"Your Majesty, this, this is not a... a reasonable price," the Dwarf Envoy said, his face turning somewhat white upon hearing Tang Mo’s words.
"Under normal circumstances, as an arms dealer, oh, as a seller of advanced weapons, I believe it’s only when I wish to change the strategic balance of a region, or even the entire world, and prepare to instigate regional disputes that I would choose to unilaterally sell powerful weapons capable of altering the rules of warfare," Tang Mo spoke in circles, saying a few grand truths that the Dwarf, if he did not think carefully, could hardly understand.
The Dwarf Envoy quickly figured out the convoluted meanings, understanding that Tang Mo’s implication was that he was not going to allow the Dwarves to gain sole possession of airplane technology and thus break the existing balance of power in the Eastern Continent.
Damn it! Big brother, haven’t you always been doing this? You even supported certain countries, then wiped out many kingdoms! Do you remember that yourself? Huh?
After complaining internally, the Dwarf Envoy also had to admit that what Tang Mo had said was indeed something he must consider.
If the Ice Cold Kingdom managed to master airplane technology itself, it could indeed build a formidable aerial force to seek larger benefits to the south.
However, in this process, the surrounding countries, especially the Elves, and even the humans further to the south, would fiercely oppose it.
But for the sake of giving his homeland a chance to gain enough advantages in the future, the Dwarf Envoy was still determined to make an effort.
"Why is the Great Tang Kingdom an exception?" Compelled by some unknown force, the Dwarf Envoy asked a very naive, yet very realistic question.
Tang Mo said indifferently, "The Great Tang Kingdom is a player, I’m the referee... Since I’m both a player and a referee, then I must have some privileges to break the rules, right?"
"Your Majesty! Then it’s pointless for us to acquire this technology, isn’t it?" The Envoy from the Ice Cold Empire sighed, genuinely not expecting Tang Mo to admit so frankly to his own cheating.
But he also knew that he was utterly unable to prevent Tang Mo from doing so, because, as Tang Mo said, he himself was the referee, the very maker of the game’s rules.
Thus, he spoke frankly, not bothering to hide the ambition of the Ice Cold Empire to procure airplane technology and continue its expansion.
"No, if you don’t buy it, other countries will gain an advantage over you," Tang Mo waved his hand and laughed as he explained to the familiar face before him: "The principle is very simple, just like when you bought airships; it’s an open strategy. I’m not worried about you seeing through my intentions."
Tang Mo pointed to his head, "Look, I’ve told you straight up that I can sell airplane technology, and I’m prepared to sell it to everyone, but you still have no way to refuse, and have to come to me for a deal."
He had the Dwarf Envoy figured out, certain that they could not refuse the deal, so he appeared somewhat arrogant, "If one country doesn’t buy it, I’ll raise the price, two hundred million, three hundred million, five hundred million..."
"You’re truly a businessman, Your Majesty, whether you have become a king or not, you’re still a merchant," the Dwarf Envoy spoke with some resignation: "So, as long as we pay, can we purchase the airplanes currently equipped by the Great Tang Kingdom?"
"Of course not, you are only buying airplane technology, not the most advanced airplane technology," Tang Mo naturally shook his head.
"What? Your Majesty, I don’t understand what you mean," the Dwarf said, anxious to stand up.
"What you’re getting is first-generation airplane technology, that’s all," Tang Mo said as if the Dwarf should have known this all along: "Otherwise, do you think I’m crazy? Would I offer the experimental data on materials, plus the manufacturing equipment, as well as the airplane designs, allowing you to possess aviation technology comparable to that of the Great Tang Group, all for a billion?"
"But, Your Majesty! You already possess more advanced technology. Selling outdated technology at such an exorbitant price of a billion, isn’t that a bit excessive?"
"Of course it’s not excessive, technology is but a thin piece of paper! Mr. Envoy! Once you have the technology, you can naturally develop it yourself. If you develop quickly enough, you can at least still gain a technological advantage over the neighboring countries," Tang Mo tilted his head as if he had already compromised as much as he could on this matter.
"But we ultimately do not have the most advanced technology!" The Dwarf Envoy emphasized somewhat disgruntled.
Tang Mo spread his hands nonchalantly, "You can also choose not to buy."
The Dwarf Envoy reluctantly retorted, "What use is it for us to receive outdated technology?"
"The uses are plentiful," Tang Mo almost immediately answered his question. "You could have enough airplanes for reconnaissance, to correct artillery fire parameters from the air... air-drop bombs, use fewer planes to defend against the enemy’s airships, and make them quickly phase out such outdated equipment."
