Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 1: The Beginning

C026 Complete Infrastructure of Gracehaven Village

"However... There are some clauses that I seriously would like to mention to you. Firstly, look around you. How many houses can you see? This village lacks some new faces which means we need more settlers here."

"Not just settlers with no professions but we need people who would be able to contribute to our cause and have direct dealings to the trade link that Marcel the Merchant is now currently engaged with us."

"Maybe the 8 of you could tell me what we are lacking in this village. We have a Blacksmith, a woodcutter, a carpenter, a Herbalist and forager, a livestock herder, a hunter, a teacher and myself. So tell me what do you think we would need?"

"Fisherman?"

"Nay, the young ones would be able to fish from time to time."

"Farmer?"

"I may need a farmer, that's one point to consider."

"Miners?"

"Nay, we can discuss the miners later on."

"Militia?"

"Nay, our villagers may be able to take up arms against the wild beast and definitely not against a horde. Having a Militia indicates a salary that indicates the the village is rather wealthy. A definite nay."

"Baker?"

"Our ladies here are able to bake. It's a bit unnecessary at the moment but that's a possible tradesman that I would also consider in the future."

"Tailor?"

"Yes! A tailor is what we need to make clothes for the villagers. That's two points besides a need for a farmer."

"Trader?"

"Nay. We prefer to be stagnant so other merchants would be coming to trade with us instead."

"Stonemason?

"Yes... But the stonemason would be handling clay instead of stones which is easier to be produced. That's 3 points already, together with a farmer and tailor and possibly a baker."

"Labourers?"

"A definite yes...! So adding the stonemasons farmer and tailor now. It's 4 kinds of professions that we need.

"Brewer?"

"Oh yes...! A definite yes...! Who would not have a brewer who deals with the production of ale and wine...! But the person should be a farmer as well because our fruits had just being planted and would bear fruit in 3 years time...!"

"But sir, the brewer could buy the necessary ingredients first instead of waiting for the trees to bear fruit."

"If he does that, would he produce the coins first or needs the support of the village to do so? This village is still in its infancy stage yet. There's room for expansion and definitely, it would grow slowly. Don't mention about coins because the coins would all come from the treasury."

I lied since I don't want them to know that I was holding to the main wealth and news of it would spread and the same thing would happen again, especially the hordes of rebels invading a small settlement just for a handful of coins.

"These new villagers would be working for free, but under the peace and tranquil of Gracehaven. I can't really put it as free but there's more to it though.

"The only profit they would get is through personal sales within the village as well as through the sales towards the visiting merchants. A monthly tax would be imposed for all artisans whereas other villagers do not pay anything at all."

I had to impose such measures because this is to grow this village further. Although I stressed again that this village is still in its infancy stage which means it had been upgraded recently from a settlement with almost nothing.

After explaining to them the plan, and even though I would have to pool my resources for the basic restructuring and development, I'm pretty sure I would be able to lead the village in a prosperous manner along with the pioneers.

Soon, after I had explained to the miners, if they wished to bring their families over, their salaries would be halved, at 10c per every sack of ores and coals. No free kegs of ale as bread and ale would be sold at 1c and 3c respectively.

"Go home and consider these options. Discuss carefully with your family. Also, your family could work with the pioneers provided they have vacancies for them. If you intend to be part of the villagers and remain as miners, then you would be reporting work to Jack the Blacksmith directly."

I paid the miners accordingly to the intended 15c per sack without the kegs and bread as I  let them think over of what I had mentioned. I told them that the deal would be for next trip at 20c plus the benefits. I also advised them that I would not go back to my words as I have Jack as my witness.

As I went to hide in my home, Jack spoke to them and persuade them, as I saw the miners nod their heads in acknowledgement. Jack advised the miners to find the necessary artisans who were interested to relocate here and Jack informed them that he will so called 'asks for my opinion' to gift the miners a small token of appreciation for their assistance in getting the needed artisans.

After the miners had left, I joined Jack and he said that my main plan was to trigger an interest in their hearts and it worked wonders. Even though the miners were slightly dismayed at getting a smaller rate for the ores and coal, but due to Jack's persuasion, they would really look forward to relocating their families here.

"Hahahaha... Well done old Jack...! So now what we need to do is to begin constructing up to 12 new homes on a plot of land across us. 4 boxed 30' by 30' would be reserved on both sides for future plantations which means the next crop would be corn and wheat."

"Beyond that plantation fields, we would have 2 rows of 3 houses on a plot of 10' by 10'. Get ready to set up a tailor, brewery and a stonemason's store here within the courtyard."

