what could happen to them. Their mission was to stop the construction of the sewer system, as they felt it was their duty to protect their livelihoods, homes, and community.

...

It had been 4 full hours since the sun rose. Kant sat in his office, with dozens of books on his desk, and a typewriter at the front. He was busy typing and continuing to make a new form of legislation, one that will impact Industrial District 1 and attract businesses to invest their money, in building up factories there. As he was working, he was interrupted by a knock on his door.

"Come in." The door opens, revealing Alan Fleck. He bows down, and walks right into the room, taking his seat.

"Your majesty, we may have overlooked a few things regarding the industrialization program."

"What is it, minister Alan?"

"Well sir, although the land you chose to build Industrial District 1 may have been sparsely populated and brought little economic value, there are still some small farms located in the area, and the farmers are concerned that this would disrupt and destroy their lives," Alan explained.

"Did they come here to tell me that?" Kant asked.

"Yes, but I stopped them before they could do so. I mean, nobody is allowed to just show up to the palace and demand to talk to their king."

"Hm... I see. Yes, I might have overlooked that part..."

"So what should we do sir? I mean, we could stop, OR... we can just... send them away."

"Yes. That was what I was thinking."

"Really?" Alan asked.

p?nd?,no??1,?o? "Yes, but in the way that you think..." Kant quickly replied, seeing that he was getting the wrong idea.

"Well, considering that I want the city to drastically expand in terms of economic output, size, and population, this is a problem that would need a long-term answer. The expansion would mean that we will have more reluctant farmers on their hands, demanding we stop any expansion, and we would have less food to feed the population.

We are able to feed the current population now with the farms covering the southern part of the island. However, since we are planning on expanding the city, i.e using up the entire real estate of the island, we will need a new area to produce food."

"...Yes... That is a great point, sir. Do you have anything in mind that could fix that, sir?" Alan asked.

"Yes. I do. The other side."

"But isn't the other side dangerous? I mean, it is close to the forest, and the chances of demons attacking the population there are pretty high. I am not sure that they will accept that, willingly, at least."

"Dangerous, relatively to living on the island, minister."

"I am sorry, I don't fully understand that, sir," Alan said with a confused tone.

"The island has a natural barrier, minister, being the river that makes it an island. This meant that it was quite difficult for demons to swim past it, making the island a demon-free zone for people to safely live.

This also meant that we were able to keep a smaller knight force to kill off any incoming threats, allowing the city to have more money, and spend it on other areas of maintaining the city, like the sewer system.

However, this also brought a disadvantage. It meant that our citizens were less well-trained than our opponents. The only reason that we were able to march that far into the south was that we were rich enough to buy the potions.

This is because it was also time-consuming to properly wield and use a weapon, with the strength largely being determined by whether you were well-fed or not. It was also not practical to use a potion every time they encountered a small demon."

"So... what is the solution?" Kant closed the books and placed the typewriter down. He then pulled out his revolver and places it on the table. Alan turns his head to look at it. It was in half-cock position, preventing it from firing.

"This..." Kant pointed at it."

"This is the solution." Alan continued to look at it further. He reaches out his hand and stops.

"May I?" Alan asks permission from Kant, not wanting to threaten him.

"As long as you don't touch the hammer or the trigger." With that, Alan picked it up and examined the weapon further.

"Wait sir, I think I know what that is. Is that what you call a firearm?" Alan questions Kant.

"Very good. Yes. This is what you can call a black powder percussion cap revolver. It can fire 6 consecutive shots without reloading. It deals with a great amount of firepower while being easy to learn and use.

Combine this with a percussion cap rifle, they should be good to go. If they encounter some small demon, they should be fine with the revolver. If by a small chance, they get to encounter a stronger demon, then their longer rifles should do the trick."

"I think you need to come up with a better name, sir," he said, half-jokingly. Kant however, took it a little more seriously.

"Is that so? How about PCR-18? It is an acronym for Percussion Cap Revolver, with the year it was invented next to it."

"That works." Alan hands the weapon back to Kant, who holsters it back into his suit.

"What we can do is to give them a few of these revolvers, as well as some percussion cap weapons, and hand them over some land for them to do what they want. Presumably, considering the skillset they possess, they will start their own farms again.

With the city having a major demand for food, these farmers should have a monetary incentive to stay and sell their produce to the city. Besides, the months of the demon are coming. I don't think anyone would be keen to isolate themselves from society just yet."

"That is an excellent idea, sir. I recommend building a registration for that. This way, you can adequately distribute the land to the people who actually have the skills, while keeping track of that land, mind you, AND it would give us an opportunity to restrict the number of people who could access firearms.

I mean, it won't be a good idea to hand the civilian population a weapon that could kill anyone that easily, now should we? If they want to defend against criminals, that is what the police are there for. Add to the fact that we are in a pretty urban city, they should be able to quickly respond." Alan added in the end.

Kant had mixed feelings about urban populations owning firearms. On one hand, he was a gun-loving American. But on the other hand, he is a king of a medieval-ish kingdom. Although he can definitely see its use cases in cities, he didn't want the population to possess weapons to revolt against him, not yet at least. Besides, in the majority of cases, police officers should work fine in the cities.

"Well, I guess that is it then?" Kant asked.

"Oh yes. Certainly sir. Should I go inform them of the decision?" Alan questioned.

"Of course." With that, Alan stood up from his chair, bowed down, and left the room. Kant picked back his typewriter and continue on with the bill he was typing.