The Porfian Princess: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 4

by L J Dalton Jr.

  Lunch

  Three days later, Barton showed up for lunch with his two sons-in-law plus two other businessmen. One Carlin owned a factory. His son had married a local girl, and they already had a child. His daughter was betrothed to a local boy. There was no way he was leaving Koronus and his family. He joked that he could go, but his wife would stay.

  Marlan operated a brewery. His family had started it from scratch, moving to Koronus after Duke Skelous had taken over. He also had a son who’d married a local girl. His daughters were too young to be betrothed yet, but most of their friends were local. He had no doubt that when he got sons-in-law, at least one wouldn’t be Porfian. That was fine by him. As he started the business and didn’t take one over from a displaced local, he wouldn’t be directly impacted by the transition. There would be fallout, but that was inevitable. He’d jumped at the chance to come to the lunch when Barton had invited him.

  They were greeted by the entire Nordian and Sudlund delegations. The businessmen were not used to being in the presence of royalty, let alone so much. There was Princes Christiana, who would one day rule Nordia and Prince Mathias, who was the heir to the throne of Sudlund. Plus, a Duchess, the heir to a Duke, and at least two other Princes. It was all a bit overwhelming.

  Princess Christiana started off, realizing that she needed to put these people at ease. She introduced everybody. “You’ve already met my brother Prince Brandt and his three commercial advisors. I think that they should take the lead. We’re here to listen and offer support. If things need to be done in our kingdoms, Prince Mathias and I can make things easier for you. Although I hate to admit it, my younger brother can talk to my father and grandfather, and if he’s reasonable, they’ll listen.”

  The businessmen weren’t sure what to make of the last statement. Christiana understood. “If your wives or daughters were here, they could tell you what it’s like having to put up with younger brothers.”

  Morris, one of Barton’s sons-in-law, just put his head down and hid his laughter.

  Brandt defended himself. “Sister, you have no idea what it’s like to have two older, strong-willed sisters to deal with. All my associates except for Rolf are in the same situation. One must stake out one’s independence.”

  “Strong-willed? Bossy is more like it. And it was four against two.” Was the stage whisper from James.

  Christiana gave him an evil eye, and both Mathias and Roddrick broke up laughing. That broke the ice. The servants brought out the meal, and they all started eating. The discussion was lively and very productive.

  Marlan had brought some of the ale he brewed, and the men sampled it, and they liked it. Mathias really liked it. “I think that I’ll need to speak to Duke Harlold about this. This is excellent ale. I’m sure that the palace may be a customer. Too bad the distance between Esporta and here is a bit too far for this fine ale to travel. If you opened a brewery there, I can assure you of my patronage.”

  Gabor and Carlin discussed possible business deals. Carlin was interested in some of the weaving products that Gabor’s father’s factory produced. They didn’t have sheep, but they had flax. Gabor also told him about some of the flax processing machinery that was being produced in Centralia. This really piqued Carlin’s interest.

  While the discussions were going on, Mathias pulled Harlold and Arken into the discussion, and their wives and betrothed joined in. The discussion between Gabor and Carlin sparked their interests. And they joined the discussion. James became involved as well.

  Harlold asked what they needed to do to get some of the flax processing machinery set up here. Manufactured under license, of course. He couldn’t see shipping the machinery all the way from Centralia.

  James pointed out that the weaving products could be produced by Carlin’s factory locally. The problem with the flax processing machinery was the need for a brass foundry and the processing of the raw flax. He also mentioned hemp, which had similar processing needs but easier to grow.

  The businessmen and Harlold asked James what could be done about that. His answer was simple, send more people to the research station to learn how to process flax the new way that Count Michael had introduced. Elizabeth agreed with her cousin. They asked the businessmen if they could provide the names of some people that they could send. Christiana said that she’d make sure that they would be welcomed.

  As to the brass works, there was one in Koronus that was now owned by a Porfian. The problem was that he was very conservative, to the point of being backward. The only reason he did well was that it was the only brass works around. The tin and copper came from mines in the Sud. The tin mines were located in Tantulus. But copper came from Sorbia, and that was now cut off.

  Prince Mathias assured them that he’d make sure that copper shipments to Koronus resumed. He had no idea what to do about the technology. Christiana looked at Roddrick.

  He wasn’t dumb and picked up on it right away. “I’ll get on it. Michael and I have discussed the need to set up an industrial teaching and innovation institute much like the research station for agriculture and medicine.

  He’s in Centralia now. I know he’s working on iron and steel production. We’ll just drop this on his plate as well. He’ll figure out how to do it. Catrina might help.”

  “Husband, Catrina is busy learning to run the duchy. Duke Marvon will be leaving as soon as we can free Gortyn. She’s probably too busy to help Michael. I’m sure that she’s searching for a second wife to bring into the marriage, what with the work and young Jack.”

  Christiana saw Roddrick’s smile. “Yes, we are going to miss out on Michael’s consternation over adding another woman to the marriage. It is fun to watch, isn’t it.”

