Chương 96: Chapter 2.33: And Labor

Marcus brought the flat of his hand down onto the table with a sharp snap. Favius felt the man's golden, commanding regality shine into the room like the sunrise. His breath caught, and both Urania and Caliga scrambled back and fell into their chairs.

"Girls!" The Senator's voice was sharp and direct.

"I need you to appreciate the seriousness of this. We are discussing the organization of workshops potentially making hundreds of gold senati." His sisters looked down at the table, but Marcus continued unrelentingly.

"This is serious." He punctuated each word with a tap onto the table.

"Personnel shall be allocated as is best for the familia, not..." He sniffed.

"... squabbled over like fancy dolls. Is that understood?" He finished, and the golden light that was never quite there faded. Favius took a deep breath and forced himself to raise his head, to straighten. Fucking hell. Out of all the cultivators' auras, this effect of making me want to submit, it's the most insidious. Well. He shivered at the memory of being unable to move under Sirrana's presence. One of the more insidious ones I've felt. He sighed. And the room remained in intense silence until Caliga spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she said in a low voice. Urania pouted, leaning on her elbows.

"Yeah, that was..." She looked across the table.

"I can see how it makes sense that you get both of them because..." She gestured.

"Well, you're working with wood and with bees, but..." Her nose scrunched up.

"Who am I getting then?" Then a light brightened her eyes.

"And who is Favius getting?" Favius cleared his throat.

"Well, the only person I really need is Arryn with his woodcarving and everything we've invested in that." Serran cleared his throat and tapped a finger onto a wax tablet.

"If the Lords and Ladies would permit me," he began. Brutus chuckled, and the Majordomo took that as permission.

"All in all, including support staff, we will be needing slightly more than one hundred personnel initially." He looked at Caliga.

"I had already planned for the beekeeping twins to remain with the oldest of the Young Ladies. But..." He raised a finger, and Marcus nodded along with each of the following words.

"While I know that you will take many, maybe even the majority of the workers who have aided you in your projects, raiding my entire supply of skilled craftsmen would not be wise. It would be disruptive to the estate." Favius was about to open his mouth, but surprisingly Brutus spoke up.

"Indeed. Also, Favius, you have been making do with the people who are around you. Now that you can acquire exactly who you need, you ought to be selective about who actually deserves a place in your endeavors." Favius swallowed and nodded. Brutus has a point. We have been conscripting, and let's be honest, at times bullying estate craftsmen into doing things for us. But that isn't sustainable. He nodded, but Urania cleared her throat.

"Serran," she began, and all eyes turned onto her. And as she glanced at Marcus.

"Father, you said I need to gain experience in the running of a workshop, but..." She looked at her siblings.

"Caliga is getting the twins, and Favius..." She sniffed. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Well, he's Favius, but I... it's not that I'm not going to try to learn it, but I... don't know how to run a workshop." The side of Favius's mouth sank. That is actually a pretty reasonable argument. Given that she is just eleven years old. But Serran gave her a warm smile.

"Do not worry, Young Lady. I would be a rather poor Majordomo if I hadn't accounted for that already." He briefly shared a look with Antonius before nodding.

"There is an acquaintance of mine whom I believe would complement your skills and inclinations while also providing..." He trailed off. Antonius continued the sentence in his dry tone.

"... opportunities for growth." Serran snapped his fingers.

"That is an excellent way to put it." Urania studied the two men with narrowed eyes before shaking her head and grabbing a honey cake to chew on. With her mouth half full, she murmured, "I guess that sounds acceptable."

"I'm glad you think so, daughter," added Marcus. Everyone chuckled, and Urania reddened. The Senator took another deep sip from a cup of wine and looked at Favius.

"Well, son, we shall divide the existing personnel as my Majordomo said, yet I wanted your personal input on who you think is needed before I send the orders for slaves out to the Cindrathi brokers." Favius froze in an instant, his hand halfway to his cup of thinned wine.

"Slaves," he began, his thoughts racing. Fucking hell. Of course he wants to use slaves. It's cheaper than getting proper laborers. But no.

"I want freedmen or citizens as workers." Marcus's brows narrowed progressively with each of Favius's words.

