Chapter 213: It Gleams
More than ten days later, the first council of Xin Wanjin City successfully concluded.
There wasn’t much to say about the meeting process; everyone was clueless about why they were there. They vaguely attended the meeting, vaguely listened to the “Speaker” Izumi Heiji’s speech, vaguely passed the “Rules of Procedure” and other miscellaneous proposals by a unanimous show of hands, and vaguely listened to Hirajima Kichijiro…
Well, most people understood Hirajima Kichijiro’s speech. After all, the workshop owners like Hirajima Kichijiro were truly miserable. When most of them heard Hirajima lamenting how they had been “politically targeted” and their workshops were on the verge of bankruptcy, they couldn’t help but feel sympathetic, even the farmer councillors who had benefited from the cheap farm tools.
At the end of his speech, Hirajima Kichijiro requested that the “Council” pass a resolution demanding that the Wanjin Public Office protect those pitiful individuals who had responded to Lord Yuan Ye’s call and started their own businesses, and immediately cease the sale of cheap ironware.
Faced with this scene, the new “councillors” were quite surprised but didn’t believe that Hirajima Kichijiro’s nonsense could affect high officials like Endo Chiyo. However, seeing Hirajima Kichijiro break down in tears on stage, rambling about the hardships he had endured for his iron workshop, appearing as if he couldn’t live without it, they all cast their votes in favor – Yuan Ye had given instructions beforehand: if you don’t know what to do at your first meeting, just raise your hand and agree.
The proposal passed smoothly. Izumi Heiji, an old man pulled in by Yuan Ye to serve as “Speaker,” treated it like a treasure. He immediately ordered the proposal to be sent to Endo Chiyo and demanded that Endo Chiyo and others provide an explanation to Hirajima Kichijiro and his group within ten days. He even suggested the possibility of inviting Endo Chiyo to publicly explain the situation.
Thus, the first council of Xin Wanjin City concluded. When the next meeting would be held, according to the Rules of Procedure, someone would need to apply in advance and have the proposal approved. Otherwise, it would have to wait until the regular meeting six months later to discuss everything together.
Subsequently, a speechless Endo Chiyo and Maeshima Shichiro jointly submitted “Measures for Resolving the Sales Channels of Private Iron Workshop Products” to the council and posted it for public display within the council, as a gesture of respect to this entity.
At the same time, they sent an application to Yuan Ye, requesting him to order the Wanjin Army to escort Hirajima Kichijiro and his group on a business trip to the west – the Wanjin State-run Workshop could not yield the domestic and nearby markets, so they had to ask Yuan Ye to mobilize the army to send Hirajima Kichijiro and his group to distant places.
This matter had been secretly orchestrated by Yuan Ye, so he naturally did not object. He immediately signed the relevant orders, and the Wanjin Army and Wanjin Navy began to select personnel and organize the expeditionary force.
Concurrently, Hirajima Kichijiro and his group collectively established a trading company and borrowed a large sum of money from the Wanjin Bank to hire guards and purchase ships.
Of course, the fact that these unfortunate individuals on the brink of bankruptcy could still borrow money from the bank was also secretly orchestrated by Yuan Ye, making A Man, who knew the inside story well, increasingly view him as a complete fool.
She observed the situation for a while, and after suppressing herself, she couldn’t help but directly complain to Yuan Ye: “What exactly are you doing? Is your head still not healed? If you want to do these things, you could just issue an order. Endo and his group wouldn’t dare disobey. Why go through such a convoluted process?”
“It’s precisely to establish the council,” Yuan Ye replied casually.
“I know, but what’s the point of this thing?” A Man completely failed to understand, feeling it was utterly pointless, like taking off one’s trousers to fart, making simple matters complicated.
Yuan Ye glanced at her and patiently explained, “According to history… uh, according to my vision, it has many uses. For example, these councillors come from all walks of life, from various regions of Xin Wanjin, allowing us to gather opinions and suggestions more broadly. Furthermore, involving these people in the governance of Wanjin is also conducive to maintaining Wanjin’s unity and solidarity – in the future, if something is decided, it will no longer be opposition to us, but opposition to all of Wanjin.”
A Man was momentarily speechless. Yuan Ye, who would speak truthfully to her, thought for a moment and continued, “At the same time, they can also restrain the bureaucracy… I mean Endo and them. Of course, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with Endo and his people; they are doing well now, but we cannot guarantee that their successors will also work diligently. Therefore, having an extra whip to keep them in line is not a bad thing.”
“Incidentally, this can also prevent them, and perhaps myself, from making impulsive decisions that cause widespread dissatisfaction.”
“For example, people like Kichijiro. The popularization of ironware has inadvertently harmed them. This is not good. They need an outlet to vent, and we need an opportunity to ease the conflict, lest these matters accumulate and cause major trouble in the future.”
A Man pondered, finding the earlier points acceptable, but the latter ones meaningless. She scoffed, “What trouble can they possibly cause? Just twenty-odd people, and even counting their employees, that’s only over two hundred. I could bring a few people and crush them all in fifteen minutes.”
