Undershi
11-08-2007, 02:24
Undershi City, Undershi Province, The Undershi Empire
Aleksander Miller, the Leader of the Undershi Empire, rubbed his chin as he listened to the men from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs speak. He'd already heard the delegation from the Ministry of Production speak, and he had to admit, their words had been more appealing. They had said that Undershi had the resources to export - everything from excess oil, practically unheard of in an industrialized nation, and not available in large quantities even in Undershi where more than eighty percent of all electricity was generated with atomic power. But still enough to export. Or they could send diamonds, or tin or silver or iron or even wheat - the massive agricultural projects of the western steppes produced an amazing surpluss in grains most years, after all.
They could even export industrial machinery - they had the factories to make it, and man-power was never in short supply... any finished product could be made, really. They could not make luxury goods, though - they lacked few areas of manufacturing, but that was one of them. It was just that... well, True Undershis were supposed to make a virtue of austerity, and the norms, those illiterate slave masses, could not really afoard any luxuries.
It was the problem of the norms which kept coming up in the speach made by the men from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Because almost all, in fact basically all, Undershi products were made by norm workers who were little better than slaves... albeit slaves with decent health care and tolerable living conditions... and it seemed that no foreign nation really wanted to purchase Undershi products under those conditions.
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegation kept speaking, and Aleksander listened:
"We do indeed conduct a great deal of commerce with our allies within the Corporate Alliance, but it is effectively a closed system, more so since the war with the NPE began. We trade with eachother, generating wealth, but are cut off from the wider world, at least to a large extent. We have had some success marketing our products through front companies to nations which do not have trading agreements with us... but such things have recently backfired - as is witnessed by recent events in The World Soviet Party, where some damned norm escaped inside of a shipping crate, which is now leading to the front company we employed for the shippment he was in losing all credability. It is collapsing as we speak - soon we will have no choice but to liquidate its assets and attempt a new begining." the man kept speaking for a while after that, going on about various concerns, before making a closing appeal:
"In this modern era, we must increasingly turn to trade as a source of wealth. And not just trade in raw materials! That was fine when we were selling tin and lumber to buy rifles to pacify the tribesmen in the western steppes. Now we are an industrial power, with factories and cities of our own. Now we must sell to the world. In our father's time, conquest was the quickest route to wealth. When we beat the Northlanders, we nearly doubled our industrial capacity. Nowadays, though..." he trailed off for a moment, before begining again:
"Nowadays, though, we find that military conquest has continually lesser returns. Twelve years ago we took Paxton, and we barely broke even on the exchange. Four years ago we took Jenshalem, a tiny nation with huge oil reserves. There we were able to turn a profit. Now there is the matter of Saint Rynald, our most recent conquest. There are still guerillas and terrorists on the loose there, as is the case in Southlands Province. Already we have outdone ourselves in brutality, crucifying thousands and slaughtering tens of thousands... and, such tactics are working. Saint Rynald Province is being brought into a state of order. However, costs are rising. We are already in the red as far as Saint Rynald is concerned - we will need to work the norms there for years, in as brutal a fashion as possible, in order to break even with the costs of the occupation. Future conquests are likely to be even more costly." Aleksander nodded, and, taking the nod as a cue, the speaker continued:
"Military conquest is clearly not the way to go. Military actions cost more - in the past, even as late as the early phases of the war against Northland, all that you needed to have a deadly force was 10,000 bolt-action rifles and a few machine-guns. Now we need tanks and airplanes and carriers and airborn divisions and mechanized divisions. In other words, war has become more expensive. Already it is no longer a profitable venture." Aleksander nodded again, so he continued:
"So we need trade, we need trade if we are going to make the wealth we need." and the Leader of Undershi nodded for a third time, and smilled, and clapped, and asked:
"And how do you suggest we go about acquiring foreign contacts when no liberal nation would touch our products with a ten-foot-pole?"
The speaker smilled, and replied:
"A simple answer. Sell to developing nations."
Official Undershi Announcement
The Undershi Government is pleased to offer ultra low cost industrial machinery to developing nations. A wide range of options are available, including machinery for the production of textiles, steel, automobiles, chemicals and a wide range of other goods.
