Chapter 157: You Sing Your Part, I Take the Stage

As soon as Jonathan finished speaking, all the Jin Dynasty officials present changed color.

Nayancheng was not intimidated, but said in a deep voice:

"General Jonathan, as far as I know, the responsibility for this matter does not lie entirely with my side. I have sufficient evidence to show that the priests of your three churches had extremely vile and illicit conduct, involving the lives of dozens of orphaned children.

It was precisely because their illicit conduct was accidentally exposed that the riot of the Jinjin commoners was triggered; it can be said that there was a cause for this event. If one must insist, they themselves also bear responsibility; it cannot all be blamed on us."

Jonathan, however, sneered:

"Evidence? What evidence?"

Qi Yuanjiang immediately said: "It is the corpses of more than thirty children. The internal organs of these corpses were all hollowed out, and in one of the burned-down churches, there were medicine jars containing internal organs. These pieces of physical evidence are all in the prefectural office; you may view them at any time."

However, Jonathan said dismissively:

"I do not need to see them. The clergy qualified to cross the vast ocean to preach in this barren and barbaric land are all high-morality believers without exception. It is absolutely impossible for them to violate their faith and commit any evil deeds. Those so-called pieces of evidence of yours must be fabricated out of thin air and are a slander against the Holy See!"

The other party was unreasonable, and the officials present all showed anger. Nayancheng also darkened his face:

"For a person of your standing, speaking such black-and-white-reversing words seems to be beneath your dignity, does it not? I believe that since this is a negotiation, both sides should show the sincerity that is due."

Over these past few days, Qi Yuanjiang had already arranged for people to investigate the situation clearly. Of the three burned-down churches, at least two were indeed dens of iniquity, where various evil acts of abusing the commoners existed.

As far as this negotiation was concerned, this point was undoubtedly favorable to the imperial court; at the very least, they could occupy the moral high ground and not lose the initiative to be at the mercy of the other party.

However, what he did not expect was that Jonathan, a dignified Admiral, would actually ignore the evidence and deny everything the moment he opened his mouth.

Jonathan said unhurriedly:

"Governor Na, you had best make it clear first: it is you who wish to conduct negotiations, not our Holy Roman Federal Empire. After the news reached back home, all our ministers were incomparably furious and demanded one after another that the fleet be dispatched to raze Jinjin. It was only because His Majesty the Pope is benevolent that he stopped the war and chose to give you a chance; otherwise, you would have no opportunity to sit at a table and talk with me at all right now.

And although His Majesty the Pope is magnanimous and loves all people, it does not mean he will forgive and indulge you without bottom lines. If you still wish to splash dirty water on those deceased clergy, then there is no need to continue the negotiation; let us speak directly with firearms and cannons!"

Such a naked threat made all the officials present feel the humiliation of being the fish and the meat while others were the knife and the chopping block.

Nayancheng could not help but turn livid:

"Then what do you want?"

Jonathan did not answer, but signaled with his gaze. Victor, who was to the side, immediately opened a document in front of him and said:

"Based on the losses suffered by the Empire, we demand that the Jin Dynasty make the following points of compensation."

"First, it is to punish the murderers. In this riot, a total of five priests, fourteen nuns, and twenty-three believers died tragically. We demand that you hand over all the principal offenders involved, especially that so-called Golden Blade Group, which was the mastermind of this church case. All principal offenders and accomplices must be handed over without exception for us to deal with, and the organization known as the Golden Blade Group must also be completely banned!"

On the government side, many officials knew that Lu Yuan had already sheltered Cao Futian, and they immediately looked at each other in dismay.

Nayancheng remained calm on the surface:

"Punishing the murderers, that is easy to discuss. What comes next?"

Victor continued to read:

"Second, it is to compensate for the reputational loss of the Holy See. Based on those vile rumors and gossip directed at the clergy, your Jin Dynasty must announce to the whole world, explaining the cause and effect of this matter, and restore the reputation of those tragically deceased clergy.

At the same time, as actual compensation, you must rebuild the three churches in Jinjin, and at the same time, you must open the right to preach in all other provinces to the Holy See, allowing the Holy See to purchase land, build churches, and spread the Heavenly Lord's doctrines to all people, and you must not intentionally obstruct or destroy them."

"The right to preach in all provinces!?"

Even though he had been prepared in his heart, Nayancheng could not help but be angered into laughter by the lion's share demanded by the Holy Roman side:

"Impossible, you are indulging in wishful thinking!"

The current Holy See only has the right to build churches and preach in a few coastal cities in the Great Jin, and the scope of radiation is very limited; this is also the result of the Jin Dynasty's intentional restrictions.

