False Prophet B:3 C:29

King Lenord Asput

The doors of my chamber were flung open, startling me awake. 

"What in the name of the Endless One-"

"Wake up, Lenord," came the voice of Norris.

"Ugh," I said as I sat up and rubbed my head. "Look, Norris, unless we are under an attack, I really don't want to deal with any drama. My head is splitting right now."

"You are not far off. We underestimated the council. They are not just planning on raiding Bicman. It appears they have hired enough people to raze it to the ground."

"Get me some water," I yelled to my servant as I sat up. "My ministers assured me that it would be a light raid just to distract the people and make us look bad. It doesn't matter though. This information just gives us an opportunity to prepare."

"No, Lenord, you don't understand. I got a pigeon message from Baron Eval. Ten Rabiss raiding ships were seen just north of West Cove three days ago."

"Ten! Why in the world would they need that many raiders?"

"Exactly. And with the wind at their backs, they should be passing Carok any day now."

I pushed my palms into my eyes. "I can't even think straight. Why did I even go to that party last night?"

"Because it was your daughter's birthday. The problem is that you drank too much."

"Stop nagging. You're not one of my wives. What is the point of going to a party if you aren't going to drink? Besides, that has nothing to do with the current situation. Now, what can we do about this?"

"I have sent a pigeon to Carock and Vaspar. Carok will spread the message along the Falmore border and Vaspar along the Kimton. I believe we should send some soldiers to Carok even though it will be too late to help if Carok is their goal. I doubt it, because that would start a war, but one can never be sure with these kinds of people."

"Can we intercept them with our ships?"

"In a sea battle, they would decimate whatever we could throw at them. We don't have enough ships. We could tail them, but if they turned on us, they could destroy our ships and say they were lost at sea."

"So we just let them come and decimate the entire northern county?"

"We will gather 1000 men and send them to Vaspar via ship. Then, we will travel north to Malcomp. Malcomp and his sons should be able to hold them off until our men arrive. That is, of course, if they decide to travel that far south, which they may if the council has asked the Rabiss to give proof that they are not fit to be king."

"So we lose two baronies?"

"They won't be able to take everyone. Besides, you had said that you didn't mind losing a few peasants," Norris said.

"Don't patronize me. I was willing to accept a certain amount of losses, but this crosses the line."

"Well, as long as we can retrieve the count, everything will be ok. The county produces almost nothing of importance, and there are very few people there. If the count is smart, he will just have everyone flee south, where there are more fortified baronies. The mind of that boy is really the only important thing in that place. Let us gather your councilors. We will take some time to deliberate on this matter. We will be able to turn this around." 

Amos 

The equinox snuck up on me almost without warning. It was a day for balance, which meant that people would evaluate the winter and plan for the summer. In the morning, it was done in the household, and in the evening, it was done in the village. Of course, for me, it was done at a manor, barony, and county level. That meant that Benjamin, Draves, Terrence, and Marshandra were in council most of the day. You may ask, why Marshandra? Well, now that I was a count, managing the manor was something that my steward shouldn't have to deal with. So, I turned the management of the manor over to the person who knew it best. 

We hammered out the final details of the guest house and new servants' quarters. I thought it was ridiculous how the servants slept like dogs in the great hall. It may have been customary, but it was degrading. The North Cove Castle would have servants' quarters in the actual keep itself. Or perhaps I would create a three-story Elizabethan Manor with a wall surrounding it.

In Bicman, the servant's quarters, which would be a small house, would be about the same size as the guest house but not as nicely furnished. Additionally, it would not have a sitting or dining room, unlike the guest house. I knew that I would soon be handing this place over to some random baron, but I wanted to show them I didn't live in a hovel. Actually, the reason for the guest house was that the new baron/spy provided by the council would live in the old manor, while I, when visiting, would stay in the better building. Nothing like sticking it to the council's crony. 

Anyway, back to the preparations for the new year. We had enough goats to provide cheese and hair for most of the people in Bicman. We were using the hide to make sandals for our soldiers. Unfortunately, we did not have enough. The tanner was on his third batch of goat hides, but then we would be out for a while since we were avoiding killing goats.

We had tanners, leather workers, and cobblers throughout the county, producing what we could. As well as importing from Vaspar, but even then, it would be tight. Fortunately, I was only subsidizing part of the cost. The rest would come out of the soldier's pay.

 I wanted my people to have more meat, but it was so expensive. The pork was the cheapest form of meat, so I would be subsidizing pig farming until we could raise a larger amount. People still wouldn't be eating a tonne of meat, but enough to provide more protein. 

With that in mind, I utilized some of Plimgus's land and had Zed, our salt maker, set up a facility to produce his salt cream. I didn't even ask Pligus about it. I wasn't going to deny him the taxes from the business, but making sure Plimgus knew his place was important to me. Why not do it at the cove? Zed said the beaches south of the Nore would be better.

