Herald of Steel

The length of the road Alexander and the nobles determined was a total of around 800 km.

This number was achieved by Alexander first demanding three straight main roads built which extended 90 km in the north, east, and west directions from his city Zanzan, for a total of 270 km.

Then there were the various noble fiefdoms connecting with each other that demanded another 300 km of new roads

And lastly, the nobles were asked to repair and expand some of their existing roads for easier trading, for another 250 km of additional paved ground.

Once this was determined, and the route and specification selected, Alexander then invited an expert to help him estimate the time and cost.

And that was Diaogosis.

The man had been building roads for Alexander for three months now, and with his experience in building stone-concrete roads, Alexander could think of none better.

And once asked about the feasibility of the roads, this newly made noble addressed the crowd, “With the 60 tons of cement provided to us daily, we are able to build around 4 km of roads a day.”

“That comes to each of my workers being able to build 3 meters of roads per day with the help of around hundred and fifty (150) horses and a similar number of wagons for carrying the sand, gravel, and stone aggregates.”

Saying these preliminary claims, Diaogosis then paused a bit as he traced his chin and calculated his estimate based on the varying conditions.

And it was these varying conditions that were the real buggers as by using simple math, 800 km should have taken about 7 months as per Diaogosis’s claim of being able to build 4 km of road per day.

But life was rarely simple.

And so the stonemason spoke out his thoughts aloud.

“So for the 800 km road, with the supply of cement being equal…and taking into account the time needed to cover the large distance from our supply point at Zanzan…..and given that we will have to build twelves bridges of different lengths….hmmm.”

Diaogosis hummed for some time as the cogs spun inside his head.

Until finally a while later the man first gave his estimate of the labor force needed and the time required.

“It will take me around 2,000 men, 350 horses or mules, and 600 carts, and one and a half years to complete it.” He at last said confidently.

The number of men and materials wanted was certainly a lot.

But it was only a very big project.

So Alexander only asked softly, “Could you explain?”

And the man was happy to explain his working to the Pasha,

“My lord, the main reason why I’m asking for so much time, men, and material is because since the roads will be built quite far away from Zanzan, I will need a lot of men and horse carts to supply me with the cement needed. The need is quite justified.”

This was completely true and so Alexander nodded to give him the informal approval of the project.

Which meant the project was guaranteed to go ahead, and only needed to go through some formalities.

While from the side one of the nobles chimed with a light smile, “If transporting this cement is the problem, then perhaps it could be manufactured in my territory. We are situated in quite a convenient position, and it will only not save us time, but money as well.”

It seemed the magic material had already aroused the curiosity of many in the group.

But Alexander did not bother responding to this.

This was because this was not a new request.

For the last weeks, as Alexander had spent some with getting to know the nobles and their fiefdoms, they had only gotten to know him, and his city Zanzan.

They inquired about all kinds of things, like his background, his military wins, his outlook in life, and one noble even prodded him about his taste in women,

While in the case of Zanzan, they asked about its people, its army, all the different kinds of things it produced, and most importantly of all, how they were produced.

And like always Alexander had answered some, evaded others, and refused to comment on a few

The last one mostly being associated with the production of many of his goods.

And as you might have guessed, the nobles were really interested in the cement-making technique. 𝐞𝗻𝐨𝘃𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝗺

One which Alexander even refused to put on the table, very straightforwardly saying, “That is a core technology of Zanzan and cannot be traded.

And so Alexander ignored that noble’s suggestions, and simply turned to DD to ask,

“And the budget?”

Hearing this the stonemason took around round of long silence to think, as he then even took out a piece of paper from his pocket and started scribbling.

And at last presented Alexander the broken down statistics, saying,

“This is a preliminary estimate, my lord. Please have a look.”

On the paper, the prices were broken down as such.

Cement cost for 1000 km of road (estimated total for road and bridge):

15,000 tons of cement for 1.2 million ropals (at 80 ropal per ton).

Wages of 2,000 men for 18 months:

9 million ropals (at 250 ropals per worker per month)

Feed for 350 horses or mules for 18 months:

3 million ropals (at 500 ropals per animal per month)

Cost of 600 carts, 2000 buckets, and other miscellaneous pieces of equipment:

1 million ropals.

Slack: 1 million ropals.

Total- 15.2 million or about 15 million ropals.

Alexander found these numbers to be quite reasonable and hence gave DD a nod of approval.

But that did not stop his heart from skipping a beat after looking at the numbers.

And this was even when he knew the values would be like this.

The road’s cost was around a Jamider’s (Earl) annual income and this was considering Alexander was using the much cheap cement road.

If he had made the roads using traditional techniques, this would have easily cost tripled or even quadrupled the amount.

No wonder nobles did not like building roads if it was not absolutely necessary.

It was bloody expensive.

And as Alexander passed the paper around, the nobles sitting there all too drew cold breaths.

They had certainly suspected such a value, but still seeing the amount scared them.

While those with a good head on them even posed with a slight shake of the head, “My lord, I don’t think our yearly tax will be able to cover even one-tenth of this.”

This Alexander knew.

Over the past few days, he had gotten to know the financial capabilities of each of the individual nobles and it went like roughly this like.

Each Shordar (Baron) controlled around 100 sq km of land, which had 10 to 13% of arable land in them.

And since in this agricultural society, almost everything worth of value was produced in the fields, those good lands were really their only money makers, and they produced around 250,000 ropals worth of goods per sq km as per Alexander’s calculations.

And since the nobles got a cut of 20% as taxes, and after deducting all the extra expenses such as paying the tax collectors and the bookkeepers, a shordar (Baron) earned around 500,000 to 600,000 ropals annually.

Using this similar math, a talukdar (Viscount) who controlled around 500 sq km earned 2.5 million.

While a Jamider (Earl), who controlled 2,000 sq km, and had actual cities under their control earned 15 million.

From this, Alexander calculated his total 1% tax revenue would be only around 1 million ropals, which was more symbolic than an actual amount.

But it was a start.

While in the meantime Alexander knew he would have to foot the bill.

So he answered, “I’m aware of the monetary difficulties the city is facing.”

“So I propose that the Zanzan council borrows the money from me for now. And they can then pay me back the amount once the trade and commerce here develop.”

Alexander afterward even put on a magnanimous face, as he declared, “I will be generous and not charge the city any interest. Just the principal amount.”

Which drew relieved faces from the nobles.

Because they knew Alexander was unlikely to ever get his money back on this.

As did too Alexander.

In this project or any number of the additional infrastructure developments he had in his mind, Alexander was destined to lose money.

But it was an investment for developing trade and even security in his fiefdom.

So Alexander was more than willing to splurge.

As the issue of the road came to an end and the issue of tax was raised, Alexander remembered he had one last thing to discuss with them.

Coincidentally, it concerned increasing his tax revenue.

So he turned to address the nobles.

“Gentlemen, many of you may not know this, but Zanzan has had a small agricultural revolution.”

“We have implemented several new farming techniques in our crop cultivation, and we expect our crop yields to double this year, from 400 kg of wheat per hectare to 800 or even 900 kg.”

At the mention of these numbers, the nobles were naturally astounded, and if not for Alexander’s previous acumen would have likely mocked him on the spot.

But given all they knew about Alexander, now they were very curious.

While Alexander finished his speech by saying,

“I hope that you will pay attention to our practice and emulate them.”