"Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, your country and the grasslands are not comparable to our Maple Leaf Territory. Your country is an important trading partner of our territory, while the grassland tribes are thieves who destroy trade. Our Maple Leaf Territory made its fortune through business, so how could we do something that harms our own interests?
This is a ridiculous excuse that Duke Clark of your country made up to invade us. If your country really intends to make excuses for this behavior that cannot exist, then I can only regretfully announce that our negotiations cannot proceed because both sides lack the most basic respect and trust. "Anna's tone has become much higher, as if she will leave if you dare to say these things again.
"Ma'am, I think we do need to calm down, but fortunately, both sides have a basic understanding. Just like what you said, we still have a lot of time to negotiate slowly." Victor also planned to take advantage of the situation to end today's exploratory negotiations.
"Of course." Anna happily accepted the suggestion.
After they both left, Anna invited Victor to enjoy the Maple Leaf Territory's recently popular buffet. Anna and Avril were busy putting their food on the silver plates, and Victor and William followed suit, looking for food they liked or were interested in.
"To be honest, if you hadn't asked me, I would never have thought that you were a pregnant woman. I see that your appetite seems to be better than mine." Victor joked.
"My husband once told me that a pregnant woman's diet must be balanced so that she has everything. Only in this way can the nutrients in the food ensure the healthy growth of the baby. I am very much looking forward to my baby's health so I try not to be picky about food." Anna said this with a happy smile on her face.
"The young lord is so knowledgeable. I wonder if I will have the honor to meet him. I have many questions to ask him." Victor offered flattery at the right time.
"It's a pity that my husband is away traveling. If I have the chance, I will definitely mention you to him. Then you can learn from each other through letters."
"Madam, please be sure to convey my words. I have heard many legends about him over the past decade, but it is a pity that I have never been able to communicate with him in person.
By the way, I heard that many things in Maple Leaf Territory were created by the little lord. Is this true?
"Of course. For example, the silk you are wearing is the one he taught our workers how to breed, weave and dye. As for many other products such as canned food, he was involved in or made suggestions." Anna smiled happier when she talked about her husband's achievements.
"Really? That's amazing. You know, this thin silk has caused us a lot of trouble. Madam, you may not know that it costs me ten days' salary to tailor a set of silk clothes." Victor complained to Anna and Avril in a complaining tone.
"In fact, Mr. Victor may not know that my husband actually wanted to trade directly with your country from the beginning, but due to some reasons, no negotiation was reached, and in the end, it had to be done by those chambers of commerce. Of course, this also increased the cost of your purchase of silk." It seemed very natural for Avril to interrupt at this time.
"Really... If I had known this would happen, I would have come here earlier. At least I could have bought a lot of high-quality and cheap silk." Victor said meaningfully.
"It's not too late even now. As long as Mr. Victor is willing to introduce us, our territory is very willing to carry out comprehensive cooperation with your Majesty." The business side is managed by Avril, and Anna handed over the main position to her. At the same time, she is also observing the people around Vice Prime Minister Victor.
He looked to be in his thirties, and looked very serious and stern, but Anna noticed early on that Victor cared a lot about him and always let him take food first.
Small details reveal big problems. This is Lin Xingchen's evaluation of Anna. His daughter-in-law is a person who pays great attention to details.
"What is this sir's name? Is this your first time in our Maple Leaf Territory?" It was natural to find out if there was something wrong. Anna and Avril were experts in this area.
"Hello, ma'am. This is indeed my first time in Maple Leaf Territory." William quickly replied when he heard Anna greeting him.
"I hope you won't look at us with strange eyes when you come here, because this will make you miss many different scenery." Anna's behavior now is as if she is afraid of being ignored by a guest, so she said a few false polite words.
"The scenery here is indeed somewhat different from that of the Empire. Fortunately, I did not look at Maple Leaf Territory with prejudice, otherwise I would have missed a lot of beautiful scenery just as Madam said." William smiled and chatted with Anna.
"Madam, can I ask you a rather rude question? You and Ms. Avril are both the wives of the young lord. Wouldn't your husband be angry if you came out in public and talked to strange men like us?"
"He... of course he was angry. He is actually very petty, but he trusts us sisters very much so he would not have any bad suspicions about us.
