Munitions Empire

The Kingdom of Shireck ultimately signed the peace treaty, agreeing to all demands of Tang Country, including compensating Tang Country with 300,000 laborers as well as a payment of 100 million Gold Coins. Everyone knew well that the Kingdom of Shireck simply didn't have the funds to compensate Tang Country, yet they had no choice but to sign the peace treaty. Beyond that, the Kingdom of Shireck was also reluctantly the first country in the world to recognize Tang Country's conquest of Qi Country. They acknowledged Tang Country's occupation of Qi Country, disgracefully including a petition urging Tang Mo to declare himself Emperor. The Dahua Empire was firstly very dissatisfied with the petition since Zhao Kai definitely didn't want to see a so-called empire emerging on his nation's border, nor an Emperor who would be his equal in status. However, the Ice Cold Empire soon afterwards issued a statement expressing they hoped Tang Mo would take the title of Emperor and rename the Great Tang Kingdom to Great Tang Empire. For reasons unbeknownst to anyone, many countries took this action that required no substantial investment, but could curry favor with Tang Mo and fan the flames between the Dahua Empire and Tang Country, as if it were all a game. Everyone was aware that Shireck's being the first to urge Tang Mo to take the imperial throne was done under duress, as in truth, they were among the least willing to see Tang Country become an empire. But the situation was stronger than the will, as Shireck had been confronted with the imposing battleships and artillery of Tang Country—they could only act as Tang Country's mouthpiece and obediently speak on behalf of Tang Country's interests. Moreover, they owed Tang Country a staggering 100 million Gold Coins, which they also had to repay as soon as possible. In reality, the Kingdom of Shireck didn't have the money to pay off its debts. They had bloodwashed Beiyuan City actually to repay the debts to Shireck, so where could they find extra funds to compensate Tang Country? Thus, most of the sum Shireck owed would have to be converted into Goblin slaves, to be provided to Tang Country as an equal compensation for war reparations. Compensating with slaves alone was obviously not feasible, Shireck couldn't muster such a large population to waste—they still needed to replenish their military lost in the battle of Beiyuan City, revive production, and people were needed everywhere, making it impossible to capture slaves on such a large scale again. In theory, every instance of driving refugees into slavery to repay debts would damage the King of Shireck's reputation among the common people of Shireck. Having already committed a similar act once, they were not keen on intensifying the approach this time. You see, while the Goburs were ruthless in their external expansion, they still had to maintain a degree of face when dealing with their own people. Therefore, the 100 million Gold Coin war reparations from Shireck were in fact demanded by Tang Country from the countries that had betrayed their trust. The negotiations that Shireck went through these days were essentially a process of demanding money from all the powers that had incited Shireck to declare war against Tang Country. In the end, the Ice Cold Empire had no choice but to covertly provide 10 million Gold Coins of support to Shireck, and the Laines Empire was also forced to contribute 12 million to "help." In the end, biting the bullet, Shireck had 20 million Gold Coins of its debt forgiven by Shireck to help them through the difficulty. It seemed like an act of allies sharing hardships, but in reality, it was a band of thugs chipping in to keep a captured brother silent by paying a settlement. In the blink of an eye, hostilities had ceased for over a month, and although the peace treaty was signed only today, in fact, the war had been over for more than a month. The discovery of the corpse of Jiang Zhi, the Second Prince and the last eligible heir to the Qi throne, among the ruins, signified the official demise of Qi Country. This nation was likely to become history, and the territory of Qi Country would continue to exist as part of the land of Tang Country. Large-scale construction had already begun, with construction sites everywhere. The speed of Tang Country's construction was so fast that it was astonishing. Finally, the remote envoy team from Shireck arrived in Linshui, having traveled by C47 transport aircraft from Dragon Island to Linshui, getting a firsthand experience of what an aircraft was all about. Honestly, they didn't like this mode of transportation, as the turbulence and the G-forces experienced during takeoff were quite uncomfortable. Yet they were also terrified by the frightful speed of the C47—they had crossed half the Endless Sea in just a few days, something unimaginable in the past. The only source of their discontent was that this type of C47 transport plane was not included in the current range of aircraft technology for sale; they could only purchase a much cruder, more primitive tri-engine transport plane. Upon arrival in Linshui, the Shireck envoy team didn't meet with sales personnel from the Great Tang Group. Instead, their first meeting was with the Foreign Affairs Department of Tang Country. And, in fact, their meeting wasn't about the purchase of aircraft, but rather about discussing compensation related to the attack on Dragon Island. Diplomats from Tang Country sat on one side of the long table, staring at the Gobur envoys who had arrived in Linshui with the Shireck team, and spoke, "The incident of