Chu Provincial Roleplay

[Gong Ao]

Jiaodong...

That was a long way away. There wasn't much of a mitigation strategy if it didn't work out. Suppose there was some other rebellion and he had to flee once more, he would have to lug his entire family all the way back to Chen. That would just about drive him broke. Besides, this job sounded a little too demanding. Loyal deeds? High rank? Provision of advice directly to the ruler of the land? Cai Xuan did not like the sound of this. He knew that loyal deeds often meant taking painful injuries, but few would put making alterations to the tax on fish in the same category. He simply wanted to be some faceless minor official that could hide in the obscurity of mid-level bureaucracy, doing ordinary tasks and working ordinary hours. The sort of man who would provide advice on minor issues like the size of stalls in the market, whose ability to do anything significant would be bound up by reams of red tape. The sort of man that no warmonger would bother to kill as it would be a complete waste of time.

But he couldn't dismiss this offer so simply. That would be rude.

"General, what does your lord seek? I'm surprised that anyone would know much about my abilities, as my entire work history has involved no more than enacting the sort of policy that the general public takes for granted. In fact, even my own colleagues often fall asleep from boredom while reading through our paperwork, so I find it difficult to fathom how someone who I have never met before, and what's more a man from a distant land, could know anything about me.

"And I am also interested in what he can offer me. The trip to Jiaodong is long and moving my entire family there will be costly. I would like to know whether he will cover the costs of my relocation and assist in finding an appropriate home. You have also mentioned good pay, but I would like to have that quantified. You are perhaps too young to have children, but if you did, you would know how ridiculously expensive it is to educate a son. What's more, I have four unmarried daughters, all ugly. I fear that I will need to pay a substantial dowry before anyone would be willing to marry them. So you see, financial matters are very important to me."

[Chou Yu]

Yu expected the older man's response, and bowed his head in respect before answering, "Our Lord has under him military talents, I am one as such. What we need the most right now is twofold; first a civil administrator to govern our towns and cities. Secondly, my Lord wishes to improve and expand Jiaodong, both by engineer structures and expand the villages and towns. At this moment, there are only two major cities in Jiaodong, and twice as much towns and my Lord Shi Tong would like to change that to increase Jiaodong's prosperity. As a bureaucrat you will be among one among the many that would work to this end." Yu explained.

"You are correct in assuming that I know not the cost of having children. However, I have a younger brother that I had raised myself since I was twelve years of age when our mother left us in the dead of the night. Though the burden doesn't nearly match yours, I can perhaps understand a little bit of your concerns." Yu recollected his story briefly.

"As for salary, it will be fifty taels of Gold per month. Lord Shi Tong however, rewards good and loyal deeds, so the amount you can make for yourself is up to the quality of your work." Then Yu paused to consider his request for a relocation fee, and finally said, "As a new administration, most of our money goes into the development of the land, and troops to defend from bandits and the like. I can not speak for my Lord Shi Tong however, I am willing to promise you at least fifty Gold taels, for I understand that relocating a whole family and their things require a great deal of work and energy." Yu took out his gold pouch, and counted the taels, keeping fifty in there and taking the rest out.

[ann]

Jang listened intently to the mans words trying to piece together what he could from everything so far. lowering his head slightly jang nodded it several times before bowing to the man before him.

"hmm, a boy in the tavern you say? i suppose ill have to have a talk with him before i leave here. any lead that will help me in the search of these brigands will be something. if you dont mind i would like to question the people at the tavern to try and gain any information i can about the bandits.it was a pleasure meeting you, i hope we meet again soon."

Jang gave another bow as he awaited to be allowed to leave.

once he was excused jang would make his way to the tavern that the village head mentioned. walking up to the barkeep jang gave a respectful bow to the man(or women).

"greetings i am Colonel Rou jang of the king of Chus army. i have been tasked with investigating the recant pillaging from bandits that have occurred. i was told some one might have recognized them or heard them say soemthing. if i can gain any information i guarantee i will reward them."

The tavern was relatively empty The room itself was large for such a town but clearly worn. The floors were swept earth and there were mats for patrons to use as well as small roughly made tables around. at one end of the room a fire was kept but it was very low as there were not many patrons inside. Times were hard everywhere and the steady drinkers were not able to spend all their days in the tavern. They gathered outside the headman's home instead.

The tavern keeper raised his eyebrows and said, "A reward you say? We'd be happy enough to see the back of the raiders! We have little enough already without them taking more!" Then, rememberin perhaps that he had no idea who the visitor was, he said, "Oh, excuse me for going on. We don't hace complaints here. Though the bandits are hard. Reward is it?"

