[D12, LA, Open] The Betting Hall, D2

[Cearnach]

The smoke hangs thicker in the betting hall this afternoon, but patrons wanting a drink may need to look elsewhere. The bar has been officially closed and, if the black eye Steel-Eyed Goro is sporting is any indication, it seems unlikely to reopen anytime soon.

Today, many of the casual gamblers looking for a flutter are gone. This is a leaner crew, harder and shrewder, viewing the odds with the squint only a lifetime of living on the edge of the die can bestow. Already charcoal flies in worn, calloused hands, noting down the parameters by which wealth will be redistributed today, if only fortune permits.

[Agasha Yuna]

Yuna was present to watch the archery, and cheer on Shiba-san.

She placed a bet that he would win.

[Kasuga Izumi]

"I'll take that bet," Izumi says, giving a shallow nod.

"How much are you laying on it?"

[Agasha Yuna]

Yuna smiled at Izumi-sama and gave a deep bow.

"10 koku. Does that sound good?" In truth, her bet placing experience was limited.

"It's good to see you again. I had been hoping to have a chance to invite you for tea. Perhaps tomorrow?"

[Kasuga Izumi]

Yuna smiled at Izumi-sama and gave a deep bow.

"10 koku. Does that sound good?" In truth, her bet placing experience was limited.

"It's good to see you again. I had been hoping to have a chance to invite you for tea. Perhaps tomorrow?"

"We might," Izumi allows, and she lays two stacks of five golden coins on the table.

"But let's make sure you have your bet covered, shall we?"

[Agasha Yuna]

She put her koku on the table, following Izumi-sama's process. Like a girl learning tea ceremony, watching and learning. Mirroring. She carefully made two stacks of five.

[Kasuga Izumi]

Izumi smiles.

"We shall see how it comes out," she says.

"But then, what did you want to talk about over tea?"

She waves a hand, and two drinks are brought over.

[Agasha Yuna]

She smiled. Occasional glances over at the archery area to keep an eye on progress.

"I had thought - now that the court has gladly accepted our second arrangement - that we might work on that planned exchange of insight. I have our topic and question for you. It relates to a proposal I am hoping to make before the end of court."

[Kasuga Izumi]

"This is actually a better place for that than tea," Izumi replies. "What've you got?"

[Agasha Yuna]

"A Dragon scholar has been making keen study of economics and has a proposal. It relates to how imperial taxes are paid."

"Currently, taxes are paid on the rice standard. And that means a lot of rice is monetized and transported and stored. Rather than feeding the hungry. Unlike coin or metal in general, rice is quite vulnerable to spoilage, water damage, fire. If shipped by boat, it takes far more space and cost, and is ruined if there is any problem, whereas metal is not vulnerable to water or fire or spoilage. Even the best cared for rice cannot be stored more than two years. It cannot be saved in flush years to balance lean years beyond that short two year horizon."

"For all these reasons, the rice standard is subject to breakage - unnecessary losses of resources at every point in the supply chain."

"If we switched to a gold standard, or gold and silver, or gold and iron - rice is only traded to those who need to feed their people. And the whole system has more resources and stability. These goods don't expire."

"The tentative proposal is to either switch to the metal standard in three years, so all have time to adjust and not get caught to back-footed, or to propose that the metal standard is introduced immediately alongside the rice standard, so clans can pay either way for the next three years - a test, if you will - and a decision made in three years whether only one standard will be continued after that point."

"You have a keen eye for trade and economic and opportunity. Do you see the sense of this? Would you refine the idea in any particular way to serve your interests or the Empires? I'm looking to understand potential objections and be ready to counter, to adapt the pitch if needed, and for support in general."

[Kasuga Izumi]

Izumi snorts a laugh.

"A gold standard? Really, Agasha-san?"

She shakes her head.

