Eternity RPC Board
11-22-2017, 03:22 PM
Bolo, Republic of Mayari | Alvan, 1587
While the discussions have been so far constructive and relatively friendly in the Masino Termulo Civic Center, a tense argument started between Tôn Dùc Vang, the leader of the National Federation of Labour Organizations, and Luông Thành Binh, the veteran General Secretary of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions had started about a rather trivial topic: if regional councils should send delegates to the national secretariat, or if they should be limited to implement established agreements. Many of remaining 112 delegates to the congress (a few had left to nearby tea houses or were taking a nap in the hall or upper floors) barely followed the discussions with apathy or boredom.
"Companions, comrades!", Doàn Quang Nguyên, who had been elected the deputy chairman of the committee who organized the congress, interrupted them. "Let's take a break. This is going nowhere, and many of us are visibly tired. These have been very intense two days, let's not ruin what we achieved so far. After some rest, I am certain that we will return to this topic with a more constructive spirit and clearer mind. I propose that we take a 5-hour break and see then if we can advance on this topic". The proposal was accepted by a clear majority.
Vang approached Binh to exchange a few words. Both were visibly tired -Vang sweating considerably-, and although their short conversation wasn't exactly friendly, they departed without sign of hostility - at least compared to just five minutes before.
"I need to sleep", Tôn Dùc Vang told Dàm Vân Chì, who had become one of Vang's closest allies in recent times. Both men met in Tiejungo shortly after the 1579 political crisis. By then, Tôn Dùc Vang had lived more than twenty-years in exile, and he was respected by the most radical factions of the Hoinomese worker's movement. Tôn Dùc Vang came from an impoverished middle-class, an started working as lithographer in his early teens. At age 24, he had already created an union of typographer, involved in several workers strikes, and was a leading member of the League of Workers, a far-left organization, considered too radical even for the tiny Hoinomese Communist Party. Soon, many of their leaders were arrested by the Hoinomese police, and tortured and executed. Vang was luckied, and only spent 14 years in prison. Shortly afterwards, he was forced to leave the country. The wounds of his jail years, and maybe torture, could be still seen in his won face. Dàm Vân Chì, on the other hand, had worked most of his life as sailor. He lacked political experience, but he had visited many countries and he was able to speak at least five languages - although he spoke poorly most of them, but enough to survive. Vang, on the other hand, had never been abroad before leaving to exile and, even today, after so many years, his own world was limited to the Hôi language. Nevertheless, with Chì's help, Tôn Dùc Vang became the undisputed leader of the recently created National Federation of Labour Organizations, which soon displaced the National Union of Workers, the nationalist trade union, becoming the second largest trade union in the Imperial Kingdom of Hôinôm.
On the other hand, Luông Thành Binh, who became General Secretary of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in 1581, was a men interested in more practical issues, and unlike Tôn Dùc Vang, was not interested in ideological debates or political theory. He had remained in Hôinôm as well, despite spending several years in Hoinomese prisons. After hotel industry trade unions from Nam Dihn joined the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in the early 1580s, this became the largest trade union in Hôinôm, and Luông Thành Binh was able to strengthen its apolitical orientation. Binh considered that trade unions shouldn't be involved in political issues, except when the interests of the workers and the trade union was directly involved. For this reason, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions did not officially campaign for left-wing candidates for the 1585 parliamentary election, although some of its local branches did. However, this didn't help the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, established in 1570, who found many of its local leaders and most active militants in jail or disappeared. Although trade unions were able to register and be recognized by the state after a 1580 legal reform, workers strikes were still illegal in Hôinôm. And when Quang Công Quang became Prime Minister, repression against trade unions intensified, specially afer 1585.
"We need to find a better alternative on this issue", Luông Thành Binh said to a group of delegates as soon as Tôn Dùc Vang told Dàm Vân Chì had left. "Wait me in the third pavilion in twenty minutes...I need to eat something first".
Meanwhile, Dàm Vân Chì had already separated from Tôn Dúc Vang, and he was already leaving the hall, which looked in a rather ruinous state, compared to the upper floors. The Masino Termulo Civic Center, previously a state school, had been ceded to the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions for four days thanks to a deal with the Mayari communist party, which Chì found hilarious somehow. Before leaving, he smiled to a group of young Hoinomese and Mayari ladies who were preparing tea in the main hall.