[Gong Ao]

Yu expected the older man's response, and bowed his head in respect before answering, "Our Lord has under him military talents, I am one as such. What we need the most right now is twofold; first a civil administrator to govern our towns and cities. Secondly, my Lord wishes to improve and expand Jiaodong, both by engineer structures and expand the villages and towns. At this moment, there are only two major cities in Jiaodong, and twice as much towns and my Lord Shi Tong would like to change that to increase Jiaodong's prosperity. As a bureaucrat you will be among one among the many that would work to this end." Yu explained.

"You are correct in assuming that I know not the cost of having children. However, I have a younger brother that I had raised myself since I was twelve years of age when our mother left us in the dead of the night. Though the burden doesn't nearly match yours, I can perhaps understand a little bit of your concerns." Yu recollected his story briefly.

"As for salary, it will be fifty taels of Gold per month. Lord Shi Tong however, rewards good and loyal deeds, so the amount you can make for yourself is up to the quality of your work." Then Yu paused to consider his request for a relocation fee, and finally said, "As a new administration, most of our money goes into the development of the land, and troops to defend from bandits and the like. I can not speak for my Lord Shi Tong however, I am willing to promise you at least fifty Gold taels, for I understand that relocating a whole family and their things require a great deal of work and energy." Yu took out his gold pouch, and counted the taels, keeping fifty in there and taking the rest out.

Cai Xuan sat in silence as he pondered Yang Xu's words. The explanation of Shi Tong's needs seemed to indicate a staffing shortage in the civil service. If Cai Xuan went there, he might perhaps be given a lead role, or at least be overstretched with too many responsibilities. Perhaps he would have thrived under such conditions if he were in his 20s, but old men such as he knew that there was more to life than just plain old work.

And then there was the pay. What was on offer was more than what he had been paid in the past, but the excess did not cover for the fact that he would have to travel so far from his familiar surrounds. He also understood well how the performance based pay would work out. Seldom was it actually based on actual performance, but was often contingent on such uncontrollable factors as weather, locusts and the work of other men, all of which could have an impact on the harvests and tax collection that he would be responsible for. Even if it were in his complete control, he was sure that he would be unwilling to go to extraordinary lengths to get the extraordinary pay.

What's more, he would have to move to the other side of the known world to take up this job. It would be far, it would be cold and it would involve having to eat strange foods on a daily basis. For the pay that was being offered, this was not something he could stomach.

Cai Xuan bowed and made his response. "General, I must reject this offer. The pay is simply insufficient for me to consider moving to such a distant corner of the world, although I can fully understand if your economic situation prevents you from offering anything higher. I am an aging man now, and there is just too much financial risk inherent in the situation to allow me to join your lord. Please accept my apologies and I hope you can find suitable personnel to meet your needs."

[Chou Yu]

[50 Gold Taels are like, almost 2 kg worth of Gold ]

The rejection was not one that Yu had expected. He had heard from the populace, when he was asking around about the man and learned that he made his living as a farmer. 50 Gold taels for most people is money that they could not even dream to have, for this man to think it insufficient, how big a consumer is he? Yu was surprised that he could live at all from his earnings as a farmer, with an appetite as big as his.

"You have said yourself that in the past you have not done much worthy deeds. You have been offered what most people would consider a fortune more than enough to cover what you and your family needs, yet with your self proclaimed lack of proof in your ability you ask for more? I have given you a way to raise your salary, if you would only work for it, putting it in your own hands." Yu felt ridiculed by this, and would have normally been furious. On one hand there are those like Pan Bu, an unlikely young man who was willing to use his minuscule resources and his initiative to make life for him and his family better. On another hand, there's this man. "As you are considerably older than myself, I do not wish to disrespect you. However, if you go as you go now, without a proof of your talents and abilities and asking for so much, I'm afraid that you will be stuck as a farmer for the rest of your life."

Yu gave a curt bow, though his face wore a scowl, "I am sorry to have bothered you." Yu did not, as usual, assure individuals that initially rejected his offers to join his Lord, that their door is always open if the individual changes their mind. This man would be of no help to their cause.

[Thanks for the RP! Despite my character's disdain, I enjoyed it!]

[Rue Goung]

The tavern was relatively empty The room itself was large for such a town but clearly worn. The floors were swept earth and there were mats for patrons to use as well as small roughly made tables around. at one end of the room a fire was kept but it was very low as there were not many patrons inside. Times were hard everywhere and the steady drinkers were not able to spend all their days in the tavern. They gathered outside the headman's home instead.

The tavern keeper raised his eyebrows and said, "A reward you say? We'd be happy enough to see the back of the raiders! We have little enough already without them taking more!" Then, rememberin perhaps that he had no idea who the visitor was, he said, "Oh, excuse me for going on. We don't hace complaints here. Though the bandits are hard. Reward is it?"

