At the round table, the participants of this negotiation were seated.
A round table was, in other words, something that indicated everyone’s standing was the same. Because there were also issues such as distance from the entrances and exits, entrances were prepared on all four sides of the room as well.
However, straight ahead.
Only the chair straight ahead was clearly different in construction.
That was the seat where the highest-ranked person here would sit. Even though it was a round table, only that place was beautifully adorned. Not to the point of being gaudy, but it was clearly high quality, and above all, it was tall. The seat was high, too.
After a light sound—click—the door opened without a sound.
What appeared was the girl who ruled, and her guards.
Acht=Ringo, who served as the commander of the <Paraiso> military, and Filzich (No.40).
And the six girls who served as their guards.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
A lovely voice, like the ringing of a bell, echoed.
The girl walked briskly, and climbed up onto the chair prepared for her.
A few among the participants slightly relaxed their expressions at the sight. They must have held back because they understood this was not the place for it, but they could not fully hide it.
Well, setting that aside.
Acht=Ringo—the fox-eared girl who had settled into the (seat of the) high chair—looked down at the participants.
“Then, let’s get started at once. We will begin trade negotiations between the United Kingdom of Aphrasia and your surrounding nations. I will say it again, but basically, our standing and your standing are equal. Superiority or inferiority among the nations you belong to will also, in principle, be treated as nonexistent.”
That declaration was very equal—and therefore, tremendously arrogant.
“We will trade with all nations under the conditions decided here, together with you. If you wish to attach special provisions to the conditions, propose them here, and decide them here. We will not permit secret treaties with us, and regardless of what the proposal is, we will refuse all of them. Understood?”
“If you have objections, raise your hand and speak. And don’t even think about boring bribes, okay?”
Filzich (No.40), standing behind Acht’s right shoulder, drove in a nail with her usual sharp tongue.
“Filzich.”
“Oh my. Sorry.”
Acht ended that heartwarming exchange of jabs with a sigh.
“Then, let the negotiations begin.”
<Paraiso> declared the start of the Seven-Nation Trade Conference.
◇◇◇◇
“...So, are you saying Lady Acht has no need to import salt?”
“That depends on your interpretation. Trade in salt as a necessity is unnecessary. We can cover the required amount in full. Right now, and from here on as well. However, I do not refuse imports as a luxury good.”
First, discussion began about salt, which the United Kingdom of Aphrasia had relied on importing from other countries until now.
The main salt-producing country among the surrounding nations was the Soltia Merchant State, which bordered the coast. It was a country that possessed large-scale salt-production facilities by the sea, and earned great profits through that trade.
And it was also the country that had carried out, on a grand scale, the strategy of selling massive amounts of cheap, high-quality salt to crush salt-production businesses across the board in order to seize the reins of the United Kingdom of Aphrasia.
Of course, the other countries had responded properly, supporting their domestic salt-production businesses, or responding by continuing their salt trade with other countries.
But the United Kingdom of Aphrasia, unfortunately, had not been able to resist.
“Ah. For salt, I’ll show you the real thing as well. ...Now, I would like you to taste it. As you can see, it is salt of high purity. Since it has no unnecessary impurities mixed in, it has the characteristic of a strong bite. It’s good for putting into cooking, but for using it by sprinkling it on meat and the like, it’s a bit too sharp. In that sense, it’s completely different from the salt your country prepares.”
Seeing the mound of pure white salt—and tasting it—the participants groaned.
The salt-production technology was without a doubt the best. It was clearly different from what their own countries had.
Even if this was a showpiece for this meeting, and different from what circulated generally—
The fact that salt of this purity came out in this place at all was, purely and simply, a threat.
“We, too, are prepared to export this as a luxury good. However, the amount we export from our side will be set with limits. I want you to decide the allocation among your nations. We will not accept individual negotiations.”
From start to finish, Acht continued to hold the reins of the conference.
At times she would offer advice as if in passing, and she adjusted hostility skillfully as well.
This place was completely in the palm of her hand.
After this, several trade items were set.