 I also wanted to use Zed as a spy. He would soon be one of the wealthier people in Plimgus, and if he was indebted to me, all the better. I provided him with all the capital and labor he needed to start his business and assured him that he was under my protection. The town he set up in was southwest of Plimgus, right where Polman River entered the sea. Within 10 years, I wanted him to be able to provide most of the salt for North Cove. We would have evaporation ponds all up and down the coast.

Soon, we would have a steady stream of salt for the county and could salt and smoke the pork for long-term use. Well, pork and everything else we could think of.  

When we turned the discussions to Terrence's projects, he said that the black powder production was going well and the tracks to run the coal oil were working effectively. He also stated that they had discovered a method to achieve a consistent carbon ratio in the steel. It required making wrought iron and then reintroducing it to carbon by heating it with charcoal. So far, they had roughly 100 kilograms of decent-quality steel, and he felt like they would soon be able to increase the amount to 300 kilograms a week if they had enough iron ore. Unfortunately, they need more miners for that. Also, the process took almost a week per batch.

My mind began to wander, and the discussion of gunpowder and steel in the conversation suddenly gave me an epiphany. Could I attach steel to a pull string and make a spark by pulling it across flint or vice versa? I interrupted Tarrence just as he was getting into the details of his report's glass production and explained what I wanted. Flint and pyrite are the most commonly used materials currently, but I asked him to try using flint and steel instead. Additionally, I outlined a plan for remotely activating it. He said he would have the scientists start working on it right away. 

For convenience, I gave the name scientist to anyone who was running experiments. If they didn't like the title, they could change it later. 

Since I felt this place had entirely too few holidays, I decided to name the day after the equinox, the first day of the year, an actual holiday. Thus, New Year's Day was born in Bicmon Barony. I would start the spread of it from here.

It was still a little chilly up in the mountains, but for the most part, the weather had started to warm up. The farmers still warned me that sudden drops in temperature could happen, killing the crops. That didn't stop us from having a party. The party was held at the fairgrounds we had created south of Kerisi. There was, of course, a football tournament, but I also wanted to introduce a new game. I wanted to do baseball, but leather was in short supply, and there was no way I was going to have people play baseball without gloves. I didn't need a bunch of broken fingers. Also, I knew the inside of the original baseballs was made of wood, but I didn't know the type. So, instead, we made a softball out of a small amount of leather and stuffed it with horsehair. It was mainly played by the kids, but they really got into it.

There was another New Year's Day party taking place in North Point, which attracted some people from the nearby villages in Plimgus. I heard afterward that Plimgus himself deigned to attend it. If I had to guess, he probably liked it better than the austere Malcomp.

There were not many goods for sale this year, but I am sure next year this will turn into a much bigger event. The party was expensive, but I was crossing my fingers that hosting this kind of event would stimulate the local economy. 

Another reason to celebrate was that we had done a census, and a lot fewer people had died this winter than in winter that people could remember. Probably because people weren't trying to eat wood bark to survive. I promised myself that next year it would be even less. I had been making the medics wear specific clothes that were changed, often washing sick people and keeping them well hydrated. If we could turn bread mold into antibiotics or create vaccines for the pox that would be good. I had once heard that the first vaccine was made by infecting people with the non-deadly virus, cowpox. This would build up an immunity for smallpox

The day after the party, preparations for planting picked up right where we had left off. Since we were preparing a significantly larger number of fields this year for both crop rotation and new cash crops, we had to start early. Fortunately, we had purchased enough mules and horses and built enough plows to get things done more efficiently. The fact that we had worked through the winter to clear the land of trees and rocks also helped. By the time we are done, I expect to have two to three times more fields in the already established villages and thirty acres per family of farmers in the new ones. 

It was during one of my trips out and about handing out small buns to some of the kids that I encountered one of my favorite farmers.

"How are things going, Henry?"

"Busy, my lord. I do not mean to complain, my lord, but the new position of headman is quite overwhelming," the older man said with a grimace.

I chuckled. "I understand, but I really couldn't entrust the job to anyone else. Benjamin and I can no longer fill the role, so the village needs a level-headed overseer, and you are the right person for the job. The people of Bicman trust you have their best interests in mind, and so do I. That is the most important thing."

"You have said so before. But it does not make things any less daunting." 

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I imagine that this spring, we will have a new baron and steward here. They may want to take some of the management duties back from you."

"The idea of a new baron does not make me feel better, I prefer the one we have."

The thought also made my stomach churn. I was worried for these people. I had no desire to leave their fates in the hands of another person. Especially if it was some stuck-up noble. Fortunately, I would still be the count, and hopefully, if the people started complaining, I would hear about it and put a stop to it.

"If you have any complaints about the new guy, just make sure to send me a word. I would have to be careful about how I handle my nobles, but I can censure bad behavior."

"I am glad for your willingness to continue to support us. Maybe if our harvest turns out well, he will just leave us alone like your father usually did."

"Well, if we got the same yields as last year on some of the fields, we would get 270 kg per acre for the various grains. That means we would be able to export 30% and still have enough for taxes, storage, and to feed our population. He should be very happy about that."

