Chapter 1663: The Sincerity of Cooperation

Li Hongtian looked at Victor with a smile.

Victor's expression stiffened slightly; their Austria was being manipulated by Longyan, and every negotiation was built upon leverage.

Currently, Austria did not have any leverage to do this.

Since they could not manipulate Longyan, they had no choice but to increase the price.

"We in Austria can offer a price that satisfies Longyan to facilitate this deal."

Li Hongtian smiled faintly: "Then what is the sincerity of your Austria?"

Victor said coldly: "We can allow Longyan to build the Railway in Austria for free; Longyan only needs to provide the technology, and we in Austria will provide all other materials."

Upon hearing this, Li Hongtian chuckled.

"This is your Austria's sincerity?"

"Do you think our Longyan is short of that little bit of money?"

"If you in Austria want our Longyan's technology, just say so directly."

Li Hongtian looked at Weikeduo with contempt and said faintly: "My Longyan has amassed a million-strong army at your Austrian ports; if we really wanted to attack your Austria, could you hold out in your current state?"

Victor's face turned pitch black.

Austria was currently at war with Prussia and simply had no spare troops to resist the Longyan army.

And even if they did, under the absolute military might of the Longyan army, it would be difficult for their Austrian troops to hold their ground.

This was clearly threatening Victor.

However, it also signaled an attitude to Victor: the Longyan army could attack at any time, and the initiative was in their hands, but whether the Longyan army would launch an offensive depended mainly on Austria's attitude.

It would be the same when Austria built the Railway.

It was merely a question of how much of a price they would pay.

Thinking of this, Victor took a deep breath.

Li Hongtian stared at Victor and said faintly: "Weikeduo, there were only two paths laid out before you from the start; if you want to take back the ports, you must pay a price."

"After that, we can talk about cooperation."

"Otherwise, we only discuss this current cooperation, and don't mention the port issue again."

"For us in Longyan, no matter how you choose, the outcome is actually the same."

Li Hongtian told Victor with absolute certainty, contrasting with the polite face he had shown Victor earlier.

Now, he was explicitly telling Victor that the initiative for the construction of this Railway was entirely in his hands.

It simply did not allow for Victor to refuse!

After thinking this through, the breath Victor had been holding was finally released.

Over these three days and three nights, the result discussed by the members of the Upper House, including Victor, was that Longyan could discuss the Railway construction.

However, the port cities occupied by Longyan must be returned to Austria.

But they could not provoke Longyan yet; Austria could make concessions.

Their plan was quite good, but their opponent was Li Hongtian.

This Minister of Revenue of Longyan.

Li Hongtian leveraged the situation to force Austria into a corner with no way out.

Victor could only say helplessly: "Very well, we in Austria can concede more benefits; the specific details can all be negotiated."

Li Hongtian chuckled and stood up; although he was in Austria, it felt just like his own home.

He poured a cup of tea for Victor and said: "Alright, now we can have a proper chat."

Victor savored the aroma of the tea.

The two began their negotiations.

Negotiation is a war without gunpowder, and Victor and Li Hongtian were well-versed in this principle.

Although Longyan held the initiative, Victor was not someone to be easily manipulated by Li Hongtian during the cooperation; he tried every possible method to squeeze even a tiny bit of benefit from Li Hongtian.

Li Hongtian understood even better that in warfare, deception is the way!

The same applied to negotiation, so regarding the cooperation, Li Hongtian yielded almost nothing and remained airtight.

This was simply a perfect offensive and defensive battle.

Both the Austrian side and the Longyan side had originally assumed it would be a Protracted War.

But the negotiations between these two did not exceed two hours before they reached a strategic agreement.

When the Austrian Councilors saw these two again, both men had smiles on their faces.

Just as both sides were completely bewildered.

Victor laughed: "Mr. Li Hongtian is truly a great talent; I am ashamed of my inferiority. We in Austria fully approve of this cooperation."

"General, you are too modest; you are the true great talent."

After a round of mutual commercial flattery, none of the others understood what was going on.

When Victor went in earlier, he had looked as if he were facing a formidable enemy; there was no sign of his current demeanor.

The crowd was stunned, completely unable to understand what had happened.

Li Hongtian bowed and said: "I have disturbed you for many days; since the cooperation has been settled, I must return as soon as possible."

"Afterward, I will send people to confirm the specific details of the cooperation with you, General."

"It would be better to implement this as soon as possible."

"Yes, I feel the same way."

Victor nodded, agreeing with Li Hongtian.

After the cooperation was finalized, Li Hongtian left Austria that very day; although he left in a hurry, he was not flustered.

Li Hongtian had not left a single thing undone that needed to be done.

As for why he left in such a hurry, it was because enough time had already passed, and Li Hongtian could not delay any longer here.

There were still many matters at the port waiting for him to handle.

Furthermore, before coming here, he had received a battle report from General Ling Chen.

The Longyan army led by General Ling Chen had penetrated deep into Europe and was currently entrenched in Hanover, but they were suffering attacks from the Holy Cross Army.

General Ling Chen was currently in a very dangerous position.

His army of two hundred thousand had no supplies and no reinforcements of any kind in Hanover.

Although they had established contact with Prussia, Prussia had been through years of war and was still counting on Longyan to provide them with aid.

In a situation where supplies were extremely scarce, the Longyan army was currently at an absolute disadvantage.

After Liu Zheng washed his hands of the matter and left, these kinds of things were all handed over to Li Hongtian.

Although Li Hongtian did not know how to march or fight, he knew that war was nothing more than soldiers and money.

He did not understand how to deploy troops or arrange formations, but he knew how to transport supplies to Ling Chen.

He had not yet finished dealing with Ling Chen's affairs when he was assigned this cooperation by Liu Zheng.

Now he had to hurry back to the port city.

Watching Li Hongtian leave, the smiling expression on the face of Weikeduo instantly turned gloomy.

At the same time, he looked toward the direction where Li Hongtian had departed with a very complex expression.

He had been completely manipulated in this deal, and Austria had not gained any benefits at all in these negotiations.

"General, have we gotten our port city back?"

Weikeduo glanced at the person who asked the question and said indifferently, "If you want to know, go ask the Longyan people if they agree or not!"

After saying this, Weikeduo left in a huff.

They had achieved the goals Austria wanted to reach, but they had paid an extremely heavy price.

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