Herald of Steel

As Alexander made in way back from the eastern military district, having spent the whole day there he reminisced about what happened.

He was mostly pleased that the demonstrations went well and good, but he felt a slight acridness at how the stirrups had been somehow overcast by all the other more blingy things.

He had thought that it would get more attention, but forgot it was on the face of it quite a humble invention.

And the reason for Alexnader’s error was that he knew the effect the humble stirrup had on history.

This invention allowed knights to stay on their horses while in combat and almost single-handedly gave rise to the concept of a ‘cavalry charge’.

It has been attributed to the rise of the knight class in the middle ages and according to some historians even the whole feudal system.

Now, it had to be noted that there is a popular misconception that before the industrial revolution, the whole world practiced some kind of feudal system.

The idea was that the governing structure was that there would be a king and he would give some of the lands to a duke, and that duke gives some of his lands to some marquis, and so on, with each having almost full autonomy to do what they want with their land as long as they could provide the quota of resources, whether it be men or material, set up by his peer above.

And this type of structure definitely existed, especially in the middle ages in Europe, where nobles were basically little kings of their territory, able to make laws, mint coins, judge people as they saw fit, and most importantly of all have personal armies.

But this was rarely the case throughout history.

For example, Rome had a very centralized command, where the emperor and only the emperor could control the army, only the emperor could mint money and no noble or senator could unilaterally make laws.

In the middle ages, the Ottoman Empire was not feudal, and neither was China.

And so for historicals to suggest that one simple invention caused a whole new kind of governmental structure to rise in a part of the world, was a testament to the importance of that invention.

The stirrups allowed a select group of men, who, when sufficiently trained and equipped, could mow down regular folk like wheat, and the latter could do little about it.

And it was this huge martial prowess that forced European kings to recognize the threat and potential of these men, and to obtain and use them against their enemies, they were even willing to give up control of some of their land.

So, few could blame Alexander for being very excited about this invention.

Though it had to be also stated that there are also many arguments against the claim made by some historians.

Because as magnificent and important as the creation of stirrups no doubt was, it was also not like cavalries without stirrups never existed or that they were necessarily inferior.

For example, the Parthians were one of the earliest adopters of the stirrups, but their opponent, the Romans did not seem to have straight away adopted the stirrup.

While Parthia had them before the birth of Christ, Romans started to use them only at the start of the Byzantine rule which was around the 6th-7th century, a few centuries after coming into contact with the neighboring kingdom.

And it was not like Romans did not copy their opponents.

In fact, Rome was probably the biggest intellectual property thief of the ancient world, stealing everything from his opponents, from weapon designs to entire political systems, to even whole religions.

Romans loved copying, improving, and adapting their enemies’ stuff into their own.

So, for Rome to not have copied the stirrups was especially intriguing, and no one really knows the reason for sure, but it is hypothesized that perhaps the Romans had saddles that worked similarly to stirrups, or they were really good riders who could control their horses just as well without the extra metal.

So, it was not yet written in gold that Alexander’s cavalry with its stirrups would dominate the battlefield.

With these thoughts in mind, Alexander ended his day, while cherishing the fact that tomorrow would be his day off.

And tomorrow soon came, which Alexander celebrated with poached eggs, bacon, and ham, having a hearty breakfast.

And after finishing that, since today he did not have any official duties, decided it was as good a time as any to check out his new kitchen.

He had asked Takfiz to provide the manpower for the construction, and Mean reported to him recently that it had been finished.

And so he made his way to the outside back lawn, where a part of the grounds had been renovated to make a new kitchen.

There were a few new buildings, coated with fresh new paint, and as Alexander approached the new cooking facilities, he was greeted by Mean.

“Alex, come, let me show you around,” The petite girl greeted him with a wide smile, and then led him inside.

And as he entered the premises, he was greeted by Julkain, the buff mama that had tackled him.

“Mas….master, welcome. And thank you, thank you,” She stammered the greeting.

The latter part was because she felt thankful that Alexander had decided not to punish her for attacking him.

In fact, Alexander had actually written a letter thanking her.

Julkain still vividly remembered the day when she woke up in the servant’s quarter that night she tackled Alexander and had spent till dawn entirely shivering in dread, afraid that the soldiers would come anytime to execute her.

She considered running, but the thought of what she did mortified her and so she stayed put, resolving herself to her fate.

And after the sleepless night, her fate seemed to have arrived, as the soldiers did come, led by the scary Jumminus, and Julkain said her last prayers.

But much to her surprise, the soldiers did not grab her by the arm and behead her as she had expected.

Instead, they solemnly declared, “Mistress Mean wants to see you. Come!”

And this command inspired another kind of dread within her, thinking it might be a public execution.

And this thought was even more strongly reinforced when she saw that a large crowd, presumably all the kitchen staff had gathered there.

‘I’m about to be made an example of,’ Julkain had miserably cried in her heart. ．

But she was once again disappointed as instead Mean, standing on a chair, called to her with a large grin.

And after Julkain was standing right next to her, Mean spoke out, “I’m sure all of know what happened yesterday- Julkain here stopped the pasha thinking he was an intruder.”

Mean politely avoided the exact word which was ‘tackled’ as she continued,

“And though touching a noble is a capital offense, the lord is magnanimous. He understands that Julkain did this not to attack the pasha, but because she thought she was protecting the pasha from intruders.” Mean explained.

“And hence he has decided to not only forgive her but in appreciation of her diligence, has even decided to reward her!” As Mean said so, she took out a letter from her pocket and unfolded it in front of the crowd.

Then waving it around, Mean explained, “Here is a letter personally written by the lord thanking Julkain for her work. Here let me read it out for you. It says:

From Alexander, Pasha of Zanzan,

Greeting to you Julkain. This pasha is very impressed by the courage and commitment you have shown in your work.

You are a shining example for all other fellow workers to follow.

So as a reward, you will be given a monthly stipend of 200 ropals from now on.

And I hope you will continue to serve this manor wholeheartedly for all time to come.

Farewell, Pasha Alexander.”

There came a huge torrent of applause after Mean finished, while Julkain felt tearing up, as she immediately kneeled in front of Mean and swore, “I wish to dedicate my life to the lord and his family. Let the gods bear witness.”

The mama had tears and a bit of snot coming out of her nose as she said this, crying drops of happiness and glee.

The monthly wage did not affect her as much as Alexander addressing someone as lowly as her by name.

It had to be noted that Alexander wrote that letter early dawn after asking Jumminus about the mama’s name.

Mean patted the kneeling mama on the shoulder and handed her the letter as a keepsake, and then dismissed the gathering with the saying, “Remember, the lord said that everybody can become like Julkain if they work hard enough.”

This was probably the most cliche line in the corporate world, but these gullible, uneducated servants bought it hook, line, and sinker.

They excitedly swore to not disappoint the pasha, as their hearts blazed with the determination to be just like Julkain, an endeavor that would prove to be futile for most of them.

And after that, when Mean was picking her team for the second kitchen, she chose Julkain as the head of guards, tasked with keeping the security inside the kitchen, such as keeping an eye on the cooks to make sure they did not add anything unsavory to the meals.

“Hahaha, Julkain it’s nice to see you. Keep up the good work,” Alexander greeted the mama enthusiastically and after some more pleasantries and encouraging her to keep up the good work, decided to start inspecting the new cooking facilities.