From the L5R Discord:
The Itsy Bitsy Spider - 11/14/2019
During the race for the throne, clans could get positions in the new bureocracy and even get a member crowned emperor. Each position had a different gimmicks both by winning in game and doing stuff outside of game to earn points for them.
Mantis wanted Imperial Treasurer because they weren't good enough in game to go for the other options, plus it made sense for them.
Back then, every time you opened new product, the packaging would have "Koku" printed on it and you could send them into AEG for promos or rare cards or other stuff, like box toppers from cereal promotions. The clan that submitted the most Koku over the Race won the Treasurer position.
Now, how the fuck does the Tao come into this?
Well, the story before Race involved all of the clans finding the Tomb of the Thunders and, in order of winners at that tournament, each faction got to take a relic and there were physical relics as trophies.
Crab did better then Spider and decided to not get THEIR relic but take the Tao of Fu Leng so the Spider couldn't have it. This led to the Crab having the Tao in the story as well.
So back to Mantis, passionate bunch, but their playerbase numbers were few and they simply didn't have the reserves of Koku to buy the treasury spot.
However... a couple of them got VERY crafty.
Here's what Mantis did. They found out that old Shadowlands/Spider players had ALOT of koku sitting around that they haven't cashed in yet, literally thousands of booster wrappings and boxes.
Mantis asked the Spider what they would want to trade for all that Koku. Spider only really wanted the Tao of Fu Leng, but that's the crab's shit, not Mantis'.
Members of the Mantis knew the guy who owned the actual Tao and contacted him, asking what the Mantis would have to give the Crab for the Tao, literally the bible of evil, to give back to their most hated enemies, the Spider. The crab mulled it over and apparently the deal was as follows.
During that gencon any Mantis that was paired up against a Crab would surrender and let the crab have the free win, agreed to by the majority of good mantis players.
Mantis agreed, got the physical Tao and then met up with the Spider, who pooled thousands of Koku in brief cases which they swapped for the Tao like a dirty drug deal in a hotel room.
The Mantis then bought the Imperial Treasurer position, Spider got their beloved Tao and crab got a few needed free wins. Members of AEG's story team were aware of this all, documented it all and made it part of the story.
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The Itsy Bitsy Spider - 01/11/2019
In the story, the Tao was stolen by a mantis, from a bribed Yasuki and then sold to the Spider.
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The following text is from the L5R Wiki:
The Tao of Fu Leng was a foul book containing the writings of the Ninth Kami, Fu Leng. It was the repository of a god's wisdom in the mortal realm. Its purpose was to contain the essence of Fu Leng, a vessel for divine power. ...
The Tao of Fu Leng was taken from the Tomb of the Seven Thunders in 1168 by Yasuki Jinn-Kuen during the Battle of the Tomb. Jinn-Kuen brought it immediately to Hida Kuon, who gave it to Omen to destroy. However, Omen told him that it was impossible to destroy the Tao, as it would simply remake itself in another location. Instead of allowing the Tao to reappear in Jigoku or the Shadowlands, Omen kept it hidden away. ...
Daigotsu had tasked Omoni to find the Tao. He sent his creations out to find the book emblazoned with the symbol of a spider. Other Shadowlands beasts also looked for it. Finally, the goblin Glukku was able to make contact with a Yasuki who wanted to trade information about the Tao's location with the Lost. If he was the same ambitious and young Yasuki who made a proposal to Hida Kuon how the Crab Clan could make a considerable profit from the entire "Spider phenomenon", was unclear. At this time, it wasn't yet known that the Lost were part of the Spider Clan. ...
In 1170 a Yasuki had sold a false location of the Tao to the Lost and told the Legion of the Jade Hand where to wait for the Lost to come. The trap was set and the ambush prepared, but the Lost never arrived. Once the waiting Legionaries, Hida Yagimaki among them, realised that the Lost would not be coming, they rushed back to the true location of the Tao, but all the Crab samurai could see were the silhouettes of the departing Lost. The Tao of Fu Leng was in their hands now and was handed over to Daigotsu. It was unclear if the Yasuki who co-operated with the Lost actually betrayed his Crab brethren or if he was duped by Daigotsu, too. He was questioned by the Crab afterwards.
The Imperial Treasurer was a new office in the government of the Emperor of Rokugan created in 1170 during the first day of the reign of Iweko I. The position was created so as to remove some of the Emerald Champion's less important duties, as overseeing the management of taxes and the allocation of Imperial funds. He was in charge of the Ministry of Exchange. The Imperial Treasury was built in the capital, Toshi Ranbo.
Imperial Treasurers:
Yoritomo Utemaro (1170 - ?)
Seppun Ritisharu (? - Present)
Yoritomo Utemaro was a bushi of the Mantis Clan and the first Imperial Treasurer of Rokugan. ...
During the Mantis-Ivory Kingdoms War a young Utemaro quickly developed a reputation as one who would attempt any task. He would undertake even the most suicidal missions in order to reap the rewards. He eventually became one of the wealthiest individuals among the Mantis. ...
In 1170, the new Emperor decided to create the position of Imperial Treasurer. This was done so the Emerald Champion could be freed from some of his less important duties. Utemaro was the first to bear that title. Utemaro was at first unsure as to what he would do with his newfound authority, but he soon decided to 'reinvent the game' when it came to matters of money in the Empire. Utemaro also knew that while he was an accomplished courtier in his own rights, many would look down on him for his association with money, thus he approached Yoritomo Yashinko to act as his 'voice' in the political arena. Yashinko thought her charge's conversation was tedious and banal, always pondering about koku, taxes and trade. Utemaro surprised her when he began to talk about the ebb and flow to the court, and that their duty was to learn the ways of those changing tides and ride upon them.
Utemaro's acceptance of this position was conditional, and the Empress agreed to the condition that he could rewrite the laws as needed to execute his duties.
Utemaro called for an end to the large number of discrepancies and questionable reports that had gone uninvestigated for decades when his duties were covered by the Emerald Champion. The Seppun sent Moto Hotei, an Emerald Magistrate, who told his lords to fully support Utemaro in his new station and began to increase the Seppun Magistrate ranks to match Utemaro's needs. ...
The exact fate of Utemaro was unknown but he was dead before the end of the 12th century.