Warlords of the witcher world

Chapter 120 Toussaint Peace Conference

At the time when the Stygian matter came to an end, in the North, a conference concerning the political situation between the North and the South was unfolding.

Everyone knows that the war can no longer go on.Therefore, after the two sides have completed their struggle for the actual control area of ​​Sintra and determined the future border, negotiations will begin.

However, Sintra was not chosen as the place to negotiate, as it was too close to the front line, and it was extremely easy to misfire.

So after going through some arguments, they chose to hold a peace meeting in Toussaint, a vassal state of the Nilfgaard Empire. There is no imperial garrison here, only a group of ranger knights, which is very suitable as a place to hold the meeting.

Toussaint was more than happy to be the venue for the Peace Council, and Duchess Anna Henriette was more than happy to provide it.

So Toussaint, a wealthy country in this obscure corner of the world, became the centerpiece of North-South politics.

All the kings of the north went south to the council at Toussaint.

When the kings went out, even the Toussaints, who were used to all the grand ceremonies of their duchesses, couldn't help being amazed at the sight.

In order to be able to show their power at this international meeting, everyone brought their most powerful knights and powerful troops, and they also dressed for the most gorgeous.

When such a team advances, what people see is countless gorgeous banners, and under the banners are countless nobles and knights dressed in luxurious clothes, and the team can't see the end at a glance, the impact can be imagined.

After seeing so many knights and nobles coming, Countess Anna announced that Toussaint would hold a grand tournament, which was held for peace negotiations.

The people of Toussaint are crazy about their duchess' decision. The people of this country of fine wine like all kinds of ostentatious contests and the galloping of knights on the battlefield.

Due to the north-south summit, today's Toussaint gathered the best knights from the north and the south, so Bauclair was caught in a tournament of unprecedented scale.

"It's really a good stuff in the duchess's wine cellar. This Sangria is really great."

After drinking the bright red liquid in the cup, Lord Protector Hemei sighed subconsciously.

Ever since he drank a bottle of smuggled sangria at Charon's, Herme had been obsessed with this fine wine.

Now that he finally drank it, he was certainly in a good mood.

After drinking, Herme didn't forget to grab a handful of dried fruit from the small plate beside her. These things are not cheap, especially the nuts inside, but the wealth of Toussaint allows the host to provide this kind of expensive food without limit.

The place where Herme is now is in the royal box of the tournament, and alongside him are the rulers of the northern countries: Foltest, Henselt, Mi Wei, as well as him and Dijkstra.

The Countess' box was opposite them, and from there Herme could see the Countess and the Nilfgaardian Ambassador.

Ana Henrietta has a pointed nose and keen blue eyes that reveal excitement.The auburn hair was tied in ribbons and combed to artistic perfection, with flawless crescent curls at the forehead.

Seeing the countess' slightly upturned nose, Herme understood why Master Dan always called her a little weasel.

Herme's "old acquaintance", Dandelion is beside the Countess. The Lord Protector saw Master Dan whispering something in the Countess' ear from time to time, which caused the Countess to smile, and he even fed fruit to the Countess , like feeding a weasel.

The emissary of Nilfgaard was also opposite, Hilard Fitz-Oyesteran, ambassador of Emperor Emhyr var Enris.

Emhyr did not come to this meeting. Although the Nilfgaardians did not explain, Heme knew why. He was probably massacring opponents in the city of the golden tower.

The ambassador, in stark contrast to the Duchess and the poet, sits there as if at a conference.

Hillard was accustomed to dialogue in written language, embellishing his words with pompous and out-of-the-ordinary rhetoric that only diplomats and scholars can understand.

From Herme's point of view, this person is just telling riddles, making negotiations more difficult and gaining an advantage for himself.

In this regard, Duke Protector has a deep understanding.

Below them is the arena for the jousting, and beyond the two royal boxes are the seats for ordinary spectators, which are now full of people, and they are cheering crazily.

The contestants are adjusting. The two knights in the duel are northerners with the emblem of Livia on their bodies, and they are constantly waving in the direction of the ruler of the north.

Hemei knew who it was, Mi Wei's second son, whose name he couldn't remember for a moment.

But compared to Wilm, this person is just a stupid knight, who only travels around with his mother's money and participates in tournaments everywhere.

Mi Wei was obviously ashamed of this son, but forced a smile on his face, while Foltest was joking with Mi Wei.

Foltest was obviously very satisfied with his joke, and laughed out loud, while Mi Wei's expression was even uglier.

Henselt was drinking the sangria in his hand continuously, and his beard was full of alcohol, and a lot of it was still dripping on the floor, and his robe was also wet a lot.

Now it's Herme's turn to lose sight of it, damn it, you savage, do you know what you're drinking, what he usually can't even drink if he wants to drink it is so wasteful.

"Princess Anna is really enthusiastic."

