It was obvious that Xu Mochen had seen the concerns on Xue Qinghe, Ning Fengzhi, and the others' faces. He merely smiled. "You're all worrying too much. The rules for our concessions won't be set entirely according to our wishes. In fact, we'd be very willing to discuss with your country the various restrictions that must apply to our concessions within your territory, including limits on the number of troops stationed there and any inappropriate laws governing the concessions."
"Furthermore, our country is willing to offer a fair price to lease this land. For example, we'd be willing to pay your country an annual fee for its use. We'd also be happy to share with your country the taxes generated by the various commercial activities in the concession, and we're even willing to provide your country with a batch of military weapons as free aid!"
As though afraid the Heaven Dou Empire might refuse, Xu Mochen hastily added, "Of course, this request to establish a concession isn't a necessary condition of diplomatic relations. Your country has every right to refuse! We'll fully respect your wishes, and this matter absolutely won't affect the friendly relationship between our two countries!"
"We won't single out your country with this somewhat offensive request, either. We'll also visit the other countries on the Douluo Continent and Spirit Hall, and make the same request for these concession treaties to them as well!"
On the surface, Xue Qinghe, Ning Fengzhi, and the others still seemed calm and unruffled after hearing all this. In truth, they'd already started ranting furiously in their heads: Xu Mochen made it sound so magnanimous and generous, but it was all a blatant threat!
The gist was: "I won't say anything to your face, but I'll remember this. Then I'll immediately send military aid to other countries willing to accept my terms, and use even more military aid to egg them on to attack you and seize your territory and property! I'll beat you until you're battered and broken, leaving you no choice but to buy weapons from me! And then your country will still be at my mercy, won't it? Though by then, the terms certainly won't be so generous!"
How devious! How outrageous! Who would've thought that little Xu, despite being so young, could be so underhanded? He was demanding concessions from both sides and reaping the profits! Worse still, they had to smile and willingly beg him to take a bite out of them! But what could they do? They were outmatched! When you ventured into the world, how could you avoid taking a few hits?
Forget it! They'd just endure this humiliation for now. Once they'd mastered the technology behind these weapons, they'd never let him push them around again! Though Xue Qinghe, Ning Fengzhi, and the others had veins bulging on their foreheads and their teeth clenched, with a thousand alpacas stampeding through their minds, they ultimately agreed to Xu Mochen's "friendly request" to establish a concession.
And so, after a round of intense negotiations and arguments, the two sides finally reached an agreement, titled the "Sun Moon–Heaven Dou Empire Diplomatic Relations Agreement."
The agreement's contents were roughly as follows: First, the Heaven Dou Empire and the Sun Moon Empire agreed to develop friendly relations and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual nonaggression, noninterference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. They would establish embassies and consulates in each other's countries to facilitate communication.
Second, the Heaven Dou Empire and the Sun Moon Empire would fully open their customs and borders to each other and establish various forms of state, commercial, and academic exchange. During this period, each country's citizens would strictly abide by local laws while in the other country. If a citizen encountered a problem or incident there, the host country would be obligated to provide all necessary assistance and handle the matter appropriately.
Third, effective immediately, the Sun Moon Empire would establish a concession in the area around Luoyu Village, Linghai City, Fasinuo Province, within the Heaven Dou Empire. The concession would cover approximately sixty square kilometers. The Sun Moon Empire's garrison there could not exceed five thousand troops, and no laws that harmed the Heaven Dou Empire's territorial sovereignty or discriminated against its people could be enacted within the concession.
Each year, the Sun Moon Empire would pay the Heaven Dou Empire thirty percent of the net tax revenue collected within the concession, as well as an additional five million Gold Soul Coins in land rent. In exchange, the Heaven Dou Empire could grant tariff exemptions on imports and exports of goods circulating within and outside the concession.
Of course, the Sun Moon Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire also signed a separate arms-aid agreement. Under its terms, the Sun Moon Empire agreed to provide the Heaven Dou Empire, free of charge, with three thousand Silver Star 332-Type Semi-automatic Rifles, three hundred Silver Star 333-Type Semi-Automatic Rifles, four hundred thousand ordinary rifle rounds, and forty thousand armor-piercing rifle rounds.
The agreement also included fifteen hundred T132-Type Attack Grenades, fifteen hundred T232-Type Defensive Grenades, one hundred T333-Type high-explosive grenades, one hundred and fifty T133-Type Attack Grenades, one hundred and fifty T233-Type Defensive Grenades, and twenty T334-Type high-explosive grenades. Of course, further arms deals would have to wait until currency could circulate between the two continents.
On the surface, these treaties seemed to put the Sun Moon Empire at a considerable disadvantage: it had traded a large sum of money and some weapons for a barren patch of land—and even that was only leased! But Xu Mochen knew full well that the Sun Moon Empire hadn't lost out at all. It had actually made a huge profit.
First, the Sun Moon Empire had displayed overwhelming military might to cow any countries harboring designs on it, warning them that they would pay an unbearable price if they provoked the empire. That was making an example of its strength!
On the other hand, the Sun Moon Empire had also presented itself as a lover of peace. Though it liked to stir up the Douluo Continent to profit from its turmoil, it was still willing to maintain friendly relations with other countries. As long as they became friends with the empire and let it gain some benefit, it would give them money if they wanted money, and weapons if they wanted weapons! That was winning them over with favors!