The Great Jin had long ago tasted how powerful religious bewitchment of the heart could be.

In the last few decades, various evil sects like the Tianli Sect and the White Lotus Sect have rebelled one after another, bringing great trouble and impact to the imperial court.

Especially the Tianli Sect, which even broke into the Forbidden City decades ago and almost killed their way to the front of Xici, shocking the world.

And if these evil sects were compared to the Heavenly Lord Holy Church of the Shenluo people, that would be a case of the minor shaman compared to the Great Shaman.

The Shenluo army has swept across the four seas, and the Heavenly Lord Holy Church likely has hundreds of millions of believers in the world, including the Shengping Heavenly Kingdom and the Shengping Sect, which once swept through half of the Great Jin and nearly overturned the Jin Clan's rule; they were also created by the Saint King Chen Kequan after being influenced by the Heavenly Lord Holy Church and absorbing part of its doctrines.

If such a behemoth were granted the right to preach throughout the country, the Jin Clan's rule would inevitably be shaken, the country would cease to be a country, and Nayancheng dared not agree at all.

However, facing Nayancheng's direct refusal, no one on the Shenluo side was angered. Jonathan, the Admiral, just bit his pipe and smiled faintly:

"Governor Na, it is not too late to discuss after hearing our conditions in full."

Knowing that the Shenluo people meant to ask for an exorbitant price and allow for counter-offers, Nayancheng's expression softened slightly, though his tone remained stiff:

"Continue."

Thus, Victor continued:

"The third article is also related to compensation. Because of the losses and influence brought about by the church case riot, your Jin Dynasty needs to pay us an indemnity of thirty million Silver Yuan, and lease Nine Dragon Island to us for our use for one hundred years."

"Nine Dragon Island?"

Thirty million Silver Yuan was neither much nor little, and Nayancheng did not care, but he was hearing of this so-called Nine Dragon Island for the first time.

Qi Yuanjiang saw that he did not know where Nine Dragon Island was, so he immediately leaned into his ear and whispered:

"Lord Na, Nine Dragon Island should be near Bao'an County by the sea in the south. This place is extremely barren, and looking east, it faces Dawan Island, which has already been occupied by the Sunlight thieves. It seems the Shenluo people want to station themselves on this island to keep the Sunlight people in check."

Whether it was a lease or a cession, an obscure island did not matter much. Qi Yuanjiang, who had long anticipated this, nodded calmly without showing any attitude, just looking at Victor and saying slowly:

"Is there more?"

"There is one last item."

Victor said slowly:

"A Martial Arts Grandmaster among the Jinjin folk, Lu Yuan of the Guangwu Hall—Governor Na should have heard of him, right? During the church case riot, he injured our Knight Williams, and is also suspected of using non-standard means to cause a priest to commit suicide on the spot. We demand that this person be severely punished as a warning to others."

Mentioning Lu Yuan, Nayancheng could not help but twitch his eyelids:

"How do you want to punish him?"

To the side, Williams, who had been sitting without speaking, revealed his right hand wrapped in gauze and said coldly:

"It is very simple. He broke two of my fingers, so I want one of his hands. Plus the death of Gao Hailou, as long as his hands are completely crippled, we can let bygones be bygones!"

Although he also wished for Lu Yuan to drop dead on the spot, Nayancheng still could not help but say:

"That Lu Yuan is a top-tier powerhouse who defeated two great Grandmasters from Sha'e and Sunlight; he is also a first-class existence in our Jin Dynasty. By wanting to cripple his hands, are you not making things difficult for us?"

"That is none of our concern."

Victor sneered:

"Offending the Empire requires a price to be paid by anyone, no matter who they are; even your so-called True Martial Grandmasters and top-tier powerhouses are no exception."

Only then did Jonathan tap his pipe and say:

"So, Governor, these are the terms we have proposed. As long as they can all be met, the friendship and peace between our two nations will remain unchanged, and my fleet will withdraw from Jinjin at the earliest opportunity."

Pretending not to hear the implied threat, Nayancheng took a deep breath:

"The first point, punishing the culprits and banning the Golden Blade Group, is easy to discuss. As for the second point, the so-called right to propagate religion in every province, this is absolutely impossible. At most, we can open one or two provinces to allow you to build churches and conduct missionary work."

"One or two provinces? Are you trying to dismiss a beggar?"

Jonathan narrowed his eyes:

"To tell you the truth, the Holy See's bottom-line requirement is eighteen provinces. If it is lower than this number, there is no need to talk; we will use our cannons and giant warships to take them ourselves!!"

