Recap / Yasuda Crisis Guangdong

Guangdong Recap:
Index | Suzuki's Guangdong | Yasuda Crisis | Sony's Guangdong | Matsushita's Guangdong | Fujitsu's Guangdong | Lam Haau-cyun's Flashbacks | Opium Trade War | Hitachi Coup | Hitachi's Guangdong | Flavor Events | General Oil Crisis and Guangdong Riots | Imperial Japanese Army's Guangdong

Cities of light, atmospheres of sorrow.

"Business? This is politics!"

— Suzuki Teiichi

The Yasuda Crisis has brought economic catastrophe to Guangdong. The people are hoarding their money, businesses are shutting their doors, poverty levels are rising, and Yasuda is on life support. The government's ability to respond adequately is limited, having depleted most of its reserves when it passed the RLSO. In the echelons of the Legislative Council, Suzuki Teiichi and Matsuzawa Takuji are bearing the brunt of the calamity, both going into damage control to preserve their power. On the streets, the Lees now have almost no stable income, while the Yasukawas join the thousands of Japanese refugees immigrating to Guangdong, having lost their wealth in the Home Isles.

To alleviate the situation, Suzuki races against the clock to mitigate the crisis. With his steadfast ally in Yasuda preoccupied, Suzuki turns to the three remaining corporations and requests that they devote some of their revenue to save his regime. Already unpersuaded to help a man who has badgered and policed them for years, the three companies take it even further by holding a vote of no confidence in the Legislative Council. Desperate, Suzuki tries to think outside the box and turns to more unorthodox allies, like the Yakuza, to build up enough support in the Council to reject the vote. Unfortunately for him, none of his crafty solutions work. Worse still, Ibuka persuades Matsuzawa into pulling support from Suzuki, bribing him the money needed to keep his family financially secure in exchange for switching sides. In the end, all but twelve seats in the Council fire him. Come the next day, Suzuki packs his bags and boards the next trip to the Home Isles.

Left with an empty throne, Matsushita Masaharu and Ibuka Masaru "promote" Matsuzawa to become interim Chief Executive, knowing that he'll be overstretched between his duties and the Yasuda Crisis to pose a threat in the future. Behind the scenes, the three corporations conspire to succeed Matsuzawa and shape Guangdong to their own vision. Morita Akio is the most even-handed of the successors, believing that the Chinese and the Zhujin deserve more rights and protections. Matsushita Masaharu is the heir to his father-in-law, Konosuke, in the Home Isles, believing that he can prove himself worthy of the position by bringing Guangdong to Matsushita Electric's sphere of influence. Ibuka is the most merciless of Matsuzawa's three potential successors, being a technocrat advocating social Darwinist policies so that only the most intellectual and hard-working can succeed in Guangdong.

Though chained to an unenviable position and likely to be forgotten when his term finishes, Matsuzawa is far from toothless. If he's going down no matter what, Matsuzawa figures that he can, at least, save Guangdong and tip the scales to his liking. His first major decision is responding to the Yasuda Crisis, which means following Ibuka's plan to help the Japanese investors or following Morita's plan to help the Chinese and the Zhujin. With each respective plan, Suzuki's RLSO ends up getting shuttered or delayed, to the dismay of many, particularly with Lee Chun, a son from the Lee family.

With the most immediate problems plugged in by either plan, Matsuzawa must deal with the influx of Japanese refugees, the protests that have grown from the chaos, and the criminals who have long profited from their violence and drug trade. In the midst of this disorder, Baron Yasukawa is desperate to have a meeting with Matsuzawa, hoping that his former connections with Suzuki can buy himself and Yoshiko out of the tenants. If the Japanese settlers are prioritized, the Baron's taxi will accidentally run over a pedestrian and cause an angry mob of Chinese and Zhujin tenements to kill him. If the settlers are cast aside, the Baron will lose all hope and kill himself in grief. Either way, Yoshiko is left orphaned and in need of a job.

Matters get even worse for Yasuda when an auction is held to sell off its assets to the other three companies, refilling Guangdong's reserves and removing some expensive money drains. Overseeing the affair is Matsuzawa, who can manipulate events and potentially engage in corrupt tactics to determine who wins Yasuda's capital. With Yasuda effectively gone and his work done, a power vacuum emerges and talk spreads of the Four Companies becoming Five, with the addition of Cheung Kong and Hitachi. Meanwhile, Matsuzawa scrapes what few valuables he has left and makes a quiet exit from Guangdong.

