Munitions Empire

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Tang Mo was not the least bit worried about Taren Kingdom's reaction, as even if they had one, it would be months away.

The delayed communication speed was Tang Mo's trump card, and it was very likely that Taren Kingdom would never figure out where their fleet had gone.

First of all, it would take them months to slowly realize that their fleet had not sent back messages on time, but this could likely be attributed to poor sea conditions, a long journey, or sudden accidents.

By the time they truly discovered that no messages were being sent back from their own fleet, they would still need to confirm that their fleet had actually reached Dragon Island—an already lengthy process.

And by the time they were certain that their warships had been sunk by Tang Mo, and that they had gone to war, it would probably be six months later, or perhaps even seven months later.

By then, the Wolf-class cruisers might have already started their sea trials. What did Tang Mo have to worry about? Would they send a fleet of 100 warships to attack the Great Tang Group?

The Great Tang Group had recently put almost all of its ship production capacity into the Wolf-class cruisers, because Tang Mo had already closed several major deals, preparing to sell their used Brunas-class ironclad warships.

Several coastal countries had paid a lot of money for these epoch-making warships, so they were also looking forward to Tang Mo transferring the second-hand warships used by the Great Tang Group to them.

And of the five Wolf-class warships being produced at full steam in the shipyard, one was nearing completion, while the hulls of the remaining ships were also near completion, ready to be launched.

With these new warships, the Great Tang Group would still reign supreme at sea, but Taren Kingdom, coming for revenge, might just end up crying.

The three major improvements of the Wolf-class warships over the old Brunas-class warships were fire control, artillery, and speed.

The Wolf-class cruisers, equipped with updated power units, were expected to become the perpetual nightmare of Taren Kingdom. Just two or three Wolf-class warships could easily annihilate the entire Taren navy, and with extreme ease at that.

By that time, Dorne and Leite could march southward, alongside the other side's Shen country, to gobble up the maritime interests vacated by Taren Kingdom.

Including the shipping routes, developed islands, and the entire southern merchandise market—all of these would become the spoils of war, laid before the few countries.

All they needed to do was to pay a protection fee to the Great Tang Group, honestly acknowledge the Group's unquestionable hegemony over the Endless Sea, and pay taxes according to Tang Mo's demands in order to enjoy huge dividends from the development of the ocean.

"So, are we not sending out warships to take down Taren just yet?" Harry confirmed Tang Mo's idea.

"Don't be so hasty, these things take time to develop naturally. Inform the envoys from the various countries to gather at my residence. And you, don't delay; let those who were expecting to profit from the war disperse," Tang Mo instructed Harry as he leaned back in his chair.

"Yes!" Harry immediately nodded in response.

Tang Mo took out his cigarette case, pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, then lit it with a lighter before continuing, "Also, we must speed up the construction of Hotwind Port, as it has now become even more valuable!"

If the Great Tang Group's warships moved south and completely destroyed Taren Kingdom's maritime trade network, then the more southerly Hotwind Port would naturally increase even more in value.

This port, valuable enough to be used as a bargaining chip and ceded to the Great Tang Group by Dorne Kingdom, was now time to revitalize this idle piece and make it work.

With this port, the Great Tang Group's influence would extend to Taren and even to more countries in the south, and the value of this port would also rise.

What else to speculate on if not land? That is truly the real deal. These are all fixed assets of the Great Tang Group, all real silver.

And when the Tang Group made its overall layout, it had already started constructing Hotwind Port. It had since doubled in size, and although the population was still not very large, the facilities were there.

Perhaps, to increase their overall volume of maritime trade, Dorne might have to turn around and rent the docks at Hotwind Port for cargo throughput.

"Understood!" Harry got the point at once, nodding in reply.

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"Go ahead!" Tang Mo began to puff out clouds of smoke, indulging in the pleasure of thought.

...

"Ring, ring, ring..." When the telephone suddenly rang on the desk of the Dorne envoy's office—a desk he was familiar with—he felt an unreal sensation. 𐍂αＮΟᛒĚŚ

This was his first encounter with Brunas's new contraption, and he still remembered how the Brunas technician who installed the telephone explained its specific purposes to him.

Thus, he tentatively reached for the telephone receiver in front of him, with a sense of tragic decisiveness, as if he was about to touch a bomb.

Then, the moment he pressed his ear to the telephone receiver, he was stunned because he heard a somewhat unpolished yet oddly familiar voice on the other end, "Hello? Hello! Can you hear me? It's Harry!"