Taken together, this would create the false impression among the people of the Douluo Continent that the Sun Moon Empire had no interest in their territory. It was merely a petty merchant who liked to exploit conflicts between different factions and make itself noticed!
At first, some would surely distrust the Sun Moon Empire or remain on their guard. But given time, as the empire infiltrated the continent and brought the force of money to bear, enormous profits would gradually numb the countries of the Douluo Continent. They would even start convincing themselves that the Sun Moon Empire truly had no desire to seize other nations' territory, and simply liked making money and doing business. It was a powerful overseas nation that would only strike back if someone provoked it first.
In time, the factions of the Douluo Continent would come to believe that cooperating with the Sun Moon Empire meant drinking wine, eating meat, and sharing the spoils, while opposing it meant eating bullets and shells! Only by maintaining this role on the Douluo Continent could the Sun Moon Empire create the perfect opportunity: the factions would be unwilling to offend it, and too afraid to do so, leaving them to focus on fighting among themselves while the Sun Moon Empire watched from the mountain and kept the balance. In the end, it would deliver a fatal blow to all the powers on the Douluo Continent!
But it was still too early to think that far ahead. For now, at least, both sides had reached a basic consensus. Xu Mochen left the detailed negotiations that followed to the men he'd left behind. His main force would continue on to the next target country: the Star Luo Empire.
Xu Mochen had already made up his mind. According to the Purple Imperial Chaos Dragon King's Second Trial, he not only had to complete his tour of the Douluo Continent, but also had to visit a place where a divine inheritance existed and train there to absorb divinity.
As far as he knew, there were only three such places on the Douluo Continent: Spirit Hall, Sea God Island, and the Capital of Killing. The latter two were clearly unsuitable for him at his current level of strength. They were also remote and beyond the reach of the secular world, so the Sun Moon Empire's ordinary worldly enticements would have little effect on either one.
And launching a reckless attack on either place was certainly no good choice! Sea God Island was, after all, the Sea God's domain. The Sun Moon Empire wasn't yet strong enough to provoke a god who still had divinity to spare in the lower world. As for the Capital of Killing, there was no need to even mention it—he didn't know where it was.
So, if he could negotiate based on mutual interests and arrange to stay at Spirit Hall for a while, that might be a good choice. After all, Spirit Hall was involved in worldly affairs, so it had more reason to consider the Sun Moon Empire than the other two powers. It also had its own academy, which made his chances of staying there much better—and safer—than at either of the other places. While he was at it, he could also gather more information about the Douluo Continent from Spirit Hall. It was a win-win.
Thus, Xu Mochen had already decided that after visiting the Star Luo Empire, he'd head straight to Spirit City, where Spirit Hall was located. Once the Sun Moon Empire had established diplomatic relations with those two countries, there'd be no need for him to visit the remaining seven kingdoms and duchies one by one. He could leave that to his subordinates!
As for whether his safety at Spirit Hall would be a concern, he wasn't particularly worried. Everything that had happened in Linghai City, Heaven Dou Empire, must already be known to spies from the various countries, including Spirit Hall. Unless Spirit Hall had gone mad, it absolutely wouldn't dare provoke the Sun Moon Empire.
And if he expressed a desire to train at Spirit Hall, they might even be very willing to accept him. That would let them publicly demonstrate the close relationship between the Sun Moon Empire and Spirit Hall, while also giving them a chance to keep an eye on him and probe him for the Sun Moon Empire's secrets.
Once he had a plan in mind, things went more smoothly. Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi sincerely invited Xu Mochen several times to visit Heaven Dou City and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but Xu Mochen politely declined. He did, however, promise that once everything was in order, he would pay them a visit if he had the chance.
Finally, after the two sides exchanged fond farewells, Xu Mochen set sail under the watchful eyes of the Heaven Dou Empire's delegation. Only after the Sun Moon Empire's fleet had sailed away and its remaining personnel had climbed into the carriages prepared for them did Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi's reluctant expressions abruptly vanish. A hard-to-read glint flashed in their eyes.
"Teacher, it seems the arrival of this Sun Moon Empire will once again bring drastic changes to the situation across the continent!" Xue Qinghe's gaze was grave.
Ning Fengzhi sighed softly. "Ah, I don't know whether this will be a blessing or a curse for the Heaven Dou Empire. But one thing is certain: the Sun Moon Empire will inevitably play a crucial role in the Douluo Continent's political landscape. Whoever the Sun Moon Empire supports will clearly have the upper hand in the struggles to come!"
"The Sun Moon Empire's geographical position is far too advantageous! It stands alone across the open sea, beyond anyone's reach. Yet this country is also frighteningly powerful. If it sticks its nose into the affairs of the Douluo Continent, it might be enough to turn everything upside down! To be honest, even I don't have any good way to deal with it right now. We can only take things one step at a time!"
Of course, Xu Mochen aboard the Tianyang couldn't hear any of this. Even if he had, he would only have laughed it off. He'd never intended to hide the Sun Moon Empire's aims in this regard. But so what if they knew? Could they stop dealing with the Sun Moon Empire? Stop trading with it, including arms deals? Did they have the courage to become enemies of the Sun Moon Empire?
To put it bluntly, this was all an open scheme. What Xu Mochen liked most was watching the countries and factions of the Douluo Continent being toyed with in the palm of his hand: they knew perfectly well who was behind it all, yet could only helplessly accept reality.
Before you continue