(PS: Sorry for the late update!!)
Before leaving, Violet had received instructions from Ouyang Shuo. He knew that Great Xia didn't want to have a dispute with the Mediterranean countries. Their aggressiveness at the negotiating table was just to put on a show.
Since the Mediterranean Lord had invited Queen Kalia, Violet naturally stopped. Not only did he achieve the goal of the negotiation, but he also returned a favor to Queen Kalia.
Based on this point, Queen Kalia and the Mediterranean Lord would pay more attention to her in the future.
Violet relented, and the trade negotiations between the two sides immediately made a breakthrough. The detailed rules were soon to be finalized. Unexpectedly, just as both sides were about to sign the contract, the Great Xia negotiating team suddenly received an urgent letter.
The urgent letter contained an edict from the king, and the content was very concise. "Caesar City is not within the scope of this negotiation. All the ports of the Great Xia Dynasty will not be open to Caesar City's caravans."
Violet looked at it and rubbed his forehead. "This condition is really … too satisfying!"
During the negotiation, the one who nitpicked the most, spoke the most sarcastic words, and harbored the greatest hostility towards Great Xia was the self-righteous Caesar. Violet was extremely annoyed.
Among the lords of the Mediterranean Sea, Caesar was the most annoying.
During the war in Somalia, as soon as Great Xia suffered a setback, Caesar publicly declared, "Great Xia's militarism has caused unrest in the Mediterranean Sea and its surrounding areas. Today's defeat is retribution."
Now, the war in Somalia had ended with Great Xia's complete victory. The one who suffered retribution wasn't Great Xia, but Caesar. Retribution was truly unpleasant.
"Let's see how you make a fool of yourself tomorrow." Violet snorted and was in a good mood.
…
In the conference room in Atlantis.
That morning, the negotiators from both sides gathered together to sign the final trade agreement.
The main members of the Great Xia delegation were all present, while the Mediterranean Lord sent Henry, Casillas, Caesar, and other heavyweight lords.
Henry was the representative of the Mediterranean Lord.
The difficult negotiations finally ushered in the final signing of the contract. The members of both sides were in a good mood. Even Caesar put away his usual sullen face and laughed with the other Mediterranean Lord.
There was no doubt that the signing of the trade agreement would benefit all the territories in the Mediterranean Sea, including Caesar City. With money, Caesar could realize his ambition.
Caesar's aggressiveness during the negotiation was only because he wanted more and was greedier than Henry and the others.
After all, Caesar was not a fool.
Caesar's hostility towards the Great Xia Dynasty and prejudice towards Ouyang Shuo were merely racial prejudice that was ingrained in their bones. Caesar, who claimed to be a descendant of the ancient Roman Empire, could not bear to see the yellow-skinned people acting like tyrants.
As a witness for both sides, Caria presided over the signing ceremony.
At first, the atmosphere was quite harmonious. After the representatives of both parties were introduced, Violet spoke up and said with a smile, "Before we officially sign the agreement, I would like to announce something on behalf of Great Xia."
"Please speak!"
Kalia was a little surprised. This was not part of the procedure.
On the other side, Harry and the others trembled in their hearts. "Could it be that Great Xia is going to go back on their words?!" Following the destruction of Somalia, Great Xia had the absolute dominance in this negotiation, and Henry and the rest couldn't help but worry.
Caesar jumped out and said with a frown, "One must keep his word."
Violet looked at Caesar with a faint smile and said, "Receive my king's decree. This time, the trade agreement signed between Great Xia and the Mediterranean Sea territories does not include Caesar City."
"What did you say?" As soon as Violet finished speaking, Caesar immediately exploded. His gaze was sharp, and it was as if he wanted to eat someone. This unforeseen event really caught Caesar off guard.
Violet's expression didn't change as he said, "Great Xia's caravans will not stay at the port of Caesar City. Similarly, all the ports of Great Xia will not be open to Caesar City's caravans. Have I made myself clear enough? "
"You are going too far!" Caesar was furious.
Violet said, "In view of the fact that the Kaiser Overlord has recently made some extremely unfriendly remarks about Great Xia, Great Xia does not think that there is any need to continue to cooperate with Caesar City."
"…"
Caesar's expression froze, and his face turned red. He was choked to the point where he couldn't speak.
The other Mediterranean Sea lords were originally also puzzled by Great Xia's sudden action, but after listening to Violet's explanation, they suddenly realized that this was the root cause.
Everyone present knew about the public remarks that Caesar had made against Great Xia not long ago.
Caesar would never have dreamed that he would lose such a huge benefit just because of a moment of carefreeness. Basically, without the cooperation of Great Xia, the caravans of Caesar City wouldn't be able to reach the east.
This would be a devastating blow to Caesar City's ocean-going trade.
Some of the lords present felt sorry for Caesar City, but there was no lack of schadenfreude. For example, Henry and the others were extremely happy to see Caesar suffer a setback.
At the same time, they were also a little shocked by Great Xia's ruthless methods. From the looks of it, Great Xia was definitely not the kind of person who wouldn't retaliate after being bullied.
Ouyang Shuo's action was also to make an example out of Great Xia.
