Fitteral, who did not plan on letting Harry speak the amount first, decided to make clear his bottom line. He believed that doing so would minimize the losses.
Thus, he feigned generosity as he said, "No need to calculate, we plan to repay you 200,000 Gold Coins, both principal and interest included. That already shows great sincerity. 100,000 Gold Coins from a year ago, and now after one year, we have doubled the repayment..."
"How much?" This time, it was Harry who was shocked.
He was genuinely astonished by the Elves' shameless attitude; they really intended to settle the debt by simply calculating some interest...
It had to be understood that the money from a year ago was extremely important for the Great Tang Group. The significance of it could not be compared to today's 200,000 Gold Coins.
Back then was when the Great Tang Group urgently needed funds and materials; one Gold Coin at that time was worth more than a hundred Gold Coins now!
That was why Tang Mo had such a figure of 14 million Gold Coins—this was a "fair" number derived from precise calculations!
Yet, the other party shamelessly defined the value of the 100,000 Gold Coin debt as the 100,000 Gold Coins themselves, without considering its negative impact on the development of the Great Tang Group.
After all, how could owing Jack Ma 100,000 in 1988 and in 2018 possibly be the same concept?
Unwilling to recognize certain truths, Fitteral insisted with a pretense, "200,000 Gold Coins. This is already higher than the steepest interest, we are truly sincere."
"Hahaha!" Harry couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"May I know, Mr. Harry, what is so funny?" Knowing that his claim would definitely be challenged, Fitteral braced himself and asked.
In fact, he had estimated the previous night that their offer of 200,000 Gold Coins would likely not be accepted.
However, in his opinion, at most the other party would ask for 300,000 or 500,000 Gold Coins.
Unable to help it, poverty really limited his imagination. He had never truly seen 500,000 Gold Coins in his life, so naturally, his mind could not conceive a figure beyond that amount.
After having his laugh, Harry looked at the other party with a grim expression, "I'm laughing at whether you have any idea how much the interest on this debt actually amounts to."
"Then... Mr. Harry, what do you think the amount should be?" Knowing he couldn't escape the situation, Fitteral could only continue to ask.
"It's not what I think, but how much this money could have turned into after one year at our Great Tang Group! Mr. Fitteral... in fact, in the past year, 100,000 Gold Coins could have generated a profit of... 14 million Gold Coins for us." After saying this, Harry directly stated an astonishing number, "Hence, the debt you should repay is over 14 million! Mr.
Tang Mo is extremely merciful; he's decided to ignore the fraction and is only asking you for 14 million Gold Coins!"
"How much?" The same expression now appeared on Fitteral's face. He truly did not expect the other party to demand 14 million Gold Coins right off the bat!
"14 million Gold Coins." Harry confirmed his quote with certainty.
Fitteral shook his head frantically, indicating it was impossible, "Have you gone mad? The treasury of the Poplar Kingdom does not have that much money in total!"
"You can repay with goods, with land, with mining rights, with anything valuable. We have a specialized audit team that can estimate the value... rest assured, fair and square, we will not take even a penny more from you," Harry scoffed as he spoke.
"We simply cannot repay so much! Moreover, this is no longer a normal amount of money! This is extortion!" Fitteral's voice rose significantly.
"So, should the Great Tang Group, which has suffered from delayed development because you withheld payment, and has not yet recovered, just accept its misfortune?" Harry continued to sneer.
"But 14 million is really too much!" Fitteral spread his hands, playing the rogue.
"I've already said, if you can't produce the amount, you can offset the debt with assets!" Harry persisted relentlessly, "Who asked... for you to default on the payment and not settle it until now, so much so that you've lost face, right?"
"You should know, I simply cannot agree to such a thing," Fitteral insisted.
Harry nodded, focusing on his counterpart as he spoke, "Actually, getting our money back is quite simple. Guess what the neighboring countries would think if we were to continue dispatching Warships to blockade the South Water or even destroy all your ports?"
As he spoke, he leaned back on the couch, "Believe me, your neighbors are already very displeased with your expansion, and they too hope someone can stop your next expansion plan."
"If we went over and talked to them, do you think they'd be willing to shell out tens of thousands of Gold Coins to cover the costs of deploying our Warships?" he asked with a laugh, extending his hand and making a gesture: "Little by little, we can eventually take back a bit of interest."
