Chapter 1154: Establishing Diplomatic Relations

Ibsen Hotel, residence of the Great Song mission.

News of Chester returning to Petersburg and heading to the Winter Palace to have an audience with Nikolai also reached here.

Over the past six months, Dong An had not been idle; instead, he had actively cooperated with the personnel from the Supervisory Court within the mission to build their own intelligence network in Petersburg.

It was precisely thanks to this that they were able to receive news of Chester's return in a timely manner.

If the Great Song could formally establish diplomatic relations with the Ross nation, the people from the Supervisory Court would henceforth be stationed at the embassy as diplomats.

"I wonder what choice the Ross people will make?" Inside the hotel room, the group gathered together.

At this moment, an official from the Foreign Affairs Department looked toward Dong An.

"We will know soon enough. If they drive us away or detain us, war will break out. If Nikolai decides to see us, then from now on, the Ross nation will become our Great Song's ally in the Western Lands." Dong An's demeanor was relaxed; he was not the least bit worried about his situation.

Dong An's composure made everyone feel much more at ease.

After all, having stayed here for half a year, they were all eager to achieve results.

However, they did not have to wait for very long.

Just three days later, Chester, dressed in a crisp suit, appeared at their hotel leading the Ross nation's diplomats.

This time, Chester's attitude was completely different from when they first met; not only was his manner gentle, but he was also extremely polite.

"Minister Dong An, His Majesty Nikolai invites you to the Winter Palace to discuss matters regarding the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Ross nation and the Great Song," Chester said. "Although there have been some unpleasantries between our two countries in the past, we now clearly share common interests."

Upon hearing this, Dong An and the mission officials all let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Their diplomatic mission could finally be realized.

Dong An was also quite happy inside, but he still kept his expression as usual, saying with a polite smile, "Indeed, between nations, only realistic interests matter; only children distinguish between black and white."

"Oh, quite correct. This is what mature diplomatic understanding is," Chester smiled.

Immediately, the two of them, like old friends of many years, chatted as they headed toward the Winter Palace.

Led by guards, the mission entered the Winter Palace,

and arrived at a magnificent, resplendent hall.

This hall was the place where the Ross nation specifically received foreign envoys.

Before long, Nikolai, dressed in grand attire, walked out surrounded by servants.

Chester made introductions, Dong An and Nikolai sized each other up and exchanged brief greetings, and then the group was led to a conference room.

Here, the mission led by Dong An sat opposite the Ross nation officials headed by Nikolai to formally discuss the contents of the treaty.

This was also the ultimate goal of both sides.

The entire discussion lasted for a full two hours.

Only then did Dong An and Nikolai determine the basic framework of the treaty.

Among the terms, Nikolai agreed to cede all the snowfields east of the Ural Mountains to the Great Song.

Gu Nie

And the conditions for the Great Song's exchange were two-fold.

One was the mandatory signing of a non-aggression treaty, guaranteeing not to invade the Ross nation.

The other was to export a complete set of steam industry technology to the Ross nation.

During his time in Yancheng, Chester had indeed been shocked by the electric power industry.

But at the same time, he learned that the steam industry technology of the entire Western Lands was at least forty or fifty years behind the Great Song.

For example, the Great Song's steam locomotives had already reached their second generation.

This type of second-generation steam locomotive used a high-pressure steam engine, providing greater power and faster locomotive speeds.

There were also the triple-expansion steam engines used in the Great Song's steamships, which was something their Western Lands technology could not currently achieve.

Besides this, there were industries such as steel smelting technology and so on.

It could be said that their entire industrial system was backward.

As for the electric power industry, Chester and Nikolai were, of course, also very covetous.

However, as soon as they brought it up, they were immediately rejected by Dong An.

Because this was the current core secret of the Great Song.

Furthermore, the Great Song and the Ross nation had only just established contact, and the level of trust between the two countries was not enough for the Great Song to export such high-end technology.

The Great Song would even prefer to choose war rather than export electric power technology.

Regarding this, Nikolai had no choice but to give up.

But even so, he believed he had still profited.

Once they obtained the Great Song's complete set of steam industry technology, the national strength of the Ross nation would rise in a straight line, surpassing Britain to become the crown of the Western Lands.

After the framework was decided, it took another two days for both sides to finalize all the details.

For example, the time for the Ross nation's military to withdraw from the Far East, the time for the Great Song's military to move in, when to dispatch Great Song technical personnel to the Ross nation to provide guidance, and the duration for realizing the transfer of steam industry technology, etc.

Not until the third day did both sides formally sign the treaty.

That day, Dong An led the Great Song officials to move into the consulate provided by the Ross nation, and the two sides established diplomatic relations.

The news of the Ross nation establishing diplomatic relations with the Great Song spread, immediately causing a huge uproar among the consuls of other Xitu Guo stationed in the Ross nation.

Numerous Xitu Guo consuls went to demand an explanation from Nikolai.

But they only received an official reply: As an independent nation, the Ross nation has its own diplomatic policy.

This reply obviously made the consuls of various countries very dissatisfied.

They sent personnel back to their respective countries one after another to discuss this sudden, massive change.