CHAPTER 291: CHAPTER 211: IT’S POSSIBLE_3

He thought this was just the normal meeting procedure, so he waited anxiously for quite a while, and only then did he realize that this waiting room was full of all kinds of people—tall and short, fat and thin, of different ages, dressed in different ways. It seemed like there were people of every profession, and some of them clearly had the look of long-term farmers. Now having to face the highest ruler of Wanjin, many looked uneasy and couldn’t sit still.

Hirajima Yoshichiro found it a bit strange, but in this kind of place, he didn’t dare ask questions lightly. He just glanced around a few times, then lowered his head, not asking, not looking, not listening, just waiting for Harano to issue him an order.

If things went this way, his Iron Workshop might survive for a few more months, and with those months, maybe ironware prices would return to normal. Then, he would have made it through.

People in the waiting room were constantly being led into Harano’s office; their time inside varied—some stayed long, some short—but most came out looking confused. Yet within that confusion was a strange excitement, and beneath that excitement seemed to be a hint of fear. In short, their expressions were all extremely complicated.

This didn’t seem like a matter of handing out orders. Besides, wasn’t the newly founded Wanjin Ministry of Commerce supposed to handle that? Even Endo Chiyoda-sama herself wouldn’t handle it directly anymore, so why was Harano, the supreme leader of Wanjin, personally dealing with everyone one by one?

Hirajima Yoshichiro finally felt something wasn’t right, but just then it was his turn. With suspicions swirling in his belly, he could only open the door and step inside.

Inside the office, there was only Harano and A-Qing, or rather, A-Qing couldn’t be counted as a person—she was merely the last line of defense, habitually sitting there to prevent anyone from cutting Harano down, and didn’t participate in the actual business. When Harano looked up and saw Hirajima Yoshichiro, he didn’t bother with pleasantries, just pointed at the chair in front of him and smiled, "It’s you. Sit down!"

Back in the old Wanjin days, Harano had killed off the Japan Middle Ages traditional practice of commoners kneeling and kowtowing, using the excuse, "if you have time to bow, you might as well do more work." This time, Hirajima Yoshichiro, being "old Wanjin," didn’t bow either. He just respectfully lowered his head after sitting down and asked, "Your Highness, what would you command of this humble one?"

Harano didn’t fuss over his form of address; even with the official implementation of the "Equality Order," some things would still require a gradual change. Still, he was optimistic about this—the overthrow of an old government doesn’t necessarily yield a new one, and more often brings chaos, like in Syria. Therefore, if he was going to eliminate the Samurai and the attached noble and priest groups, he needed someone to replace them—replacements who could be controlled.

Harano directly handed him a document, smiled, and said, "Congratulations, Yoshiziro, you’ve been appointed as a councilor of New Wanjin City."

Hirajima Yoshichiro was flabbergasted. This really wasn’t about giving out orders, but of course he dared not say much. He only lowered his head to look at the wax-sealed document, and muttered confusedly, "New Wanjin City...councilor?"

"I remember you learned several hundred Han characters in the workshop, didn’t you? Haven’t forgotten them over the years, have you?" Harano was very warm, since these people were all handpicked by him. Pointing directly at the document, he smiled and said, "To put it simply, I’m planning to organize a parliament. You’ll be the first councilor. Remember to attend the meetings on time in the future—they won’t be too frequent, maybe three to eight times a year, so it won’t take up much of your time. Plus, you’ll get some compensation for attending."

Hirajima Yoshichiro could indeed read. Back then, Wanjin’s Iron Workshop had provided the opportunity, but the requirements weren’t as strict as the Wanjin Army’s—it was voluntary, and after a day of hard work, enforced learning would have been over the top, so very few stuck with it.

Hirajima Yoshichiro was one of those few. After becoming a private workshop master, due to Wanjin’s circumstances, he had to handle paperwork and sign orders for everything, so he kept studying, and now reading documents wasn’t a problem.

On a closer look, he discovered that this "parliament" was divided regionally, and he was a member of the "New Wanjin City Parliament," with a chance in the future to be chosen as a "Wanjin Councilor" to attend the D table convention for all Wanjin. But as for what exactly the parliament was supposed to do, he couldn’t figure it out for the moment.

He also didn’t dare make Harano wait, so he hurriedly and carefully asked, "Your Highness, of course I’ll obey your command, but what exactly does a councilor...do?"

"You’re responsible for supervising the government departments’ work, and speaking up for the group you represent, to make sure your interests aren’t harmed." Harano explained very earnestly. This sort of thing—appointing commoners as overseers—had to be said by Harano himself. Without him backing them, these people would never have the guts.

"Supervise the government?" Hirajima Yoshichiro was stunned. Wouldn’t that mean supervising Endo Chiyoda-sama? How could he dare? And besides...

He hesitated, "The group I represent...Your Highness, who can I represent?"

"Oh, it’s written here: you represent all the private iron workshops in New Wanjin City. You’re to speak for them, but you’re only the first term—no matter whether you’re suitable or not, someone else will be chosen next term."

In theory, councilors should be "elected," but Wanjin didn’t have the conditions for that yet. The illiteracy rate was still over 80%, and most of the rest were semi-literate, so elections were out of the question. For now, all the councilors were directly appointed by him; it was just a framework, the beginning of something new.

Hirajima Yoshichiro quickly lowered his head to look closely at the place Harano had indicated, and saw that which industries and groups could have councilors was to be decided by Harano and his successors—even the numbers differed. For example, farmers currently got one or two per village, according to village size; but for private iron workshop masters like him, he was the only one. Things would be decided by majority or by two-thirds majority if needed. Issues raised by any councilor would be voted on; if passed, Endo Chiyoda and others would be required to make corrections.

They didn’t have the authority to command Wanjin’s internal administration, but could make requests, protest, and get help finding solutions to problems.

Unless Endo Chiyoda and the others went to Harano to protest, and Harano—the "current outlaw"—personally overruled an issue, Endo Chiyoda and these civil officials couldn’t just ignore the councilors’ demands.

The rules of this "parliament" were extremely complicated; Hirajima Yoshichiro’s brain was burning after just two minutes, and he had no idea what Harano made this thing for. He looked up in confusion and said, "Your Highness, um...my workshop is about to close down, I might not be able to speak for the private iron workshops."

"I know, it’s not just you. You’re all about to close up—some are even losing their shirts, can’t even repay their loans." Harano was patient, starting to guide him, "But this isn’t about your business skills, it’s a policy issue. You can demand the Wanjin government stop selling cheap ironware. If you can get majority support from the representatives, then unless the government wants to refuse, they’ll have to find a way to keep you from going bankrupt. At that point, they’ll help you sell ironware to the North Land."

Hirajima Yoshichiro was even more dumbfounded, blurting, "Is that...even possible?"

Harano had already put things in place, since he wanted to make a good start. Confident, he said, "It’s possible. When the time comes, I’ll personally take you to sell your wares."