Chapter 3073: Maintaining Rules is More Important Than Personal Interests

"Ambassador Yierlantusi, first please clarify one thing: it was not I who sent people to Ailan to teach Netheril Magic, but rather that the Ailan Elves, admiring the superiority of Netheril Magic, requested to send Apprentices to the Tower of Time for advanced study.

"If spreading magic externally is considered incorrect and an interference in the internal affairs of other countries, then how should the early spread of magic by Yierlan throughout Netheril be characterized?

"Of course, you could argue that the Northland Alliance did not exist at that time and was not subject to the rules of the Northland Alliance, but please be aware, Your Excellency, that the Northland Alliance rules did not emerge from thin air, but were established upon the consensus of the various countries in the Northland!

"In other words, even without the existence of the Northland Alliance, similar matters would still be open to question in the eyes of various countries. As for improving the local level of magic, why was Yierlan allowed to do it back then, but I am not allowed to now?"

Regarding the dissemination of Netheril Magic, Xia Duo was not worried about being questioned by the Yierlan side, mainly because Yierlan had also made this mistake in the past; as long as they did not want to admit that this was a mistake, they would have no way to use this matter to attack him.

Secondly, of course, it was something he had thought through before doing it: requiring Ailan to send students to Daxia Territory, rather than Daxia Territory sending Teachers to Ailan.

The latter was easy to bicker over, but the former was entirely voluntary on the part of the Ailan Elves. If they were unwilling, who could force them to come to Daxia Territory under the protection of Yierlan?

Yierlan's protection of Ailan was recognized by the Northland Alliance, but protection did not equate to confinement. On what grounds could Yierlan block normal personnel exchanges?

Finally, Xia Duo steered the topic back to the food issue that Yierlantusi wanted to bring up: "Currently, the people of Ailan are living in dire straits, and many local Elves cannot even get enough to eat!"

"Low-priced grain does indeed conform to market laws, but it does not conform to the expectations of the Northland's people. If Ambassador Yierlantusi feels I have done wrong, why not convene an Alliance General Assembly and let the representatives of various countries judge who is right and who is wrong!"

Furthermore, he did not deny the trading qualifications of Xia Duo and Ailan, merely adding a procedure. If Xia Duo could not accept that, then it would be Xia Duo's problem instead.

The benefits of controlling a developing and growing Ailan far outweighed controlling the current weak and burdensome one.

The current situation was indeed very favorable to Aosi, and even if he could exploit a time difference, in the long run, Aosi would still hold the advantage.

Representatives of the Seven Small Kingdoms, including Netheril and Aosi, could not directly convene an Alliance General Assembly, while representatives of small countries needed at least five to initiate a convocation, or to find a representative of a major country to help.

It was the same for Xia Duo.

In the end, he was the one who would be unlucky in this matter; who told him to provoke Xia Duo!

"Consultant Xia Duo, the representatives of various countries all have their own matters to attend to; there is no need for us to trouble them with such trifles. I was just speaking off the cuff; in fact, Aosi has long had plans to import cheap grain to Ailan!"

Therefore, upon hearing that Xia Duo was going to take this issue to the Alliance General Assembly for discussion, Yierlantusi decisively backed down. He was very clear that the things Aosi was doing in Ailan could be done privately, but could not be brought to the table to be discussed at all.

In a sense, this could actually be considered Xia Duo being bullied by someone who follows the rules.

So what could Xia Duo gain from this?

The Ailan side's approach of fully turning to Netheril Magic to obtain rapid magical power was, to a certain extent, very feasible, but the prerequisite was that Aosi agreed.

Regarding this, Xia Duo was of course very dissatisfied, and he also knew that this method was indeed effective against him. He did indeed possess the qualification for free trade with Ailan, but the inspection link set up by Aosi based on the right of protection was also well-founded.

"Not a single grain of problematic food can be allowed to flow into Ailan; only that grain which has been inspected and qualified through regular channels can enter Ailan."

There was indeed a certain correlation between the two, but it was not an inevitable causal relationship. As long as it was operated properly, Aosi could become the absolute winner who eats both big and small—

Otherwise, it would just be a transfer of the right of protection, not a cancellation.

If Xia Duo really convened the Alliance General Assembly and publicized the things Aosi had done, although Aosi would not immediately suffer any direct losses, the indirect negative impact would be very difficult to quell.

Aosi being unwilling to give up the right of protection over Ailan ≠ Aosi being unwilling to support Ailan's full turn to Netheril Magic.

But he still agreed with Aosi's approach, because all of this was within the rules, and maintaining the rule system of the Northland Alliance was more important than the insignificant loss he himself suffered.

"At the same time, we must strengthen inspections on the sources of new grain within Ailan to ensure that no smuggling of cheap, unqualified grain occurs to harm the people of Ailan."

Although Yierlantusi did not explicitly say that Xia Duo's grain was not allowed to enter Ailan, the implication was exactly that, and there was not even the slightest attempt to cover it up.

The development and growth, or even true independence, of Ailan was beneficial to the strength of the Alliance's order. Aosi losing control over Ailan was equivalent to Netheril gaining another potential ally.

However, as a member of the newly established Alliance Advisory Committee, Xia Duo himself had the right to convene the Alliance General Assembly, which meant that even if Yierlantusi was unwilling, Xia Duo could still forcibly convene the assembly.

And the prerequisite for all of this was that Ailan could demonstrate a certain ability to protect itself, or could unite the interests of the vast majority of countries in the Northland, so that it could persuade all countries to help it unanimously.

The basis for this, besides national strength, also included the factor of population size.

"Consultant Xia Duo, what do you think?"

"It's just that food, after all, relates to the survival status of every Ailan person. We cannot just send any food to Ailan; the lower the price of the food, the more we must strictly control the quality."

Having the so-called right of protection is good; one can easily come up with means of refusal. You say I sell high-priced grain? I also sell low-priced grain, and in order to protect the physical health of the Ailan people, I must inspect all grain, especially low-priced grain; if it is unqualified, it is not allowed to enter.

It's just that all of this is the same for Ailan; as long as it is operated properly, it can get rid of Aosi's control while achieving development.

Targeted measures within the rules naturally require countermeasures within the rules. Before the Aosi side flips the table, Xia Duo himself will not be the one to actively flip the table.

Or rather, Aosi supporting Ailan's full turn to Netheril Magic ≠ necessarily losing the right of protection over Ailan.

Therefore, one must destroy Aosi's core advantage to solve the Ailan problem from the root, which is to remove Aosi's right of protection over Ailan.