Gwen did not beat around the bush. When the topic naturally progressed to the field of economics and trade, he straightforwardly threw out his own suggestion. In this regard, he felt that too much concealment and guidance would appear deliberate, and it would appear that he had too many thoughts behind the trade proposal. And based on his current impression of Rosetta Augustus, he believed that the other party would prefer this kind of direct communication.
Rosetta showed a hint of interest. Of course, this expression was not so obvious on his expressionless face. "Trade … I have indeed thought about it. Typhon and the Ansu are adjacent to each other, and each has its own unique products. I have thought of opening up a trade route between the two countries, but this idea has not been implemented in time. "
Although the Ansu and Typhon had been confronting each other for a long time, small-scale commercial activities among the people were not banned. There were often commercial activities near the border, but the "trade route" that Rosetta mentioned was certainly not the kind of small trade that relied on merchants or civilian caravans to maintain. He had already begun to think about large-scale trade with the Ansu? But he had not had time to implement it?
In a flash of thought, Gwen had grasped some of the situation in Typhon with the information provided by Daniel. It seemed that "machine production" was gradually taking shape in Typhon and had begun to show its strength. More and more industrial products were being continuously transported from the factory to the market, and Rosetta Augustus had already realized that these industrial products needed a bigger market. Was he considering using the Ansu as a dumping target?
If Hao Ren did not meet with him this time, then Rosetta's dumping target should be the Eastern Region. The Eastern Region was currently in a state of war, and it may indeed accept the "cheap goods" provided by the Typhon due to the shortage of goods. It was good to maintain the frontline supplies in the short term, but this would destroy its own production order in the long term. And it was very likely that Prince Edmund and Silas Lorren would adopt the same plan as the "trade with the Southern Region", using resources and even mining rights in exchange for Typhon's industrial products.
What a familiar operation.
Gwen smiled as he glanced at Rosetta Augustus. He seemed to see a shadow of himself in this wise and bold ruler of the Empire.
"The Cecil people have always welcomed friends with open doors," he said cheerfully. "We can consider establishing a trade route between the Cecil Duchy and Typhon. I won't hide it from you, the new Cecil Duchy does have a lot of shortages at this stage. Magical materials, ores, wood, oh, and of course, a lot of cloth... On the other hand, we have some unique magical creations, but we have no market."
Rosetta Augustus did not express his opinion immediately. He first thought for a few seconds, and then slowly said, "It seems that trade is indeed a good thing for both of us, but you should know that the Southern Region of Ansu and Typhon are not directly connected..."
Gwen pinched his chin and looked like he was thinking. After a minute or two, he said, "We have set up a mine in the White Sand Hills and are planning to build a new road to the Southern Region. I can negotiate with the Duke of the Eastern Region. He should not mind if I expand the road a little to the east. Or we can open a new road at the foot of the Gloom Mountains further south. Along that mountain range, Cecil and Typhon can be directly connected. "
Although the Southern Region of Ansu was not directly connected to Typhon, it was not far away. An extension of the southeastern corner of the Southern Region was even separated from Typhon by a small mountain road. Otherwise, the "Typhon Task Force" led by Sordling would not have been able to infiltrate Cecil's territory so easily.
Rosetta seriously thought about Gwen's proposal. Although he and Gwen both knew what the final result would be, he still seriously thought about it for two minutes and said cautiously, "It does sound feasible, but... I first need to know what we need from Cecil."
Gwen kept smiling. He certainly knew that the best situation for the emperor was that Typhon did not need anything. He only needed to export industrial products to Ansu, or rather, to Cecil, and the latter would exchange his gold, silver, or mineral resources for it. In the process, Typhon did not need to buy any additional goods from Cecil.
Unfortunately, although Gwen was ready to let Typhon "dump" industrial products on him, he still had to control the outflow of gold and silver reserves when possible.
"Magic products, such as various types of alchemy potions, processed artificial crystals, and... magic-powered vehicles."
Obviously, when Rosetta heard the words "magic-powered vehicles", his pupils contracted slightly.
Gwen did not miss this detail.
"The vehicles you mentioned... are you referring to the ones you took when you came here?" Rosetta focused on the vehicles. "They are indeed incredible. I have long heard that Cecil has a magical technology called 'arcanotech'. Those vehicles are the products of the arcanotech? "
Gwen nodded reservedly. He thought to himself that Rosetta had of course heard of the arcanotech. Not only had he heard of it, but he had also imitated it. Not only had he imitated it, but he had also succeeded in mass production.
"Those vehicles are indeed the 'means of transportation' I'm talking about, but that's just a part of it. We have a larger and more efficient transportation technology," Gawain said as he looked around. "If you don't mind, I can show you what it looks like here."
Rosetta's eyebrows raised slightly, showing a rather interested look. He then raised his hand and signaled the band not far away to stop playing. "I'm looking forward to it. What does it look like?"
Gwen smiled and signaled his men to bring a small magic net terminal in front of him. Without activating the communication function, the Typhon people present would probably treat this strange looking machine as a projection crystal embedded in a strange base, and such things were not rare in the upper class.
