Chapter 37: A Puzzle Takes Shape

Joseph could still picture Julia’s pale behind in his mind when he walked into the room and sat down at the head of the table.

His cabinet was assembled for the final time before Court. Jonathan and Elena were departing with Alexander for a visit to Westmont. They would return just before Court opened.

“Before we begin, I would like to discuss something that has come to my attention,” Joseph began. “I would rather we not keep a record of this discussion so let us keep the meeting informal for now.”

Choran put down his quill and moved the parchment to the side of the table.

“I have been asked about the formation of an all-female company of soldiers,” Joseph began. “I am inclined to agree that is a good idea but I would like input from others.”

“I see nothing wrong with it,” Genrico answered first. “You know we’ve met some fierce female soldiers in our day – and that was before we ran into Julia, Victoria, Liala and Yana. We have developed a group of weapons women can wield effectively. We have never officially excluded females from our military. But I understand the reason why we have none attached at this point. I have spoken to the same person, I believe. I think she is correct. In five years or 10 years, we can fully integrate them into the ranks without regard to gender. But, and I am glad this is unofficial, but until people like my future mother-in-law accept the changing world, segregation probably would work better at this point.”

“I’ve wondered why we don’t have females in the army,” Elena admitted. “I know that several young women came to me and asked if it was permitted. I told them that King Joseph has said that no job is exclusive to a male or to a female. If a woman can act as steward, she certainly can wield a weapon. Now I believe I understand it better. But that brings up a question: How do we effectively segregate them? We lack the room to build separate housing or training facilities.”

“I would want them training beside the men,” Genrico cut in. “It is important that everyone feels a part of the same organization. But, the barracks will pose a problem. I do not have room as it is.”

“What would you think if we moved the barracks outside of the gates?” Joseph asked.

“That would cost too much coin,” Choran said immediately.

“Three gold and six silvers to finish the project,” Joseph answered.

His treasurer immediately shook his head.

“We can afford three gold and six silvers,” Joseph said forcefully. “If we can’t then we are doing something seriously wrong.”

“It will cost far more than that,” Choran asserted. “It cost almost that much to build it where it is. If we wish it to be larger, it will cost more. Additionally, we would need to compensate the people we displace. I understand the land belongs to you but it would set a very bad precedent to force them to move without paying them.”

“The land I have in mind is unoccupied,” Joseph told the group. “We would put them right outside the gate by the shoreline. Once the rabble is gone, we will put the stables directly across from them. I will discuss this with Yana and Liala, of course, but I have been told this will be a good spot for them.”

“I am not opposed to the move,” Alexander said. “It will free up a great deal of land within the walls. But I worry about the effect it might have on the soldiers tasked with patrolling the city. We would have to open the gates either late at night or early in the morning to permit shift changes.”

“I will address that shortly,” Joseph said. “First, let me see if I can keep Choran from expiring. The carpenter has said that the cost for the original structure was increased by the need to draw plans. He will not need to do that this time. He still has them. He would be willing to construct six barracks in the size and shape of our current buildings for two gold and seven silvers. The construction costs would be 21 silvers.”

Choran sat back in his chair.

“For that price, I think we build the structures whether we move the barracks or not,” the chamberlain stated. “I believed each building would cost two or three gold each. I have been approached by several merchants that wish to establish a shop here but simply cannot find a place to do it.”

“We could recoup the cost of the building by renting out the current barracks to newlyweds without families,” Jonathan pointed out. “I’ve determined that a lack of dwellings within the walls has cut into the workforce of some of the incoming businesses. I believe we could rent those rooms easily. We could set aside one building for single men; one for single women and one for married couples. Even if we charged a copper a month, we’d pay for the barracks within a year.”

“True,” Choran admitted. “You said the stables will be moved, too?”

“I believe the stables must be moved either way,” Elena said. “The smell of manure is ... overpowering when the weather warms. The wind from the sea blows it right into my chamber.”

“I fear it will be after the hottest time of year before we can move it,” Joseph said. “Unless, of course, you’d like for me to let the group outside camp within the walls.”

“I’m not positive that would improve the smell,” Genrico said with a laugh.

“Now, to address Alexander’s concern,” Joseph said. “I agree that it would create issues with the gate. I do not like having it opened in the dark. It is dangerous – not only from a military standpoint but to the men that work the gate. To that end, I believe it might be time for the soldiers to stop patrolling the city streets.”

“What?” Jonathan asked. “Joseph, you need to reconsider that decision. You have done your best to remove the blackguards from Azkoval but they are still there. We have too many people that must traverse the street in dark or at dusk or dawn to remove the soldiers completely.”

“It is part of a bigger change I’m considering,” Joseph said. “I would no sooner leave the streets unguarded than I would the dungeons. In fact, I would leave the dungeons without a soldier before I did the streets of this city. I believe the time has come for me to appoint a man or woman to oversee the city without my constant input. As was pointed out to me not long ago, I spend more time dealing with problems within the walls of this city than I spend on the rest of the country. It is time for me to stop doing that. The magistrate system was a master stroke of genius, Elena. Those operate wonderfully. Now that we have the complaint system working, I believe we remove more of the onus from this building – including the need to provide soldiers for the streets. The city would need to hire its own force to patrol the streets.”

“Who would pay for that?” Choran asked with a sigh. He dreaded to hear the answer.

“The city would pay for that on its own,” Joseph told his chamberlain.

“But they would have to get the coin from us,” Choran pointed out.

“Not necessarily,” Jonathan chimed in. “In Burbridge, we assess a tax on the inns. It is small and, in general, the cost is passed on to the consumer. We do the same thing on a few other things. The city could assess a slight tax on inns, taverns and the marketplace. I’ve determined that the citizens here pay less than anywhere else in the nation.”

