Chapter 94. Hygiene, Gunpowder, and War (4)

The division head assistant spoke up cautiously.

"Public Security Division Head, it seems we're quite short on people compared to what you thought. 400 people isn't enough to clean up the excrement produced in Florence."

Florence's official population is 200,000, but this only counts "middle-class and above men".

Therefore, including lower class and poor people, it's about 700,000 in total.

In a neighborhood without the concept of work hour limits, if we run them 14 hours a day for 6 days a week, we could manage to clean up all of Florence's excrement somehow...

'But it's not enough to cover the manpower actually needed for gunpowder production.'

I knew that and only gathered 400 people.

Because processing excrement is just a bit lowly and dirty work, it's a problem that ends with 'voluntary enlistment' of poor people as a welfare measure.

To change excrement into a state where saltpeter can be extracted, it needs to be fermented for a year, but would even poor people want to do such work?

We need to catch people who are about to die right away or criminals and make them do it.

"No matter how much the poor are potential criminals who can't live without committing crimes. Would they work all day smelling rotting feces and urine?"

Of course, nothing is impossible if you pay a lot of money.

If I gave even half the amount of Chris's salary, wouldn't poor people mix piles of poop with grateful hearts?

'When you give 7-8 million won after taxes to someone who used to earn 300,000 won a month, they work like dogs.'

"It would be solved if we paid a lot of money. But what have the poor done well to need to pour money like that? It's a waste of taxes."

"The poor are trash who only want things from the empire, and killing and plundering each other is their daily life. Even if we catch them and force them to do national work, there's no need to pay them a lot."

"And how many death row inmates and criminals are there in our empire?"

The best way to prevent crime.

That's making the environment where criminals serve their sentences 'harsh'.

Lawyers and such people would oppose it if they heard, but in the world now, there are trash who repeatedly commit crimes because 'prison' is the most comfortable place you can go to in any developed country in the world.

What if we put such trash in 'prisons where it's better to die' and grind them?

"I should go see the Public Security Bureau Director."

It's a good thing to do while also giving all criminals a chance for rehabilitation.

**

The Public Security Bureau Director outranked me.

But nobles at the bureau director level know how to gauge 'actual social position'.

He didn't disregard me because my rank was lower than his.

"What business brings the newly appointed Public Security Division Head to me? Have you come to borrow guard security maintenance troops because of the imperial order? I'll lend you as many as you want."

"I didn't come to borrow troops, I came because I want to take some criminals."

The Bureau Director's brow furrowed deeply.

From his perspective, just offering to lend his subordinates is already bestowing enormous favor on me.

I agree with that thought too, which is why I handed over about 3 gold coins last time in return for writing a cooperation request to borrow soldiers.

But if I say here that I want to take criminals he directly oversees?

'If I didn't have my social position, I might have been grabbed by the collar.'

"The criminals currently imprisoned in jail have been incarcerated through due process with proper court judgments. And overseeing them is clearly my job."

Interpreting those words, it means:

'How dare an insolent bastard with equal rank and lower position covet someone else's authority?'

Actually, what I'm doing does partially infringe on the Bureau Director's authority, so I have nothing to say.

"I know."

The Bureau Director sighed.

"I'll tell you honestly since you're favored by His Majesty. It's no big deal to 'process as dead' and take out one or two criminals."

If that criminal isn't someone like a serial rapist or serial killer on everyone's lips, even if they meet a 'sudden death', no one cares.

Because from ordinary people's perspective, frankly speaking, what does it matter if criminals die or not?

'When a very pretty young woman enters prison, mysterious sudden deaths always occur.'

And when that woman's death is forgotten, she's sometimes found as someone's plaything.

Though the probability of being discovered is less than 0.05%.

"But from your hints, it seems like you'll ask to take out hundreds, no, maybe everyone except those who really need to be executed right away. That's beyond what I can handle."

The important thing here is this:

'It's beyond what I can handle.'

