The Next Prince, Chapter 41 pg4
The Next Prince, Chapter 41 pg4
“Dad always says Uncle Waseen is soft hearted.”
“Soft hearted? Then tell me, which soft hearted person can tell someone that their child is stupid to their face.” Khanin brought up yesterday’s conversation, the words that Ramil said to him still lingered in his mind.
“...”
“Which soft hearted person can read the game that I played with you, and still know that you will lose.”
“...”
“You yourself know that a soft hearted person can’t possibly observe the game I was playing and decide who will win or lose.”
“...”
“Or, if he is really soft hearted, it means he must have experienced this before, which means he himself must have participated in this type of game, or maybe Uncle Waseen has never been a soft hearted person, but had to show it to everyone because the environment dictated it...” Khanin lowered his gaze, observing the interesting reactions of the older boys. Ramil seemed to have just remembered something, while the other was still bewildered.
The competition between him and Ramil cannot be decided immediately. Outsiders think he has the right to lose throughout, although the rules emphasize the importance of the budget, the points are only worth thirty percent.
So why does Uncle Waseen seem so confident that he will defeat Ramil to such an extent... or maybe Uncle doesn’t have any confidence at all. He just wants Rachata and Ramil to think in a different direction.
“The environment is such that it’s possible... because in the past, Meenakarin was not like this. Dad often speaks of Meenakarin as once a prosperous city. It had both bubble tea and bird nests, and it had a coastal area, another important food source.” After a pause, Khanin revealed new information. In his eyes, there was a growing intensity and danger.
“...”
“But the Meenakarin declined due to natural disasters, and Royal Uncle
Waseen’s poor decision making... When it declined, Grandpa lent a hand by restoring Meenakarin through the government, as well as providing financial aid, not long after, Meenakarin decided to build a high speed train...”
“...”
“At that time, everyone thought Meenakarin would have to join either Atsawathewathin or Thawetmetha, but ultimately Uncle Waseen teamed up with my dad. Meenakarin had problems with Atsawathewathin because Uncle Waseen pushed for it to be created, my dad said that he did it because he wanted his own trade routes, so that he wouldn’t have to rely on Atsawathewathin for transportation, and he could reduce the cost of transporting seafood throughout the country.”
“But in the end, did he do it? Because I didn’t hear the teacher talk about this during class.” Khanin tried to recall, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t remember if Emmaly, the high speed train, was ever mentioned, which Ramil replied to.
“Yes, he didn’t. Because Meenakarin didn’t have the money. Before building... the capital required signing an agreement specifying that if he were to build, it had to have five primary cities as both starting and ending points, the country would only allow the construction to be for twenty years, after which it had to become the property of the country... that’s why my dad didn’t want to do it.”
“...”
“And at that time, the Sovereign King himself lent the money to
Meenakarin, not taking interest, but requesting for full repayment within five years...and then where would Meenakarin get the money to repay. If he were to borrow from foreign sources, he would need approval from the central bank first, and where would he get the additional funds to pay for the various lands?...”
“...”
“My father prepared money only to build the road connecting my city to the capital and Meenakarin, and it would be impossible to help Meenakarin pay off his debts as a shareholder.”
“What happened after that?”
“My father had said that in the end, Uncle Waseen went to plead with Prince Tarin about expanding the debt repayment, requesting to be seen again by the Sovereign King, but negotiations seemed to fall through, and you and my mother...were assassinated before anything could be resolved.”
“Ah...” Actually, he had already read about this in old news, but when he heard it from Khanin his heart sank.
People close by can detect emotions, and the grip on Khanin’s arm tightened until he had to turn and whisper softly, “What’s wrong?”
But instead of calming down, his sharp eyes flipped down to observe himself. Khanin noticed the sadness in the glimmer of those pairs of eyes, and the young man left his gaze fixed on the face of Charan. Until Ramil spoke up again.
“That’s it. In the end, we didn’t create...we just let the issue go like that, and my father withdrew from the high speed railway project, uninvolved with this issue.”
“So, did Meenakarin repay the debt to the Sovereign King?” Luckily, he was able to adjust his mood quickly so as to not look too depressed. Khanin pulled his attention away from his sorrow.
“He paid...I think, I don’t know by what means. Because in the end, Meenakarin was able to get his debt all paid but I still don’t see the state’s finances improving.” Ramil answered the question unconcernedly, but that made Khanin connect a few things in his head.
“Maybe they had to impose higher local taxes to repay the debt. If so, it would be difficult for the people in the state...right, Mira?” The young royal turned to the one who had been sitting silently the whole time, the only young woman in this place. She looked back and gave a faint smile as the answer.
“Yes...we have had such a difficult time that we even had to generate our own electricity.”
The young man still had a good memory of the day he invited Mira to join the team.
Comments
Post a Comment