Weapon seller in the world of magic-Chapter 584: Prelude to the war (part-6)
After a while;
At Royal Palace, Lunaris City;
Mark and the other six rulers sat together for a meeting; everyone had this tense expression as they were served wine by the servants and they weren't sure whether they should bombard Mark with questions or just stay patiently silent.
If it was before, they would not only question Mark's intentions but also make allegations of misuse of authority against him but his latest action on Shen Li made them realize that Mark just did it on purpose to state his intentions of resorting to violence if the situation arose and he didn't seem like negotiating much.
In the end, as the servants backed away after pouring wine to the Kings, Mark took a sip and addressed them, "So, I guess you are all still wondering what else there is to speak about, after announcing my plans already, right?"
"No, we just want to hear a proper explanation from you," collectively thought everyone at the same time as if all of them share the same brain cells.
Mark leaned to the front and rested his elbows on the table, revealing the rest of his plans, "After one week, I will be resigning my post as the Chancellor of Alliance and the Head of the Cabinet, leaving it in all of your hands. Whether you continue to maintain the alliance or not is up to you. On the other hand, I would focus more on the development of my own country and then begin my conquest of unifying the entire continent under one banner, The Federation of Genesis.
If you are interested in joining me, I promise you the autonomy to rule your own kingdom just as you have been doing now. Other than the fact that your lands will turn into kingdoms and act as the vassal states in name, there will be no changes at all.
If not, I will give you the time to prepare yourselves while I primarily focus on unfriendly empires and then bring my army to your doorstep, still letting you rule your own lands as you have been doing but on my terms.
The choice is up to you."
The guys who sat with him at the same long table were all Kings and Emperors. Even someone like Ouyang Zen, despite being so young, was well-versed in statecraft and could easily guess Mark's ambition after hearing his speech at the arena.
Hence, Mark's announcement is within their expectation. If there was someone who wasn't prepared, it was perhaps, Feng Chen, the puppet king of Western Yan. Unlike Ouyang Zen who deals with the affairs of the kingdom like a true king, Feng Chen lets his uncle, Prince Feng Wu rule Western Yan as his steward, atleast until he becomes an adult.
As a result, apart from him who turned his head to look at his uncle, the rest of the royals stared at Mark in silence as if they didn't want to state their opinion.
Mark wanted some kind of reply but since he didn't get what he wanted, Mark targeted the guy who he wasn't close with, pointing his finger at him, "Emperor Ming, if you have anything to say on the matter, you can speak."
Ming Xianzhi took a deep breath and said in a deep tone, indicating his seriousness, "To be honest, the reason why the Qilin Empire joined this alliance is to acquire the backing as well as the protection from Chancellor Lu and Lord Fu's army. If you decide to leave the alliance and mind your own business, then, there is no reason for us to stay in the group. Our Qilin Empire never submits to you, even if you become a deity, Lord Lu. Now, if you excuse me…" He got up from his seat to leave in the middle of a meeting.
"Brother Ming…" Shen Niu stopped him, "Please wait. Let me handle this issue."
Ming Xianzhi looked at Shen Niu, "Brother Shen, Lord Lu is clear in his objective. I'm afraid I don't share that sentiment." Enjoy new stories from novelbuddy
Shen Niu cupped his fists, gesturing for him to believe in him and turning toward his son-in-law, "Xiao Zh… *Ahem* I mean, Chancellor Lu, we don't need to be merged into a single Empire to unify the continent. We can just expand our alliance. There are only three forces remaining in the continent, Leon Empire, Kun Empire, and Dwarven Kingdom. The last two weren't a problem. Kun Empire's Emperor is your friend and as long as we take care of Leon Empire, the Dwarven Kingdom will voluntarily join the alliance on their own. After all, their King is a friend of us too."
In response, Mark snapped at his father-in-law while cracking the cup of wine, "King Shen, are you going to keep interfering in my plans? Earlier, I gave you a face and forgave your uncle. But, this time, you shall not request on behalf of anyone. Certainly not for a fool who couldn't see a bigger picture."
"Hmpf…"
Ming Xianzhi didn't retort to Mark's statement and left the room at a hastened pace.
