Raising Steam

by Peter Rhodan

  “Certainly. The Republic will only work if people understand what is involved so it follows that education and knowledge are the basic requirement of informed decision making.”

  Arcadius sat back looking a bit startled at the transliterated modern dialectic Arturo had sprouted. Arcadius absently accepted the book back from Oween before putting the volume down on the table more by feel than through looking. He considered Arturo silently for a few moments. “You are a very dangerous man Arturo Sandus.” He said at last, but the words were mollified by the smile that accompanied them.

  Arturo grimaced. “Well yes. But please keep that to yourself.” And then gave Arcadius his best effort at an evil smile, in a rather over dramatic manner that caused Arcadius and Briffet to smile.

  Oween openly laughed at his boss. “You wait till you see what Ceri has built in his ironworks! Never seen anything like that! You are a wizard Arturo!” He accused.

  Arturo shook his head and waved a hand a little. “No, no, not a wizard. It is just my people are more advanced technically than is common hereabouts. Mind you there is an old saying where I come from that says any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. But it is not really magic. It is just the result of long years of development. Like the water wheels. They have been around for centuries and have changed little since they were first designed. But what they are used to power has increased in range and sophistication over the years. Do you see my point? The things I am introducing are just developments of developments of developments. I am just taking out all the in between steps, which sometimes took centuries to occur.”

  Arcadius smiled. “You are trying hard to convince us you are not a wizard my friend. Perhaps trying a little too hard? The rail road for hauling coal to the iron works is a good example of what you just said though, now that I come to think of it. People have always used wagons to carry coal, stone and other bulky stuff, whether hauled by oxen, donkeys or horses. Which means no one sees your coal wagons on the railroad as anything really extraordinary, just a more refined version of what we had used previously. Mind you no one had thought of designing wheels with metal rims to run on metal rails rather than the wooden boards that have been used traditionally in mines.”

  “It is interesting. There have been track ways for wheeled wagons on mine sites and such for many centuries I believe. Mostly the track ways there were designed as grooves that the wheels ran along in, as I understand it. Wooden rails are rare and are usually a wooden version of the grooves, a flat base with a vertical riser along the edge. The idea of making metal rails for the wheels to sit on is not that revolutionary really because there have been wooden rails, but in effect it is. This is what you meant isn’t? In time we would have developed the same thing, if the Empire was not in decline at any rate. Therefore, what you are doing is to simply take us from the beginning to the end without the intervening steps.”

  His guest nodded. “And in a month or three when the latest piece of technology Ceri has cobbled together is transferred to those same rails my point will be even more obvious to you.”

  Arcadius nodded. “I will have to visit Ceri and see what your latest deviltry is.” He said sounding intrigued. “I will admit that one of the towns' favourite activities is guessing what traditional practice you will revolutionize next!”

  Briffet and Oween laughed at this while Arcadius smiled at Arturo's obvious discomfit at the thought the town spent their time gossiping about him. Briffet waved her hand. “Look at cloth making. There is nothing revolutionary about his new loom, not really. But we are making a lot more cloth now for the same number of weavers than we ever were before. Mind you, the multiple spindle thing Mabwhen came up with was his idea not yours, but he probably would not of thought of it without you forcing people to think about faster ways to do the spinning because your looms work so well!”

  “And then there is this new number system I am going to have to learn I don’t doubt. I mean it is just numbers, but it changes so many things, for the better mind. But still.” Oween commented. To many the idea of Oween being able to do arithmetic would be mind boggling. Arturo had found his aide to actually be rather well educated, for his times. And rather more intelligent than most people gave him credit for as well.

  “I will admit putting the value on these new coins of yours is a clever idea. But they are so pure compared to the poor quality crap of the last few Emperors how are you going to stop them disappearing into people’s hoards or out of the Empire entirely like a lot of the old gold coins apparently have?” Arcadius asked.