Jang took a look around the empty room and sighed as he thought not much would come of this. turning once more to the tavern keeper jang bowed and nodded his head.

"it does look like times are indeed rough for you folks here. i am an officers under this kingship of chu Xiang Yu, as such i have been given thsi task to find and meet out justice to those bandits that have been plaguing you people. if i am provided with information that will help me in my task, i will be generous and reward those with information. if i deem the information false or unreliable then no reward. but i doubt you or your people of this town would blatantly steer me wrong in this endeavor sens im trying to help you. so if you would. do you know anything or know of some one who would know any information, regarding the whereabouts, numbers or names of those involved in the recant attack?"

Jang pulled out a small scroll and ink brush as he prepared to write down ,hopefully, any information he got.

[Kakirot83]

"The right person huh?" Zhuwen replied, placing his chopsticks down for a moment and pondering about the statement. "Exactly what do you think is the right guy? You know, I don't care much for who I serve. Long as they keep things interesting and isn't one of those 'I only rule to serve the people 'cause I'm a pansy crap'. Maybe a female ruler would be interesting huh?"

Again, Zhuwen showed what a simple man he was. It was surprising he hadn't joined anyone yet, most likely due to the fact that not many people made much effort. Thinking over it, having Tai decide on who to join was a good idea. Despite her odd ways of thinking, he believed she could make the right decision. Or at least see the "colors" she kept talking about.

"And besides that, have you met with any rulers yet?"

Tai didn't really think about what the right person to rule was, she just kind of felt her way along. So that was something that barely registered to her.

"I did meet one Shi Tong of Jiaodong. He seemed capable, and openly defiant of Chu, which could be both a good thing, and a bad thing. I have yet to look into anyone else."

She thought more accurately, other people hadn't looked into her.

"Has the King of Blood met any of the new players in the game of thrones?"

[Gong Ao]

One of the benefits of living in times of chaos was that there were many different lords each ruling over their little realm, each of whom had to employ their own separate bureaucracy. But one of the great downsides of having so much choice was having to make the right one, and Cai Xuan was under immense pressure from his daughters to negotiate a deal that would give him (and them) the most money. Going into just his second meeting to discuss job prospects though, Cai Xuan was already thoroughly sick of the process. All this choosing sounded like too much hard work. He wished that it could soon be all over, when he could just spend his day mindlessly shuffling through paperwork. He also wished that he had fewer daughters.

Cai Xuan was unsure whether to negotiate hard to get a good deal and risk rejection, or take whatever was on offer and face the wrath of his daughters back home. These thoughts played in his mind as he stood in the street waiting for the other man to arrive.

[Jin Shi]

Ma Su was planning. He saw little to no opposition to his plans of moving to the east, and if he was successful, he would need people to work under him. These people would probably not be provided by the court, so Su decided to proactively look for them.

He had heard there was an old paper pusher type wandering around, looking for a job doing just that, and Su needed a man like that. While Su was not a political novice, he was definitely not very skilled with civil bureaucracy, and this Cai Xuan was said to have done that stuff thousands of times.

"Good." He said to himself. He was on his horse, accompanied by his apprentice Liao Jian. Jian was a good diplomat, but he was just as ignorant of civil administration as Si, sadly for Su. They were to meet Cai Xuan somewhere in the market street, though where the man did not really specify. They first went to the market square, and, logically, the man was there standing underneath the statue of Xiang Yu. When they spotted the man, who stood apart from the crowd of peasants and merchants by his dress, the two rode up, and dismounted. They both bowed slightly, and Su spoke.

"You would be the Master Cai, correct?"

[OneEyedDrgn]

Tai didn't really think about what the right person to rule was, she just kind of felt her way along. So that was something that barely registered to her.

"I did meet one Shi Tong of Jiaodong. He seemed capable, and openly defiant of Chu, which could be both a good thing, and a bad thing. I have yet to look into anyone else."

She thought more accurately, other people hadn't looked into her.

"Has the King of Blood met any of the new players in the game of thrones?"

"Nope, can't say I have," Zhuwen replied as he took another bite of rice and piece of fish. "Like I said, I've just been wandering around. The Shi Tong guy, I think I got a letter from him or something, but I didn't really bother to read over it too much."

Zhuwen proceeded to drink from his cup, downing the cup in one go and began to pour himself another. The man, having been through many parties, was used to drinking. It would take a while for him to be intoxicated.

"Know anyone that sounds interesting? Maybe we can visit the place first, although, let's have a bit of fun there before seeing the lord. Visiting these guys sounds interesting, but to be quite honest, I hate all that procedure you have to go through to actually see these guys."