When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 731 - 687 Ceasefire Agreement

Wiping the sweat off his neck with a handkerchief, Gigano, the Thousand River Valley trade representative, led Sleda once again into the spacious, cool negotiation room.

The ice blocks pre-frozen by the Wizards emitted a biting chill, but they still couldn't dispel the agitation in Sleda's heart.

Seeing Mitney smiling while making coffee in front of the blackwood negotiation table only added fuel to Sleda's anger.

Since he arrived at Solaburg in late April, two weeks had already passed by, now it was already early May, yet the ceasefire agreement between the two sides had still not been signed.

It wasn't that Sleda wasn't trying, but the demands from the Holy Axis side were too harsh.

"Oh, Mr. Gigano, Lord Sleda." Mitney put down the copper coffee pot in his hand, displaying his signature smile, "Such hot weather, it must be hard for the two of you to come here, how about a cup of our Black Snake Bay specialty, Blueberry Coffee, to refresh yourselves?"

"No, thanks." Sleda waved his hand, shaking his head, "I'm not used to this stuff... Do you have any wine?"

"Of course." Mitney snapped his fingers to call the Attendant from outside the door, "Bring in a bottle of fruit wine, chilled."

Speaking, he then used a small knife to chip off two pieces of ice, tossed them into a tilted clay cup, and took a light sip of the fruity coffee before smiling at Sleda: "Lord Sleda, today is your final deadline to report to your lord, have you considered the war reparations and ransom?"

"We are willing to pay the 100,000 gold pounds ransom in one go, but isn't this 350,000 gold pound reparation a bit too much?" Sleda spread his hands, "Mr. Mitney, as you know, the war has already drained Clove Corridor's finances, 350,000 gold pounds is truly a burden that's difficult to bear."

In fact, the total 450,000 gold pound reparation wasn't really an exorbitant demand by Horn.

Among those captured Knights, about 2000 hold the Knight title, with the market ransom rate being 50 gold pounds per Knight, Horn just rounded it down, directly to 100,000 gold pounds.

On this point, the nobles of Clove Corridor quite readily agreed, because indeed it went by the rules.

But the 350,000 gold pounds war reparation caught the Knights by surprise.

"You make tens of thousands of gold pounds annually from the spice trade, now you're telling me you can't come up with 350,000 gold pounds?" Mitney shook his head with a frown, "You have exploited Black Snake Bay for decades, yet we're only making you pay this much for the sake of His Majesty the King."

"But that's 350,000 gold pounds, almost equivalent to 10 tons of gold, where are we supposed to find you 10 tons of gold?" The veins on Sleda's forehead throbbed, "Even the lord's family doesn't have that much surplus gold."

Mitney just stirred his coffee lightly with his head down: "Aren't there alternative terms? I don't have to tell you, you can see how much the Holy Axis has already conceded."

The so-called alternative terms are that the Falan Royal Family Trading Company, Saint Scythe Monastery, and Witch Council in the Thousand River Valley form a United Spice Company, and Clove Corridor spends 20,000 gold pounds annually buying the company's stocks over five years, but has no management rights.

Additionally, until the war reparations are fully paid, all dividends will be used for the development of the United Spice Company.

If like this, then the remaining 250,000 gold pounds can be reduced by 50,000, then paid off over five years with a 5% annual interest rate.

This way, besides needing to pay 160,000 gold pounds in the first year, for the years thereafter, they only need to pay 60,000 gold pounds annually in reparations, with even a possibility of getting back 100,000 gold pounds as returned money.

"But with your United Spice Company controlling both purchase and sale, our income would already be greatly reduced, yet you want to raise the spice wholesale price, in this case, we would rather let these soldiers starve to death, die outside, or jump into the river from the shore, than accept any of your conditions."

Despite being defeated, Clove Corridor isn't completely at the mercy of Horn, because they still have the Falan Royal Family backing them.

If the nobility of Clove Corridor are pushed to the brink, they might as well abandon any bottom line and completely side with the King's faction, regardless of the loss of monopoly privileges.

Then Horn's purpose to spread the trade risk through Clove Corridor and Red Leaf Hill would be unachievable.

Weakening them too much is not good either, as it may lead to these nobles' power being swallowed by the Falan Royal Family.

