Chapter 213 It Glittering

More than ten days later, the first Xinwanjin City Parliament successfully…closed.

There is nothing much to say about the meeting process. No one knew what they were here for. They were confused about the meeting, confused about the speech of the “Chairman” Izumi Heiji, confused about the “Rules of Procedure” and other messed-up proposals raised their hands, confused about the listening to Hirashima Kichijiro…

Well, most people understood what Kichijiro Hirashima said. After all, Kichijiro Hirashima and his group of ironworks owners were really miserable. Most people couldn’t help but feel sympathy when they heard Hirashima crying and complaining that they and others had been hit by “policy attacks” and that their workshops were about to go bankrupt. Even the farmer councillors who benefited from the cheap farm tools were no exception.

At the end of his speech, Kichijiro Hirashima requested the “Parliament” to pass a resolution, requiring the Wanjin Office to protect these poor people who responded to His Majesty Nohara’s call to start their own businesses, and to immediately stop selling cheap ironware.

Faced with this scene, the new “parliamentarians” were very surprised, but they did not think that these farts of Hirashima Kichijiro could affect senior officials such as Endo Chiyo. However, when they saw Hirashima Kichijiro burst into tears at the end of his speech on the stage, and rambling on and on about how much he had suffered for the ironworks, as if he could not live without the ironworks, they still voted in favor – Yuanye had already instructed that if you don’t know what to do when attending a meeting for the first time, just raise your hand to agree.

The proposal was passed smoothly. Izumi Heiji, the old man who was pulled in by Harano to serve as the “Speaker”, was overjoyed. He immediately ordered the proposal to be sent to Endo Chiyo on the spot, and demanded that Endo Chiyo and others must give an explanation to Hirashima Kichijiro and others within ten days. If necessary, he even did not rule out the possibility of inviting Endo Chiyo here to make a public explanation.

Thus, the first meeting of Xinwanjin City ended. According to the rules of procedure, someone needs to apply in advance and pass the motion review, otherwise they will have to wait until the regular meeting half a year later to discuss it together.

Afterwards, Endo Chiyo and Maejima Juichiro, who were very speechless, sent the “Solution to the Sales of Private Ironworks’ Products” to the parliament together and made it public in the parliament, which was considered to give the parliament a little face.

At the same time, an application was also sent to Yuanye, asking him to order the Wanjin Army to go out and protect Kichijiro Hirashima and others to do business in the west. The Wanjin State-owned Workshop could not give up the “domestic” and nearby markets, so Yuanye had to mobilize the army to send Kichijiro Hirashima and others far away.

This was secretly instigated by Yuanye, so he naturally would not object. He immediately signed the relevant orders, and the Wanjin Army and Wanjin Navy began to draw personnel and reorganize the traveling team.

At the same time, Kichijiro Hirashima and others also collectively established a business and borrowed a large sum of money from Wanjin Bank to hire guards and purchase ships.

Of course, this bunch of unlucky guys on the verge of bankruptcy can still borrow money from the bank, and it is still Yuanye who secretly instigates them. Aman, who knows the inside story, looks more and more like a fool.

She looked at the matter and tried to hold it back, but she couldn’t help it and complained to Yuanye: “What on earth are you doing? Is your brain still not well? If you want to do these things, just give an order directly. Endo and his gang dare not disobey. Why do you have to go around in such a big circle?”

“It’s just to set up the parliament.” Yuanye said casually.

“I know, but what is the use of this thing?” Aman didn’t understand at all. He felt that this was just a waste of time and made a simple matter complicated.

Yuanye glanced at her and patiently explained, “According to history… uh, according to my idea, there are many uses. For example, these councillors come from all walks of life and from all regions of New Wanjin, which allows us to collect opinions and suggestions more widely. In addition, allowing these people to participate in the management of Wanjin is also conducive to maintaining the unity and solidarity of Wanjin. In the future, if there is anything, as long as a resolution is passed, it will no longer be against us, but against the entire Wanjin.”

Aman was speechless for a moment, but Yuanye was willing to tell the truth to her. After thinking for a while, he continued, “At the same time, they can also restrain the bureaucrats… I mean Endo and others. Of course, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with Endo and others. They are doing a good job now, but we cannot guarantee that their successors will work honestly, so there is no harm in whipping them with more whips.

By the way, this can also prevent them, including me, from making decisions on the spur of the moment and causing widespread dissatisfaction.

For example, people like Kichijiro, who were accidentally injured by the popularization of iron tools, are not good. We should give them a channel to vent their anger, and also give us a chance to ease the conflict, so that these things will not accumulate over time and cause big trouble in the future. “

Ah Man was thoughtful. He felt that the first part was fine, but the latter part was meaningless. He said disdainfully: “What kind of trouble can they cause? There are only about twenty people. Even if their hired workers are included, there are only more than two hundred people. I can bring some people and crush them all in a quarter of an hour.”

