I will be crowned king

"Kingdom of Clovis - Free Confederation Trade and Military Alliance Agreement":

“Under the witness of the Ring of Order, the contracting parties recognize each other’s territorial claims claimed by the other party, and do not threaten to use any force to obtain any benefits or concessions. All disputes and conflicts will be resolved peacefully through mutual recognition;

If any force declares war on one of the parties, it means declaring war on both contracting parties at the same time. Both parties must immediately cut off any trade and diplomatic exchanges with the declaring country, and declare their participation in the war. It was jointly decided that no party could withdraw from the war without authorization, otherwise the agreement would be invalid;

The contracting parties shall send permanent diplomatic representatives to each other and dispatch diplomatic missions twice a year to regularly exchange information and opinions and assist the other party in jointly resolving disputes;

The contracting parties open all coastlines and ports to each other. The military and navy are obliged to provide the most basic security guarantees for each other's merchants and fleets, and maintain the stability of routes and land transportation lines. All trade tariffs and review requirements and standards are agreed upon by both parties. It was decided through consultation that additional tariffs should not be added without prior notification to the other party and consent;

The Ice Dragon Fjord has a special status and should be completely open to Clovis; Clovis will send a specific fleet to the Ice Dragon Fjord for temporary stationing every year at the same time as the delegation, and will notify the Free Confederacy in advance;

For all normal movement of people, the contracting parties will not impose any additional restrictions, recognize each other's personnel who enter the country through standard procedures, and respect their personal freedom and property ownership; if a major judicial case is involved, they can be detained in accordance with the terms of the local law, and then the two parties will Let’s discuss solutions together…”

In addition to these six items, there are more than two hundred items involving various details related to military cooperation between the two sides, specific trade negotiation methods, mission size and identity standards.

After all, one is a standard centralized kingdom, a confederation composed of multiple free city "colonies". The two sides are completely different from the system to the decision-making mechanism. Just determining the identity of the diplomatic representative is a big problem - Clovis The side can send any count at will, and the chief ambassador of the Free Confederation may be a certain chamber of commerce leader, but in theory the relationship between the two parties is equal.

In addition, the Free Confederation is a newly established country after all, and many things are still starting from scratch; Clovis, a young man with hundreds of years of experience, but who is often ridiculed as a "rookie" by the empire, finally has the opportunity to The successors put on the airs of the old powers in front of them, taught the Free Confederation missions various words and deeds, and told them the diplomatic traditions of the ordered world.

This aspect is actually the Queen Mother Anne's specialty - whether she was a child who watched various important people meet her father, or later served as Clovis' etiquette teacher, no one knows the scenes and rituals better than her. .

As the leader of the mission, little Baekeland nodded while listening to the other party's earnest instructions... This is a little trick Christian taught him. When dealing with people of higher status, if the other party obviously talks about him, No matter what you are good at, whether you understand it or not, you should try your best to pretend to study seriously. This can greatly increase the probability of winning the other person's favor.

However, little Baekeland really didn't understand these things. While listening, he took out his notes and started recording. The Queen Mother, who had a rare opportunity to "show off", was even more elated and deliberately slowed down her speaking speed to give the other party a chance to record. More detailed.

At the same time, members of the Free Confederation mission, the royal family, nobles, and cabinet ministers also completed follow-up negotiations, preliminarily finalizing the share of raw material trade and imported Clovis luxury goods for the coming year, with joy for the upcoming harvest. Start drinking and enjoying the banquet.

At the long banquet table in the inner court, both parties could be said to be guests and hosts, enjoying themselves happily.

For Clovis, the Free Confederation was positioned as a source of raw materials, a diplomatic protectorate for product dumping, and since the other party was far away from the Old Continent, the actual military costs required were infinitely close to zero. It was so cost-effective that it couldn't be better. A good deal.