Yuan Ye shook his head, “This time it’s over two hundred people, next time it might be over twenty thousand. Violence cannot solve all problems. If you eliminate them all, who will work for Wanjin?”
A Man became more subdued, admitting that what Yuan Ye said seemed to have some logic. However, she was still not convinced. She tilted her head, her Dou Dou eyebrows furrowed in thought, and questioned, “But this still won’t work, will it? Things can’t be perfect. If you take care of one aspect, you can’t take care of another. If everyone in the future acts like Kichijiro, demanding action whenever they suffer a loss, what then?”
“Such a vote would not pass,” Yuan Ye had considered this issue long ago and said casually. “On important matters now, a two-thirds majority is required for approval. If a policy benefits more than two-thirds of the people, then no matter how much the remaining one-third protests, it cannot pass. And we only need to stand on the same side as the majority.”
He paused, then immediately added, “The dissatisfaction of the remaining one-third will not be directed at us; the object of their dissatisfaction should be the other two-thirds.”
A Man had never considered the issue from this perspective and felt it made some sense. She said hesitantly, “Then this time…”
“This time is a special circumstance. The councillors don’t yet know how to make demands or how to vote,” Yuan Ye shook his head. “Theoretically, those farmer councillors shouldn’t support Kichijiro and his group. If Endo and his people, for the sake of convenience, simply revert the price of ironware, then the people behind them will be the ones in trouble, and their councillor seats will be in jeopardy.”
A Man mused, “So, if there are people like Kichijiro in the future, this won’t happen? They’ll still die if they deserve to die? What kind of useless council is this, other than shifting dissatisfaction, it’s good for nothing?”
Yuan Ye shook his head, “You can’t say that. With this channel, they might still suffer some losses, as the general trend cannot make way for them. But they will most likely survive. Even if they cannot prevent policy implementation, they can request exemptions on a certain amount of loans, request new loans, ask for government subsidies, or receive preferential government orders.”
“And if I were a councillor from another industry, to ensure I could survive the winter period next time, I would choose to support them. Thus, they could avoid bankruptcy and survive this winter period.”
Indeed, mobilizing the Wanjin Army for an expedition for the sake of twenty-odd small workshops producing ordinary ironware was actually a loss-making endeavor. It would have been more cost-effective to grudgingly provide them with special subsidies and support them for a year or two. However, to ensure these seedlings could venture out, to expand the market and reduce reliance on Atsuta Port, to demonstrate the value of the council, and to train the navy along the way, Yuan Ye was willing to launch the “Sales Expedition.” He did not intend to take that route, nor did he intend to unleash some monster.
Establishing a council （ shouldn’t really be called that, but if another name were used, it would be subject to review ） when he returned to the Modern Era. This was solely to ensure the unity of Wanjin and to truly make Wanjin a nation.
As long as the council succeeded, Wanjin would, in a sense, belong to everyone. If Oda Nobunaga or other Daimyo and Local Lords attacked, simply defeating him would be useless; the entire Wanjin would spontaneously rise up to oppose and attack them. It was even possible that a large number of civilians would spontaneously rush to the battlefield with weapons.
Only then would Wanjin truly have a foundation for long-term existence, not existing because of him and perishing because of him.
…
Although these few words were not enough to fully explain the benefits of a “council” – this thing alone could sustain all the doctoral students of a certain discipline – A Man had a general understanding of what was going on.
She had long felt that with Yuan Ye’s intelligence, he wouldn’t be acting foolishly for no reason. Now, seeing it, her intuition was correct; even if he seemed to be acting recklessly, his recklessness often proved useful in hindsight.
However, as the “smartest person in the Yuan Ye Family,” she didn’t want to praise Yuan Ye too much. She sighed, “Alright, looking at it this way, the council you’ve created is barely acceptable. It’s just that in the future, there will be a group of people bossing others around, constantly bickering and crying over trivial matters, which might not be very pleasant. But it’s acceptable. I won’t criticize you anymore.”
Yuan Ye smiled, unconcerned. “If it’s bothersome, it will be bothersome for Endo and them. If they can manage the council and satisfy most of the people of Wanjin, they are good officials and can continue to serve. If they cannot manage the council and dissatisfy most of the people of Wanjin, then they should step down and make way for others… Don’t worry, there will never be a shortage of intelligent people. Wanjin won’t collapse without them; there are plenty of people who want to be officials.”
These words were quite blunt, and he would only say them to A Man. A Man, after hearing them, was unconcerned. Her only relatives were Yuan Ye, A Qing, and the old man Izumi Heiji. As for the rest, they could live or die as they pleased; she didn’t care.
She decided not to offer any further opinions and only asked one last question, “Will our family’s power be affected? Will they become too powerful?”
“No, the army will always remain in our hands.” Although the “council” Yuan Ye established bore that name, it was out of necessity and was entirely different from Western political councils. Even the allocation of councillor seats would ultimately be decided by him. The council could vote on whether to admit a certain industry or region into the council, but whether that seat would ultimately be granted was decided by him. Only then could the newly admitted group discuss how to elect “councillors.”
