To Despise the Enemy
"There will be a formal meeting ceremony tomorrow morning..."
In the hotel room, the delegation from the Federal was discussing the procedures for a ceremony that would take place the following day.
In international affairs such as diplomacy, countries are relatively serious and formal, and Gefra also has its own special ceremonies. From the reception to the farewell, the whole process has a set procedure.
Since it's late today, everyone will check into the hotel first. Tomorrow morning, officials from the Port City will come to welcome the delegation on behalf of Gefra Emperor. Then, everyone will say something they all like in front of the reporters, such as "to encourage and promote the successful completion of this business negotiation."
Then they would take a train to the imperial capital of Gefra to pay homage to the emperor.
It is worth mentioning that they will meet the Emperor, but the Emperor will not directly discuss with them all matters related to this cooperation. As the symbol of the highest power of the country, to get him to appear, at the very least the Vice President would have to be sent, and it would have to be a political and military diplomatic visit.
A meeting is only a formality, and it is a sign of respect for Gefra Emperor, after all, this is a "backward" monarchy, and you have to respect their outdated traditions.
When people from the Federal talk about monarchies, they always have a sense of superiority that they don't know where it comes from.
The itinerary was packed and very tight. The group members gathered together to make final confirmations, and then it was time for high-intensity work.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
They stayed on the top floor of the hotel, which was reserved for the Federal mission. In addition to these civilian staff, there were also some soldiers who would protect the mission members.
The door was knocked on, but the people inside didn't think it was an unrelated person outside. Unrelated people couldn't possibly get in, let alone knock on the door.
The lowest-ranking person walked to the door, opened it, and Lin Qi stepped inside.
"Good evening, gentlemen!" He always had a confident, sunny, and clean smile on his face, and it was hard for anyone who wasn't psychologically twisted to dislike him.
It took the people in the room about two seconds to realize that it was Lin Qi.
It's not their fault. They did see Lin Qi when they got the final list, but Lin Qi didn't travel with them. Mr. Truman meant they would see Lin Qi here.
They had assumed that Lin Qi had already gone to the capital and that they would meet Lin Qi there—after all, for such a serious diplomatic visit, if someone arrived first, it must be to better serve the visit, such as going to the capital to gather information or something.
They hadn't expected to run into Lin Qi here. After that brief surprise, the Regimental Commander immediately stood up. "Mr. Lin Qi, I thought we would meet in the capital."
The original plan for this visit was to be led by Mr. Truman, but the president cannot do without him. The recently concluded State Election has not calmed people down, because the general election is coming soon.
This is also the time when the atmosphere is most intense in the Federal. After the State Election, the general election will follow immediately. People have not yet fully recovered from the "confrontation" of the State Election, and they will be plunged into the even more fervent presidential election.
Some experts believe that this is beneficial, as the results of State Election often foreshadow the results of general elections, and State Election are essentially paving the way for the general elections at the end of the year.
The states that have already been won over can be ideologically reinforced, thereby reducing the possibility of wavering.
The lost states will become the main obstacles for the two parties... no, the three parties, to overcome. They can concentrate more funds and energy on these states, making resource utilization more efficient.
At this crucial moment when the election campaign has begun, it is impossible for the President to allow Mr. Truman Truman, as the President's most trusted deputy, to leave the Federal and leave his side.
Even if the diplomatic visit fails, it doesn't matter to him; it's just a small part of a country's development process. The presidency is his everything.
After several rounds of consideration and changes, the Deputy Minister of Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs was chosen to lead the team. This guy knew Lin Qi; they had met during previous negotiations regarding Nagaril.
Seeing Lin Qi here, he also had a feeling that... inexplicably calmed down.
He took the initiative to step forward and shake hands with Lin Qi, which made the people behind him realize some changes in the rankings of the people in the room.
With the introduction of the Vice Minister, Lin Qi finally met the main members of the delegation.
In addition to the Vice Minister, there is also the First Chief Officer of the Federal Office of International Trade, who is also the highest- Chief.
The Office of International Trade was originally the International Trade Approval Office. However, after the Former President stepped down and the current president took office, the word "approval" was removed to distinguish him from his predecessor.
