Li Zhu's Audience Hall - Zhaoge

[Ashikaga]

The Justicar was deeply insulted by the man and had the right mind to inform Wu Chen of a declaration of war, but kept his calm, remembering he was still in this man's territory. To keep his life, Yao held his tung. "Prefect, you have misunderstood me. I understand that you are a Qin official, however my main goal was to ensure that you do not allow nor aid the King of Chu in a campaign against us. I am prepared to accept your mutual defense pact, if the King attacks you and he has not secured a peace with us, I shall ask my king to aid you. Is this... agreeable?"

Yao gritted his teeth, he did not care to be mannerable to a man who had just insulted him and who was a Qin dog, but he understood that his Kingdom and a great many lives were at stake.

[blackjack4124]

While Xi did his best to keep up a serious face, what his daughter was going on about caused him to start laughing in the middle of it. He turned away from her, trying to stifle it a bit, but there was something about her manner of speech and her misplaced passion that really got to him. He cleared this throat, then turning back to facing his daughter, he said, "No, Liangyu. If my primary allegiance was to my family, we would still be in Qi, not here."

He then turned to the visitors. "As the head of a village, you need only to submit yourself to the nearest regional leader, if that's your desire. While my own forces have taken much of this province by force, we have not imposed any unduly hardship on any of its peoples. There would be nobody more important in Yin for you to see, and since you are already here, I wouldn't send you off to someone else."

As he wasn't the head, just the local constable effectively, Qing Dun would have to relay this information to the village elders. I guess you could call him PC Qing if you like...

"I... see."

(to the female with a surprising lack of social inhibition): "For your own people, no, you haven't. But imagine the village without a formal leader, as it exists prior to any military force taking charge - order is maintained by community standing, not by loyalty to a superior. As an unusually clear-thinking fellow villager once said to me, the members of a community like ours take turns in charge of the executive functions of the community, which is ratified by meetings by the village as a whole. You can't just come in waving a sword you get from some ill defined ceremony and claim divine right to rule without there being trouble."

"My primary loyalty is to my family - sure. But I also would likely owe a loyalty to the person who gave me my position in the bureaucracy or gave me the land I work in exchange for some fee or service. We need to know who THAT is."

The clear-thinking villager obviously had his speech past down amongst his family, until trade with England resulted in its adoption in much later times. Rumours of a wild and vicious rabbit (with sharp pointy teeth) of Zhaoge-nebog are of course unsubstantiated.

(to the City administrator, Xia Xi): "So, I assume that regional leader would be likely to be you, rather than a mere local official. In that case, I will have to inform my village of their soon-to-be lord."

"... oh. In exchange for your audience, and your advice on matters of state, it would probably be appropriate for me to at least offer what assistance I may in easing this transition - either as facilitator in the village, or as a retained member of your staff. I leave the decision as to which of these two options is the more suitable for your needs, as I would be able to execute my duties to my village until my term as village reeve is completed."

Naked ambition - either he gets killed, gets dismissed summarily and stays a mere reeve, never to rise in station and certainly never to assemble an army due to his low station, or he manages to get lucky and get a permanent position with someone with a bit of military clout. Qing Dun doubts the last of these will happen, but if you never try...

[Xiang Zhuang]

Ashikaga

He could not tell if this man had understood what he had just said or if he was too dull to get the underlying meaning. Xi scratched at his goatee briefly, then shook his head. "I think I understand what it is that your King wants," he replied. "And that would normally be great for me, too. But while Chu is the King of Zhao's largest concern, Qin is mine. I have little to gain by aiding the King of Zhao against Chu except future rewards, and this is of little interest to me when my own lands may be threatened by the hand of Qin. While I bear their official's cords, I am not considered a loyal servant by them. I believe that it is quite likely that they may choose to enter into Yin province before Chu comes seeking violence with the King of Zhao.

"As it is, if Qin disowns me, I will be a man without allegiance. What I seek is protection from Qin if they would choose to come to Yin. I am of no use whatsoever to Zhao if Qin annihilates me first. If Zhao were able to lend me their aid if I am attacked by Qin, then I would be forever indebted to them. In such a case, I would be bound by honor to assist them in whatever manner I could."

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blackjack4124

Xi chuckled as the visitor described his village. He had never heard of such a thing. It would be curious to study, but the more pressing matter, of course, is that they do not resist his control. He gave Qing Dun a polite nod. "Your assistance in this matter would be beneficial. I do not desire to disturb the situation in your village. It is actually quite fascinating to me that such a structure exists. But yes, for the most part I hope my control does not affect them much. I know that the average person in this land just hopes to go about their daily existence as best as they can, and that lords such as myself tend to do them more harm than good as we make our plays for power and control and so on. I do have their best interests at heart, though, and serve to protect them.

