Everything that needed to be discussed had been discussed, and the direction that needed to be decided had been decided. When the giant sun gradually rose to the highest point in the sky, the glorious crown with faint wood grain shone upon the entire Silver Foothold No. 112. Gawain clinked glasses with Rosetta Augustus for the last time. What happened after that would be the work of the diplomats of the two countries.
Gwen did not know how the nobles of Typhon would view the result of the closed-door meeting, nor did he know how the historians of later generations would record and guess the negotiation. For himself, the exchange of interests between Cecil and Typhon was not the main point. All of this … was just a part of his push and transformation of the world.
Everything was for a greater victory. He did not know whether Rosetta Augustus had realized his ambitious goal, but judging from his behavior … this wise ruler might not be unaware of it.
Gwen left his seat, but before he left with Amber, he finally could not hold back his last little doubt. "I'm curious, how did you realize the true function of the Winter?"
This was something he was very curious about: In this era where all humans in the world were far away from the sea, under the premise that no one had the consciousness of sea rights, how did Typhon associate the concept of offshore blockade from a warship wandering on the sea, and even think of the method of repairing outposts in the blind spot of the warship to protect his maritime sovereignty?
"I'm not the first one to realize it." To Gwen's surprise, Rosetta shook his head and pointed to Mathilda who rarely spoke. "It's my daughter. She was the first one to realize that your goal may not be in Winterwolf Fort in the first place."
Only then did Gawain finally set his eyes on Mathilda, the "Pearl of the Empire" who did not have much of a presence throughout the entire conversation, as if she was a humble junior who rarely spoke. Mathilda calmly raised her head and met Gawain's gaze with a calm gaze.
"Can you tell me what you think?" Gwen's expression was very gentle as he asked casually as if he was casually chatting with her.
"Actually, from the beginning, I didn't think that you would really occupy Winterwolf Fort. I didn't even think that you would make any difficulties or offer any conditions on the issue of Winterwolf Fort," Mathilda smiled faintly and answered like a gentle junior answering an elder's question. "You would definitely unconditionally withdraw the soldiers occupying Winterwolf Fort, and you would do so in a high-profile manner so that all countries would know that you did not ask for any compensation or conditions in the process."
Gwen's eyes became serious as he nodded slightly at Mathilda. "Go on..
"You would do this because your biggest goal is not Typhon at all. What you want is the highest right to speak in the Alliance, you want to become the rule maker in the Alliance. You definitely cannot occupy Winterwolf Fort, because the whole world is paying attention to Cecil's next move. They are paying attention to what the future 'Alliance Leader' intends to do to enforce his own order. Of course, you can have countless reasons to occupy Winterwolf Fort, and these reasons can even be very reasonable. The first to 'start the war' is Typhon, the one who is morally at fault is Typhon, Cecil's occupation of Winterwolf Fort is a legitimate act of retaliation, but no matter how valid these reasons are, it will still damage the cohesion of the Alliance in the future.
"Because to those small countries who are cautiously observing, they don't care at all whether this occupation is reasonable or not — they only care about the result. You can use reasonable reasons to occupy Winterwolf Fort, and of course, you can also use even more reasonable reasons to occupy other places. Then, even if they bow their heads and join the Alliance in the future, no one will completely believe most of your promises.
"Moreover, the truth of this' war 'will definitely be made public in the future, and this truth will even more affect the legitimacy of your occupation of Winterwolf Fort. You will definitely take this into consideration."
Gwen listened to Mathilda's analysis with some surprise. He had a look of admiration on his face. "Well said, your ability to judge the situation is very good."
"Actually, it has nothing to do with judgment, it's just a simple comparison of benefits." Mathilda lowered her head. "Compared to the right to speak in the entire Lolun Continent, Winterwolf Fort is too small, isn't it?"