Then he continued, "Of course, most importantly, you will be able to train pilots who can fly planes at the fastest speed... Soon you will find that no matter how many pilots you have, it won’t be too many... The earlier you train them, the sooner you’ll have pilots!"
After he finished speaking, he spread his arms, looking very considerate of his customers, "Trust me, we can produce as many planes as needed, but pilots can’t be trained in an instant... Oh, speaking of which, we offer top-notch pilot training services, training costs for a single pilot are only 1500 Gold Coins!"
"You must be joking," the Dwarf Envoy nearly cried when he heard the price.
He knew Tang Mo wasn’t spurting random numbers—after all, Tang Country indeed had a head-start advantage in pilot training. Besides, he was familiar with the Great Tang Group’s pricing standards, where a higher price often equated to better results, one of the cornerstones of the Great Tang Group’s rise.
"I’m not joking. Pilots receive a ration standard twenty times higher than the infantry, and the elimination rate is also very high, with each one meticulously selected. They also have to actually control airplanes in my schools... learn tactics, operations, theory, simple troubleshooting..." Tang Mo listed, and even he thought he had set the price a bit low.
However, he quickly cheered up, deciding that whatever he lost by setting a low price for the pilots, he would earn back double in ground crew and airplane production worker training programs!
Moreover, after upgrading the training programs, he planned to increase the training fees for pilots tenfold, or even a hundredfold—he couldn’t keep it this cheap...
"This will make your Great Tang Kingdom the target of many once again, Your Majesty! If you hope for the other countries to soften their attitudes towards Tang Country, you should show some sincerity when trading the airplane technology," the Dwarf Envoy shifted directions, emphasizing his point.
"I think just the opposite, Mr. Envoy! I think if the other countries wish for Tang Country to share its technology, they should show their sincerity as well," Tang Mo returned the Envoy’s words back to him.
"We can pay the price you ask... but we hope to obtain more advanced technology!" Seeing that the bargaining was heading towards failure, the Dwarf Envoy came up with the idea of getting Tang Mo to offer more technology.
But Tang Mo, already holding a firm grip on the counterpart’s thoughts, emphasized uncompromisingly, "Airplane technology is very complex. If I were to reveal the current airplane technology, it would be equivalent to disclosing many years of all our tech research results. Do you think that can be exchanged just with some resources and several hundred million Gold Coins?"
"That’s countless resources and several hundred million Gold Coins! Your Majesty! Ten years ago, it wasn’t easy for a kingdom to come up with 10,000 Gold Coins," the Dwarf Envoy reminded Tang Mo.
Follow current novels on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.
"Look how much the Gold Coin has devalued. In less than ten years, the purchasing power of several hundred million Gold Coins has come to this," Tang Mo mock-complained.
Having said that, he intentionally reminded the Dwarf Envoy, "Speaking of which, I heard that the currency reform in the Suthers Empire has failed?"
Without Tang Mo’s support, the economic condition of the Suthers Empire was actually not too good. Their Emperor appeared to be quite radical, wanting to immediately rid themselves of the influence of Great Tang’s paper money, which led to a series of disasters.
If not for the significant advantage that Northern Ridge presented, he might have collapsed even faster. As a result of his series of harebrained schemes, the people of the Suthers Empire ended up relying even more on Great Tang’s paper money.
"Your sources are as reliable as ever," the Dwarf Envoy sighed awkwardly. "They can’t pull out a billion Gold Coins to trade for airplane technology."
"That’s okay, I can accept part of the payment in paper money, and I can also accept copper, iron, zinc, nickel, and other metals, petroleum, gasoline... all acceptable," Tang Mo magnanimously laid out the conditions, "But this time, I don’t want any real estate."
"Alright, as you wish," the Dwarf Envoy nodded. It would indeed be an impossible task for his empire to come up with a billion Gold Coins all at once.
It made sense for Tang Mo to demand a portion in paper currency; to maintain the purchasing power of his own issued paper money, he naturally had to prove its value.
However, the demand to produce so many minerals and ores as well as agricultural goods would nevertheless be a significant expense that all countries must incur, even significantly impacting their own national development.
"Don’t be so downcast, Mr. Envoy. I assure you, if Shireck’s envoy were here, he would be much more willing to pay up than you," Tang Mo sneered. "So at least in terms of vision, the people of Shireck have it... It’s just that their brains, they often forget to bring them from home, that’s all."