Volume 6 Chapter 49: Threat to the empire's prestige
Xu Yi's meeting with King Teruc had more of a symbolic meaning.
As the chairman of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, Xu Yi personally coming forward represented the Frestech Chamber of Commerce's firm attitude in supporting the Rudson Kingdom. It was to let King Teruc feel relieved, so he could focus on defending against the attacks of the Candra Empire.
Of course, there was an effect, as well as having the Lampuri Kingdom, the Stantine Duchy, and the Black Rice Wasteland continue to send resources over.
With the powerful road network and the logistics network of these transport Magic Cars, as soon as these products are produced, it only takes two or three days to transport them to the hands of the Rudson Kingdom's army. It enabled them to maintain their powerful battle strength.
This was the important reason why the Rudson Kingdom's army could face the Candra Empire's army and keep winning battles.
King Teruc was aware of this, so even if the Frestech Chamber of Commerce didn't mention this, he would give the Frestech Chamber of Commerce some favourable conditions. He hoped that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce could still support him, mainly when it came to military magic machines.
Although the Frestech Chamber of Commerce didn't make a clear statement, Xu Yi as the Frestech Chamber of Commerce's chairman had secretly indicated his support to King Teruc.
Other than satisfying the requests of King Teruc, Xu Yi actually proposed transferring the Magic Repeating Crossbow's manufacturing technology to the Rudson Kingdom.
This was a pleasant surprise for King Teruc.
Of course, when it came to the various products coming to the support of the Rudson Kingdom, not only was the Rudson Kingdom aware of this, it wasn't like the Candra Empire didn't know anything.
The Candra Empire didn't care in the beginning because everyone thought that with the power of the Candra Empire, they could definitely easily defeat the Rudson Kingdom. Even if the other countries or powers supported the Rudson Kingdom, it didn't matter since it wouldn't affect the forward progress of the Rudson Kingdom at all.
But when the Candra Empire clashed with the Rudson Kingdom again and again, ending in the Candra Empire being completely routed, the Candra Empire's attitude changed.
"Your majesty, I represent the empire to officially give your country a serious warning. Immediately stop supporting the Rudson Kingdom with supplies, or the empire's ruling body will determine you to be on the same side as them, as well as an enemy of the empire. As for the consequences of becoming the enemy of the empire, I don't think I need to remind you, right?"
Seveni covered her mouth with her hand and gave a yawn before looking at the serious looking Candra Empire's ambassador Klein Sweetom standing in front of her. She revealed a relaxed smile and motioned for him to sit down.
"Mister ambassador, the supplies that you were just talking about, there are only a few normal transactions between the citizens of our countries as far as I know. It shouldn't count as supporting the Rudson Kingdom's army, right?"
Ambassador Sweetom gave a cold snort, "Whether this is military support or not is decided by the empire's ruling body, it isn't your decision."
"Oh?" Seveni blinked in surprise, "Ambassador Sweetom, you wouldn't mean that as long as it's the wish of the Candra Empire, there is no need to give us any evidence and you can decide that our Lampuri Kingdom is providing military support to the Rudson Kingdom? If it is like this, why did you come to give me a warning? Isn't it what you decide?"
Ambassador Sweetom gave a soft cough as he revealed an awkward look.
"Ke.....Although it's the empire's ruling body's decision in the end, if you want to avoid being suspected by the empire's ruling body, that would be better."
"But in the end, it's decided by you. It isn't related at all to whether we are providing the Rudson Kingdom with military support at all?" Seveni asked."
Ambassador Sweetom gave a strong cough and waved his hand before saying with a serious look, "In short, your majesty, because of the war between the empire and the Rudson Kingdom, every act that benefits the Rudson Kingdom is considered an act of hostility towards us. The empire's parliament hopes that your country can stop all transports into the Rudson Kingdom. Ke....I mean everything, whether it is military goods or civilian goods, you can't transport anything to the Rudson Kingdom. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Un, I understand. But mister ambassador, I just said it, this is the normal transaction carried out between the citizens of our Lampuri Kingdom and the citizens of the Rudson Kingdom. If I force them to stop their transactions, who would bear the losses of those companies? Our Lampuri Kingdom's royal family? Or your Candra Empire?"
"Of course they would bear it themselves." Ambassador Sweetom said without any courtesy, "Those companies dared to trade with the Rudson Kingdom while our Candra Empire is at war with the Rudson Kingdom, this is simply a provocation towards our empire. The empire not punishing them is already being benevolent enough, could it be that they still want to go against the decisions of our empire?"
Hearing this, the smile on Seveni's face slowly disappeared and her eyes turned ice cold.
"Mister ambassador, I must remind you that they are companies of our Lampuri Kingdom and not your empire. Even if they must be punished, it is a matter of our Lampuri Kingdom and unrelated to you."
