富国强兵

[the following is what happen when you study too much Jap history, read too many fantasy books, being too imaginative, being bored]

To his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Empire,

I hereby write to you my rightful liege about the unfavourable situation that the empire is facing. Our empire has faced many foes throughout the course of our history but rarely had we faced foes so organized as the two superpowers at our doorstep now. It is no mystery to our citizens that the sky fleets of the Yc Empire were raiding our colonial possessions while the Varethian Empire in the north is reuniting and getting more and more dangerous. These I would like to emphasize to you my lord, has resulted in dire situations for our empire.

I understand that measures were adopted to stem the tide of aggression somewhat but these half hearted attempts were insufficient. Your Majesty sent regiments of DOW troops and hired mercenaries of the merchant guild to engage the sky fleets. However they were far too few and too expensive for an enterprise of this scale. This will sap the financial strength of our empire. With regards to the threat of war with the Varethians, raiding parties were sent. Unfortunately this move only serves to antagonize the enemy while doing nothing to sap their strength or eliminating the threat.

I implore you my lord, to be more aggressive, consistent and committed to our policies. Our Empire has the potential to be strong. Despite the massacres of the SOB regiments and the failure of the Vampire insurrection that we supported, our nation has recovered quickly from these setbacks. We should once again muster our strength and react. I suggest adopting at least some of the following policies to halt the tides of darkness.

1) Subdue the Shimazu clan and remoblise the resources of Nippon
2) Adopt the policies of General Nina Aikia and push for greater consolidation in the north
3) Make peace with the Yc empire since they are the strongest of our rivals
4) Build a national army and stop relying on feudal levies. Being the overlord of all who live in felt tents, your lordship could easily use your rights to build the beginnings of a national army.

I sincerely hope that your imperial highness would consider my proposals

- Your loyal subject, Uesugi Takamori