Chapter 41 Prior Planning
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"Prince Bari, what do you want to do now?
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nTruth be told, when Bari looked at Landon, he didn't know how to react. Afterall, this was their first meeting.. and Landon was younger than him... So.... he was very confused on how to address him.
nHe kept wondering whether Landon would feel threatened because he use to be a prince.
nBari was an honest man, who would never take what didn't belong to him.
nWhen he was 'supposedly' given cities to run, his father had let the city lords deal with politics and ruling the city, while he just fought and trained hard.
nAs the 9th prince, he was brought up to basically never even dream of being ruler.
nBecause his father didn't want to give any sort of power to any of his other sons apart from the first 5, the king asked the city lords to run the cities alongside his sons.
nThis was the best way to spy or keep tabs on them.
nThey were to report if any of his sons was planning or scheming to kill or even dream about killing his self or his 5 eldest sons.
nInitially, the city lords obeyed the kings orders, but when he got to know Bari, he changed his mind.
nIn his opinion, Bari had never even thought of the throne for a single day. So there was nothing to report about. And as he got to know Bari, he began to form a strong bond with him as well.
nThe queen would never allow any other child to rule the empire, other than her son. So she made sure that Bari and his other brothers were trained up as knights.
nThey were brought up to only serve the real heir to the throne.
nThat woman worked in the shadows.
nIf any of the other children got more land or more followers, for sure they would have to die.
nWith all this, as a prince, Bari was only trained with the way of the sword.
nIn a way, he was similar to the old Landon.
nThe old Landon, didn't give 2 F's about running an empire or controlling a city.
nIn fact, the old Landon was surprised that his father even gave him land at all. He honestly thought that when he would turned 15, he would move to a small village with his mom and Lucy, and then work as any other peasant.
nThe money that they had saved was enough to take care of 3 mouths for the next 15 years, if they lived as peasants.
nThe old Landon was also a humble, quiet and simple-minded person. He never bit off more than what he could chew.
nAs Bari looked at Landon, he became somewhat nervous.
nIf Landon didn't like him, he might be thrown out of Baymard, along with his family.. he didnt have a home anymore and was scared of rejection.
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"To be honest, I want to be a knight.
" Bari answered nervously.
nLandon looked at him and smiled.
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"Hahahha, why are you so stiff? Since you are brothers with San... I mean Benjamin, then I will be your brother as well.
" Landon added hitting his back playfully.
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"Look over there elder bro, aunty is already smiling and laughing with my mom...
" Landon continued while pointing towards Bari's mother.
nBari looked and was a little stunned.
nHis mom would only ever laugh in front of him or his sister. No one, not even the king had seen her laugh.
nA deep and warm smile formed on his face.
n'It seemed I worried for nothing', he thought
nLandon looked at him and sighed in relief.
nHe didn't want Bari to feel any discomfort towards him.
nHe knew that given Santa's personality, Only those who were truly honest could be friends with Santa.
nSanta would never bring anyone one who wanted to harm or take his position as king to Baymard.
nAnd even if he did, for sure... Landon would kill the threat.
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"If that's the case, once you complete your training under my army, I will make you a Captain under my father to-be and your Army General.... Lucius.
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nOnce he was done, Landon stocked 1 of Santa's ships with a lot of Feldspar and other rare mineral ores.
nHe also gave him more chalk and paint samples.
nAt the end, he had made 1,200,000 gold coins from Santa.
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nWith 14,150 new people, Landon had more than enough workers to start his numerous projects.
nLandon had all the knights help everyone sign a non-disclosure agreement stating that within the next 20 years, whatever they learn can never be shared to those out of Baymard.
nHe also read the rules and punishments that would follow if anyone disobeyed them. Especially the disclosure form.
nThe punishment was the death of the individual and his entire family. Everyone already swore in their hearts that they would keep whatever they had learnt in their hearts.
nPlus, they didnt know the empire well and wasn't sure that any other nobles would care for them as Landon had promised.
nThey weren't about to risk it at all.
nAmongst the group, 1600 people volunteered to be knights, and were moved to the barracks.
nLandon decided to count Beri and his family of 3, out of the work schedule as well.
nLucky for him, there were some people who had professions while they were in Vienna.
nThere were 7 Doctors, 14 nurses, 6 teachers, 20 blacksmiths and carpenters, 9 Alchemists and 3 people who used to work as Government officials for the city lord of Vienna. Making a total of 59 people.
nHe also realised that there were 2,127 children from ages 0-14 within the group.
nPresently, while the adults worked, the children would spend the entire day in one of the buildings on the school estate. They would play, eat and study sometimes.
nLandon had only assigned 28 caretakers for those children. Kinda like a preschool kindergarten vibe.
nThey were divided according to the their ages and placed in separate rooms. He had made sure that for every age, there was someone to attend to them.
nThere were those who were very young and still learning how to walk. While there were others who were 14, and liked running around and playing energetically in their classrooms.
nLittle Momo, was also very lively in his classroom as well.
nLandon had made schedules that gave the children nap times, breaks, class time, play time, lunch, dinner and breakfast as well.
nAnd when the parents finished work, they would come over and take their children away.
nMany parents appreciated this system, as It gave them time to do their own things without worrying about their kids.
nWith this service, the adults who were at work, especially the women, felt very free and happy.
nThese women felt liberated. They had always stayed at home, cooked, took care of the kids all day, while their husbands go out and come back whenever.
nThey had always dreamt of trying out their husbands jobs or even doing something more with their lives.
nSome of them, even work alongside their husbands presently. How exciting.
nGenerally, the daycare opens from 8 A.M to 10 P.M.
nSo for those with night shifts, when they finished their jobs at 9 P.M, they would still have time to pick up their kids.
nLandon was sure that if he ever stoped this daycare service, there would be riots and fights within the city.
nHe had also built 10 iron swings in the playground and cleared the fields for them to play in. In future, he would provide coloring books and toys for sure....
nNow that 2,127 more children were added to this number, Landon decided to add 1 more building towards daycare and also add 292 more caretakers.
nMaking a total of 2,428 children in Baymard...So each caretaker would be in charge of about 20 kids at once, while doing rotational shifts.
nAlso, there were 369 elderly people who were between the age of 60 and above, who had arrived Baymard as well.
nWhen Landon asked them what they wanted to do, all of them said that they wanted to stay at home with either their sons or daughters and look after the house while they were away.
nLandon agreed to their request and told them that if they needed anything, they should just tell any of the guards that they see.
nBut there were also some people, who seriously surprised Landon as well.
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