I began narrating how in my studies over the years I had come to understood that roads were something mostly built only in big cities or capitals and the vast expanse of land was not connected with proper roadway system but rather just formed naturally after being used a long time for travelling. It was all just crudely placed and based on the distances between two places, one travelled back and forth enough to make a route.
Many in the court were looking at me weirdly and wondering what was my point since this had been the way transport had carried on for generations. They still did not interrupt me for which I was grateful, so I continued.
I told them that I wished to connect the nearest large village and the capital city by a single direct road which could be used by everyone for easy access of travel and if my project was successful, I had asked for the king to support me in implementing it throughout the kingdom.
I finished my speech and politely asked for the doubts that everyone had so that I could explain and increase their confidence in myself.
After hearing my speech, which they certainly thought was a fool's dream, they all had various questions but had reigned themselves in as they knew that the two higher officials were the ones to begin the questioning.
The two elders looked at each other, after coming at a mutual understanding, the elder that had previously interrupted my speech asked me the first question.
He wished to inquire about how much I was asking the king to invest in this pipe dream of mine. From his tone one would assume that an elder was asking an unruly young master on how much was he going to waste the family's money on his whims. I answered with the figure of five thousand gold that was previously assigned to me by my father. He visibly looks pleased and even the other elder released a sigh of relief.
I could understand their emotions right now. They were thinking that we made such a big deal over nothing, even if the prince was careless the king was certainly wise and by giving such a minimal amount, he was basically conveying that let the prince play before it is his time to get serious in life.
The other elder abstained from asking a question after hearing the amount being invested. This gave the other lower officials an opportunity to ask about whatever they were curious about without the pressure of the elders.
One of the officials under the second elder asked me how long would I require for them to expect any results and I conveyed the time limit of one year that was given to me. This answer caused another round of relief sighs in the royal court.
They all were of the mind that this was just the king indulging me and hence the entire court lost interest in any further investigations. Both elders stood and voiced that it was good for the prince to take the initiative to learn and they fully support the king's decision.
This was a blessing in disguise for me because the ignorant officials had now deemed me and my project as a whim and this will give me a free reign without any interference. By the time they understood the grandness of my project I would have already completed my project and gained the recognition of my father. After that my father will reign in his officials seeing the value that my project could bring to the kingdom.
Seeing that everyone agreed my father was pleased and began distributing tasks to the officials in helping settle the things I needed to start my project. Seeing that I had not asked for a huge number of their talents but just ignorant, untrained workers and a competent trader, everyone voiced their support in providing me with as much labor as they could spare.
One of the more highly valued elder behind the first elder promised me a good mansion that was just outside the capital that I could use as my base, he assured the elder, the king and me that it was fully functional and I would have no worries. A similarly valued elder behind the second elder promised me competent artisans who could make the required structures and handle the coal as well as any other type of equipment work, I would need throughout the project.
The second elder upon hearing my request, for cooks who can make food for a huge number of people, agreed to lend me the cooks that usually helped the military when they went on any expedition. The first elder promised to provide the best quality elephants and troop that I had requested.
As everyone had deemed this project as impossible, they all put efforts in making me believe they were doing all they could to support me. Though it would seem that they were all providing the best of what I had asked, it was a negligible effort on their parts while also gaining my favor, or so they thought. They were doing this after understanding that I had my father's full support, so they were also trying to get into my good books without actually doing much.
I thanked everyone and asked for their prayers that I be successful in my endeavor for the continued prosperity of our kingdom. They all chanted praises for the king and the kingdom and then my father asked me to return and be ready as the various procedures will be completed the day after tomorrow and then I could begin my project.