Finally, we logged into XCalibur AOP 2 to continue the Game. A day had passed since we completed the Feudal States Era Level. It was now Monday. I was allowed to stay in the Real World thanks to permission from my Gramps.
"You rescued your people from captivity and led them back home ushering in the Third Chapter Of Xcalibur AOP 2! The Roots Of Civilization! Each of your Towns now possesses a population of about four thousand five hundred however, your Towns currently possess no Organizational Structure and have been surviving on the Job Systems you left to them roughly Four Hundred Years ago with slight variations in terms of Technological Advancement and slight expansions to their Job Systems thanks to their Alliances with neighbouring Towns and Villages. In this Chapter, a major expansion to the Job System has been integrated into Gameplay. This Job System is entitled 'The Twelve Noble Professions' and has been split up in accordance with the Twelve Zodiac Systems you've acquired. These are the professions your Towns need to survive and flourish. For Libra, a System Of Justice. For Leo, a System Of Family. For Taurus, a System Of Agriculture and Transportation. For Cancer, a System Of Medicine. For Scorpio, a System Of Ecology And Economy. For Aquarius, a System Of Hygiene as well as Water And Food Purification coupled with Processing, Preservation And Supply. For Gemini, a System Of Knowledge And Logic. For Aries and Virgo, Systems Of Weaving And Architecture respectively. For Sagittarius, a System Of Leadership And Wisdom. For Capricorn, a System Of Expansion and for Pisces, Systems Of Fishing And Alliance. These are the Twelve Noble Professions your Towns need to flourish. When assigning a citizen to a task, you'll need to consider Affinity in order to increase Productivity" my Dad explained the tutorial. "In this level, you begin to research how to connect the Continents in earnest. Indeed, The Third Chapter Of XCalibur AOP 2 is where the Age Of Explorers begins to take root however this will all begin within your various currently isolated continents. Have fun playing" my Dad said and the line cut.
"I see. Each of the Systems has an overarching theme that evolves in application depending on context and setting huh? That must be why the same systems we utilized for 'Survival' in 'The Basics Of Survival' Level transformed into 'Combat' Systems in 'The Feudal States Era' Level. It just goes to say that the Twelve Systems have a wide variety of applications that can evolve with setting" Saito explained.
"It looks like our initial task is to assign our entire population of four thousand five hundred into sections which will be assigned to one of the Twelve Noble Professions" Ariel said.
"That's right" Saito said.
"A lot of economic principles seem to have been integrated into this level" Ariel noted.
"True" Saito agreed.
"So Saito, what would an ideal economic situation look like to you?" Ariel asked.
"Well for starters…it would be a self-sustaining economy. All resources channeled into sustaining the economy would be produced by the economy itself. This way, it can avoid dependency on foreign income sources and thus evade oppressive economic laws imposed by foreign economies and things of the like. This implies that the economy would have leverage and approach all Trade Agreements from a position of strength, thus all Trade Deals would most likely be conducted on equal footing. Secondly, all the basic needs of its citizens would be provided for. Every citizen would be entitled to at least a sizable portion of land and seeds or a pair of animals that provide tremendous support in terms of food production. All food costs would thus be low and hunger could be totally eliminated. For this to happen, food production must match population dynamics. When basic needs are satisfied, crimes committed out of necessity would also be eliminated so crime rates would drop significantly and the probability for political upheavals would also vanish because of loyalty of the citizens to its leaders thanks to the favourable conditions. That would at least be a good start" Saito explained.
"I see. Makes tons of sense!" Ariel realized in excitement.