Li Ka-shing is the executive of Cheung Kong, a long-time ally and fellow reformist to Morita. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is Komai Kenichirō, the executive of Hitachi Limited and a man feared for idolizing the brutal labor system in Manchuria, which he wants to plant in Guangdong. In the meantime, the three surviving companies build up support in the Legislative Council, awaiting a vote to crown the next Chief Executive. In mere months, the status quo of Guangdong has forever changed and its future is less than certain.

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This route provides examples of:

• Actually Pretty Funny: As word spreads of a new Chief Executive replacing him, Matsuzawa reflects on the fact that it will likely either be Morita, Matsushita, or Ibuka, the same men who set him up as a caretaker. The thought both depresses and amuses Matsuzawa.
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: With Suzuki's resignation and Matsuzawa's ascension to the unenviable chair of Chief Executive, Matsushita and Ibuka celebrate about eliminating their two mutual rivals.
• Answer Cut: While Ibuka and Morita bicker over how to handle the Yasuda Crisis with Suzuki gone, Matsushita intervenes and stops the fighting by suggesting that they find a caretaker Chief Executive to stabilize the situation. Just as Matsushita is talking, Matsuzawa walks in on them and Matsushita gets the bright idea to nominate him, being the first to propose the solution.
• Appeal to Force:
  • Suzuki attempts to dig up evidence of corruption and use the Yakuza to intimidate investors, who are thinking about pulling out of Guangdong.
  • If Matsuzawa invites Cheung Kong to the legistlative council first, Ibuka's first instinct it to charge into Matsuzawa's office and grabs him by the collar, shaking a fist in his face and demands why he would invite Cheung Kong in.
• Appeal to Tradition: Part of Ibuka's argument for his Yasuda Crisis plan involves appealing to Guangdong's history as a major international financial hub within China along, making the state a suitable conduit for Japanese investment into the region.
• Auction: One of the game mechanics in the Yasuda Crisis is an auction set up for the titular corporation's remaining assets, which can be bought out by the other three companies.
• Bait-and-Switch: After the catastrophic Yasuda Crisis occurs, Suzuki's focus tree switches over to one based on allying with either the Chinese, Zhujin, or Japanese, culminating in the passage of the Financial Stabilization Ordinance to halt the impending economic collapse. Unfortunately, all of the corporations and tycoons side against Suzuki and hold a vote of no confidence to have him sacked, switching his focus tree again to shoring up as much support as possible to retain his power.
• Beneath Notice: In the lead up to the Yasuda Crisis, Guangdong's government kept a list of prominent dissidents, ranging from working class agitators to Chinese nationalists. However, most were considered too minor to take action against. Once the Yasuda Crisis hits and unrest increases, this may be Subverted, if Matsuzawa chooses to detain them with the goal of curbing further dissent and sending a message. However, Matsuzawa may also avert direct action, fearing that it may fan the flames further and that the targets aren't worth the trouble.
• But Thou Must!: Furious about being slandered by the media after the Yasuda Crisis, Suzuki can blame Sony, Matsushita, or Fujitsu for the campaign, but none of these options stop the vote of no confidence from passing.
• Confidence Building Scheme: Investors, worried that their agreements have been rendered null by the Yasuda Crisis, can be reassured by Matsuzawa who promises to uphold previous agreements and provide additional support with tax cuts and regulatory forbearance.
• Dissonant Serenity: Komai isn't the least bit concerned to hear about Sony and Cheung Kong's combined influence in the Legislative Council and how it can threaten the agenda of the other three companies. He's more curious about the breakfast he's eating and how it's a dish he's never previously eaten before. Komai's shockingly calm demeanor in the face of bad news bewilders Ibuka and Matsushita.
• Family Business: An exploited example for one pawn shop owner who gets his entire family to work for his business in the aftermath of the Yasuda Crisis. It will mean they skip meals and work at half pay, but it will also inflate the number of workers he's hired and get more business assistance grants from the government, the only hope of his shop staying open by this point.
• Failure Is the Only Option:
