Volume 1: The Rise of Elanhill Chapter 0036 Grassland
Chris will stay in Seris City, and some people will have to travel far away. A newly rising country naturally has many diplomatic trivialities to deal with.
Strid, who became the Foreign Minister of the Principality of Ailan Hill, has now completely entered his role. He took the goods all the way north and entered the Grassland Empire on the day that the earthen fort became a place under the jurisdiction of the Principality of Ailan Hill.
Now, he has arrived at the royal tent of the Grassland Empire. Among a group of warriors as strong as calves, he slowly walked into the hall of the Khan of the Grassland Empire.
Although the world still calls the capital of the grassland empire the Royal Tent, in fact it has long become a city, where the strongest warriors on the grassland live and the fattest cattle and sheep on the grassland are raised.
In fact, it had been a long time since any envoys from the south had come to the royal tent of the Grassland Empire to negotiate - after the Alante Empire became a lackey of the Magic Empire, the Grassland Empire no longer had the ability to go south to harass the Alante Empire.
They could only plunder some things in the vast sea and Beijun, and then return north to their own grasslands - the barren grasslands had no magic concentrates to provide to the Holy Demon Empire, so they could only live in poverty in the north.
The reason why the Alante Empire did not go north to destroy the Grassland Empire is actually the same reason why the Holy Demon Empire did not destroy the Alante Empire: because it was too poor and looked down on that barren land.
However, Chris did not think that the Grassland Empire was useless. He felt that at least it could provide him with animal power and raw materials such as cotton. It was a good natural ally to form an alliance with!
So he sent Strid, hoping that he could complete the alliance between Ailan Hill and the Grassland Empire and make the two countries strategic partners - Ailan Hill could use the Grassland Empire as a dumping ground for its goods, and the Grassland Empire could export raw materials to Ailan Hill in exchange for more daily necessities.
This is definitely a win-win business, so Chris doesn't think the other party will refuse such an alliance. Because Ailan Hill really holds too many necessities of life in the Prairie Empire.
Not to mention the distant past, in the past two months, the salt exported by Ailan Hill to the Prairie Empire has made the Prairie Empire extremely dependent. Counting ironware and other things, Ailan Hill's economic invasion and control of the Prairie Empire is more than at any time in history.
Nicholas Weiss leaned back in his chair, looking down at Strid who had walked in front of him, and he didn't seem to want to speak at all.
Beside him, a minister in a long robe looked at Strid and asked in a long tone with pretended majesty: "You, the envoy from the south, what are you doing here for?"
"I'm here to sign an alliance with the Grassland Empire." Strid introduced himself, "I'm here on behalf of the Principality of Ailanhill to convey the wish for eternal peace."
"We have always been at peace." On the other side, a general with a saber on his waist jeered in a very offensive tone.
The generals of the surrounding grassland empire all laughed. They would go south several times a year, and their main target of attack was the vast ocean in the north.
"I am here on behalf of Grand Duke Ailanhill Chris, and I come here with great sincerity. If the Prairie Empire is unwilling to coexist peacefully with us, then I can leave immediately." Strid looked at the generals of the Prairie Empire with contempt and spoke in a cold voice.
His words made many fierce generals angry, but before they could fight back, the minister in robes on the other side spoke first: "We have always abided by the covenant, and peace is what we desire... However, our treaty seems to be signed with Alante, not Elanhill."
"Elanhill is a duchy personally granted by the Emperor of the Alante Empire..." Strid argued.
"According to the treaty of that year, although our grassland empire was defeated, we still have hundreds of thousands of cavalry ready for battle. The six castles in the northeast were originally the hunting grounds that Alante left for us..." The minister showed off his military power and threatened Strid.
In his opinion, the wealthy Elan Hill was simply the best target for plunder. The other party had salt, cloth, ironware and various other wonderful things. Taking these things would greatly alleviate the poverty of the grassland empire.
Strid smiled slightly and asked, "So, if one day, Ailan Hill comes to the grassland to hunt, will your grassland empire welcome him?"
"How dare you!" A general held his sword and tried to step out, but the minister stopped him with a look. Other generals who wanted to step forward also suppressed their impulse to attack after seeing the minister's expression.