Moreover, he showed up to handle the affairs of the territory, and he personally taught us sisters many things. In his words, instead of keeping us at home and wasting food every day, it would be better to let us come out to help, so that we can grow our brains and avoid jealousy at home."
"Your husband is such a humorous man. I must have a good chat with him when I get a chance. I think I can learn a lot from him." William was also amused by Anna's words.
"I will definitely convey your words and Mr. Victor's words. He is also a person who likes to make friends very much." At this time, the servant came to Anna and whispered a few words in her ear.
Anna apologized to Victor and William and left with the servants.
As the servant entered a small room, Green was talking to Arnold.
"Grandpa, why are you here?"
"I was bored at home, so I came out for a walk. I walked here and came to see you. By the way, how is the negotiation going?" Green said he was bored, but some of his actions had already revealed his thoughts.
"Don't worry, Grandpa! With Grandpa Arnold by our side, we will be fine. I estimate that it will take at least three rounds of negotiations to finalize. Today, we are just testing each other's bottom line."
"I heard what Arnold said. Anna, don't be too pushy about some things. We still have a lot of time. We don't need to finish in ten years a task that would take a hundred years." The old man hinted at something.
"Grandpa, I know my limits. Please let me give it a try. If it doesn't work, I still need to thank you for coming forward to clean up the mess for us."
"That's fine. It can't get any worse. It's just a matter of time. We can wait." After saying that, the old man got up and left.
Private friendship does not affect the quarrel at the negotiation table. What should be fought for must still be fought for. Unfortunately, the Maple Leaf Leader did not have the confidence and finally reached an agreement through negotiations between the two sides.
The Empire paid 800,000 gold coins to compensate Maple Leaf Territory for its losses and another 200,000 gold coins to redeem the prisoners. Both parties had no choice but to sign their names on the agreement.
In the subsequent business negotiations, Maple Leaf Territory achieved good results and reached a series of cooperation agreements with the Empire.
Maple Leaf Territory and the royal family jointly founded a chamber of commerce, which is located in the imperial capital. Maple Leaf Territory provides a large amount of food and seeds of economic crops such as difficult-to-preserve vegetables, as well as all supporting technologies.
The Empire imports these technologies and seeds. Under the premise of friendly cooperation between the two sides, Maple Leaf will develop more comprehensive cooperation with the Empire depending on the situation.
Similarly, William formally made a request to Maple Leaf Territory in his capacity as the Crown Prince. Some of his intentions were about reform issues. He hoped that when Lin Xingchen returned, he could pass on some experience to the Empire. In return, the Empire would grant Maple Leaf Territory a large number of places for studying in the country.
It seems that Maple Leaf is at a disadvantage in the cooperation between the two parties, but only those who are truly aware of the problems involved know how to settle the account.
When leaving, Lin Xingchen repeatedly emphasized the point of using outdated technology to gain maximum profit. As long as his technology can ensure that he is ahead of others, he will never lose money.
Similarly, because of the existence of the Tree of Life, the high-quality seeds cultivated in Maple Leaf Territory have almost no cost. After so many years of development, there have been cases where people terminated cooperation after obtaining the high-quality seeds, but the final result was that the seeds showed reduced yields or even no harvest after one or two generations of planting. Naturally, people also understand that the reason why Maple Leaf Territory set the seed price so low is that they have the confidence.
Victor, William and others spent the New Year in Maple Leaf Territory. This New Year made many businessmen understand a truth: Maple Leaf Territory’s ability to guarantee their safety also proved that Maple Leaf Territory had the ability to turn bad things into good things.
Even the imperial family was willing to work with Maple Leaf Territory to resolve their grievances and make money together. Naturally, the merchants were not stupid, so after the spring, this news spread throughout the empire as the caravan left.
More and more businessmen are gathering in Maple Leaf, which has a perfect supporting financial industry. Whether it is borrowing money or repaying money, it can be easily done, and even some services such as pending payment for goods have been derived.
Businessmen have their own set of standards for doing business. Many people are not afraid of not having buyers but are afraid of not getting paid after selling. Now with Maple Leaf Bank as an intermediary, they can save themselves a lot of unnecessary trouble.
What is also refreshing is that after the beginning of spring, the first stock exchange in Maple Leaf Territory officially opened and the first commodity trading market also officially appeared in front of the public.