Munitions Empire-Chapter 1076: Discuss the price before cursing 998 times

Chapter 1076: Discuss the price before cursing 998 times

Tang Empire, Nanshan Port.

This recently acquired territory of the Tang Empire was still bustling everywhere. The civil officials who had traveled from the Tang Empire were driven insane by the relentless administrative duties these past few days.

If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn’t have believed that such a shabby city could exist in this world.

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Compared to the port area and connected train stations and airports built with the help of the Tang Empire, the overall urban development of the city was pretty much the same as twenty years ago.

There were no connected sewer systems; the city’s sewage had to rely largely on manual scavengers and a few sewage trucks.

All the prosperity and glitz were just a facade, with up-to-standard buildings not far from a regularly emptied septic tank.

The “villages within the city” were a common sight, populated by impoverished residents living in low-rise buildings. Most urban areas, especially those expanded in recent years, consisted of houses built with wood, lacking any modern touch.

The nobility residential areas seemed fine, but their presence rendered the urban land usage efficiency extremely low in Nanshan Port, hence, it had to be addressed promptly.

These were merely infrastructural issues; adding the local issues of education, hygiene, and even employment, there were urgent problems needing resolution.

The local hygiene situation was genuinely concerning; they lacked a mature water supply system, and most of the city’s population had to rely on well water.

The officials deployed from within the Tang Empire to assist were nearly overwhelmed by the multitude of problems, not knowing where to start.

During the transition, Chu Country thought to set traps, even taking and destroying some documents, hence the handover did not go smoothly.

The other side had no intention of cooperating, or rather, they couldn’t even if they wanted to. There were clear disparities in governance levels between officials. So, the information Chu Country officials knew was of no interest to Tang Empire officials; and the data that Tang Empire officials required, the Chu Country officials were clueless about.

For instance, when Tang Empire officials inquired about the actual population of Nanshan Port, local officials only provided a vague number slightly over 450,000.

Regarding the number of migrant workers and foreign merchants, local officials had no clue and couldn’t answer at all.

Again, when Tang Empire officials wanted to know the total length of water and sewage pipes and their locations, local officials couldn’t provide answers.

They didn’t even have complete records of the total length of the pipes laid; lengths for new pipes laid and those replaced were all calculated together, making subsequent assessments nearly impossible.

In the end, many absurd conversations became classic jests: An exasperated official from the Tang Empire’s Department of Education slammed the table and directly questioned the Chu Country official: “Just tell me, how much did you embezzle and what’s left? I won’t delve into your corruption, I just want to know how much is left for expenses!”

There were many such ridiculous events that even after busying about for over two months, the administrative management of Nanshan Port in the Tang Empire was still a mess.

But it wasn’t without gain; most of the corrupt and inefficient officials left by Chu Country were almost all sent back home by the parachuted officials from the Tang Empire.

It was ironic that after the departure of these Chu Country officials, Nanshan Port still operated well, putting many people’s assumptions to shame.

…

Inside the Wen Hua Hall of the Tang Empire, an Elf envoy from the Poplar Empire met with Nangong Hong, who was in charge of foreign affairs. His purpose of visit was interesting—it was to discuss with the Tang Empire about condemning the latter.

“Given the aggression and arrogance displayed by the Tang Empire in the partitioning of Shu Country, my country feels it necessary to express our unease and concerns,” said the Elf envoy, declaring his intentions from the outset.

Then he continued discussing the concerns of the Poplar Empire: “This does not mean there’s an instability in relations between the Poplar Empire and the Tang Empire. I must clarify here, Minister Nangong, that the friendship between our two countries remains unchanged; we have no intent to provoke any kind of diplomatic tension.”

“… Mr. Envoy, what exactly do you mean? I don’t understand,” Nangong Hong replied with a cold laugh, prompting the other party.

He continued after reminding him, “Are you saying that the Poplar Empire wants to condemn the Tang Empire but does not wish to cause any misunderstanding, affecting the relationship between the two nations?”

“Exactly, we plan to issue a diplomatic statement, supporting Shu Country’s resistance against Qin Country’s aggression, condemning Chu Country’s occupation of Shu Country’s territory… Additionally, we will also condemn the Tang Empire for its stance during the Qin-Shu conflict,” the envoy from the Poplar Empire carefully stated.

After finishing speaking, he glanced at Nangong Hong and hastily added: “It’s just a condemnation statement, our country will not change its cooperative stance with the Great Tang Empire, nor will we take any practical actions regarding this issue itself.”

