Chương 33: Storm before the Storm

"Alright, this should do it." Vitruvius set down the papyrus he was holding. With the full-scale recruitment just around the corner, all the necessary documents were ready. A specialized school for technicians. Until now, such a facility had never existed in Rome. For technicians without enough connections, the only way to build a career was to follow the Roman legions. If they served in the army for a few years working in engineering, they could save a meager amount of money and build up their skills.

But that path was fraught with danger and took far too long. Offering anyone with passion the opportunity to study was something nobody thought of. The young Caesar always managed to surpass his expectations.

"On top of that, he even utilized the insurance business this time," he muttered to himself. The occupations of the subscribers had been surveyed in advance through the insurance business. Caesar had cherry-picked only the technicians from that list to promote the school. It was the combination of Felix's and Vitruvius's proposals. It let them reach almost every technician in Rome at once. How many people could possibly come up with a method like this?

"Did he anticipate this situation from the very moment he created the insurance?" Vitruvius shuddered at the sudden thought. If that were true, the young Caesar could only be described as a monster. Even the Censors, who held immense power among the magistrates, often struggled to conduct a census. Getting accurate information out of citizens was that hard. Yet, Lucius Caesar was not only getting paid by the citizens but was also gleaning their personal information in the process.

He had succeeded in a task that no Censor had ever managed to accomplish. However, there was one thing even Vitruvius hadn't anticipated: he was the one everyone was trying to reach.

Ever since the Palmolive factory was erected on the Tiber River, Rome's carpenters and technicians were in a state of shock. It wasn't because of the Palmolive produced in the factory. The object of their astonishment was the factory itself.

"By the gods, what on earth is that?"

"It looks like it's moving using the water. Is it making something with that?"

"I've never seen a mechanism with that kind of structure in my life." Water-powered devices weren't exactly new. Since ancient Greece, numerous inventors had designed devices that utilized water. But most of those were merely for moving doors or decorative pieces meant to delight the eyes. Using the power of water to actually manufacture something was a foreign concept.

"Who in the world built that?"

"I heard it was one of Caesar's technicians. Have you heard of a man named Vitruvius?"

"Vitruvius? He built that?"

"Is there anyone who knows how it was constructed?" Countless people scrambled to contact Vitruvius, but he refused to explain, claiming it was a company secret. He only said one thing: That the young Caesar would soon establish a technical school. And shortly after, employees who came to collect insurance premiums began promoting the technical school.

"I think you're joking. Who would run a school with such terms?" Offering living expenses while receiving technical training, and even a guaranteed job afterward. Naturally, the craftsmen and technicians of Rome began to flock to it without hesitation.

"1, 200? You said 1, 200?" I asked, looking at Felix standing before me. To think that 1, 200 people applied in just two days. Is that number even possible in Rome right now? Even if I had posted a recruitment ad on the internet, I don't think this many people would have gathered. Moreover, there were no unqualified riffraff among the applicants. They were all technicians with well-known careers or promising novices. True experts, filtered and selected through the insurance data.

"In essence, almost everyone who received the offer accepted it," Felix said. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"I used this method to make the testing process a bit easier, but it seems to have had the opposite effect."

"Indeed. I don't know whether to laugh or cry." I replied with a chuckle. To think the problem is that too many capable people applied. It was the complete opposite of what I had initially worried about. Sometimes, results can be problematic when they are too good.

"Since it's come to this, we should consider increasing the admissions cap."

"The cost will increase just as much," Felix noted.

"The school you planned, Young Master, is a pure expense. Unless the school itself generates revenue somehow, increasing the scale will only increase our losses."

"There will be countless construction projects unfolding in Rome from now on." It was true in the original history as well. Even without referencing history, I intended to launch numerous projects myself. As already proven through the insurance and Palmolive, business in this era of Rome was not merely a means to make money. If utilized properly, it could become a powerful weapon to capture the hearts of the citizens.

I was creating a completely new form of Roman capitalism that hadn't existed in the original history. It was a blend of 21st century capitalism and Roman-Republic patronage.

"And it is necessary for the survival of our Caesar family."

"Ultimately, it's something we can only do if we have enough money," Felix sighed.

"I don't want to sound like a nag, but there is a limit to the money squeezed out of the publicani."

"What the students need isn't just classroom lessons."

"Pardon?"

"Especially in a technical school, that is even more true." Saying that, I looked out the window. Caesar family's residence was located in the Subura district. An area where commoners and the lower class mostly lived. Considering the Caesar family was a prestigious Patrician lineage, it was a rather unique location. Of course, we had been pushed here because the family had fallen into decline.

