The issue of reparations was indeed a huge problem. From the looks of it, if the Undead's conditions were carried out, all of the dwarves' money would be taken by the Undead. Moreover, the dwarves probably wouldn't be able to gather any money within 30 years, which meant that the humans wouldn't be able to get any benefits at all. Of course, this was what Orpheus and the others thought, but Li Huailin didn't think so at all.
"Lord Soudeis, I think that your distribution method is rather fair …" Li Huailin said with a nod.
"Huh?" Alamis almost thought that he had heard wrongly. If Li Huailin had slammed the table, he would still think that it was an acceptable situation? Fair? Where was the fairness?
"Duke of Aquitaine …" Alamis couldn't hold it in any longer. He wanted to speak up as soon as he had a question, but was immediately stopped by Li Huailin.
"Lord Soudeis, I don't think you mentioned the issue of food," said Li Huailin. Li Huailin said. Money was important, but food was also an important strategic reserve. However, the Undead's conditions didn't mention food at all.
"Yes." Soudeis nodded. "As you know, we Undead don't need any food, so we don't want any of it."
"Eh?" On the other side, Alamis was slightly taken aback. This was a good thing. After all, the Empire was currently short of food, and the price of food was extremely high. This could be used to offset the price, but no matter how much food there was, it could not be as much as 120 million.
"Come to think of it, we humans don't seem to be lacking in money," Li Huailin murmured as he rubbed his chin.
This was true. Currently, the human Empire really didn't lack money, and there was enough for everything. However, the problem was that no one would complain about having too much money. They might not lack it this year, but what about next year or the year after that? It was hard to say.
"How about this. The dwarves will send us 120 million tons of food," said Li Huailin with a smile.
"What!?" Hearing this, Orfgar immediately jumped up. "This … this is impossible. Where did we get so many rations?"
"120 million tons?" Alamis was also shocked by this figure. According to the current market price, 1.2 tons of provisions was worth about 350 million gold coins in human territory, but this was simply impossible. After all, the human empire's annual income of provisions was only about 24 million tons, and this was because the humans' agricultural technology was more advanced. The dwarves, on the other hand, were more developed in forging and industry, so they were really not very good at agriculture. Therefore, it was impossible for them to come up with so much provisions.
"Really?" Li Huailin smiled. Seeing this smile, Orpheus once again had a bad feeling.
"Let me see. The dwarves' annual production of rations is about 12 to 13 million tons." Li Huailin took out a form and said. Of course, this was also the information provided by Su Ruoyan. "Since the dwarves haven't fought for many years, I reckon that there should be a lot of stock. Then, just like the Undead, pay me 20 million tons first, and then pay the remaining 100 million tons over 30 years. Someone has already calculated the interest for me. It should be 147 million, right? Great, 3.9 million tons a year. I think it's more than enough."
"This … this …" Orpheus was stunned. The figure Li Huailin reported was really similar to their actual situation. Since the dwarves were facing the humans to their north, and the Undead who had been in internal strife for several years to their east, they really hadn't fought for many years. However, they didn't even have 20 million tons of provisions in stock. If they gave it out in one go, their national treasury would be emptied. Moreover, they had to pay 3.9 million tons of provisions every year, which was already one-third of their total food income. At least a million dwarves would starve to death every year.
"Your Highness Duke Aquitaine, the amount of rations we have every year is as you said, but we don't have enough for ourselves. If we were to give 3.9 million tons of rations a year, our people would starve to death." Orpheus was on the verge of tears as he spoke directly.
"Aren't I trying to think of a solution for you?" Li Huailin said with a smile. "You see, I've already tried my best to reduce the pressure on your population by slaughtering more than 20 of your cities. I'm doing this out of kindness."
Orpheus almost vomited blood. What kind of kindness was that? However, he didn't dare to refute. He immediately said, "But … even so, we …"
"I know, I know. How about this, I'll help you solve another problem. You can arrange for a few hundred thousand people to work here every year. 30,000 of them are blacksmiths with forging abilities, and the rest will be slaves mining. We'll pay for their meals. Isn't this helping you reduce the pressure of a few hundred thousand people? Aren't you being considerate?" Li Huailin said with a smile.
