In the splendid main hall, the current emperor of the empire, "Mort Sol Awgestas", sat on the throne, with a rare look of old age and fatigue on his heroic face.
Several of his adult children, senators, civil servants, and dozens of young generals who had been promoted from the firing line were on both sides of the red carpet below, conveying unclear messages with their eyes from time to time.
The entire hall was enveloped in an invisible depressive atmosphere.
"Today is the day when the demi-human pseudo-king is coming. The Senate has not yet discussed a reception protocol...Whether it is a good idea or a bad idea, at least you have to have an idea first, right?"
The hawk-like gaze of Emperor "Morte" passed over the faces of the Senate nobles. He was now getting more and more fed up with this group of losers who only acted as naysayers.
If the imperial power had not been weakened to the extreme by successive defeats, and he still had to rely on these old nobles to maintain the stability of his rule, the first thing he would have done was to abolish the institution of the Senate.
A handsome young man with blond hair who seemed to be shining all over took a step forward. He was none other than the first heir to the empire, the eldest prince "Soshar El Kesa".
"Father, you are just the leader of a demi-human tribe, and you still want to be on an equal footing with the empire? Let me tell you, it would be a good time for him to throw himself into a trap this time, catch him, torture him, and then hang him in public, so that those who have counter-intentions can
Look at the fate of the demi-humans who rebelled against the empire!"
"No!"
The third princess "Pinna Go Landa" with long fiery red hair exclaimed loudly, then stood up and asked the eldest prince "Soshar" sternly: "Brother, if the two countries are at war, they will not kill each other, let alone the other side."
At least you are the king of a country in name only. If you do something like this, how will the small vassal countries view our empire in the future? Are you going to let my father bear the reputation of being sinister and despicable?"
"Brother and sister, please stop arguing..."
A blond beauty with an extremely outstanding figure stood up from the prince's team to break up the fight. The cervical traction device on her neck made her movements appear stiff and awkward.
As soon as the woman spoke, suppressed chuckles could be heard from the courtiers and nobles in the hall.
It was the eldest princess of the empire who tried to summon heroes to solve the crisis in the empire before, but was felled by a perverted hero on the bridge and broke her cervical vertebra. She also got the nickname "Tsukihanji-hime" - "Latisse Altena"
.
"Latis" naturally knew that she had become a laughing stock among the nobles, but her gentle nature and self-cultivation as a royal family made it difficult for her to rebuke such unbecoming behavior on the spot, so she could only endure her shame and anger.
Wen Sheng said peacefully: "Brother Huang has his reasons. Although the country of the Naya people has won successive victories, it is only a small country with a population of hundreds of thousands. If our empire pays too much attention to it, it will not only increase the opponent's
Arrogant and arrogant, those vassal states paying attention to this meeting will inevitably look down on our empire..."
"Of course, the words of the imperial sister are also correct. The founding of a country must be trustworthy. The king of the Naya people "Night Dire" came to the imperial capital for peace talks with sincerity. This move itself shows that our empire's image of doing what it says has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
. Setting an ambush to slay the King of the Nayars can certainly temporarily resolve the demihuman rebellion in the north, but it will also destroy the integrity that successive emperors have spent hundreds of years establishing."
"And the most important thing is that the king of the demi-humans betrayed the Japanese diplomat and came to the imperial capital for peace talks. If he is too neglected or even killed by our empire, the Japanese country will definitely become angry. If it is used as an excuse to dispatch those An army of men in green, what can our empire do to stop them? Don’t forget what happened to the 300,000-strong army under Arnus Hill..."
Emperor "Morte" nodded slightly, the look in his eyes was kind and gratifying.
Although the summoning of heroes has embarrassed the royal family, he knows very well that this is not the fault of the eldest princess "Latis", and on the contrary, among his many children, it is the eldest daughter "Latis" and The third daughter "Ping Na" was the most concerned about state affairs and shared a lot of pressure for him.
However, the two princes who have the right to succeed to the throne, one is a violent and arrogant man, and the other is obsessed with conspiracy and power, neither of them can hold a big position.
If the two men had not each had the support of the nobles of the Senate, he would have had the intention to deprive them of the right to inherit the throne.
"Latis, in your opinion, how should we receive this demi-human king?"
"Latis" realized that her father was trying to compare herself, she raised her skirt and gave a graceful salute, and said confidently: "Father, from my perspective, that "Night Dire" is leading the resistance of demi-humans in a human body. The empire must not sincerely seek the welfare of the subhuman race, but more for its own selfish desires..."
"Oh? Tell me in detail."
Emperor "Morte" has recently been listening to a group of old diehards in the Senate arguing about war or peace. Fresh arguments like this, whether they are right or wrong, make him feel bright.
"There are only a few types of human selfish desires - wealth, power, and beauty. As long as we do what we want and satisfy each other's desires one by one, this demihuman king will not only not become a threat to the empire, but even It may become like the original "Dulan", becoming the empire's barrier against the aliens on the border."
