Road to the Crown

Chapter 275: Societal problem

15th August 1574

"This proposition To be honest, sir, I find it quite troublesome to see the source of your confidence in that matter. But since this is your wish, I'm willing to put it under vote at the later time. With that said, let's move on to the simpler topic. Would you mind explaining to us, in fairly simple words, what is that strange and loud contraption that you used to arrive in the capital?"

With the hard part of today's meeting out of the way, now it was time to actually bring some heavy guns on my own. Obviously, rather than storming this place with the few men that I brough with me, I was going to use this automated carriage of mine as nothing else but bargaining chip, aiming at harnessing some favours with the senators!

"Your excellence, respectable sirs. As I couldn't guess whether or not my proposition about the military will be accepted, I decided that wasting this opportunity to promote my crafts would be simply stupid. As such, let me explain it in the simplest words. I have only a general idea as to how this contraption of mine works. I can tell that it's powered by the force created by the steam horses that are hidden within the build, but as this entire project is managed by one of the let's say, a servant of mine, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be capable of explaining the exact details that allow it to operate the way it does."

What I said, was what could be called a white lie. Due to my modern knowledge, I could guess how most of the construction problem was solved, all the more thanks to riding it while the inner machinery has yet to be exposed in the early prototype. Yet, if someone were to ask me whether I knew exactly how did it work, I could say that I was ignorant to it without actually lying!

But even with that being the case, I wasn't willing to just drop hints to those men gathered in the chamber. With how I was about to release my steam engines to the public, even if they were incapable of replicating the build, just by keeping the hints that I could drop in mind, I was sure that they would find someone capable of doing a vehicle for them!

And this was actually a problem. In general, my idea of sharing the development plans and blueprints with the rest of the country and the rest of the world relied on one, extremely simple foundation. If one were to grade the technological improvements of my lands into tiers, then only by the time I myself would achieve third tier, would the second one be released for my countrymen, while the initial tier to the world in general!

"Would I be right if I were to guess that your people are capable of producing those carriages on a large scale? Would using them in the military be possible if that were to be the case?"

This time, rather than lashing at me in an attempt to stop any progress of the talks that could move in my favours, senator Jacwin revealed a rare expression of his face. Looking at him, I could tell that rather than looking for the things that he could use against me, he was genuinely interested in this matter!

"Respectable sir, it's not only possible, but it's actually the main focus of the factory producing them. While in the near future, I hope that those carriages could populate all the lands of our country in the form of civil devices, capable of helping to increase farming and logistic aspects of our beloved country, there is no denying that before we win the war and reach the point of fully defensible borders, only the necessary amount of civilian vehicles will be produced. Sadly, while I can already admit that the military prowess that those automated carriages can provide is great Even when all the means of production are in my hands, the cost of creating just a single one is insane."

With how the heaviest military carriage of mine, Hussar-one, could cost at the very least more than a thousand gold coins in its barren form, with all the costs of maintenance, weaponry ammunition and other stuff that this early type of steam tank had to be outfitted with, the cost could easily reach two thousand per piece or more! And that was all something that I had to pay myself while receiving all types of parts and resources on the product price. If anyone wanted to buy this kind of carriage on their own, with how it was military equipment, five times the premium price of ten thousand red goldens per single vehicle would be quite reasonable!

"If that's the case, then why did you claim that you wanted to promote it by using it to arrive here? If you are not willing to create civilian vehicles for the sale or rental, what's the point of promoting it in the first place?"

This time, it wasn't the senator Jacwin that pointed this small inconsistency out, but the primate himself. While unexpected, it served as a reminder that despite how this bishop so far appeared as he was supporting my ideas, this wasn't really the case at all! But rather than lamenting over the fact that I lacked any dedicated supporter in this currently highest decisionmaking instance in the entire country, I could only do my best to change it with my words alone!

"Your excellency, I do firmly believe in the potential of the people. That's why in my lands, I do not differentiate people based on their birth or blood, but based on their skills and abilities alone. By showcasing what can be achieved with the steam horses of mine, I wanted everyone who saw my carriage to question, what else could be made with them? As I'm a noble myself, I have to beg your pardon, but I'm not well-versed in the secrets of various crafts. Unless the people who know what kind of tasks of theirs could be made easier and quicker with the use of simple mechanical force come up with new inventions, we will be dommed to rely on those few development officers of mine when it comes to innovations. And it will suffice to say, that it's not something I can be satisfied with!"

I was unwilling to pretend that I was the only one who was creative in this world. To be perfectly honest, with how Henry came up with the steam carriage nearly completely on his own, my point about the people's innate creativity was already proved. In fact, I wasn't the most creative person in my lands either, as most of my designs were not new creations, but replicas of what I saw back in the future!

Just like some crafty folks would come up with all of those machines on their own in the original timeline, I hoped to bank on this innate human trait of looking for the ways to exploit natural forces for their own benefit!

"I'm not going to hide it. The more I hear from you, the clearer the picture of what you are attempting to do appears in my mind. Sir Mike, are you trying to undermine the position of nobility with all your projects, or just selected few?"

It couldn't be that easy. Hearing this clearly threatening words of the primate, rather than cowering in fear or gnashing my teeth at the sight of potentially losing his favour, I was actually filled with joy! I simply couldn't' believe he could make the task that he accused me of implementing, so much easier!

"Your excellency, what I'm attempting to do, is to put capable people in places that could use their talents for the benefits of all. If you really think or even believe that this kind of approach could undermine the position of the nobility in Commonwealth, then I can only sum this up with one sentence."

Once again using my crane to prompt myself up, I stood up and looked directly into the eyes of the primate. 

"TO HELL WITH THIS KIND OF NOBILITY!"

Shouting those words with anger written on my face, I actually threw my crane away, instantly forced to start fighting to keep my stability. Yet, as stupid as it was to deprive myself of my support like that, I was willing to make this sacrifice for the sake of nailing my point even further!

"If making the people give their best for the sake of serving the country is considered sabotage against our system, then the system is flawed in the first place! After all, how could we call ourselves nobles, if we have to worry about others proving that they are actually better than us?!"

At this point, I couldn't stand upright anymore. With my injured leg giving up, I lost my stability, falling down on one knee as if I wanted to show respect for the majesty of the primate sitting in front of me. But as painful as this small show of mine was, stunning the entire audience of the senators with both my words and my actions allowed me to squeeze just a few more words before they would surely interrupt me.

"We are proud of being born to certain families, and use this fact as an excuse to put others down. We make others work for us, while not giving anything of value back to them. While I didn't come here to reform the society, it's you yourself, your excellency, that pointed out how flawed this system is in the first place!"