Interested parties are invited to contact the Undershi government.
Aleksander Miller, the Leader of the Undershi Empire, rubbed his chin as he listened to the men from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs speak. He'd already heard the delegation from the Ministry of Production speak, and he had to admit, their words had been more appealing. They had said that Undershi had the resources to export - everything from excess oil, practically unheard of in an industrialized nation, and not available in large quantities even in Undershi where more than eighty percent of all electricity was generated with atomic power. But still enough to export. Or they could send diamonds, or tin or silver or iron or even wheat - the massive agricultural projects of the western steppes produced an amazing surpluss in grains most years, after all.
They could even export industrial machinery - they had the factories to make it, and man-power was never in short supply... any finished product could be made, really. They could not make luxury goods, though - they lacked few areas of manufacturing, but that was one of them. It was just that... well, True Undershis were supposed to make a virtue of austerity, and the norms, those illiterate slave masses, could not really afoard any luxuries.
It was the problem of the norms which kept coming up in the speach made by the men from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Because almost all, in fact basically all, Undershi products were made by norm workers who were little better than slaves... albeit slaves with decent health care and tolerable living conditions... and it seemed that no foreign nation really wanted to purchase Undershi products under those conditions.
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegation kept speaking, and Aleksander listened:
"We do indeed conduct a great deal of commerce with our allies within the Corporate Alliance, but it is effectively a closed system, more so since the war with the NPE began. We trade with eachother, generating wealth, but are cut off from the wider world, at least to a large extent. We have had some success marketing our products through front companies to nations which do not have trading agreements with us... but such things have recently backfired - as is witnessed by recent events in The World Soviet Party, where some damned norm escaped inside of a shipping crate, which is now leading to the front company we employed for the shippment he was in losing all credability. It is collapsing as we speak - soon we will have no choice but to liquidate its assets and attempt a new begining." the man kept speaking for a while after that, going on about various concerns, before making a closing appeal:
"In this modern era, we must increasingly turn to trade as a source of wealth. And not just trade in raw materials! That was fine when we were selling tin and lumber to buy rifles to pacify the tribesmen in the western steppes. Now we are an industrial power, with factories and cities of our own. Now we must sell to the world. In our father's time, conquest was the quickest route to wealth. When we beat the Northlanders, we nearly doubled our industrial capacity. Nowadays, though..." he trailed off for a moment, before begining again:
"Nowadays, though, we find that military conquest has continually lesser returns. Twelve years ago we took Paxton, and we barely broke even on the exchange. Four years ago we took Jenshalem, a tiny nation with huge oil reserves. There we were able to turn a profit. Now there is the matter of Saint Rynald, our most recent conquest. There are still guerillas and terrorists on the loose there, as is the case in Southlands Province. Already we have outdone ourselves in brutality, crucifying thousands and slaughtering tens of thousands... and, such tactics are working. Saint Rynald Province is being brought into a state of order. However, costs are rising. We are already in the red as far as Saint Rynald is concerned - we will need to work the norms there for years, in as brutal a fashion as possible, in order to break even with the costs of the occupation. Future conquests are likely to be even more costly." Aleksander nodded, and, taking the nod as a cue, the speaker continued:
"Military conquest is clearly not the way to go. Military actions cost more - in the past, even as late as the early phases of the war against Northland, all that you needed to have a deadly force was 10,000 bolt-action rifles and a few machine-guns. Now we need tanks and airplanes and carriers and airborn divisions and mechanized divisions. In other words, war has become more expensive. Already it is no longer a profitable venture." Aleksander nodded again, so he continued:
"So we need trade, we need trade if we are going to make the wealth we need." and the Leader of Undershi nodded for a third time, and smilled, and clapped, and asked:
"And how do you suggest we go about acquiring foreign contacts when no liberal nation would touch our products with a ten-foot-pole?"
The speaker smilled, and replied:
"A simple answer. Sell to developing nations."
Official Undershi Announcement
The Undershi Government is pleased to offer ultra low cost industrial machinery to developing nations. A wide range of options are available, including machinery for the production of textiles, steel, automobiles, chemicals and a wide range of other goods.
Interested parties are invited to contact the Undershi government.