Reading the emperor's statement, the expressions of the industrialists were not good at all. They all looked like children who had just been scolded by their teacher when they tried to sneak away from school.
Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. If the decision had been taken by the government, they might have resisted, hoping to change the prime minister's mind with more petitions or perhaps even a small bandh. But now, with His Majesty the Emperor himself speaking, how could they dare go against him? Even if the will to resist had not completely died, how many would still come forward against the emperor himself? That number would certainly be no more than a few.
In the end, left with no choices, they all had to lower their prices and become much more scrappy to compete with manufactured goods coming in from Southeast Asia and the frontiers.