“Yes, that was pointed out to me as well,” Joseph said. “I’m a bit amazed that Choran hasn’t brought that to my attention.”

He winked at his flustered chamberlain to show he was kidding.

“I don’t know how the taxes work in the shires,” Choran admitted. He looked at Elena for confirmation and she nodded.

“I fear that the tax structure here is my fault,” she admitted. “As with Choran, I had no idea of who was taxed and at what rate. I found an old ledger and we recommended the structure King Joseph’s father used.”

“Which is as good an idea as any,” Joseph said. “I’ve come to understand that, because I have not appointed a landholder for Tyrell, the people pay half the tax as the rest of Azkoval. They pay only the Crown tax. They do not pay the Shire tax.”

Choran’s face dropped at the amount of income that had slipped by under his watch.

“I had no idea, and don’t start spending the money yet,” Joseph said with a warm smile. “That money will help make Tyrell self-sufficient – paying for needed infrastructure, a policing agency to patrol the streets and the numerous other expenditures that we have been absorbing.”

“I’m in agreement,” Choran said immediately.

The rest of the table chuckled.

“I think that will free up funds to use for other programs I wish to start,” Joseph said. “I know each of you have already started to revise your budgets in your head but you should stop. The amount of money Choran allocated is not going to change. Instead, we need to grow a surplus in order to start things I’ve set aside for now.”

“Such as?” Jonathan asked.

“I’ll delve into those later,” Joseph said. “Right now, I just wanted to get your impression of these two ideas.”

“Three ideas,” Elena noted. “The barracks, the female soldiers and the city. That’s three. You should use your fingers if you lose track.”

She stuck her tongue out at her oldest friend. Joseph reached across and grabbed her by the nose, which caused her eyes to cross.

“Three ideas,” he said, still keeping Elena’s nose between two of his fingers. He let go and flicked her on the forehead – just as he used to do when they were children. Elena laughed – just as she did when they were children.

“I’ll have to remember that trick when I want her to stop speaking,” Jonathan noted with a grin. “It seems remarkably effective.”

Elena pointed a warning finger at her future husband – and then turned it to the king.

“I’ll behave,” Joseph said lightly. “So, what does everyone think of the ideas I’ve presented?”

“It will aid commerce if we have places to put new businesses,” Alexander admitted after a moment’s though.

“They make financial sense,” Choran said.

“They will increase the free space within the walls,” Jonathan added.

“It will make it easier to find housing for those coming and wishing to establish relations with us,” Elena said. “Eventually, we will run out of room at the castle.”

Genrico was the lone person not to speak.

“Will it affect our military readiness?” Joseph asked.

“Not in the least,” Genrico said. “It makes good sense on that front, as well. We’re still informal, correct?”

“Yes,” Choran said.

“I am not trying to be harsh,” Genrico said, “but the barracks should never have been built within the walls from the outset. I understand that you had few options and no guidance on the placement. But, ideally, they would have been outside the walls from the beginning. I would have asked for their movement earlier but I feared Choran would cut me down in my sleep. As far as removing the soldiers from guard duty, I think that would be best. Joseph, you know that a soldier needs different training for battle than he needs in order to be an occupying force. Right now, the soldiers are not trained for policing duties. Again, we had no options at the beginning but if we could find a way to change things, I will not oppose it.”

“I’m sorry we put the barracks in the wrong place,” Elena said.

“I was not questioning your decision,” Genrico told her. “As I said, you did the best you could with what you had. Given the uncertainty of the times, it wasn’t a bad decision. But, for the long-term, outside is better. With the barracks outside the gate, a siege is impossible. It was never a viable plan of attack but now it is an impossible mode of attack – unless someone brings a force sufficient enough to get through 750 men and women. In that case, it wouldn’t matter where we put the barracks. Right now, a large force could move under cover of darkness and surround the city. It would have to be a large force, to be certain, but not as large a force as it would require to attack us head-on. Joseph, do you concur?”

“Yes,” Joseph agreed. “I will admit that I never considered the placement of the barracks. I am more accustomed to an army on the move.”

“I have read the tactics books that Victoria possesses,” Genrico said sheepishly. “I will confess that there was much I did not know about warfare. I had believed I saw every manner before we arrived in Azkoval. Now I understand we had barely scratched the surface.”

Joseph smiled.

“Yes,” he said. “I find there is a great many things I failed to consider when I was making my plans.”

Jonathan glanced at Elena and then his father. Both offered nods.

“While we’re speaking informally, I would like to alert you to something,” the interior minister said.

“Go ahead,” Joseph said warily.

“One of the biggest problems we face is a lack of education,” he said with a sigh. “We have very few people that can read or write. Oh, certainly, we have apprentice programs for specific occupations. But the lack of knowledge is going to be a problem. We have a large portion of our population that cannot perform simple math. Some can’t count higher than 10. I think if we are going to truly become a better society, we need to assure that everyone has a rudimentary education.”

Joseph held up a finger to Choran – who was about to ask the same question he always asked: Who will pay for this?

“Do you have a plan or is this just an observation?” Joseph asked.

“I do not have a plan,” Jonathan admitted.

“That doesn’t mean that no one has a plan,” Alexander cut in. Joseph shifted his gaze but the older man shook his head. That led Joseph to turn to Elena.

“Elizabeth brought this to our attention,” Elena admitted. “She feared that, given the problems she gave you in the past, you might dismiss it out of hand simply because it came from her. I’ve tried to tell her that wasn’t the case but she would rather we present the idea.”

“I’m listening,” Joseph said.

“She would like to start a program of compulsory education for children age four to eight,” Jonathan said. “Children that age are not usually able to assist in household duties or work in the field. They would gather each day for instruction on reading, writing and math.”

Finally, Choran could be contained no longer.