Chapter 28: My first Minister

The more I listened and learned from Edward, the more flabbergasted I got. This would change almost everything. With my resources I could have a robust infrastructure set up before everyone came back from the 1 week trial. At the very least I could have them help out once people returned and provide a higher quality of living a lot sooner. This could save thousands of lives.

I finally stopped him around dinner time and told him we should get something to eat. I asked him if he could gather everyone after dinner in the town square for a brief announcement. He shrugged and said that would be no problem and started off to pass the news around that there would be a meeting in about an hour. As he walked off, I took a quick look at the menus he mentioned to make sure I could find them and I understood how to use them. It seems that the penalties of the contracts if you violate them are enforced by the Great Game. This means that there should be very little chance of betrayal or mistakes if you word your contract correctly.

After dinner I went out to the town square and addressed the village.

“As your king I have a couple of things to announce. First here is a basic list of laws and rules for the kingdom. I pulled several prepared posters out of my inventory. Make sure that everyone knows them. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for doing bad things. Next Edward is now appointed as the Kingdom’s Minister of Education. I have realized that he knows more about the Great Game than I do. I may know a lot about this planet and people, but I need good advice on the Great Game and the changes it brings. This makes Edward part of the new nobility and I shall gift him with 10,000 gold coins now and lands to be decided upon later. However, I guarantee that Hidden Valley Village will be part of his holdings.”

The look on Edward’s face was priceless. I continued on and let everyone know that there would be a ceremony in 1 months time to induct all new nobility and ministers and that I would assign the rest of Edward’s land at that time. After many well wishes from the villagers and thanks from Edward I let them know that I have to get back to the castle before dark. My return travel time to the castle was much slower as I was much more careful and on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. However, the return journey was uneventful.

The first thing I did when I got back was to lock the place up tight. I realized now that until I had guards and people of my own I needed to be extra careful. Especially at night when I was alone and sleeping. I have so much to do now that Edward has taught me about the job hiring system of the Great Game. First up will be a review of the job boards and some quick staffing hires. If I can fill all my needs without posting my own notice it would speed things up.

After going through several available notices I realized two things. First the wording and contracts were quite ambiguous on the Job Board. If I wanted to feel safe about who I hired I am going to have to create my own contract and conditions. Second was that I felt that most positions were woefully underpaid. For example, I could hire a palace maid for 25 silver a month plus room and board. That is equivalent to around $400 per month with room and board. Maybe it was the American in me but that seemed much to low.

I think that if I offer 3 to 4 times the going rate, even if I make really detailed job contracts I should have plenty of qualified job seekers applying. However, it will slow things down. I am going to have to post everything I need tonight on the job board and hopefully start interviewing and/or checking responses tomorrow. I am not quite sure how the Great Game handles that part. As I continued my explorations through the hiring system I started to realize that I had much much bigger problems.

I am going to need fully stocked and staffed safe areas for people to arrive back at. If I don’t they could be transported straight into danger on their return or to a place with little or no food due to the now limited transportation. The good news is that anything I can think of like basic housing, storehouses, walls, a city guard, shops, etc. can either be built by hand or ordered through the Great Game system. It is many times more expensive to order than have people build something, but the upside is that it is instantaneous.

I have a huge surplus of funds currently and this seems like the perfect way to use them. I also have a fantastic idea on how to generate some new funds. In fact if my new plan works out I could actually make more money than I spend which would be great.