  • Suzuki will ultimately be forced to resign from his position after the Yasuda Crisis, since many blame him for the economic downturn and pull their support for him in the Legislative Council. Even if he scrounges up a good majority of seats from the Legislative Council to reject the vote of no confidence, they'll inevitably turn on him and leave him with only twelve seats as support, far less than he needs to retain power.
  • Regardless of whose plan Matsuzawa supports during the Yasuda crisis, the plan will be subject to unintended consequences harming Guangdong's finances. If Matsuzawa opts to bail out Japanese companies in the wake of the Yasuda crisis, it will initially go well with the markets and currency stabilizing. However, he will eventually get inundated with applications and is unwilling to turn many down due to fear of backlash from the investors he just appealed to. If Matsuzawa opts for Morita's plan, it will also start well with the most desperate at bay, but the trials of soup kitchens and distribution centers eventually attract crowds too large to manage. Scenes of lines around city blocks are common, overstretched government workers and food shipments getting stuck in bad roads. This also causes prices to rise with the sudden change in supply and demand.
  • There's ultimately no way for Matsuzawa to save Yasuda and keep its presence alive in Guangdong. It will inevitably be bought out by the other three major companies, where the most he can do is decide who will buy it.
  • There is no way for Guangdong to satisfy its 1964 Economic Review, due to the Yasuda Crisis' devastation on the economy. Even Takashima is understanding of Guangdong's unwinnable situation and doesn't put any blame on the Chief Executive.
• False Reassurance: One of the first things Suzuki does after the Yasuda Crisis hits is to reassure the investors that they have the situation controlled and that the budget is being revised to account for the drop in income. Unfortunately for Suzuki, the attempts to get things under control fails.
• Fascists' Bed Time: Matsuzawa may implement a nighttime curfew against mass gatherings that would encourage open protest. The move would also gain some control over the situation and restore confidence over his ability to maintain order.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: If Matsuzawa follows Morita's plan and delays the implementation of the RLSO, the assorted law description will be updated to state that the law has been delayed until further notice. Likewise, an additional assorted law will be added for either the Morita Plan or the Ibuka Plan, stating their goals and support from Yasuda.
• The Graph Shows the Trend: When trying to convince Matsuzawa to cut public spending in the wake of the Yasuda crisis, Ibuka presents sleek monochrome graphs showing the losses of various Japanese manufacturers with the clear message being that they are jumping ship from Guangdong.
• The Greatest Story Never Told: Matsuzawa has to fight tooth and nail to keep Guangdong from sinking further into desolation after the Yasuda Crisis, but his role will go largely unrecognized and he can expect no reward for his efforts, besides a quiet retirement.
• Hope Spot: Following Ibuka's plan and subsidizing lost revenue seems to dispel the worst effects of the Yasuda Crisis, stabilizing the markets and the Guangdong yen's worth. This brief moment of respite for Matsuzawa ends almost immediately when a flood of calls reach his office, begging for more aid and leaving a mountain of paperwork for the Chief Executive to handle.
• Honor Before Reason: One route for the Morita plan is to supply workers with basic sustenance so they can weather the Yasuda Crisis. It's much more expensive than simply laying a roadmap of recovery for Zhujin businesses and the unemployed, but it has many more tangible benefits and would the most humane option.
• I Can't Believe I'm Saying This: If Matsuzawa decides to accept Ibuka's suggestion of cutting public spending in the aftermath of the Yasuda Crisis, he will express concern over how to convince the public. Ibuka responds by claiming that if we always need to convince people nothing would get done, to which Matsuzawa gives a half-hearted "if you insist".
• I Did What I Had to Do: One early event details a confrontation between a Tin Seung-Hang, Vice Chairman of the Guangdong Republic of China Restoration Committee, and an unnamed collaborator. Tin accuses the collaborator of being a "shameless fucking race traitor" to which the collaborator responds by claiming that China is dead and that the Nanjing regime is a bloated corpse. The collaborator proceeds to tell Tin that he couldn't care less about about the Kuomintang and their lost cause, instead wanting to focus on the people living here just trying to survive the Yasuda Crisis.
• If We Get Through This…: Morita's plan for the Yasuda Crisis promises to the workers that any cuts are temporary and that compensatory rewards will be had if everyone can get through the troubling times, including a reinstatement of the delayed RLSO.
