OOC: I thought I had deleted Proxy in my previous post, it was not intentional. What is a council meeting without a political blunder, eh?
Chuge Don cleared his throat, preparing to speak directly on the bill itself. "There are several issues I have with this bill. Particularly the martial arts training." He read over the paper another time, making sure he had read it correctly. Nodding to himself, he spoke again. "Ages four to eight, basic martial arts drills and training?" He shook his head, continuing. "While the Kou Nation boasts its military training from a young age, I do not believe that Reim is ready for such an education. Even in Kou, there are plenty of children that do not understand well enough to be effectively taught. Would this not, then, waste training resources that could be used elsewhere?" The truth of the matter was that the man did not want all of Reim's citizens learning martial arts and warfare. Equipping the common folk with that knowledge would allow them to rebel, not only against Kou but also against King Lagi. He did not believe the country was stable enough at this point to allow such a bill to pass. In regards to what the Reim Council member Roark said, Chuge Don only had a brief point to make. "Such a suggestion would certainly be interesting, but wouldn't that cause many hard laborers to lose their jobs and livelihoods when being replaced by beasts of burden? If we go with that, we should later discuss having the military work on taking the rest of the Western Front. The displacement of the jobs from the beasts taking over for humans on current hard labor would allow for them to expand to other places." There was still a long way to go for such a plan, but Chuge Don was more concerned about putting the rest of land in Reim under Reim control and strengthening the interior of it before expanding against other countries.
Chuge Don gave the floor, from that point, over to Ten Long. "I must echo something brought up by the Honorable members Shylock and Chuge Don. That would be the strain on financial resources. What you are proposing here is an overhaul of the current education system in Reim, Hóujué Azix. I understand that several of these points are actually points that King Lagi has been interested in seeing as well; his offer for slaves to work for several years in return for paying back whatever 'debt' they owe to the slavers is very similar to points made in your Workforce Program..." The man stroked his beard, considering the papers. "Certainly, to a certain extent, this would free up resources that would otherwise be spent paying wages for workers... But would it be able to divert enough cash flow that we could afford funding such an extensive education system? And who would pay for housing and living expenses for those who are working 'for free'?" This man's concern was for the stability of the economy, and whether or not such a project was too ambitious. There was a recent stimulus to the economy, a project undertaken and funded not by the Kou nation but by a Noble named Takegawa Iatsu. It seemed the man had acquired a vast quantity of gold and funds through his merchant work, and was able to purchase his way into not only nobility but into funding the creation of a port city that was being called Portsmouth. Thinking on matters that both Roark and Shylock brought up, Ten Long decided to speak a bit more on the subject. "It is with the following thoughts in mind that this may be possible; a recent Kou noble named Takegawa Iatsu has provided funding for a new port city named 'Portsmouth', north of Narpolia. The once heavily forested area is being cleared for roads to connect to some of the northern cities within Reim, as well as roads to central Reim and to the other port city Narpolia. This was born out of the need to meet the amount of support for Chief Asisiak as agreed upon in the Summit, and as agreed upon in the summit Kou was to take care of the expenses and means behind that. The funds required were vast, but it has caused a great stimulus within the Reim economy. Taxes should be coming in from there in a months time or so, in which case we could then re-evaluate the state of the treasury." Ten Long had two reasons for bringing this up. The first of which was that Kou was already investing some resources in Reim, and that to ask for more would seem greedy. The second of which was that the construction of the city was not terribly well known yet, and it was thus at no surprise that Shylock was unaware of the soon-to-be increase in funds. Before Shylock had a moment of time to speak protest, Ten long explained that the decision to build a city there was a recent one, and construction was still underway.
The man was not finished, and continued speaking after drinking from a cup of water. "Furthermore, with the idea that work beasts be used to improve the lives of the citizens, I expect a general decrease in the cost of living since there will be less costs made in production... Though perhaps not so much so that it becomes incredibly cheap. I am sure that the merchants will not pass on an incredible portion of their savings to those who are buying, and as such the amount of money coming in from taxes there should increase as well. This will also simultaneously allow the business owners the opportunity to expand, as they obtain more funds. This expansion, however, won't be the easiest. It would only be possible with the Honorable Chuge Don's suggestion to finish taking over the Western Front."
