Children had not been getting the communicators, as Kendall and his cronies had shied from making the expensive devices for youngsters. That had hobbled their educational opportunities, as all the school courses were on-line. Matt issued orders to dedicate the electronics factory to building communicators until everyone age four and above had one, and there was inventory to cover everyone under age four who was coming up. They were given free to every youngster.
Navigating the downtown, whether on foot or by car, was getting more and more difficult. The large amount of foot traffic between the four main downtown buildings clotted the intersection of Quant Boulevard and Arcadia Boulevard, which backed up traffic on both thoroughfares. Those backups drove traffic to the neighboring side streets. And crossing Quant or Arcadia on foot had become perilous as frustrated drivers took chances.
The planning group found a solution in the archives. The original plan had been to join the four main downtown buildings with a square of aerial walkways on the third floor level. That was why each building had a large elevator lobby on the third floor in the corner toward the intersection. There were even plans for the enclosed walkways in the colony headquarters archives. They had never been constructed as the Kendall governments squandered money on other things.
Matt authorized that construction to get under way. While it was ongoing, the intersection would be closed to vehicle traffic, so he temporarily made the first street to either side of the intersection – First Street, A Street, Market Street, and University Street – one way for four blocks through the downtown.
The biggest change to come out of the archives, though, came from an economic and monetary plan for the colony. For a given level of population, a certain amount of currency in circulation was required to support economic activity at the optimum level. Too little currency, and the economy would grow more slowly. Too much currency, and you would fuel an inflationary bubble as the currency exceeded growth in production.
With their emphasis on taxes, the Kendall regimes had actually grown the money supply at less than the optimum level as the colony grew. The economic growth of the colony had been held back by their tight fiscal policy. With overall government salary payouts down now due to Matt’s streamlining, there was a danger of deflationary recession.
Matt declared a tax holiday through the end of the fiftieth anniversary year of the colony, and funded the government by simply printing the money. That wouldn’t get the amount of currency in circulation quite up to where it should be, but it would start to close the gap.
One thing Matt did just to stick a thumb in the eye of the Kendall governments. He authorized the construction of two dozen of the armored limousines by the vehicle factory, for sale to private citizens.
He eschewed getting one for himself.
The economy of Arcadia shifted gears and accelerated.
The Push To The Finish
On a Monday at the beginning of July of that semicentennial year, Matt Chen-Jasic received a request from Adriana Zielinski, the chairman of the constitutional convention, to meet with her. He invited her to tea that afternoon.
“Chairman Zielinski, Chen Zufu.”
“Show her in, MinChao.”
Zielinski entered to see the Chen seated on a pillow before the wide beamed doorway to the gardens, as he had been for Chairman Kendall. He waved her to the pillow facing him. Having expected tea while seated on pillows, she had worn trousers with her business suit today. She sat in tailor seat on the facing pillow.
“Thank you for meeting with me, Mr. Chen-Jasic,” she said. And then, ruefully, “I recognize this setup from your video. I hope I do not meet the same fate as Mr. Kendall.”
Matt kept his response light, as her statement had been.
“But you have broken the symmetry, Chairman Zielinski. You failed to bring two armed thugs with which to arrest me.”
Zielinski nodded.
A woman Zielinski recognized as JuPing came in from the garden with a teapot. She poured tea for Zielinski first, setting the cup in front of the chairman, then for the Chen, setting the cup in front of him. She placed the teapot in the center of the low table between them, rose, bowed to a spot between them, and left back into the gardens.
Matt picked up his cup and sipped, as did Zielinski.
“You requested this meeting, Madam Chairman. Please, proceed.”
“Thank you, Mr. Chen-Jasic.”
She looked at him quizzically.
“You rule Arcadia, but you have taken no title. I am not sure what to call you.”
“It is a temporary situation only. My real title was and remains Chen Zufu. Zufu simply means ‘honored grandfather.’ My rule of Arcadia is an accident of history, which you will correct soon.”
Zielinski nodded.
“Chen Zufu it is, then.”
Matt bowed to her, a single nod of the head, and waved to her to continue.
“I wondered if you could address the convention once more. I think it would be helpful at this juncture.”
Matt sipped his tea and waited. Zielinski shrugged.
“We have now been at the business of drawing up a charter for the colony for five months, Chen Zufu. The big issues, I think, are decided. We squabble now over minor things. On these, people are dug in to their positions. The big issues decided, they now argue endlessly over trivia. I think we could use some focus, some drive, toward finishing the work.”
“And you think if I addressed the convention at this point, it would be helpful, Madam Chairman?”
