Herald of Steel

"Welcome my lady, I am Menicus. On behalf of all the lords here let me…."

"My name is Uzak, my lady. I…."

With Alexander's introduction done, it was time for the various lords to step up, and they tried to put their best foot forward, each greeting the Tibian queen in as cordial a manner as possible.

Honestly, this amount of harmony surprised Alexander a bit because he thought the men as a whole would be a bit more reticent.

Adding one more chair to the table always meant dividing the power one more time. And they were certainly not this enthusiastic when he gave a seat to Cambyses.

However, from the other perspective, this and that were different.

In Cambyses's case, they saw it as Alexander openly consolidating his power, the lords made no distinction between the two.

However, Lady Parthia's addition, or more especially someone from Tibias was simply seen as inevitable.

After all, it was just foolish to think Alexander could rule a territory the size of Tibias without such a representation.

Yes, the crown prince got to rule the northern part of the country, and the youngest prince had a seat in the newly formed parliament.

But those were all secondary places of power, with no real say in policymaking.

The main decisions concerning all the lands were still all made in that quaint little room in Alexander's manor.

So given the seat was destined to be taken, the lords were glad to see that the one occupying it was a woman, a 'half' widow.

This made them feel reassured because they thought such a person would be far more malleable than say a man like one of Philips's uncles or even the young Perikles.

As for how right they were in this… well only time would tell.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

…..

Lady Parthia pretended not to see the look of underestimation the various lords had as they greeted her, but as they finished, she did poke them with her tart tongue a bit, determined not to be made a fool of on her first day,

"Mmm, thank you, my lords. I have also heard great things from Lord Alexander about you, each of you has greatly helped him rule the city. "

"The thing I most particularly remember is how he always said how quickly you sent reinforcements to Caira the moment he asked. There was not a second's hesitation. You have this queen's profound thanks."

"Pufff…" Cambyses sitting next to her had to purse her lips very hard to not laugh out loud at his sarcasm.

While the present men produced a variety of faces- from surprised, to embarrassed, to wry to even bemused, that last one coming from Menes as he was the one who had worked the hardest to get Alexander's army.

But one thing nobody dared to was refute or challenge Lady Parthia, knowing this would only lead to Alexander finding fault with them.

Yes, there were legitimate concerns about why the various lords had bickered back then- suddenly raising levies was truly problematic during autumn and winter due to the crop harvest and difficulties in traveling.

But many of the recently conquered lords also had many selfish motives hidden within, with some even wishing for Alexander to surrender and just sail back home.

But given everything had worked out in the end, none of the council members were willing to dredge up that past.

Alexander could deal with them should he choose in his own time.

Thus a sort of uncomfortable silence descended upon the council room following Lady Parthia's 'greeting', which was only broken when Alexander decided to interject with a low amused chuckle.

"Hahaha, great, it is nice to see all of you getting along so well. Indeed, I rely heavily on my lords. Now Diaogosis, how goes the constructions?"

Everyone was relieved that Alexander had chosen to move the conversation along, with the man himself immediately straightening his back and gleefully reporting,

"My lord, the apartment buildings you asked for are on schedule. If we can get enough cement, we can finish all of them within the next three to four years!"

"The harbor and the lighthouse you asked for are the same too. They are progressing smoothly. Our only restraint is the cement we can get, everything else we have!"

"Hmmm, good." Alexander gave a small nod at the good news, "Didn't we open a new cement plant in Thesalie? The cement is still not enough?" then he asked.

Alexander did not have the time to go see that new plant for himself but the blueprints for it were even more ambitious than what he had here in Zanzan.

The huge hills and the many rapid springs dotting that fortress city were perfect for the giant waterwheels that were needed to grind the chinks of cement produced from the kilns.

So he had assumed some of this nagging would stop.

However…

"My lord, the cement plant that you asked for before you left is indeed operational. Our supply has indeed increased. The trouble is so have our demands!"

The one of made this troubling comment was Uzak, who was also responsible for many of the infrastructure projects.

And there was a pained look on his face as he ruefully added,

"Despite making more cement than ever before, we find it to be more and more elusive. All of those roads, bridges, aqueducts, and sewage works swallow it like a hungry wolf. *Sigh*, I am ashamed to say we are short on all the projects my lord."

"We simply need more cement. We must build more cement plants!"

Alexander was quite impressed by how the man had managed to insert his own report in this way, using a whole bunch of other issues to hide his own bad progress.

But knowing the man's capabilities and how many of the issues he raised were true, Alexander gently let it slide.

One person who however did not was Krishok, who lightly snorted, "

Hmmmp, as if building a cement plant is so easy? Do you know how many bricks, mortars, and stones we need? Or how many slaves, carpenters, and supervisors are needed to keep the place running? Even just the animal hide needed to build the bellows is astounding!"

This man was a tanner by profession and the one specifically in charge of building the cement plants.

And he, instead of wanting to build more plants, opined,

"We all know the cement plant cannot be built anywhere. It needs very specific hills with rapid currents. So instead I suggest that Lord Uzak better his logistics. There is certainly enough cement, he cannot take it fast enough."

This unfair accusation naturally caused the other man to become a bit angry, and he sneered with sarcasm,

"Hmmm, if you know how on earth to get me the cement from here to a few hundred kilometers west within a day pray to tell. I will bow my head ten times!"

Indeed, this made Alexander remember that it was not just enough to produce something. You also had to find a way to get it from the factory to the consumers.

And in the case of Uzak, this was quite a hurdle, as he only had a limited amount of horse and mule driven carts to supply himself with.

Unless he had trucks or rails, there was there hope for supply to meet his demand so far away.

"*Sigh*, fine, fine, do not bicker, you two. The shortage of cement is indeed a complex problem." Alexander thus stepped in as a mediator, then turning to Uzak asked, "Remind me how you build roads. Perhaps we can find a way to use less cement."

"Yes, my lord." The man's eyes instantly lit up with hope at this, as he almost regurgitated in a memorized tone,

"Before any road is built, we first find the place where it is supposed to start. So, my lord your order might just say that a road is supposed to go from this city to that. We first find those two cities, usually by asking the locals for a guide."

"Then we have our engineers take measurements and make calculations to find the soil quality. Surveyors are sent ahead to determine the terrain. We always try to avoid building over places like marshes, wetlands, hills, and rivers. It's not always possible, but we try our best, even if it means going through farmlands or even open mines."

"These men will place wooden posts into the ground to show the designated ground and to make sure the designed roads will be as straight as possible."

"Once the route is chosen, the other workers will quickly get to work cutting down all the shrubbery and other vegetation that would be in the way. Then finally the actual construction can begin.

"Two parallel channels will be dug along the planned route, first around only 1 meter in length to confirm know the local soil makeup and determine how much 'filling' we will have to put."

"Then will be expanded up 6 meters using wooden shovels. The ditch will be first laid with one to two feet of large rocks, then another half to one foot of smaller gravel to fill in all the gaps. After that, we will secure it with a cement mixture and top of off with a packed layer of sand."

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