Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 288: The Crazy Negotiations, Part 2
This first clause was simply non-negotiable; yet, publicly acknowledging defeat in front of representatives from all the nations still made Sima Xuan feel somewhat humiliated. Admitting defeat significantly dampened the atmosphere of Jin Kingdom’s delegation. The confrontation had already begun.
However, after only a slight hesitation, Sima Xuan still signed the instrument of surrender. All attending representatives signed in turn; over fifty people from Anyang and over thirty from Jin Kingdom also signed in succession.
Then, Xu Ren announced the second condition: “Second, the total expenses incurred by Anyang in this war amount to 38.7 million taels of gold; due to the war’s impact, Anyang suffered a social loss of over 15 million taels of gold. A total of 53.7 million taels of gold. Anyang only wants gold and silver; calculated at a rate of one tael of gold to ten taels of silver. The gold and silver must be at least 99.95% pure.
The payment deadline is within 365 days. For overdue payments, an annual interest rate of 20% will apply — compound interest.”
As soon as this condition was announced, Jin Kingdom’s Prime Minister Sima Xuan boldly slammed the table and cursed, “This is extortion! You, a mere small state like Anyang, claim to have spent over 50 million taels of gold on one war? You couldn’t even sell the entire Anyang for 5 million taels of gold!”
On the Anyang side, Fang Shijing rudely rolled up his sleeves and replied, “The Brilliant Star Group’s textile sub-factory alone sells fabrics worth 2 million taels of gold a month. The smelting sub-factory sells iron ingots worth 1.8 million taels of gold per month. The industrial assembly line recorded 3.79 million taels of gold in sales last month. Cement sales reached 2.83 million taels of gold last month!
Just in stainless steel, sales to the Dragon Palace amounted to 4.2 million taels of gold.
And a single ironclad warship sold to the Sea Tribe fetched 12.5 million taels of gold. There’s much more — Anyang is far stronger than your poor backwater! Throwing gold around? Anyang can afford it!”
The surrounding Anyang merchants immediately nodded in strong agreement with Fang Shijing. Thanks to the advent of liquid spiritual energy, Anyang’s trade with the Sea Tribe had already started being settled in gold; gold, being the best vessel of fortune, was more valuable than spirit stones for Anyang at this stage.
The surrounding observers gasped, realizing for the first time just how wealthy Anyang had become. One ironclad warship selling for 12.5 million taels of gold — nearly the equivalent of a normal empire’s annual fiscal revenue!
Although fiscal revenue isn’t an empire’s entire income — empires also earn from selling magic artifacts, spiritual medicine, royal merchants, and more — Anyang had only been developing for under four years and still comprised just a single county. Of course, after annexing Luliang County, Anyang now covered the area of two counties, equivalent to Nanyang County.
As for Sima Xuan, he was momentarily stunned into silence by Fang Shijing’s numbers. As the saying goes, “No investigation, no right to speak.” After stammering for a while, Sima Xuan eventually backed down and made a compromise: “The damages from the war with Anyang only make up half of the total losses. The other half should be covered by Nanyang County and Dongyuan County.”
Xu Ren took over, “Right now, this is a negotiation between our two sides and has nothing to do with Nanyang and Dongyuan. We’ll negotiate with them separately.”
“Then we can only pay half the amount at most!”
“No, no,” Xu Ren confidently and elegantly waved his hand, “Have you not heard Anyang’s current motto? It’s ‘Talk business when in business.’ War, too, is a kind of intense commercial activity — a forced one, at that — with a one-sided nature: ‘the victor decides everything.’
We made investments, so we must see returns. Therefore, 53.7 million taels of gold — not a single tael less!”
This was plain unreasonable.
“We, the Jin Kingdom, don’t have that much gold! If we had that much, why would we have surrendered in the first place?” Sima Xuan was getting desperate — if you keep pushing like this, we may have to fight again. The Jin Kingdom wasn’t incapable of doing so!
Xu Ren remained unmoved. “You can pay in installments — you’re allowed up to five years to pay in full. The unpaid portion will simply be charged 20% interest annually.”
“This is bloodsucking! We, the Jin Kingdom, are iron roosters — we won’t give up even a feather!”
“No problem, then we’ll steam the whole chicken.”
…
So-called negotiations were essentially arguments — but arguments with a purpose. Every sentence had meaning behind it. If you couldn’t interpret the implications of what was said, you wouldn’t be able to counter. Without a proper counter, you’d fall behind, and in the end, that meant retreat and concessions.
This round of negotiation actually lasted a whole day, and only because Anyang had a deeper understanding of commercial wealth did they manage to gain the upper hand.
In the end, both sides signed an agreement: Jin would pay 42 million taels of gold in compensation, to be paid off over six years, with an annual interest rate of 17%.
After sitting the whole day, Li Xian finally spoke, “That’s it for today. We’ll begin with the third clause tomorrow.”
Li Xian had spoken, and with the sky already dark, today’s negotiations finally came to an end. When the end of negotiations was announced, the Nascent Soul-stage Sima Xuan actually swayed and turned visibly pale — today’s negotiations had truly drained him mentally and physically.