"First, we'll start with Agriculture. We'll assign a portion of the population to Agriculture. Out of this number, half of them shall be assigned solely to the cultivation and harvesting of fruits. The other half shall be assigned to the harvesting of seeds from harvested fruits. Half of the seeds shall be stored for replanting. The other half shall be distributed to the rest of the population along with sizable portions of land for the creation of Domestic Farms. That should reduce mortality rates associated with hunger as well as associated crime rates. The fruits from which the seeds have been harvested will be processed into alternate forms such as Juices and other Food Products. For this reason, a twelfth of the entire population will also be assigned to the construction of Factories, Storage Facilities And Housing Units to satisfy the needs for Shelter And Preservation. After that is done, we'll need to work on creating Supply Routes for the Seeds and Processed Foods that are independent of the Venomous Supply Chain. These areas are what we need to begin with however our first task is the assignment of various parts of the population to specific tasks. After that is done, we can focus on other tasks" Saito explained to Ariel.
"Well then, let's get things started then shouldn't we sis?" Ariel asked.
"Of course, and the sooner we get started, the better" Saito said.
PART II: THE INTEGRATED FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEM PART I: DETERMINING POPULATION AFFINITIES AND DYNAMICS
Meanwhile, Mitsuki and Arlene stood in their Peristylium.
"To effectively distribute our human resources, we need a detailed account of all the resources produced by our Peristylium. We can track all resources with the Gemini System. Apparently, the Job Systems we left to the Peristylium four hundred years ago are still active but not very organized and are still quite primitive. They appear to be limited to Agriculture, Architecture, Weaving, Preservation And Archiving (Of Food And Knowledge), Medicine, Justice, Alliances And Leadership. We need to assign priority values to each Job System. How much Human Resource we assign to each Job System will depend on the priority value assigned to that particular Job System. Out Of The Twelve Noble Professions, Taurus' System Of Agriculture, Cancer's System Of Medicine, Aquarius' System Of Hygiene as well as Food/Water Purification, Processing and Preservation; and Pisces' System Of Fishing are ultimately connected to Food Production hence the priority assigned to Food Production is very high. It's four Job Systems out of the Twelve hence a fourth out of a twelfth of the entire Population should be assigned to Food Production. We can tally up all the Job Systems, categorize them under major titles and using that calculate how relevant they are to the development of our Peristylium. Next, we'll assign a priority value which will determine how we assign Resources to various Job Systems" Arlene explained.
"We must also ensure that every citizen has a means to secure food regardless of social status. This will both eliminate hunger and reduce crime rates" Mitsuki added.
"Of course" Arlene said.
"Since our Agriculture mostly revolves around Animal Rearing, we must assign a pair of livestock to every citizen of our Peristylium for breeding purposes. The livestock in question must be able to provide great support in terms of produce such as Wool, Milk and the like. That way our citizens can for instance trade Wool to Weavers for processing into Clothes. Both sides benefit and both sides sustain that part of the economy" Mitsuki noted.
"Everything in phases. First, we must analyze the affinities each Job System requires for the purposes of a sort of Recruitment Protocol. Then, we must assign a fourth out of a Twelfth of the entire Population to the aforementioned sectors of Food Production. Some of these Job Systems have applications in other fields as well. We'll need to take that into consideration. People usually get along with those that share similar interests so if we scan the affinities of our citizens before assigning them to a particular Job System, we can increase Productivity if they show on average, high readings that fall into the affinity readings for a particular Job System. The implication would be the Alignment Of Interests among people that produce high readings for a particular Job System and that will minimize friction amongst members of that Job System's population. This reading for Alignment In Interests will vary when different people's stats are measured against one another. Our goal is to assign the people with minimal variations in stats to the same Job System. They may have different backgrounds but at the very least, similar affinity readings will connote similar interests. Next, we'll use a round-robin method to measure each of these people's affinity readings against one another. The one that produces an average of high readings when measured against the rest of the population will be chosen to lead the population in that specific field. That will further minimize friction. It's a very Democratic System" Arlene explained.
