The walk back

[Greywall]

President Vokoyo had just finished overlooking the final signing of the UST new constitution, he had been very busy in the year following the end of the devastating war that left his nation in ruin. He had two years left in his initial term per the new constitution before public elections and it was clear militant leadership was taking over what was becoming his opposition in the United Council. 

To make matters complicated even more the death of Kumo Empress Shiriori had dropped the value of the Kumo Yairen which hurt reconstruction efforts in the Union, the domestic economy of the UST was suffering and with no foreign trade coming other than Kumo ships into Noscovo this left the nation recovering at a undesirable rate. Vokoyo knew he was left with two options, continue to let the UST recover at this painfully slow rate or walk back his stance Toulian trade practices. Mainly with the Tafatu and Frannerri. 

The Frannerri railway proposal would give them access to Frannerri ports in the Northern continent and vastly expand their trade output, it would hurt his pride, but he needed to do something or face losing re-election. He sent emissaries to the Tafatu Republic and Kingdom of Frannerre to discuss expanding trade relations. 

[callmedelta]

After receiving the UST emissaries, a meeting was set up in the Tafatu capital of Le Troi. The city had been recovering well from the Liberation War, as it was most commonly called in Franerre, but the scars were still visible for all to see. Despite that, Franerri hopes for the meeting were high, at least. The initial conference on the topic of railroads directly post-war may have failed, but with the Union reaching out, there still may be hope for Pan-Toulianism yet. Even if no deal with the UST could be made, Franerre had hoped to invest more into the recovery of Tafatu, before the Notch War and its fallout had put any stop to those plans. With the political dust of that conflict beginning to settle and the UST reaching out, it was impossible for Pareau to neglect the south any longer. Present at the meeting from the Franerri side would be Jean-Luc Leblanc, the Franerri Ambassador to Tafatu, as well as Léonard Devillers from the Franerri Bureau of Rail and Road.

[Greywall]

President Kendaya would clear his schedule to represent the Tafatu Republic, despite protests in the Tafatu Senate over the meeting Kendaya knew the only way forward progressively was to put the war in the past and try to forge a new future.

The UST President Vokoyo would arrive in Le Troi amid Tafatu protestors fiercely demanding he leave and burning UST flags in the streets. Not the greeting he was hoping for.

All parties would meet in the new Presidential Assembly Hall in Northern Le Troi, a rather decently sized building where the Tafatu President would reside in. At the front of the building were workings erecting a statue of a Tafatu soldier commemorating the war and the independence the Tafatu had to win. Surrounding it all the flags of the nations who supported and send souls to free the Tafatu. Kendaya always swelled with pride when he saw it, Vokoyo showed disdain at it. The parties would be escorted into a dining room where the meeting would take place, reporters were kept outside as they began. "Welcome to Le Troi, I hope your journeys here were good. I am pleased to have heard from you President Vokoyo...you're last correspondence was...not as promising as we'd like. But we're happy to finally hear from you."

Vokoyo nodded taking his seat at the table, "I'll cut to it, the UST would like to normalize relations with the Tafatu Republic and Kingdom of Frannerre. We want to establish an extensive trade agreement and cross rail network."

[callmedelta]

"I don't believe Franerre has any qualms with a normalization of relations," Jean-Luc said, "At least nothing to the extent of what's happening outside. I'd imagine if the Tafatu Republic could agree to a normalization, there wouldn't be any issue in Franerre whatsoever, and would make this entire railway deal go smoother." Jean-Luc looked to Leonard, who continued. "Let's discuss a rail network first. Franerre has recently came into quite a lot of aid money from Lusatia, so I believe the payment for such an undertaking would best be financed by low-interest loans from Franerre to Tafatu and the Union. Perhaps part of the expense of building the railway in Tafatu could shouldered by Franerre, given a good enough trade deal to be discussed later, but I don't believe any offer of the sort could be extended to the Union, unfortunately. We may not have the same objections as the Tafatu are, but you still don't have many friends in Franerre, Vokoyo, but perhaps that could change in time. I've prepared a few proposals for rail expansions, for both Tafatu and the Union, but they will depend upon exactly what both Tafatu and the Union hope to gain by this meeting. Is it simply a smaller connection of our existing rail lines, or were the both of you hoping for a larger Franerri investment into your rail infrastructure?"

[Greywall]

Vokoyo would speak first.

"It would be preferable to have Frannerri railways to invest in this, just East of us is the growing network of GWR a UKUG company, I will caution Frannerre on trying to over leverage yourselves on the Union. While we might not have friends in Tafatu or Frannerre, we could have friends elsewhere."


Kendaya shifted, he clearly didn't like Vokoyo's statement. "President Vokoyo, you speak as if the Tafatu Republic would tolerate anything that benefitted the nation that burned almost all our cities down and didn't get the terms pressed on it because of foreign interference at the peace conference. I want to move forward, but even if Frannerre would invest such a large expansion of rail networks into the UST and this isn't counting current investments in the Tafatu Republic. The UST would need to give us some kind of concession."

[callmedelta]

"Presidents, please, there is no need to get heated," Jean-Luc said, trying to cool down the conversation before it spiraled out of control. "Nobody at this conference is asking the UST and Tafatu to be friends. But money can be made by all our governments here, and that money can be used to improve the lives of our citizens. That should be the goal of every politician, but even if you're a more cynical man, it would be more likely to win you reelection." He turned to Kendaya. "If the Union is going to be shipping goods through Franerre and Tafatu, it's only fair that we're allowed to impose dues for the use of these railways and ports," Jean-Luc slid his gaze to Vokoyo, "But these dues should be set to reasonable rates as to not pose an undue amount of cost to Union manufacturers. Perhaps an amount of...2.5% of the total cost of the goods to both the Tafatu and Franerre each for the use of railways and ports?"