  Roddrick smiled and agreed. Then he took over. He’d been keeping notes and then laid out what they would do and who would do it. Also, those items that needed more study.

  While this was going on, Rolf and Prince Brandt were questioning Barton and his sons-in-law about the Porfian businessmen, especially Darvin. Princess Alla joined them. She’d become much more confident and was following the lead of Elizabeth and Noria in being involved in what was previously ‘men’s business.’

  That evening there were two different dinners. Barton had the other businessmen over to his house for dinner. Their wives and families all gathered. They were excited by the changes that they saw coming. The new Duke and Prince Arken were all for helping the duchy, and the realm would be more prosperous. That was good for them. They were also impressed by the people they meet.

  Barton summed it up. “Those northerners are no fools. The royals dig right in to get things done for the realm. They have good people around them and listen. Just look at young Prince Brandt and his ‘advisors.’ They’re young, but they know what they are doing and work hard.

  I can’t imagine why that fool Leonades thought that he could take them on. Even if his plot succeeded, they would have eventually hung him from the walls of Peseus. Darvin insulted the young prince at the meeting a couple of days ago. He’s a dangerous fool. Any one of them could have cut him down in a second in a duel. It’s a shame that they didn’t. He’ll cause some mischief somewhere.”

  During the discussion, they wondered who could take over the brass works. Marlan stated the problem. “The problem is that we don’t have any good candidates. Even if the ore starts flowing again, who can run it and produce the things that we need? That doesn’t even get to the lack of ironworks.

  I know that I need brass fittings and other things for the brewery. Luckily not many, but getting them is always a problem.”

  “You know that most of Prince Brandt’s friends are younger siblings, who have older ones that will take over the family business. These young men will probably go with Prince Brandt, with the blessings of their families, to set up enterprises there.

  There may be others in similar situations. Nordia is the most advanced. Perhaps we can get a younger son or daughter that has experience in brass works who would be willi
ng to come here.”

  There was general agreement with Barton’s statement about bringing in someone from Nordia. He promised to bring it up privately with Prince Arken.

  They all agreed. The women wanted to know more about how the northern women acted. When it was explained that they played serious roles in the discussions, the women silently vowed that they would be their daughters in the future.

  In the Palace, Brandt and his friends were pleased. They were on their first assignments in the run-up to taking their place as adults in society, and they felt that they’d done well. It also felt good. They weren’t the only ones pleased. The senior nobility was delighted with what they’d accomplished. Christiana found herself having to come to grips with the fact that her ‘little’ brother and his friends were growing up and turning out to be very competent.

  The young girls with the boys picked up on the sentiment in the room and that things were going well from the conversations. Oh, there were still plenty of worries and problems, but there was light at the end of the tunnel. Their mothers had schooled the young girls on how to handle boys, and they were now getting practical experience. Still, they were excited and pleased with them. They were also looking forward to the point in time that they could start making decisions. In a few years, they would be married and partner to their husbands, part of the adult world. It was both a little daunting and something to look forward to as well.

  Reconstruction

  When Talia and her husband Wilhelm arrived in Koronus, they were warmly welcomed by Elizabeth. Everyone had decided that she would be in charge of modernizing agriculture in the kingdom, and she was determined to do the job. She had no illusions that it would take decades to accomplish. Prior to Talia’s arrival, Elizabeth had dragooned James, Petor, and Sharon into helping her get started.

  They drew up plans. First and foremost was to get a small research station started. The main one would be near the capital, Akari. This one would be a substation. They needed it to hold the Jorgenson horses that had come with the Nordian delegation. Harlold gave them a good plot of land just east of the city and supplied a labor force to get it built. The first thing they built were fences around several pastures for the horses. They also built a barn to hold the McCormick reaper, the seed drill, and the Amish plow that Nordia sent.

  As to the villages, they were barely above slums. Petor and Sharon would set out the plans for rebuilding each of the villages. They’d use a cookie-cutter approach that could be modified as local conditions dictated. Petor already had the plans to build pre-fabricated housing for the villages. He just needed to find somebody who could work with him to build the necessary bricks.

  That proved to be impossible. None of the Porfians wanted to work with him. There were just two businesses in the city that could do that. Neither refused him outright. They just had so many excuses that he realized that even if they agreed to make what he wanted, he’d never see the finished product.

  There was a shuttered brick factory in the city. Duke Harlold just turned it over to Petor. He needed somebody to run it. One of the businesses that had tacitly refused to help Petor had a young assistant foreman name Justor. Petor simply hired him away. That brought howls from the owner. He’d had Justor doing most of a foreman’s work at a much lower rate of pay.

  The owner, supported by several other businessmen, brought this to Prince Arken’s attention. It wasn’t a pleasant conversation for them, although Prince Arken enjoyed it immensely. The businessman in question was unable to explain several things. First, why somebody couldn’t leave for a better paying job? Secondly, if this man was so valuable, why was he paying him such a low wage? Especially when the few Porfians working there made much more. Arken asked these questions quietly and kept his face neutral as he watched the Porfians squirm. In the end, he told them that he could see no justification for their complaints.