The surrounding spectators were finally allowed to speak, and conversations began; some between allies, others between opposing sides. Some even tried to speak with the Jin or Anyang delegations but were refused.
Both the Anyang and Jin representatives were utterly exhausted.
It was a quiet night, yet undercurrents surged beneath the surface. By the time negotiations resumed the next day, newspapers were already being sold throughout the streets and alleys of Anyang, covering the events of the previous day. This time, the newspapers even included photographs. Though the initial photos were in black and white, they were quite clear, and together with the accompanying text, they effectively conveyed the intensity of the on-site negotiations.
On the second day, the negotiations focused on the leasing of cities and ports. The Jin Kingdom did not gain many concessions; Anyang merely increased the original payment from 10,000 taels of gold to 13,000 taels, which could be seen as giving the Jin Kingdom a bit of face.
The third day was about railway construction, and this topic was the most contentious. Facing this brand-new concept, the Jin Kingdom vaguely sensed the importance of railways, but lacked a deep understanding. However, Sima Xuan was still the Prime Minister, and the Jin Kingdom’s delegates were all sharp and shrewd. In this haze of uncertainty, they fiercely contested with Anyang’s representatives.
On the first day of railway negotiations, no consensus was reached.
On the second day, a consensus was achieved: Anyang would retain the railway rights for 100 years without the slightest concession.
On the third day, a second consensus was reached: the railway would be subject to a symbolic tax of one-thousandth.
It wasn’t until the seventh day that the railway negotiations finally concluded. The final agreement was:
Anyang would fully fund and construct the railway, hold 100% ownership for 100 years, and pay a symbolic tax of one-thousandth; after 100 years, ownership would be transferred to the Jin Kingdom, but Anyang would still retain 50% of the profits for another 100 years.
Anyang would build a total of three railways in the Jin Kingdom: one passing through Nanyang County and the Jin Kingdom’s capital to the Chen Kingdom; another running along the coast; and a third spanning east to west across the Jin Kingdom. These three railways would connect 17 of Anyang’s leased territories and two ports.
The Jin Kingdom guaranteed that all railways would remain unimpeded and undamaged. In return, Anyang guaranteed that these railways would serve the Jin Kingdom’s military needs.
If, within the next hundred years, the Jin Kingdom required Anyang’s assistance in building railways, the construction would follow the same terms—unless the Jin Kingdom could fully fund the railway itself.
After the railway negotiations came the talks on the trade agreement. The plan itself was simple, but Anyang made one request: “All merchants from Anyang shall not face any harassment in the Jin Kingdom and shall enjoy the most favorable commercial treatment.”
So-called most favorable commercial treatment meant, for example: if a trade caravan in one region was granted a certain privilege, then all of Anyang’s caravans and merchants within the Jin Kingdom would automatically receive the same privilege—across the entire territory of the Jin Kingdom.
This condition delighted the merchants of Anyang, who never imagined that such a clause could even be proposed. It was as if the path had been paved just for them.
After much dispute, the Jin Kingdom was ultimately forced to accept the condition; but with one caveat: Anyang’s merchants must obey the law—specifically, the current laws of the Jin Kingdom.
Then came another issue: if a citizen of Anyang committed a crime within the Jin Kingdom, interrogation would require the presence of an Anyang judge; and the final verdict must reference Anyang’s laws. Anyang had a solid argument—“Your Jin Kingdom’s laws are garbage.”
In this matter, Anyang held complete dominance. The Jin Kingdom’s delegates could not utter a word in response. When it came to legal matters, the Jin Kingdom was utterly defeated.
After these two negotiation items, Anyang’s merchants were practically “putting on their hats and celebrating.” For several nights in a row, there were business promotions on the streets of Anyang—“Half-price!” “Discounts!” even free giveaways.
Next came negotiations on taxes, mining, aviation, embassies, and other topics, which were comparatively less difficult.
Finally, the main event arrived—War Formations!
War Formations refer to large-scale tactical arrays used by the military, such as the “Ten Thousand Swords Array,” the “Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies Heaven Gang Formation,” and so on. These were the very foundation of the Jin Kingdom.
Why was the Jin Kingdom considered the most powerful nation in the East? In the Immortal Realm, there was only one reason for earning such a title and honor—and that was military strength!
The Jin Kingdom had once encountered a great stroke of luck. They discovered an ancient relic within their borders and from it obtained several “war formations.” No one knew exactly how many formations the Jin Kingdom acquired or what they were, but their most frequently used ones were two: one offensive—the “Ten Thousand Swords Array”; one defensive—the “Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies Heaven Gang Formation.”
The minimum requirement for the Ten Thousand Swords Array was 10 people per group; for the Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies Heaven Gang Formation, the minimum was six people per group.
A Ten Thousand Swords Array composed of 10,000 Foundation Establishment experts could kill a Nascent Soul-level expert—and the Jin Kingdom had many such recorded instances.
An Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies Formation composed of 10,000 Foundation Establishment experts could block or trap a Nascent Soul expert—again, the Jin Kingdom had plenty of records to prove it.