"Hmmm, as for you, I would need to know a little bit about your own abilities before I could ascertain what the purpose in which I would be able to use your service."

[Ashikaga]

Ashikaga

He could not tell if this man had understood what he had just said or if he was too dull to get the underlying meaning. Xi scratched at his goatee briefly, then shook his head. "I think I understand what it is that your King wants," he replied. "And that would normally be great for me, too. But while Chu is the King of Zhao's largest concern, Qin is mine. I have little to gain by aiding the King of Zhao against Chu except future rewards, and this is of little interest to me when my own lands may be threatened by the hand of Qin. While I bear their official's cords, I am not considered a loyal servant by them. I believe that it is quite likely that they may choose to enter into Yin province before Chu comes seeking violence with the King of Zhao.

"As it is, if Qin disowns me, I will be a man without allegiance. What I seek is protection from Qin if they would choose to come to Yin. I am of no use whatsoever to Zhao if Qin annihilates me first. If Zhao were able to lend me their aid if I am attacked by Qin, then I would be forever indebted to them. In such a case, I would be bound by honor to assist them in whatever manner I could."

Yao smiled, the man in his statements had said far more than he knew, at least to Yao anyway. Yao looked around the room and then back to the lord, "Perhaps this is the best possible situation and agreement between our lands. The Qin do not trust you, however we would welcome you with open arms the moment you cast them - or they cast you - aside. Should the time come, the armies of Zhao will descend upon the Qin like a torrent of rain onto the grass, all in your defense. Know this, the King in Zhao would be prepared to name you a Duke or Marquis in his name should you decide to come to our side."

[Xiang Zhuang]

Yao smiled, the man in his statements had said far more than he knew, at least to Yao anyway. Yao looked around the room and then back to the lord, "Perhaps this is the best possible situation and agreement between our lands. The Qin do not trust you, however we would welcome you with open arms the moment you cast them - or they cast you - aside. Should the time come, the armies of Zhao will descend upon the Qin like a torrent of rain onto the grass, all in your defense. Know this, the King in Zhao would be prepared to name you a Duke or Marquis in his name should you decide to come to our side."

"Hmmm," the Prefect mused. "The King of Zhao knows how to provide one with incentive. If what you suggest is true, then I believe that Zhao and Yin will become close friends in the future. I do not know for sure that Qin wishes to attack, but even if they don't, it is likely that they would have any true change in attitude toward me. Regardless, there is little future for Qin in general, and especially for me in their service. I do wish to keep these titles until Qin makes a decision one way or the other, though. I would rather my people see me as doing the best that I could in a tough situation as opposed to switching my allegiances for profit. I know that this might cause some distrust between myself and the King of Zhao, but you have my word that I will not aid Qin or Chu in any way into taking land in Zhao, and will further assist the King of Zhao against Chu if the situation arises, although I believe in this situation he has to march through my territory first anyway."

[Ashikaga]

Yao grew ecstatic, what began as a mission to ensure Chu would not march through Yin, turned into the formation of a possible alliance. He was doing exactly as he needed to to earn his promotion to Chief of Officials. Inside he was jumping for joy, outwardly he remained calm and put on a friendly smile.

"Prefect, I understand you completely. The King will always have troops to aid you with should the need arise. The Qin have betrayed their governors and commanders in the past, it pleases me that you have not turned a blind eye to this. Know this, the King will forge a future for the North, and will always have a place for you. Should you decide to make the wise decision and join him, then perhaps his vision can extend to the south. Duke Xia, it has a ring to it."

He nodded to his last statement allowing himself to look as though he was trailing in thought. "If you have any question as to how the King treats his vassals, you need to go no further than Prefect Lu Ying. We pay the costs of her title, and provided a great deal of troops for her when she established herself as a ruler. The King is prepared to do the same for you. Your scope of influence could extend to the east and south, perhaps Chu and Heinan?"

He stopped their to allow the prefect to consider what he had just said.

"All things we have said here today are of course, confidential."

[Xiang Zhuang]

Yao grew ecstatic, what began as a mission to ensure Chu would not march through Yin, turned into the formation of a possible alliance. He was doing exactly as he needed to to earn his promotion to Chief of Officials. Inside he was jumping for joy, outwardly he remained calm and put on a friendly smile.