Eighteen provinces already accounted for half of the Jin Dynasty's territory. Although Nayancheng had full authority to negotiate, he could not decide on such a major matter, so he could only say with a livid face:

"I cannot make the decision on this; I must request instructions from the Old Buddha. The court will also need to discuss the third and fourth points."

Never expecting to finalize all terms during the first contact, Jonathan took a pocket watch from his breast pocket, glanced at it, and stood up immediately:

"Very well, then I will give you all ten days to discuss it properly. If there is no satisfactory answer after ten days—"

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

Before he finished speaking, a series of faint, rumbling sounds seemed to come from far away, drifting into the government office hall.

Qi Yuanjiang seemed to have heard something and was immediately shocked and furious:

"Your fleet has opened fire on Jinjin!?"

"Do not be nervous, it is just my soldiers test-firing the giant cannons we have recently loaded."

Jonathan revealed a cold, condescending smile and said:

"The Empire's newly developed Krupp Giant Cannon has a maximum range exceeding forty kilometers. If nothing goes wrong, the artillery fire just now should have landed on the wasteland outside the south of Jinjin City and will not cause any casualties."

"Of course, if our negotiations are not satisfactory after ten days, then I cannot guarantee where they will land."

"I hope your answer at that time will not disappoint me."

Having said that.

Ignoring the extremely ugly expressions of the negotiating officials present, he swaggered away, leaving the government office with Victor, Williams, and the rest of his party.

Once their backs disappeared through the government office gate and the sound of cars starting up outside could be heard, Qi Yuanjiang's face turned pale, and he trembled with rage:

"Too bullying, this is too bullying!"

"These barbarians are simply bandits and robbers!"

"Propagating religion in eighteen provinces—if we agree to them, the followers of the Lord of Heaven will be everywhere, and the country will cease to be a country!"

The other officials who had followed Nayancheng from the Capital to negotiate were also furious and cursed one after another.

"Enough, what is the use of saying these things now!"

Nayancheng was annoyed by the noise and could not help but sternly reprimand them:

"Even if you curse them as fiercely as you can, can you sink their giant warships by cursing?"

Qi Yuanjiang looked over with a sorrowful expression and said bitterly:

"Governor, if we agree to such humiliating terms that forfeit sovereignty, our reputations will be ruined, and we will be disgraced for ten thousand years."

Nayancheng said numbly:

"There must still be room for bargaining regarding these conditions. Besides, we have no authority to decide whether to agree or not. Let us first report to the Old Buddha and ask her to make the final decision."

Among the four conditions, he could barely make decisions on anything other than the first one.

Moreover, in his view, the fourth condition—the Shenluo people's demand to punish Lu Yuan and cripple both of his hands—was more difficult, troublesome, and harder to achieve than the other conditions.

The other officials did not know the inside story and had not thought of this point yet; they all looked at each other, feeling dejected and heavy-hearted.

Before coming to Jinjin, they already knew Xici's general attitude. Combined with the past, this actual ruler of the Great Jin would very likely agree to the Shenluo people's conditions in the end.

By then, every one of them, the officials responsible for the negotiations, would be cursed by the masses and might even leave behind a bad name in history.

However, the situation was stronger than the people; facing such a situation, they had no choice but to endure it.

"Alright, let us disperse for now."

Nayancheng took a deep breath and said:

"Governor Qi, you and the Staff Officer stay behind for a moment; we shall discuss..."

Before he finished speaking.

Another burst of noise came from outside the government office, and then a soldier hurried in to report:

"Governor, Governor Qi, the Consul of the Sha'e Concession, Sergei, has arrived outside, bringing with him a so-called Sha'e envoy appointed by the Pope, claiming they want to conduct state negotiations with you all!"

Negotiations?

Nayancheng could not help but be stunned:

"What do they have to negotiate with us about?"

Qi Yuanjiang's expression changed slightly, and he immediately said:

"Governor, this is too much of a coincidence. They came right after the Shenluo people left. Could this Sergei have conspired with the Shenluo people to come over and take advantage of the chaos?"

This guess was reasonable and very much in line with the style of the Sha'e People. Nayancheng also showed a look of suspicion and ordered:

"Let them in and see what kind of medicine they are selling in their gourd!"

The soldier left in a hurry.

Before long, a group of tall figures walked in through the main gate, surrounded by attendants and swaggering.

Leading them was Valianjing, dressed in a general's uniform with gold stars, along with Consul Sergei, interpreters, attendants, and a dozen others.

Nayancheng, full of doubts, led the others out of the government office hall to greet them in advance. Qi Yuanjiang rushed forward first and asked:

"Consul Sergei, today is the day of our negotiations with the Shenluo People; foreign visits should be notified by letter in advance, why have you come to visit so suddenly?"

(End of chapter)