"I would benefit from such an arrangement, myself, as would the Yasuki, and I guarantee you Rioshida and his ilk would swarm all over it. And I'm not the only one who would recognize it, either--which is where the first major opposition would come in. The entrenched powers would tear the idea apart on those grounds alone.

"Related but no less important is that the entrenched powers are entrenched in large part because they can produce rice in abundance. They would, and not without cause, see a shift in standards as a threat to their power and prestige, and I've not met the samurai yet who would gladly suffer their House, their Family, and their Clan to be discommoded in such a way.

"Third, and you'll only get this from a few places, the idea smacks of gaijin influence. The marauders who attacked the Capital operated in such a way; emulating them, even if unintentionally on your part, is a dangerous, dangerous thing."

She shakes her head and leans back slightly.

"The Tortoise sometimes sticks its neck out to look at the world. But sometimes, it pulls back in. Presenting such a thing would be one of those times."

[Agasha Yuna]

She nodded.

"I think the best bet is to permit payment in rice or metal. The rice powers can still pay in rice."

"It is my duty to see if there is a version of this idea that can find support. I appreciate your input. You have helped me anticipate objections, at any rate."

"Rokugan uses metal coinage already. There is nothing new or foreign in that."

"And the imperial court could benefit from a more diverse set of resources received annually. Diversity has inherent economic value. It mitigates risk."

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru strolls in, silver bu in hand. "I am uncertain as to the rules, are you allowed to place bets upon yourself? To win of course, or at least to pass"

He puts down 2 bu. "Assuming it's allowed, 2 bu on Doji Hikaru to go to the next round"

[Kuni Shiori]

Shiori joined the betting hall but not with the intent to bet. She wasn't so enamoured with the concept of gambling or what the more romantically inclined would call, courting the Fortunes. Still, it was fascinating to see others partake, the thrill that they get and the potential wagon ride of disaster crashing down. This was likely considered to romanticize the activity too, considering that they are all samurai here and it was unlikely that they'll end up disaster if a bet went awry.

At least, she would think so when she slowly scanned the room to see who was present.

[Kasuga Izumi]

"And the imperial court could benefit from a more diverse set of resources received annually. Diversity has inherent economic value. It mitigates risk."

"You're not wrong on that, Agasha-san," Izumi replies.

He puts down 2 bu. "Assuming it's allowed, 2 bu on Doji Hikaru to go to the next round"

Izumi reaches into a pouch and matches his bet.

[Agasha Yuna]

Yuna nodded. She'd probably learned all she could from the Tortoise and there were others to greet.

"Hello, Doji-san. I'm Agasha Yuna. You've done a terrific job in the archery so far." A bow.

And she also gave a friendly wave to Kuni-san, encouraging her to join the conversation. "Kuni-san, are you favoring one of the archers? Perhaps the impressive Hiruma Daichi-san?" A fellow Crab.

"I've placed my bet on Shiba-san."

[Doji Hikaru]

Snip

Hikaru would later settle the bet to his satisfaction.

"My thanks Agasha-san. I have faith in myself and my abilities" his eyes drift to the Kasuga. "But I don't bet more than I can afford to lose. I know I'm not the best, but if the best always won there would be no legends of upsets"

[Kasuga Izumi]

Taggity tag

"My thanks Agasha-san. I have faith in myself and my abilities" his eyes drift to the Kasuga. "But I don't bet more than I can afford to lose. I know I'm not the best, but if the best always won there would be no legends of upsets"

"Wise to know your limits, Doji-san," Izumi replies, letting her coins go to him easily enough.

As a fourth competitor places above Ryusei, however, she scoops Yuna's coins up.

"A shame," she says, "but it happens."

[Agasha Yuna]

Yuna smiled, clearly not minding.

"I plan to bet on him every day of my life, and I think the investment will prove out, over time."

Archery contests were fun, but not the skill most important to her in a husband.

[Kasuga Izumi]

Izumi nods.

"A loyal wife is a great treasure," she says. "A loyal husband is a rare one."