Chapter 1140: Nikolai

"What! Cede the vast snow plains east of the Ural Mountains?"

It was already deep winter, and the winter sun in Petersburg felt cold even when it shone on one's body.

After browsing through Dong An's document, Chester only felt even colder.

Immediately, his face flushed red, filled with anger, "Your Emperor must be insane; no one has ever been able to make the Ross nation cede occupied territory."

Dong An's expression did not change, and he only said indifferently, "What you say is somewhat laughable. We understand the history of your Ross nation, and we also understand the history of the Extreme North Snow Plains. Historically speaking, our Da Song seems to have a deeper connection to the Extreme North Snow Plains; after all, that land lies on the back of Da Song, doesn't it?"

"This is sophistry. In any case, since our Ross nation occupied it first, it belongs to our Ross nation." Dong An's rebuttal made Chester suddenly feel somewhat annoyed and ashamed.

What Dong An said was not without reason.

But it was precisely because it made sense that it made him angry.

"So, you agree with the principle that whoever has the strength can forcibly occupy a region?" Dong An remained very calm, instantly seizing the loophole in Chester's words.

Chester froze for a moment, and suddenly a layer of sweat broke out on his forehead.

Clearly, this was a trap set by Dong An.

If he admitted it was, then Da Song could attack the Extreme North Snow Plains, as that would be an occupation based on strength.

If he did not agree, then he could not claim the Extreme North Snow Plains were the territory of the Ross nation.

Thinking of this, he did not answer, but instead said, "Such an important issue, I cannot answer. This requires a decision from Nicholas the Great. Please rest at the guesthouse for now; I will go and report your intentions."

"Then we shall await the good news." Dong An smiled lightly, then threw out a slightly threatening remark, "A reminder: currently, we in Da Song hold an absolute advantage in the Far East. You surely wouldn't want the defeat in Tianzhu to repeat itself in the Far East, would you?"

Chester's face turned even paler; he still did not speak, but hurried toward the Winter Palace.

Meanwhile, Dong An was led by Ross diplomatic officials to the place where they would rest.

Half an hour later, Chester held the document and met with Nicholas the Great.

"I think this visit is surely not well-intentioned." Nicholas looked toward Chester and said with a frown.

Chester's panicked expression was enough to explain many things.

"The Emperor of Great Song, Zhao Xu, demands that we abandon all land east of the Ural Mountains, and at the same time, he has given us two choices." Chester could not be bothered with the usual polite pleasantries and said it directly.

After a pause, he continued, "First, we peacefully hand over the territory east of the Ural Mountains to Da Song, and Da Song will establish diplomatic relations with us while providing us with some technology to help our Ross nation catch up to Britain in technology. Second, if we refuse, they will use force to take what they want."

"What an arrogant demand." Nicholas realized the Da Song delegation had come with ill intent, but he had not expected such humiliating conditions.

Intense anger caused the veins on his neck to bulge from the surface of his skin, "Go tell the Da Song envoys to get out of Petersburg, and go back and tell their Emperor..."

His words were not finished, but he suddenly stopped, turning into a sigh.

Because he knew very well that in the face of the Da Song nation, which had easily defeated the Western Lands Allied Forces, they were powerless to resist them in the Far East.

If he handled this matter based on his own preferences, the Ross nation might fall into a war with Da Song in the coming year.

By then, even if the various Western Lands nations sent a Coalition to the Ross nation, could they win?

Moreover, according to Chester's understanding, the war in Tianzhu had already frightened some Western Lands nations.

Although they still held deep hostility toward Da Song, they dared not easily speak of war again.

There were even Western Lands nations privately discussing the idea of establishing diplomatic relations with Da Song to calm the contradictions between East and West.

Therefore, he was very skeptical about the level of support these countries would provide if the Ross nation became the bridgehead for resisting Da Song.

After pondering for a while, his thoughts returned to the first condition proposed by Da Song.

The Da Song people said they wanted to help the Ross nation improve its technology and surpass Britain.

It had to be said, this point gave him a reason to be tempted.

Because in the Western Lands, the Ross nation had always been regarded as barbarians, and Britain's technological blockade against the Ross nation was the most severe.

It had taken a great deal of effort for them to have today's Steam Industry technology.

Once, he had even secretly sent his son to Britain to study in order to master these Steam Technologies.

But even so, their Steam Technology was still far behind Britain's, and many industries were missing.

Therefore, he had always had a stubborn obsession with Steam Technology.

Now that Da Song proposed this, he was naturally somewhat tempted.

However, ceding territory was a major taboo for the Ross nation; if he did this, he would inevitably face opposition from the nobles.

Therefore, this was a dilemma.

"Perhaps we should understand Da Song and grasp the true situation." After hesitating for a moment, Nicholas suddenly thought of something.

The Ross people needed to understand the real Da Song; if Da Song was truly so powerful that the Ross nation could not resist, then the nobles would have no choice but to compromise.

And if Da Song was not that strong, even if they had a glimmer of a chance to resist their attack, they would choose the second condition.

Of course, he also anticipated that the Emperor of Great Song, Zhao Xu, had sinister intentions.

The first condition was actually forcing the Ross nation to stop expanding eastward and turn westward instead.

The ultimate goal was to incite internal strife between the Ross nation and other Western Lands nations.

But even though he understood this, he could only follow along.

Losing eastern land and gaining western land—this trade was not too much of a loss for them.

After all, those desolate snow plains had no great value to him.

"Does Your Majesty mean to send a delegation to Da Song?" Chester said.

Nicholas nodded, "If Da Song wants to cooperate with the Ross nation, they will not refuse this request."

After a pause, he continued: "This delegation must include influential nobles."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chester replied.

Naturally, they could not immediately agree to Da Song's request.

A return visit could both delay time and allow them to understand Da Song on the ground; it was the correct choice.

After speaking a few more words with Nicholas, Chester returned.

That day, he conveyed Nicholas's meaning to Dong An.

Dong An had long anticipated this and agreed to Nikolai's request to dispatch an envoy to Yancheng.

However, he would not be returning for the time being; he merely had an official from the Foreign Affairs Department accompany the Ross mission to the Great Song.

He, on the other hand, decided to remain in Petersburg.

In this way, once the Ross mission returned, the contract could be signed directly.

At the same time, during this period, he could also gain an on-site understanding of the true situation in the Xitu Guo to provide intelligence for the next step of their strategy.

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