Old days in the box

Chapter 99 What is great power diplomacy?
"So what if the owner changes? The owner will also have to compensate us for our losses!" Mr. Duke was obviously very angry and said in a serious tone.

The Robert family is one of the richest families on the continent of Europa. It has a wide range of trading businesses. Logically speaking, it disdains doing business with remote places like the North Sea.

But Duke was an unlucky guy. He happened to be sent by his family to the Frankish Kingdom to develop ocean-going trade business.

The Frankish Kingdom was in the turmoil of the throne dispute earlier. It was attacked from both sides and had already lost a lot of business. In addition, the church recently issued an embargo, which made it even worse.

In desperation, Duke had no choice but to go to the North Sea in person, select the most moderate Kingdom of Norway from the four coastal countries, and reach a short-term trade contract.

However, what he didn't expect was that not long after the deal was concluded, their trade cargo ship headed for the Kingdom of Norway.

Not only did the payment not come back, but the ship also didn’t come back. There was no news for half a month!

After many inquiries from the family, they finally learned that another war of conquest had taken place in the North Sea. Their trading cargo ships were caught in the war and all sank into the sea.

The North Sea is located in the extreme north of the entire atrium. It is cold and desolate. The North Sea sea people here are not only barbaric and backward, but also often plunder the European countries along the coast, so they have always been disliked by the Europeans.

The Robert family has no interest at all in which barbarian defeated which barbarian in the North Sea.

But the family's cargo ship was sunk, so they couldn't just pretend that nothing happened.

"I believe that as long as this new barbarian king is a smart man, he should understand that doing business with the Robert family is definitely beneficial, and I think they will not refuse."

The accountant could see that the boss was dissatisfied, so he followed his instructions and answered.

"These barbarians are not only backward in technology, but they are also obsessed with war. They have no civilization at all! Do you still expect to do business with them? I will immediately terminate the contract with them after I get the compensation!"

"Also, if they dare to refuse compensation, I will personally invite the Frankish Royal Navy to let them know that the Robert family is not to be trifled with!"

Duke was already very dissatisfied with the fact that he was transferred to the Frankish Kingdom. Now that he had to lose so many cargo ships because of these North Sea barbarians, he was naturally even more angry.

"We're here, Mr. Duke." The accountant quickly accompanied Smiley and walked to the side of the ship with him.

On the coast, their two merchant ships have slowly sailed into the dock of Sharp Blade Bay and are anchoring.

And Zhou Xiao's perspective is also following them all the way.

"The person who came here is not a good person, but there are no barbarians in Beihai now. Let me give you a little technological shock."

Zhou Xiao continued to watch the actions of these two people. At this time, he had already seen Sharon arriving at the port and was preparing to receive these foreign guests.

When their merchant ship had just sailed into the North Sea, the lighthouse at Sharp Blade Bay had already discovered them and immediately informed Miss Angel.

The optical mirror modified by Hex's craftsmanship can overlook the entire territorial waters of the North Sea from the lighthouse, and even the number of people on the ship can be clearly seen.

Before the Dukes even landed, the family crest and flag on the ship had already been rummaged through by people from the kingdom, and matching information was found from the archives of the former Kingdom of Norway.

At this time, they stepped off the family merchant ship, both of them looking arrogant.

The last time they came to this fjord of the Kingdom of Norway to discuss business, they were deeply impressed by the backwardness of this fjord.

Not only do these barbarian towns in the North Sea not have kerosene lamps, they don't even have a decent sewage canal.

So this time they all had handkerchiefs in their pockets, ready to hold their noses to cover up the bad smell on their bay.

However, when they stepped into the port of the bay this time——

No smell at all.

Not to mention sewage, there is no fishy smell that you can usually smell from other seaports.There is only the gentle sea breeze in the entire sharp bay, and the slight fragrance of flowers floating in the wind.

Just when Duke felt a little surprised, well-trained guards had arrived at the port, and Sharon was taking the lead towards the two of them, opening a gentle smile to them.

"Mr. Duke, and this family accountant who must be on board the ship, welcome you to the North Sea Kingdom!" Sharon opened her arms to them enthusiastically, without any stage fright.

On the contrary, Duke and the accountant behind him were not fooled. They even thought that they were in the capital of the Frankish Kingdom, because only in such a place could they see such a precocious and generous noble lady.

After the two exchanged a simple hug, Sharon spoke first again: "Mr. Duke, I know that you and the Kingdom of Norway have reached a certain trade agreement, but you may not be aware that the Kingdom of Norway has signed a trade agreement with us in the North Sea. The kingdoms have peacefully merged. I didn’t know that today you—”

Sharon paused here for a moment, and a guard soldier approached behind her and thrust a small note into her hand.

Sharon glanced at the note and then continued: "——Your Robert family came here specifically for this trade agreement?"

What was written on the note were the words "Robert Family".

Sharon actually had no idea who Duke was, who the Robert family was, or what the trade agreement was.

All these names and information were temporarily retrieved from the archives of the Kingdom of Norway and sent to her as soon as possible so that she could control the situation.

"Ahem, I didn't expect you to know etiquette quite well...how should I call you?" Duke was surprised by Sharon's etiquette, and for a moment he felt embarrassed to act so aggressively.

He didn't expect that the other party was not only very polite, but also knew them well and could directly tell them their purpose.

"You can call me Sharon, I am the representative of the Beihai Kingdom." Sharon nodded slightly towards him.

"Miss Sharon, let me get straight to the point. This time, on behalf of the Robert family, I am here to recover our shipwreck losses."

"The Robert family reached a trade contract with the Kingdom of Norway two months ago. We carried a total of seven large cargo ships to this port, but they were all swallowed up by your war, and the goods on the ship were also burned. I don't know about this. Does it have anything to do with your kingdom?”

Duke reorganized his thoughts, immediately returned to a stern tone, and spoke loudly.

"Yes, there was a little friction between our two countries before, and the loss of ships in Sharp Blade Bay was indeed caused by us." Sharon nodded and admitted very generously.

"Well, then I want to know if your kingdom plans to bear this loss?" Duke was very satisfied with Sharon's confession, and he continued to ask with his head held high.

"Of course, in fact, we are also very interested in developing more cooperation with the Robert family. If you agree, why don't we move to the Gulf Council Hall to discuss it in detail?"

Sharon smiled and made a gesture of invitation to them.

The reconstruction project of Knife Bay has not yet been completely completed, and the coastal base is not yet suitable for receiving guests, but there is a conference hall not far away, which is suitable for them to sit down and have a detailed chat.

"No problem, Miss Sharon. It seems that your North Sea Kingdom is much more sensible than other countries in my memory." Duke readily agreed, and his mood became much happier.

It is really strange that such a decent country has emerged in this remote and backward place.

Under Sharon's guidance, they walked along the port toward the meeting hall.

Along the way they saw steam pipes and energy lights on the shore and were amazed by their steam levels.

At this time, there was a loud noise from the dock in the port.

Duke and his accountant turned to look at the same time, just in time to see a large battleship that had been cast rushing into the ship pit and parked firmly in the shipyard.

In the dock, twenty equally huge warships were already lined up, arrayed on the shore like dumplings.

(End of this chapter)