Without waiting for Fitteral to speak again, he continued, "However, just the interest obviously isn't enough..."
He glanced at Fitteral, whose face had turned ashen, and continued to talk about the Great Tang Group's potential debt collection plans: "Of course, if we operate a bit more and sell them some more weapons... You see, it's not that the Poplar Kingdom is planning to expand, but that it needs to hurry to expand its military in case its neighbors swallow it up... Tsk tsk, truly pitiable."
"It's regrettable that when they need ports the most, they don't have any available, and their resources are exhausted; they simply can't keep up with the consumption. If the war fails... the Poplar Kingdom will become history, just like... the Gales Kingdom..." Harry said, putting on a very sympathetic expression as he spoke.
However, his words contained not a trace of sympathy: "Once you are defeated and annexed, it'll be much easier for us to take that money, right?"
"You people!" Fitteral's deputy could no longer hold back and stood up abruptly, furrowing his brows at Harry as if he intended to devour him.
Harry, however, just smirked and continued unfazed, "What? You're already losing your cool? We haven't even started yet! We will soon announce our support for the restoration of the Gales Kingdom. Guess how many Orc slaves are eagerly awaiting the return of their king to the Sena Plains?"
"..." This time, even Fitteral was feeling overwhelmed. He knew too well about the recent annexation of the Gales Kingdom by his nation and the ongoing rebellions.
If the Great Tang Group got involved in such a matter, then the Sena Plains would become completely chaotic. It may cost the Poplar Kingdom millions of Gold Coins just to suppress the Orc uprisings.
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"All it would take is our will, and the Leite Kingdom could soon declare war on the Poplar Kingdom! You would become the target of public criticism, with no chance of turning the tables!" Harry concluded, throwing another bombshell.
Fitteral did not buy this claim and immediately retorted, "The Leite Kingdom doesn't even border us."
Harry laughed and returned the comment, "We just need to dispatch two legions, 3,000 men with weapons ten times more advanced than yours, and we could easily take over South Water, Osa... Think about how many would kick you when you're down! Idiot!"
"You're threatening us!" the deputy exclaimed, unable to restrain himself any longer.
Harry glanced at him, "I'm just stating a fact! If you think that's a threat, then so be it. In any case, the victor definitely won't be the Poplar Kingdom, and you'd do well... to believe that!"
After thinking for a moment, Fitteral decided not to yield an inch, "You're trying to take 14 million Gold Coins from us with your threats? Impossible! I won't back down because of your bluffing, Mr. Harry!"
"Words are the most useless thing in this world," Harry didn't counter, implying that what he was about to do was also part of the negotiation plan.
Then, he slowly stood up, looking down at the two Elves from the Poplar Kingdom sitting across from him, and said, "My teacher once said something that I've adopted as my personal creed... 'Truth lies within the range of a cannon, dignity upon the edge of a sword.'"
He made an inviting gesture, "So, this afternoon, I'm planning to take you on a tour to see the truth of this world, and then have you submit to that truth."
"What do you mean?" the two Elves from the Poplar Kingdom asked in surprise.
"It's quite simple, right now, I'm preparing to take you on a tour of our weapons testing ground, and then to see the Warships that would attack your South Water naval port, so you can truly grasp the disparity between us and abandon any illusions," Harry replied.
Then, he made the inviting gesture again, "Come on! Follow me!"
"John... I am a close confidant of your father! Don't pretend you don't know me," the deputy said, trying his luck as they left the room, whispering intimately to John, "You need to speak up for the Poplar Kingdom, for your father!"
He thought that Leibart had sent John to join the Tang Group precisely to deal with issues like today's. And now, it was time for John to take action.
"Are you joking? I am now a manager at the Great Tang Group! Don't drag me down with you!" hearing the deputy's words, John quickly dodged to the side as if to avoid catching a disease, even dusting off his sleeves as though the deputy was contagious, "Don't bring me down with your death wish!"
"What, do you two know each other?" Harry asked, turning his head back knowingly.
"..." The deputy was at a loss for a moment about how to reply.
"I'm not familiar with him!" John had already shaken his head.
I still owe you all another update! Hehe.