In a side hall of the royal palace, King Kaiyadun convened a meeting with several core members of the royal family to discuss the matter.
Present were Kaiyadun himself, Queen Manmanfei, Crown Prince Audunshan, Second Prince Fionyia, and Prince Zhunlai Ga.
After Audunshan relayed Liu Kai Xuan's intentions, Fionyia exploded, "This Liu Kai Xuan is clearly treating us like fools!"
"We should arrest this man immediately and send him to the gallows!"
"Absolutely not!" Prince Zhunlai Ga quickly interjected, "Second Prince, you are too impulsive!"
"Liu Kai Xuan is an external investor; we cannot touch such a person!"
"If we are willing to cooperate, we will sign a cooperation agreement with him. Even if cooperation fails, we must ensure his safe return!"
"Any accident befalling an investor in our Kaiya Kingdom would severely damage our domestic investment environment!"
"Indeed!" King Kaiyadun supported Zhunlai Ga's sentiment. "My third brother is correct!"
"Regardless of whether the cooperation is successful, Liu Kai Xuan is a guest of the empire. We must allow him to depart with dignity!"
Queen Manmanfei inquired, "Then, Your Majesty, do you believe Liu Kai Xuan's cooperation proposal is worth signing?"
"This..." Kaiyadun frowned slightly. After a moment of thought, he continued, "I believe this Liu Kai Xuan is toying with us!"
"The Imperial Bank is essentially controlled by our royal family!"
"For him to borrow money from the Imperial Bank to purchase our oil fields means he is using my money to buy my assets!"
"Such a cooperation proposal is utterly preposterous!"
Manmanfei nodded in agreement, "Your Majesty, you speak the truth. Liu Kai Xuan's proposal is indeed quite absurd!"
"However, in my humble opinion, Your Majesty might still consider this cooperation proposal."
"Consider?" Kaiyadun's expression turned even more somber. He had just stated that Liu Kai Xuan's plan was absurd. Now Manmanfei was suggesting he consider it, implying Kaiyadun himself was absurd.
Manmanfei hastily explained, "Your Majesty, my idea is this!"
"We don't need to lend out the five hundred million funds ourselves!"
"We can directly have Liu Kai Xuan sign the loan agreement with the royal family."
"This way, the money remains in our own hands and does not pass through Liu Kai Xuan's account, thus carrying no risk whatsoever!"
"Subsequently, regardless of whether Liu Kai Xuan's oil fields generate profit, he will still have to repay this sum to us!"
"Otherwise, we can confiscate his oil fields at any time!"
"Hmm, this approach does have some feasibility." Kaiyadun began to show some interest in Manmanfei's idea.
Initially, Kaiyadun's concern was that the five hundred million funds were to be borrowed by Liu Kai Xuan from the Imperial Bank. If Liu Kai Xuan took the money and fled, Kaiyadun would be the biggest fool.
However, Manmanfei's proposal streamlined the process and reduced potential risks to zero.
"However, we absolutely cannot let Liu Kai Xuan get something for nothing!" Kaiyadun proposed, "Let him write us a promissory note for three hundred million, and he must personally provide the remaining two hundred million."
Manmanfei glanced at Audunshan, who immediately prepared to go and negotiate with Liu Kai Xuan again.
At this moment, Prince Zhunlai Ga spoke up, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, please wait. I have something to say!"
Prince Zhunlai Ga continued, "Eldest Brother, I believe Liu Kai Xuan shows some sincerity in cooperation!"
"To demonstrate our sincerity, I think you, Your Majesty, should meet him personally and discuss this matter thoroughly."
"After all, regarding major decisions, Your Highness the Crown Prince still lacks experience."
"Very well, in that case, arrange for me to meet Liu Kai Xuan personally!" Kaiyadun agreed to Zhunlai Ga's suggestion without much further thought. After all, when Xi Man had visited, Kaiyadun had personally received him. Xi Man's proposal was a different approach; he wanted to reduce the five hundred million oil well transfer fee to fifty million, payable in installments, which had greatly angered Kaiyadun. Liu Kai Xuan, by not haggling and being willing to pay five hundred million, was already acting very generously. If Liu Kai Xuan were to bargain, the price could indeed be discounted.
...
The next morning, Kaiyadun met Liu Kai Xuan punctually. Kaiyadun personally conveyed their discussion. Kaiyadun hoped Liu Kai Xuan would pay him two hundred million in cash, and he would lend the remaining three hundred million to Liu Kai Xuan.
Simultaneously, Liu Kai Xuan conveyed his own intentions to Kaiyadun. To express his sincerity, Liu Kai Xuan was willing to give Kaiyadun a certain amount of cash, capped at five million Kaiya coins. The rest would still need to be borrowed from the Imperial Bank. Furthermore, since Liu Kai Xuan had agreed to give the imperial family a 10% dividend stake, the five hundred million acquisition fund should be reduced to forty-five million. This was not haggling but because Liu Kai Xuan was only purchasing 90% of the oil field's equity, not the entirety.
In the Kaiya Kingdom, the King possessed supreme authority. For major state affairs, Kaiyadun typically issued direct orders, with officials below tasked with unconditional execution. Liu Kai Xuan bargaining with Kaiyadun made Kaiyadun quite displeased. However, Kaiyadun, being a seasoned veteran, possessed significantly more composure than Audunshan. He did not immediately lose his temper and scold Liu Kai Xuan but stated that he needed time to consider the matter.
Kaiyadun, in terms of his character and vision, was not particularly astute, and even showed signs of shortsightedness. He currently wished to extract a quick sum of money from Liu Kai Xuan using this oil field. As for future industrial development, Kaiyadun was not concerned. As long as Liu Kai Xuan handed over the money today, he would be firmly tied to the Kaiya Kingdom. At that point, Kaiyadun could even use Liu Kai Xuan as a personal cash machine.
The five million Kaiya coins Liu Kai Xuan was willing to pay, when converted to Renminbi, amounted to only about 1.8 million yuan. This meager sum was a vast discrepancy from Kaiyadun's expectations. However, through this small amount, Liu Kai Xuan had demonstrated his sincerity. If Liu Kai Xuan were not a genuine investor, these five million would effectively be a gift. As for the value of the oil field resources, Kaiyadun did not want to consider it at the moment; it was too troublesome.