Dàm Vân Chì left behind the Masino Termulo Civic Center, walking as fast as he could. He knew he hadn't much time. He descended through the nearby long avenue, until he reached the train station. He bought a return ticket while he was nervously waiting for the train to come. 'I will barely have time to come back', he thought. But the train suddenly came and Chì hadn't much time to be lost in his own thoughts.
About forty-five minutes later, Chì left the train in another train station, quite smaller than Bolo. "So I have only two hours left", he thought. Not without struggle, he found the district he was looking for. The buildings were quite high, at least 14 floors, with reddish walls. 'These buildings should have been quite impressive when they were built', Chì thought, 'but now even that old Bolo school looks new in comparison'. Nevertheless, he kept walking toward a nearby courtyard.
"Where could I find Mr. Teum?", Chì asked to an old lady. He repeated again trying to improve his accent.
Finally, a younger woman understood him. "Do you mean that old strange man?", she said. "Yes, wait, I'll ask Oswaldo". Then she left for at least twenty minutes. Chì wondered if this was a good idea after all.
Instead of the woman, a man came back, who talked Chì in Hôi language, but poorly spoken. Chì felt that the man was probably an ethnic Bhmer. The man invited Chì to his own home, prepared him a tea, and after a ten-minute conversation, led Chì to nearby, smaller appartment.
An old man opened the door. Whatever his age, the old man looked twenty years older. He was invited to sit down, and was offered a cup of tea again, which he rejected this time. Both men kept talking -likely in Bhmer language, Chì thought- for another ten minutes. They talked mostly as if Chì wasn't there, only the Bhmer man looked at him from time to time.
"How did things go in Bolo", the old man suddenly asked Chì.
"Well, they were as well as they could", Dàm Vân Chì asked.
"What's your profession?", the man asked. "Are you a worker?".
"I have had different jobs", Chî answered. "But I have been a seaman most of my life, even if not for a while?".
"A sailor?", he said. "That's interesting. I had the chance to meet many while in Tiejungo. Most of the people I met there actually worked in the port. They are independent minded, but not very organized outside the sea, if you understand what I mean".
"I guess so", Dàm Vân Chì answered.
"How have you found this country?", the man asked.
"Mayari? Dàm Vân Chì replied. "Well, I was never in this town. I visited it many times in the past, but mostly the southern coast. I lived in Larrazabal for almost two years. But I have never visited the inland provinces...But somehow everything here seems always about to collapse, even the buildings".
"Indeed", the man replied, this time with a smile. "It looks like the country is always about to collapse...everything about to turn into ruins, but actually it never does. Like a growing but infinite crack. While there north, everything looks quite strong and threatening, but it suddenly collapses, when you didn't expect it. And again, higher walls, prisons, and palaces are built. Well, I haven't been there in decades, but it feels still so. A nation never changes, unless it is destroyed".
"Well, things changed and didn't changed at the same time, I'd say", Chì said, unsure what to add after such dreadful turn. "But I understand that feeling", he continued. "Even if not that many years, it's always difficult to return to land after a long time on the sea. It could be so once, at least".
"Where are you from?", the man suddenly asked.
"I was born in Biam Hông province", Chì answered. "But my family moved to Bâc Duong when I was still a child".
"A fateful decision", my grandparents would have said", the man replied. "Personally, I was only twice in Bâc Duong. I never liked it much. Things turned really ugly there in 1550".
"I was only a child", Chì said. "But so I heard".
"They ruined everything, ones with their speeches and good manners, the others with their masteful plans and organized discipline", the man said. "Do you smoke", he suddenly asked.
"I do, wel, sometimes", Chì replied.
"I did as well when I was much younger", the man said. "My generation used to smoke like chimneys. But I stopped decades ago. It's not just about my health. I don't pretend to live long. But how does a person pretend to destroy a plant if he can't beat the tyranny of a plant?".
"Well, I don't really smoke that much, just a bit", Chì replied. "And destroying a state is way out of our hands right now".
"Mr. Teum", Dàm Vân Chì said after a pause, "are you Tuân...?".
