Chapter 11- Day 104

Several days after Benjamin arrived, I was sitting in the seat of judgment at the head of the great hall. I had passed a few judgments while on this seat, but right now, I was in a no-win situation of my own making. This was not going to end well for me.

"My Lord, may I present the spinning wheels of Melnon and Bicman," said Edward in a clear pronouncement.

Two groups of women stood next to their spinning wheels. The women all had quite serious faces on, while the few men standing next to them all had smiles.

"My Lord, as you requested, I have evaluated each machine and identified their strengths and weaknesses. The Melnon wheel is larger and uses two pedals to rotate, whereas the Village of Bicman wheel is smaller and uses the bow flexing method with a single pedal. Both wheels are effective, but the thread twists differently with each, causing differences in the thickness of the thread."

"Is one thickness better than the other?"

"Both have their uses, My Lord, but the women could explain it better than me."

"Well, I can't judge them against each other if both have different uses." This caused the women to look disappointed. I held up my hand, "What you have done is do something much better together than either of you could do separately. What would have happened if we had only built one wheel? We would not have learned the importance of wheel ratio."

I jumped up out of my chair and hurried to the wheels. "Look, which one spins a tighter thread?"

"The Melnon one, My Lord."

"Perfect, I thought so. See how this wheel is so much bigger than the Bicman wheel. Now, both the wheels on the spindle side look about the same. That means that it has a bigger ratio. We would have to measure how many times this whorls around for each time this one does. We could set the small wheel as the first number and the big wheel as the second. So let's count it."

I started spinning the big wheel, and the small wheel began to spin, and I counted out 7.5. "Perfect, now we see that this wheel has a ratio of 7.5 to 1. For every one rotation of the big wheel, this spins seven and a half times."

We did the same with the other wheel and found a four-to-one ratio. I excitedly explained the concept of ratios to them.

“Now, what does this mean?”

Everyone looked at me in confusion.

“It means you are not done. Women of the Barony of Bicman. It is time to experiment! What is the best ratio for whatever you're making? Is it different for flax or cotton? Never stop trying to make it better.”

Suddenly, I heard laughter off to the side. Emily was trying to stifle her laughter. She had been on the receiving end of this. She knew what it was to present me with something only to have me tell her to make it better.

“All of you women have done an amazing job. Your efforts will bring fame to your barony. Now, it is time for you to join together and make a spinning wheel that all the women of Falmoren will envy. Pick a name for your invention so that the world may associate the spinning wheel with you.”

The hall was completely silent. All the women before me were stunned. It would have become awkward, except one guy began to clap. Then, the rest of the audience began to cheer.

The two groups of women were giving sideways glances at each other. One of the Bicman girls went over and shyly asked a Melnon girl something while pointing at the spindle. Then, they began to talk animatedly to each other. Some others started to come over, and that was all it took to break the ice.

I decided it was time to escape. I used the exit to my study to get away. The women could use my hall to figure out their next steps.

I had barely sat down when a knock came at my door. “Come in.”

The door opened, and the new assistant steward walked in. Well, at least that is the title I gave him. But it seems Edward, and he decided to switch roles.

I had asked Edward to show Benjamin around, but in the end, Benjamin went on a three-day marathon tour of my barony, dragging Edward along with him. Yesterday, they started truly compiling the information. That is where they started having their first troubles.

Edward had become familiar with my accounting methods, including using zeros, double entry bookkeeping, and using an abacus. Benjamin, however, did not want to change how he had learned to do things. The friction made me have to step in.

I had to explain to him that it was not just a different way of doing things. It was my way of doing things, and if he didn’t want to do it my way, I didn’t have a use for him. I told him he was banned from touching the books until he could properly use the Bicman method. I think the problem was his loyalty to his father. I think he felt that his father was infallible when it came to being a steward.

So I had foisted him upon Jacklyn until he could learn our number system, the metric system, our accounting system, and the Fibonacci sequence to the 20th number. OK, I didn’t make him learn the Fibonacci sequence, mainly because I didn’t know it myself. Also, I really didn’t know what it was used for. I remember, though, that the math geeks talked about it as if it were something important. Making him learn it would’ve been a great punishment.

