The representatives sent by the Northern Alliance Area were also called over. The negotiations lasted all afternoon, and a "NAC Free Trade Agreement" that made countless businessmen on the Sixth Street ecstatic was finally announced.
However, although it was called free trade, there were still some restrictions.
First of all, "strategic materials" such as iron, aluminum, titanium, tungsten, molybdenum, and rare earths were all prohibited from sale. Once discovered, they would be immediately charged with smuggling. On this point, no matter how the representatives sent by the Northern Alliance Area protested, Jiang Chen did not make the slightest concession.
Iron, aluminum, and titanium went without saying. Rare earths were the key to the production of high-tech weapons, from the optical components of laser guns to the acceleration rails of the Type-50 Electromagnetic Pulse Cannons. As for tungsten and molybdenum, one was one of the raw materials for smelting C-type steel, and the other could be used to produce neural access devices.
In addition to the ban on the sale of strategic materials, Jiang Chen also imposed an additional 15% tariff on luxury goods in the Northern Alliance Area. As long as their goods entered the market of the Sixth Street for sale, they must pay this fee. Although 15% tariffs did not seem high in the modern world, it was already very high in the apocalypse where supplies were relatively scarce.
Objection? It was useless to object.
The goods of the Northern Alliance Area were not the only choice for NAC. NAC's trade routes extended to Yingzhou in the east and India in the west. There were too many trading partners that could serve as substitutes.
However, the Northern Alliance Area had no more choices. Although they could also find large survivor settlements in Fuzhou to the south, the mutants and zombies along the way were enough to make them feel desperate. The extremely cold weather in the north was not suitable for cultivating mutated fruit trees. The production of nutrient supply could not be supported by hunting alone unless they wasted all the ammunition they already had on mutants. Not only nutrient supply, but many of the things piled up in the warehouses in Wanghai were also scarce supplies in the Northern Alliance Area.
Opening up a trade route along the Yangtze River was their only choice unless they could get a large amount of helium to build airships, but this was obviously impossible. Helium was a scarce resource in the 22nd century, and only Jiang Chen could afford to use it to fill "balloons".
Of course, Jiang Chen did not completely leave them a way out. Light weapon bullets, laser gun batteries, and other supplies, he still allowed the merchants of the Northern Alliance Area to purchase from NAC. However, in order to prevent them from hoarding ammunition, the amount of each purchase was strictly limited.
With the signing of the trade agreement, the two sides finally lowered the muzzles aimed at each other, and the peace that could last for an unknown period of time finally arrived on the land ruled by NAC.
At this point, Jiang Chen finally finished all the things he needed to deal with during his temporary return. It just so happened that new news came from the modern world.
Although she didn't want to leave, she still let go of the "drained" Jiang Chen. She left a loving kiss on his lips and watched him disappear from the room as she traveled back to the modern world.
…
There was news from Europe.
Since the rebels fired the first shot of the "7th Research Institute Battle", they declared war on the Peter government in the name of justice.
And in the few days that Jiang Chen left, the flames of revolution had already spread across Frankberg like wildfire.
The most serious state, Bava, had even imposed martial law, and Ber welcomed a curfew after a year and a half. Based on the principle of fighting if they could win and running if they couldn't win, the rebels used civilian transportation and light weapons to fight mobile warfare with the special police and regular army in the city. When they were surrounded, they fled into the mountains on the Frankberg border and used the terrain for guerrilla warfare.
The reason why these protesters were able to create such a storm was mainly due to the high degree of integration of the European Union.
After several years of "hard work", according to the data released after further disarmament in 2012, the entire German Army only retained the establishment of three divisions, and the number of main battle tanks decreased from more than 2500 to 230 tanks and 470 infantry fighting vehicles. In addition to the air force, the size of the land force was even less than the size of an army of a certain country.
Although Peter made some adjustments to the defense budget after he came to power, it was impossible for more than one hundred thousand reserves to fight against the rebels just because of his order. Frankberg implemented a recruitment system, and the soldiers were all paid volunteers. With Peter's current support rate, even if he still maintained a high reputation among the extreme right in Frankberg, with his vote in favor of the EU integration process, it was destined that his call for Frankberg to take up arms against the "thugs" who called themselves the rebels would only be met with boos.
At present, NATO had not sent troops to Frankberg. When the treaty was signed, countries did not consider the day when they would send troops to maintain stability.
After all, the country was not a private company, and sending troops was not something that could be done easily. However, this was also what Carmen wanted. Arrow took advantage of the revolution set off by the rebels and forcefully intervened in the upheaval that was taking place in Frankberg.
After Peter signed the decree that "if there is resistance, you can shoot the rebels on the spot", the protests and repression were pushed to a climax. Bloody conflicts occurred in every corner of the city. The concrete walls were smeared with the black marks left by Molotov cocktails and explosives. The bullet marks and cement chips were like scars, like contradictions that could not be erased.
It was hard to imagine that this scene would happen in a developed country. Although this day had been rehearsed countless times in games and films, no one really believed it.
Perhaps this was also one of the cultures brought by the refugees.
…
In the early morning of May 21st, Coro City Airport welcomed a special guest. Under the escort of four bodyguards, the old man with a hooked nose greeted Jiang Chen with a smile. He opened his arms and gave Jiang Chen a warm hug. After a firm handshake, he said with a smile.
"When I left last time, I had a hunch that we would meet again. I didn't expect this day to come so soon."
"It's not too soon. The last time I saw you, you were forty years old at most." Jiang Chen looked at the old man's white temples and joked, "Welcome, future Mr. Prime Minister."
"It's too early to be Prime Minister. I'm just a poor person living under someone else's roof." Although the tone of this sentence was very humble, Jiang Chen could still clearly sense a sense of relief from the warm smile on his face.
Bloody conflicts were not something to be happy about, but Frankberg finally took up arms against their own elected tyrant, which was not a small progress. More and more people joined the Frankberg People's Liberation Front, went abroad for military training, and then returned to Frankberg. The rebels achieved fruitful results in Bavaria.
Evelyn had reason to believe that the day when he ended his identity as a government-in-exile was not far away.
It was precisely because of this that he was qualified to represent the "New Federal Frankberg" and come to Coro to talk about the future of Frankberg …
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