Of course, that would decrease as our population moved away from agrarian culture, but I was hoping that new machinery would make it possible for a single farmer to be able to handle a larger amount of fields. Hence, the automatic reaper was important, and they were even trying to create a mule-driven thresher.  

The Clairmonts had left right before the New Year. To say I was glad to see them go would be an understatement. Although it was really enlightening to advance math, not to mention all the help they gave to my county in advancing my own people's understanding, all the conversations were starting to get on my nerves. I did allow them to take our brightest student, Detrick, with them. He was a pure math nerd, just like Jewel. He had been following Jewel around like a puppy. Although he was only fourteen, by the time they were ready to leave, he was already just as proficient as her. He was like one of those nerds in class who always had the answer and did extra math problems on his own time. 

When Jewel asked if he could go with her, I gave my permission hesitantly. He would be a huge asset when we got the University of North Cove up and running. But keeping him here would only hold him back, and in a couple of years, I could probably invite him to come back and give lectures that no one else would understand. I also elevated him from serf to peasant status. Keeping him as a serf would have kept him beholden to me, and he would have to come back since serfs were pretty much property here. I didn't want that, though eliminating serfdom was a long-term project of mine, and I wouldn't keep the boy on a leash just for convenience's sake. 

I did explain to Jewel that he was still my citizen, and although he had the right to travel, I would not restrict him. I still considered him under my protection. I let her know that I expected reports on his progress and that I would come to his aid and defend his rights. I don't think I had to worry about her, but if I heard that someone was causing him trouble in the barony of Clairmont or the capital, I would take him back.

Arnold had been happy to leave. He had been excited to show off the metric system to his colleagues. he took with him measuring sticks, cups, and weights. He had helped engineer a new type of scale that worked well with our measuring system, and so he brought one of those back. He also took my calipers with him. This was a new tool for him, and as soon as he got a hold of it, he wouldn't let it go. He had to measure everything. Fortunately, I had the original stored away. I kept copies of everything we invented here so that it could later be put in a museum. I figured if we had a museum it would be less likely that people would take credit for what we had done.

I wasn't too worried about the Clairmonts. They most likely wouldn't take credit for things. They seemed more like the type that would try and convince all their friends to come here and see what was going on. That was a worry in and of itself.

Now that Arnold and Jewel were gone, I had some more free time to work on the electricity project. I did not want to show that to anyone right now, so I put it away while the Clairmonts were here. I had been trying to recall everything I knew about electricity, and one thing I remembered was that the more coils you have on one of those magnets you create with a nail and copper wire, the stronger it is. The other thing was how if you took apart one of those eclectic motors inside of the cheap RC cars. You have a lot of little metal pieces with copper wrapped around them. I really wish I had disassembled that thing further. 

I was staring at the most recent contraption I had built. We found some more magnetic rock in our expanding iron mine, and I made my contraption a little bigger. I now had four magnets and added two more magnets and two more coiled copper wires. 

"Alright, Benjamin, are you ready," I said excitedly. 

"My lord, is it going to work this time?"

"Of course it will work. I can't believe you are doubting me just because it hasn't worked any of the other times. Now, start spinning it so I can electrocute myself."

I really hoped this worked. We had been at it for three hours now trying to get this to work. Now it was time to figure out if more magnets made more electricity."

When Benjamin started spinning it, I could feel the buzz in my finger, but then my hand cramped up, and I jerked it away. 

"Crap, that stings hurt as bad as touching the metal on a trampoline after jumping. Actually, it may be a little worse," I said while shaking my hand. 

"So it worked?" Benjamin asked in surprise.

"Oh ye of little faith," I smiled. "Of course, it worked. The next step is computers and video games. Once we get people hooked on those, nobody will  have time for all their silly wars." 

“So now what?”

I scratched the back of my head. “Well, I think we have to do it all in reverse. But in my world, there was a bunch of other stuff that people were discovering about electricity at the time, like volts, amps, current, ohms, batteries, resistors, transformers, and capacitors. I don't know if any of that is important in order to make what we call an electric motor."

"Electric motor?"

"Imagine you connect this generator here to a wire that extends to a building out near the fields. It is attached to a motor that spins when you spin this one. That spinning motion is similar to a waterwheel, which operates a grain mill. What we would really do is attach this to a waterwheel and have it spin the device." Actually, we would eventually put a dam up near the mountains and create a hydroelectric plant, but that may take many years.

"Are you saying that you can put these motors anywhere, and as long as they are attached to this generator, they would work, all because of this… electricity," he said in amazement.

"That is a really simple way of putting it, but yes. However, this is also very dangerous.  High amounts of electricity can start fires and cause serious injury or death. That is why it may take years of experimenting before it is safe enough to do. Really, I should have started working on steam power first, but I have just gotten carried away because I wanted to see if it would work."

"Steam? As in boiling water. Why is that important?"

"My dear friend, it is not just important. It is a foundation stone that will help us to become the most important county in Falmoren. Actually, steam and electrical power will be two of the subjects of study at the University of North Cove. I plan to make North Cove the most important city in the world."