Facing such threats, Mitney merely watched him calmly: "The United Spice Company aims to maintain market order, not monopolize the market.

If we freely open up Black Snake Bay's spice trade, local plantation owners would inevitably dump large amounts of pepper, causing the price to plummet, whereas United Spice could control spice output and prices through priority purchasing rights.

Should the spice dumping lead to market collapse, that's not something you wish to see, right?"

Sleda looked grim: "Then we demand a fixed allocation of spice quotas annually."

After a moment of thought, Mitney nodded: "We can make a concession on this point, 30% of the annual export can be sold to Clove Corridor at market average prices, prioritized.

As for the surplus quota, it will be auctioned in batches at Celestial Maiden City..."

Hearing this, Sleda's expression eased a lot, although it was less than half the original quota, at least it wasn't a total loss.

Moreover, without those Secret Faction roadblocks, they could transport themselves, saving on costs, combined with the Celestial Maiden City auctions, obtaining around 50% of the share is feasible.

As for the lost 30%, they could only accept it as losing a gamble, having known that Clove Corridor's spice monopoly wouldn't last long, yet didn't expect the Royal Family to take over so swiftly.

Regarding the five-year reparation, Sleda believed it to be at most a two-year reparation, up to 220,000 gold pounds at most, awaiting Leia's new king next year or the year after to make his move, leaving the Thousand River Valley at least half crippled if not dead.

By that time, maybe even Black Snake Bay could be swallowed.

"Alright then…" Sleda breathed a sigh of relief, "We will deliver 100,000 gold pounds to Dragonfly Bay before the rainy season, to exchange for 2055 Knights."

"Great, we finally made some progress." Mitney beamed, walked to the door, took the wine bottle from the servant's hand, and poured three glasses of non-alcoholic fruit wine, "Let's toast in advance, to celebrate peace, shall we?"

Under the quick writing of several clerks, an outline of the Spice War ceasefire agreement was freshly produced.

"First, Clove Corridor and Black Snake Bay agree to immediately cease hostilities and accept mediation by the Thousand River Valley Holy Monarch Country and Falan Royal Family, publicly declaring not a defeat.

Second, grant the nobles of Clove Corridor priority purchasing rights of certain quotas, but they must relinquish monopoly rights.

Third, do not obstruct merchant ships departing Dragonfly Port from entering Clove Corridor territory.

Fourth, Dragonfly Port shall be the sole trade port from Clove Corridor to Black Snake Bay, no trade shall occur outside of this, any such will be considered smuggling by both parties.

Fifth, this year's spices shall be exclusively purchased and sold by the Saint Plow Monastery, with Black Snake Bay ensuring no sudden significant changes in spice production to avoid market chaos.

Sixth, Clove Corridor must pay 100,000 gold pounds to ransom the captured Extraordinary Knights and soldiers.

Seventh, Clove Corridor shall pay Black Snake Bay a total of 300,000 gold pounds as war reparations to compensate for losses, and pay in installments with 20,000 gold pounds in stocks per annum and 40,000 gold pounds in war reparations annually, at an annual interest rate of 5%.

Eighth, Black Snake Bay is willing to receive Clove Corridor's exiles and refugees."

Taking a sip of the non-alcoholic fruit wine, looking at this ceasefire agreement entangled for two weeks, Sleda was filled with mixed emotions.

Though he had done his utmost to secure the best conditions for Clove Corridor, given the current state of Clove Corridor, merely losing some blood, it wasn't deep-rooted.

Yet, if those nobles above didn't agree, his efforts would amount to nothing.

What he feared the most was not Black Snake Bay's exorbitant demands, but those stubborn lords refusing to admit defeat, dragging on, neither fighting nor negotiating.

Should that day come, returning to this negotiation room a second time might not render the same conditions now.

"We will courier the treaty to Orange County within five days," Gigano cheerfully said, holding the ceasefire agreement.

After all, he hadn't suffered any losses, having gained a 10% share of the spice trade within a year of taking office, naturally, he couldn't stop grinning.

"Within a month at the most, we'll give you a response."

"No rush, no rush." Mitney elegantly sipped fruit wine, "But let me remind you, the rainy season is approaching, so it's best to act quickly."