Once he was gone, Mark then placed his attention on the remaining, or more specifically, on his eldest half-sibling who was the most problematic guy in the group, "If anyone else wishes to leave, they can. But, I have to remind you all that what I want to establish isn't a monarchy, but a Federal system where all vassal states will have significant autonomy. On the other hand, you five will retain full autonomy. All you have to contribute about 10% of annual taxes to the Federation and also ease up the migration for your people, who want to move to my country. All this while, I was merely offering you my support. If you join my cause, I will be your shield. I'm 26 years old right now and I have reached the demigod realm. In the future, I will become immortal too. So, keep the future in mind and make your choice wisely. You have seven days to send the letter of agreement to my residence."
Mark disappeared as soon as he was finished, not intending to hear their reply right away.
He teleported to his mansion, where he met his parents and sister, who were also ready to move in with him, intending to support him with his decision all the way to the end.
And then, he spent the rest of the week at his home, just waiting for the others to make their choices too.
One day later, he gets an invite for another Council of Kings meeting. All the five states, even including someone like Shang Zexi, agreed to be part of the Federation but under certain conditions.
1) All of them will retain full autonomy, whether it is regarding their economic policies, internal security, or even judicial laws. The Federation will not claim any authority to interfere in the internal matters of the vassal states or attempt to break it into parts.
2) This period will last for atleast 99 years. During this time, none of the vassal states would possess any right to break away. But, once this time passed, they should be given the right to break away from the Federation to become an independent state once again.
3) The Genesis Cabinet will continue to exist but in the form of ministry. In order for the five original vassal states shall have more power compared to the other members in the future, the ones that will join in the future can only have one representative while they continue to have two representatives. As for their tax contribution, it will be reduced to 30%.
4) As agreed beforehand, they will be paying 10% as annual taxes to the Federation. But, this tax is only applied to the income generated from businesses. Agriculture is excluded. Also, under no circumstances, the Federation will not impose any additional taxes on them.
5) Any attack on a state that exceeds the magnitude of a 7-circle realm expert, the Federation must unconditionally send the army and deal with it.
6) Except for the Emperor's title, the vassal states will retain all of their existing titles.
7) The Council of Kings will continue to exist, and as long as there is a unanimous vote from five of them, regardless of others' votes, the council should possess additional power to add or tweak conditions to this Merger agreement.
The seven conditions presented by the five states after a heavy discussion surprised Mark a little bit as he purposely tried to remind them that they were talking to a demigod, but in the end, he comprised a little bit to give them a reason to maintain their dignity and signed the patch, using the oath of his blood. Not to mention, he saw several loopholes in the agreement and in time, he will take advantage of it, if the need of the hour rises anyway.
A few days later;
Imperial City, Leon Empire;
The Old Emperor of Shi Dynasty had his elbow on the throne's armrest and his fist was supporting his tilted head as he was intensely gazing at Sixth Prince, Shi Chong, who was kneeling in the middle of the court and defending himself in a pleading tone.
"Father, it was not done on purpose. If anything, it is the fault of Merchant Jiu. I never wanted to visit Prince Qi's mansion in the first place. He requested me over and over for the event. It was a joyous occasion and we had drinks. One thing led to another and…"
"Shut up, Chong'er," Emperor Shi almost growled in this time. "It isn't enough that you dared to charm King Qi's favorite concubine but you even abducted her? We are on the brink of a rebellion because of your act. King Qi is asking for your head."
"Father, it is not true…" The handsome-looking middle-aged fellow raised his voice in a hurry, "She willingly followed me to become my concubine. I didn't abduct her."
The whole court went silent, witnessing the shamelessness of the Prince who was well known for his profligacy.
It is not uncommon for Princes from the Imperial family to steal wives or daughters of minor nobles or commoners if they like them. In a giant Empire like the Leon Empire, the power of an imperial prince cannot be challenged.
However, laying hands on the wife of someone like King Qi, who had an army of 500,000 soldiers to deploy, is akin to inviting death. Not even an Emperor of the land will dare to do it.
The Emperor clenched his fists to control his anger, maintaining the same posture as if to show the others that he was calm and collected, "Fine then. Let's do this. Go south and bring your nephew, Prince Shi Eun, to the capital. I will take care of King Qi for you. Or else, I will hand you over to Dragon Tiger Forces." freeweɓnovel.cøm
"Nephew Shi Eun?" The Sixth Prince gasped in surprise.
