Chapter 287: The Crazy Negotiations (Part 1)

In the evening, Anyang is especially lively, and it has been particularly so these past few days. Anyang, known for its strong commercial atmosphere, embraces people from all corners of the world with open arms. Despite this, Anyang remains calm and stable. There are always those who try to stir up trouble in An Yang, but none of them have managed to escape; those who need to be killed have been killed, and those who need to be imprisoned have been imprisoned. Everything proceeds according to the law, and the law is inflexible.

Perhaps Anyang cannot eliminate all the dark sides of society, but at least here, the country is ruled by law, and the laws are clearly inscribed on stone tablets. Inside Anyang, there are four large squares, known as the “Judicial Squares,” where all the public laws are displayed.

Anyang’s laws are now famous far and wide, with even surrounding countries sending people to observe or purchase the complete set of laws—official legal compilations are sold at the Judicial Square. From the most fundamental “Constitution” of An Yang to the final “Code of Common Citizen Conduct,” all of them are available, and they are affordably priced—ten copper coins for a single volume, and a full set can be bought for just three taels of silver.

However, Anyang no longer uses copper coins, as they were the first to be “monetized” with the advent of banks.

Large transactions of gold and silver now use promissory notes (jiaozhi), and copper coins have been replaced by paper currency. One copper coin can be exchanged for “one fen,” which is roughly a day’s wage for an average worker, ranging from 30 to 100 fen.

The highest denomination of paper currency now is 100 fen. To ensure the currency’s value, silver or gold threads are embedded in the paper. Denominations above 50 fen contain gold threads, while those below 50 fen contain silver threads.

Next to the Judicial Square, there are several newly constructed government office buildings.

The five most prominent ones are:

First, the “Court,” a grand and imposing structure made of white marble. It temporarily houses matters related to patents, lawsuits, and more.

Second, the “Bank,” a magnificent and stately building made of blue stone, with no prefix—just the word “Bank.” Thus, the word “Bank” has become an exclusive term for Anyang.

Third, the “Taxation” office, dominated by a deep, dignified blue color.

Fourth, the “Police” station, primarily black, heavy, and imposing.

Fifth, the “Commerce and Industry” office, made of granite, simple yet dignified.

At all times, countless people come and go from these government office buildings.

Xie Yuhua is a perceptive merchant, a woman with unique insight. She is not a local of Anyang but came from the imperial city of Wuyang, following in Li Xian’s footsteps. It was during one of Li Xian’s speeches in Wuyang that Xie Yuhua’s horizons were broadened.

It wasn’t until the beginning of this year that Xie Yuhua finally had the opportunity, capital, and ability to come to Anyang. As someone at the early stage of foundation-building, only in Anyang did she dare to take on big ventures with confidence.

However, upon arriving in Anyang, Xie Yuhua was taken aback. It was like a different world—every industry was already saturated with people. Though Anyang was full of opportunities, the competition for those opportunities was even fiercer.

Later, by chance, Xie Yuhua found a new opportunity. It was a new chance, with an uncertain future, but Xie Yuhua, a determined woman, gritted her teeth and decided to take the plunge!

This new opportunity was the “Conference Building.” With the growth of Anyang’s commercial sector, various meetings and negotiations were increasing. However, there was a shortage of suitable conference venues. So, Xie Yuhua invested all her assets into building a conference building.

Due to financial constraints, this conference building currently has only three floors, but it covers a large area, measuring 180×150 meters, including the gardens and other spaces. Besides the building itself, the surrounding gardens feature several large pavilions that can also serve as meeting spaces.

Today, Xie Yuhua is at the Judicial Square, finalizing all the terms. From today on, her business will officially open.

“Who knows what the future will hold? It should be good, right?” Xie Yuhua, holding her latest briefcase filled with various documents, walked with poise. Dressed simply and elegantly, she attracted countless admiring glances as she passed by. Occasionally, she would encounter familiar faces, nodding to each other before continuing on their way.

As she was walking toward the parking lot, a young girl, dressed similarly with simple yet professional attire, rushed over. “Miss, Miss…”

“Call me President,” Xie Yuhua said, her expression dignified with an air of authority.

“Hehe… President Xie, hurry back, someone from the Wangfu (the Lord of Anyang’s mansion) is inspecting our conference building. According to the person in charge, the Prince has taken a liking to our building and plans to book it for future negotiations with the Jin Kingdom.”