The giant beside Herme, said Dijkstra, who hadn't drunk and had been watching the tourney with his eyes,
"Moreover, her cost is not low. The precious wood from Anglin, the silk from Nilfgaard, the spices from Sericania... and the most important Toussaint wine, followed by jousting, group fighting, arrows Art competitions, hunting monsters, poetry recitations, horse racing...these venues are not cheap, and there are those expensive bonuses and prizes... With the expenses of this tournament, even for the wealthy and wealthy Toussaint, Not too low."

Even in this relaxation session, Dijkstra did not lose his professional ability. Secret agents have been analyzing Toussaint's expenses.

And he came to the conclusion that this was an astronomical figure, which made him unable to restrain his admiration for Toussaint's boldness.

"Even though the Countess spends a lot of money, I believe that her expenses will be paid back thousands of times in the future."

Herme took up Dijkstra's words, and the two have similar identities, so they can chat together naturally here.

"Oh? How do you say that?"

As Herme expected, the secret agent launched a questioning.

"Let's talk about something more direct first. Take this martial arts tournament as an example. Of course, it cost a lot of money to hold the conference, but the huge flow of people gathered at the conference can also make Toussaint make money, and most of the people gathered here are from the north and the south. The rich people in Toussaint have all kinds of fine wines that can extract money from the rich. How much do you think Toussaint can earn? Not to mention those clever people who plan to use the diplomatic team to avoid paying taxes and import wine in large quantities people."

"It is true that several of my earls are purchasing Toussaint wines on a large scale. They even buy the most common Toussaint wines in large quantities. I heard that they plan to pour these wines into those expensive wine bottles. Inside, sold to arty middle-class fools who would buy anything they heard about Toussaint."

Dijkstra immediately showed his mastery of Redania, and this kind of information that should have been hidden, he just said it so easily.

Herme was slandering, I heard?You have probably sent spies to other people, and you are still here to hear about it.

And the Duke Protector didn't intend to expose the secret probe, it would be meaningless to be so strange, it is enough for everyone to know these things in their hearts.

So he continued,

"After this conference, the reputation of Toussaint's hospitality will inevitably spread across the north and south in a short period of time. At that time, many nobles and wealthy businessmen will definitely come to travel, which is another big sum of money. With people from all over the north and south gathered here, the popularity of Toussaint’s fine wines will inevitably spread again after this time. Many places that have no demand for Toussaint’s wines will definitely come to buy its fine wines. This is another large sum of money. .”

Herme could see the duchess' thoughts. Although Mrs. Anna was obsessed with knight culture and had a naive understanding of politics, she had always done a very good job in fighting for Toussaint's interests.

The Countess knew that Toussaint's interests were intertwined with the needs of all parties, and she never forgot, always took them to heart, and never forgot to bind the interests of all parties with her own.

If it weren't for this, she would have been unable to sit in a stable position long ago, instead of being loved by the entire Toussaint now.

Herme had nothing to dislike about it, since he was also a significant buyer of Toussaint's fine wines, even with money borrowed from Cowell.

Anyway, it's better for the money to go to Toussaint than to turn it around and go to Keweier.

"Indeed, the Duchess Anna Henrietta is very smart. At the end of the previous meeting, the Duchess said that she would send us a large amount of Toussaint wine. It seems that this is also for this reason."

Yes, the peace meeting is over, otherwise the two sides would not be able to watch the tournament leisurely here.

After saying that, Dijkstra happened to meet Ambassador Hillard's eyes, and the spy raised his wine glass to salute the ambassador.

And the ambassador also reacted in the same way. He raised his wine glass, and the two foxes greeted each other tacitly. In fact, both sides greeted the ancestors opposite each other in their hearts.

"It's really unlucky enough to meet that old dog."

Dijkstra didn't hesitate to call the guy in front of him an old dog, and Herme agreed with that, "Damn it, the guy in front of him is a dog."

When negotiating with this person, the five of them went together, and none of them were this guy's opponent.

Nilfgaardians are proficient in diplomacy and eccentricity, while not forgetting the way of the riddleman, one after another, and always pretending to be humble in a cheap way, which is really disgusting.

However, since the north has won the battle anyway, no matter how eloquent the Nilfgaardians are, they cannot change their disadvantage on the battlefield.

"Then think about how we reprimanded that old dog at that time, and think about his embarrassment, so that you can feel better."

Herme put the wine glass to his mouth, and took a sip leisurely. He still remembered that he didn't talk about etiquette with the Nilfgaardians. Performance keeps turning over the table.

Then he also provoked Henselt and let King Kaedwen do the output, and that was a lot of scolding.

If it is said that Hemei still shows some shame when swearing, and would say less swear words, then Henselt just doesn't care about it and says whatever is dirty.

This operation made Ambassador Hillard unable to hold back. This was the first time he encountered such a situation. For a person who is used to all kinds of yin and yang and confrontation with rhetoric, this made him too uncomfortable.

