Chapter 92. Hygiene, Gunpowder, and War (2)

In the Tuscan Empire, being a noble is equivalent to being a reserve public official.

It means they can become parachute appointments anytime if high-ranking people like the Emperor, dukes, marquises, and counts simply "designate" them.

'The Emperor can do it for the entire empire, nobles below the duke only in their direct territories.'

Therefore, the city hall employees weren't surprised or resistant when I suddenly took office, but...

Since this isn't common even in our empire, my subordinate staff looked at me with puzzled expressions.

"I'm Viscount Fabio de Medici, temporarily appointed as head of the Public Security Division and Gunpowder Production Division from today. And as of this moment, you've all become members of the Public Security and Gunpowder Production Divisions from your original departments."

Everyone looked dumbfounded at the sudden personnel transfer order.

Well, how surprised must they be to be assigned to the "Public Security Division" and "Gunpowder Production Division" that didn't even exist until now, when it's not even personnel transfer season.

Still, perhaps because they all know I'm favored by the Emperor.

There were no signs of despair on the employees' faces.

'In any era, personnel transfers to non-existent departments are generally not good for civil servants.'

Of course, departments suddenly created by a high-ranking person's strong will are in a way opportunities for promotion.

"You might wonder why separate independent agencies were created when gunpowder production was originally the Military Affairs Ministry's job, and there's a higher Public Security Bureau in charge of city security. So I'll explain one by one."

At my level, I could actually order these civil servants around with just my chin.

Emperor's favor, duke's favor, owner of a trading company aiming for great merchant status, resolving military supply corruption and logistics issues.

Using just a bit of these major things, I could seek "cooperation" from bureau directors as a division head that sounds like "orders" while saying "cooperation".

But the reason I don't do that is because when making people work, it's more efficient to explain why they're doing that work.

"First, the reason I'm in charge of gunpowder production is to test a new method of manufacturing gunpowder."

Hearing those words, the man acting as division head assistant asked:

"Then do we have to supervise the work of collecting soil around toilets, walls, and ceilings?"

The guys here are civil servants equivalent to grade 5 (senior officials) or higher in Korea.

Just looking at social status, they're people who can rightfully view doctors who call 10 million won take-home pay a pittance as "mere doctors".

Such people gathered together could protest being told we're going to scrape poop.

'This would have gotten similar protests even if I were a count.'

"You guys just need to organize documents. Don't you have plenty of subordinates anyway?"

I'll send the subordinates under these people as on-site supervisors, and have others, not soldiers, do the poop scooping work.

'It's already unfair to be dragged into the military, making them scoop poop on low pay is crossing the line.'

"After carefully reviewing the gunpowder production method, I found that soil that becomes the raw material for gunpowder is only collected from places where lots of feces and urine accumulate. So I thought, isn't the real raw material for gunpowder actually feces and urine, not soil?"

The raw material for gunpowder is potassium nitrate.

And potassium nitrate is most abundant in feces and urine.

It took humanity 400 years to figure this out after starting to use gunpowder.

But I don't need to go through all those trial and error, right?

"So I thought we should try making it by collecting feces and urine rather than struggling to scrape up soil."

There will be quite a bit of trial and error here too, but I roughly know how to do it.

If we experiment by greatly expanding the scale, results will come out right away in a year.

"This is the most important work we need to do. Then you might wonder why we're also in charge of public security. That's because we want to entrust the work of collecting feces and urine to the poor."

From what I heard, in the city where I was in charge of military supplies last time, the number of "craftsmen" was insufficient, so guilds were kidnapping poor people and working them as apprentices due to lack of manpower.

Originally apprentices didn't have families so they worked just by getting food without wages, but the poor have families so they're giving at least minimal wages.

Later when they become craftsmen, they'll become proper middle class.

I heard the city mayor and the baron who is the lord cried when they heard about this beautiful act.

Wouldn't it be the best welfare to rescue the poor from dirty and terrible circumstances where they have to commit crimes like eating meals, and give them jobs like environmental cleaners?

'The purpose of welfare is to prevent people who can't work from starving to death, and make people who can work work normally.'

Commonly, people with all limbs intact living just on welfare is a side effect of the welfare system.

"Won't public security improve if we give jobs to the poor? That's why we're also handling security work."

