CHAPTER 292: CHAPTER 212 ITS GOLDEN BRILLIANCE

More than ten days later, the first session of the New Wanjin City Council has... successfully concluded.

There’s not much to say about the meeting itself—no one really knew what they were here for, they muddled through the proceedings, muddled through listening to Izumi Hichiji, this so-called "Speaker," deliver his speech, muddled through raising their hands and passing a whirlwind of proposals like "Rules of Order," and muddled through listening to Hirajima Yoshichiro...

Uh, well, as for Hirajima Yoshichiro’s speech, most people actually understood that one. After all, the group of iron workshop masters led by Yoshiziro really had it rough. When people heard Yoshiziro’s teary complaints about being hit by "policy blows," and how their workshops were about to go under, even the farmer delegates who benefited from cheap farm tools couldn’t help but feel sympathetic.

At the end of his speech, Hirajima Yoshichiro requested the "council" to pass a resolution demanding the Wanjin Public Office protect those poor souls who had answered Lord Yehua’s call to start their own businesses, and to immediately stop the sale of cheap ironware.

Faced with this scene, the rookie "councilors" were quite surprised, but they didn’t think the stuff coming from Hirajima Yoshichiro’s mouth could actually sway big shots like Endo Chiyoda. Still, seeing Yoshiziro on stage breaking down in tears at the end, endlessly listing all the hardships he had suffered for his ironworks, looking every bit like he couldn’t live without it, they all ended up voting "yes"—Harano had already made it clear: if you don’t know what to do your first time in a meeting, just raise your hand and agree.

The proposal passed without a hitch. Izumi Hichiji, the old fellow Harano had roped in to play "Speaker," clung to it like treasure, and immediately had the proposal delivered to Endo Chiyoda. He even demanded that Endo and company give Hirajima Yoshichiro’s group an answer within ten days. If necessary, there was even the possibility of inviting Endo Chiyoda over to publicly explain things in person.

With that, the first council session of New Wanjin City concluded. When the next session would be held depended on the rules of procedure: someone would have to apply in advance and get their proposal approved, otherwise it’d have to wait until the next regular semi-annual meeting.

Afterwards, an utterly speechless Endo Chiyoda and Maeshima Shichiro together submitted their "Solution on the Sales Channels of Private Iron Workshop Products" to the council, and made it public within the chamber to give this whole council business a sliver of face.

At the same time, they also sent Harano a request, asking him to order the Wanjin Army to escort Hirajima Yoshichiro and the others out west for business—after all, the state-owned workshops of Wanjin weren’t about to hand over the "domestic" and neighboring markets, so the only solution was to have Harano send in the troops and ship the likes of Hirajima Yoshichiro out to faraway markets.

This was all orchestrated by Harano behind the scenes, so naturally he had no objections. He immediately signed the relevant orders, and the Wanjin Army and Wanjin Navy began reallocating personnel to organize an escort party.

At the same time, Hirajima Yoshichiro and the others formed a joint merchant company, borrowing a big chunk of money from Wanjin Bank to hire guards and buy ships.

Of course, the fact that this bunch of almost-bankrupt losers could still even get a loan was also Harano’s doing behind the scenes, which made the ever-sharp Ah Man think he was starting to resemble a first-rate fool.

She looked over the whole thing, held it in for a while, but in the end couldn’t help herself and complained directly to Harano: "What on earth are you doing? Your head’s not right yet? If you want something done, just issue an order! That Endo bunch wouldn’t dare disobey you anyway—why bother going around such a big circle?"

"It’s all just to set up the council." Harano replied offhandedly.

"I get that, but what’s the point of the thing, really?" Ah Man was completely baffled, and felt this was the very definition of pointless busywork—making what should be simple unnecessarily complicated.

Harano shot her a glance and patiently explained: "According to history... uh, I mean, what I have in mind, it serves a lot of purposes. For example, these councilors come from all walks of life and every part of New Wanjin, which lets us collect opinions and suggestions from a broader base, and having them participate in running Wanjin also helps keep the place united and together—as for the future, anything that gets passed as a resolution, it’s no longer ’opposing us,’ it’s opposing everyone in Wanjin."

Ah Man was at a loss for words, but with her, Harano was always willing to be honest, so after thinking a bit, he went on: "And, they can also keep the bureaucrats in check—I mean Endo and the others. Not that I’m saying Endo and his people are a problem—they’re doing fine for now. But we can’t rely solely on their successors to work honestly, so having a few extra whips over their heads doesn’t hurt."

By the way, this also prevents them—and me, I suppose—from making snap decisions and causing widespread discontent just by patting themselves on the head.

Take people like Yoshiziro as an example. The ironware reforms hurt them, and that’s not good. We have to give them an outlet, and give ourselves a chance to defuse the situation, instead of letting these problems pile up until they explode one day."

Ah Man considered this for a moment—she thought the reasoning at first was all right, but thought the biggest part was meaningless, so she scoffed, "What kind of trouble could they possibly stir up? It’s just twenty-something people—even if you count their workers, it’s just over two hundred. If I took a team, I could squash them all flat in a quarter of an hour."

Harano shook his head. "This time it’s two hundred—next time, it could be twenty thousand. Violence can’t solve every problem. If you squash them all, who’s going to work for Wanjin?"

Ah Man quieted down, admitting there seemed to be some sense to Harano’s logic, but she still wasn’t convinced. Her brow crinkled in thought for a while before she questioned, "But this won’t work either—nothing can be perfect on every side. If you take care of these folks, you’ll neglect that lot. And what if everyone ends up like Yoshiziro’s group, and every time they lose out they make a fuss—then what?"