Gwen adjusted the status of the magic net terminal, and then directly activated a video stored in it.
A clear holographic projection appeared in the air. A giant serpent made of steel crawled on a man-made track, carrying thousands of tons of goods as it slowly accelerated. A loud flute sound came from the image, and the image of the 'giant serpent' moving forward suddenly showed a shuddering power.
This was the broadcast from Cecil a few days ago!
The video was short, less than thirty seconds, because Gwen had erased the latter half of the video. After the train accelerated for a while, the advertisement of 'Cecil Railway Transportation Company' should appear. At this stage, Gwen did not want the Typhon people to know too much other than the magical train.
For a moment, the hall was quiet, and almost everyone's eyes were wide open.
Pairs of eyes fell on the holographic projection and the still image of the train. The flute sound at the end of the video seemed to reverberate in their minds, and everyone spontaneously had countless questions and guesses. Even Rosetta Augustus had his eyes on the image for more than a minute. But in the end, the Emperor of Typhon was the first to wake up and return to normal. He looked at Gwen very seriously and asked, "What is this?"
"The magical train. You can think of it as an extraordinarily large, extraordinarily powerful vehicle. Of course, its technology is much more complicated," Gwen explained. "This is actually a new technology for us."
"You are willing to sell it?" Rosetta seemed to be in disbelief. He looked at the astonishing 'magical vehicle' in the image again. There was a hint of complexity in his eyes, but more than that, he was puzzled. "Why?"
Just by looking at the image, the Emperor of Typhon could realize the great significance of this vehicle and its possible role in many fields such as passenger transport, freight transport, military, and so on. He did not believe that Gwen, who created this magical thing (or in the words of Cecil people, a magical creation), would not have thought of this. So he instinctively had a hint of vigilance and suspicion.
Gwen spread his hands, and there seemed to be a hint of helplessness in his voice. "I just said that the new Cecil Principality... has a lot of shortcomings."
They have technology but can't turn it into wealth in the short term? In order to develop 'magical', there is a major gap in the field of people's livelihood? Or could it be that … they had encountered a fatal financial crisis?
Rosetta Augustus instantly began to recall the information he collected through various channels and speculated about the possible situation of Cecil Principality. In the end, he concluded that the reason might be the latter two points.
After the establishment of Cecil Principality, it had been carrying out continuous large-scale construction, expanding the city, migrating the population, and spending a lot of manpower and material resources to explore the wastelands. And all this was just after it had just experienced a unification war!
If it weren't for the crisis in terms of economy and basic materials, a legendary hero like Gawain Cecil would never have taken the initiative to discuss "trade" with him.
"If you are willing to sell it, of course... we are very interested," Rosetta said with a last trace of caution. "But according to my observation, such a huge thing... it seems to have a supporting 'road'? How are you going to 'sell' this thing? "
"Yes, it needs to lay a basic road called the 'energy track' or commonly known as the 'railway' to operate. It also needs supporting maintenance and control technology. The transportation of the train itself is not easy." Gwen nodded. "We will be responsible for the full set of work in this regard. First of all, we can build a road on the Cecil - Typhon trade line to send the train body and technical personnel to Typhon. Then we will help you to build the road and the station. This will be according to your requirements. The price of the train body is fixed, and the road... "
Gwen glanced at Rosetta. Under the latter's deep gaze, he did not say the words' help you to build the railway for free '.
This would arouse the vigilance of the other party and the entire think tank behind him. There was a saying in Ansu: "Most of the bread you pick up is poisonous." He believed that Rosetta also knew this saying.
It would be fine if it was just a few parts for free, but if it was something so expensive that it could bankrupt ordinary small nobles, then it was too suspicious.
"We are willing to provide the best discount, but after all, the cost is high. I have a plan. If Typhon can provide the raw materials needed to build the railway, then we can only charge the technical personnel for the dispatch of the technical personnel and a part of the 'technical cooperation fee'. The cost will not exceed the manpower required to build the road, and it will be calculated according to the actual length of the railway."
After a longer consideration, Rosetta nodded slightly. "In another sense, the 'cost price' sounds fair and generous."
Then he changed the topic. "But there is one thing — I don't know enough about the 'magic train' that you mentioned. I don't even know enough about the magic vehicles you brought. I can't make a decision based on my impression. "
"Reasonable concern." Gwen smiled. "I will provide more information, and you are welcome to send someone to see the operation of the magic train. As for those 'magic vehicles'... if we can successfully reach a trade agreement, I am willing to give you one in my name as a show of sincerity. "
"You are worthy of being the Knight of Knights. Your generosity and integrity are touching," Rosetta said solemnly, and then seemingly casually asked, "So... if this trade agreement is reached, is it a deal between Typhon and Ansu, or a deal between Typhon and Cecil?"
Gwen quietly looked at Rosetta Augustus for a moment, and the corner of his mouth gradually rose.
"This is the friendship between Typhon and Cecil.
"I cannot and have no intention of representing Ansu."
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