Yuanye shook his head: “This time there are more than 200 people, next time there may be more than 20,000 people. Violence cannot solve all problems. If you kill them all, who will work for Wanjin?”

Ah Man calmed down and admitted that what Yuan Ye said made some sense, but he was not giving up. He lay down with his eyebrows bent and thought for a while, then questioned, “But this won’t work. It’s impossible to do things perfectly. If you take care of one thing, you can’t take care of the other. What if everyone is like Jijiro and the others, who will make a fuss whenever they suffer a loss? What will we do then?”

“That kind of vote won’t pass.” Yuan Ye had thought about this problem long ago and said casually, “Now on important issues, a two-thirds majority is required for them to pass. If a policy is beneficial to more than two-thirds of the people, then no matter how much the remaining one-third makes a fuss, it will never pass. We just need to stand on the same side as the majority.”

After a pause, he immediately added, “Even if the remaining one-third of the people are dissatisfied, they will not be dissatisfied with us. They should be dissatisfied with the other two-thirds of the people.”

Ah Man had never thought about this question from this angle. He felt that it made some sense and said hesitantly, “Then this time…”

“This is a special case. Now those councillors don’t know how to make demands or vote.” Yuanye shook his head and said, “In theory, those farmer councillors shouldn’t support Kichijiro and his team. If Endo and his team take the easy way out and just adjust the iron price back to the original level, then the group of people behind them will be upset and they won’t be able to sit on their seats as councillors.”

A-Man thought thoughtfully, “That means if there are people like Kichijiro in the future, there will be no such thing? Will they die? What kind of parliament is this? It’s useless except for diverting discontent.”

Yuanye shook his head and said, “That’s not the case. With this channel, they may still suffer some losses. After all, the general trend is unlikely to make way for them, but they are likely to survive. Even if they cannot prevent the implementation of the policy, they can still ask for the exemption of a certain amount of loans, increase a part of loans, ask for government subsidies or get government orders.

If I were a member of another industry, in order to ensure that I could survive the next cold winter, I would choose to support them, so that they could avoid the fate of bankruptcy and survive this cold winter. “

Well, launching an expedition of the Wanjin Army just for some ordinary ironware produced by more than 20 small workshops is actually a loss-making thing. It would be better to hold the nose and give them special subsidies and support them for a year or two. However, in order to ensure that these seedlings can go out, to expand the market and reduce dependence on Atsuta Port, to reflect the value of the parliament, and to train the navy by the way, Yuanye is willing to launch a “selling expedition” – he doesn’t want to go that route, nor does he intend to release a monster.

The establishment of a parliament (actually it should not be called this name, but use another name. When he returns to the modern era, his writing will have to be reviewed) is just to ensure the unity of Wanjin and to allow Wanjin to truly become a country.

As long as the parliament can be successful, in a sense, Wanjin belongs to everyone. If Oda Nobunaga or other daimyo and powerful families invade, it will be useless to just defeat them. The entire Wanjin will spontaneously stand up to oppose and attack them, and there may even be a scene where a large number of civilians spontaneously rush to the battlefield with weapons.

Only then will Wanjin have a real foundation for long-term existence, and will not be born because of him and die because of him. …………

Although it is difficult to explain the benefits of “parliament” in just a few words, after all, publishing reviews can support all doctoral students in a certain discipline, but Aman roughly understands what is going on.

She had long felt that with Yuanye’s brain, it was impossible for him to be so stupid. Now it turned out to be true. Even though this guy seemed to be fooling around, looking back, his nonsense might have some use.

However, as the “smartest person in the Nohara family”, she didn’t want to praise Nohara too much, so she sighed and said, “Well, let’s see, you’ve come up with a council like this, which is barely okay, but there will be a bunch of people pointing fingers and making noises and crying for no reason, which may not be very pleasant, but it’s okay, I won’t say anything to you in the future.”

Yuanye smiled and said nonchalantly, “If there is any trouble, it should be Endo and his people. If they can settle the parliament and satisfy the majority of Wanjin people, they will be good officials and can continue to work. If they cannot settle the parliament and make the majority of Wanjin people dissatisfied, then they should step down and let others do their job… Don’t worry, there is always a shortage of smart people. Wanjin will not be ruined without them. There are plenty of people who want to be officials.”

This was a rather blatant statement, and he would only say it to Aman, who did not care after hearing it. Her only relatives were Yuanye, Aqing, and old man Izumi Heiji, and she did not care whether the rest lived or died.

She was not going to comment on this any further, and only asked with concern in the end: “Will our family’s power be affected? Will they become more powerful?”

“No, the army will always be in our hands.” Although the “parliament” set up by Yuanye is called this, it is a last resort. It is different from the parliament in Western politics. Even the number of members of parliament is ultimately decided by him – the parliament can vote on whether to accept a certain industry or region into the parliament, but whether there will be this seat in the end is up to him, and then the newly accepted group can talk about how to elect “members of parliament”.

