Many things boil down to a matter of information asymmetry. The more closed and rigid the world, the greater the information asymmetry.
With someone pulling the strings, Hudson suddenly made a lot more friends. Many of whom he had never met before, have now become his friends.
In fact, 'making friends' is not difficult. The tricky part is that exchanging gifts that are too special without government endorsement can easily lead to trouble.
If political influence weren't a concern, Hudson would have made friends all over the continent long ago.
Of course, even now, it's not too late to start making friends.
The Avarat Kingdom's delegation is currently acting as a tool. Hudson is simply using them to let the outside world know what he needs right now.
There can be trade where there are needs; and where there is trade, there can be friends.
If hostile forces get wind of such matters, they'll surely try to sabotage the plans and prevent them from coming to fruition.