“Ah…” Even though Xie Yuhua was usually poised, she was stunned at this moment. The building had just opened, without even holding an opening ceremony, and now they were already receiving such a big business deal!

The negotiations between Anyang and the Jin Kingdom were going to take place in her own conference building?! “Xiao Yue’er, you go back, I’ll leave first.”

After speaking, Xie Yuhua no longer cared about anything else. She immediately formed a magic gesture and flew into the air; her clothes fluttered, her hair billowing, drawing countless envious gazes.

In just about ten minutes, Xie Yuhua returned to her “territory,” standing at the entrance where a stone slab was inscribed with “Zizhu Conference Building.” However, there were already a few vehicles with the word “Anyang” written on them parked in the building’s parking lot.

In a pavilion, Xie Yuhua’s other maid… um… secretary, was speaking with someone. That person was nearly known by everyone—Wang Cong, one of Li Xian’s trusted subordinates.

Li Xian naturally had many trusted subordinates, with the original five being the early subordinates in the government office: Song Xing, Chen Jinbing, Wang Cong, Yuan Yun (not related to the Yuan family), and Yu Chao. Song Xing now served as the Minister of the Propaganda Department, while Chen Jinbing was considered Li Xian’s most trusted aide. The rest were also public figures, often stepping forward to handle various affairs.

Now, Wang Cong had arrived, and Xie Yuhua was pleasantly surprised, quickly stepping forward to meet him.

Wang Cong took his work seriously, presenting his credentials before formally beginning the negotiation. “President Xie, if we were to completely contract the Zizhu Conference Building, tentatively for one month, how much would it cost?”

“Let’s make it clear, it’s business in the business sense, and we’ll do everything according to the law. If any bribery or other issues arise, it will lead to a shutdown for rectification.”

Xie Yuhua immediately understood the situation and replied, “For full contracting, it would be 200 taels of gold per day, with a discount of 10% for a month’s time, totaling 5,400 taels of gold. The Zizhu Conference Building will provide full service.”

Wang Cong nodded, “Good, I’ll inspect the specific conditions and, by the way, you might need to purchase some items.”

Xie Yuhua led Wang Cong on a tour of the conference building. The lower floors had 12 conference rooms, the middle floors had four large conference rooms, and the top floor had only one, using the most popular steel frame, suspended glass roof structure, which was currently in vogue in Anyang.

Wang Cong kept nodding as he observed, “Very good. The top floor should be the main venue. You need to prepare more paper and ink, and recruit more service personnel. Also, this negotiation is public, so prepare more tables and chairs, nameplates, and contact some restaurants. During the negotiations, the place is likely to be packed.”

“By the way, put a large table in the center of the venue. It should be 50 meters long and about 3.5 meters wide, placed from north to south. Prepare a seat at the farthest end for the King of Xian.”

Wang Cong was very detailed in his instructions, and he had attendants to help remind him of various points. Xie Yuhua listened carefully and took notes, gradually feeling a bit of sweat on her temples. After Wang Cong left, she immediately became busy, directing everyone around—there was so much to do and so many things missing.

“Seems like he’s subtly giving me pointers on how to run this conference building business?” After sitting down, Xie Yuhua finally realized the issue. Wang Cong had said a lot, but it seemed like he was also subtly advising her on how to manage the conference building business.

“This is Anyang!” Xie Yuhua rested her chin on her hands and spaced out for a moment, then suddenly smiled, her eyebrows arched, eyes sparkling like stars, “We just opened, and already we’ve landed such a big business deal. Hehe… I really am a genius!”

The news that the newly established Zizhu Conference Building had caught Li Xian’s attention spread immediately with the procurement personnel. Many merchants who heard the news regretted not acting sooner—after all, not few people had thought of the idea of a conference building, but most didn’t dare to act, thinking there was no future in it.

As a result, when the negotiations between Anyang and the Jin Kingdom were announced, everyone was stunned—why didn’t I act decisively back then?

But it was all too late. The Zizhu Conference Building worked through the night, everyone was so excited that they didn’t sleep a wink. The next morning, Xie Yuhua personally waited outside the building. Around 8 AM, a large crowd began to pour in.

The first group to enter was Anyang’s armed forces, with four experts at the Nascent Soul stage, over 200 at the Golden Core stage, and more than 5,000 at the Foundation Building stage, securing the area.

Next, representatives from various countries’ diplomatic delegations arrived, as well as local warlords from the Great Xia Kingdom, and even some local merchants from Anyang. All those who entered had an “admission certificate” issued by Anyang’s authorities. Since the conference hall had limited space, the number of people had to be restricted.