I scratched the ground to draw what I had in mind for the land across the riverbank and also for the stores within the courtyard. Jack just took one look and he understands what I was aiming for.

"Young Master, about the tax for the artisans, how much would you be charging them?" Jack queried me and I simply replied, "In accordance to Darlington, 1s for artisans and 20c for labourers."

Jack nodded and agreed, "You're just as wise as the old King. May you lead our paths with your diligence, your lordship." with that he bowed to me and I bowed back as he headed to gather the sacks of coal and ores back to his store. With that, he sat down and began to plan on his way to generate income.

I sat on the doorway of the house and thought to myself. Frank and Ben would be able to produce wood products like firewood for instance. Ben knows how much it would cost for every load. They could also make clay rocket stoves for sale. Both men could also make clay jars to store milk for sale.

Gwen can make hunting bows, pelts and cured tanned leather. Those 3 items could be sold for a handsome price that we all discovered in the last transaction. With the sales proceed that Gwen saw, she was determined to produce even more hunting bows in the future.

Jack can produce tools and weapons per ad-hoc basis and sell them through the merchants. With the ores and coals that he had right now, he would be able to make more farming tools aside from the ones that was bought from Marcel the merchant much earlier.

Crystal could sell the eggs, milk, goat's meat, pork, processed rabbit and other meats to make jerkies. Crystal would also sell churned butter and cheese as well. A place to process all these would be required and I thought of a plan on how to make things work for Crystal.

Besides, I would not know how churning milk would turn them into butter and cheese and it would be an opportunity for me to learn a new thing or two in the future.

Kayla could sell her herbs, processed medicines, pills, potions, tinctures et cetera to the merchants. She would assign either Ben or Frank to make wooden moulds to mass-produce clay bottles with a cork to dispense her herbals.

This would be a short term plan because one thing was that, there must be a demand for all these items. If there's no demand for such items then all the efforts would be in vain.

The children would be taught on how to do their trading with the local merchants through their sale of the salted and preserved fish. This would also be considered if there's a demand for it or even worth for the children to actually be involved in processing those or not.

I had learnt that some goods were not worth to be mentioned to be traded since some towns were like a fishing town, and fish from trawlers and boats would be delivered almost daily. Their production rate per day surpasses ours in a month...!

Heather would be teaching the children of the village to read, write as well as simple math. If Heather was not tied up then she would be able to guide these children, but if work seems to be more of priority, then the class to teach the children would be postponed for the day.

As for the tailor, I would have to provide with the basic tools if necessary for sale as well as distribution to the other villagers. This would incur quite a cost such as a spinning wheel to turn into threads and other material. I do not have the expertise on tailoring and only a tailor would be able to state the things needed for one's profession.

The stonemason would be making clay bricks and sell them in order to have a steady flow of income from the merchants. What I could foresee that this would be a steady source if income.

The more clay bricks that was produced, the more coins we could garner. Even if its of low price, but the material to make those were indeed free of charge as the raw materials were bountiful.

The brewer would be provided with the needed materials for the initial startup and would have direct dealings with our main merchant, Marcel. Moreover, I also do not have such information for a brewery and only those who were expert in this field would be able to state what was being required.

Furthermore, 9c for a gallon of ale was cheap enough to purchase but to produce such ale, I wondered how much raw materials were needed and the whole operating costs involved.

Acquiring a sole distributor would also have lesser competition, I hope. Besides, word of mouth would spread and soon there would be flocks of artisans and other settlers and it would definitely be a boon to the industry and growth.

Once there are enough villagers, there would be a need for travelling merchants and would be under the command and directions of Marcel who would teach the new traders for its way of business.

I let out a sigh of contentment when a distant barking awoke me from my thoughts as Sir Blackie was barking and running around in circles when it saw me. This indicates that the 4 ladies and the children would be on the way back pretty soon.

I stood up, patted Sir Blackie's head and prepared some refreshment to welcome their return. After some time, the 4 ladies came back and I could see the children holding up some yellow coloured fruits in their hands and were waving at me as I waved back.

At least, with the foraging expert such as Kayla, we would not be hungry and I was anticipating to the next discussion that we would hold after informing those who were not present of the plans that we had with the miners.

"Hello, Mars... Look at what we have here. Its called pineapple and there are cane sugar and a huge wagon filled with wild wheat that could be used as feed for the livestock."

Heather hopped down and clasped her hands on my neck as she gave me a kiss on my lips. Yup... Our affection has indeed grown from acquaintance, friends and now lovers.

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