Finally, the special envoy realized that if he kept staring dumbfoundedly any longer, the person on the other line might explode with anger. With a mix of awe and subservience, he stood up and timidly echoed, "Mr. Harry, yes, it's me, it's…"

Before he could stutter out his self-introduction, Harry had already cut him off, "Mr. Tang has summoned you to the factory for a meeting… Come immediately, that's all."

"Understood, understood." The envoy from Dorne didn't know where exactly Harry was, but he was sure Harry wasn't just downstairs.

Given that, this system which allowed for real-time communication seemed to be quite the marvelous invention.

Clinging fondly to the telephone receiver before placing it back on the cradle, the Dorne envoy's mind was filled with thoughts of asking the price for such a device, in hopes of acquiring a similar setup for His Majesty the King at the earliest opportunity.

He had even begun to imagine his King first thing in the morning, picking up the telephone to inquire about the military progress from his Defense Minister.

Telegraphs would be sent from the front lines back to King City, and then the King could make a casual phone call to check in—what was this? This was downright fantastical!

All of a sudden, as though recalling something, he stood up abruptly, walked to the door, and shouted urgently at the servants outside the corridor as if he were carrying boiling water, "Prepare the car! Quick! Hurry up! I need to go to the factory! Fast!"

In Brunas, there were many factories and industrial areas, but when someone mentioned "the factory" in isolation, it often referred to just one place.

The Great Tang Group's first factory area, now wholly transformed into an academy and a museum for product exhibitions, was the old factory area.

Here stood the office buildings of the Great Tang Group, also the very heart of Tang Mo's operations. He slept here, worked here, and released one decision after another that impacted several kingdoms.

The car jostled slightly on Brunas' smooth roads. The newest model of the luxury T-type car had excellent shock absorption, and the failure rate had been reduced to almost negligible.

Recently, Tang Mo had launched several high-end cars, even starting to sell models similar to his Rolls-Royce cars. Various countries had ordered batches, mostly for royals or high-ranking state officials to use.

As such, the Rolls-Royce had become a true symbol of nobility and was at one point the exclusive ride of kings. Unspoken rules had emerged, decreeing that no one but kings were entitled to ride in a Rolls-Royce.

Of course, there were two exceptions: the Countess Alice of Northern Ridge owned a Rolls-Royce, and so did Mr. Tang Mo of the Great Tang Group.

However, no one bothered with such killjoy trivialities; everyone was astonished by the luxury of the Rolls-Royce cars. But politicians, due to their status, did not overstep their bounds to claim a king's vehicle for themselves.

Businessmen also showed propriety on this matter. They started buying the next-best luxury vehicles, which brought a tidy profit to the Great Tang Group.

To facilitate transportation, the Great Tang Group began constructing fuel stations within the territories of the five kingdoms, and these new establishments started sprouting everywhere.

A new point of profit growth emerged; Tang Mo's petrochemical plants were booming and were growing by way of reverse mergers.

The money came from conglomerates, the land was willingly offered by kingdom nobility, and the workers were locally recruited and trained directly. The Great Tang Group had nearly spent nothing to establish a brand-new network of fuel stations.

In the short term, this network didn't seem very profitable, but everyone was optimistic about this new commodity—how much did the last set of telegraph offices built by the Great Tang Group sell for?

Now, holding ten percent of the shares in their hands, it was as if they were sitting at home waiting to count their money, right?

Greedy capital had made the right bet this time; they had caught the express train to the rise of the oil industry, with their net worth skyrocketing multiple times over.

With the proliferation of fuel stations, Tang Mo's automobile industry continued to expand. T-type cars were sold to over a dozen kingdoms, almost making people forget that the Great Tang Group made its fortune from armaments.

Perhaps some did forget, but the Dorne Kingdom's special envoy, currently seated in a luxurious T-type car, surely hadn't.

He knew he wasn't the only one rushing to the factory; the war on Dragon Island must have concluded.

In fact, he was convinced that the Great Tang Group, with its Ironclad Warships encircling the island, could not possibly have lost in the conflict. Still, he had not expected the war to end so swiftly.

Within less than seven days, the victor had been decided, even including the time it took to convey the news of victory—a true marvel. And he was yet to know that the actual combat had lasted a mere two days.

Therefore, this time to meet Mr. Tang, it seemed… there might be another surprise in store.

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