After Benjamin shut the door behind him, he said, “My Lord, that was most interesting. Is that how you are able to make all your unique inventions?”

“No, that was a mistake on my part. I should have never pitted two groups of women against each other. That almost ended in a disaster.”

“Fascinating. With how it turned out, I was sure that you had planned this thing.”

“It certainly did turn out OK in the end. All’s well that ends well, I guess.”

"Do you think the women will be mad at you?"

That confused me. "Why would they be mad?"

"They came to show you their spinners, but you didn't even stay to watch."

I didn't. Hmm, time to come up with an excuse in the form of a story.

"Let me tell you something I once heard. A king once hired a man to design something. The man spent a month planning everything out. When he was done, he showed his plan to the king. The king took the plans, thanked the man, and then excused him. The next day, the king called the man back and, while staring at him sternly, said, "Is the best you can do."

The man stood there, shocked for a moment, then took the plans back and said, "I will try harder."

Two weeks later, the man came back. Very excited and said, "Your Majesty, I am sure you will be most impressed with the changes."

However, the next day, he was called back, and the king, in a stern voice, said, "Is this the best you can do?"

The man stammered out an apology and said he would try and do better."

This happened twice more. Each time, the man took more time to review and modify what he had done, hoping that this time his king would finally be pleased."

On the fifth time, the king said is this the best you can do? The man fell to his knees and pleaded with the king, "Your Majesty, I have reviewed this with all that I have. I have poured my soul into this for you. I have nothing left."

With a frown, the king said, "You are saying this is your very best?"

In almost a whimper, the man said, "Yes."

The king then said, "Very well, I shall read over it now. Thank you for giving me your best."

You see, Benjamin, those women will rise to my expectations of them. They will be rewarded when they give me their very best."

"They are just peasants with no education, My Lord."

"And look what they have accomplished so far. Mark my words, Benjamin. Those women will bring before me something that will change the world. They will realize they are more than just peasants. They are women of ingenuity who, when they work together, can accomplish much. Now, where is Edward today?"

"He is down in Barim. He is checking on the homes under construction and the citizens' needs. He is also getting a report on plant growth and the projected yield. I still cannot get over the effectiveness of those plows you invented. There is a marked difference between the fields plowed with it and without. Also, although you haven't allowed me to see how the paper you produce is made, it is intriguing. I know the workers say that is expensive and time-consuming to make, but only someone who has not seen you would believe that you would waste your time making something that had no benefit or that was a waste of time."

I wanted to deny it and say it was just something I liked, but I couldn't outright lie to this man if we were going to work together. "The fools are the ones that those rumors are for."

"I am sure there is even more going on in this barony than I am aware of. Do you realize the potential of the spinning wheel?" Ben shook his head, "Of course you do. Before I left, I heard one woman say that with practice, she could make ten times the yarn or thread she made in a day. Imagine how much cloth could be made. What will you do with it all? You will have to export it. You cannot possibly have enough looms to handle all the threads you will be making. And what will your women do with all the extra time they have?"

That is right, he hasn't seen the new looms. It would blow his mind.

"They will have time to invent more things to make us more wealthy."

Or daytime television if that gets invented.

"With your genius, I have no doubt."

I snorted, "I stand on the shoulders of giants, my friend."

"I don't understand, My Lord," Benjamin said.

"It means that those who came before me were much greater than I am and that any success I have is because of better men than me. Now, on to more important matters. What does my schedule look like for the next few days? I would like to finally visit Cofi. And while there, see if I can make a trip to the seaside. Now that I have you and Edward, I want to take some more time to see for myself how my people are doing.

"I neglected both Alfer and Cofi due to getting settled as regent. The last time I tried to visit Cofi, the Headman said there was an illness in the village. I admit I should have visited sooner, but we are going to do a surprise inspection."

"We have caught up on most things, and if you trust Edward and I to handle things, you could leave for a few days," Benjamin said confidently.

"Very well. When I come back, I will expect a detailed report. I want things running even better than when I left."

"It shall be done, My Lord."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Hey, I have a question. Do people really have to say, My Lord? Draves said yes, but I was hoping you might know if I could have people call me Amos. At least those who advise me or something."