Arlene and Mitsuki activated the Taurus System and integrated the other Systems into it. The Taurus System generated affinity scales for each Job System. For Agriculture, these affinity scales were generated; Knowledge Of Weather And Climate, Knowledge Of Soil Dynamics, Knowledge Of Plant Affinity for both Climate And Soil Type, Knowledge Of The Elemental Balance, Physical Strength and finally, Mental Fortitude. These readings were not for the Plants but rather for people. Knowledge of Weather and Climate was necessary to anticipate changes in Weather And Climate as well as determine good Planting Seasons. Knowledge Of Soil Dynamics was necessary to understand how Crops interacted with other organisms as well as minerals in the Soil. Knowledge Of Plant Affinity was necessary to determine which Seasons And Soil Types were optimum for the growth of a particular variety of Crop. Knowledge Of The Elemental Balance was necessary to know which Elements the Crops needed to grow and thrive as well as the quantities that were optimum to support Plant Growth. Physical Strength was necessary for the actual task of Farming and Mental Strength was needed to implement methods of automating the process.
For Food/Water Purification, Processing And Preservation, these were the Parameters. Knowledge Of Food Purification Methods, Knowledge Of Water Purification Methods. Knowledge Of Cooking/the Transformation Of Raw Food into Processed Food and the Elemental Balance. Food Purification Methods were all about preventing Food Poisoning while raising Food Quality and included methods such as Threshing, Sieving and Winnowing that revolved around the removal of unwanted food substances. When it came to Water Purification, the methods included Filtration, Sedimentation, Evaporation, Boiling And Distillation. The entire purpose of these methods was to remove various impurities that existed in the Water in various states of matter. Methods like Filtration and Sedimentation were meant to remove solid impurities. Boiling was for killing Pathogens. Evaporation and Distillation was for removing Fluid Impurities via variations in Boiling and Evaporation Points. Cooking on the other hand was all about the harmony amongst various ingredients that had various scents, tastes and textures while preservation revolved around the Elemental Balance which was a form of Chemistry. Preservation was all about slowing down the rate of decay through the application of Heat. Minimal Heat to the point of Freezing could halt the ability of Pathogens to accelerate Food Decay. Maximum Heat could achieve this by reducing the number of Pathogens responsible for Food Decay via elimination.
When it came to Medicine, the parameters were the following; Knowledge Of Edible Food Varieties, Knowledge Of Inedible Materials, Knowledge Of Pathogen Varieties, Knowledge Of Balance And The Principles Of Neutralization, Knowledge Of Individual Affinities. Knowledge Of Edible Food Varieties was measured according to a vast repository of edible substances. This knowledge was helpful in determining the effects a particular category of food had on an individual. Knowledge Of Inedible Materials helped to determine which substances were poisonous for all people when ingested as well as which were inedible for specific individuals (allergies). Knowledge Of Pathogen Varieties guided the understanding of how diseases occurred. Knowledge Of Balance And Principles Of Neutralization guided how to apply Cures by counterbalancing harmful symptoms of a disease with helpful ones (which may not necessarily be symptoms of a disease). It was also a form of Chemistry. Knowledge Of Individual Affinities helped to determine what was helpful or harmful to a particular individual.
Finally, with regards to Fishing, these were the necessary parameters. Knowledge Of the Feeding Habits Of The Fish, Knowledge Of Weather And Climate, Preferential Hangouts For Schools Of Fish, Sorting, Patience and finally, Weaving. Knowledge Of The Feeding Habits Of The Fish was necessary to understand how to bait a particular species of Fish. Weather And Climate determined when the Sea was dangerous and when it was Safe. Preferential Hangouts for Schools Of Fish allowed the Fisherman to determine traffic data relating to the Fish so in a sense, it was all about Statistical Analysis. Sorting was necessary to determine which fish possessed great quality and were targets and which fish were not targets of the Fisherman. Patience allowed the Fisherman to avoid spooking and unnecessarily driving away a potential catch and Weaving enabled him to create the Nets needed for the actual task of catching the Fish. By adjusting the size of the Nets, only fishes of targeted size were caught.
Mitsuki and Arlene measured the affinity reading of the entire Population and assigned those with satisfactory readings to the Four Major Food Production Job Systems. Utilizing the Alignment Of Interests Method, they placed the people into various teams and assigned leadership roles after applying a round-robin measurement to the members of each team (which was in a sense, the equivalent of a voting system).