Caesar was, after all, an ambitious and ruthless person. He quickly calmed down and said sinisterly, "Since Great Xia is unwilling to cooperate with Caesar City, is there still a need to sign this agreement?! You are openly provoking the Mediterranean Sea and playing us, the lords, like monkeys. "Caesar was trying to drag the entire Mediterranean Sea lord into this mess.
Unfortunately, Violet wasn't fooled.
"Caesar City is Caesar City, and it doesn't represent the entire Mediterranean Sea." Violet looked at Caesar mockingly. "Great Xia has always been sincere in cooperating with the Mediterranean Sea. I'm sure everyone present can feel this sincerity. Even if Great Xia has the advantage, they are not willing to be aggressive. "
Thinking of Great Xia's concession, the Mediterranean Sea lord couldn't help but nod.
Only Caesar's face became more and more gloomy.
Violet continued, "However, the premise of cooperation is mutual trust. I'm sure no one is willing to cooperate with the enemy. Since Lord Caesar has publicly opposed Great Xia, it's obvious that he has no intention of cooperating with Great Xia, right? "
"…"
Caesar was being mocked by Violet and wished he could find a hole to hide in.
In terms of a vicious tongue, no one present could compare to Violet. She had a flirtatious look in her eyes, but the words she said were enough to make people vomit blood.
Caesar said coldly, "In that case, the Great Xia caravan can forget about passing through the Mediterranean Sea."
It seemed that Caesar was ready to fight to the death. Caesar City was located in the Italian region in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. If the Roman fleet under Caesar harassed the Great Xia caravan, the impact would be huge.
However, Violet was very confident. She turned to look at Henry and the others and said, "The prerequisite for Great Xia to sign a trade agreement with the Mediterranean Sea is that you have to ensure the safety of the Great Xia caravan in the Mediterranean Sea. I don't think everyone here wants to control the situation of the entire Mediterranean Sea because of the selfish behavior of one territory, right? "
Henry was silent.
Violet's words had touched on an even more sensitive topic. That was, after Great Xia's Atlantic Fleet withdrew from the Mediterranean Sea, who would control the seas in the Mediterranean Sea?
Among them, the most competitive were Henry's Gallic fleet, Caesar's Roman fleet, and Casilla's Spanish Invincible Fleet.
Among the three major fleets, the Roman fleet was the latest to be established. Compared to Spain and France, Italy wasn't considered a traditional maritime hegemon, so it was the weakest.
The Gallic fleet and the Spanish Invincible Fleet were originally evenly matched. However, during the battle of Morocco, the Spanish Invincible Fleet was full of confidence. They didn't expect to be crippled by Great Xia's torpedoes.
After the battle, the Spanish Invincible Fleet lost nearly half of its warships and became the weakest of the three major fleets. It couldn't even compare to the Roman fleet, which made them dejected.
Henry's Gallic fleet reaped the benefits of Great Xia's victory and became the strongest fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. It had to be said that Henry was the most "cunning" among the lords of the Mediterranean Sea.
It was no wonder that some people said that Henry was a fox that didn't bark.
Henry couldn't understand the meaning of Violet's words better than anyone else. If Henry and the other lords of the Mediterranean Sea acquiesced to the Roman fleet harassing the Great Xia caravan, it would not only affect the trade between Great Xia and the Mediterranean Sea, but it would also damage the Gallic fleet's dominance in the Mediterranean Sea.
Henry couldn't accept either of them.
This concerned the control of the seas in the Mediterranean Sea, and no one could take a step back. More importantly, the smart Henry keenly grasped a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from Violet's words.
Even though the lords of the Mediterranean Sea were united against a common enemy, in fact, they all had their own plans. This trade negotiation was full of twists and turns, and all kinds of opinions and factions were entangled.
However, one thing was clear.
That was, none of the feudal lords would be willing to fall out with the Great Xia Dynasty just because Caesar City had offended the Great Xia Dynasty and fallen out with the Great Xia Dynasty.
The negotiations between the territories weren't child's play. It involved real commercial interests. Otherwise, why would they bother to negotiate with the Great Xia negotiation team until now?
No one was a selfless Lei Feng.
Violet's words could be seen as an attempt to sow discord, but it could also be seen as an opportunity. Using interests as a bond and the signing of a trade agreement as an opportunity, he could lead the other territories in the Mediterranean Sea to isolate Caesar City.
To put it bluntly, if Caesar really arranged for the Roman fleet to harass the Great Xia caravan like he said, it would be equivalent to completely destroying the trade between Great Xia and the Mediterranean Sea and destroying the jobs of the other Mediterranean Sea territories.
No one would accept this.
The lords of the Mediterranean Sea present were all smart people, and they quickly came to their senses. They looked at Caesar with rather unfriendly gazes.
When Caesar saw this, his heart trembled, and he had a bad premonition.
Henry secretly glanced at one of the lords, who was his secret ally.
When the lord received the signal, he immediately stood up and said, "Caesar, you can't represent the Mediterranean Sea. You can't let your emotions affect your decisions and destroy the interests of the entire Mediterranean Sea. That's too selfish."
"What did you say? I'm selfish?" Caesar was furious.
"Harming others without benefiting yourself? If that's not selfish, then what is?"
"I, I, I …" Caesar was so angry that he couldn't speak. He said angrily, "You traitors!"
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