Anyway, it is very complicated. After all, politics is an act of complicating simple issues. He is now crossing the river by feeling the stones, or trying to imitate others by piecing together things, trying his best to shape Wanjin into a new country.

But he had a great advantage. He controlled the Wanjin Army. Even if the “Equality Order” was implemented, the entire Wanjin would still be loyal to him out of habit. Even if some of his measures failed, no one would dare to hold him accountable. He could just start over and try again with a different approach.

If anyone is dissatisfied and wants to take advantage of the situation to cause trouble, Aman will handle it, so he is not worried.

Based on this alone, he is almost certain to win, and the result is only the difference between good and better.

…………

Yuanye and Aman chatted about the topic of “Parliament” all the way, and the carriage soon arrived at the Wanjin Shipyard located in the southwest corner of Xinwanjin.

At this time, martial law had been imposed here. There were few people outside the shipyard, and only flags were flying in the wind. There was the “golden gourd flag” representing Yuanye, and the “dark blue gourd flag” representing the Wanjin navy, which complemented each other and looked very solemn – in fact, it should be “gourd pattern”, but Yuanye always called his flag “gourd flag”, and everyone in Wanjin spontaneously followed his example and now called “gourd” “gourd”.

Today is the day when the first experimental “Da’anzhai Copper Boat” of the Wanjin Navy is officially launched. Okabe Yiyan, the “chief engineer”, was staring at the sea in a daze. When he was reminded that Yuanye was coming, he hurried over and said with a little nervousness: “Your Highness, please come this way.”

The boat has been built, but it is still unclear whether it will sink when it goes into the sea or whether it can be used normally. Even though he thinks there won’t be any big problems, he still can’t help feeling uneasy when it comes to the last moment.

Yuan Ye could understand his feelings. After all, when he and Meng Ziqi launched the model ship they had built during a winter vacation as a child, he was also nervous. As it turned out, he was right to be nervous. The boat sank in the river within five minutes of sailing, and they didn’t even have time to fire the “cannons” and “torpedoes” they had carefully prepared.

I hope this time won’t be like last time. After all, Okabe Igen is a carpenter who has left his name in history, so there should be no problem building the ship.

Yuanye was actually a little nervous, but he still shook Okabe Yiyan’s hand firmly, patted it gently, and whispered: “Don’t worry, Mr. Okabe, if it doesn’t work this time, we can try again, and it will always work.”

The pressure on Okabe Yiyan was not relieved much. After all, Yuanye really treated him as a national hero. Except for not accepting him as a retainer and not willing to give him the Zhixing territory, all other treatments he received were very bad. If this copper ship, which cost a huge amount of money, sank as soon as it was launched, he would not have to commit suicide to apologize, but at least he would be ashamed to face people.

But he was still very grateful for Yuan Ye’s generosity, and nodded gently, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

The two men exchanged a few brief words, and then Okabe Yiyan invited Yuanye to the viewing platform, where the officers of the Wanjin Navy and the chief instructor Yu Da were already waiting, and everyone exchanged greetings again.

Afterwards, Okabe Yiyan went to preside over the launching of the “Daan Zhai Copper Boat” – these days, it was very easy to launch a small boat after it was built. A small boat has a shallow draft, so all you have to do is fill the dock with water and let it sail out by itself. But this was not the case with the “Daan Zhai Copper Boat”, as it had a deep draft, and coupled with the fact that it was wrapped in copper, it was extremely heavy and could not sail out by itself, so it was also a difficult problem to successfully put it into the sea these days.

Okabe Yiyan was indeed quite capable, at least better than Harano, and no one had reminded him that he had already considered this problem when he first started building the ship. He dug a super large dry dock, built a super large slipway, and then built the “Da’anzhai Copper Ship” on the slipway.

At this time, he took his son, apprentices and helpers to break open the gates and fill the dock with water, allowing the slipway made mainly of cork to slowly float up. The “Da’an Zhai Copper Boat” rose accordingly and began to sway with the waves, but soon stabilized as the ropes tied on both sides were tightened.

Okabe Yiyan had been paying attention to the slipway, the balance of the ship, and the degree of floating of the slipway. Finding that it was not as expected, he personally led people into the water and tied a large amount of driftwood to the slipway so that the slipway could be further raised.

When he was satisfied, he ordered more than ten small boats outside the dock to work together to drag the slipway out of the dock and away from the shore.

We walked for a long way, so far that the details of the boats could hardly be seen in the wilderness, before we saw a large number of people jumping into the sea from small boats, starting to cut the ropes, and slowly dismantling the slipway in a certain order in the sea.

This step took a long time, and as the slipway slowly disintegrated, the “Da’an Zhai Copper Boat” trembled and fell into the sea, bursting with white waves, and then shook continuously, as if it might capsize and sink at any time, but slowly, with the help of the crew, it calmed down, just slightly rising and falling with the waves.

In the midday sun, on the surface of Ise Bay, it shone golden and did not sink.

(End of this chapter)