• Invading Refugees: Nobody in the slums near Port Shōri reacts positively to the hundreds of Japanese people who immigrate to Guangdong during the Yasuda Crisis, believing that they are invaders trying to exploit them too. They don't realize that these "invaders" have no choice, since they lost everything in the Home Isles and need to find somewhere else to live.
• Justified Criminal: Many people begin looting stores during the Yasuda Crisis, but only because they're desperate and in need of any capital to survive the next day.
• Kingmaker Scenario: Knowing he still has power for the time being, Matsuzawa can try to tilt the scales of power with the outcome of the Yasuda auction to favour either Morita or Matsushita, plotting to call one of the tycoons and tell them which assets would be worth their money.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Left vulnerable by the Yasuda Crisis, the Police are riddled with new Triad and Yakuza members who are recruited into the gangs, but the government can turn a blind eye, knowing that they are too overstretched and weak to surmount proper resistance.
• Leonine Contract: Matsuzawa is given the choice of accepting one of two of these offers.
  • In the lead up to the Yasuda auction, Matsushita can offer to buy Yasuda's debt in-line with how many assets he gets. He will unload the debt in Japan so it is off the Guangdong balance sheets and pay full price for everything. In exchange he wants Matsuzawa's unconditional support in the Legislative Council.
  • On the other hand, Morita offers to guarantee well paying positions within Sony and Cheung Kong for Yasuda's former employees, appealing to Matsuzawa's concerns over the future of them. But in exchange he wants the best pickings from the Yasuda auction.
• Let No Crisis Go to Waste: The Triads and Yakuza quickly use the Yasuda Crisis to expand their operations, primarily in smuggling, extortion and kidnapping. There is also a massive recruitment drive from these organizations within the police force, targeting financially vulnerable officers. The government does not miss this and can put their foot down on such blatant violations on principle, even if they can’t muster significant resistance.
• Long Game: One goal of Morita's invitation to Cheung Kong is to increase Zhujin representation in the Legislative Council, as part of a plan to make Guangdong more viable and equal in the long term.
• Ludicrous Precision: As he is waiting for the announcement for the next Chief Executive, Ibuka gets frustrated at how it took "those slugs" 55 minutes to get prepared. After his name is announced, the exact number of seconds he takes getting to the aisle and walking to podium are written.
• Mark of Shame: With the vote of no confidence passing, Suzuki receives a note about being fired, acting as a letter of farewell. However, Suzuki considers it nothing more than a symbol of betrayal and his failure.
• Meaningful Echo: After the Ibuka and Matsushita refuse to help him with the Yasuda Crisis, Morita comments that the other two left because it's "good business". An outraged Suzuki thinks "Business? This is politics!" In the next event, Suzuki gets news about a vote of no confidence being held against him and bitterly declares "This isn't politics; this is war..."
• Mirthless Laughter: After months of no contact from Tokyo, they finally reach out and address him as the Interim Chief Executive. Knowing that he will simply disappear into history, all Matsuzawa can do is let out a hollow laugh before coming to terms with his future.
• Morton's Fork:
  • Regardless of whether Matsuzawa prioritizes aiding the Japanese refugees or the Chinese and Zhujin natives, things don't end well for Baron Yasukawa. If the Japanese are given safe harbor, then on his way to meet with Matsuzawa the Baron will get into an altercation that ends with him beaten to death by a frustrated Chinese/Zhujin mob, while if the Japanese are cast aside, the Baron will lose all hope of recovering from the Yasuda Crisis and commit suicide in despair.
  • With Yasuda gone, Matsuzawa must choose a new corporation to fill the void on the Legislative Council between either Li Ka-shing's native Cantonese company, Cheung Kong Holdings (lobbied for by Morita), or the Manchuria-based Hitachi Limited corporation (advocated by Ibuka). Both choices are controversial enough that, no matter which one is picked, the opposition will implore Matsuzawa to bring the other one on anyway to keep the LegCo in balance, and both Cheung Kong and Hitachi are invited on either way.
• Patriotic Fervor: Exploited in the event Matsuzawa turns down Japanese immigrants during the Yasuda Crisis. The government notices the approval of the decision from the Chinese and Zhujin communities, so Matsuzawa uses it as an opportunity to stoke patriotism for the artificial state.