"No, My Lord. Only people of nobility can, and even then, it is considered rude unless the person of higher rank initiates it."

"So it is reserved for friends within the nobility?" I sighed.

"Yes."

"No exceptions?"

"Hmmm, not officially, but that does not mean it doesn't happen in private."

"Well, I think that concludes everything we need to discuss. I am going to prepare some things to teach Jacklyn so that she can pass them on."

"My Lord, If it is not too forward, may I sit in on your lessons with Jacklyn Smith? I will even help her with her teaching during the evening if you permit."

"Actually, that isn't a bad idea. I think Edward should sit in as well."

The look in Benjamin's eyes was one of, I think, disappointment. I wondered what that was all about. I thought they were getting along.

"If you three could work together, I would like you to identify people who are struggling. We may need to find a way to give them extra help."

"Why expend more effort on people who are obviously less intelligent," Benjamin said.

That was rude, but he didn't have the advantage of a 21st-century educational system. Not that it was perfect, but they did understand learning methods.

"Because they may not be intelligent. Often, people just learn differently than others. You never know when someone is a genius because they see things differently. I mean, they could come up with the quadratic formula or the Pythagorean theorem."

"What is that?"

"You know, I am not quite sure. It has something to do with math. I always thought the names were goofy, though, so I remembered them. I think one was a2+b2=c2, and it may or may not have something to do with triangles."

"Where did you learn about it?

"In a large building dedicated to torturing children."

"What?!"

"I'm just kidding. It really doesn't matter. On to bigger things. It looks like I will be heading out tomorrow, so make sure the carriage is ready tomorrow morning."

"Of course, My Lord."

******************

We left at dawn the next day in order to make it to Cofi by noon. Did I ever mention how stupid I thought the layout of this barony was? There was so much usable land between each village. It wasn't like each village had a thousand people. We could have made Kerisi the Manor town and then expanded out from there. Cofi, Alfer, and Melnon were important, but even the resources of Melnon probably could have been found closer to Alfer. I get the fact that the Bicman River is a good water source, but our whole population could have fit along the Cofi River.

Upon mentioning this to Draves, he said it was because the Karr had originally settled along the Cofi River. When they were conquered, the new inhabitants did not want to mingle with the few remaining inhabitants of the Karr. So, the Village of Bicman was founded, and the manor house was built.

“So the majority of Cofi is inhabited by people who used to be Karr?”

“No. They are very insular. I have had very little interaction with them. Your father pretty much told us to leave them alone when I got here. Before I had come here from the capitol, there was some sort of uprising, and most of the Karr were slaughtered. Now, there is a truce. They pay their taxes, and we leave them alone. Fortunately, the Cofi Guard are on rotation there. I am sure they can give us more information."

"They are the group that have their homes there?"

"Yes, although we rotate the various groups through each area. The groups are mainly organized by their permanent residences."

"OK, that makes sense. I should have remembered all that. I know we have discussed it before. So Karr is kind of like a vassal village. They pay their taxes, and we protect them?"

This caused Draves to squirm a little. "Actually, it may be closer to how the Kingdom treats us."

I can see why he was uncomfortable. "Draves, you know how I feel about people being treated unjustly. Why was this not mentioned before?"

"Forgive me, My Lord. This was definitely a grave oversight on my part. Most people avoid talking about the Karr."

"So the Karr is the dirty little secret nobody wants to acknowledge, so we all just forget about them," I said angrily. I wasn't necessarily angry at Draves. I was angry at myself for ignoring Cofi for so long. If I had been more proactive, I could have possibly made a good impression.

"I am sorry, My Lord."

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in you, Captain. But I am more disappointed in myself. How must it look to the citizens who have been neglected to hear they have a new ruler and that he hasn't even bothered to visit them? It's not like I can tell them I had no idea they existed because I am not the original Lord Amos."

"With any luck, they may not even have known that the old baron died."

"I was surprised. Do you think that is possible? Wouldn't the Headman… Scratch that. He is unreliable. He can't even send in a proper report. Well, I guess we will see."