“So it’s just you cursing me, and then you expect me to treat it as if you’re farting?” Nangong Hong crudely translated the request of the envoy from the Poplar Empire.

“Roughly… roughly… that’s about what, what it means.” The envoy from the Poplar Empire, a very handsome elf, heard Nangong Hong speak so crudely and stammered awkwardly before admitting.

“Do you think there’s such a good deal in the world? You curse someone else, and they just let you curse for free, and that’s it?” Nangong Hong sneered, countering the other party.

“This…” The envoy of Poplar Empire suddenly didn’t know how to continue the conversation.

“Your country issuing a statement is your business! What countermeasures we take here are our business!” Nangong Hong directly threatened the other party.

“Please, Lord Nangong, you must understand our situation! I come here bearing the earnest intentions of His Majesty The Emperor of my nation, hoping your country can negotiate on this matter…” The envoy from the Poplar Empire emphasized the words ‘earnest intentions’ heavily.

Nangong Hong glanced at him and softened his tone: Knowing to communicate first before cursing, and even sending an envoy specifically to negotiate about this matter, indeed showed they placed themselves low enough.

So he didn’t mind giving face to the opponent: Since you’re so sensible, let’s properly negotiate, how much money would be proper compensation for your curse.

The Poplar Empire was indeed willing to make a generous offer: For that one sentence, they were willing to pay 1 million Gold Coin as compensation! Poplar Empire would first issue a statement, then the Great Tang Empire would recoup the cost in a batch of exports.

This essentially meant an episode of diplomatic interaction within a range deemed reasonable by both sides. The Poplar Empire “acts tough” once on the surface, and the Great Tang Empire subsequently recovers its stance in trade.

Then, the Poplar Empire would withdraw quietly, letting this matter cool off, gaining a reputation for fairness and justice internationally, and the Great Tang Empire… well, the old rogue plays its own game well.

After finalizing this matter, upon dismissing the envoy from the Poplar Empire, Ice Cold Empire’s envoy also arrived, but they were not here to condemn the Great Tang Empire.

They came to do business with the Great Tang Empire: They wanted to purchase a large batch of arms and pay in cash!

This mission dispatched to the Great Tang Empire was to keep this matter confidential and not let any third-party country know. For that, the Ice Cold Empire was willing to spend an additional 1.5 million on a confidentiality fee.

After meeting with the envoy from the Ice Cold Empire, even a fool like Nangong Hong guessed that the Ice Cold Empire was preparing for war against the Poplar Empire.

Frankly speaking, this was truly a good opportunity: Although the Great Tang Empire was not involved in the war, it was indeed distracted by the Qin-Shu conflict and the civil war within the Dahua Empire.

If they didn’t take the opportunity to expand now, once the dust settles in the Western Continent, it would be hard for the Eastern Continent to make any moves without being influenced by the Great Tang Empire.

Taking advantage of the Great Tang Empire being preoccupied, it was probably the best choice for the nations of the world to expand and then prepare to unite against the entry of the Great Tang Empire into the Eastern Continent.

Thus, Nangong Hong immediately began to contemplate: Should the Great Tang Empire sell arms to the Ice Cold Empire to enable them to invade the Poplar Empire?

From the standpoint of the Great Tang Empire, keeping the Eastern Continent divided should be a more advantageous choice for themselves.

Combining the request of the envoy from the Ice Cold Empire this time, Nangong Hong finally understood why the Poplar Empire, despite spending 1 million, wanted to curse the Great Tang Empire: they wanted to be the flagbearer against the Tang, uniting empires like Suthers Laines behind them.

Simply put, the Poplar Empire had already anticipated that the Ice Cold Empire was about to wage war against them; they were trying to build momentum and gather allies!

Amused, Nangong Hong did not immediately respond to the envoy from the Ice Cold Empire. He claimed he needed to report this matter to His Majesty The Emperor, asking the envoy to wait another two days.

The next day, while Nangong Hong was reporting this matter to Tang Mo, another interesting event occurred: the Laien Empire test-fired a Scud ballistic missile with a range of 300 kilometers.

This event suddenly made the entire situation even more delicate: the Eastern Continent was not united as one, they seemed to have secretly formed alliances and were preparing for an even larger scale of war.

Nangong Hong immediately judged that merely preventing the Ice Cold Empire from attacking the Poplar Empire seemed unable to stop this war anymore.

Then Tang Mo prepared to fan the flames, helping these nations add fuel to the fire: Sell arms! Since you are prepared to fight a war, then let you fight a fulfilling one!