  “Hoarding is a problem that I am attempting to correct with the banks. It will take a generation or more probably to really get the concept set in place. In the end though, those who grow up with the idea of the banks being a place to both save your money rather than risk being robbed, as well as a place to borrow money from to buy things, will cause people to see them totally differently than the way all of you do.”

  He paused. “As to gold leaving the Empire, well that is in part because the economic model the Empire operates on is totally flawed. You will see over the next few years how proper economic policies can change things. One of the biggest drains is payments made to barbarians to leave the Empire alone. Yet another weakness of the Imperial system. According to Melwyn, in the old Republic, foreign states paid the Romans not to come and take them over, not the other way around as it is today! The new Republic will not be paying anyone to leave us alone, I can assure you of that!” Arcadius nodded at this, his eyes twinkling. Underneath he was still a very old school Roman.

  “Another drain on the coinage is the use of numerous mercenaries, who take some of the accumulated wealth home with them when they leave. This will also be a bit of a problem for us too because of the forced volunteering method of adding troops to the army that I am having to use. When their term is up there will always be some that will return to their original homes, taking coins with them. On the other hand, our manufacturing is going to grow to such a point that we will be selling stuff to the barbarians in large quantities and receiving their gold and silver in return.

  Look at the cloth trade that is growing up. Until the sudden increase in the army size there was already some trade in the excess cloth Briffet and her friends were making. In a year or two they will be buying raw materials from the barbarians north of the wall and also the Scotti to the west for a low price, turning it into cloth and then selling it back to those same people at a price far cheaper than the barbarians could make it themselves yet still high enough to make a decent profit. In time the wealth of the Pechti and the Scotti will flow into the hands of our weavers, traders and, ah, tax collectors.”

  “That is an interesting concept Arturo. I had never thought of trade quite like that.” Arcadius was clearly thinking about the implications of Arturo’s latest piece of information.

  Arturo pointed to Arcadius. “Already you are earning far more than ever before from things we have only just introduced. The rail road to the mine carries coal far more easily than wagons on dirt tracks with the result that people in Dervent are starting to use it for heating and that will spread as the rails do. Your farmlands will not be more productive as such but the new plough means you cultivate more land in the same time and thus can produce more crops for the same time investment, or you can farm your existing land in a shorter time and spend that time doing other things. And this is only the beginning.” Arturo finished.

  Arcadius sat back considering all that his guest had said. “Yet all you have done is still rather precarious, is it not. What if the Praetorian Prefect of Gallia lands an army to reclaim these provinces just as Stilicho did, what nearly twenty years ago now.” He frowned. “Hmm. Time does fly doesn’t it?”

  Arturo smiled and nodded. “And the older you get the quicker it flies.” He commented to which Arcadius sighed in agreement. “As to the risk of that happening, well, it is unlikely from all I hear, but then I still don’t have a proper intellige
nce service set up....” He smiled at Arcadius who waved the goblet he was holding at him a sort of combination acknowledgement of the offer Arturo had made but at the same continuing his refusal to accept the post Arturo had offered him. “But while I wait to fill that role I have another task I would like to offer you.”

  “Ah, why do I feel like the mouse in the grasp of a cat?” He cocked his head slightly and looked

  Oween laughed and Briffet smiled. Arturo smiled but opened his palms in a sign of innocence. “I am not demanding, merely asking. And the role I would ask you to undertake is Censor for this region. I need a list of who lives where, what land they own, what they do and how they do it. From that information we can come up with proper tax rolls, voting lists for the elections and so on. I also need to know what land is not in use. Who owns it, if anyone, and what sort of land it is. It will be a slow and laborious task that will occupy much of the winter. You would of course be helped by underlings, probably military ones, this first time around.” He smiled. “So, does that sound like an appealing position?”

  He was obviously joking and Arcadius understood the inflexion in his voice. “Sounds a proper lark. Riding around all over the countryside in the middle of winter need deep in snow while harassing poor farmers and struggling shopkeepers and the like. I cannot think of a better way to spend the winter months!”

