Munehiro looked beyond the podium nervously; he had seen his grandfather and, more of than not, his father deliver these addresses to the annual National Liberal Congress; his father had a particular knack for them – perhaps that was why he had been made a spokesman for Kusaribe-san’s business. He glanced down at his notes, and sighed lightly. It wasn’t as though he had never delivered a speech before – he had even given on at the Congress three years ago, before the war… though that was different, not much had been expected of him… – and besides, it wasn’t as though he was speaking to strangers. He knew almost all of the faces before him, certainly in the upper rows: associates of his father and grandfather, and behind them, his own comrades. Most of them were older than him, of course, but even so he had always been welcomed – he was the grandson of the Prime Minister after all, and the son-in-law of the Commander in Chief of the Armies as well. He doubted few people would be opposed to being friends with him.
Still, as his eyes scanned the room one final time, he couldn’t help but feel anxious. His eyes fell upon the empty seats in the front row; he frowned and turned back to his notes. He cleared his throat and, with a half-formed smile, a weak smile, he began.
We have arrived here to celebrate another anniversary of this illustrious party’s founding, and to once again determine the leadership and future course of the National Liberals, and with it the entire Empire. We have, for three decades, stayed tirelessly at the helm of this nation, fighting foreign imperialists and asserting our position nationally as an economic and military powerhouse, the counter-balance to the West, the hegemon of Asia.
We could never have done so without the determined and inspired leadership of our forebears – he glanced down again at the empty seats that lined the front row ominously – and yet now, in this time of insecure peace, in this time of uncertainty, we must not waver, for if we falter, if we abandon their ideals and back away from the supreme confidence that they held in this nation, we will be left behind, a straggler in the world stage. To change course now, to concede defeat and wallow in weakness and defeat, is to strike our forebears, to sully their legacy, and to abandon our fatherland. I cannot bring myself to commit such cowardice.
Some would say the great and terrible defeat at Khabarovsk is a sign that we have overreached, that we have followed the wrong path, that the policies instated and pursued vigorously by our predecessors was the cause of that defeat. To them, I scorn them. To them, I mock them. To them, I laugh at them. For they chosen not to pursue glory and excellence, they have chosen not to reach for the high heavens, they have chosen not to reach the potential innately born within every son of the Emperor, for every child of the land of the Rising Sun. That battle, that great and awesome and terrible battle, was a testament to both how far we have come, and how much farther we must go before the dreams of our forebears is truly realised – we stood against the combined might of Britain and Russia, the two greatest of the Western Powers, and we held them. We drove them from our homes and our lands, and we pursued them, and very nearly broke them.
Lessons must be learnt from the defeat, and they shall. But not from men who hide from glory, who shrug off the mantle thrust upon them by the bloody arms of their comrade, pleading with their dying breaths to continue the fight. No, they will not lead us, for they cannot lead us. We are a nation of warriors, of brave men… and we will rise from this defeat like the Sun, and we shall reach our apex. We shall bring Asia into civility and into unity over the Western Powers.
The armies have been bloodied, but they have not been broken. Our will shaken, but forever unyielding. We shall rebuild. We shall rebuild, and we shall become stronger than ever. I place my utmost faith in my brothers and sisters, we the heirs of the Yamato, we the conquerors of Chosen, we who drove out the Westerners where all other Asians have failed.
It is only through good leadership, strong leadership, that we can do so – there is no other leader fit to command the Japanese, for we are a proud, strong people. I believe that General Yamagata, a hero of the Boshin War, and a veteran of countless battles and triumphant wars, is the man who should – who must – lead our party and nation. We must rebuild, we must recover, and we must impress upon our foes that we have not been broken, nor will we ever be broken.
In the name of Date and Asano, in the name of the Emperor, in the name of Japan, let us rise again!
Leader: Yamagata
[Militarist]
[Masters of the Empire; +4, Constitutional Bonus; +1]
~ Count Date Munehiro
Still, as his eyes scanned the room one final time, he couldn’t help but feel anxious. His eyes fell upon the empty seats in the front row; he frowned and turned back to his notes. He cleared his throat and, with a half-formed smile, a weak smile, he began.
We have arrived here to celebrate another anniversary of this illustrious party’s founding, and to once again determine the leadership and future course of the National Liberals, and with it the entire Empire. We have, for three decades, stayed tirelessly at the helm of this nation, fighting foreign imperialists and asserting our position nationally as an economic and military powerhouse, the counter-balance to the West, the hegemon of Asia.
We could never have done so without the determined and inspired leadership of our forebears – he glanced down again at the empty seats that lined the front row ominously – and yet now, in this time of insecure peace, in this time of uncertainty, we must not waver, for if we falter, if we abandon their ideals and back away from the supreme confidence that they held in this nation, we will be left behind, a straggler in the world stage. To change course now, to concede defeat and wallow in weakness and defeat, is to strike our forebears, to sully their legacy, and to abandon our fatherland. I cannot bring myself to commit such cowardice.
Some would say the great and terrible defeat at Khabarovsk is a sign that we have overreached, that we have followed the wrong path, that the policies instated and pursued vigorously by our predecessors was the cause of that defeat. To them, I scorn them. To them, I mock them. To them, I laugh at them. For they chosen not to pursue glory and excellence, they have chosen not to reach for the high heavens, they have chosen not to reach the potential innately born within every son of the Emperor, for every child of the land of the Rising Sun. That battle, that great and awesome and terrible battle, was a testament to both how far we have come, and how much farther we must go before the dreams of our forebears is truly realised – we stood against the combined might of Britain and Russia, the two greatest of the Western Powers, and we held them. We drove them from our homes and our lands, and we pursued them, and very nearly broke them.
Lessons must be learnt from the defeat, and they shall. But not from men who hide from glory, who shrug off the mantle thrust upon them by the bloody arms of their comrade, pleading with their dying breaths to continue the fight. No, they will not lead us, for they cannot lead us. We are a nation of warriors, of brave men… and we will rise from this defeat like the Sun, and we shall reach our apex. We shall bring Asia into civility and into unity over the Western Powers.
The armies have been bloodied, but they have not been broken. Our will shaken, but forever unyielding. We shall rebuild. We shall rebuild, and we shall become stronger than ever. I place my utmost faith in my brothers and sisters, we the heirs of the Yamato, we the conquerors of Chosen, we who drove out the Westerners where all other Asians have failed.
It is only through good leadership, strong leadership, that we can do so – there is no other leader fit to command the Japanese, for we are a proud, strong people. I believe that General Yamagata, a hero of the Boshin War, and a veteran of countless battles and triumphant wars, is the man who should – who must – lead our party and nation. We must rebuild, we must recover, and we must impress upon our foes that we have not been broken, nor will we ever be broken.
In the name of Date and Asano, in the name of the Emperor, in the name of Japan, let us rise again!
-
Leader: Yamagata
[Militarist]
[Masters of the Empire; +4, Constitutional Bonus; +1]
~ Count Date Munehiro
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