[D14, EA, Court] The Floor

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Shinnosuke watches the debate with the gears almost visibly turning in his handsome head. That all sounds nice, but, something isn't quite right--no, wait, I know this one!

Other Crane might wince internally when the actor steps up--his last few sallies on political topics have been pretty disastrous--but in fact what he actually says is all fairly orthodox and persuasively stated.

"When I was a very small boy watching the farmers take in the harvest, my grandfather explained to me that rice is the life of human beings--the life of the Empire. By far the greatest number of commoners in our Empire work on farms, producing grain to keep everyone fed. That is the primary and proper work of the commoners, just as governing and protecting the farmers is the work of the samurai. We might use metal coins to stand in for the value of grain when it is convenient, but no one can eat metal, right? The only thing those coins are good for is that they can be exchanged back for the things we actually need, food most of all. They might be unfortunately necessary sometimes, but they're not really valuable, are they?"

"Our Empire collects the land tax in grain because grain is what most people have, and because grain is what we all need the most. Agasha-san suggests that where there is a failure of the grain crop, the common people can pay their taxes in metal--but in what metal? How are they supposed to get coins if they have no crops to sell? Are they supposed to sell the clothes off their backs, their children?" He shakes his head grandly. "History already has an answer to this, anyway--in years of famine, the Emperor or Empress can forgive the grain tax in the stricken regions. They can also send grain from the state treasuries to relieve the need--grain that was received and stored in past years, when the harvest was better. That is how we protect the common people from the vagaries of nature: through sensible preparation, not some kind of complicated merchant schemes."

"And by the way--if, instead, the Throne has to go and buy relief grain from commoner merchants during times of famine, won't that just enrich the merchants at everybody else's expense? They can ask whatever high price they want and bleed both the peasants and the state. I just don't see any good in this, when everyone already knows rice is the basis of the state for a very good reason."

D14 EA Court--Advance orthodox position that rice, specifically, *is* the most sensible tax option. Courtier/Awareness, VP, Benten's, Prodigy, 2 Raises | 9k6 ⇒ 47 (TN: 32)

+20 for a positive case for RICE!

[Mirumoto Jinkan]

Mirumoto Jinkan walked before the court with all due etiquette to the assembly. Bowed as necessary and so on before speaking in support of his clanmate.

"It is light of the recent events that one is even more convinced that such changes might be necessary for future prosperity and harmony." Jinkan finished with another round of bows.

[D14, EA, Court] The Floor, Concur with Agasha Yuna, Courtier/Awareness, TN22, Void for 1k1, 7k4 | 7k4 ⇒ 26 (TN: 22)

(10 points to Yuna.)

[Agasha Yuna]

Yuna stepped forward again with another deep bow.

"Otomo-sama, fellow delegates, allow me to address and clarify a few points."

"First, my proposal is solely limited to how clans pay their imperial taxes. I am not suggesting anything about how local farmers pay taxes, nor how any taxes are collected within any clan's lands. This proposal is explicitly limited to the format in which the imperial court is willing to receive taxes from the leadership of each clan."

"Second, this is absolutely a matter that can be studied and re-visited. That is the point of suggesting a trial of a more diverse set of ways to pay. If the proposal is accepted at this time, it can be re-visited by the Emperor or Empress when they are named, and by future winter courts. That is always true of proposals, and is relevant now. I gladly state it explicitly as part of the proposal if that sets some concern at ease."

"This exchange of ideas is a welcome start to that study, as will be any outcome that this court decides on this topic for the immediate future."

She spoke with particular elegance and etiquette.

https://sakkaku.org/r/17573 73 v 32, 2 raises called

[Seppun Sadako]

The Lady Seppun stands.

"It seems to me that further study is warranted before this proposal is put into practice anywhere," she says, "and that that study would be better conducted in a time of greater stability. Once there is someone rightly upon the Throne again and matters are settled."

