Munitions Empire

Splendor isn't just limited to Flame Castle, but also to King City in Chang'an: originally the capital of Zheng Country, naturally it had a royal palace.

The palace of Tang Kingdom had to be rebuilt, and the site chosen was in a new district outside the city; the original palace was thus reassigned for other uses.

Now, the best-decorated place here is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' guesthouse; additionally, several other areas were directly passed on for offices of various departments.

Standing here were delegates from multiple nations, all of them anxious. They had previously declared war on Tang without hesitation and were now shamelessly discussing ceasefire terms.

Even many countries were unaware that others had sent delegates until they met here and suddenly realized it.

It seemed that the so-called Anti-Tang Alliance had long existed in name only, with each country harboring their own deceptions and fighting Tang independently.

Under a splendid chandelier, the envoy from Laines Empire disdainfully looked at the envoy from Dorne, his face filled with an expression suggesting, "You're really unscrupulous."

The envoy from Dorne, however, seemed calm, continuously conversing with the envoy from Suthers as if they had been good friends for many years.

Although Suthers Empire had already secretly connected with Tang Kingdom, the representative from Suthers still pretended to be a novice, chatting endlessly with the envoy from Dorne Empire.

The dwarf from Ice Cold Empire felt ashamed; he had previously come to Tang Country and facilitated the earlier ceasefire agreement. Yet just after more than two years, his homeland had declared war on Tang again.

The attractive and handsome elf maintained his gentlemanly demeanor, his height sharply contrasting with the envoy from Mirage Country standing beside him.

These envoys from various nations all shared one goal—ending this aggravating war quickly.

Their navies simply couldn't gain the upper hand against Tang Nation's navy; everyone's trade routes were severed, and the losses were substantial.

To them, continuing this war was nothing but a disaster! Earning money was what these people yearned for, losing it was absolutely unacceptable.

"Have you heard that Tang Country used a very powerful new bomb in Fengjiang City?" Gobur's envoy leaned into Ice Cold Empire's envoy and asked, seemingly trying to make conversation.

Everyone knew that Tang Army had used a new type of bomb on the battlefield; everyone was eager to make backdoor deals and negotiate because of Tang's inexhaustible new weapons.

That damned Panther Tank, the recently secretive new airplanes, and the submarines that made all other countries' main fleets wary—including the bomb that ignited the entirety of Fengjiang City.

Everyone was afraid that, unexpectedly, Tang Country would unleash something unprecedented and set fire to some nation's capital.

This was no joke—sending soldiers to the front line to die was one thing, but risking their own lives was something the Emperors of the nations were not keen on.

"Yes, and there's word that in the southern region of Fengjiang, Tang Army has deployed a new airplane for combat, even tougher than the Stuka, very powerful," uttered the envoy from Ice Cold Empire gravely.

The news had come from the Dahua Empire: Tang Army's brand-new weapon was unnamed, but its attack style completely differed from conventional Stuka Dive Bombers, notably enhancing Tang Nation Air Force's ground attack capabilities.

Depressingly, it seemed all of Tang's airplanes were superior to any fighter jets currently producible by others; how could other nations' air forces compete?

"Dammit, we spent a billion Gold Coins on airplane technology! The main reason our country declared war on Tang was because we couldn't repay that debt," complained Gobur's envoy, not quite truthfully.

Everyone knew that was nonsense; it wasn't about being unable to pay—it was about not wanting to pay. That was what everyone thought, so they eagerly initiated a joint war against Tang.

When the war started, many had debt with Tang yet unpaid: this debt accrued interest, and repaying it with minerals, goods, or crops would affect each nation's own production and development; altogether, repayment was uncomfortable for everyone.

Thus, they thought war might nullify their debts, which became a secondary reason for considering war against Tang.

Another reason was technology, and Tang's wealth... ultimately, when these people came together, their logic was that of bandits and thugs. On one hand, they planned not to repay, and on the other, they also schemed to extort more.

Unfortunately, once the war broke out, everyone gradually came to realize that Tang was not easy prey.

Among those who had the mind to gather and talk, the imperial envoys were not the ones in the worst situation.

The truly most miserable were the envoys from Dahua Empire and Chu Country, who gathered together but had no mind to speak.

Both countries were direct participants in the war; they also bore the heaviest costs.

Chu Country had almost lost its most valuable northern plains. Though it still had oil fields to sustain it, its war potential was nearly depleted.

