Empire Conquest
Chapter 195 - 191 Forming Cliques

Chapter 195: Chapter 191 Forming Cliques

Because Rofuss had given prior instruction, when Secretary of State Hale arrived, the secretary didn’t follow inside, but merely opened the door for the Secretary of State.

Rofuss had just finished amending documents and was ready to eat something.

Although it was the middle of the night, he had to go to Congress early in the morning, so Rofuss had not considered going to bed to sleep, and he couldn’t really fall asleep at the moment anyway.

"How is it?"

"It’s not good news, but it’s not too bad either."

Upon hearing this, Rofuss immediately furrowed his brows.

Supporting the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom was one thing, but the key was to unite more countries, especially the allies from the last great war, to pressure the Liangxia Empire.

Even at its most formidable, the Liangxia Empire would not dare to make an enemy of the entire world.

These allies were all Western powers.

For this reason, Rofuss had specifically tasked Hale with this matter.

It was also within the purview of Hale’s duties.

The day before yesterday, Hale had secured the first result.

The Prime Minister of Bulan Kingdom had sent a message, agreeing to consider sanctions including embargoes against the warring states after several preconditions were met.

By then, the Bulan Kingdom, under the pretense of "anti-war," would implement comprehensive sanctions against both the Liangxia Empire and the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, especially strategic embargoes.

The crux of the matter was actually the oil from the Boss Bay.

After, or more accurately, before the end of the last great war, the Boss Bay Emirates, originally under the control of the Ter Empire, declared independence one after another, and subsequently became protectorates of the Bulan Kingdom—turning into semi-colonial states with incomplete sovereignty. The Boss Bay oilfields thus fell into the hands of the Bulan Kingdom.

For the past decade or so, the Liangxia Empire had been the biggest buyer of Boss Bay’s oil.

According to incomplete statistics, about half of the oil produced in Boss Bay was shipped to the Liangxia Empire, and nearly all of the Bulan Kingdom’s oil companies did business with the Liangxia Empire.

It was by relying on the huge profits from the oil trade that the Bulan Kingdom emerged from the post-war doldrums to become the first of the old empires to recover. In the decades following the war, the Bulan Kingdom also became the Liangxia Empire’s number one trade partner on the West Continent, thanks to the oil trade.

One might say, in fact, that Boss Bay was the Liangxia Empire’s oil depot.

Once the Bulan Kingdom announced an oil embargo, the Liangxia Empire could forget about buying oil from Boss Bay!

Without oil, what would the Liangxia Empire use to wage war?

The Saiyi Imperial Kingdom?

Clearly, that was the crucial point.

Although the Bulan Kingdom would sanction all warring nations, as long as the Newland Federation didn’t join in, they could continue to export oil to the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

The Newland Federation was already the largest oil-producing country in the world and the top oil exporter. During peacetime, more than half of the oil exported by the Newland Federation was bought by the Liangxia Empire, and nearly all Newland oil companies did business with the Liangxia Empire.

Furthermore, the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom’s demand for oil was not very large, so even if their supply was cut off in the short term, it would not have a major impact.

The ban included not only oil but also iron ore from the Ao Country, natural rubber from Mala to the south of the Flame Sea, rice from the Damman Kingdom, and even tropical fruits from Fanluo, nearly all of which were sold to the Liangxia Empire, many without alternative sources of production.

Without a doubt, the embargo was certain to affect the war potential of the Liangxia Empire.

Even if it was difficult to produce effects in the short term, after all, the Liangxia Empire not only had vast resources but also strategic reserves, and many resources did not need to be imported, but it was sure to impact the economy of the Liangxia Empire as well as the livelihood of its people, thereby putting pressure on the Imperial Authority.

In any case, the Imperial Authority certainly needed the support of the populace.

However, whether the Bulan Kingdom would implement sanctions and embargoes was up to the Newland Federation to decide.

This was the prerequisite mentioned earlier.

First of all, the Newland Federation needed to take action rather than remain aloof, such as providing support to the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom and condemning the Liangxia Empire on diplomatic occasions.

Clearly, this was the key to Rofuss actively preparing the "Aid Bill."

Additionally, the Newland Federation needed to fully exert its influence on the West Continent, stabilizing the powerful countries there, or at least maintaining the current situation.

To put it simply, it needed to eliminate the worries behind the Bulan Kingdom.

The Bulan Kingdom was an offshore country of the West Continent, located a vast distance from the Liangxia Empire at the other end of the World Island, yet it was within sight of the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire across the sea.

Speaking of threats, the powers of the West Continent far exceeded those of the Liangxia Empire.

Essentially, the Liangxia Empire could only threaten the overseas territories of the Bulan Kingdom and could not pose a direct threat to the mainland of Bulan. The powerful countries on the West Continent were different. Once they developed, the first thing they did was to contend with the Bulan Kingdom for naval power.

In fact, this was also related to the last great war.

In the words of the Prime Minister of Bulan, after paying the price of millions of soldiers’ casualties, the Bulan Kingdom not only gained no benefits but instead facilitated an alliance between former allies and former archenemies, while the Bulan Kingdom, which should have reaped the benefits, was left aside.

After the great war, the Locke Republic not only failed to appreciate the Bulan Kingdom and continue to maintain good relations but instead reconciled with the Tiaoman Empire.

From the perspective of the Bulan Kingdom, this was absolutely intolerable.

For over a hundred years, the Bulan Kingdom’s consistent approach to the West Continent’s powers was: to attract and divide.

Simply put, it was to desperately prevent the emergence of a threatening power on the West Continent; if one appeared, it would unite other countries to strangle it.

The most representative were the policies towards Locke and Tiaoman.

A hundred years ago, when the Locke Empire’s troops, under the command of the Dwarf Emperor, almost swept across the entire West Continent, the Bulan Kingdom stepped in to form the Anti-Locke Alliance, allying with the Luosha Empire and supporting the then-very weak Tiaoman Kingdom, ultimately shattering the Dwarf Emperor’s grand dreams at the Iron Melting Furnace battle. Once the Locke Empire was finished, and the Tiaoman Kingdom upgraded to the Tiaoman Empire, which also hitched a ride on the second industrial revolution to become the top power of the West Continent, the Bulan Kingdom repeated its old tricks, gathering the Locke Republic and the Luosha Empire to form the Anti-Tiaoman Alliance. As a result, in the last great war, the Anti-Tiaoman Alliance achieved a loud voice on the West Continent, and the Tiaoman Empire thus fell.

Through tumultuous years spanning over a hundred, the top powers of the West Continent had changed several times, but only the Bulan Kingdom stood unshaken.

Twenty years prior, the Bulan Kingdom was willing to negotiate with the Liangxia Empire before achieving a decisive victory, precisely because it feared that once the Tiaoman Empire was completely defeated, the Locke Republic would become the primary power on the West Continent, monopolizing the entire region without a formidable rival.

At that time, the Luosha Empire had already become history, and the newborn Luosha Federation was not yet qualified to contend for supremacy.

Regrettably, after the war, the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire still quickly came together, achieving national reconciliation through compromise and inclusiveness.

Although the West Continent was far from a grand unification, the union of two powerful countries posed a threat to all surrounding nations.

The Luosha Federation felt it, and the Bulan Kingdom felt the same.

To say, the Bulan Kingdom was the most threatened because, with the Liangxia Empire backing the Luosha Federation, the Locke Republic and the Tiaoman Empire would hardly dare to start a war rashly.

After the nearby threats were addressed, even if just temporarily weakened, the Bulan Kingdom would turn its attention to the situation in the distant West East Ocean.

The task Fox assigned to Hale was to take care of this matter.