  Oween, who had just taken a swig from his own goblet, nearly choked at this. Briffet smiled as well, after an initial surprised look in her face at her father’s rare jocularity before she smiled along with the others, Arturo noted the surprise and wondered just how stern her father had been during her upbringing. Arcadius had certainly loosened up a bit since their first meeting at Ceri’s smithy. “You’ll take the job then?” He asked hoping like hell he would get a positive response because he really had no one else to turn to.

  Arcadius studied something off in the distance for a moment. “Why me?” He asked finally.

  “Partly because you are highly respected and well known locally. You are the closest thing to a Roman Senator the locals have and as such carry some of whatever Roman authority that still clings to the Empire. Secondly you strike me as a scrupulous and fair man and that is something that will be increasingly important in my new Republican Government and that also is an attribute of yours that is obvious to others. And lastly I want to get you involved in the government because I think you would be a good choice to be the elected representative for this Province in the new Roman Concillium. Or failing that the local representative in the Provincial Congress for administering this Province under the Concillium.”

  Arcadius sat back looking somewhat surprised. Arturo had made him aware of the rough shape of his proposed Republican government, indeed he had been enthusiastically involved in several previous discussions with Arturo on that very subject. After much talking they had settled on each Province electing one person to represent that province in the Imperial Concillium, the successor to the old Roman people’s Concillium where the citizens of Rome voted directly on proposals of the Senate. The new Republic would reverse the procedure and the Concillium would frame the laws and the Senate would then accept or reject them.

  All existing Senators were to be declared disenfranchised and named Patricians as a sop to their pride. A new Senate would be formed consisting of one hundred men of worth, selected for their contribution to the Roman state in either civil or military roles, nominated by either the provincial Concilliums or the main Concillium Romanum and then their appointment finally voted on by that body. The position of Senator would be for life, or at least for as long as the Senator remained able to physically attend meetings or until the Senator voluntarily resigned or was voted out by his fellow Senators. A Senator could also be removed by the Concillium and it would not be an inheritable position either.

  Arcadius now waved his goblet at Arturo. “I knew those discussions regarding the forms of Government hid some devilish ulterior motive. I repeat what I said before. You are a very dangerous man Arturo Sandus!” To which repeated accusation they all laughed. He sobered for a moment and nodded at Arturo. "I will accept your commission to act as Censor. On one condition mind.”

  Arturo raised his eyebrows and cocked his head slightly to one side. “Only one condition?”

  Arcadius smiled at this sarcastic response. “Yes, just one. That my son-in-law be made to serve as my aide.” He said calmly. Oween was taken by surprise and spluttered while Briffet gave out a little noise like a choked exclamation of joy.

  Recovering himself Oween frowned at Arcadius. “You mean that sir?” He asked in a surprised tone, obviously not certain whether to really believe his ears. It was clear to Arturo that Arcadius had taken both Oween and Briffet completely by surprise by apparently finally agreeing to Oween and Briffet marrying.

  “It’s against my better judgement mind, but yes my boy. You have turned over a new leaf serving under Arturo here and I cannot deny that the two of you have remained constant to each other for years now so I can see no choice but to agree to the two of you marrying.” He looked resigned rather than please at the prospect but Arturo was happy for his aide.

  Briffet moved over to him, throwing her arms around his neck and starting to cry with happiness. Oween clasped forearms with his prospective father in law and smiled like only a man in love can when he finally gains his heart’s desire.

  “There are a couple of conditions mind.” Arcadius said after a few moments after his daughter had finally stopped her tears of joy and he had eased out from her embrace of him at the same time.

  Arturo smiled at the wary look that had come over Oween’s face. “Such as sir?” His aide asked with some trepidation.

