Chapter 12- Governors and the Governed

The morning after Johns's meeting with the doctor was another early one. Still a bit surprised at meeting one of the founding fathers so early in his life he absentmindedly continued his daily routine. Coming down the stairs he heard a noise coming from the study. Finding himself at the bottom of the stairwell he turns the corner into the familiar clutter of his grandfather's study that follows him to wherever he conducts his business. 

Sitting across the desk from his grandfather is a man looking to be in his late thirties or early forties. The two were in a severe and complex discussion when John entered. 

"All I am saying Mr. Carpenter is that if you keep interfering with British merchants and trade in the region then you may face consequences from the crown." The man across from his grandfather said with a serious tone.

"Bah, if they try to impede the markets of the colonies more then we will just end up decoupling from the crown faster. We export virtually no finished goods to England and are relegated to one large depot for the empire's raw resources."  His grandfather says in a dismissive tone. "If we are to ever rise to a place where the men and women of these lands are to be viewed as equal to those in Britain then we need to have some degree of self-reliance. If we are not, then we will all end up second-class citizens and that will only empower the radicals more."

The conversation stopped for a few seconds before John caught Williams's gaze and led his face to light up. 

"Ah, Jonathan. Come meet our guest, he came to see me off before we left later today" his grandfather said beckoning him over to the desk.

"Introduce yourself, John," he says with a tone of voice that is slightly patronizing to John due to his intelligence. 

"Hello Sir" putting his hand out to shake the strangers, "My name is Johnathan Carpenter. It is nice to meet you."

The man gives a faint smile before grasping his hand and shaking it, "My name is John Penn, Governor of Pennsylvania. It is nice to meet you too."

For the second time in 24 hours, John was shocked, 'First I met a future founding father, I am now meeting the current governor of Philadelphia. My life is so weird.'

Seeming to size him up for a second the governor looks John up and down, "So your grandfather informs me it was your idea to start manufacturing pencils in the city."

"Yes sir, I disliked my current pencils so I made a better one. With the quality being better than anything imported from England I don't see any imports being sold much anymore."

"Ha," William says from behind the desk, "I agree, and maybe we can start sending them across the entire colonies, how would you like that John."

Giving a long sigh of exasperation Governor Penn stands up and starts walking away before turning back while standing in the doorway. "It was a pleasure as always, Mr. Carpenter"

A short while after he left the sound of the front door opening and closing ran through the house. After this William walked over to John and patted him on the shoulder, "That was great John, that boy is too high-strung. I knew his father, he should take after him, he is too worried about his favor with the English that his job here." 

Giving a small smile, "Thank you grandpa, but how do you know the governor and his father?"

Getting on a knee to be at eye level with John, "You see, the Carpenters and the Penns have known each other since the colony was first founded. Our families work together in a way, we live here and help manage the lands and act as an ally for them with the people of the colony. In turn, they are to help us with relations in England, but in recent years it has been less of a partnership and more of a rivalry. One they started mainly because we are getting to be richer than them and are innovating. Something you seem to be keen on."

Turning his face to be a bit more serious, "In coming years there may be unrest and our families may need to decouple as they ignore the colony they helped build in favor of getting royal attention."

Standing back up again, "We are leaving soon, We packed light so I think we can leave in half an hour, Would that work for you, John."

Giving a small nod both he and his grandfather begin packing for the trip back the two make their way into the carriage.

The trip begins uneventfully as the two of them leave town quite quickly as the streets are empty with most people at work. Once the carriage enters the countryside the roads decrease in quality and the ride becomes somewhat uncomfortable.

Being incredibly bored John turns from the window to his grandfather, "Grandpa, earlier you said that we are richer than the Penn family. They founded the colony, how could we be richer than them?"

Chuckling, "Yes John, we are richer than the Penn family. Over the past thirty or so years they have made a series of bad investments as well as passed up on a few opportunities, ones that our family picked up on. On top of that William Penn had 17 children of which their wealth was split between and only got more divided as time went on, while our family is quite small with me, you, and your mother being the only ones." 

"Oh, okay. Is that why the government didn't seem to like you that much? He seemed to not like us getting richer."

Giving another hearty laugh, "Yes, the governor is upset because we are removing a small amount of British influence. The Penns had power because of their wealth and their ties with the British merchants and crown. We are richer than them and if we remove the support of the British merchants by growing our industry then they will be powerless."

"Well, if we are getting richer by building factories, then why don't they do that so that they can also get wealthier?" John asked genuinely confused by why the Penn family wouldn't make their investments.

"Because, if they invest in the colonies that way then the merchants and factory owners in Britain will complain and then the Penns will lose favor with the crown. They are unable to do anything to stop us or catch up to us, it is a perfect situation to find ourselves in." After this small monologue, William wore a face that would mimic almost any supervillain ever written in John's previous life.

'Holy Crap, Grandpa's a supervillain.'