Chapter 2853: Mithril Alliance, Principle Passed

The next day.

Xia Duo arrived at the Council early. Although today's meeting might merely be a formality, almost all councilors attended in person.

"Councilor Xia Duo, good morning."

"Good morning, Councilor Kelifu."

Kelifu, whom he had not seen yesterday, also arrived relatively early today. Xia Duo exchanged greetings with him, then they entered the meeting hall together and waited for the others to arrive one after another.

Some people had already arrived but were still conversing in the garden outside. At this moment, inside the meeting hall, apart from Xia Duo and Kelifu, only Speaker Badijiaer had arrived early.

A short while later, the various councilors arrived one by one. Only a few individuals did not attend in person, such as Niya, who was still researching the Mythallar at the Tower of Time; this time, she did not even attend via projection, instead letting Xia Duo cast her vote for her.

Another was Buluode, who also did not arrive in person and only attended via projection.

In addition, there were two councilors from the Sweetwater Three Planes who, for various reasons, could not attend in person and also used the Tower of Time's Remote Conference System for their projections.

"Alright, since everyone is here, let's begin!"

Most of this information, including the vast majority of councilors present, including Xia Duo, was already known. The focus of Badijiaer's briefing this time was the latest reactions from the various nations of the Northland Alliance, which had just been transmitted to the country by Tili'ao, the Netheril representative to the Northland Alliance, this morning.

The Mithril Alliance between Yierlan and the Dwarf is not a political or military alliance; it is closer to a customs union or trade partnership, and it does not affect the neutral status of the Dwarf.

After Xia Shao finished speaking, Buluode was the first to express support, greatly warming up the atmosphere. Following that, the various councilors also began to express their own views, not only in support of or adding to Xia Shao's proposal but also regarding their opinions on the attitudes of the various Northland nations.

"The current situation is like this; it is temporarily unclear. We must reach a consensus as soon as possible on how to respond to this Mithril Mine incident."

Fortunately, it was not the time to discuss the Dwarf issue now. Badijiaer spoke up in time, gradually pulling back the increasingly off-topic discussion—

"Yierlan and the Dwarf established a Mithril Alliance very early on. If we let them join forces to take the lion's share this time, it certainly won't be a good thing for us."

Exports are all low-value-added products, but imports are high-value-added. Regardless of whether there is a deficit or not, it cannot be called a good thing, as it means being easily harvested by others.

Just as Xia Shao had anticipated yesterday, there was indeed a slight variable today. Those who originally intended to abstain voted in favor, and as for those who had already agreed to support it, they naturally voted in favor as always.

But Badijiaer still confirmed the process once more. The remaining nine votes were all abstentions. Xia Shao's proposal was officially passed and would become the fundamental principle for Ambassador Tili'ao's negotiations in the Northland Alliance moving forward.

So he stood up and stated his proposal, which was the final plan after a full day of consultation and refinement with the various councilors yesterday. It only had some adjustments in details compared to his initial plan, and the overall principles remained consistent.

After a simple opening, Badijiaer first introduced to everyone the cause of this extraordinary meeting, which was this Mithril Mine incident.

Besides this, there are also special services, such as Dwarf architects entering Elf society to work, or Elf designers heading to the Underdark, and so on.

In addition to this, there are also trades in Adamantine, Mithril, Gemstone, Magic Item, etc., but overall, Netheril is in a state of huge deficit.

Of course, regarding the above, if Yierlan has it, as long as other Northland nations do not object, the Dwarf can also satisfy it, but compared to their close neighbor Yierlan, the conditions of other nations are far inferior in all aspects.

Currently, the bulk commodities traded most between Netheril and the Dwarf are grain, Iron ware, ore, and liquor. Among them, Netheril mainly exports grain, liquor, and various ores, and imports Iron ware.

As for Yierlan and the Dwarf, the trade list is even richer. In addition to the trade of physical goods, there are also a large number of service-based trades, such as Yierlan regularly dispatching Spellcaster to the Underdark to train troops while also providing garrison duties for the Dwarf.

Xia Shao himself would not go so far as to make Yierlan and the Dwarf enemies, but he was also very much in favor of developing the further relationship between Netheril and the Dwarf.

"As for nations like Evereska, they have also not stated their position for the time being, but one thing is certain: all the nations around the Grey Peak Mountains, except for us, including Evereska, have already dispatched forces toward the Mithril Mine."

If the Northland Alliance had not appeared, Xia Shao believed that in a few years, Yierlan and the Dwarf could very well have come together and become a confederated nation.

"Yierlan and the Dwarf intend to unite and support Amarlinda in obtaining the right of first occupancy of the Grey Peak Mountains on the Surface. Kemanthor and Illefarn, because they do not border the Grey Peak Mountains, are still watching from the sidelines for now."

After all, making money is not shameful.

The past Mithril agreements between Netheril and the two nations were a direct manifestation of this kind of alliance, but over the past few hundred years, Netheril has been trying to replace Yierlan's status and has achieved decent results, but in the end, it is impossible to completely replace them.

"Now, let's vote. Regarding the attitude and plan of Netheril toward the Mithril Mine incident proposed by Councilor Xia Shao, who is in favor?"

After Badijiaer finished speaking, there was silence in the meeting hall. Xia Shao naturally had no need to be modest at this time; it was his proposal to begin with. If he were not proactive, how could he expect others to support him?

"Illefarn does not border the Grey Peak Mountains at all, so it is very difficult for them to directly intervene in the Grey Peak Mountains. They have common interests with us."

All require authorization from the Seventon Council. If it is just a routine matter, Tili'ao can have full autonomous decision-making power.

But for a negotiation involving the huge interests of various Northland nations, having fundamental principles alone is not enough; it also requires support from numerous details, such as the bottom line for negotiations, the scope of communication with representatives of various nations, the scope of interest exchange, and so on.

It is to try to promote fair distribution within the Alliance and let this accidental incident serve as an opportunity for the various Northland nations to unite further.

Badijiaer did not mention the Demon Descendant. Presumably, there is no new news about the Demon Descendant from the Northland Alliance side. This is undoubtedly bad news; a snake hiding in the dark is even more terrifying because you don't know when it will quietly strike.

"As long as we can disrupt the Mithril Alliance between Yierlan and the Dwarf, even Kemanthor is not necessarily impossible to unite with."

Because Yierlan and the Dwarf have too many complementary industries, and plus both nations are long-lived species, their friendship of hundreds or thousands of years is far more stable than that with Netheril.

And accordingly, Yierlan also needs to provide surface support services for the Dwarf so that the Dwarf can receive timely support when active on the ground, or even have citizens of the two nations serve in each other's Army.

In the end, a total of 42 votes were in favor; even if everyone else opposed it, it could still be forcibly passed.