Speaking of which, there is another interesting thing in this meeting, that is, in the early stage of the conflict, Mrs. Anna temporarily left the meeting place under the pretext of being unwell.

Then, when both sides had almost finished scolding, she would come to smooth things over and preside over the situation.

This made Herme look at this lady with admiration. She seems to be full of honor and knighthood, and she has no eyes for anything that is not in line with etiquette and honor, but she still knows how to play stupid when she should play stupid. Well.

And after Hillard was scolded by the northern rulers, the Nilfgaardian ambassador was much more honest, and he did not continue to be eccentric there, and the negotiations were able to proceed in a form where the north was dominant.

"Indeed, I will never forget that old dog's expression at that time."

Speaking of this, Dijkstra remembered another thing, that is, Hillard relayed the news from Li Daorick.

The truth about the death of King Vizmir...

This made the spy's heart sink, and all his thoughts turned to this matter.

Seeing that Dijkstra was busy with his own affairs, Herme looked towards the arena. The knights on both sides were ready, and Prince Livia was facing a Nilfgaardian knight. Looking at the sun disc on his shield, this should be a knight from Nilfgaard. The soldiers of the Nilfgaardian army just don't know which unit they belong to.

The two knights began to gallop, and when they reached a certain distance, they both put down their lances.

The decision of the outcome of the knight's confrontation was all between lightning and flint, and with a loud bang, cheers followed.

Although Mi Wei's second son is a stupid knight, he is still capable.

Now the Nilfgaardian lay on the sandy ground, and the long-awaited servants immediately carried him down.

The whole process was done in one go, without any hesitation, which shows that it is too common for these Toussaints to deal with this fact.

On the other hand, Prince Livia raised his spear to the audience and greeted the cheers of the audience. The people of Taussaint participated enthusiastically. They didn't have much sense of belonging to Nilfgaard. For them, the most important thing was It is the knight who witnessed the greatness.

Watching this scene, Herme couldn't help recalling the contents of the "Taucend Peace Treaty".

The so-called "Taucend Peace Treaty" is the product of this peace meeting.

According to the "Taucend Peace Treaty", since then, the north and the south should divide the border on the current controlled area, and the war has ended.

Sintra is divided into North and South Sintra. North Sintra is the temporary jurisdiction of North Sintra, which is jointly managed by the northern countries. South Sintra is the Kingdom of South Sintra. Emhyr and the Ciri Marriage as the ruling jurisprudence.

For both sides, this is a very dissatisfied result. The north failed to recover the entire Sintra, causing Nilfgaard to completely lose the northward base.

But both parties also understand that they can do nothing about the status quo and can only accept this fact.

Apart from this point, there is nothing Herme cares about more, such as the sale of the elves, and Nilfgaard will hand over the elf officers in their hands to the north for execution.

Only on one point, Herme stood up and opposed it clearly.

In Hilard's seemingly random proposal, Nilfgaard is willing to allow all immigrants from the north of the empire to be deported in exchange for the smooth entry of imperial goods into the northern market.

If there is no Herme, the north will definitely agree to this request. The Nilfgaard immigration matter is indeed very troublesome, and it is naturally the best to solve it this way, but the price to be paid is to allow the imperial goods to enter.

But now, the Nilfgaardian immigrants are all handled by the Lord Protector of Aedirn, and everyone has no immigration problems.

So Hillard was slapped by Herme. Herme knew very well that Hillard's condition did not come from the emperor, but from the Merchant Association's instruction to maintain his own interests by continuing to let the imperial goods enter the north.

Herme would not let them do this. After this war, Aden's handicraft industry suffered heavy losses. The situation in other countries is not as bad as Aden's situation, and time is urgently needed to recover.

Hemei can't let the imperial goods deal a further blow to Aden's handicraft industry.

Moreover, Herme did this to exacerbate the internal conflicts in Nilfgaard. The interest groups in Nilfgaard could not obtain benefits from the outside, so they would only dig inside.

Let Nilfgaard continue to squeeze the province's wealth, and it will inevitably lead to rebellions one after another. Now that the defeat of the empire has made many people in the provinces ready to move, it is only a matter of time before the outbreak of rebellion.

And they will inevitably force more Nilfgaardian citizens into slaves to gain benefits, let them continue to do it, the more they do, the greater the loss of Nilfgaard's basic base.

But Herme didn't expect this to do anything to Nilfgaard. The Southern Empire would have no problem solving these problems, but this would weaken the Empire's national strength in the inevitable third Northern War.

After being teased by Herme, Hilard's expression was very ugly, and he lost an opportunity to join the Merchant Association. However, Lao Deng had gone through countless negotiations after all, so he covered up these emotions at the time.

Now, seeing Hilard sitting there pretending to be normal, Herme feels happy. He must be in a bad mood now, but he still has to pretend to be normal, which is really good.

(End of this chapter)