(PS: Make up for the missing update from yesterday.)
Seeing that Caesar was exasperated, Henry finally spoke.
"Caesar, maintaining the prosperity of the Mediterranean Sea is our common goal. We can't let your emotions affect our decisions and destroy the overall situation. Please calm down."
Caesar glared at Henry and spat, "Bah, the overall situation is like sh * t."
Seeing this, a cold light flashed in Henry's eyes, and he said faintly, "Since you insist on doing things your own way, we can only unite our fleets and restrict the Roman fleet's travel in the Mediterranean Sea."
Caesar's move was undoubtedly what Henry wanted.
"How dare you!"
Caesar was so angry that he slammed the table and stood up.
However, looking at the Mediterranean Sea lords on both sides, Caesar's heart gradually sank. Not to mention the small and medium-sized lords, they obviously followed Henry's lead. Even Casillas did not refute Henry's proposal.
Thinking of this, Caesar's heart sank.
"It's a conspiracy, all of this is a conspiracy!" Caesar was horrified.
Henry and Casillas, the "arch-enemies", wanted to take this opportunity to restrain the Roman fleet.
Although this gave the Gallic fleet a chance to continue to grow, it also won a precious opportunity for the Spanish Invincible Fleet to catch up with the Roman fleet again.
A win-win situation!
In this big show, the only one who was down was Caesar.
Caesar was furious. He could no longer stay in the face of the humiliation and left angrily.
"Just you wait!"
Before leaving, Caesar left a harsh sentence.
Henry was calm. He turned to look at Violet and said with a smile, "The irrelevant personnel have left. Can we officially sign the trade agreement?"
Violet watched the big show between the Mediterranean Sea lords, and her heart was in turmoil. These lords were really ruthless. They ate people without spitting out the bones.
"Sure!" Violet put away her emotions and smiled sweetly, charming all living beings.
"No matter how they fight, Great Xia's goal has been achieved!"
Thinking of the man who was thousands of miles away and controlling this negotiation behind the scenes, Violet's eyes were distant, and she thought to herself, Did he already expect all this?!
Since when has that man's mind become as deep as the sea?
Violet felt inexplicably melancholic.
After that, the signing of the contract went smoothly, except for an additional clause: "The Lord of the Mediterranean Sea must unconditionally protect the safety of the Great Xia caravan in the Mediterranean Sea. If the caravan is damaged, the Lord of the Mediterranean Sea will bear the consequences."
In order to clarify responsibilities and prevent wrangling, the feudal lords of the Mediterranean Sea had to deposit a risk deposit with the Bank of the Four Seas in advance based on the volume of their trade.
Once the Great Xia caravan was damaged, the Bank of the Four Seas would deduct it from the deposit according to the compensation clause in the marine insurance contract.
With Ouyang Shuo's suggestion and Meng Zhida's execution, the Bank of the Four Seas' insurance business was already on the right track.
In particular, maritime insurance was one of the main types of insurance. Not only were the Great Xia caravans insured, but even the caravans from the other territories in the China region were also insured.
Meng Zhida's next goal was to gradually expand his maritime insurance business to the whole world with the help of the three maritime nodes in Star State County, Somalia Province, and Morocco Province.
The feudal lords of the Mediterranean Sea were convinced by Great Xia's flawless plan. Fortunately, the deposit was a risk deposit in the Four Seas Bank, and the bank paid interest based on the deposit. Otherwise, it would have been a huge loss.
At eleven o 'clock in the morning, under the witness of the Queen of Kalia, the Xia Dynasty and the lords of the Mediterranean Sea officially signed a trade agreement — the Trans-Mediterranean Trade Partnership Agreement.
The main provisions of the agreement were as follows.
Firstly, ports.
All ports within the borders of the members of the agreement would be open to other members, and no additional barriers would be allowed.
Secondly, tariffs.
Import and export tariffs would be greatly reduced to promote the development of ocean trade.
Thirdly, investment.
The entry threshold for investment would be reduced. Chambers of commerce from member territories would be allowed to enter and invest, and no additional barriers would be allowed.
Without a doubt, the Trans-Mediterranean Trade Partnership Agreement was very close to a free trade agreement in reality. For the entire game world, this would be a milestone event.
Through the signing of a free trade agreement, tariffs and non-tariff barriers for most goods would be eliminated, and market access restrictions for most services would be removed. Investments would be opened up, and goods, services, capital, technology, personnel, and other factors of production would be promoted, complementing each other's strengths and promoting common development.
The benefits of free trade were obvious.
Firstly, by reducing transaction costs and circulation fees, trade liberalization and facilitation would be promoted, and ultimately, the development of ocean trade would be promoted.
Costs were reduced, and transactions were convenient. Naturally, more and more caravans would invest in the ocean adventure, setting off a new wave of ocean trade.
Secondly, by promoting investment, it would have the effect of optimizing the global industrial structure and resource allocation.
Between the territories, especially between the eastern and western territories, because of their different historical backgrounds, technology trees, and industries, they would be able to complement each other.