"My Lord, I must warn you. They won't want you there. There is bad blood that goes back one hundred years."

"And it is time we see if we can fix it."

I sat in contemplation the rest of the way to Cofi. To be honest, it was futile to try to figure out what to do about the Karr. I had no knowledge about their situation or their disposition toward me.

We only made a quick stop in Kerisi to speak to the headman, and then we were on our way. My entourage made it by my desired time, slightly before noon. I thought I would have to call in the headman, Jeffery, from the field, but instead, he had been alerted that we were coming at some point and was awaiting our arrival.

The town itself was a picture perfect village. The little houses and streets were well maintained. The people looked better fed than most in the barony. This shouldn't have surprised me. I knew that the Cofi lands produced more than the others in the barony. Their clothes were also newer than most, which was very interesting.

He bowed deeply. "Lord Amos, your visit is quite unexpected. Your father usually informs us so that we might prepare a feast."

"I am not my father," I said stiffly.

I am usually the type of person who believes in treating everyone with kindness. Heck, Marcus was a psychopath, and I still tried. Jeffery, however, brought out the worst in me. "I am here to inspect my holdings and assure everything is in order."

My men picked up on my mood and straightened their posture.

"I have to admit that things are looking good in the village. I will spend some time visiting with the people. I will call on you if you are needed."

"Are you sure you would not like me to escort you?"

"Not at the moment. I prefer to get to know my people on my own. You are dismissed."

"Thank you, My Lord. I am at your disposal." He bowed and quickly returned to his home. It was a large home compared to any other I had seen in the barony. It looked like it might have up to four rooms.

We walked among the people. Like most of the other villages, they were a little nervous at first, but after talking for a bit with a few groups of women, they relaxed. Then I pulled out the paper for making paper airplanes and gathered the children who weren't working. I spent an hour playing different things with them.

One brave child said, "You aren't an angry mean baron."

I assumed he was talking about the times that my father came to visit. I smiled, "I try not to be."

"Why'd they say you were."

"I don't know who they are."

"Old people, I hear them say mean things sometimes."

I wanted to be angry, but instead, I said, "This is why you should always get to know people before talking about them. The old people must have just thought I was like other barons they know."

He tilted his head and said, "That's dumb."

"Yes, and I can see you are very smart."

He smiled up at me and then took off towards the line of kids throwing paper airplanes. I loved kids. They were so much fun.

Next, I visited the fields. Here, I came up against a wall. The men were polite and answered my questions, but none really opened up. Well, there was the one guy I had permitted to marry.

"How are you and Jodi doing? Are you enjoying the married life?"

"My Lord, you remembered me." He said in shock.

"Of course I do. You and Jodi were the first marriage I ever approved."

"Jodi is doing very well. We can't be sure yet, but we think she is pregnant."

I gave a genuine smile. "Congratulations, I will have to crochet the baby a hat when it is born."

That got me a confused look. "What is crochet."

"Ah, ignore that. I never did pick it up very well."

I actually did know a little about crocheting. When my niece was born, my mother started crocheting a bunch of stuff for her. She insisted I help make a hat. After getting me started, she left me to it. I ended up paying a girl down the street to do it. It was just so boring. I wonder if they knit or crochet here.

After wrapping things up with the farmers, I went and spoke with the Cofi Gaurd.

The guy in charge, Ned, gave a genericly bland report. Apparently, nothing happened much around here.

"How are the people of Karr doing?" I asked casually.

He looked surprised but then said, "Still keeping to themselves."

"Good. When was your last visit there?"

"My Lord, I assure you we do not visit there," he said defensively, which made me think the exact opposite was happening. I didn't look, but I was sure Draves picked up on this, too.

"Well, Ned, thank you for your report. I'm off to have a very late lunch."

I decided I had had enough of my PR campaign for now, and unlike my men, I had not eaten. I took my meal with the Headman, and when we were done, I told him I wanted to visit the Karr.

Red flags began to fly as soon as he opened his mouth. "My Lord, I assure you you don't want to visit there. They are a filthy people that wallow in the muck. Their whole place is probably disease infested. They are also very savage and may attack if they find out you are here. We don't want another uprising."

