Mikhailovsky Palace, a place where Alexander is going to meet the trade delegations of the Britannia Empire and the Francois Republic. It was just ten minutes away from the Winter Palace. The reason he chose the Mikhailovsky Palace as a venue is because of its majestic neoclassical style architecture that will surely have a subconscious effect of being asserted by the host nation.

St. Petersburg is home to many palaces rivaling that of the Francois Republic, the Versailles, the Schonbrunn Palace in the Austrean Empire, and the Buckingham Palace in the Britannia Empire.

Inside the car, Alexander was being briefed by his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei, on the talking points of the meeting.

“You’ll meet the Francois delegations and I’ll handle the Britannia delegations,” Sergei said, passing documents to Alexander who was holding them in one hand.action

“Where do we stand on the 50 million pound bond payment owed to the Francois Republic at midnight?”

“The extension should be pro forma and you’ll be meeting with the Francois Ambassador to get him to sign it off,”

“I see…and have you already studied the trade agreement both parties have agreed on?”

“Yes, sir,” Sergei said in a confident tone.-.

“Good, we’re gonna take advantage of the leverage we have got from treating the Britannian Princess,” Alexander said as he glanced at the window to his side, peering through which he could see the palace coming up rapidly.

The trade agreement between the Britannia Empire and the Ruthenia Empire is quite fairly simple. The Britannia will receive steel, oil, coal, cars, Ruthenian electronics, and the first country to get batches of TB antibiotics at a set premium price for 10 years and the Ruthenia will get rubber, sugar, spices, teas, tropical fruits, and nuts, honey, cacao, coffee and pitchblende (Uranium ores) at reduced set prices.

Some of the materials mentioned above are what Ruthenia is lacking. There is a huge uranium source in the Kazakh region but there are no mining companies as of right now tapping it. Uranium is a needed source Alexander wanted to obtain to push forward some of his initiatives like having the first nuclear power plant, submarines, and possibly, nuclear bombs, to safeguard national security.

As of now, uranium ores are mined for radium. Radium is an element that glows in the dark and is used as a material to make luminescent paint for glow-in-the-dark watches and quack medicines. The leftover uranium is stored as waste from extracting radium.The natural rubber is used to produce medical devices, surgical gloves, aircraft, and car tires, pacifiers, clothes, toys, so there’s no need to lengthen to emphasize its importance. Though he can make synthetic rubber in his lab, natural rubber is still a superior material because of its higher tensile strength and higher tear resistance compared to synthetic rubber.

Of course, this meeting is not all about trades, there are military purposes as well. Alexander agreed to build fighter aircraft and bombers aircraft for Deutschland Empire an enemy of Britannia and the Francois Republic trying to contain mainland Europa. If they found out that Alexander is supplying them with advanced aviation technology, though considered obsolete to what he is making, Ruthenia will be seen as a hostile state, therefore needing him to maintain the status quo.

If the Deutschland Empire gets their WW2-era planes, they shall have theirs as well. The money flowing into Ruthenia’s pocket will be jaw-dropping once the military contract is signed.

So in this meeting, not only Alexander is representing the Ruthenia Empire as the head of state but as the CEO of the Imperial Dynamic Systems as well.

The car stopped in front of Mikhailovsky Palace. Alexander and Sergei exited the car and made their way to the respective drawing rooms.

Before they parted ways, Alexander and Sergei glanced meaningfully at one another.

“Don’t mess this up…” Alexander warned as he remembered the time when Sergei made a mistake that almost dragged Ruthenia to the war.

“You got it, Your Majesty,” Sergei replied.

When Alexander entered the drawing room, the atmosphere was tense. Alexander was silent, waiting for the arrival of the foreign trade delegations A couple moments later, the door opened again to reveal one familiar figure.

“Frédéric Bureau, we meet again,” Alexander chuckled as he offered a handshake, “Bon matin,”

“Bon matin, Your Majesty,”

“Please, take a seat,” Alexander beckoned as he glanced at the ten men in black suits following him. “Are they with you?”

“Yes, one of them is from the Minister of War that you’ll be discussing with military matters,” Bureau said.

“I see,” Alexander took his seat across from them, crossing one leg over the other as he looked at each of them. “So, gentlemen, why don’t we go down to business…” Alexander’s gaze flickered to the ambassador of the Francois Republic.

Bureau leaned forward, his clasped hand over his knee with his eyes locked on Alexander.“So…you want a forbearance?”

“Yes,” Alexander nodded simply. “A twelve-month roll-over on 12 million pounds of T-bonds that have come due.”

“Your Majesty, both of our countries have been helping each other for decades…so you know how strong the friendship between our two countries is,”

“Indeed, Mr. Ambassador. Thanks to your country’s help, Ruthenia was able to modernize and build itself a heavy industry.”

“The Francois Republic has a million pounds investment in your country,”

“I think you’re seeing an excellent return on that investments,”

“Hmm…” Bureau waved his index finger. “What we are seeing is interest payments, not principal. And we worry we never will,” he said with a concerned tone.

“Is that so?” Alexander asked innocently as he leaned forward in the armchair. “But the Ruthenia Empire has never defaulted on its debts.

“That’s correct but your national-debt clock is never going to reverse with your economic and domestic policies…we fear that the money you’re supposed to use to pay us back was used on your ambitious infrastructure projects…”

“Mr. Ambassador, respectfully, that infrastructure is going to generate us money in the long-term…and once they are built, we will pay our debts in full…in fact, you’re seeing the prospects of it…”

“But Your Majesty…with all due respect…”

“We are requesting a courtesy from an ally,” Alexander cut him off. “An ally that will have guaranteed military support in case it was attacked by the Deutschland Empire or the Britannia Empire…So Mr. Ambassador please, have we ever let you down? Your t-bonds are heavily invested in the heavy industries of the Ruthenian Empire and they are producing high-quality goods. Doesn’t that inspire your confidence? Look, I am hoping, without offending you, If I could make a personal plea,” Alexander said with pleading eyes, he needs this extension otherwise they’re going to default and cause Ruthenia’s national credit to nosedive.

Bureau held out a deep sigh and continued. “I understand, Your Majesty. You’ll get the deferral in the afternoon,”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Ambassador,” Alexander held out a hand towards Bureau and was pleased when he shook it.

“Now, my business here is done, I shall excuse myself to make necessary arrangements, please take good care of them, Your Majesty,”

Alexander let out a chuckle, “don’t worry, I’m not going to bite them.”

As Bureau left the room and shut the door behind him, Alexander shifted his gaze to the remaining officials.

“So, shall we begin?”

“Uhm…sir, where are the representatives of the defense company?”

“I’m the representative of the Imperial Dynamic Systems…which means you talk to me.” Alexander said, “Now if you would look into this document, you’ll see a new light and heavy tanks that are superior to Renault and an aircraft that will outperform the Farman F. 222 in terms of specifications and performance,” Alexander started.