With all these benefits, it was no wonder that Caesar was furious when he found out that he had been excluded from the system. Losing this opportunity was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Caesar City.
In order to protect the interests of trade, Henry and the others would never allow Caesar to stir up trouble in the Mediterranean Sea.
The calculations within were really full of twists and turns.
…
In the afternoon, Violet, Henry, Casillas, and other lords of the Mediterranean attended a global press conference to announce the signing of the Trans-Mediterranean Trade Partnership Agreement.
When the news came out, the whole world was shocked!
Some people cheered, some were disappointed, some were terrified, and some were uneasy.
No one would have thought that the Mediterranean Sea and the Xia Dynasty, which had always been in conflict with each other, would finally move towards cooperation, creating a new era of ocean trade in the game world.
Because it was too shocking, Caesar City's unexpected elimination was ignored, and they became pitiful creatures that no one cared about.
Some people predicted that this would be the most influential event in the game in the past four years. Its significance and far-reaching influence even surpassed the establishment of the world's first dynasty, the Xia Dynasty.
And with the implementation of the Trans-Mediterranean Trade Partnership Agreement, the Xia Dynasty would gradually change from a trading country to a trading power, expanding its global hegemony in an unexpected way.
The deeper meaning behind it was thought-provoking.
…
Ouyang Shuo, who was thousands of miles away, received the news and smiled leisurely. No one in the world knew better than Ouyang Shuo what this meant.
After learning about the existence of the Silver Hand and the Academics, Ouyang Shuo had been thinking about a question. What should the Great Xia Dynasty do?
According to conventional means, Ouyang Shuo could rely on the advantages that the Xia Dynasty had accumulated in the early stages to defeat the weak, and use the strong to bully the weak. He could set off a global war of extermination, bathing the world in blood, and intimidating the world.
But what would the Xia Dynasty get in the end?
At the same time as it continued to expand, more and more enemies would gather around the Xia Dynasty, and these enemies would abandon their prejudices and become more and more united.
The continuous transformation and adjustment of the Yan Huang Alliance and the continuous integration of the internal was a clear proof.
At that time, the Xia Dynasty would become the enemy of the whole world and step by step towards the abyss of destruction.
The ancients had a saying: "A good rider will fall from a horse, a good swimmer will drown, a good drinker will get drunk, and a good fighter will die." Those who conquered the whole world with pure force would become the enemy of the whole world and would eventually die under force.
It could even be said that Ouyang Shuo thought further.
Whether it was the Silver Hand or the Academics, they would not tolerate the existence of a behemoth that was completely above them.
If the Xia Dynasty was really militaristic and made enemies everywhere, perhaps the Silver Hand and the Academics would not be able to do anything to the Xia Dynasty in the game, but when they arrived on Hope Planet, they had plenty of means.
Instigating the enemies of the Xia Dynasty to resist Ouyang Shuo together was too easy for them, who had been playing politics all their lives. Maybe the Silver Hand could take this opportunity to "whitewash" themselves.
Because they were "getting rid of evil for the people", getting rid of the "cancer" of the Xia Dynasty, and returning justice to the world.
Just thinking about this made Ouyang Shuo shudder.
The enemies and struggles that Ouyang Shuo had to face were no longer limited to the game world. This was also the trial that Ouyang Shuo had to go through if he wanted to truly walk the path of a king.
Only in this way could he be reborn from the ashes.
…
Since it was impossible to massacre the whole world, the Xia Dynasty had to find another way.
Through this period of observation and thinking, Ouyang Shuo's thoughts gradually became clear.
What the Xia Dynasty had to do was to expand its global hegemony with the smallest cost of destroying the country. Under the banner of "win-win cooperation", it would continue to penetrate its influence around the world and pull more and more people onto the giant ship of the Xia Dynasty.
In this way, the Xia Dynasty would be unshakable.
The benefits of doing so were not limited to this. It would also help to subtly disintegrate the internal alliance of the Silver Hand and divide it.
An organization that was united by interests would eventually go their separate ways because of interests. Caesar being ruthlessly abandoned by Henry and the others was the best evidence.
Because of the intervention of the Xia Dynasty, Caesar would not be able to rise as a new force in the European continent and become one of the three giants of Europe in the future.
The light emitted by this descendant of ancient Rome was getting dimmer and dimmer.
Signing the "Trans-Mediterranean Trade Partnership Agreement" with the Mediterranean Sea was an attempt by Ouyang Shuo. He wanted to use this opportunity to send a message to the world's lords that the Xia Dynasty not only brought war, but also profits.
The Xia Dynasty was not a warmonger that only knew how to destroy countries and slaughter cities. At the same time, it was also a businessman, a helmsman and navigator that promoted global trade.
Towards the Xia Dynasty, there was no need for the territories to be wary and hostile.
Of course, if the Xia Dynasty really wanted to establish hegemony on a global scale, sometimes it had to use thunderous means, such as attacking Somalia or kicking Caesar City out of the game.
These means were very necessary.
A hegemony without military deterrence and without military strength as a backing was ultimately just a rootless duckweed.
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