After stopping the general from coming out, the minister took two steps forward, looked at Strid and asked, "Actually, I really want to know, on what basis do you dare to cross the Alante Empire and negotiate an alliance with us?"
Hearing the other party's words, Strid grinned. He looked at Nicholas Weiss who was still sitting on the throne and asked, "Since you want to see our strength, I will first present the gift that our Grand Duke presented to His Majesty."
The minister frowned, then nodded, agreeing to Strid's request. Soon, two soldiers from Elanhill came to Strid carrying a not-so-big wooden box.
They opened the wooden box, revealing a long object inside. No one present could recognize it, but it had a resounding name in Ireland Hill : Mauser 98K!
Reaching out his hand, he took out the brand new Mauser 98K rifle from the box. Strid pulled the bolt unskillfully, loaded a bullet into the chamber, then pointed at the pillar in the distance and nonchalantly pulled the trigger.
"Bang!" After a gunshot, all the guards and generals present were so scared that they drew their swords and wanted to step forward to stop Strid who was holding a dangerous weapon.
However, Strid put the weapon back into the box, and looked at those generals of the Steppe Empire who were only capable of showing off their bravery with contempt: "This is the Mauser rifle developed by our Ailan Hill. The Grand Duke asked me to give it to Your Majesty."
As Strid pointed to the Mauser 98K rifle in the box, he said, "If the Steppe Empire is willing to form an alliance with us, then we will supply ironware, cloth, salt and other things in sufficient quantities, and will never deduct anything."
"If the Grassland Empire insists on going south and wants to fight with my Principality of Ilanhill, then my 50,000 soldiers of Ilanhill equipped with this weapon will welcome your warriors!" After saying this, Strid waved his hand, and the two Ilanhill soldiers put down the boxes, turned around and retreated without even looking at the sharp knife tips surrounding them.
The strong Nicholas Weiss Khan finally stood up from his throne. His body was as sturdy as a wall. He stepped on the soft wool carpet and walked to Strid's side before saying, "You had a chance to kill me just now."
"If Your Majesty insists on being an enemy of Elanhill, we have too many soldiers in Elanhill who are better at shooting than me." Strid refused to give in and counterattacked by staring into the other's eyes.
Khan Weiss bent down himself, took out the rifle from the box, and handed it to Strid: "Try it again. I was far away just now and didn't see it clearly."
Taking the rifle from the Khan, Strider pulled the bolt, loaded a new bullet, and then handed it back to Khan Nicholas Weiss.
The unusually burly Nicholas Weiss took the rifle and listened to Strid's brief explanation. He then raised the rifle and took a shooting stance , aiming the black muzzle at Strid who was standing there: "If you pull this trigger, will you die?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, if you pull the trigger, I will die." Strid nodded. He felt a very dangerous aura, a trembling aura that was exuded by a ruler.
Nicholas Ves became the Great Khan when he was seven years old. Over the course of more than twenty years, he built the entire grassland empire into the strongest grassland empire in history by relying on ruthlessness and fighting.
Now, he had the intention to kill, so the terrifying aura he exuded was so dense that it made it difficult to breathe.
"Bang!" Weiss pulled the trigger, but he was not aiming at Strid. He shot the general who had just shouted that he wanted to go south to plunder. The bullet easily penetrated the armor worn by the general, leaving a small hole on it that was far less severe than the wound caused by the bow and arrow.
However, the general was in a much worse condition than being shot by an arrow. He opened his eyes wide and tried to cover the wound on his chest, but found that he was so strong that he didn't even have the strength to lift his arm.
He struggled to stay where he was, but stumbled backwards. It was not until he lay on the ground, blood soaking his back, that he realized how powerful the thing in Khan Weiss's hand was.
"Uh..." He wanted to speak, but he only uttered a dull hum and closed his eyes forever. The generals around him, who dared not move, looked at the corpse on the ground, swallowed their saliva, and then calmed themselves down.
"The decision has been made! The grassland and Elan Hill...Peace!" Nicholas Weiss put down the gun and pulled the bolt again, as skillfully as a gunman who had been trained for a long time: "This thing is good! I like it very much!"