I didn't believe him. I had met some people that I thought might be mixed blood, and if they were truly what he said they were, that wouldn't have happened.

"We shall see, Draves. Ready the carriage. The headman will be joining us." This declaration made the man pale. He immediately began to make excuses for why he needed to stay.

I didn't care about his whining and had Draves practically shove him into the carriage. The trip around the lake was a quiet one. As we exited the trees and entered the secluded village, my mouth dropped. I shouted for the driver to stop and jumped out of the carriage. My eyes went wide in shock as I looked at what was in front of me. For a moment, I couldn't speak.

"Jeffery!" I growled, "What in the name of the Endless One is going on here?

Count Vasper

I stood on a hill overlooking a small field. In the chill morning, an ocean breeze whipped my cloak, and the salty smell filled my nostrils. I turned to the man standing next to me, "Alright, Captain Harv. What was so important and secret that we are standing out here at first light? You realize you are risking your position at the very least by having me cancel appointments based on what you say may change the war.

"My Lord, you asked me to review the Bicman Stirup and see if it would benefit our horsemen. At first, I had my doubts, but now… now I am sure we have just entered a new age."

Turning to ten men mounted on horseback, he shouted, "Drill one."

As one, they charred the field dotted with many obstacles about the height of a man. The first thing I noticed was the speed. I had seen a charge fall completely apart because a few over-eager men charged at a speed that caused them to lose control when they hit the enemy line. However, in this case, they smashed through the practice dummies with their lances without a single man losing control. The men struck with a force that destroyed the dummies completely. There is no way that a horseman should be able to use that much force. The stirrups allowed the full weight of the rider and horse to be put into the blow. I couldn't imagine what it would do to a soldier on the field. The strength of our cavalry had always been their mobility, not their power. After punching through the enemy line with their lances, they pulled out their swords and began to hack at the back lines.

After charging all the way through the line, the horsemen would normally make a large arc so as not to be thrown off the saddle. But what I witnessed next surprised me just as much as the power they wielded. After riding out a short way, they pivoted on their horses and, as one, charged again. The speed at which they were able to reset their charge would give the enemy no time to regroup and face our horsemen unitedly. The broken front line would be an easy target for our foot soldiers. Meanwhile, the archers at the rear would be destroyed by our cavalry.

Captain Harv smiled as he called for group two. What I had not noticed about this group initially was that they carried a modified bow. It was smaller, so he probably had to sacrifice both range and power, but if what I thought he was about to do worked, it wouldn't matter. The men fired three volleys from their horses with similar accuracy to what I would see from a field archer. Then, as one, they moved to another position. The stirrups allowed them to keep their shots steady and gave them mobility. Archers were effective as long as the enemy couldn't get to them. This would make it almost impossible to get rid of the archers. The enemy would lose many lives without even being able to hurt my men as long as they kept moving so they didn't become a target of the enemy archers.

After the demonstration, I turned to the captain. Keeping my calm demeanor, I said, "Is there anything else you wish to show me?"

The captain couldn't keep the satisfied smile off his face. "No, My Lord."

"Very well, I want you to get with General Lucus and Captain Soris. Together, you will devise a suitable battle strategy that incorporates the entire army. I will send a letter to the king requesting permission to give a closed demonstration. I would like to see these men on the battlefield within two months."

This caused Harv to grin even wider. "I told you it would be something special. With these stirrups, I can train men to ride a horse in a quarter of the time. I can't believe this idea came from that backwater baron all because he was afraid of falling off his horse. If we had had these at the beginning of the war, it would already have been over. The fact that you only paid a few gold for the knowledge is laughable. If word ever gets out about that, the young man will not be able to show his face in public."

This soured my mood. I glared at the man. "Then I suggest you keep that to yourself. If this works, then we owe a debt to that young man. If I find out that the information about how much I paid for the information leaked, I will be very displeased. I will not allow the Baron of Bicman or my reputation to suffer because of the transaction."

The Captain wilted under my gaze. "Of course, My Lord. I would never speak ill of a fellow nobleman."

I nodded, "I will have to reconsider what amount he deserves for his contribution to the war."