  “Well, for one. The two of you will make your home here. I realise your duties with that Primarius fellow over there mean you will be all over the place, once our little Censorship task is complete, that is. But this is and will remain Briffet’s home. Secondly, I understand from this wily Primarius fellow that he intends to have the law changed so that women will be able to own property in their own right, which is another dangerous and revolutionary idea.” He paused to shake his head in mock sadness. “Anyway, assuming he does, I will be leaving this property to Briffet directly and only through her to the children I expect you two to produce.”

  He paused as Briffet blushed at this. “I intend to free Gwalmyn, my head slave and foreman, along with my other slaves as a wedding present to them.” He nodded to Arturo who had discussed the evils of slavery with Arcadius at some length on more than one occasion. “He has basically run the property for some years so I will make him manager if he decides to stay and give over the management of the farm to him entirely. The mine already has a manager so that is my third condition. Oween will not interfere with the management of this farm nor the mine. Briffet has a good understanding of both, plus her weaving company, so she will be in charge of all matters financial. Is that understood?” Arturo was a little surprised that the most traditional Roman he knew was adopting such a non-patriarchal attitude!

  Oween smiled. “As you wish sir. I have always known Briffet is smarter than me. She will run all these operations far better than me, that is for certain.” He bowed slightly to his prospective bride.

  “Good. Well with that out the way we can start planning the wedding.” The enthusiasm with which Arcadius said this made Arturo wonder just how big a wedding he was planning. Manoeuvre.

  Chapter 4

  1165FR: A little progress

  Hernann was a tall, fair haired Frank from the former Lugowalion garrison who had learnt how to read and write and had been made an Ensign as a result of his newly acquired skills. He was the one chosen to serve as Arturo’s Aide in place of Oween as Arturo led his small party south. Oween was on leave and too heavily involved in wedding arrangements at the behest of Briffet who wanted the thing done as soon as possible in case her father changed his mind! Briana tagged along behind Arturo and Hernann in her self-appointed bodygua
rd role as usual, which Hernann found strange but accepted as Arturo’s will. The three rode south west along the line of the rail road heading to Wern, where one line of track had been laid for nearly two miles now. The flattened track bed was made to take two tracks but Arturo thought it made sense to lay down just the one line of rails quickly rather than slowly extend the double track. Especially when there was not really any traffic to justify two tracks, at least not yet.

  After about a half an hour of following the track bed through the green countryside under surprisingly clear blue skies they met two workmen heading in the opposite direction leading two horses pulling six empty low sided four wheel wagons slowly along the track. The metal wheels ground noisily as they rode over the metal rails which served to highlight the need to develop better axle boxes. Arturo made a mental note to discuss the matter with Ceri at some point. When he remembered! Better axle boxes would make the wagons roll better and allow for heavier loads per horse, or steam engine. Besides reducing the noise!

  The men saluted Arturo as they passed. They were clearly locals, probably workers belonging to Ceri and knew who he was. As they trundled past Arturo thought about the need for some sort of signalling too. How did they do that back on old Earth? He pondered the matter trying to recall if he had read anything on the subject then realised with a start he was back on Earth! Ha. Of course, he was now much earlier than when the first trains had been developed! He found he was unable to recall anything clearly which was annoying but for the moment they could work the line as a one train at a time operation first one way and then the other although he did not expect that would such a method of operation would last long. Hmmm. He tried again to remember what little he had read about it.

  He rather thought that they used some sort of electric signal to pass messages up and down the rail lines. Yes, that was it. The Telegraph it was called. He remembered seeing a picture of a man pressing something that closed the circuit and sent a signal up the line to a receiver. Morse Code. That was the name of the system used to send the signals. Hmm. He had only the vaguest idea of how to generate electricity so that was going to take some work. In the meantime, he would have to devise something else, probably semaphore towers he guessed. If he could get working telescopes made that would allow the towers to be spaced well apart. And he could set them up as a general message service as well. Hmm. Now that was a good idea!