She resumes her seat.

~~~~~
Basic Concurrence with Daichi succeeds at 34, https://sakkaku.org/r/17578

[Otomo Tooru]

Otomo Tooru frowns. In a different year, perhaps, but the City could not afford to take less rice next year.

"The court elects to invite the Dragon to resubmit this proposal in a future Winter Court, called under the auspices of the 10th Hantei."

"Is there other business before the court?"

[Cearnach]

Kitsu Sayomi once again took to the floor of the court.

"Minna-sama," she bowed.

"For a long time, the Emerald Office of Ikoma's Eye has served with distinction and honor for this region of the Empire, especially for the great western territories of which they are the main office for."

"The Lion have many times offered to move the office into the compound of Kyuden Ikoma itself, as loyal servants of the Empire we wish for the best upgrades to this office that is of such great importance to our own lands, as well as that of the Emerald Champion who visits this office each year. So far, bureaucracy and political inertia has slowed any decision on this. If this court can decide on other matters great and small, as well as fish," a nod to Daidoji Sae, "then I ask of this court to make the move of the Emerald Office in Ikoma's Eye to Kyuden Ikoma official."

"The Emerald Office will be given better and larger space for all the important duties required of it."

After her less than stellar introduction of the hunt earlier, Sayomi was back to her usual calm and charisma again.

------

D14 Court. Introduce own position (Emerald Office). +1k1 Void. 1 Raise. | 8k5 ⇒ 37 (TN: 27)
+15 for the call to move the auxillary Emerald Office in Ikoma's Eye to Kyuden Ikoma's compound.

[Kakita Hajime]

Kakita Hajime is on his feet immediately.

"This maneuver is needlessly disruptive to what is already an efficient and important holding of the Emerald Office. To remove it to the Kyuden is to lengthen the time it takes visiting magistrates to reach the Office and to return whence they came when their business is concluded. Furthermore, it risks creating interference--unintended and otherwise--in Magisterial business. Finally, it would necessitate an expensive and labor-intensive move, all for the privilege of incurring greater inefficiencies in administration, a process that will be all the more disruptive coming, as it does, in such an uncertain time. I urge the court to reject this proposal."

[Introduce own position: the Office stays right where it is.]

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji had promised Sayori he would support the position, and while the Emerald Champion certainly did not seem to back it, and he'd rather let the Emerald Champion go about his business...he'd promised, and so he took the floor.

"My lords and ladies, the current debate reminds me of the story about the frog and the mountain. I would like to share it for those who have not hear it before." he offered.

"Once, there was a frog that lived in a swamp, near a very tall mountain. Now, the swamp was perfectly fine for his frog needs, it was moist, and there were plenty of flies, overall the frog was conrtent. Every night he would sing the praises of how his swamp was the best place to live, croacking loudly and proudly.

One night, as the frog was singing of the glory of the swamp, a crow took issue and flew down to argue with the frog.

'Your swamp is nice, but you should see the city on the other side of the mountain! It's full of noble scholars, talented artistans, and food that puts your flies to shame. That is the best place to live, not this swamp.' the Crow chided him.

While the frog was confident in how wonderful the swamp was, the crow had seen both the city and the swamp, and the frog was concerned that perhaps the crow had the right of it. But the frog wasn't going to simply take the crow's word for it. He would have to see the city for himself to decide which was better.

And so the frog left his swamp and began the long journey up the mountain. He hopped and he hopped, up and up the mountain he went. Being a long journey, he had plenty of time to listen to his own doubts. What if the crow was lying? What if he hopped all the way to the city, and found it was not to his liking? He'd have to hop all the way down the mountain, and then back up and down it again!

So as he approached the summit, the frog had an idea. There was a small ledge. If he stood upon the ledge and stretched himself out, he could peek over the summit. If the city looked like it was worth continuing the journey to, he would, but if it wasn't, he could turn back now.

And so he stretched himself out, and peeked over the summit. However, the frog was very foolish in this regard, as any who are familiar with frogs can tell you. A frog's eyes are atop his head. And so when he stretched himself out to peek over the summit, his eyes were not pointed at the city, but back at the swamp.

'Ha! I knew it! The city is no better than my swamp. Now I can return and live out my days there content.'

And so the frog returned to the swamp to live out his days singing the praises of his swamp, confident that it was just as fine as the city on the other side of the mountain, even though he had never seen it."

Eiji smiled.

