Peter's request was directly turned down by Zhou Xu.
His decision would inevitably shift the internal struggle between the Smith Party and the Rakshasa Republican Party beyond the borders, and there was even a high probability that the conflict between the two parties would intensify further in the short term.
But Zhou Xu did not care.
In fact, if Fisher had not hijacked Peter's goods, then based on his understanding of Peter, once the man had gathered one or two thousand musketeers and completed their training, the improvement in his own military strength might well have emboldened Peter to flip the table.
Everyone could see that Peter had wanted to do exactly that for a long time. He simply had not possessed enough strength to back it up.
Given the state of the Smith Republic, trouble was bound to come sooner or later. There was no need to overthink it.
Inside the Hall of Diligent Governance, Zhou Xu had just finished writing his reply to Peter when the embassy of the Holy Roland Empire sent over a long-awaited letter of greetings.
It was a letter from the current emperor of the Holy Roland Empire, Roland V.
After quickly scanning the contents, Zhou Xu showed not the slightest hint of surprise.
After the Holy Roland Empire had purchased a batch of Three-bow Ballistas from him back then, Great Zhou and the Holy Roland Empire had had no further contact.
After the formation of the United Nations, it was perfectly normal for the various countries to engage in some trade. As for the Holy Roland Empire, although it had not announced it publicly, it had unilaterally halted all subsequent trade with Great Zhou. What that meant was obvious to anyone with eyes.
But now that the Matchlock Gun had appeared, the Holy