NationStates Jolt Archive

Three men sat around a rectangular table of rough spruce, obviously a poorly made piece of furniture constructed quickly to furnish the office. One sat relaxed and reclining on the right side, another hunched over, head in hands on the table, and the third at the head of the table, holding his chin up with his fists, peering at the rather small amount of money that sat in the middle of the table.

"Eight thousand donori? That can't be all, can it?" said the man at the head to the distraught man who stressedly lifted his head from the table.

"Would you like me to count the bills again? You both saw me do it! I'm sure, Marcus, this is all we have."

Marcus Heims looked now to his right, at the reclining man. "And you're sure your men collected all that we requested from the people?"

The big man simply smiled at the ceiling, not a care in his head. "We shook down every last person, from the few wealthy men to the poorest woman. That's all the coin we could collect."

They all fell silent again. One, deep in thought, another almost falling asleep due to boredom, and the third contemplating putting a bullet in his head. "Perhaps," Marcus broke the silence, "Perhaps we should have waited till our economy was in a more resilient state before overthrowing the tyrant King."

The big tax collected let his chair dropped back onto all four legs, and while yawning, managed to get a few words out of his mouth that could be understood. "If we went by that strategy it would take generations before we overthew him. War after war, what chance did our economy have?"

"And we can't do much to fix it with only eight thousand donori!" The helpless treasurer whimpered.

Then Marcus' eyes lit up, an idea forming in his mind which drew curiosity from the other two who had no idea what he was planning.

"How many Senators have we appointed?" he asked.

The treasurer looked at him quizically, thinking the man had gone mad. "Uh...None, you know that."

A large smile formed on Marcus' face, his eyes continueing to glow. "Exactly. Put out this message to the city: Every man or woman that can afford to pay a million US dollars to the state shall be admitted into the Capiline government. If I remember correctly from the records, there should be a total of twenty men within the city with that kind of money, all of whom would be most eager to raise their social standing I would think."

The treasurer smiled now himself, understanding the plan now, and began to leave to draft up the message. "Wait!" called Marcus before the man left the room. He paused in thought for a minute again, contemplating whether his next words would be wise or not.

"Broadcast the message to the world at large also. I'm sure there are many entrepreneurs and politicians looking for advancement who would be willing to come set up shop in a nation with few regulations on private enterprise. But to level the playing field so we don't get too much foreign governance, ask for....Oh, say, six million US dollars.

The treasurer smiled again, then left to write the letter. The tax collecter laughed and clapped Marcus on the shoulder, then left himself to hit a local bar. Marcus simply sat there, contemplating the future of his city.


To: The Wealthy Citizens of the World

The city-state of Capiline invites you to bring your factories, stores, and businesses of all kinds to our lands. We have a large population eager for employement, and will work hard. Little to no regulations or restrictions exist at the moment, making it easy for you to establish yourselves, and for those of you who wish to ensure good relations between your business and the government for whatever reasons you have, a donation of six(6) million US dollars will be accepted for admittance into the Capiline government as a Senator for life.

We eagerly await your answers;

David Tallman
Secretary of Treasury

Tucker Boot filed through the various letters that came to him, be they small companies that wanted to be spared, charity organizations, stock purchases, or anything else that would come the way of the richest man in New Vantania. One caught his eye, and he immediantly wrote up a reply.

To David Tallman, Secretary of Treasury of Capiline

I would be most interested in your offer, and shall set up shop immediantly. A full explanation of my corporation can be found at my website. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=531990) We will be setting up Buy & Sell Manufacturing to build anything that can be built in a factory. We will also set up TradeMart to sell all our goods, and Universal Goods & Services to work on mines and farms and what not. Also importantly will be Here to There Shipping to get the goods from our mines to our factories, and our farms and factories to our stores. Lastly Offense & Defense Mercenaries to protect our stores, factories, and other holdings. Also, if you wish, you may contract our mercenaries to do work for you.

Meanwhile, regarding your wishes about the Senate. I have no less then one thousand volunteers whom shall pay for becoming a Senator, and shall without a doubt control your Senate for some time. They shall have a very pro-corporate, anti-communist, mindset, along with being pro-anything that will boost the economy, and anti-anything that would slow the economy down. They will each pay individually upon arrival.

Economically Yours,
Tucker Boot

"A thousand?" Marcus asked, surprise dominating his voice. "That would mean foreigners would be the majority. Rich ones too."

He thought for a moment, his intelligent mind working double time as it had been for the past three weeks since the revolution. "The people. We still have the people, and the people hold all the legislative power. Not only that, but they elected the Consuls, who preside over the Senate. If we can keep the people on our side and away from the bribes of these new men, we can remain in power."

"That should be easy enough," spoke the Treasurer, "The People love you, because you saved them from tyranny."

Marcus just smiled, and then continued to worry about the new men who would be arriving any time.

"Oh, where there any other replies to the messages?"

On behalf of The Kingdom of Mixfingaz I accept your invitation. My lord would like to pay you ten million for one seat. Such is your need for wealth. In return he will use this seat and appoint a Foreign Ministry advisor to hold the post and use it to whatever end best serves your people. And at times our people.

Upon arrival, the one thousand newly appointed senators immediantly started trying to get local support. Factories were built and stard hiring workers as soon as possible. Old warehouses were bought, and the people who used to work there were rehired, sorting the goods coming out of the factories. A similar thing was happening with old farms and mines, with goods being pumped out at record speed. What's more, old buildings in the capital were refurbished and turned into TradeMarts to sell goods at low, low prices. Meanwhile, the army was being reinvigorated, with vetrans joining the mercenary corps to defend the Buy & Sell holdings in the country. Also, newcomers trained in the mercenary corps, either going on to join the army or defending Buy & Sell holdings. Wages were skyrocketing while unemployment plummeted.

Things weren't much different on the senators side either, with soup kitchens opening in several locations in the capital, feeding all who came. Commercials started to spread, indoctrinating the locals to love the Senate and Buy & Sell, Inc. Each citizen would find letters in their mail boxes for one hundred Universal Standard Dollars each week, with a letter saying "From your friends in the Senate."

OOC: Vontanas, I'd just like to clerify that Capiline is a city-state, we have but one city, there are no other towns or whatnot. Just the city, then the various farms that dot the countryside it controls, same with mines in the mountains and so on and so forth.

OOC: I don't see how that would effect much of my post. RP the consequences, all of them positive hopefully, of what I've done.