"It's always easy to be confident that you are in the best place. Change is long and difficult. But the Lion have pledged themselves to supporting the emerald magistrates in their mission, putting forth their own funds for better facilities in a city that can both benefit from an increaesed presence of the emerald magistrtes, and offer them advantages not found in Ikoma's eye such as easier correspondance with the clans and access to the Ikoma libraries. That feels to me like it's worth crossing the mountain for."

(Support Sayomi's position: 32 vs 22, Pass: Link!

[Hiruma Daichi]

Daichi stepped forward once again, hopefully one of the last times he would need to during his time here, though he was pretty certain he had those thoughts more than once before today. Offering the proper respects, he paused a moment before speaking. "Kakita-sama does bring up some valid points but so do both Soshi-san and Kitsu-san as well."

"At the end of the day though I trust the Lion when they say that moving the offices is the best option. They after all are the ones most capable of assessing the advantages of both locations."

Supporting Sayomi Day 14. Eti/awareness tn 22. | 6k3 ⇒ 23 (TN: 22)

[Asahina Hoshiko]

With Tooru at the head of the court, Hoshiko did not think Crane assistance would help much, but felt Hajime was owed some support toward not having the Lion meddle in something that felt very political.

"While the place over the mountain may be very nice, they probably have a bit less in the way of responsibilities to balance around such a move. I trust the Emerald Champion has a better view of the circumstances and responsibilities of his office, as well as the experience of many other cities and experiences to back his decisions."

"In addition, in a time of such uncertainty and change, adding more is likely to create confusion and increase uncertainty at a time when people counting on the Emerald Office need stability."


***************
D14 Court: Supporting Hajime | 7k4 ⇒ 28 (TN: 26)
(edit, TN should be 22. Still had the debate TN in my head)
Support for Hajime's position +10

[Agasha Sanjuro]

Sanjuro, whose mind has been wandering this morning, steps forward and states "This move seems unnecessary and you know, makes it harder for the Emerald Champion's office to perform their duties and, um, you know....Well anyway...." and he takes his seat noticing the quizzical expressions reflected back to him.



EC office placement | 7k4 ⇒ 25 (TN: 27)
Fail! 1 raise
-10 to support Kakita Hajime-sama

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Possibly Hajime will flinch a little bit when Shinnosuke gestures to be recognized, but again, he seems to actually have his rhetorical feet under him today.

"I too trust that the Emerald Magistrates know best what is the most effective arrangement for themselves. If the Ikoma are worried about their own security, perhaps they could request a branch office in the castle? Otherwise, the town, as it is the center of the roads and river transport, and not fenced off by the castle's defenses, does seem like a better place for an office that must communicate often with other parts."

D14 EA Court--Support Hajime's position, sorry Sayomi! Courtier, BB, Prodigy. 2CR | 8k5 ⇒ 32 (TN: 32)

+20

[Akodo Kenji]

Kenji wasn't incredibly invested in this but his clan seemed to be. "As I understand it we will be providing entitely new and improved facilities for the office to move into. It strikes me that it would have been beneficial if the Magistrates Office were closer to the castle during this court. I support the motion as raised by Kitsu-san."

---
D14. Court. EA. Support Sayomi. Etiquette/Awareness.
Void for +1k1. | 7k4 ⇒ 33 (TN: 22)

Success, +10 to Sayomi

[Ikoma Honoka]

"Mina-sama" Honoka stepped forward to speak "we understand that the comments of the Emerald champion, yet the Lion have offered the support to help with movement of the office. This will allow an ease of moving from one office to another I'm sure."

Honoka paused, then realised the point had already been made just bowed her head and stepped back. Annoyed with herself at getting tongue tied a little and making things worse.


(ooc:
d14 EA court action - Support Sayomi. Courtier/awareness+void+BB+ILS2. Base TN22+2 raises (TN32) | 9k6 ⇒ 27 (TN: 32) wtf

-20 points to Sayomi, sorry!

[Otomo Tooru]

Otomo Tooru rises to his feet. "The court has heard the arguments of those in favor and those against, and is disposed to grant the request of the Lion clan." He shoots a look of pure spite at Hajime. "Is there further business before the court?"

Debate
Kakita Hajime: 30
Kitsu Sayomi: 25 [Victory by means of presider bias]

[Cearnach]

This was why Eiji had wanted to include the move of the emerald office in the treaty. He had hoped that it would have reinforced a feeling of goodwill leading to easier passage for both. Now that the Otomo daimyo had rammed through the office, what had intended to be a nice thing, was almost certainly going to be viewed as more meddling. Ah well, he'd already compared the emerald champion to a foolish, lazy frog, might as well hope Tooru wanted a repeat performance.

"My lord and ladies, the Empire is full of stories of both competition and cooperation. We grow stronger with both, but it is important to know when which is better. In the spirit of such, allow me to present a story to demonstrate such.

There was once a most notorious pirate by the name of Fu. Fu was not the fastest, nor the strongest, nor the most clever...but Fu knew his targets and when and how to strike.