"I need adaptable people. Ones who show initiative, who can think and are smart. Not just chattel to take care of physical labor." Favius gestured broadly, but his hand froze at the end of its arc as all four adults in the room stared at him. Did I say something stupid? Am I accidentally preaching abolitionism to the wrong crowd again?

"Favius," began Brutus, "I believe you are assuming things that ought not to be assumed." The other three men nodded along. Favius winced.

"Please enlighten me, O mighty cultivator." He smirked at Brutus, who just raised the first finger.

"Firstly, freedmen are either poor peasants or dependents. Their education is lacking for anything but farming or general labor. With..." He gestured at Antonius.

"... rare exceptions. A citizen's rights and obligations bind them to the sacred contract that is a city. Enticing them to exchange the urban for the rural is difficult, for it would risk the civic rights of their descendants." Oh fuck. I don't like where this is going. Serran cleared his throat and continued.

"Indeed. And most skilled citizens belong to the collegia and work only on a contractual basis." Favius narrowed his eyes in consideration. But despite all of this, we have skilled craftsmen here at the estate, but they're very explicitly not members of the collegia, so... He rubbed his neck. Marcus mentioned slave brokers, but I just assumed that there would be an open labor market as an alternative. But maybe hiring and firing works a lot differently here? He looked up.

"Please excuse my outburst. Tell me, how would we normally go about acquiring skilled workers?" Serran smiled and snacked on an olive before speaking.

"Skilled labor outside the collegia is contracted and acquired using slave contracts with generously negotiated terms. Usually, those trained by a familia or craftsmen falling out with their collegium tend to sell themselves to a relevant broker." Marcus nodded.

"Indeed. The brokerage of skilled professionals is something Consul Valeria's family has made quite a fortune from." He smiled.

"Should your requests become too onerous, I might have to attend one of her auctions personally to acquire the people who are needed." Favius's thoughts raced. This sounds like a really weird system. He looked across the table at Marcus.

"You mentioned that there are auctions. Who..." He gestured.

"... is getting the proceeds?" He nodded in thought. After all, what the Republic refers to as a slave can be anything from a prisoner who is about to be worked to death in the salt mines to professionals skilled enough that aristocrats are holding auctions over them. He couldn't help but smirk. Sounds a bit like professional headhunters back on Earth. Though with a lot more slavery. Marcus smiled.

"The proceeds are split between the broker and the professional."

"And they can be quite tidy sums," added Serran with a sour expression. Caliga narrowed her eyes.

"Really? Not that I want you to go, Serran, but if you were sold at such an auction..." The Majordomo gave his pained smile and threw a look at Marcus, who only chuckled.

"Oh, please, old friend, do go ahead and tell us what price you believe you might command." Favius swallowed. That's kind of an awkward question to ask a man. Serran shifted and swallowed.

"A skilled Majordomo such as I? It is hard to say, for..." He looked at Marcus, then at Caliga.

"Someone like me can in fact not be bought." He emphasized the last two words with a tap on the table.

"Yet hypothetically..." He scratched his chin.

"I would be so bold as to claim the bidding could reach many gold senati." Favius let out a low whistle. Well, going by that system, that's several millions. And given that his role is essentially that of a high-level manager, or even CEO, kind of comparable to what they would have earned on Earth. Favius tilted his head to the side. Scratch that. On Earth, Serran would probably be making tens of millions per year with his skill set and responsibilities. But that's mostly because Earth is a much richer place.

"So," Urania added, "you mentioned that you can buy yourself out of slave contracts. And if our professionals actually gain a part of the money from the sale of their contracts, couldn't they..." She gestured.

"... buy themselves out of their contracts at any time?" Serran nodded.

"Theoretically, yes. In practice..." He gestured.

"Contracts are bought for a certain time, during which harsh penalty clauses would apply to any attempts to buy themselves free. After the agreed amount of time..." He gestured at the wax tablets.

"... the price of their freedom becomes much more manageable." Favius hummed in consideration. Well, not that I actually want to lock those people up and have them working for me forever, but... Favius looked across the table.

"Won't that be a problem if it's customary to buy yourself out of the contract after that term? We will teach them very valuable knowledge, after all."