"Prefect, I understand you completely. The King will always have troops to aid you with should the need arise. The Qin have betrayed their governors and commanders in the past, it pleases me that you have not turned a blind eye to this. Know this, the King will forge a future for the North, and will always have a place for you. Should you decide to make the wise decision and join him, then perhaps his vision can extend to the south. Duke Xia, it has a ring to it."

He nodded to his last statement allowing himself to look as though he was trailing in thought. "If you have any question as to how the King treats his vassals, you need to go no further than Prefect Lu Ying. We pay the costs of her title, and provided a great deal of troops for her when she established herself as a ruler. The King is prepared to do the same for you. Your scope of influence could extend to the east and south, perhaps Chu and Heinan?"

He stopped their to allow the prefect to consider what he had just said.

"All things we have said here today are of course, confidential."

Zhenfeng himself was fairly pleased by this official's words, which were both soothing his fears and stroking his ego a little. His face broke out into a crooked grin. "I am acquainted with Prefect Lu," he replied. "She has spoken highly of the King of Zhao in the past. It is in part because of these words that I, too, believe in the King's benevolence. I believe she is somebody that you will be able to rely on well." He nodded his head again to the official. "I am not terribly concerned beyond the protection of my province at this point. Future plans can be discussed in the future. But for now, I feel strongly about this arrangement."

[Ashikaga]

Yao bowed low to the man, and rose again. He would be rewarded for his actions no doubt. "Prefect, you are indeed a wise man. Lord Wu Chen will be greatly pleased by this when he hears of it. Yin shall be yours as long as a soldier in Zhao draws breath! If Lord Xia requires nothing more of me, I would like to return to Julu to inform King Wu of this arrangement."

He waited eagerly. Yao could hear the king's praises already.

[Xiang Zhuang]

Yao bowed low to the man, and rose again. He would be rewarded for his actions no doubt. "Prefect, you are indeed a wise man. Lord Wu Chen will be greatly pleased by this when he hears of it. Yin shall be yours as long as a soldier in Zhao draws breath! If Lord Xia requires nothing more of me, I would like to return to Julu to inform King Wu of this arrangement."

He waited eagerly. Yao could hear the king's praises already.

"You may go," he said, slowly rolling his hand out to the envoy. "I will be sure to inform the King of your own service should I meet him." He smiled, but soon realized he had completely forgot the man's name. Perhaps one of the court scribes would remember? But no, he had sent them away. Ah well.

[blackjack4124]

blackjack4124

Xi chuckled as the visitor described his village. He had never heard of such a thing. It would be curious to study, but the more pressing matter, of course, is that they do not resist his control. He gave Qing Dun a polite nod. "Your assistance in this matter would be beneficial. I do not desire to disturb the situation in your village. It is actually quite fascinating to me that such a structure exists. But yes, for the most part I hope my control does not affect them much. I know that the average person in this land just hopes to go about their daily existence as best as they can, and that lords such as myself tend to do them more harm than good as we make our plays for power and control and so on. I do have their best interests at heart, though, and serve to protect them.

"Hmmm, as for you, I would need to know a little bit about your own abilities before I could ascertain what the purpose in which I would be able to use your service."

Qing Dun was surprised at the lack of knowledge of this power system. Didn't all non-ruler based systems of governance require community favour for their stability? Perhaps Xia Xi has never been outside lands that had strong rulers...

"Best intentions are a dangerous thing - but at least they're safer than malicious intentions. For me and my village, at least." Qing Dun allowed a minor chuckle here.

"In my term as village reeve, I was made to study the criminal element, so that I might be able to counter it better if I was there at the time of offence. My observations, and my somewhat meagre readings, have led me to understand (and understand well, I hope) some of the strategies they would use, and how to implement them both in a small group, and a larger, more organised whole... at least, I assume the only problem is taking a tactic of twenty men and making it work as well for twenty hundreds."

"The methods they used the most were those relating to coordinating attacks from several directions at once, to cause alarm; surrounding villagers with a group to intimidate; and the ability to quickly raid our village and escape quickly. I do not know the formal terms you would ascribe to these methods - but I believe I would be able to execute them, should it be a necessity of yours. I lack much in the ways of civil governance, because my roles in the village to date have not provided me this education."

"My knowledge of the systems used in neutral hamlets might also reduce discontentment if I were to teach the leaders of patrol units - though I fear any man marching on a town, no matter how good-intentioned, is at least at first seen as belligerent autocrat; it is what he does next that is key, of course."