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Council of Elders
Imperial Calendar, Year 779, Early December, House ZiChuan’s 78th General Assembly of the Council of Elders was held in advance.
The Assembly was originally scheduled for next year’s august, but Speaker of the Council, Xiao Ping made the following statement: “This year we have had Yang Ming Hua’s rebellion in the Capital and the ongoing war in the Far East. As elders, we represent the public interest and hopes of every citizen living in House ZiChuan. How could we sit idly by during such turbulent time and important moment in family’s history?”
All the elders appeared to be in agreement: “Exactly, that is why we are here!” Each of the five thousand elders attending the assembly took turn to make their opening statement, and the first two days went by.
But Di Lin thought it differently: “Tch! They are just bored, using it as an excuse to get away from home!” Even the usually brazen Di Lin would only speak those words in front of his trusted Captain, and doing so, in whispers.
He was not the only one. Back when Yang Ming Hua was still in power and stood on the top of the world, even he had to obey Council’s orders, The Council of Elders was the highest ruling body of House ZiChuan and held the highest decision-making power, and not just in name only. In reality, the council of today was a gathering of all the influential families and nobles of the seventy-nine provinces in House ZiChuan. They held great influences over all matters concerning the House, both politically and economically. Their decisions could very easily alter the future of the House. The current Headmaster, ZiChuan Shen Xing would not have been able to ascend without the Council’s support, and thus even he had to pay them respect.
……
On the third day of the assembly, the real conversation had finally started. An elder from the province of Locke raised an important question concerning all the attendees: “This year’s military expenses greatly exceeded the allotted budget! Yes, there is the Far Eastern Rebellion, but surely it shouldn’t have been this much. We have spent more than twice of the initial budget! Couple of years back, when we had to fight House Liu Feng, there was even a greater amount of men-power being involved, but we have never had such deficit as of today! Could it be something else going on? Did someone from the High Command embezzle the funds somewhere along the way, filling their own pockets at the cost of jeopardizing House ZiChuan’s future?
Elders agreed in unison: Something fishy must be going on! Another elder suggested: “We should go through this year’s expenditure from the Military Affairs Department, the Logistic Department and other big money spenders, and get to the bottom of this!” After two days of consecutive voting, the resolution was passed unanimously.
Speaker of the Council, Xiao Ping announced: Hereby, we are announcing the establishment of a new committee, in charge of investigations concerning the Military Affairs Department’s and the Logistic Department’s recent expenditures. The committee shall be led by ten representatives chosen from the Council. All properties of the departments in question shall be seized and their funds frozen, until the investigation has been concluded!”
The announcement was received by a standing ovation from the Council members. It wasn’t that they really had serious problems with either of the departments, but there was only one Assembly every three years. Most of the time outside the assembly, they were simply being ignored. Now that they finally had the power in hand, they felt the need to start making some waves, and an opportunity to test their new found power couldn’t have come sooner. Like a kid who just bought a new umbrella, hoping every day the next day would rain. Even if it didn’t, he would still bring it with him.
……
Two weeks later, the investigation fever had reached an all time high. Even the honest, virtuous and well reputable Central Army Commander – Stirling, was being accused. The accuser was an elder from the distant land of the Far East; He came here to represent a group of Beastmen, Serpents, Dwarves and other non-human races. He was soaked in tears when he told his story to the council: “We are the most loyal citizens of ZiChuan! Yes, there may have been some unpleasantness between us and the Army, but those were just misunderstandings! Terrible, unfortunate misunderstandings! We never had any issues with anyone but the local oppressing nobles. For our benevolent Headmaster, we have nothing but love from the bottom of our hearts and soul!”
“Right, where was I? Hold on, let me check my notes. Right, as I was saying. We have had some misunderstandings with the Central Army, but we have realized our mistakes and corrected them. We are not saints, and like anyone else, we all make mistakes! We have sincerely apologized many times for our wrongdoings, trying to restore the peace.”
“But that Stirling, he was relentless and kept killing us even though all we did was running away. His cruelty knows no bounds. Even though we told him many times that we were wrong and didn’t want to fight anymore. He continued to spill more blood from our brothers and sisters.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way. We, the people of the Far East are the bravest men and women in the world. We are not afraid of that Stirling, but out of our respect for the Headmaster. We will simply overlook his transgressions this once… And yet, out of greed for fame and honour, he wouldn’t stop until he wiped us all out!”
“In short, it was all Stirling’s fault, if he didn’t fight back…”
“Oops, I mean, if he didn’t purposely try to provoke us, none of this would have happened, and the Far East would have been at peace by now! We can no longer tolerate his aggressive behaviour. Therefore we hope the honourable elders of this council will give us, the honest and loyal citizens of ZiChuan, a just result, and punish Stirling for his actions. We have never wanted anything else than to live in peace. Let us work together and turn the Far East into the paradise it could have been.”
The Rebels wished to negotiate for peace! The news couldn’t have come at a better time for the Council of Elders struggling to find a solution for the excessive military expenses. After a whole day and night of negotiating terms, the Council of Elders and the Rebel representative had reached a temporary cease fire agreement.
On the following day, Council of Elders sent the order to the Far East: “To all units of House ZiChuan’s Army currently active in the Far East, hold your current position with no exceptions. All offensive operations have been suspended. Await further instructions once the negotiation between the Council of Elders and the Rebel representative has concluded!”
At the same time, the Council of Elders recalled the Central Army Commander – Stirling from the frontline to face his accusations in the Capital: Why did he display such cruelty against the people of the Far East? Was it due to greed? Or did he purposely try to prolong the war?
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