What the United Kingdom of Aphrasia—in other words, <Paraiso>—would provide was Fuelstone, pig iron, steel, and bronze.
Each nation would provide wheat, various spices, salt, sugar, various livestock, and so on.
The Kingdom of Ironia, where the iron industry was flourishing, showed reluctance, but since the quantity was limited to begin with, it ended up being pushed through.
Conversely, nations other than the Kingdom of Ironia welcomed the increase in sources from which to import metals.
The Wheat Country of Weizenland, which boasted the largest scale among the surrounding nations, succeeded in pushing through wheat exports. On the <Paraiso> side, since the production system was not in place, they decided to continue importing as a stopgap.
That said, in order to maintain ties between nations as well, wheat imports would likely continue for the time being.
In addition, dried spices and herbs as luxury goods, and processed foods using them.
Live livestock, vegetables, and the like were also raised as items.
Cotton thread and textiles would also continue to be obtained from each nation.
These were planned to be used to improve the quality of life within the United Kingdom of Aphrasia.
As <Paraiso>, it was possible to supply them to a certain degree, but the judgment was that there was no need to provide everything. If they could be obtained through trade, then that was fine.
On the other hand, as the main consideration from the United Kingdom of Aphrasia, they would export Fuelstone.
This was scrap stone produced as a result of manufacturing the portion exported to the Kingdom of Lepuitari.
Even though it was called scrap stone, if processed appropriately it could be converted into something suitable, but they were deliberately sorting out and setting aside anything below a certain quality for export.
This time, they would release it as the highlight of the trade.
Even while calling it scrap stone, it was of the same quality as the Fuelstone the surrounding nations had been illegally mining. Due to the immaturity of their mining technology, that was all they had been producing in the first place.
Fuelstone was a strategic commodity that, mainly in trade with the Kingdom of Lepuitari, could be used in transactions at a high rate. Its use within each nation would probably increase from here on.
“For the time being it will be payment in kind, but going ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) forward, we assume we will promote the use of paper money.”
And when it came to trade, the basics were barter, or exchange with precious metals and gemstones.
They were trying to permit transactions by paper money within the United Kingdom of Aphrasia.
Naturally, the other nations, due to technical limitations, were incapable of producing paper money that could be endowed with value.
<Paraiso> was saying it would supply that paper money.
“The paper money we issue will always accept exchange for Fuelstone in the amount of its denomination. The exchange rate will be reviewed periodically, but we will not impose it unilaterally, so I want you to feel at ease.”
“Understood?”
“Permission to speak is granted, Wheat Country of Weizenland Ambassador.”
“Thank you. I believe I understand the concept of paper money, but how are you thinking about its handling, and measures against counterfeiting?”
As expected of a great power, it seemed the ambassador of the wheat country understood, to some extent, the issues involved in operating paper money.
“Hm. You mean the credibility of paper money. The paper money we issue is, strictly speaking, an object eligible for exchange—in this case, exchange with Fuelstone—but only we can perform that exchange, and we will not permit anything else whatsoever. That said, as for us, we will merely respond to exchange with Fuelstone at an appropriate rate through appropriate procedures, and we will not be concerned with transactions other than that.”
And then, samples of <Paraiso>-made paper money were distributed to each ambassador.
“As you can see. Confirm it using a magnifying glass. The paper money we issue has, as you can see, fine decoration and numbers embedded in various places. The issuance number is different on each and every note. We can issue this in large quantities.
“With your technology, duplication is impossible.
“And for us, seeing counterfeits as counterfeits is no trouble at all.”
Upon actually examining the paper money, those present let out groans.
Paper money cut and aligned to exactly the same size. No matter how many they looked at, the exact same pattern was printed.
Even though it was just paper, there was even decoration carved in by means of unevenness. And even with a bit of rubbing, it did not scrape off.
Even by itself, its artistic value would be immeasurable.
“Whether it is barter with Fuelstone, or receiving paper money, will be decided for each transaction. Objections?”
“...”
And so, a seed called a paper-money economy was scattered across the United Kingdom of Aphrasia and the nations around it.