• Plausible Deniability: If Suzuki relies on the Yakuza for their support in the Yasuda Crisis, he can incentivize them by ceasing police investigations against their opium trade, benefiting them and giving himself plausible deniability of their deal.
• Police Brutality: Desperate to maintain a hold over his power, Suzuki authorizes the intensified deployment of the police and Kenpeitai to crush any dissent on the streets.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • The fakeout Yasuda Crisis tree has Suzuki consider giving the Chinese workers some benefits to avoid a potential revolt from the numerically superior class. These include bank deposits as a safety net and Kenpeitai pressure on landlords to temporarily not collect rent. Additionally, given the reduced demand for consumer electronics, Suzuki contemplates stopping excess overtime and mandating that work be done during the daytime to reduce overproduction.
  • In an alternative path to the fakeout tree, Suzuki contemplates supporting the Zhujin during the Yasuda Crisis, due to their prominence in Guangdong's bureaucracies and importance to the economy. His plan is to pressure banks to give loan forbearance to assist the debt ridden Zhujin, offer zero interest loans to keep Zhujin businesses afloat, place a freeze on cuts to the civil service, and guarantee adequate pay for those in the civil service.
  • Lastly in the fakeout tree, Suzuki can offer exceptional benefits to the Japanese investors and ruling class so he can convince them to stay. This includes limiting the damage caused by Yasuda's impending collapse upon other Japanese companies, trying to prevent the devaluation of the Guangdong Yen, helping lenders collect payments, and providing security to the homes of investors.
  • Some would consider Ibuka's reassignment to Financial Secretary under Matsuzawa as a snub, but Ibuka is content with the arrangement because it maintains the balance of power amongst the three tycoons who placed Matsuzawa in power, meaning no favorites are being played during the Yasuda Crisis. The position of Financial Secretary also gives him great leverage to withstand the financial crisis.
  • Much as Ibuka disdains the government propping up failing businesses, he's willing to make an exception in the Yasuda Crisis, where his plan involves appeals or subsidies to the Japanese middle class to stay in Guangdong. As Ibuka argues, Guangdong cannot afford a mass exodus of Japanese investments, which would mean catastrophe for the country's industries. And this is all coming at the expense of abandoning welfare for the Chinese and the Zhujin, including a repeal of Suzuki's RLSO, so Ibuka's plan is still evil, if just more pragmatic for the Japanese.
  • Matsuzawa is hesitant to support Ibuka's proposal to mitigate the Yasuda Crisis because it will involve cutting civilian spending and suffer immense public backlash for it.
  • Alternatively, Matsuzawa can accept Morita's plan to grant subsidies for Zhujin businesses and Chinese workers, alleviating the Yasuda Crisis' effect on their livelihoods. However, while Morita is motivated by genuine morals, Matsuzawa is only doing it because he wants to avoid Suzuki's past mistakes of oppressing the Chinese too much, especially with Morita warning that there could be protesting masses of unemployed workers. Some citizens even recognize the insincerity of Matsuzawa's motives, but accept his help out of desperation.
  • Matsuzawa may refrain from lying about the value of Yasuda's assets during the auction, despite the prime opportunity to save some value from its destruction. However, it's only because he doesn't want to risk a potential controversy if his corruption is exposed rather than a legitimate standard against cheating.
  • Matsuzawa may keep the Yasuda auction as fair as possible and not favor the more powerful companies. However, it's mostly to avoid repeating the same corruption that crippled Yasuda in the first place, rather than out of genuine sympathy for the smaller businesses.
  • Matsuzawa can accommodate the thousands of Japanese immigrants who come to Guangdong, after losing everything in the Yasuda Crisis, because he sees great economic potential in them. Befitting the ruthlessly pragmatic nature of this "generous" move, Matsuzawa also uproots Zhujin managers to give employment to these new arrivals.
  • The government is quick to repress the Yasuda Crisis protests before the Kenpeitai intervenes because the organization's violent actions would reflect badly on their reputation.