In other words, if I provide a way he can handle it, he's willing to actively cooperate with me who has received the Emperor's special order.

That gentleman must be very hungry for promotion too.

Well, if he gets promoted from Public Security Bureau Director to an important position like Finance Director, the amount of bribes coming in will increase at least 3 times, and his family's power will grow too.

"Frankly speaking, the current method of just imprisoning criminals is inefficient. No matter how much we give them only cheap food and don't properly heat the place, it doesn't change the fact that they're parasites just eating up money."

They say it costs 30 million won to maintain one death row inmate.

The Tuscan Empire is a proper country that guarantees 'inhumane treatment' for criminals, so the maintenance cost for those caught committing crimes in prison is.

'I don't know well either, but about 1 silver coin a year?'

But there are nearly a thousand of these in Florence prison alone.

Even though they hand out death sentences liberally for minor crimes against the poor and lower class.

Adding all that up is 100 gold coins, which is definitely not a small amount of money.

"Moreover, aren't less than 20% of criminals those who committed crimes deserving immediate death like murder, rape, or blasphemy? Most are all people who were imprisoned for beating someone a few times, or caught stealing a piece of bread."

Executions of serious criminals are carried out promptly as soon as investigations end.

So they're almost never imprisoned for more than three months at most.

But for minor criminals, execution is delayed because it seems a bit too much to kill them even by imperial standards.

Judges and Public Security Bureau officials are honestly a bit reluctant to kill such kids too.

'I heard they generally live in life imprisonment because of that.'

"Those who committed light and trivial crimes don't need to be killed, so let them atone through several years of harsh and terrible hard labor. And make those who committed serious crimes pay the price for their crimes for life."

Although it's a facility I'm making, fermenting excrement to produce gunpowder is clearly a terrible job.

The resulting gunpowder is precious, but the workers' quality of life is the bottom of hell.

Just the smell of excrement is terrible, but if you think about it fermenting and having to mix it yourself while turning it over.

'Even people who say criminal human rights aren't needed would change their minds if they watched this work.'

"We'll be able to widely publicize His Majesty's mercy and kind heart that cherishes the people's taxes."

The Bureau Director's eyes widened at those words.

Yes, let's write the report reversing the cause and effect relationship a bit.

When I was worrying about recruiting manpower to do the terrible job of mixing and fermenting excrement for the Emperor, you, the Bureau Director, gave this solution.

And all of this stemmed from loyalty towards His Majesty.

'For me, I'm done once I secure the quantity to sell to Ifriqiya and Nador after making the gunpowder formula.'

Also, just developing the gunpowder formula and reducing diseases by improving hygiene is already achieving merits too great for a mere individual to eat.

'People should share and live. Otherwise you get stabbed in the back with a bamboo spear.'

The wise Bureau Director grasped my hand tightly after hearing my words.

"Except for those who need to be killed right away, we'll make serious criminals with some room for consideration pay for their crimes there for life, and minor criminals will be grounded for a few years and then released. Then we can efficiently work evil criminals."

"You're cherishing people's lives, saving money, and doing good for the country."

The Bureau Director jumped up from his seat.

"But is it really okay to yield such great merit to me? This feels too unfair to you."

"We should help each other and live. And the story of Chief Justice Mancini..."

It's a secret that I moved after receiving an imperial order.

But thanks to me yielding all the merit for my righteous report to Mancini, he got the Chief Justice position several years faster than his peers.

The Bureau Director grasped my hand tightly.

On the verge of tears, whimpering:

"Honestly, I thought my public service career would end here, but thanks to you I see a path to rise one more level. If gunpowder production succeeds this time, you'll be a benefactor to our Cerulo viscount family."

"Thank you."

"Then I'll research how to apply this to practical work first."

And the Bureau Director started running, forgetting his dignity.

Seeing him go that far, I feel reassured.

Then now that prisoners are gathering, I should go inspect the saltpeter field site I've been eyeing near Florence.

I need to teach all the knowledge I know directly to avoid any problems.