In any case, it was complicated. Politics, after all, was the act of complicating simple issues. He was currently crossing the river by feeling the stones, or rather, imitating the Eastern style, piecing things together as much as possible to shape Wanjin into a new nation.
However, he had a significant advantage: he held the Wanjin Army. Even if the 《 Equality Decree 》 was implemented, the entire Wanjin would habitually remain loyal to him. Even if some of his measures failed, no one would dare hold him accountable. He could completely start over and try a different approach.
If anyone was defiant and tried to cause trouble, A Man would handle it. He wasn’t worried.
On this point alone, he was almost guaranteed to win, with the outcome being only good or better.
…
As Yuan Ye and A Man chatted about the “council” topic, their carriage soon arrived at the Wanjin Shipyard located in the southwest corner of Xin Wanjin.
The area was already under strict guard. There were few idlers outside the shipyard, only flags fluttering in the wind. There was the “Golden Gourd Flag” representing Yuan Ye, and the “Deep Blue Gourd Flag” representing the Wanjin Navy, creating a solemn scene. In reality, it should have been a “calabash pattern,” but Yuan Ye had always called his identifying flag a “gourd flag.” Everyone in Wanjin spontaneously followed his lead and now referred to the “calabash” as “gourd.”
Today was the official launch day for the Wanjin Navy’s first experimental “Large Ataka Copper Ship.” Okabe Igen, the “Chief Engineer,” was gazing out at the sea alone. Upon being reminded that Yuan Ye had arrived, he quickly hurried over and said with a hint of nervousness, “Your Highness, this way please.”
The ship was built, but whether it would sink or be functional at sea was still uncertain. Even though he felt there wouldn’t be major problems, at the final moment, he couldn’t help but feel anxious.
Yuan Ye understood his feelings. After all, when he and Meng Ziqi built a ship model during a winter break in their childhood and launched it, he was equally nervous. And as it turned out, his nervousness was not unfounded; the ship sank in the river less than five minutes after being launched. Their meticulously prepared “cannons” and “torpedoes” hadn’t even been fired.
He hoped this time would not be like the last. After all, Okabe Igen was a carpenter who had left his name in history; the ship he built should be fine.
Yuan Ye was also a little nervous, but he still firmly shook Okabe Igen’s hand, patted him gently, and said in a low voice, “Don’t worry, Mr. Okabe. If this one doesn’t work, we can try again. We will succeed eventually.”
The pressure on Okabe Igen didn’t lessen much. After all, Yuan Ye treated him as a National Scholar. Apart from refusing to take him as a vassal or grant him land, all other treatment was exceptional. If this enormously expensive copper-plated ship sank immediately after launch, he would at least be too ashamed to face anyone, if not commit suicide to atone.
However, he was still grateful for Yuan Ye’s magnanimity and nodded gently, “Thank you, Your Highness.”
After a brief exchange, Okabe Igen invited Yuan Ye to the viewing platform, where the military officers of the Wanjin Navy and the Chief Instructor Yu Da were already waiting. Everyone exchanged pleasantries.
Subsequently, Okabe Igen went to preside over the launch of the “Large Ataka Copper Ship.” In those days, launching a small boat after it was built was simple; small boats had shallow drafts, so filling the dry dock with water would allow it to float out on its own. However, the “Large Ataka Copper Ship” was different. It had a deep draft, and with the copper plating, it was extremely heavy. It couldn’t float out on its own, so successfully launching it into the sea at that time was a challenge.
Okabe Igen indeed had some skill, certainly more than Yuan Ye. Without anyone prompting him, he had already considered this issue during the initial construction. He had excavated a super-large dry dock and built a super-large slipway, and then built the “Large Ataka Copper Ship” on the slipway.
At this moment, he, along with his son, apprentices, and laborers, broke open the sluice gates and filled the dry dock with water. The slipway, primarily made of cork, slowly floated up. The “Large Ataka Copper Ship” rose with it and began to sway with the waves. However, it soon stabilized as the ropes tied to its sides tightened.
Okabe Igen continuously monitored the balance of the slipway and the ship, as well as the degree of the slipway’s buoyancy. Finding it less than expected, he personally led people into the water and tied a large amount of floating wood to the slipway, allowing it to rise further.
Once he was satisfied, he ordered the more than ten small boats outside the dry dock to exert force simultaneously, forcibly dragging the slipway out of the dry dock and away from the shore.
After traveling a considerable distance, so far that Yuan Ye could barely discern the ship’s details, a large number of people jumped from the small boats into the sea and began to cut the ropes, slowly dismantling the slipway in the sea in a specific order.
This step took a long time. As the slipway gradually disintegrated, the “Large Ataka Copper Ship” trembled and entered the sea, creating a splash of white waves. It then swayed unsteadily, as if it might capsize and sink at any moment. However, slowly, with the help of the crew, it calmed down, merely bobbing gently with the waves.
Under the midday sun, on the surface of Ise Bay, it gleamed golden. It did not sink.