It is said that the International Trade Office will soon be expanded into a new administrative department, not just an office. However, before the actual expansion is implemented, the highest- Chief of this office, the future first Minister, is not of a very high rank, which is just right for the level of this visit.
Then there is the third Chief of the Policy Office, who is also under Mr. Truman, as well as the second or third Chief of relevant departments such as the Ministry of Domestic Industry and the Ministry of Scientific Development.
Overall... the scale wasn't very high. In Lin Qi's view, it was more like a tentative visit, and there might not be many actual cooperation projects to be discussed.
This is actually quite normal. The Federal has just annihilated Gefra's Invincible Fleet, and now it wants to talk about cooperation. There will definitely be some concerns and speculations within the country. In addition, Gefra is a "backward" monarchy. What if the emperor gets angry and beheads them? These people's thinking is still stuck in the "face-saving" issues that intelligent beings care about, and they have not deeply realized that in the international arena, between countries, interests are the only constant topic.
Even if we wiped out their First Fleet, let alone their entire fleet, the President could still take a piss at the main gate of the palace, and as long as the benefits were plentiful enough, the Emperor would still be all smiles.
After getting acquainted with everyone, Lin Qi sat down next to the Vice Minister, who was a member of the mission and also an advisor.
"Mr. Lin Qi, I heard you will arrive before us." At this moment, the Vice Minister thought that Lin Qi had just arrived as well.
Lin Qi nodded. "I arrived two days ago."
At this point, the Vice Minister thought, "Do you know how hard it is to understand what you're saying?" However, he reacted quickly, after all, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not the Ministry of Transportation. "Mr. Lin Qi has been familiar with this place for two days longer than us. We have just arrived. Do you have any good suggestions?"
Fearing Lin Qi might not understand his thoughts, he kindly added, "For example, are there any things we need to be aware of, like certain customs of Gefra?"
"The Hundred Flowers Street next door is more fun. There are lots of delicious drinks there, and some girls who need help and are waiting for everyone to lend a helping hand," Lin Qi said in a very serious tone. At first, people didn't think of it that way.
This is a very stereotypical and preconceived notion; they don't think this "Hundred Billion Mr." would say such simple and common things, until a young man couldn't help but laugh.
He might have found what Lin Qi said funny, or he might have found Lin Qi funny; in any case, he laughed, and then everyone's expressions became somewhat strange.
Just as the Vice Minister was wondering if Lin Qi had taken the wrong medicine and was saying such frivolous things at such a solemn moment, Lin Qi spoke again.
"I know some of you think I'm not mature enough, going to..." he pursed his lips, "I just want to show you the facts, don't think too highly of the Gefra people."
"Before the outcome of the naval battle, we may consider our position in the bilateral relationship in fear of the invincible fleet of the Gefra."
"But gentlemen, we are the victors in the naval battle. The Gefra's Grand Princess Fleet was almost completely annihilated. We directly crushed their morale!"
"It is the Gefra who are now gathered together to speculate on the other side's attitude, not us. We are the victors."
"If you act so cautiously, solemnly, or even timidly, it will create a lot of trouble for our upcoming negotiations."
"They will test our bottom line step by step, and try to make excessive demands, because you are not behaving like an envoy from a powerful Federal, but rather like the envoys of Defeated Country who were forced to sue for peace by the Gefra!"
"This will make them think that our victory in the naval battle was unreliable, and even that we would lose to them if we fought again. So gentlemen, we need to project a sense of confidence, not hide in the hotel!"
"I believe there are countless eyes watching us, both inside and outside the hotel. They are also analyzing what attitude and approach to take in our next dealings with us. All of this is determined by what they are observing now."
"While we demonstrate that the impact of our naval victory makes us indifferent to the Gefra, we are also secretly considering our next countermeasures and methods!"
The Vice Minister stroked his beard. "What you said makes some sense. What are your thoughts?"
A dozen minutes later, Lin Qi led some unimportant members to Hundred Flowers Street, where they lavishly waved banknotes to help girls in need and drank and made merry.
The news quickly reached Gefra Emperor's ears. He roared for a while, and then all his dissatisfaction turned into a helpless "Insolence!"
He could only feel frustrated because he couldn't beat others. He now understood how those Small Country felt when facing Gefra. It was very unpleasant.