Chapter 136: The Modernization Plan Part 2
King Edward looked toward the physician.
"Is he correct?"
Lord Monroe hesitated.
"Based on existing reports, Your Majesty, districts using cleaner water sources do experience fewer outbreaks."
The Royal Treasurer frowned.
"That doesn’t prove the water causes the illness."
"No," Lord Monroe admitted. "But it proves the relationship deserves serious attention."
Ernest returned to the map.
"A proper system would draw water upstream from the city, pass it through settling basins and filters, store it in covered reservoirs, then distribute it under pressure through buried mains."
Lord Hale pointed toward the elevated districts.
"How do you supply the hills?"
"Pumping stations and water towers."
"Steam pumps?"
"Initially."
Ernest nodded.
"Electric pumps once the power system is stable."
The Minister of Public Works studied the map with growing interest.
"And the sewer?"
"Gravity wherever possible."
Ernest traced the natural slope of the city toward the eastern river.
"Smaller lines connect individual streets to larger intercepting sewers. Those lines carry waste away from the population before discharging into treatment works downstream."
Lord Monroe frowned.
"Treatment works?"
"Settling ponds, screening chambers, and biological treatment beds."
The term clearly confused several men.
Ernest simplified.
"Wastewater is held long enough for solids to separate and natural processes to reduce contamination before the water returns to the river."
The doctor stared at him.
"You can treat sewage?"
"Not perfectly."
Ernest looked toward the city map again.
"But considerably better than dumping it directly beneath the nearest bridge."
That earned several uncomfortable expressions.
Because that was exactly what Helmarte did.
The city’s refuse disappeared into open channels, cesspits, alleys, and rivers depending upon the district. Wealthy neighborhoods paid private crews to remove waste. Poorer districts simply lived beside it.
King Edward folded his arms.
"If we combine these projects, how much?"
There it was.
The question everyone had been waiting for.
Ernest returned to the table and opened the large leather case he had carried into the palace. Inside were several prepared estimates, each separated by project category.
He had spent most of the previous two nights checking them.
Then checking them again.
The first sheet went onto the table.
Central Electrical Generating Stations and Substations.
Estimated cost: 750 million riels.
The Royal Treasurer stared at the number without comment.
The second sheet followed.
Electrical Transmission and Distribution.
Estimated cost: 1.15 billion riels.
Lord Fenwick slowly removed his spectacles.
Ernest continued.
Water Treatment Plant and Main Reservoirs.
Estimated cost: 380 million riels.
Pumping Stations and Elevated Water Towers.
Estimated cost: 210 million riels.
Pressurized Water Mains and Building Connections.
Estimated cost: 640 million riels.
The Minister of Public Works began adding figures in the margin of his ledger.
His writing gradually slowed.
Ernest placed another sheet on the table.
Main Sewer Trunks and District Lines.
Estimated cost: 820 million riels.
Wastewater Treatment Works.
Estimated cost: 430 million riels.
Storm Drainage Network.
Estimated cost: 290 million riels.
Road Reconstruction following utility installation.
Estimated cost: 520 million riels.
The Royal Treasurer looked toward the remaining pages still inside Ernest’s case.
"There’s more."
"Yes."
The man looked pained.
Ernest placed the final estimate beside the others.
Labor, Engineering Surveys, Land Acquisition, Equipment Reserves, Training, and Contingency.
Estimated cost: 630 million riels.
Lord Hale stopped calculating.
Prime Minister Ashford slowly turned toward Ernest.
King Edward remained completely still.
The Royal Treasurer added everything twice.
Then a third time.
Finally, he placed his pencil down.
"Six billion riels."
His voice sounded almost distant.
Ernest nodded.
"Approximately."
Lord Fenwick stared at the documents.
"Approximately?"
"The final cost could rise or fall depending upon material prices, construction conditions, and the number of buildings connected during the first five years."
The Minister of Finance looked toward the king.
"Your Majesty, six billion riels is not an infrastructure budget."
He pointed toward the papers.
"It is a second national treasury."
King Edward did not respond immediately.
His eyes remained on the map of Helmarte.
Five hundred thousand people lived within the capital and its surrounding districts.
Perhaps more. Every road, home, market, government building, workshop.
Ernest was proposing to place an entirely new city beneath the existing one.
Lord Ashford looked toward him.
"How long?"
"Five years."
Several ministers spoke at once.
"Five?"
"Impossible."
"For all of this?"
Lord Hale raised a hand, quieting the room.
He looked directly at Ernest.
"You genuinely believe the capital can be electrified, supplied with pressurized water, sewered, drained, and partially rebuilt within five years?"
"Yes."
The Public Works Minister narrowed his eyes.
"With how many workers?"
"At peak construction, between twenty-five thousand and thirty-five thousand."
The room fell quiet again.
Ernest continued before the number could settle too deeply.
"Not all working in one location. Separate teams would handle power generation, waterworks, sewer tunnels, road reconstruction, electrical lines, and building connections."
Lord Hale frowned.
"Where do we find thirty thousand trained workers?"
"We don’t."
That answer surprised everyone.
Ernest folded his hands behind his back.
"We train them."
Prime Minister Ashford’s expression shifted slightly.
Ernest continued.
"Most work does not require senior engineers. Excavation crews, masons, pipe layers, carpenters, teamsters, fitters, electricians, inspectors, and maintenance workers can be trained under experienced supervisors."
"And the engineers?" Lord Hale asked.
"We establish a dedicated engineering corps."
King Edward finally spoke.
"A military corps?"
"No."
Ernest turned toward him.
"A civil one."
He walked back toward the blackboard and wrote another title.
Helmarte Capital Infrastructure Authority.
Beneath it, he drew several connected departments.
Electrical Works.
Water Works.
Sewer and Drainage.
Roads and Excavation.
Finance and Procurement.
Inspection and Safety.
Training and Maintenance.
"This project cannot be managed through separate ministries issuing conflicting orders," Ernest explained. "The power station cannot finish before the roads are prepared for transmission lines. Water mains cannot be installed after freshly paved streets are completed. Sewer tunnels cannot cross foundations without coordination."
Lord Ashford studied the structure.
"One authority."
"Yes."
The Prime Minister looked toward King Edward.
"That alone may prevent half the delays."
The Royal Treasurer looked unconvinced.
"Or concentrate six billion riels beneath one office."
"That is why the authority requires independent auditors," Ernest replied.
The man looked toward him.
"Independent from whom?"
"Everyone involved in spending the money."
That answer caught his attention.
Ernest continued.
"Monthly accounts. Material inventories. Contract records. Public progress reports. Inspectors who answer directly to the Crown and Parliament rather than project managers."
The Royal Treasurer’s expression softened by a fraction.
Not approval.
But interest.
King Edward slowly approached the table.
"Five years."
Ernest nodded.
"Five years, Your Majesty."
The king’s fingers rested on the edge of Helmarte’s map.
"And at the end?"
Ernest looked toward the capital spread across the wall.
"At the end, Helmarte will have electric streets, clean pressurized water, underground sewers, storm drainage, reconstructed roads, and the infrastructure needed to expand for decades."
No one spoke.
Outside the council chamber, the palace continued operating as it always had.
Servants carried buckets.
Lamplighters prepared candles.
Waste disappeared into old drains.
Water arrived through wells and carts.
Helmarte still belonged to the world that had existed before Ernest arrived.
Inside the chamber, however, a different city already existed on paper.
A city of power stations.
Water towers.
Buried pipes.
Sewers.
Electric streets.
Six billion riels stood between the two.
And before a single agreement could be signed, the Royal Council would have to decide whether the future was worth the price.