Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Diplomatic Skills

The dinner ended in a good mood.

"That was a delicious meal, Mr.Kajir," Kuzon said with a polite and soft smile.

"It's given," Kajir chuckled.

"By the way, this city has a recent problem. Do you mind giving me your opinion about it?" Kajir asked.

This was the time. It was now time to strike!

"Of course Mr.Kajir! It would be my honor!" Kuzon said resolutely. Kajir nodded amusedly and presented a paper in front of Kuzon and said.

Kuzon grabbed the paper and read it thoroughly, from time to time his brows would crease and he would nod as if he understood the content.

"So basically the entire essence of this paper is the Economic Downturns of Zhanfeng city?" Kuzon clarified to which Kajir nodded.

"You are correct, I don't know why or how but lately the economy of Zhanfeng is slowly going downhill. I have invested a lot of my money and the city's money in the production of Zhan Silk so much so that I left other sectors, but the city's treasury isn't getting any richer nor mine." Kajir said with a frustrated sigh. From that alone Kuzon fighred what has gone wrong.

Zhan Silk is the signature product of Zhanfeng Silk, created from an easily harvestable plant called Zhan. That is also one of the reason why Zhanfeng got its name.

However due to the city's overreliance on that product some things have gone downhill once a problem occurred.

What will happen when a city invests too much on one particular sector leaving another equally important sector to rot. The economy would stagnate, and eventually die.

"Hmmm, it may be preposterous of me to say but investing too much in one sector is quite an unwise decision, it kills the diversity of one's economy." Kuzon said then he started to explain.

"If you were to invest on one thing too much, other sectors are bound to get left behind, killing the diversity of the city's economy. This would cause an economic downturn once supply and demand for that particular product disappears. If I would guess then I presume that another product of the same quality to ours Zhan Silk appeared am I right?" Kuzon deduced which was on point. Kajir was impressed by Kuzon's ability to figure out that his image already started getting better inside his mind.

"You are correct. So what do you think would be the best action to solve it?"

Kuzon pondered for a moment before stating.

"I have three solutions to that problem." Kajir was taken by surprise.

Three solutions? How did he come up with three when he can't even come up with one? And he has been dealing with this problem for quite a time compared to Kuzon who just saw it for the first time.

If what Kuzon says is true then this kid would be invaluable to him.

"The first solution is Foster Economic Diversification. Encourage the growth of diverse industries to reduce reliance on a single sector, promoting resilience in the face of economic fluctuations. I would suggest that we invest in other sectors of our city such as agriculture, maritime, and many more sectors."

"My second solution is by Supporting Local Businesses. Provide small business loans, technical assistance, and marketing support to help local entrepreneurs thrive and create jobs. This one is pretty self explanatory. Not only would it help the city's treasury it would also help the people. Once the people have money, they have wealth to pay for tax. Once they have enough money for tax we could collect those taxes and put them in cycle. Invest, collect, and profit."

"And for my third solution we should Invest in Job Training Programs. Partner with educational institutions and employers to offer training programs tailored to the needs of emerging industries, equipping residents with skills for high-demand jobs. This would one create supply to the manpower demand our sector would need once our economy started to recover."

By the time Kuzon was done Kajir had his mouth fully agape. These were the solutions that he didn't think of, most likely because these solutions were 21st and 20th century knowledge while the knowledge he had access to was only equal to medieval.

"T-that's… very impressive. I didn't think of those solutions." Kajir admitted.

"I-it wasn't much, Mr.Kajir" Kuzon scratched the back of his neck and bowed in embarrassment.

"You are very skilled. And smart. I'm thoroughly impressed." Kajir complimented genuinely. He really meant those words. He had advisors and councils but none of those old and incompetent people gave him any useful solution. All they care about is filling their own pocket.

"Truly it was not much, Mr.Kajir I'm sure you would've thought this up earlier or sooner, you are just busy with things." Kuzon said with sincerity so much so that Kajir agreed with him.

Now that Kajir thinks of it. If he were given ample time and space maybe he would've thought of it.

And that was what Kuzon wanted for Kajir to think. The very first rule on The 48 Laws of Power is to never outshine your superior.

Outshine them and you will invite catastrophe. Instead, impress them and give the credit to them. Make them feel powerful, invulnerable, invincible, when one is too positioned at a higher elevation, when they fall, it would hurt more painfully. Never try to compete with them unless you have the absolute advantage.

This was evident when Nicolas Fouqet appeared larger than his king Louis XIV, this caused him to be incarcerated.

"You're probably right, Kuzon." Kajir said in a relief. He felt not so inferior after Kuzon pointed it out.

"And this entire time you're working as a house servant? What a waste of talent!" Kajir stood up from his seat and cried.

"Your talent is too much to waste on such trivial jobs! Kuzon! I will hire you! From now on your work will not be as a clan servant but inside the city lord's office!"

"From now on you're my City Lord's Minor Advisor!"

******

"Truly gullible." Kuzon or should I say Jiran chuckled. He just provided Kajir with the most basic political knowledge and the latter was already super impressed.

"Now time for phase two of the plan." Jiran said with a smile. With Phase 1 complete it would now be time for Phase 2.

This would be a lengthy and quite tiresome process but the result would be worth it. By the time his plan is fully realized not only the city would be his but also the three talents.

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