Gobur's fleet nearing Dragon Island is something for which we still need an explanation from the Gobur Kingdom." The envoy from Gobur hastily waved his hands, denying the fact that the Gobur fleet was preparing a sneak attack, "The fleet of the Gobur Kingdom merely strayed into the area, there was no intent of any sort! Our warships did not cause any actual damage to Dragon Island..." In fact, when Tang Country was at war with Qi Country and the other country, Gobur was ready to declare war on Tang Country—if their fleet's sneak attack was successful, they would have joined the war within 24 hours. Unfortunately for them, their attack failed, whether it was by airship or by warship, both attempts were unsuccessful. Therefore, unable to involve their army in the war, Gobur immediately abandoned the idea of joining the conflict, as their navy had already been decimated, and joining the war would be meaningless. Thus, even after the other country was thoroughly defeated, Gobur remained deaf and mute to the situation, even when Tang Country condemned Gobur's sneak attack on the broadcast channels, there was no response from Gobur's side. Tang Country, at its core, also did not wish to escalate the war, so after the condemnations, they did not entertain counter-declaring war on Gobur, and the matter was shelved, dragging on until today. However, since Tang Mo had already taken the lead in selling airplanes, extorting Gobur Kingdom and Shireck became an inevitable action. Therefore, the diplomat from Tang Country, with a cold laugh, retorted, "Do you even believe your own explanation?" The Gobur envoy, an experienced operator, immediately dodged responsibility, "As absurd as it sounds, that's exactly what happened!" The assertive diplomat from Tang Country looked down on the somewhat embarrassed Gobur envoy and threatened, "If you don't speak honestly and are not prepared to give a serious explanation regarding the combined Shireck and Gobur fleet's sneak attack on Dragon Island... then we can also take certain matters to the extreme!" Gobur, too, was a country with coastal cities, and they were truly afraid of angering Tang Country, lest the terrifying Tang Navy fleet be ordered to sail south and blockade Gobur's ports. If it came to that, the situation would be difficult to resolve. After all, deploying the fleet cost money, and if Tang Country indeed deployed its navy, they would not rest until they had plundered a substantial amount of wealth. Caught between a rock and a hard place, the Gobur envoy weighed pros and cons and promptly took out a response they had negotiated beforehand: "Gobur is willing to pay reparations of 2 million Gold Coins... and hopes to repatriate prisoners at the price of 300 Gold Coins per person..." You just want money, right? Isn't it okay if I give it? After all, annihilating my fleet didn't really cost you much, so why not pay to avoid disaster? "Alright, let's do it that way," said the envoy from Tang Country, who hadn't intended to seriously fall out with Gobur over this, nor did they expect Gobur to offer more money, so the agreement was made with a nod of content. After securing a hefty sum of Gold Coins from various countries, the whole world seemed to be tightening its belt, and of course, Gobur was no exception. If they pushed Gobur too far under these circumstances, the risk was actually significant. Despite showing strong combat capabilities, without several years of stable development, Tang Country's own economic situation would encounter problems too. The Tang Country diplomat's nod came so swiftly that it even surprised the Gobur envoy a bit, making him momentarily think he might have offered too much and should have bargained... After settling matters with the Gobur envoy, the young diplomat then turned to the Shireck envoy sitting aside: "Now it's your turn, the representatives of Shireck... Can you explain why your airships and warships were in the waters around Dragon Island?" The Shireck envoy played the same game of denying responsibility: "In fact, that was not orchestrated by Lady Sofia. Shireck is a union, not dominated by one alone. Lady Sofia is just one member of the council, and even as the chairwoman, she couldn't stop the councillors from taking matters into their own hands." "And then what?" The Tang Country diplomat leaned back in his chair, waiting for the continuation of the explanation. The Shireck envoy provided the name of a scapegoat: "This military action against Tang Country was initiated by Marquise Serianna on her own, and does not represent the collective will of Shireck." This Marquise was actually Sofia's arch-enemy, the woman who had always been conspiring with the late Smiling Tiger and the fat man. The diplomat from Tang Country cut straight to the point, bluntly asking the core question, "To convince me of this... how much money does Shireck plan to offer?" "...10 million Gold Coins," replied the Shireck envoy straightforwardly with a price. "Sounds quite sincere... doesn't it? However, we do not wish for similar incidents to continue, so this esteemed Marquise Serianna... must be handed over to us for handling," the Tang Country diplomat laid out the condition. "Agreed," said the Shireck envoy, not even attempting to haggle. So the Tang Country diplomat immediately realized something and stated plainly, "Using someone else's hand to commit the deed is something that should only be done once. If there's a next time, we will have to discuss Lady Sofia's credibility issues." "...We will convey this message," the Shireck envoy was taken aback for a moment, then nodded in agreement.