In addition, reporters from the Anyang Daily were also present. Dong Guanwu, a small-time reporter, was lucky enough to get this opportunity. He also carried the latest piece of equipment—a camera. It was a novel device, though still quite expensive, priced at over 200 taels of gold—this was the internal price, and Dong Guanwu couldn’t afford it, so it was provided by the newspaper.

As a reporter, he had to enter the venue in advance and record everything.

By 8:30 AM, the Jin Kingdom’s delegation finally arrived. After yesterday’s events, they no longer dared to be late—the cost of being late was simply too high, and Li Xian wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.

Leading the delegation from the Jin Kingdom is Prime Minister Sima Xuan, followed by more than thirty distinguished individuals.

Soon, the personnel from the Anyang side also arrived, led by Xu Ren and Yan Ze’an, with more than fifty attendants, many of whom were well-known figures in Anyang. These attendants were all elites from various administrative departments in Anyang.

These elites selected for the negotiation team were full of vigor, each frequently nodding and signaling to those around them. Outside the Purple Bamboo Conference Building, tens of thousands of people had already gathered to watch.

Entering the conference hall on the third floor, the Anyang negotiators sat at the eastern side of the negotiation table. Xu Ren sat in the center, with Yan Ze’an, Li Yuanming, and other administrative personnel sitting to Xu Ren’s left; on Xu Ren’s right sat Fang Shijing, Xiao Sihai, and others from business and military sectors.

The people from Jin Kingdom sat on the western side, with Sima Xuan in the center. To Sima Xuan’s left was the Eastern General of Jin Kingdom, Cheng Yunbo.

The fifty-meter-long negotiation table comfortably seated everyone; around it were areas made up of small tables and chairs for representatives from various countries and the civilian representatives from Anyang.

At exactly 9:00, Li Xian entered the venue, sitting at the northern end of the negotiation table, with Feiyu Zhenren by his side for protection.

Once seated, Li Xian surveyed the room, his gaze sharp as lightning. The crowd’s gaze towards Li Xian varied: some were respectful, some admiring, some cautious, some indifferent, some grateful, some astonished, and some filled with hatred.

Li Xian paid no mind to these gazes and slowly spoke, “In the past month, a tragedy occurred, an unprecedented tragedy that could have been entirely avoided, one caused by greed.

Over the course of a month of warfare, Anyang has suffered more than 20,000, nearly 30,000 casualties, with economic losses exceeding 15 million taels of gold. Military expenses have reached over 38.7 million taels of gold.

Outside Anyang, including the Jin Kingdom, Dongyuan County, Nanyang County, and others, the casualties have exceeded 800,000.

Due to the war, civilians have been affected in unprecedented ways. Luliang County, Dongyuan County, Nanyang County, and the Jin Kingdom, it is estimated that over 50,000 square kilometers of agricultural land have been destroyed; this will result in over two million people facing famine.”

Li Xian paused slightly, and the surroundings fell silent. This was the first time Li Xian had presented the war from this perspective, leaving many people deep in thought. It was a novel and shocking viewpoint.

Suddenly, the Prime Minister of Qi, He Zhiguo, took the lead in applauding, and soon the surrounding applause followed. Although the onlookers were not allowed to speak, it did not mean they couldn’t applaud.

When the applause subsided, Li Xian continued, “Anyang does not wish to see war, so we adopted an industrial and commercial approach, rather than one of national expansion. However, not wishing to see war does not mean Anyang fears war.

Anyone who uses violent means to infringe upon Anyang’s interests or dares to wage war against Anyang will be met with a response in kind.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; even a drop of water should be returned with a fountain of water.”

Before Li Xian had finished speaking, the merchants from Anyang began clapping excitedly, their applause loud and intense.

Li Xian paused for a moment, “Anyone can start a war, but they must bear the consequences of defeat. Now, I announce that the negotiations officially begin. Both sides will exchange opinions.”

Although it was called an exchange of opinions, in reality, it was a one-sided “presentation of opinions” by Anyang, because Anyang had won, while the Jin Kingdom had lost.

Xu Ren stood up, drawing all eyes to him as he openly presented the conditions that Anyang had for the Jin Kingdom.

“First, the Jin Kingdom must acknowledge its defeat.

Second… (More details in Chapter 281)
Now, let us discuss the first clause: the Jin Kingdom must publicly and formally admit its defeat.”

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