Chapter 849: Resolution

"Oh, Nikolai, you cannot fool me. No one would ever want to take back the land your Ross people have occupied without a war," Ashley said with a smile, as if she had long anticipated that Nikolai would make an exorbitant demand.

"That is a fact, Your Majesty," Nikolai said solemnly. "We are willing to trade the Far East for Tianzhu, but are you willing?"

"That is a very complex question." Ailisi did not answer directly, instead brushing it off casually.

At this moment, her mood turned sour again.

Compared to the beginning of the meeting, it was clear that this was now the most difficult moment of the negotiations.

Nikolai clearly did not buy Ashley's act. He continued, "Actually, my request is very simple. Aside from dividing the spheres of influence according to Ivan and Bolt, you must stop funding the Tusman Empire and acknowledge that Kelimia belongs to the Ross state."

Ten years ago, it was a period of great turmoil across the entire Xitu Dalu.

At that time, he had seized that very opportunity to try to capture the port of Kelimia.

But Britain had united with Frank and Tusman to participate in that war.

The result of the war was their defeat.

Afterward, Tusman became the pawn Britain used to keep him in check in Dongtu.

Ashley's expression shifted slightly; the word "impossible" almost slipped out.

If he did that, the relationship between Britain and Tusman would be shattered.

Their strategy in Zhongtu would fail completely.

Seeming to guess Ashley's thoughts, Nikolai continued, "Between Zhongtu and Dongtu, you will eventually have to choose to lose one."

"Nikolai, I know what you are thinking. You want to play the game of demanding from both sides again, but this time it is different. This Dayan Wang may not necessarily buy your act," Ashley said. "Besides, do you think only your Ross state can play both sides? We can also incite him to seize your Far East first."

Nikolai paused, then laughed, "Alright, alright. But if the Dayan Wang is destroyed, it is ultimately you who will gain the most. You must give our Ross state some compensation."

After thinking for a moment, he said: "Since Kelimia is out of the question, exchanging some technology should be acceptable."

In fact, he had deliberately proposed this condition that Britain could never agree to, with the goal of serving the conditions that followed.

In the eyes of the southern Xitu Guo, the Ross state was merely a barbaric nation with backward civilization.

And in truth, although the Ross state also had Steam Industry, it lagged far behind Britain in overall aspects.

Many technical patents were held tightly in Britain's hands.

"This matter can be considered." Ashley felt it was acceptable.

With the current rise of the Dayan Wang, he believed that occupying certain technologies alone was meaningless.

Spreading technology, increasing the strength of the entire Xitu, and then using technology to exchange for benefits was quite cost-effective.

Thinking of this, he said to William: "You and His Majesty Nikolai discuss the specific details."

Immediately, she walked toward the Frankish King, Theodore.

Naturally, she had to talk to the other seven countries one by one.

After all, it might involve some exchange of interests, which should not be known to outsiders.

However, compared to Nikolai, her subsequent discussions with Theodore, Herman, and Fanzexi were much easier.

They had significant interests in Dongtu, so no exchange of interests was needed; the only question was how many troops to send.

Thus, Ailisi and the three others stood up to discuss together.

"We in Frank have eight thousand troops in Jiaozhi; currently, we can send at most fifteen thousand. This is the limit of our navy."

From Xitu to Tianzhu, it was a distance of ten thousand miles.

With a four-month voyage, the logistics for these fifteen thousand people were no small problem.

They had numerous colonies in the Black Continent from which they could obtain supplies.

But providing supplies for fifteen thousand people all at once was not easy.

Because the people of the Black Continent were not as skilled in farming as the Easterners, what they obtained most from there were ivory, spices, furs, timber, and minerals.

Furthermore, they could not let their entire fleet sail out.

This time, they chose to cooperate for their common interests.

But the internal conflicts of the Xitu Guo were not resolved because of this.

They had to keep the majority of their fleets and troops at home.

"We in Britain can dispatch an Expeditionary Army composed of twenty thousand men. In Tianzhu, we can also recruit and train natives. As for the fleet, we can dispatch more Warship," Ashley said.

Britain's greatest strength was its navy; its domestic Army was not large.

Because under the protection of the navy, it was impossible for Xitu Guo to land and fight in Britain.

Therefore, the current standing army of all of Britain was only about one hundred and fifty thousand.

And her worries were the same as Frank's.

They could not trust the other party as they trusted their own left hand.

Overseas interests were certainly important, but the interests of Xitu were even more important.

"We Folangji will send eight thousand troops."

"We Stedan will send five thousand."

Herman and Fanzexi stated their positions one after another.

The strength of Folangji and Stedan was limited, and Ashley did not make things difficult for them because of these numbers.

Next, she went to talk with Aolixiong and Yiluo Guo.

As a result, she was quite angered; Aolixiong was only willing to send eight hundred troops, while Yiluo Guo was only willing to send five hundred.

In her view, the two of them were simply there to make up the numbers.

However, they also had self-awareness, only wanting to obtain a very small colony as a trading port after the war was won.

"Fine." Ashley suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and agreed to the two.

Having them two join this eastern expedition to boost the momentum was also good.

Finally, she arrived before the Sam Country's Secretary of State, Milai.

Compared to the Western Lands themselves, Sam Country is indeed much further away from them.

Therefore, their President did not come; only the Secretary of State came.

Facing Sam Country, Ashley's feelings were complicated.

It was like a rebellious son joining outsiders to bully, a mix of love and hate.

Since Sam Country's independence, their relationship has remained very cold to this day.

"Mr. Milai, how does President Sullivan plan to respond to this crisis in Dongtu? It is said that your Consul is still trapped in Dongying," Ashley said.

Milai bowed to Ashley and said, "Dongying and Wu are both our allies; the President's intention is to fight for our allies."

"Very good, that is the temperament of us Angsa. How many Warships and how many troops are you willing to send this time?" Ashley said.

Milai smiled, "Regarding this matter, we in Sam Country will make our own decisions."

Ailisi frowned upon hearing this, even though Milai's words were very impolite.

But he knew that this was the current foreign policy of Sam Country: isolationism.

Sure enough, Milai continued, "The President is very angry about the Dongying Consul joining the Eastern Land Alliance without authorization. Therefore, on the issue of Dongtu, we can cooperate temporarily, but we will not join your alliance. We will rely on our own strength to take actions that are most beneficial to Sam Country."

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