Fu would prey upon Crab merchant vessels in the dead of the night with a speed that left the Crab still halfway to getting dressed upon such a rude awakeneing. Fu knew the schedules of the Lion merchant vessels and the schedules of all the guards within a fortnite, so Fu struck at their vessels that were simply too far away for the Lion to reach in time. And when Fu stuck the Scorpion merchant vessels it was with a fury that overwhelmed them entirely.

It was not the strongest Crab, nor the swiftest Lion, nor the most cunning Scorpion that brought an end to the reign of Fu. Instead, it was when three siblings, born of the same mother and father, but married out into two other clans, each rising to the position of magistrate that finally brought Fu down. For being better than your opponent in one thing is one thing, but when you face three strong opponents who can shield the weakenesses of the others, you have to be better than all three combined. And Fu was not that.

And so it is with that tale in mind, I present this treaty:

To improve order along the River of Gold, the Scorpion, Lion, and Crab will be entering an agreement to aid the Emerald Magistrates in their duties in what ways they can. Sharing information, helping construct a manor to help patrol the river, and providing other services within reason.

Furthermore, they promise to share information on pirate activity with each other and aid any of the other clans' ships in their waters if they are threatened by pirates, bandits, or forces of nature.

Lastly, they will provide aid politically in matters they agree will help the Emerald Magistrates address pirate threats.

To seal this agreement a number of marriages have been arranged between the two clans as follows.


To marry into the Crab:
- Shosuro Masahiko to Kaiu Ko
- Kitsu Sayomi to Hiruma Daichi

To marry into the Lion:
- Kaiu Hideo to Matsu Natsuko
- Shosuro Ryosuke to Matsu-ke no kashin Unami

To marry into the Scorpion:
- Akodo Shigehiko to Soshi Chieko
- Hida Tadao to Bayushi Yoko."

35 vs 22, Pass! Link!

[Ikoma Honoka]

Honoka stepped forward, her trademark smile back.

"A union between the Crab the Lion and the Scorpion to ensure the rivers are safer will be of benefit to all that use the river, as well as ensuring more points exist to stamp out problems along the way. A benefit for all who in any way rely on the rivers."

She stepped back to allow others to speak up


(ooc: support Eiji. d14 EA court action - Support Eiji. Courtier/awareness+void+BB+ILS2. Base TN22+1 raise (TN27) | 9k6 ⇒ 34 (TN: 27)

Passed with 1 raise (15 points?)

[Otomo Tooru]

"The court is inclined to accept this proposal as being to the benefit of the Empire's internal security. Is there further business before the court?"

[Cearnach]

Now that the treaty was on the way, the final point of business was to be stated. Offering the proper greetings to the court he began to speak. Apparently so many times stepping forward had him flustered though and right from the start he began to flounder.

"We have been beating around the bush about a manor, and I think it would be nice."

‐-----------------------------
Proposing a new Manor for Emerald Magistrates be built at. 0.48_0.88

proposing a new topic of debate. Manor of Emerald Magistrates. Day 14 EA. sti/aware TN 22 | 6k3 ⇒ 17 (TN: 22)

failed

[Yasuki Masaki]

Masaki steps forward to support Daichi's statement.

"Otomo-sama, if I may. What Hiruma-sama refers to is precisely the Manor Soshi-san mentioned when he made his call for a joint endeavour by the Lion, Scorpion and Crab Clans and the Emerald Magistrates to better patrol the river of gold, protecting the river and those who depend on it from pirates, bandits, and other threats."

"This Manor would be built in the southern part of the River of Gold, at the fork leading to the Lake of Cherry Blossom Snow - in Imperial Lands. This position would allow the Manor to easily receive supplies from the Crab and Scorpion, as well as possibly the Fox and Sparrow, and maybe even other clans if roads connect it to the Empire's main network."

She nods to the Otomo, fan in her hands.

"The current proposal, which was already saw some first discussions with the Emerald Champion, is to keep both the Manor itself and the town supplying it under imperial lands - they are in Imperial lands, after all. Given its location and the function of the Manor, it stands to reason that the town might benefit from being under the control of the Miya, although I imagine the Emerald Office might have other suggestions."

Another nod, this time to the public as well as Tooru.

"Such an installation would likely be expensive, and for that reason we would like to ask both the Court's sanction of this joint project, and the support of others in helping to see this construction come to fruition. Given that this project is likely to benefit several clans directly, and potentially the Empire as a whole given the wide-ranging importance of the River of Gold, I trust it shall be seen that the efforts made now to make this happen will bear fruit for many years, perhaps centuries."

She bows deeply again and takes a step back.

----------------
D14 EA - Court. Concur with Daichi's proposal for a Manor. Base TN 22, Seppun-sanctioned blessing grants +4 | 7k4+4 ⇒ 36 (TN: 22)

10 Court Points to Daichi's proposal

Action 2