My father received a new official residence after becoming Pontifex Maximus, but he used it only for work and spent his daily life here in the Subura. This was also a strategy. Despite being Patricians, we mingled with the commoners of Subura to gain their support. But this didn't only have advantages.

"Look out there, Felix." I pointed out the window. Subura was bustling with people as always. Market vendors pushed carts loaded with goods to sell, and in the back alley district, prostitutes in red toga seduced men on the streets. But that wasn't the only unique thing.

"Most of the insulae are poorly built. Public latrines are woefully insufficient compared to the number of residents." There was no such thing as building codes in Rome at this time. If luck wasn't on your side, a building would collapse, and it was a daily occurrence for whole families inside to be seriously injured or killed. Drainage and sewage were in a similar state. Most Romans relieved themselves in public latrines, but such facilities were scarce here in Subura.

People did their business in chamber pots and secretly threw it onto the streets at night, or collected urine to sell to fullers (laundry cleaners). As a result, the sanitary conditions of Subura were among the worst in Rome.

"We're paying the students living expenses anyway. So, we can entrust them with construction work as practical training."

"Are you saying you want to jump into the construction business now?" Felix looked at me as if he were exhausted.

"Buildings are just buildings. Why try to change what is already built?"

"There is always room for improvement, Felix." I answered, gazing out the window. Rome already had the Cloaca Maxima, the Great Drain, which served as a sewer and drainage system. A public facility built during the Kingdom era, before the Republic was established. The Cloaca Maxima carried away rainwater and prevented Rome from flooding. However, it wasn't used as a comprehensive sewage system like in the 21st century. I could utilize this. Rome already possessed the necessary technologies.

There were terracotta pipes made from fired clay, and the skill to hammer lead into pipes was excellent. What if I organized hundreds of technicians into a single group and standardized the process? They could become a construction legion that would completely overhaul Rome.

"First, let's entrust the testing of candidates to Vitruvius." I said as I stood up from my seat.

"We should select the best of the best."

"A technical school, he says. That boy Lucius really only puts forward new things." Crassus tapped his quill against the papyrus.

"It's not that new, Master," said Pollio, his personal secretary and slave, as he handed him a cup of wine.

"Don't you already operate training facilities to educate slaves?"

"That is true." Pollio's words were correct. Crassus bought slaves in massive numbers and taught them skills like molding, gilding columns, and plastering. He then deployed these educated slaves into construction and art production to generate massive profits.

"But Lucius's school is different. He is mainly recruiting freedmen and free citizens."

"That seems even more inefficient. You can work a slave for a lifetime at low cost, but you have to pay salaries to free men."

"But if you think about it the other way, it means he creates that many clientes—dependents." Crassus tapped the quill again. Slaves had no right to vote. But free men could participate in voting, and that carried power.

"Marius gained massive support by allowing the poor to enlist in the army. Perhaps that boy is aiming for the same thing." What is Lucius really aiming for? Not long ago, Crassus made the mistake of underestimating the boy. He had judged the success of the insurance and Palmolive businesses as mere luck. But Lucius had proven he was a wolf by joining hands with Pompey and passing the Trademark Law. Crassus wasn't stupid enough to deny his own mistakes.

Accept the mistake, grow from it, and make it as if the mistake never happened. That was the driving force behind Crassus's success until now.

"But there are points advantageous to me as well." Crassus signed the papyrus and handed it to Pollio.

"As you said, Pollio, we have countless slaves. Massive labor power that we can mobilize almost for free. That is our weapon." Pollio nodded as he read the text on the papyrus.

"Are you intending to jump into the Palmolive market?"

"Yes. Lucius showed all of Rome that Palmolive belongs to him through that Trademark Law vote. But it's not impossible for us to compete." As promised in the Assembly, Lucius had revealed the production method of Palmolive to the public. Now, anyone with the will could enter the Palmolive market themselves. And Crassus had massive manpower that no one else possessed.

"But didn't you agree to join hands with Lucius for the time being, Master?"

"I am not trying to attack Lucius." Crassus grinned.

"I am merely trying to provide Palmolive to more Romans at a lower price. Who can say anything against healthy competition?"

"You are correct, sir."

"I should join in on this little circus Lucius has started. Let's register a trademark first and begin full-scale production." Thus, the colossal business entity that was Crassus began to move slowly. Its target was the nascent Palmolive market. However, there was one thing that Crassus—no, even Lucius Caesar—had not anticipated. A storm was shaking Rome. And the name of that storm was the Trademark Law.