"A name is just a name", the main interrupted him. "It's getting late. Let me show you something before you leave".
While the discussions have been so far constructive and relatively friendly in the Masino Termulo Civic Center, a tense argument started between Tôn Dùc Vang, the leader of the National Federation of Labour Organizations, and Luông Thành Binh, the veteran General Secretary of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions had started about a rather trivial topic: if regional councils should send delegates to the national secretariat, or if they should be limited to implement established agreements. Many of remaining 112 delegates to the congress (a few had left to nearby tea houses or were taking a nap in the hall or upper floors) barely followed the discussions with apathy or boredom.
"Companions, comrades!", Doàn Quang Nguyên, who had been elected the deputy chairman of the committee who organized the congress, interrupted them. "Let's take a break. This is going nowhere, and many of us are visibly tired. These have been very intense two days, let's not ruin what we achieved so far. After some rest, I am certain that we will return to this topic with a more constructive spirit and clearer mind. I propose that we take a 5-hour break and see then if we can advance on this topic". The proposal was accepted by a clear majority.
Vang approached Binh to exchange a few words. Both were visibly tired -Vang sweating considerably-, and although their short conversation wasn't exactly friendly, they departed without sign of hostility - at least compared to just five minutes before.
"I need to sleep", Tôn Dùc Vang told Dàm Vân Chì, who had become one of Vang's closest allies in recent times. Both men met in Tiejungo shortly after the 1579 political crisis. By then, Tôn Dùc Vang had lived more than twenty-years in exile, and he was respected by the most radical factions of the Hoinomese worker's movement. Tôn Dùc Vang came from an impoverished middle-class, an started working as lithographer in his early teens. At age 24, he had already created an union of typographer, involved in several workers strikes, and was a leading member of the League of Workers, a far-left organization, considered too radical even for the tiny Hoinomese Communist Party. Soon, many of their leaders were arrested by the Hoinomese police, and tortured and executed. Vang was luckied, and only spent 14 years in prison. Shortly afterwards, he was forced to leave the country. The wounds of his jail years, and maybe torture, could be still seen in his won face. Dàm Vân Chì, on the other hand, had worked most of his life as sailor. He lacked political experience, but he had visited many countries and he was able to speak at least five languages - although he spoke poorly most of them, but enough to survive. Vang, on the other hand, had never been abroad before leaving to exile and, even today, after so many years, his own world was limited to the Hôi language. Nevertheless, with Chì's help, Tôn Dùc Vang became the undisputed leader of the recently created National Federation of Labour Organizations, which soon displaced the National Union of Workers, the nationalist trade union, becoming the second largest trade union in the Imperial Kingdom of Hôinôm.
On the other hand, Luông Thành Binh, who became General Secretary of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in 1581, was a men interested in more practical issues, and unlike Tôn Dùc Vang, was not interested in ideological debates or political theory. He had remained in Hôinôm as well, despite spending several years in Hoinomese prisons. After hotel industry trade unions from Nam Dihn joined the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in the early 1580s, this became the largest trade union in Hôinôm, and Luông Thành Binh was able to strengthen its apolitical orientation. Binh considered that trade unions shouldn't be involved in political issues, except when the interests of the workers and the trade union was directly involved. For this reason, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions did not officially campaign for left-wing candidates for the 1585 parliamentary election, although some of its local branches did. However, this didn't help the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, established in 1570, who found many of its local leaders and most active militants in jail or disappeared. Although trade unions were able to register and be recognized by the state after a 1580 legal reform, workers strikes were still illegal in Hôinôm. And when Quang Công Quang became Prime Minister, repression against trade unions intensified, specially afer 1585.
"We need to find a better alternative on this issue", Luông Thành Binh said to a group of delegates as soon as Tôn Dùc Vang told Dàm Vân Chì had left. "Wait me in the third pavilion in twenty minutes...I need to eat something first".
Meanwhile, Dàm Vân Chì had already separated from Tôn Dúc Vang, and he was already leaving the hall, which looked in a rather ruinous state, compared to the upper floors. The Masino Termulo Civic Center, previously a state school, had been ceded to the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions for four days thanks to a deal with the Mayari communist party, which Chì found hilarious somehow. Before leaving, he smiled to a group of young Hoinomese and Mayari ladies who were preparing tea in the main hall.