Ambassador Sweetom couldn't adapt to Seveni's sudden cold words and looked at her in surprise before saying in a deep voice, "Your majesty, could it be that you're planning on ignoring the warning of our empire's parliament?"
Seveni was silent for a bit before suddenly asking, "Mister ambassador, according to what I know, the countries that are trading with the Rudson Kingdom during this time isn't just our Lampuri Kingdom, there are also the surrounding countries. May I ask if the Candra Empire is also giving them the same warning?"
"This......"
Ambassador Sweetom hesitated.
If one really looked at it, they would find that there was a trace of anger, a trace of doubt, and a trace of helplessness in his eyes.
It was as Seveni said, it wasn't just the Lampuri Kingdom that was still trading with the Rudson Kingdom. There were also the Sack Kingdom and the Falk Kingdom who were also kingdoms like the Rudson Kingdom.
Other than this, there was still the Drake Duchy, the Stantine Duchy, the Norton Duchy, the Mirando Duchy, and other small duchies that were trading with them.
The Candra Empire had suffered a loss in the beginning and had warned those countries against trading with the Rudson Kingdom.
The Norton Duchy had very quickly agreed and immediately stopped.
But other than the Norton Duchy, the other countries completely ignored the request of the Candra Empire.
Although most of these countries were very polite towards the Candra Empire, they were very ambiguous towards the warning and requests this time.
Take the Stantine Duchy, the congress that represented them said that they would study the warning of the Candra Empire and would hold a session to make a decision, but it had already been a week since the Candra Empire gave this warning to the Stantine Duchy. Even now, the Stantine Duchy's response was that they were still discussing this and hadn't reached a conclusion yet.
During this week, the Stantine Duchy had sent countless large transport Magic Cars across the road connecting the Stantine Duchy to the Rudson Kingdom, sending them resources without stopping.
Of course, compared to this small duchy, what the Candra Empire cared about the most were the three kingdoms of the Lampuri Kingdom, the Falk Kingdom, and the Sack Kingdom.
But the Candra Empire's warning to the Sack Kingdom was like stone in the sea, there was no reaction at all.
The Falk Kingdom had just rejected them, saying that the Candra Empire has no right to interfere in the normal trade between the Falk Kingdom and the Rudson Kingdom.
The Candra Empire's parliament expected this because the Falk Kingdom was close to the Marlow Empire, so they were more closely bound to them. Naturally they went against the Candra Empire.
So the only one left was the Lampuri Kingdom's queen in front of him.
The Lampuri Kingdom was close to the Rudson Kingdom, so it was good for them to support the Rudson Kingdom.
According to the reports, the Lampuri Kingdom's national strength had increased in the past few years, even suppressing the Sack Kingdom that had suppressed them for several hundred years. They had already become the strongest country in the southwest corner of the Sines Continent.
If the Lampuri Kingdom fully supported the Rudson Kingdom, it would make it very hard for the Candra Empire to deal with the Rudson Kingdom.
So this time the Candra Empire had sent out their ambassador Klein Sweetom to meet her majesty Seveni, personally giving her the warning from the Candra Empire's parliament. It was to show her the gravity of this situation and how serious the empire was about this.
But ambassador Sweetom never thought that this queen Seveni would have such an ambiguous attitude. She had even shifted the responsibility onto others and had asked about the attitudes of the other countries.
Ambassador Sweetom felt that he couldn't hide this matter from her majesty Seveni, but saying that not a single country agreed wouldn't help him at all. After hesitating, he said in a deep voice, "The empire is certainly also giving the other countries a serious warning."
"What attitude did they have?" Seveni asked.
Ambassador Sweetom gave a cold snort and replied, "This is the request of our Candra Empire, who would dare have an opinion?"
Seveni revealed a smile, "But mister ambassador, as far as I know, up to now, there isn't a single country that has agreed to the request of the Candra Empire."
Ambassador Sweetom's face turned a bit red before becoming serious again.
"If they dare go against the empire's will, they will be punished by the empire in the future!"
"Oh?" Seveni gave a clear laugh and looked at ambassador Sweetom with a smile, "But mister ambassador, the one going against the Candra Empire the most is the Rudson Kingdom, are they being punished?"
Ambassador Sweetom's expression froze.
Seeing the smile of deep meaning on Seveni's face, he immediately understood.
He was doomed to not have any results today because in the empire's war against the Rudson Kingdom, not only were they not able to easily crush the Rudson Kingdom, they had been easily dealt with by the Rudson Kingdom many times.
With the influence of these results, the empire's deterrent against the small countries had been seriously affected.
Or to put it more seriously, if they couldn't take care of the Rudson Kingdom, the empire's prestige on the continent would be in danger.
This was something that was countless times more serious than losing to the Rudson Kingdom.