Empire Conquest
Chapter 270 - 266: The Draft Secret Agreement

Chapter 270: Chapter 266: The Draft Secret Agreement

After attending the welcome banquet hosted by the host, to be precise, it was the second day of their arrival in Baku, Bai Zhizhan planned to stroll around the nearby renowned scenic spots and historical sites. He intended to both relax his mind and adjust his condition in order to participate better in the negotiations. However, he discovered that it was simply impossible.

Using confidentiality as a reason, the host forbade the negotiation personnel from leaving the secondary palace.

Not to mention touring the historical sites, even taking a photo outside the secondary palace was prohibited.

This was also the reason why the negotiations were arranged to take place in the secondary palace—because the site was large enough, and thus, even though it was essentially a form of house arrest, it did not feel too suffocating.

The next day, on the morning of February 16th, under the auspices of the host, the first official meeting of the negotiations took place.

This meeting, before the negotiations officially started, was a preparatory session where the main focus was discussing the organization of the negotiations, determining the methods of negotiation, and confirming the relevant topics.

As the negotiations began, one could not expect a single moment of ease.

On that very day, Bai Zhizhan attended three large conferences and also held separate talks with representatives from the Tiaoman Empire and the Luosha Federation during the rest period after the meetings.

He was busy until late into the night, only then returning to the east yard hotel to rest.

The following five days went the same way.

Fortunately, it was only for six days.

As mentioned before, the Navy’s negotiations mainly involved the Tiaoman Empire and not so much with the Luosha Federation, so there were not many complex issues to entangle over.

The matters that could be, or needed to be, discussed had all been previously settled.

To put it simply, they were just going through the motions.

After several days of negotiations, Bai Zhizhan had a very clear understanding that the secret plans between the Liangxia Empire and the Tiaoman Empire that the Grand Secretary had revealed were indeed true, and what’s more, very few people were privy to this knowledge. Even the higher-ups in the governments and militaries of both sides were largely kept in the dark.

The secrecy of the operation was extremely well-maintained.

Since there was already a secret plan, the related negotiations were merely a formality.

As for the outcome of the negotiations, there was nothing to worry about. They essentially signed a preliminary agreement based on the initial "conception," then waiting for the negotiations to conclude before formally establishing a treaty.

On February 22nd, the seventh day of the negotiations, Bai Zhizhan gave himself a day off.

Although he was not allowed to leave the secondary palace, Bai Zhizhan had not yet visited any other places outside of his accommodations in the east yard and the main negotiation center, after being busy for so many days.

The standout feature of this Luosha Imperial Family’s secondary palace was just one: its size.

Not only were the buildings towering and majestic, but the grounds also covered a vast area, easily spanning over a thousand acres. Moreover, most of it consisted of underutilized gardens.

Perhaps it was originally meant to be a garden.

Bai Zhizhan wandered around the secondary palace for the whole day, only returning to the east yard in the evening.

Since the ingredients had already been delivered and the east yard restaurant was in operation, negotiation personnel were expected to come back for meals unless there were special circumstances.

Just as Bai Zhizhan entered the restaurant, he was stopped by Wang Kaiyuan.

"Where have you been all day?"

"Just walked around a bit, do you need me for something?"

"What do you think?"

Wang Kaiyuan didn’t say much, just beckoned Bai Zhizhan to head to the place of accommodation, while his entourage had already gone to the restaurant to collect several dinners.

In Wang Kaiyuan’s room, all the main negotiation personnel had already gathered.

Bai Zhizhan was somewhat surprised to see Zhang Xiaoqing there.

Was she one of the key figures?

A financial auditor from the Treasury Department, even if the strategic financial support involved was substantial, seemed no reason for an accountant to be playing a major role.

Could it be, she had another identity?

"Let’s eat first, and wait for news while we dine," Wang Kaiyuan instructed, after which his attendants started to distribute the dinners they had brought.

What news are we waiting for?

