Herald of Steel

"..... once the cement layer is done, we smooth out the surface with a layer of sand using rollers to give the road a nice surface finish."

Uzak thus finished describing the process of laying out the roads succinctly.

"Wait! You use wooden shovels to dig the roads?"

But what Alexander chose to really focus on was what the man had said earlier.

He could only imagine how inefficient such a thing would be.

Of course, he also instantly understood the reason why Adhanians used wooden shovels.

If they were to use iron, then the amount of metal needed would make it almost as expensive as a good sword. And that was considered a family heirloom.

"Ahh…yes. We use it to loosen up the dirt. Then a hoe is used to dig the earth up and move it to a wheelbarrow. Is there a problem my lord?" And that is why the lord in charge of construction also seemed blind to the problem.

In his mind that was how shovels were used, combining the two had simply never occurred to him.

In fact, he actually assumed the opposite, thinking Alexander wanted to skip the digging phase by getting rid of the shovels, and thus quickly chimed in alarm,

"My lord, I assure you we need to dig the soil before laying any roads. Otherwise, all the stones will simply get washed away by the rain and traffic.

"We also have to many times dig up entires section of the ground and flatten it… if we are building over hilly terrain…so most of Zanzan and northern Tibias. Carts and carriages have a really hard time climbing up hills. So we really need those shovels."

Alexander did not quite get why Uzak was so panicked or why he added that last bit, but at that moment, he did not care.

"Tell me how many shovels you use. I will have the workshops give you ones made of iron." He decreed.

In fact, Alexander had also used wooden shovels back in his time, it was simply that he overlooked the issue.

So he was determined to rectify it now.

"...." The sudden announcement made Uzak gape for a bit, surprise covering his entire face.

But later that got substituted by an immense look of flattery an instant later, vigorously thanking Alexander for his gift.

Now, to be honest, Uzak really did not see the point of changing shovels. But he was of course not going to complain about it. Free things were always welcomed.

It would only be later that he would find the difference.

As compared to the flat heads of the wooden ones, those iron headed shovels with their sharp tips would let the men easily dig into and then scoop up the dirt in one fluid go, vastly increasing efficiency.

And with Uzak's success, such shovels would become the norm.

….

Now back to the present, although Alexander's promise of a new shovel was a welcomed one, it did not solve his cement issue.

So for a time, he kept tapping at the table, thinking, all while the rest of the council members just sat there and waited in absolute silence.

"The importance of a road network is unparalleled. I do not need to tell all of you that," Until he finally decided to open with these words, re-iterating,

"Forget the boost to trade or spread of culture, these roads are much more important in securing our territory. Our army can march three times as fast while on the road. And any message can be sent from here to Lilybee (the furthest port town in Tibias) within two days."

"So if we want to keep what we have gained, we must complete all the planned roads as soon as possible."

Lady Parthia's lips imperceptibly twitched at those words because she thought Alexander was specifically referring to her country and the potential of them rebelling.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

It was also a thought that was reinforced by the fact that she remembered telling him that although the greater nobles might not rebel, Tibias had a lot of indigenous tribes hidden away in small villages and mountainsides that regularly caused trouble for the royal family.

These people might be encouraged by some bad actors to move.

As for how these people were allowed to cause trouble even until now, well the short history behind this animosity came due to how the current Tibian royalty came to power.

Originally Lady Parthia's husband's family started as merchants trading with the other Central Sea powers. This let them gain enormous wealth in not only gold but also armies and weapons, which they later used to unify the peninsula.

And many of the surrounding tribes seeing where the wind was blowing chose to obediently bow.

But a few intractable groups refused to accept reality and instead took to the northern mountains, wanting to lead free lives and vowing to return the lands to how they once were.

At least that was the original story.

But now, with a few hundred years of rule, the situation had turned a lot more complex.

These people were declared traitors to the crown and soldiers were ordered to execute them on sight, while the mountain folk became a menace for the Tibian populace, regularly acting as bandits and slavers by raiding various remote villages and towns for supplies and booty.

It was even said many of them aided Amenheraft in his conquest, acting as guides and showing him the way, even introducing to a few shortcuts that proved decisive in escaping a few of Perseus's brillant encirclements.

But at the same time, many of the folks also worked to resist this new invader along with Perseus, making the entire situation quite complex.

So Lady Parthia had no idea how those tribes will react to Alexander once they figured out who was really in charge.

Being holed up in their hidden villages, they still might have woken up to the fact what although the local lords ruling the lands had not changed, the one holding their strings certainly had.

But those troubles were for a later Alexander to deal with.

Right now Lady Parthia quickly turned her attention to what the man was currently saying,

"So cement or not, the construction of the roads cannot stop. Here is what Uzak you will do. The cement you use to bind the stone… instead of that you will simply use a slurry of sand and water to fill in the gaps. And then use heavy rollers to 'hammer' them together. After that you can top it off with another layer of compact sand."

Alexander sent a knowing look as he declared this, as if asking whether Uzak had a problem witht this.

"That…" And indeed he had, as the man looked around a bit shiftily, like he was looking around for allies.

There was a reason why they did not make roads like this- if the cement or mortar, if the former was not available, could have been skipped, they would have done so already.

But all the artisans by profession while Diaogosis and even Krishok knew the reason why they did not.

So perhaps Uzak was hoping for one of them to step up.

But alas, given Alexander's instance of getting the roads done no matter what meant no one wanted to be the bearer of bad news.

Thus it was left to Uzak alone to grit his teeth and pose,

"My… my lord such a think would make the road too… weak. The stones will risk getting washed by the rain… especially if it rains on hills. All that water flowing downward will take the road with it."

If not for the fear of being held accountable when the roads eventually got washed away within a few years, Uzak might have simply taken the easier route and followed the order just as he was asked.

'You told me to do it like this,' He could have answered.

But he also knew Alexander would likely fire him the second he said this, replacing him with someone who actually had a brain.

No, in fact, many of his colleagues would probably kick him down long before that- after all, all of them were looking for a chance to pick up the other's lucrative projects.

So taking solace in the fact that Alexander valued them for their expertise and sound advise and that he was a lord who could be reasoned with, Uzak decided to make his concerns known, before quickly adding,

"How about narrowing the road instead? Frankly 6 meters is too wide. We can shorten it to 4 or even 3 and even then two medium sized marriages can easily pass each other."

And here Uzak made some good point.

The 6 meter width was chosen by Alexander to copy the modern roads. But naturally, ancient roads did not have to deal with that much traffic.

For instance, Roman roads were on average 4 meters wide (the actual range was from 1 meter for pedestrians to 7 meters for really heavy traffic), which was deemed perfectly adequate.

A marching army would easily advance in 5 men file through it, while leaving enough room for ordinary traffic.

"We can widen the road later once we have the cement, my lord."

Thus seeing Alexander deep in thought considering this, Uzak quickly also added so.

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