"Latis, according to your opinion, do you want our empire to recognize the legal status of the Naya puppet country?" the eldest prince "Soshar" asked with a gloomy face.
The eldest princess "Latis" turned around stiffly and asked: "The empire has so many vassal states, what will happen if there is one more? What's more, brother Soshar, do you think our empire still has the ability to fight again? Total war?”
"Soshar's" face was gloomy and uncertain, but it was rare that he was not violent or angry. He was just reckless, but not stupid.
At the very least, he can understand the various statistical data below.
Two large-scale wars in a short period of time not only exhausted all the elite veterans of the empire and vassal states, but also reduced the number of young and middle-aged men to an extremely dangerous level.
Unless the empire is willing to risk rebellion and recruit demi-race soldiers on a large scale to fill the army, there is no way it can make up for such a large gap in young adults without more than ten years of rest and recuperation.
"I agree with Sister Huang."
Although the third princess "Pingna" and the eldest princess "Latis" were not born from the same mother, they were still closely related to each other as sisters, and they immediately stood up for the imperial sister to express their position.
The old god "Jia Bo", the second prince, was standing in the crowd, smiling and not expressing his position. He didn't know what he was planning.
Everyone in the Senate secretly exchanged glances, but no one expressed their opinions either.
It’s not that they don’t know what the most correct choice is, it’s just that no one is willing to bear the real risk brought by the proposal. Now that someone is willing to take the initiative to bear the infamy of losing power and humiliating the country, of course they are happy to see it happen.
Emperor "Morte" sighed, looked at the sensible eldest daughter below with distress, and said after a moment of silence: "Latis, if I appoint you to be responsible for this reception and negotiation, what are you going to do?"
"The reception specifications should be based on the highest specifications of the vassal country. The key is the negotiation conditions - so I would like to take the liberty of making three requests to your father."
Emperor "Morte" nodded and motioned to the eldest princess "Latis" to continue.
"I said before that what the King of Naya wants is nothing more than wealth, power and beauty. We will negotiate with him based on these three points."
"Let's talk about wealth first - the current financial constraints of the empire make it difficult to give large rewards to the other side, and there will be suspicions of war reparations. Therefore, I implore my father to reopen the border trade and conduct inspections on goods from the demihuman country.
Tax concessions or exemptions, and purchase some precious fur herbs and the like at high prices as exclusive supplies for the royal family."
"That's right."
The passage of Article 1 is no surprise. After all, not only does it not harm anyone’s interests, it can even be profitable if it works well.
"Let's talk about power - the other party has proclaimed himself the King of the Demihumans. Even if the empire continues to confer some flashy titles, it will not fundamentally increase the other party's rights and status. So the only thing that can be rewarded is land."
Cession and occupation are two different things. Even an inch of the former is a shame that will last forever.
As soon as the words of the eldest princess "Latis" came out, the senate nobles below immediately started to commotion. Many people even started to take off their shoes and prepared to smash this little watch to death for losing their power and humiliating the country.
"My lords, please don't get excited, at least listen to what the emperor has to say!"
The third princess "Pingna" saw that the situation was not good and quickly stepped forward to protect the eldest princess "Latis" with her body.
The guards in the palace also drew their swords and suppressed the chaotic scene.
Emperor "Morte" coughed lightly and reminded him suggestively: "Latis, you have to think about it before you speak."
"About this matter, I plan to talk about it together with the third point "Beauty"." The eldest princess "Latis" took a deep breath and continued with a firm expression: "From the perspective of the king of a country,
Ordinary beauty can hardly be regarded as a reward. If you want to express the sincerity of my empire, I am afraid it must be a woman from the royal family."
"When a royal girl gets married, she is given a piece of territory as a dowry. It is a rule set by our ancestors. In this name, we give each other land, which can satisfy each other's desires without worrying about any rumors that are detrimental to the empire."
I have to say that what the eldest princess "Latis" said is almost the best of both worlds at the moment. It not only makes substantial concessions, but also saves the empire's face.
However, there is always a loophole that has been criticized.
"Princess Latis, your idea sounds good, but after all, you are still ceding the territory of the empire? Besides, how much land do you think you need to cede to satisfy the demi-human hypocrite?
The king’s appetite?”
Emperor "Morte" couldn't help but frowned.
To be fair, he hated the infighting between his children, but this time he had to admit that the idiot eldest prince "Soshar" was surprisingly smart for once, and pointed out the plan of "Latis" to the point.
The biggest problem.
"Latis" seemed to have expected that someone would question it, and said calmly: "Brother Soshar, there is a difference between land and land."
Emperor "Morte" seemed to realize something and said in surprise: "Latis, what do you mean?"
"Yes, Father." "Latis" raised her skirt again and saluted, and said with a smile: "My second request is - please transfer the territory that borders the Sea Tribe in the east, as well as the Arnus Hill
The territory where it is located will be given to the demihuman king as a dowry."