Could it be, the negotiations are already over?

As Bai Zhizhan sat down full of suspicions, Wang Kaiyuan came over and placed a stack of documents, still smelling of ink, onto his lap.

"Take a look at the draft agreement we reached this afternoon as soon as possible."

"It’s already finished?"

Wang Kaiyuan said nothing more, just nodded.

Bai Zhizhan did not ask further because he had realized that this was just a draft and that the real conclusion of negotiations was still far away. At the same time, he guessed that they were waiting for some news.

A draft is actually an informal agreement reached within an acceptable range for all negotiating parties.

What follows is to send the draft agreement back to one’s own country for the government to review.

Usually, there will undoubtedly be requests for modifications, since it is very difficult for the frontline negotiators to fully grasp the main points of the negotiations. There are inevitably deviations in the draft agreement reached.

Then, renegotiation will be necessary.

This kind of thing usually has to go back and forth many times. For example, during the negotiations in Huacheng, the definition of "Main Battle Ship" was revised more than ten times over half a month. Even on the day the formal treaty was signed, the final adjustments were made at the last moment.

Signing the draft signifies that the negotiations have achieved a stage of success.

Of course, it’s far from the time to declare it a "success."

At this time, the busiest people are actually not the negotiators like Bai Zhizhan, but the accompanying staff, particularly those few telegraph operators.

They must send out the draft as quickly as possible using cipher.

After receiving a reply, they have to translate the ciphered telegram.

Although to facilitate communication—after all, sending telegrams is a very, very painful task—the content of the draft is kept brief. It gets straight to the point, using one word instead of a phrase when possible. But receiving and sending telegrams without a lot of hassle is definitely impossible.

If it’s an article of significant importance that can’t be shortened, just sending the telegram can take half a day.

During the negotiations in Huacheng and Luntai, Bai Zhizhan often spent the entire night at the telegraph center just to get the reply as soon as possible.

Fortunately, this time Bai Zhizhan didn’t have to guard the telegraph station.

Additionally, much of the content of these negotiations had already been pre-negotiated, and all three parties had kept a record, so when sending telegrams specific codes representing certain parts of the record could be used, which greatly simplified the process and saved a lot of time.

The draft of the negotiation was likewise divided into four parts, and Bai Zhizhan immediately skipped over the navy part because that was the result he had negotiated.

The other three parts contained very brief terms; one could say they were concise.

Before he even finished reading the first part, which was related to strategic planning, Bai Zhizhan showed an extremely shocked expression—it could be said that he was completely in disbelief.

At that moment, Bai Zhizhan noticed that Wang Kaiyuan had already had his dinner and was rinsing his mouth with plain water.

Pretty particular indeed.

But—he actually was in the mood to have dinner!

"Have dinner first, we’ll speak after you’ve eaten," Wang Kaiyuan reminded him, while at the same time taking the documents from Bai Zhizhan’s hand and handing over his portion of boxed meal.

The main dish was a separately stir-fried portion of twice-cooked pork, along with Yuzhou’s pickles—clearly a special treat.

The accompanying chef was a shrewd person, having long remembered the preferences of the main negotiating delegates, and his skills in quick-frying were quite remarkable.

Bai Zhizhan had little appetite, or rather, his mind was not on it at all. However, with the weather like this, he would quickly become intolerable if he didn’t eat well.

While Bai Zhizhan was wolfing down his dinner, Wang Kaiyuan instructed the attendants for a while, then called for Li Qing.

Li Qing represented the army in the negotiations and was also responsible for communication activities between the imperial families.

However, during these days, there weren’t many communication activities focused on enhancing relationships since it was necessary to wait until after the negotiations were complete and the alliance formed before talking about relationships.

Without the protection of an alliance, even the deepest of affections are mere mirages.

When Bai Zhizhan was about to finish eating, Wang Kaiyuan nodded to him as a reminder to take the documents, and then called Li Qing to stand up and go to the room inside.