[Greywall]

Vokoyo leaned into his advisors as they whispered amongst themselves, he then returned to face the Frannerri. "We can agree to 2% of total cost."

Kendaya's expression soured slightly but he felt at the very least, the Union was being serious about actually making this happen. He retained his response for his allies in the Frannerre delegation.

[callmedelta]

Jean-Luc took note of Kendaya's face. "Four percent would be amenable to Franerre. If it's not so to our friends in Tafatu, then Franerre would also be willing to accept a 1.5% due to raise Tafatu's due up to my original proposed 2.5%. Is this amenable to you, President Kendaya?"

[Greywall]

Kendaya's eyes lit up hearing the Frannerri's proposal, he couldn't turn it down but he was still shocked at the support he received. "We accept, thank you very much."

Vokoyo pursed his lips before tapping his end of the table, "So when can construction begin?"

[callmedelta]

OOC note: the proposed expansions are in blue

---

Jean-Luc would cede the conversation to Devillers' expertise. "That would depend on exactly what the Union and Tafatu want from this meeting. I have three proposals." Devillers passed folders of papers to the representatives. "They are by no means finalized, but I don't believe any major modifications to each plan should be needed, except for deciding whether the track will be built to handle 20, 30, or 40 mile per hour speeds."

"The first is what might be considered the bare minimum," Devillers explained, "It consists of nothing more than linking already existing Union and Tafatu rail lines with the exception of a rail line from Juaz to Do'rville. The loans for this plan would be shorter term and higher interest compared to the other two proposals. I don't believe that this is the best proposal, but it would be the cheapest that would link the Union to Franerre's northern ports."

"This second proposal is the one that I believe would fit the requirements of the Union and Tafatu the best, even if it may need to be expanded or trimmed down," Devillers continued, "The largest expansion is in southern Tafatu, especially along the more densely populated Tafatu-Union border region. The loans for such a proposal would be for a longer term, but with lower interest."

"This final proposal is by far the largest and most expensive of them all. For Franerre to accept such a proposal would likely require economic concessions from the Union and Tafatu, given how much of Franerre's capital would be locked in such a project. Nevertheless, if either or both parties would be willing to pay such costs, the loans would be extremely long term, perhaps upwards of twenty-five years. The interest rates may be around the same levels as my second proposal, if they are part of the aforementioned economic concessions."

[Greywall]

Vokoyo and Kendaya both looked over the plans, they both seemed to agree on the second one.

"We can pay in Rand or Yairen." Vokoyo would say on the matter of the loan payments, "As for workers, we have plenty who need jobs"

Kendaya remained silent, he needed this railroad, it would drastically aid in uniting the Republic but it would put alot of trust in the UST in not cutting the rail network off at their borders.

[callmedelta]

Jean-Luc frowned. He didn't particularly want to trade in Kumo currency, but the Rand wasn't exactly a valuable currency, given the Union's economic situation. The Ambassador sighed. Holding onto some Rand may be a good idea, but the majority of the payment would probably need to be in Yairen. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be struck by an idea before he could. "Franerre would accept loan repayments in Yairen," he began, "But there may be another option. Given that you did wish to discuss trade relations today, there may be the chance that Franerre could import some goods of the Union's and pay in Parian. You could then use that Parian as currency to repay your loans. If the Union were to get their hands on any Tafatu currency, Franerre would also be willing to accept payment in that form as well." Jean-Luc meant to end it there, but in a flash of genius, he continued on. "What is the Rand backed by, if I may ask? If I recall correctly, the Rand was previously backed by gold, but Okeema ran the Union economy into the ground, and most of the Union's gold producing regions are in Tafatu now."

[Greywall]

"It's backed by credit, and no I don't agree to using the Parian. The Yairen is a stronger currency and I must insist on it being used or the Rand."

[callmedelta]

Jean-Luc shrugged. "Yairen it is then. Now, unless either of you two have anything further to ask about the rail lines, I believe we can move onto trade negotiations. I know the southern coast is where most of the Union's industrialized territories are, but I can't say I'm knowledgeable as to what the factories themselves produce. As for Tafatu, I know you have vast quantities of gold, but I know little beyond that either, I'm afraid. What exactly can your two nations offer Franerre?"

[Greywall]

Kendaya raised his hand, "Just a moment please." He turned to President Vokoyo, "I want a demilitarized zone in the North near Juaz."

Vokoyo's eyes widened with anger, "Of course, here we go, more demands from the Tafatu" he said with venom, Kendaya tried to keep his cool but felt the coals of anger burning in his forehead, his eyes firing laser beams of agitation at his rival "Juaz is heavily fortified still from the UST war, you have a large portion of the Union military there."

Vokoyo cut him off, "To prevent more gallivant stupidity from you and your puppeteers from invading my nation!"

Kendaya tried to wrestle control back to a more cooled down point, "This is going to be a key trade deal, and having your guns point at us will only cause unnecessary delays in progress."

Vokoyo rubbed his forehead, his was furious at present over 55,000 Union soldiers were stationed at the Northern border. Some of the best that remained in the Union army following the massive disarmament the Union had to face during the following months of the war ending and of course the fact many were still prisoners of war in the Tafatu Republic. "I want all of our prisoners then, officers included, returned to the UST. Then i'll consider it."