Dàm Vân Chì left behind the Masino Termulo Civic Center, walking as fast as he could. He knew he hadn't much time. He descended through the nearby long avenue, until he reached the train station. He bought a return ticket while he was nervously waiting for the train to come. 'I will barely have time to come back', he thought. But the train suddenly came and Chì hadn't much time to be lost in his own thoughts.
About forty-five minutes later, Chì left the train in another train station, quite smaller than Bolo. "So I have only two hours left", he thought. Not without struggle, he found the district he was looking for. The buildings were quite high, at least 14 floors, with reddish walls. 'These buildings should have been quite impressive when they were built', Chì thought, 'but now even that old Bolo school looks new in comparison'. Nevertheless, he kept walking toward a nearby courtyard.
"Where could I find Mr. Teum?", Chì asked to an old lady. He repeated again trying to improve his accent.
Finally, a younger woman understood him. "Do you mean that old strange man?", she said. "Yes, wait, I'll ask Oswaldo". Then she left for at least twenty minutes. Chì wondered if this was a good idea after all.
Instead of the woman, a man came back, who talked Chì in Hôi language, but poorly spoken. Chì felt that the man was probably an ethnic Bhmer. The man invited Chì to his own home, prepared him a tea, and after a ten-minute conversation, led Chì to nearby, smaller appartment.
An old man opened the door. Whatever his age, the old man looked twenty years older. He was invited to sit down, and was offered a cup of tea again, which he rejected this time. Both men kept talking -likely in Bhmer language, Chì thought- for another ten minutes. They talked mostly as if Chì wasn't there, only the Bhmer man looked at him from time to time.
"How did things go in Bolo", the old man suddenly asked Chì.
"Well, they were as well as they could", Dàm Vân Chì asked.
"What's your profession?", the man asked. "Are you a worker?".
"I have had different jobs", Chî answered. "But I have been a seaman most of my life, even if not for a while?".
"A sailor?", he said. "That's interesting. I had the chance to meet many while in Tiejungo. Most of the people I met there actually worked in the port. They are independent minded, but not very organized outside the sea, if you understand what I mean".
"I guess so", Dàm Vân Chì answered.
"How have you found this country?", the man asked.
"Mayari? Dàm Vân Chì replied. "Well, I was never in this town. I visited it many times in the past, but mostly the southern coast. I lived in Larrazabal for almost two years. But I have never visited the inland provinces...But somehow everything here seems always about to collapse, even the buildings".
"Indeed", the man replied, this time with a smile. "It looks like the country is always about to collapse...everything about to turn into ruins, but actually it never does. Like a growing but infinite crack. While there north, everything looks quite strong and threatening, but it suddenly collapses, when you didn't expect it. And again, higher walls, prisons, and palaces are built. Well, I haven't been there in decades, but it feels still so. A nation never changes, unless it is destroyed".
"Well, things changed and didn't changed at the same time, I'd say", Chì said, unsure what to add after such dreadful turn. "But I understand that feeling", he continued. "Even if not that many years, it's always difficult to return to land after a long time on the sea. It could be so once, at least".
"Where are you from?", the man suddenly asked.
"I was born in Biam Hông province", Chì answered. "But my family moved to Bâc Duong when I was still a child".
"A fateful decision", my grandparents would have said", the man replied. "Personally, I was only twice in Bâc Duong. I never liked it much. Things turned really ugly there in 1550".
"I was only a child", Chì said. "But so I heard".
"They ruined everything, ones with their speeches and good manners, the others with their masteful plans and organized discipline", the man said. "Do you smoke", he suddenly asked.
"I do, wel, sometimes", Chì replied.
"I did as well when I was much younger", the man said. "My generation used to smoke like chimneys. But I stopped decades ago. It's not just about my health. I don't pretend to live long. But how does a person pretend to destroy a plant if he can't beat the tyranny of a plant?".
"Well, I don't really smoke that much, just a bit", Chì replied. "And destroying a state is way out of our hands right now".
"Mr. Teum", Dàm Vân Chì said after a pause, "are you Tuân...?".
"A name is just a name", the main interrupted him. "It's getting late. Let me show you something before you leave".