Trade proposals (2LE, expecting)

[Yasuki Ryoichi]

After meeting with representatives of other clans, Yasuki Ryoichi had drawn up several possible trade proposals. Armed with these, he sought out the Kaiu daimyo to attempt to secure the delegation head's approval.

[Kaiu Masahiko]

Lord Kaiu was sitting at his desk, clacking away at suanpan with his left hand and taking notes with his right. Hearing the door open, he looked up and smiled.


"Shiozaki-san, good to see you. Come in, pull up a seat."

[Yasuki Ryoichi]

Ryoichi bowed low, before entering and taking the offered seat.

"Kaiu-dono, as you know, I have been talking to some of the other clan representatives about possible trade deals," the Yasuki began. "Matters have progressed sufficiently far along that I wanted to bring some of the proposed exchanges to you for approval."

With both hands Ryoichi presented Masahiko with the papers he had drawn up: one proposal for a trade with the Boar Clan and another proposal for a trade with the Phoenix.

"I've discussed both of these with some of our other Crab and there is considerable support for the trade with the Boar, particularly if we exercise the option on copper," Ryoichi related. "We would need to get approval from the military branch to station soldiers at Shiro Heichi, but I hope you will agree that it would be worthwhile to solidly keep the Boar Clan - and their jade supply - within our sphere."

"There is some discussion among my colleagues as to whether it is wise to trade so much of our reserves of sake to the Phoenix," he added. "But I believe it to be worthwhile to acquire the resources they offer."

"The decision as to whether to proceed further is up to you, of course."

[Kaiu Masahiko]

Masahiko pored over the documents, leaning in close to really get in touch with the text.

"That's a good amount of Jade. The tariff reduction is interesting. Right now it's a drop in the bucket. The Boar trade with us almost exclusively and in small amounts, so I wonder if he's looking at an expansion down the road. If the volume increases greater than 20%, which I think it will have to, then it should offset the hit. Honestly, Batsuda should have sold it to you that way, as a separate proposal. But his mistake is our gain. Yes. Yes, I like this deal. We'll just stipulate that Crab bushi serve under Crab officers, because we want to reserve the right to cut bait if something shady's going on. We'll appoint some kind of liaison to handle strategic considerations. Probably best not to get too deep in the weeds on that one here, though, so we'll kick it over to Lord Gendo for the Spring."

He looked at the Phoenix treaty for a long moment. "Phoenix sure do have trees, don't they?" A grin. "This one checks out. Nothing fancy, easy exchange. I like it."

He looked up. "I think you did good, Shiozaki-san."

[Yasuki Ryoichi]

Ryoichi bowed, a smile crossing his face at his superior's approval.

"Thank you, Kaiu-dono," the Yasuki said. "I do not think the Boar will object to our soldiers being commanded by Crab officers. I understand the formal process is to present these agreements in Court, yes? This is my first Imperial Court, as you know. Is there anything I should be careful of when I bring them up?"

[Kaiu Masahiko]

"You might get a question from the Fox about the military commitment. They're still sensitive about what went down out west. Lions might get nervous for the same reason. They tend to suspect everyone's as black-hearted as they are, but fronting less well. Hmm...one thing you might do to maximize support is divvy up the treaty so that the different components are proposed by different delegates as modifications of the first proposal which would be something like "a treaty between the Phoenix and the Crab." You've got to be pretty confident that everybody's on the same page and no one's going to leave out a provision, though. I've seen delegations get screwed by a guy slipping on ice at Morning Glory Castle and missing court. In the confusion, no one covered his proposal. Big mistake. Lots of raw feelings."

He paused. "Occasionally, you'll get someone horning in on a provision with an unwelcome intervention. Otomo like to do that, but since this is with a clan that's sort of in our sphere and the Phoenix, the Otomo are probably cool with what we've got. It's a high-risk maneuver for anyone else, but it you want people in place to execute a refutation if you've got to."

He paused. "I think that's it. Any help?"

[Yasuki Ryoichi]

"Oof, it sounds like splitting a proposal up into many little pieces seems like it might be more complicated than it's worth," Ryoichi said, reminded strongly of when they had tried to assemble tiny metal pieces into a complex mechanical gadget. "Thank you for the advice, Kaiu-dono. I'll be sure to keep it in mind." He bowed.