"… The era of using primitive and violent means to seize the benefits of war by occupying land, plundering resources, and so on is over," Gwen said in a low voice. Then, he changed the topic. "But why would you think that my target is those islands? Isn't occupying the islands also occupying them? "
"… Because in the minds of most people, 'territory' is limited to the interior of the continent, and the distribution of benefits on the sea is a blind spot in the vision of every country. It is not even considered as a country's territory," Mathilda immediately replied. "They have their eyes on Winterwolf Fort, but they won't pay attention to whether you have occupied several islands far away from the mainland. Only countries that have begun to move towards the sea will realize that there is also gold and silver flowing beyond the coastline, and according to our investigation, the Winter's sailing trajectory has always been wandering around those islands."
Gwen smiled. "Child, you seem to think badly of me."
"No, I admire you, second only to my own father. I just think that you're very powerful, so powerful that I'm a little scared, so I have to be cautious all the time to see if you're showing any signs of aggression." Mathilda looked up, her clear and deep eyes fixed on Gawain's face. "You're a hero, but heroes aren't necessarily saints. A qualified ruler must be greedy. Even if it's for the sake of the thousands of people under his rule, he will definitely calculate the gains and losses at all times. Unfortunately … in this war, due to a freak combination of factors, Typhon has lost the initiative."
"Heroes are not necessarily saints …" Gwen was silent for a few seconds and nodded gently. "I'll remember this comment. Well said, Mathilda."
He retracted his gaze and turned around to leave. However, at this moment, Mathilda suddenly called out to him from behind, "Please wait a moment."
Gwen stopped and looked back at the black-haired princess of Typhon. "Is there anything else?"
"If, I mean if — if we did not set up outposts on those islands, what would you do? If you had more than one Winter, what would you do? "
Gwen thought for a moment and gave his answer frankly. "If I had more warships, I would have occupied all the islands at once. If you did not do anything, then not only would I have occupied them, I would also ask you for a hundred years of unrestricted navigation rights on the entire East Coast, from Dragonsummoning Fjord to Morbius, and from Morbius to the southeast coast of the Kingdom of Kaolin."
Mathilda's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Gwen in surprise. Then she lowered her head and said softly, "… I understand."
Gwen left the room with Amber, leaving only Rosetta and Mathilda in the sunny reception room.
After that, the silence in the room lasted for a long time. It was not until a few minutes later that Rosetta suddenly broke the silence. "No, he won't do that."
Mathilda looked up in surprise. "Father, what did you say?"
"He won't occupy those islands, nor will he ask for unrestricted navigation rights." Rosetta's expression became very serious. He frowned and pondered for a long time. But in the end, he relaxed his brows and the serious expression on his face turned into a complicated smile. "I thought I had already determined his intention when he 'gave in' for the second time …"
"… We have only signed an internal memorandum now. The real negotiations have not started yet," Mathilda said immediately. "Now we still have some leeway —"
"No," Rosetta interrupted Mathilda. The smile on his face seemed to be more complicated than before. "If he didn't mention Tarlonde and the Theocratic Council, I wouldn't mind losing some face. But now … he has shown me a more difficult future to refuse. His price is high, but it's also worth the challenge."
Then he gradually put away the complicated smile on his face, turned to Mathilda, and said in an extraordinarily serious tone, "Immediately contact the ambassadors of the Kingdom of Kaolin and the Silver Empire to finalize the trade and port opening plans. If necessary, we can lower our conditions. In any case, before the trans-continental route agreement comes into effect, we must do our best to preserve the market and the right to speak in the southern end of the continent."
"Is it too late? I'm afraid Cecil's people have already begun to prepare for this. Gwen Cecil has even met with the Silver Queen yesterday afternoon … They have a personal relationship. "
"A friendship that dates back 700 years …" Rosetta's expression was a little complicated. He subconsciously glanced at the red fruits on the tea table not far away, and once again deeply felt the powerlessness of dealing with a character who had walked out of history. But he quickly shook his head and said in a deep voice, "We'll do our best to preserve as much as we can. Although Cecil is ahead of us, they are still too far away from the southern continent. They can't possibly eat such a big meal."
