“He will be under massiveGuild protection, nandi, at all hours, daylight and dark, coming and going. Likewise, every minister of your cabinet will be under heightened Guild protection. I am assured the Guild is backing this move of the dowager’s, and anyone who attempts to destabilize the situation will meet intense Guild opposition. I also have Tabini-aiji’s undertaking that he will silently back these efforts, remaining diplomatically quiet during this visit so as not to confuse the issue; this agreement is specifically between you and the aiji-dowager. Once you are her ally, then relations with the aiji in Shejidan will be on that basis, and you will have her support, as you will support her—not in an over-hasty rush to alter everything, but step by step, as trade develops. Meanwhile, you will have those five votes, nandi, and you will find yourself courted for them. One has every confidence that you will use that leverage for the betterment of your people. You will not needto go to war to secure more advantage for your region. You are being offered it. And supported in it.”
The ministers looked marginally happier, perhaps at their inclusion in high security.
But Machigi frowned. “Still, you ask me to leave matters at a crisis and go off to Shejidan to sign away the West Coast. You are all promises, thus far. You say you bring offers. Let us see them.”
“Indeed, nandi.” He brought his briefcase onto his lap, opened it, and extracted a thick stack of papers, with tabs between. “If one could, with the assistance of your staff, distribute thesec”
Machigi snapped his fingers. Servants hurried to assist, and Bren quietly distributed the packets, first to Machigi and then to Machigi’s ministers.
“The copies are identical, for reading at your leisure,” he said. “The original documents Lord Machigi holds in his hands are personally signed by the aiji-dowager, an assurance of intent to complete the agreement, and by Lord Geigi, supporting her negotiations: duplicates exist in the hands of other parties. There are likewise documents from the new lord of Maschi clan and signed letters from the heads of the Edi and the Gan peoples, stating their intent to support the aiji-dowager’s negotiations on their behalf and to support the outcome of the alliance between the aiji-dowager and the leader of the Marid.”
A massive riffling of papers among the ministers. Machigi sat, not examining what he held.
“Such documents are indeed here in facsimile, nandi,” Gediri said.
“The last of the documents, nandiin,” Bren said, “is economic in nature, and it is mine. One proposes that there be a representative of Lord Machigi in Shejidan as quickly as possible to secure a residence, to set up an office, to prepare a safe place, with Guild assistance, for Lord Machigi to do business. One further proposes that as soon as Lord Machigi signs an agreement with the aiji-dowager, the representative of Lord Machigi sign an immediate trade agreement with the Merchants’ Guild in Shejidan—the papers are routine and can be ready within hours—and set up, on the same premises, a trade office in Shejidan. Your porcelains, for instance, have not appeared in the northern collectors’ market in a century.” There had been a boycott, initiated from the south, which, typically, had actually hurt the south more than the north—he did not mention that matter.
“Is this the dowager’s proposal?” Machigi asked
“This is my own idea, nandi. The beauty and the quality of the work I have seen here—not alone the pillars, which of course one can never forget—are bound to attract interest. Northern museums hold fragments of Marid work. A tea service is highly valued. And I believe an exhibit of state gifts would immediately catch the attention of very influential collectors. The public can be encouraged to view the artistic heritage of the Marid, particularly the southern Marid, which has been very much in the background in recent decadescand this will utterly change the perception many hold of the Marid as more rural. I myself had no idea of the existence of such things until I came here.”
“State gifts, you say.”
“I do not demand, nandi. Far from it. But if one could request a sample of such wares, which can be displayed in the public area of the Bujavid—something representing what can be traded—in the character of a good will gift from the Marid to the people. It will touch popular sentiment. And generate excitement among the wealthy—among the influential and the fashion-setters, the very people who will be voting on further measures—and supporting the first steps in trade.”
“And generating resentments among competitors,” Gediri said. “Is this considered?”
“Porcelains of the north are distinctive, as these are. And desired. And traded. But they are not similar. Within a decent time, when you widen the trade to more common work, those goods, too, will have a name for quality and fashion, so yes, there will be competition, but it is more likely to stimulate interest in collecting. Through this trade, you will form a relationship with the Merchants’ Guild, who will guide you and assure you do notcome up against such problems—besides providing, in their offices, a place for contact with other districts. They have no enforcement arm, as you may know, and are only advisory.”
“Porcelains,” Machigi said, not enthusiastically. “They are not an immediate economic benefit.”
“Bluntly, they are a good that threatens no one,” Bren said. “A first step, designed to create a demand for Marid goods. Your porcelains, your craftwork, will open the door and change opinions favorably. Your trade in other things—textiles and foodstuffs—will follow and expand.”
“Where in this is our access to the East Coast?” Machigi asked.
“That begins in the hour of the signing of that agreement,” Bren said. “Immediately after that signing, a representative of Taisigi clan whom you will also appoint will fly to the East Coast with the cachet of the aiji-dowager and yourself to meet with representatives of the aiji-dowager in Malguri district, and guides from there will enable a safe journey to the coast. Included, one would suggest, should be Merchants’ Guild officials, in an advisory capacity. They can serve as fair brokers between yourselves and the inhabitants of the East Coast. You will be proposing the building of a new port, and you will be establishing a trade office. There will be no rail link. How long will it take a ship to appear in those waters?”
“A ship has to be outfitted, paidhi. It has to have a port when it gets there.”
“What would be the one-way trip, however? One has no idea.”
Machigi thought about it in silence. “Say—thirty-three days, with felicity. Given the cooperation of the weather. Given some sort of port facility.”
“The first ship should carry construction supervisors and skilled workmen. The dowager will provide the financing. She will negotiate with you on what items are to be supplied locally and what must be imported; the general notion is to hire locals, which will put money into their economy, buy food from them, more money, and buy local materials. These are not rich villages. The appearance of textiles and goods that they will be able to afford with their new found money will bring favorable opinions. Fair work. Fair wages. Fair trade. They in turn will offer trade in leather, in furs, in wood, and in fuel for your ships—it will have to be sent in. The details are yet to work out. But that is the generality of it.”
There was a lengthy silence. “Of what nature are these people, nandi?” War asked. “Are they civilized?”
“They are much like the smaller villages of the Marid, nandi—hardworking, generally honest, a little suspicious of outsiders. Hence the representatives from Malguri district. The dowager is well-reputed on the coast.”