Melville Star: Hopes to retain jurisdictional rights within its territory for 50 years.
Stefan Star: Hopes to retain usage rights for its star station within its territory for 99 years, receive a 70% profit share from companies within its territory, and possess immigration and exemption rights.
Nine Kings Star: Hopes to receive over 300 billion yuan in investment from Jiang Ye Star and jointly establish resource-based enterprises on Birong Star, with profits split fifty-fifty.
These were the demands from over a dozen planets.
Jiang Ye read them one by one and was amused to the point of anger.
They were simply outrageous.
It was they who sought cooperation, not me. These conditions made me feel like the defeated party.
Jiang Ye immediately issued instructions to his subordinates, urging these planets to revise their demands. The conditions currently presented were absolutely unacceptable.
He estimated that this matter would drag on for a long time.
As expected, over the next week, the Jiang Ye Star delegation and the alien forces' delegations engaged in repeated back-and-forth negotiations.
Twelve in-person negotiation meetings were held, over three thousand pieces of negotiation information were exchanged online, and more than a hundred online meetings and phone calls took place.
They negotiated non-stop for 24 hours, with both sides attempting to wear the other down, often exchanging messages late into the night.
Weekend.
Jiang Ye was busy at his desk, processing a large stack of documents from Jiang Ye Star's homeworld.
There was a sudden knock on his office door.
"Enter."
The door opened, and with the click-clack of high heels, Su Yueming entered, holding a folder.
"The demands from the cooperating planets' forces have yielded new results. Please review them," Su Yueming placed the file in front of Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye began to read, his brow furrowing deeper with each line.
Su Yueming stood in front, cautiously stealing glances at his expression. As Jiang Ye's frown deepened, her own demeanor became even more cautious.
"Make a note of this and send a message to these planetary forces," Jiang Ye closed the folder.
Su Yueming quickly took out her phone and opened her notepad.
"It is a great honor and a warm welcome that the planetary forces wish to cooperate with our side. However, the prerequisite is that you demonstrate genuine sincerity. For reasonable requests, I, Jiang, will make concessions. For excessive demands, I, Jiang, will not give you a single cent. Some planetary forces' conditions are not cooperation, but extortion and delusion!" Jiang Ye said with a cold face. "If the planetary forces propose utterly absurd and insulting conditions during the negotiations, the Jiang Ye Star forces will swiftly launch an attack on the disrespectful parties, capturing all their personnel stationed on Birong Star as prisoners. The ransom for these prisoners will be referenced from the Machine Star forces."
"Understood. I've noted it down. I'll draft a slight revision and send it to them," Su Yueming nodded.
"No revision! Send it exactly as it is!" Jiang Ye raised his voice.
Su Yueming looked troubled. "Your wording isn't quite diplomatic... I can make it more tactful and subtle, but the meaning will remain the same."
"No changes. Use diplomatic language when it's appropriate, and curse when it's necessary. I haven't even said the dirtier words yet," Jiang Ye grumbled. "It's been a week, and the soldiers responsible for negotiations are exhausted. They actually have the audacity to push their luck! Do they really think I'm easy to deal with?"
"Understood! I'll send it with the exact wording!" Su Yueming, seeing her superior's anger, nodded repeatedly and left the office.
Jiang Ye took a sip of tea to calm his temper.
For some reason, he had been feeling irritable lately, his temper flaring up easily.
It wasn't that he was truly furious, just that his hormones were in overdrive, causing his voice to suddenly rise.
Could it be menopause?
That shouldn't be the case; he was still far from middle age. Even if menopause arrived early, it shouldn't be this soon.
Thinking carefully, hmm... perhaps it was because he hadn't shared a bed with his wife for a long time.
Ever since Jiang Senlin returned, he had been clamoring to sleep with his mother. During this period, Cen Yemeng and Jiang Senlin shared a bed, leaving Jiang Ye sleeping alone.
Jiang Ye shrugged and continued to handle his official duties.
An hour later.
There was another knock on the office door, and Su Yueming entered with a peculiar expression.
She hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Sir, our military satellites intercepted a group chat message from Birong Star."
"A group chat message? Who is in the group?" Jiang Ye asked.
"The top figures from all the planetary forces negotiating with us are in the group," Su Yueming took out her phone from her pocket and placed it in front of Jiang Ye.
Jiang Ye's eyebrows shot up.
This was interesting.
The fifty satellites hadn't been sent in vain; they managed to obtain this?
He scrolled through the chat records, browsing through them.
These planetary forces clearly had good relations with each other, having established diplomatic ties for many years, engaged in deep cooperation, or even formed past alliances. They chatted casually in the group.
Whale White Star: "This Jiang Ye is just a bandit! What is this statement he just sent?"
Melville Star: "This is the most barbaric statement I've ever seen. He's not a bandit, he's a savage!"
Stefan Star: "I've checked Jiang Ye's information. He's an ancient person who, through sheer luck, climbed to his current position from a colonial governor. Ancient people are just a bit more savage in their neural pathways."
Shushan Star: "With such a crude statement from him, we must respond sternly. If we respond unilaterally, we will appear weak. Why don't we draft a joint statement together and take a tougher stance against Jiang Ye?"
Stefan Star: "Agreed. We will state that we do not permit him to speak to us with such rudeness and demand an apology. If he does not apologize, we will launch a special armed attack on the Jiang Ye Star forces."
Melville Star: "Are we really going to fight?"
Stefan Star: "Nonsense, of course, it's a feigned attack, just empty talk. If we could actually win, we wouldn't need to surrender. As for statements, they must be strong, otherwise Jiang Ye will surely think he has scared us. He attempts to overcome civilization with barbarism and courtesy with rudeness. Such things must not be allowed to happen."
Whale White Star: "I support issuing this joint statement, but I think we shouldn't escalate things too much. Jiang Ye is inherently a brute. If the wording is too harsh, he might interrupt negotiations with us. We should express that if he doesn't respect us, we will take measures. Declaring war is too extreme."
Stefan Star: "No! We must defeat barbarism with barbarism. A scholar facing a soldier is ineffective. With so many forces united, he wouldn't dare to act rashly. His statement to us might become known to the outside world. If our attitude is weak, where will the honor of your respective homeworlds go?"
Jiang Ye has joined the group chat.
Whale White Star: "???"
Melville Star: "Who's playing a prank? Why is the name like that?"
Jiang Ye has become the group owner.
Stefan Star: "What's going on? My group owner status has been removed?"
Jiang Ye: "@Stefan Star, you're finished. Within fifteen days, I will remove you from this planet."
Jiang Ye: "I've been listening to your chat for a while. I've come in to have a word with you. This is a formal warning: don't try anything funny, whoever tries will be dealt with. Stefan Star will be the first to be sacrificed. Others can continue with the peace talks. All conditions are negotiable, and I very much welcome cooperation with all of you. Let us build a beautiful tomorrow for Birong Star together."