Wei Tenji, on the other hand, viewed things in a positive light from the beginning. She was much on the same level as Cassandra. "I do not expect everything to take effect within the next month or two, but I do believe that this is a good step forward in showing our sincerity in improving Reim affairs." She smiled warmly to those within the room, including the members of the Reim council. "I believe with a little bit of work, this could be a positive direction to take with the citizens, and that it will improve the overall conditions of the workforce as well." Wei Tenji personally agreed that they would need to watch out for the costs, and carefully consider what it would take to implement the bill in question. She also believed that right now, with the citizen's tensions so high in the local area, it would be unwise to immediately start military training. Yet the time it would take to set up enough instructors to handle such training, she believed, would be long enough to quell the excited hearts of the citizens.
Azix stood, hands clasped behind his back, listening to the Councillors each address their concerns and in Roark's case, their ambitions. Azix hadn't even noticed his slip-up in addressing Lagi as 'proxy', until it was pointed out. He nodded his head, leaning forward in a small bow, "My apologies for addressing you improperly, your grace."
He turned back to the Councillors, studying their responses and their faces for any clues that could reveal how to sway their vote. Roark expressed an interest in utilizing animals in certain industries to increase productivity, which in theory seemed great. Azix wondered how that would affect the employment rate, as well as his proposal. Certainly animals were not suited for every task, but it did limit the areas where Azix's workforce program would apply. Azix was not as familiar with Ethology and Zoology as Roark, so he did not know how successful it would be. He decided that speaking against Roark's idea would be unwise without the necessary information on the subject. "Honorable Roark El Nagi, I agree those should be subjects that should be learned as well. I am not as familiar with them as you are, but I can see how they would be beneficial. My only concern would be the impact to the employment rate."
Chuge Don's main concern seemed to lie with the martial arts training, something Azix thought the man might dislike. Teaching Reim citizens martial arts would provide them with the knowledge to overthrow Kou or Lagi's rule. "Honorable Chuge Don, I can understand your concern. I was not clear in the proposal, but what I mean by basic can be incorporated into basic physical exercise. What I had in mind is that the children, ages four to eight, would learn stretches, warm up techniques, exercises, general forms, and the basics on how to defend oneself. The idea for this schooling is to focus on one's skills, so if one simply was unskilled in one area, they could focus on one they were better suited for. For example, if they could not understand forms or exercises, but they enjoyed the art of metalworking, we could devote more time to that pursuit. I think that would improve the quality of work later on, which brings me to the Honorable Shylock's and the Honorable Ten Long's concern, money.
I know what I am proposing would be costly, but I believe it would be worth it. I realize I am asking for Reim to spend money on a venture, but do not misunderstand me. I am asking you to invest in the future. Not just your immediate future, but your children's future, your grand-children's future. If I had children, I would wish to leave them a better world, better equipped than I was at their age to deal with the mess of our parents and our parent's parents. "
Azix took a deep breath before continuing, "With that said, I realize the 'now' is still an issue. I am willing to dedicate half of my salary, as well as a portion of my savings, into a fund which is used solely for these projects. Also, with the current tax adjustment in place, Reim should be operating at an increase in profit than previous tax collections. I would imagine using part of that profit to invest in the future is not too much to ask?"
He took a moment to think, education was one thing, but the workforce program was different. This was asking them to train the poor to rise in station, but if they did rise in station, that would put them in a higher tax bracket, another win for them. "For the workforce program, that would be costly. I asked that they are paid a salary while receiving training, which would cover their living expenses and housing. If you think about it from a monetary perspective, it is a one time investment that yields an increase in profits. I am asking for those willing from the slums to be provided with training so they can improve their station, in doing so, these individuals will be able to provide from themselves and their family. They will be able to provide for their country as well. From a monetary perspective, these people are already living on the streets without the ability to perform a trade, which gains the treasury nothing. With the skills necessary to work, in areas they are most proficient, you are able to tax them, therefore gaining profit.
Do not forget that Chief Asisiak stated she was willing to host several of these individuals to train in her land, easing some of the cost, if they are on their best behavior. If you step away from the monetary cost, the value on a humane level is quite high. If a test run of the workforce program would be more agreeable, I would take the best candidates to stay in Imuchakk so the results could be seen. On a small scale, the effect might seem negligible though. If we take into account of Honorable Roark El Nagi's idea, these people could also be trained to assist with his endeavors."
That left two Councillors, the two who seemed to agree with Azix's proposal, "Honorable Casandra, Honorable Wei Tenji, I thank you for seeing the positives so far."