Thank you to Samik Dutta for pointing out the inconsistent publishing of the novel.
From this chapter every new chapter will be published at 9:00.
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I ordered the construction of a large orphanage a few miles away from the capital, where I would accommodate both the orphans and the widows.
Orphanages at such a large scale were unheard of in this era, after all who would waste so many resources on people who had nothing to provide in return.
There was even some opposition in the court, especially regarding the widows due to the outrage it will cause with the brahmins. I had to personally attend the court and explain that all the cost that the orphanage and any other similar project throughout the kingdom will be solely shouldered by me.
There were some voices of discontent on how ultimately, I will only have to ask the king for gold and that will be taken out of the kingdom's treasury, rendering my announcement moot.
I explained that this will not be the case, since I now had an additional source of income that was different from the kingdom. Seeing their confused expressions, I carried on by saying that since the roads were completed using the technology I had provided, then I will be receiving a dividend on the tolls collected from the people travelling the road.
This caused a sudden outrage in the voices of the court. One of the ministers who was from the neutral faction interrupted me by saying that the roads and routes were under the supervision of the kingdom itself and even if it was me that provided the technology, it does not permit me to make it a private venture to earn profits. This statement caused many members of the court to voice their agreement.
It was then that my father interjected with the proceedings of the court.
He declared that it was his decree that whatever projects, now or in the future are completed by the knowledge that I provide, will make me eligible to have certain share in their profits. This caused much of the court a great shock. This decree basically gave me the right to use a portion of the treasury without any supervision.
The other thing of importance to be discussed in the court was the decree that my father had issued regarding the protection of forests and wildlife within our territory. The decree had been vague at best and this had caused many leaders to travel from all around the kingdom for this grand court meeting held today.
Once the topic regarding the orphanage was completed, the left minister presented the topic regarding the forests and wildlife.
In this era, most of the daily necessities of the common people were derived from the forest and this decree basically stripped them of their way of living. This was not the intention of the decree and that was what my father explained today.
He explained to the court that the decree referred to the blatant destruction of forest and hunting of wildlife. Many among the population just looked towards the immediate needs and neglected the impact it had on the overall environment. He explained that we had been on a path of destruction by cutting down the abundant forests to supplement the growing needs of food for the general population.
The wildlife that had caused no direct or indirect harm to the population were hunted often for sports and this left a blank space in the natural cycle of the forest.
This decree was therefore to ensure that there will be no more destruction of forests for the purposes of increasing agriculture lands unnecessarily or to complete the whims of the rich. The second half of the sentence caused some voice of discomfort among the people present in the court.
He also declared that there will be establishment of new sectors in the kingdom solely dedicated to control and protect the wildlife. This project will be divided into two parts.
The first part of the project will comprise of establishing sanctuaries and parks throughout the kingdom. As the name suggests, sanctuaries will be dedicated to the animals that need human interference to be safe and prosperous. The parks will be enclosed sections of forests, away from the society where the wildlife can develop naturally without any human interference.
The only interference that the kingdom will have in that, will be the setting of a perimeter for the park and elimination of animals who cause instability in the entire region.
The second part of the project will be the establishment of zoos and bird sanctuaries. Noticing the confusion among the people he went on to explain that these will be enclosed perimeters where we will keep the wildlife and birds for the purpose of viewing of the general population and visitors.
He explained on how this will provide an additional entertainment for the general public and be educational for the children. This will also be a good spot for tourists to visit, hence increasing the tourism value of the nation.
Noticing the voices of discontent regarding unnecessary spending, he had to promise that this will be the last project undertaken as a kingdom for the foreseeable future. This also conveyed his intentions that any other selfless project that I will undertake in the near future will not receive the funding from the kingdom. I had to raise the money myself to invest in such projects.
I had no issue regarding this considering the fact that I had already selected my next two projects, one of which will be very profitable for me and that too for a very long time.
The meeting ended with some mundane disputes that needed to be solved by the king.
Considering that the project for road was done I was relatively free to focus on the next big event at hand.
My sixteenth birthday.
In a month's time it will be my sixteenth birthday. In the current age this was the age when a prince is considered to have matured and ready to begin his interaction in the political circle of the nobility.
There was to be a week-long celebration where at least ten different kings will attend along with their kids to interact with me. This meant that I had only three weeks before the guests were set to arrive to attend the week-long celebration.
The next day I returned to the camp where the two new groups were waiting in anticipation of my decision regarding their futures.