  Petor, having learned from Michael, gave Justor general instructions on what he needed in terms of people and supplies and just let him go. There were a few miscues, but not many. Justor recruited a workforce of ten men. In Tantulus, it would be all men, but Petor let that slide. Sharon complained slightly, but she understood that the culture couldn’t be changed overnight.

  Justor and a couple of the men were literate; the others weren’t. Petor carefully explained what they were doing with drawings and simple cutout wooden blocks. It took a bit. He could see when the light went off, and they got it. Justor told Petor. “Petor, this is so simple. Yet it is brilliant. We can quickly put together much better houses for the people. We make the large bricks and then bring them to the village and construct the houses.

  What they have now aren’t even really shacks. They only provide basic protection against the elements. Luckily, we don’t have winters as they do in the North, or people would surely die. What’s our first village?”

  “It’s the one just to the north of the city. Karken is the name, I think. My wife Sharon and Princess Elizabeth, I guess I need to call her Princess now. Are there looking it over and making plans. They’ll explain them to the village elders.”

  He saw that some of the men looked unsure. “Oh, women explaining things to the village elders. Lieutenant Sorbor sent one of his sergeants and a few men with them. That will protect the village elders from my wife and Princess Elizabeth.”

  The dry way that he said it cracked the crew up. They nodded their heads. Yes, northern women were different. One called out. “Are they going to be teaching our women these foreign customs?”

  “Yes, they are going to be giving classes on it.”

  That brought more laughter and shaking of heads. After he said it, he wondered if he was joking. He would not mention it to his wife. She might actually do it.

  It took them six weeks and a couple of failures, but Justor and his crew managed to produce enough building blocks for four new houses. They estimated that they could do one a week in the beginning. Once they got a process going, they could up that to two a week.

  Talia and Sharon came back from Karken with their plans. They went to the brickworks and saw the progress that they’d been making. Both of them were pleased.

  Petor had the housing situation well in hand. When he and Sharon left for Sudlund, Justor would be able to continue producing the prefabricated housing. What Sharon and Talia would concentrate on are sanitation and the dining facilities.

  The village had a good source of clean water. The problem was how to get rid of the waste. In Nordia, it was usually dumped into either caves or marshes, where specialized bacteria quickly broke it down. Here they had neither. They decided to build a holding pond some distance from the village and have the water brought from the bathhouse to the pond by ceramic pipes. The bacteria would then be present in the pond to break down the waste.

  They found a rock depression several hundred yards south of the village. This wouldn’t be good for anything else. There was already water pooled in there from rains. After carefully considering it, they felt that was the best course of action. Sharon knew how to construct one, having worked on the new village in Nordia.

  Sharon drew up the plans for the bathhouse and the necessary sanitation provisions and presented them to Arturo. He was delighted. Since Mike had made sure that the customary tribute stopped flowing to Porfia, the city treasury had more than sufficient funds to start the rebuilding process. He needed to get people to start working on this.

  He talked to the Duke and his advisors. It was decided that they would draft some of the Guard to start working on the construction necessary at Karken. There was a question about what to do about the factory that Petor had started. The decision was to make Justor and his two foremen owners of the factory. They would pay extra taxes for ten years and then own the factory free and clear.

  Since they were already making the large bricks for the prefabricated houses, they could also make the ceramic pipes that would be needed for sanitation. Petor knew how to do that and would show them how to do it. Th
e pipes had male and female grooves that fit together to make a tight fit and would be held together by large brass bolts. Arturo made it clear to the owner of the only brass works in the city that they'd just appropriate the business if they refused to make the bolts. That settled that matter.

  With the plans in place, they started reconstructing the village. They picked a young man, Markel, who had been in the rebellion, who had shown great ability at organizing things and make sure that they happened to be in charge of the construction. Sharon and Petor would mentor him. Prince Mathias was going to stay to help Harlold for a bit after Prince Arken left for Akari. That he would leave with King Menounos was a given.

  Menounos Names a Successor

  King Menounos was making final preparations to head to Koronus. Colonel Jabaro, the head of his Guard, and an old friend was with him. “Jabaro, I’m sorry that I’m going to have to leave you here. But with the Porfians still, here, I don’t think there is any choice.

  Now, I’ve written up the proclamation that Prince Arken will become my heir upon marrying my daughter. You know the time of the wedding. I will read the proclamation at the dinner the evening before the wedding. Make sure that it is posted throughout the city on the day of the wedding.

  Also, make sure that our Porfian friends are all packed and on their way. It will be such a relief to be free of them.”

  “No problem, your majesty. I’ll make sure that our ‘friends’ are on their way and also not leaving with our silverware.”

  The King laughed then Jabaro turned serious. “Menounos, you must be aware that there are still people who want to stop this, and killing you would be the way to do it. As the head of your Guard and a friend, I’m asking you to be careful.”