"…" Orpheus was speechless for a long time. Aren't you just robbing our labor force? Why do you sound so righteous? "I can only help you this much.
How many people can starve to death in a year? It's only a few million people, and we've already solved many of them. As for the rest, they can't even starve to death. However, I can still provide you with a way to make money. Look, corpses can be used. Lord Soudeis, what do you think? The dwarves can provide a lot of corpses in a year. Just take them at cost price. Anyway, they still owe you money, so just treat it as a good deed, "said Li Huailin.
"Well, there's no other way. Give us the corpses then. We'll take them at cost price." Soudeis nodded very cooperatively.
"Pfft!" Orpheus couldn't hold it in any longer. He forcefully spat out a mouthful of blood, which dyed his beard red.
"Lord Orpheus, Lord Orpheus!" The second prince, Vensal, immediately supported Orpheus, who was about to fall to the ground. He couldn't help but stand up and say, "You! You've gone too far! Are you trying to exterminate the dwarves? "
"Yes." Li Huailin spread out his hands and admitted it very simply. This made Vensal unable to continue speaking.
"Vensal, right? Where do you think this is?" Li Huailin said. "This is the place where you signed the agreement after you surrendered. You've already lost. Tell me, what else do you have to offer? Exterminate the dwarves? If I want to, I can do it now. With a wave of my hand, I can wipe all of you off this map. What can you do to stop me? "
Vensal was speechless. The dwarves didn't have any troops left. After they surrendered, the remaining 70,000 dwarves at the border had been disarmed. They had already told the humans where they were hiding when they surrendered. Now, the second legion was at the entrance of their city. Once they received the order, they could rush in immediately.
"Since you've lost, you should be prepared. Kill or torture, it's all up to us. Do you think that we'll be so happy here that we'll give you money and food to help you restore your kingdom's power? Then, when your kingdom's power is restored, you'll come to us for revenge? How can there be such a good thing? Give us whatever we ask you to give us. As for what happens after you give us, who the f * ck cares? "Li Huailin said.
Vensal was speechless. There was really nothing to refute. The winner took all. There was nothing to argue about.
"Alright, I'm too lazy to explain it one by one." Li Huailin waved his hand. Su Ruoyan, who was next to him, stood up and handed a document to Li Huailin. Li Huailin picked up the document and threw it in front of Vensal. He said, "Sign it. There's no need to look at it. You have to agree to it anyway."
Soudeis stood up as well. He took out a document that he had prepared and placed it in front of Vensary. "Same here. Sign it, Second Prince of the Dwarves."
"You guys have already discussed this?" Vensare asked as he looked at Li Huailin and Soudeis.
"Yeah, sorry to disappoint you again. It's a pity that we didn't fight, right?" Li Huailin said with a smile.
Wensalei's eyes were a little flustered after being exposed. Orpheus was speechless and could only stare blankly at Li Huailin. Why could he never win against him?
"Hurry up and sign it, or we'll snatch it ourselves." Li Huailin said. "It depends on whether you want to protect this ruined country and race."
Looking at the two pieces of paper in front of him, although they were just two pieces of paper, they seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. It made Vensary's body tremble. He wanted to pick them up and tear them apart, but tearing them apart like that would be equivalent to tearing the lives of millions of his people.
The hellish scene before entering the city appeared in front of his eyes again. I can't let them suffer anymore, Vensal thought.
"I … sign …" In the end, Vensal still held the pen in his trembling hand and wrote his name on the two documents.
On this day, the tripartite negotiations between the Humans, the Undead, and the Dwarves were beyond everyone's expectations. In just one afternoon, all the agenda had been concluded, and the three countries finally reached an agreement. Judging from the published treaty, the Dwarves on this side could basically only develop for the next thirty years. It was impossible for them to rise up at all. This Dwarf Empire was no longer a country. All the rights of the country had been taken away by the Humans and the Undead. At this time, the Dwarf Empire had actually become a colony, a place where the Humans and the Undead could withdraw money.
After the conclusion of the negotiations, both parties did not return immediately. They remained in the dwarven territory to help the dwarves "stabilize the country". At this time, the battle between the Demons and the undead was not over yet.
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