The situation of the Free Confederation is slightly more complicated: it is geographically remote, lacks industry, has a sparse population, and has a cold climate. Whether it is luxuries such as coffee beans and red wine, or necessities such as salt, medicinal materials, and textiles, all must be imported. At the same time, as a newly established country, it also has to actively integrate into the world of order to avoid being marginalized.

What, you ask, what happens to being marginalized? Think about the Elf Kingdom of Yser, which was beaten violently by Clovis, and even the royal court was destroyed, and the colonies of the New World, which were bullied and exploited at will, and even the three countries of the North Sea could step on them casually. That is the end of marginalization.

After comparing many aspects, it is better to become a protectorate of Clovis than to continue to be a direct royal territory of the empire. It is the least bad choice.

Of course, this does not mean that it is absolutely safe to join the World of Order, and you will not be declared a war for no reason. After all, when the empire attacked Crovis, it did not consider that the other party was a part of the World of Order, and had to be famous. ——It doesn’t exist. If you want to start a war, you can find any number of reasons.

It's just that with this relationship and identity, you can have a fair chance to establish diplomatic relations with the other party, and have the minimum basis for negotiation, instead of being mercilessly turned away by the other party.

In addition, Queen Anne, of course, also had her own little thoughts - although she did not understand the cause of the matter, she was not even clear about the meaning of "alliance with the Free Confederacy".

But she knows one thing, that is, Carlos II thinks this matter is very important, and even most of the forces in Clovis City hope that this matter can be done; but there are very few opponents, and the one with the biggest objections The former Ministry of War even lost a trial with a young brigadier general and ended up completely wiped out.

In other words, as long as this thing can be done, he can gain huge support from most... no, it should be the entire Clovis Kingdom; even if the leaders of those forces are not happy to see this result, they can only People at the bottom of the steps clapped and cheered, and toasted to congratulate themselves on their wise move.

It was precisely because of this that she put such an important matter on the day of Nicholas's coronation ceremony; only today, no matter how she could attend Nicholas's place in an honorable and fair manner - of course, the newly crowned little king could not immediately contact state affairs, and things The importance has indeed reached the point where the arrow is ready and has to be fired.

"Let us drink to the future of Clovis and the Free Confederacy!"

In front of the gorgeous long table, holding the drowsy Nicholas I in her arms, Queen Mother Anne boldly raised the wine glass in her hand: "The Old World and the New World...the two lands bathed in the light of the Ring of Order will surely... Together we can shine in a different light than before—God bless the Free Confederacy!”

"God bless the Kingdom of Clovis!"

Little Baekeland also quickly put down the pen and paper, holding the wine glass with both hands: "I, we are also very grateful...Thanks to the Kingdom of Clovis for its willingness to take the initiative to accept the Free Confederation and become a member of the World of Order!"

"Accept? No, no, no..."

The red lips licked the wine glass, Queen Mother Anne raised her eyebrows slightly: "It's not that Clovis accepted the Free Confederacy, but the Free Confederacy took the initiative and voluntarily joined this big family in public; we are all countries that believe in the Ring of Order, there is no one Ambassador, please bear in mind that you are superior to someone else."

"Tonight I can regard it as your drunken flattery, but if it were other people, especially the imperial ambassador, they would probably fall into the other party's trap and turn the Free Confederacy into a One side is superior to the other, or even the situation between the protecting country and the protected country.”

"It is inevitable to set foot on a foreign land alone and take the initiative to please or even flatter the local masters; but always remember that what you represent is no longer yourself, but the country behind you; her dignity, decency, everything is important Rely on your actions to show it." Anne said seriously: "In the most extreme case, even... your life."

"What the Queen Mother taught you is..."

Holding the wine glass, little Baekeland's face was already blushing: "I know very well that I am still far from a qualified diplomat. If... if it weren't for Sir Anson's help, I would never have such an opportunity!"

"In that case, you shouldn't waste it."

The Queen Mother's eyes wandered, and she certainly noticed some key information in the other party's words - Anson had a good relationship with the upper echelons of the Free Confederacy - but she was in no hurry to dig out, like a skilled old hunter, gradually seducing her prey.