In our Albania continent, no, in the current era, throughout the whole world, the poor have almost nothing they can do except crime.

If they occupy positions like porters, odd-job workers, manual laborers which have the image of jobs poor people do, they're not poor but lower class here.

For the poor, men have nothing they can do except being thugs, women except being prostitutes.

It's not good to leave them in such occupations.

"Moreover, feces and urine all become gunpowder ingredients, so it's unacceptable for them to be left on the streets. So we'll build public toilets where lower class and poor people live, and it's also our job to 'crack down' on those who secretly defecate and urinate."

In isekai reincarnation stories, scenes like this often appear:

'You won't get sick if you wash your hands! So wash your bodies and clean up things like feces and urine!'

Just saying a few words like this, people follow along, and not long after, the effects actually appear...

Honestly, I think it's possible for people to actually feel the effects.

But how troublesome is it to not throw feces and urine on the streets, would they really follow along so readily just hearing one word?

'Moreover, houses below middle class, no, poor people's houses don't even have toilets.'

"They're people who broke national laws, but if we punish them all and put them in prison, prisons will burst. So you guys collect 'appropriate fines'. Don't collect too much or beat them, just moderately. If complaints come in about this, His Majesty will be very angry."

I can forgive hitting them a few times and collecting 10 copper coins each in the process of paying fines.

But beating them half to death and extorting silver or gold coins is crossing the line.

"If you harass even those without suspicion, crackdowns won't work well, so if you touch people without suspicion, you'll all end up taking a look at the High Court prison. I'm quite close with the chief justice there. Ah, I can also go very comfortably to His Grace Duke Visconti's mansion. And this is an imperial order."

It's all true.

And the High Court prison is practically like the Central Intelligence Agency.

For someone with some social status, it's basic to come out with at least one broken arm or leg even if innocent.

Entering prison on charges of obstructing execution of an imperial order?

They'll pour mushroom soup into their noses by the pot.

'Finally, a warning that complaining to others about this won't work at all.'

"First it's important to gather people to collect feces and urine, so prepare to go to the slums. Since we'll do it properly, gather about 2 companies from the Florence Guard. Tell the officers to come in uniform."

Actually borrowing just one platoon would be enough, but "giving jobs to the poor" is considered a good deed by this era's standards.

And if you want to advance, it's good to do good deeds splendidly so that everyone can see when you do them.

It's proper etiquette to blow trumpets and dress up in fancy-looking clothes.

That's how good rumors will spread.

"Only the division head assistant stay behind for a moment, the rest prepare to go out to work."

As I said, I beckoned the division head assistant who remained here.

Looking closely, I saw he was 5-7 years older than me.

This gentleman seems to have started his public service career as the second son of a baron family or the eldest son of a nobility of the robe viscount family like me.

If he's the head of a nobility of the robe viscount family, he'll rise to exactly my position or deputy bureau director level if he works just averagely, and if he's a baron family's second son, my position would be his limit.

'He must be really hungry for advancement.'

"Division head assistant, I'll ask straightforwardly. Do you want to advance?"

"Yes, that's right."

There's probably not a single person in our empire who doesn't want to advance.

Even just becoming a non-commissioned officer from a mere soldier drastically changes serfs' quality of life and treatment, and even for officials, treatment changes drastically just by rising one rank.

"As you know, I'm only temporarily serving as division head. So when work is finished, I'll step down from the position. But what do you think will happen to this organization when gunpowder production stabilizes?"

No need to say, it'll get bigger.

Now it's the Gunpowder Production Division, but later it'll grow to about the Gunpowder Production Bureau.

"Even if some other guy sits in the bureau director seat, someone who perfectly understands the practical work should take the division head position for things to run. If the organization expands to bureau level, it seems like 4-5 division head positions will come out... Unless the Florence mayor is an idiot, you'll unconditionally..."

I deliberately cut off my words.

"Be confirmed for promotion to division head. At that age being a division head, if you are promoted well from here, you could rise to bureau director."

From the bureau director, they're considered "core officials" even in the empire.

It's the flower of advancement.

"Let's get along well. And if there are any dissatisfied guys, you take care of disciplining them."

Then I put a huge amount of money in his hand.

"After disciplining subordinates, give a little to those who work well while making them work. That's how you'll get promoted too. Now go."