• Propaganda Machine: Once the corporations turn on him, Suzuki attempts to suppress the embarrassing news, and forces all newspapers and channels to publish the government's own spin that the situation is under control.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Matsuzawa successfully navigates the Yasuda Crisis and mitigates as much damage as he could have, but his main ally in Suzuki is long gone and Yasuda is a shadow of its former self. In the end, Matsuzawa is to be discarded and open the Chief Executive seat to someone else.
• "Rashomon"-Style: In the interview with Tin Seung-Hang and a collaborator, the former gets accused of his committee bombing a tramline and killing seven children. Tin vehemently denies the claim, stating that the committee wasn't even present in Hong Kong at the time.
• Selective Enforcement: When Matsuzawa employs Tsuchida to crackdown on the Triads, Tsuchida brings up cracking down on the Yakuza in a separate meeting running protection rackets but Matsuzawa turns him down saying that a gang war would be worse.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Morita may not have liked Matsuzawa, but even he pities his unenviable position as Chief Executive after Suzuki's resignation, knowing that Ibuka and Matsushita set him up to fail so they can start picking off Yasuda's capital.
• Tears of Fear: When the Yasuda Crisis renders Nintendo unable to meet the promises to their employees and consumers, Yamauchi works late into the night and nearly breaks into tears from the stress. Fortunately, he does not quit just yet, regains his composure, and vows to work through the crisis.
• Tempting Fate: Part of Ibuka's pitch to invite Hitachi is that they would be too weak to significantly influence Guangdong on behalf of their economic rivals in Manchuria and that they would only serve as a counterweight to Sony. These words age poorly when Hitachi plots a coup, which can succeed with the support of those same Manchurian companies.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Matsuzawa knows full well that he's acting as a caretaker Chief Executive and is doomed to fall after Suzuki's ejection, but he can't do anything but press onward.
• Too Desperate to Be Picky:
  • If Matsuzawa goes with Morita's plan to support Chinese and Zhujin businesses, an event describing an interaction in a failing Chinese store. An employee gets frustrated that the Japanese would play nice after oppressing them for decades, but his boss states that the business is in no position to turn down aid allowing them to hang on, even by a thread.
  • Another event details a couple who've come home exhausted from another long day of work, struggling to get food on the table with rising inflation. The husband brings with him a government pamphlet which asks citizens to invest in exchange for new bank accounts and coupons. Hoping it could keep them fed for longer, they buy into the offer, despite knowing that it favors the middle class and will widen the socioeconomic gap in Guangdong.
• Tranquil Fury:
  • If Matsuzawa returns to Yasuda's old office Kōshu as Chief Executive, he only finds largely empty offices with accountants preparing to itemise Yasuda's assets. Seeing his life work undone brings anger to him, despite his best efforts to suppress it.
  • If Suzuki seeks support from Fujitsu for the RLSO after getting Sony's support, Morita will feel betrayed after he warned Suzuki not to work with them. During a phone call between the two, Morita coldly turns down any attempts by Suzuki to salvage Sony's support and accuses him of intending to half-bake the ordinance all along.
• Understatement: If Matsuzawa decides to crack down on crime, Ho will be outraged, denouncing it as an attack on the livelihoods of "hardworking, honorable businessmen". Matsuzawa is quick to point out that these "businessmen" are underground smugglers and criminals.
• Vehicular Kidnapping: After Matsuzawa unsuccessfully tries to get an accountant to overvalue Yasuda's assets, he has the accountant kidnapped as he leave his office by a group of people in a van, before being beaten and dumped on the streets.
• Video Game Cruelty Punishment: Picking the more heartless Ibuka plan to the Yasuda Crisis will lead to the RLSO's repeal, unlike the Morita plan that just has it postponed. This leads to Lee Wai getting put into hospital after a car accident and Lee Chun assaulting Lam out of Misplaced Retribution. By contrast, the Morita plan has a lighter scenario where Chun just participates in a protest.
• Villainous Legacy: Once Yasuda collapses and is dismantled, all the company is remembered for is its corruption and the devastating legacy it wrought on the the economies of Asia.
• Whispered Threat: When Komai is introduced into the Legislative Council, Ibuka gives him a false warm welcome before whispering in his ear "you know what you're here for - I didn't let you in to do anything funny."

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