"Study hard, master the qualities that a diplomat should have, and even do your job to perfection. This is the greatest gratitude to those who lend a helping hand to you, isn't it?"

"I, I really couldn't agree more!" Little Baekeland nodded again as if he was making trouble: "Then, where should I start to make progress?"

"Well..."

Anne seemed to think about it seriously, and then said softly: "Well, for example, our current agreement actually has a lot of content in it, which the Free Confederacy can continue to fight for, but you people have not proposed it. .”

"Of course! This is definitely not an oversight at work. It's just that after all, you are still a country that has just been established. It is also the first negotiation. It is inevitable that there will be people who do not know the actual situation or have the initiative to make concessions in exchange for it. It is normal to think that the agreement will be passed more easily, but..." The Queen Mother smiled:

"If it's a regular negotiation and the person sitting across from me is the ambassador of the empire or the representative of the Hantu Kingdom... they won't let it go so easily."

"For example?!"

Little Baekeland's eyes were shining, like a student actively listening in class.

"For example...about whether the identity of bilateral negotiations is appropriate and how to improve efficiency." Queen Mother Anne slowly said:

"The Free Confederation is a country based on the concept of equality, but the Kingdom of Clovis is a kingdom with a king - well, it would be better to say that most countries in the Order World are dominated by kingdoms, and they also have a lot of understanding with each other. It’s an unannounced, tacit understanding and process.”

"But these procedures are obviously not applicable to the Free Confederation - the alliance between the two countries often takes the marriage between the kings as the most important link, but the Free Confederation does not; and the representatives of the missions sent to each other are also based on the Mainly wealthy nobles, in order to take care of the other party's emotions, try to select nobles who are related to the other party, which is obviously not suitable for the Free Confederation."

"Similar problems are faced by the Free Confederacy. In fact, they have the same troubles: Of course, foreign missions must be treated warmly when they visit, which is understandable; but if the other party is a noble, they will inevitably fall into the inferior position due to the disparity in status during the negotiation process. causing harm to one's own interests."

"Of course, if the Free Confederacy is strong enough, then none of the above will be a problem, and it can completely impose its own way on the other party."

The Queen Mother smiled, her expression and tone extremely gentle: "But unfortunately, your country may not be able to do this for the time being."

"Indeed..." Little Baekeland nodded seriously: "So, is there any better solution?"

"It's not really a solution, it's just a small suggestion." The Queen Mother changed the subject:

"Since the diplomatic process between kingdoms does not apply to the Free Confederacy, then a completely new negotiation mechanism can be established; for example... the king of the other party, or the emperor of the empire does not directly come forward, but appoints a plenipotentiary minister to represent the royal court and The Free Confederacy established diplomatic relations and communicated, thus avoiding identity embarrassment.”

"In addition, although your country has equality as its creed and there are no nobility, it is completely possible to establish an honor system parallel to the nobility, and bind this system to status such as positions, and then establish it as a lifelong system .”

"It not only avoids the impact of hereditary nobles on your country's ideals, but also allows you to at least have someone who does not belong to the other party in foreign negotiations. In other words, you can easily send people with equal status to the other party to negotiate on an equal footing. It can be considered a compromise."

As she spoke, Anne's eyes flashed with a hint of pride - she had just thought of this method, and she could be said to be quite proud.

Little Baekeland nodded blankly, and soon realized something: "In that case, has Clovis already chosen a target to negotiate with the Free Federation?"

"Smart!" The Queen Mother praised without hesitation:

"As expected of the person who made Anson Bach take the initiative to help, Mr. Baekeland, you are indeed a born diplomat."

"No, I'm just the son of a businessman, and my hobby is painting, which has nothing to do with dealing with people..." Little Baekeland scratched his head in embarrassment: "Then, who is that person?"

"That person..."

The Queen Mother paused deliberately and spoke in a very playful tone:

"It just so happens that he has something to do with Anson Bach."