The next in line to introduce himself was the tailor. He too was a middle-aged man, but with a rather humble deposition. He politely bowed again and introduced himself. He was named Samir and he was from a family of tailors, who had a rather prestigious shop in the capital. He was the third brother and was here to serve me along with his son and daughter.
He assured me that he was capable enough to handle the responsibility and that both his children were also highly talented and would not give me any opportunity to regret employing their services. Tailoring was one of the few professions where women were regularly seen. Though they were not the main tailors, they could certainly be capable assistants. (This is the opinions of those in this era and not something the MC believed).
He went back and the next in line came forward to introduce himself. This was bulky man with obvious muscles built, clearly indicating the profession he was associated with. His name was Ajit. As expected, he was a blacksmith and the group of ten that had arrived had chosen him as their representative. He explained that among everyone that came, he was the only one that operated his own smithy in one of the large villages, whereas everyone else worked in someone else's smithy. This granted him more prestige and experience, which led to him being chosen.
The next was the representative of the only group remaining, the masons. His name was Aakash and he explained that the people that came with him were all directly selected by my father and were not under orders from any official and I could instruct them freely.
It seems that my father aptly understood the most important professionals I would require and provided me with immense help. I understood very well that the professionals sent by the officials will not try to sabotage me, but I would always have some walls with them being around and would not freely discuss all my ideas and knowledge with them, irrespective of their competence and attitude towards me. But the people that were directly under my father were a totally different story. I was free to implement my plans and ideas.
He did not continue and neither did I force him to. He went back to his position and now that everyone had introduced themselves, they all looked towards each other trying to understood what they were to do next. It was understandable, because I too had gone quiet and they were just standing not knowing whether to leave or speak.
Atul finally could not wait and took a step forward, asking if I would like to know anything more or if I had any further instructions and if not, were they permitted to leave. I told him that they have to wait and when I would like them to leave, I would certainly give explicit orders.
He was certainly surprised at the lack of respect I had shown him and went back to his place sulking.
It was not long before the supervisor arrived with ten men following behind him. I was certainly upset seeing that there were no women in the line-up. As far as workers were considered, there was little difference in the employment of men and women. Yes, men were more suited for heavy duty tasks but women too were great workers, especially their speed compared to the men. The lack of women clearly meant that the supervisor had done this on purpose.
Seeing that I was somewhat unhappy after they had arrived, the workers and the supervisor were nervous thinking back to what I had not liked about them after meeting only once and whose fault was it. The supervisor came nervously to the front and explained that even though the workers looked a bit on the weaker side, they will work twice as heard and will complete all the tasks that I will be assigning them, no matter the difficulty.
The workers behind him also nodded their heads vigorously. It was clear that the supervisor had taken my displeasure as a sign of me being upset with the workers and him voicing this out had made the workers afraid. Aside from the fact that this was a great opportunity of a long employment, this was also a project headed directly by the prince and if they performed well enough, they might get better future employments.
I shook my head in disappointment. I expected the workers to be oppressed in this era and I had decided to not be very affected by them, but I failed. I had hoped the workers to get associated with the artisans, so that they will have an easier time communicating their needs during the project. I had thought too simply and now understood that it was not going to be so easy for them to interact politely. This was because, even their own supervisor was so oppressive, it was not hard to imagine how they will be treated by the mighty artisan groups.
I was not thinking that will directly oppress them, but they surely will not be open to listening the needs and opinions of the workers without my presence. It was certainly a problem because I was not going to be able to handle this at a base level. At most I would give an order on a case that reaches me directly and not for every single cause.
Considering this, I asked the various representative artisans to take their leaves. They were confused considering that I had asked them to stay previously, but they complied and left. I turned my attention toward the supervisor and asked him to introduce himself and the payment structure that was being employed for the project.
Since I met him, I had made up my mind to have him fired from his job as the supervisor by the end of the day. I was aware that I was judging someone based on the moral compass from a different era, and that in the eyes of the people here, his behaviour was acceptable and normal but I still could not help myself in disliking him.
I only stopped myself in order to understand the workings before I make a rash decision and end up being unable to handle the aftermath.
He took it as me finally giving him the importance he deserved and puffed up his chest before beginning to list out the workings of the worker group under him and his own glorious background.