"The Dragon Kingdom is now the only self-sufficient country in the Asia Region, and its military strength is far ahead of everyone else. Kou Island is willing to follow the Dragon Kingdom's lead."
The Emperor adopted a very humble stance.
He rose respectfully and bowed to the four men of Guotai Min'an.
Anyone else would probably have been over the moon.
An achievement like this would go down in history.
But the four old geezers remained unmoved.
The Emperor's little tricks were a joke to seasoned politicians with decades of experience.
"You only talk about making us the leader, but you haven't said a word about the leader's obligations."
Minister Bai smiled contemptuously, as though looking at an idiot.
"Ahem, naturally, there would be corresponding obligations."
The Emperor cleared his throat and said solemnly, "The Dragon Kingdom must take responsibility for the survival of our peoples. Since you've cut off the Alliance's aid, the Dragon Kingdom will have to supply us from now on."
"Of course, we won't rely entirely on the Dragon Kingdom. Half the supplies will count as donations from you, and we'll pay for the other half."
The Emperor's abacus beads were clacking away.
The Monkeys' representative stood and spread his hands. "But... you know our current circumstances. We really can't afford to buy supplies, so we'll issue IOUs first and repay you once we've developed."
"As the largest country in the Asia Region, the Dragon Kingdom has an obligation to support us."
India's representative declared forcefully, in a tone that brooked no argument.
Meanwhile, Gulis and Jorger, the principal participants in these negotiations, pretended to be blind.
"Those in the know would say we've taken in a bunch of underlings. Anyone who didn't know would think we'd found ourselves a bunch of fathers."
Old Ninth hawked