…
In the elven-style town, the lively atmosphere was everywhere. The magic car with the emblem of Cecil was driving on the main road, and at any time, the members of the diplomatic corps of various countries and the elven officers in charge of maintaining order and receiving guests could be seen on the side of the road. Gwen and Amber sat in the back of the magic car, admiring the architectural scenery of the foreign country while relaxing their slightly tense nerves.
In the corner of the inner wall of the car, some inconspicuous runes were shining. A small soundproof enchantment was very good at blocking the noise outside the car, making the inside of the car exceptionally quiet and comfortable.
After a long silence, Amber suddenly broke the silence. "You didn't plan to take those islands from the beginning?"
"… Not really." Gwen smiled. "If they could really give it to me for free, I wouldn't refuse. If Typhon didn't realize the value of a foothold in the sea, why should I consider their future?"
Amber scratched the back of her head. Although she was an outstanding talent in intelligence, she was obviously not that professional in other fields. "… Is a route around the continent really that valuable?"
Gwen looked at the half-elf who was thinking hard. "At least it's more valuable than those islands. A route around the continent itself is just a 'route', but with a prerequisite, the situation is not so simple. At present, Cecil is the only country capable of building a large-scale trading fleet and an ocean-going combat fleet. "
Amber subconsciously repeated Gwen's words. "The only …"
"If our fleet can circle the continent, and any country on the route needs to rely on us to maintain their maritime trade routes, and even their modern trading system itself is built with our assistance, then all the coastal areas of the entire Lolun Continent will become our coast. Those countries that rely on the route around the continent and make huge profits from the sea trade route will even take the initiative to maintain the route for us, because we are not only their parents, but also their bodyguards at sea. It's not difficult to understand the logic behind this."
Amber finally reacted. "… Whoever stands up to challenge Cecil's authority at sea will threaten the economic lifeline of all the coastal countries."
Gwen nodded slightly, but there was one thing he did not say.
Although his plan for a route around the continent was far-reaching, there was still a country on the Lolun Continent that he could not influence. That was the Silver Empire, which was located in the extreme south of the continent and had most of its territory on giant islands. Although the elves had been in decline for many years, their ancestors' legacies were still not to be underestimated. Their deep national strength was also unshakable. With such a strong foundation in their hands, the Silver Elves would naturally have more say in this trade route.
However, he was not worried about this. The heritage of the Silver Elves was also their constraint. The powerful ancestral heritage gave them a strong national strength, but it was also like the Deep Blue Well years ago, firmly binding them in the "fortress" interwoven by the Stellaris Temple and various ancient factories. This constraint shaped the "non-expansion" characteristic of the Silver Empire. At least in the stage that Gwen could foresee, this "non-expansion" characteristic would not be so easy to change.
This meant that the Silver Empire would fully enjoy the benefits of the route around the continent, and would also maintain the operation of this route to a certain extent. For Gwen, this had already achieved his goal.
Of course, the Violet Kingdom in the north of the continent was also a problem … But for this "hermit country" hidden in layers of fog, he did not think too much about it. Anyway, in the previous limited contact, the mages had already acknowledged the existence of the North Harbor, and opened up the strait between the Violet Kingdom and the North Coast. That was enough.
Gawain rubbed his forehead, trying to calm down his mind that had been spinning at high speed for a long time.
At this moment, a figure appeared on the side of the road, and the speed of the magic carriage suddenly slowed down.
Hu Po casually opened the car window a crack, and the figure on the side of the road handed him a piece of paper. Then, the figure instantly blended into the crowd of people nearby. Hu Po opened the paper and quickly glanced at it.
"Two groups of people left the inn where Typhon's diplomatic group stayed. One group went to the Kaolin Kingdom's diplomatic group, and the other group went to the east of the city."
"They went to look for the Silver Queen." Gwen said casually.
"Seems like they reacted quickly." Amber blinked. "Should we do something?"
"Do what? Kill the ambassadors of other countries? " Gwen glanced at the half-elf, then closed his eyes slightly and leaned back on the seat to rest. "Let them be, this is an 'acceptable margin'. Like we said before, we eat meat, we have to leave some soup for others, and even a bite of meat. "
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