With Tang Country strongly pressing from the north and Shu Country covetously watching from the west, its borders with the Dahua Empire were cut off—it truly faced threats from all sides.

They were terrified that the Dahua Empire would betray them and negotiate peace with Great Tang alone, effectively handing Chu Country over, which made them extremely anxious.

The envoy from the Dahua Empire had a tough role, his main purpose being to negotiate peace. However, Zhao Kai had not given him much leverage.

Being an envoy with some intelligence, he knew that such a small offering would never be enough to make Tang Country make concessions, so he sat in the corner, full of worry, staying silent.

Sitting with him was Shireck's envoy, who had come here to sign an agreement with Tang Country, listing a "Prohibited Weapons List" that highlighted humanitarian concerns.

This treaty was initiated by Tang Country, and many nations were "forced to respond." No one questioned Tang Country's justification, so they were willing to sign such a treaty and promised to work actively toward refining this "very ethical military armament standard" in the future.

Everyone was puzzled as to why Tang Country would use white phosphorus bombs, a terrifying weapon, as a bargaining chip in exchange for technically simple land mines.

Two days ago, Tang Country's diplomatic and technical personnel had already contacted Shireck's envoy, and both sides had a heated discussion on the regulations surrounding the use of land mines.

Shireck believed that land mines, being effective defensive weapons, should not be banned since they could effectively prevent trespassing between countries and were not offensive weapons.

Tang Country, however, insisted that land mines contaminated the soil, affected post-war reconstruction, were difficult to clean up, and were indeed a cruel weapon of war that must be prohibited from production, transportation, and use in any form.

The disagreement persisted, and finally, a compromise was reached: Tang Country agreed that its manufactured white phosphorus bombs would be banned from use within any urban or rural areas, just like land mines should not be deployed in such locations.

At the same time, the deployment of land mines in wilderness areas had to be clearly marked for ease of post-war cleanup.

However, there were differences regarding the use of white phosphorus bombs outdoors—ultimately, the more likely outcome was that Tang Country could continue to use this weapon outdoors, but once other countries acquired similar technology, a supplementary treaty could follow to ban its use outdoors as well.

Everyone continued to strive for their interests, and the "Prohibited Weapons List" was still not finalized up to this day.

Regarding the Dahua side, it was also quite interesting. The Dahua Empire hoped to buy back Fengjiang, Wangchun City, Tengyun, and South Wind Pass, naturally including the southern oil fields.

Buying back such a vast piece of land was almost impossible. Even if Tang Country agreed, the Dahua Empire could not afford it.

Thus, this was probably another strategy of the Dahua Empire—they actually intended to buy Fengjiang City because that was the only city important to Dahua Empire yet dispensable to Tang Country and willing to be sold.

If the Dahua Empire lost Fengjiang, their strategic depth would be compressed, leaving Tang Country with a salient inside Dahua's territory—a situation uncomfortable in any perspective.

But if the Dahua Empire could regain control of Fengjiang, at least on the surface, their line would be contiguous, and they could reorganize their defenses around Fengjiang.

Conversely, Great Tang Kingdom did not need such a city. If the Dahua Empire really offered a high price, Tang Country might actually consider selling Fengjiang.

However, the price, that's another matter entirely.

As for Wangchun City, Tengyun City, and South Wind Pass, those were crucial locations, definitely ones that Tang Country needed to keep in its hands.

With South Wind Pass, whether going through Tengyun or across the northern plains of Chu Country, the southern oil could be shipped out, and both places were now under the control of Tang Country.

As long as the southern oil fields met no issues, Tang Country had a major oil production base, much more convenient than the oil available on Dragon Island.

Additionally, the route boasted several mines, all valuables that Tang Country could directly utilize—why would they ever consider giving them up?

Moreover, Tang Country was not short of money, at least much wealthier than the Dahua Empire. If it came to negotiating territory sales, Tang Country might even counteroffer to the Dahua Empire, saying, "Buddy, are you selling Hidden Sword Gorge and Sword Pavilion? If you are willing to sell, I might as well pay a bit more."

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Dear readers, Dragon Spirit has noticed some complaints in the past few days about only one post—Dragon Spirit wants to clarify: the single update from the other day was not due to laziness but because the two updates were combined into one 6000-word chapter... Dragon Spirit has been wronged!