Munitions Empire

Take note of the term "extortionate price," because it truly was exorbitant... Since everyone knew that Suthers would definitely take them apart and study them upon their return, Northern Ridge was surely going to fleece them for all they were worth.

In fact, Northern Ridge used this windfall to replace all the C64 field cannons used by their own field troops with the C80 model.

That's right, the cannons now used by Northern Ridge and those used by Great Tang's security forces were the same, all being the C80 model with a 120-millimeter caliber.

This wasn't just about a slightly larger caliber; it was a complete and utter surpassing! The artillery shells and charges were incomparable to those from before.

On the other hand, after the envoy from Leite Kingdom returned home, they strongly facilitated a procurement deal with Great Tang Group for twenty C64 recoilless field cannons.

Of course, the price was enough to make the listeners weep and the hearers sigh, for the C64 field cannon was certainly considered a major weapon of mass destruction in this era...

With this vast sum of money, Tang Mo expanded his No. 2 factory in every direction and began the second phase of construction.

What made Tang Mo so financially robust was actually the successful experimentation with the wireless telegraph. Now that he had a new point of economic growth, he no longer cared about savings and could afford to squander as he pleased.

"Expensive? You probably still don't understand. Do you know how much this set of equipment costs?" The officer in the know smirked, utterly disdainful of the steam engine's price.

Even though the price of steam engines in Northern Ridge was also extremely high, the best-quality steam engines purchased from Brunas were of better quality and had a lower failure rate, and their price was certainly not cheap either.

The steam engines produced by Northern Ridge itself were somewhat inferior; the workers doing the imitation had less experience, and they lacked the comprehensive technical support of a research and development team. Therefore, the commercial performance of Northern Ridge's steam engines was generally not as good.

But even the inferior Northern Ridge steam engines, sold within Northern Ridge territory, had a fixed price of 9,000 Gold Coins each, no discount given! A year ago, who could have imagined that a pile of steel could be sold for so many Gold Coins?

The officer who was pained to see a steam engine wastefully used immediately widened his eyes and turned to his colleague, "What? Mr. Tang demanded an exorbitant price again?"

"No! This time, it's absolutely worth every penny!" The burly officer, who had witnessed the power of the telegraph machine, naturally leaned towards the telegraph machine being more cost-effective.

The other officer was startled, then looked at his colleague in disbelief, "What did you say? Worth every penny?"

"Yes, such an amazing set of equipment, priced at only thirty thousand Gold Coins, Mr. Tang is practically giving us a huge discount at Northern Ridge!" the muscular officer declared generously, as if thirty thousand Gold Coins were mere pocket change.

"Thirty thousand? For a few wires and some broken iron frames, it costs thirty thousand Gold?" The officer who had just lamented the waste of a steam engine was now completely shocked, "You must be insane..."

He exclaimed in surprise, and the letter was filled with the Earl's own malicious speculations about funding a kept man out of pocket.

As straightforward as he was, how could he imagine that a few broken iron frames could actually sell for twice their weight in gold?

So all he could conjure in his mind was a vulgar image of a female Earl lavishing money to win a smile from a lover.

But before his imagination could progress to the more scandalous phase, his muscular colleague began to mock him, "Ha, I think you're the one who's inexperienced."

The officer snapped back to reality and glanced toward the room currently guarded by the Earl, then asked, "Can you tell me what it actually does? I see the Earl looking so expectant over there. Does that thing produce jewels?"

In his mind, since the device was so expensive, it surely must produce something of greater value, like gems or other valuable items.

Immediately, the muscular officer burst into laughter, "I think it's a gem in itself!"

"...Cough, cough cough!" The slim, tall officer, who was just concerned about the steam engine, almost choked on his saliva.

"In fact, it's a telegraph machine! It can receive signals sent from Brunas, and... instantly," explained the burly officer proudly.

"Signals? Instant?" The tall, thin officer looked confused. He had heard these terms before, but he didn't quite understand what they meant when put together.

"Yes, that means the messages sent from Brunas can be received by our machine here in just a few seconds," the muscular officer explained with great pride, as if he had invented the device himself.

The tall and lean officer understood the explanation, but he was even more skeptical of it. "A message? In a matter of seconds? Are you mad?"

The burly officer confidently said, "I'm not crazy, this is real."

He had personally witnessed the experiment with this device a few days ago, which utterly astonished all the high-ranking officials from Northern Ridge.

Indeed, just like the reactions of those who had witnessed miracles before, the tall and lean officer shook his head in disbelief and said, "There's no need to exaggerate to this extent, it's completely impossible!"

"In fact, Lord Earl personally tested this device," continued the burly officer while watching the steam engine drive the generator set.

"Ah? It's been tested?" The tall and lean officer suddenly realized that what the other was saying might be true.

The burly officer nodded. "That's right! In actuality, we did receive a signal from Brunas."

"Are you sure?" the tall and lean officer persisted, trying to spot any sign of deceit on his face.

The other officer continued to nod with certainty. "I am sure!"

"..." Not seeing the expression he had hoped for, the tall and lean officer was still dubious.

"I was there when it happened!" the burly officer said, playing his trump card with pride.

The tall and lean officer was immediately shocked. "You?"

Feeling very pleased with the other's reaction, the burly officer kept boasting, "Yes, I was there! I saw Lord Earl excitedly pull off a strip of paper and then went to check the codebook that came with the machine."

"Codebook?" The tall and lean officer discovered another gap in his knowledge.

His oblivious look gave the burly officer an even bigger thrill. He continued to explain as if he were an encyclopedia, "Yes, this device can't talk, but it can use the length of the transmitted sound to convey special pre-agreed meanings. The codebook is used to translate these sounds, it's a pre-agreed vocabulary compilation."

"Who came up with such a brilliant design?" the tall and lean officer almost asked rhetorically.

"Must be the god of wisdom from Brunas," said the burly officer without hesitation.

"Hahahahaha!" The tall and lean officer burst into laughter.

"Hehehe." The burly officer also laughed smugly.

"Wait!" Suddenly, the tall and lean officer seemed to have thought of something and interrupted their laughter.

A perplexed look came over the burly officer's face. "Hmm?"

"You said you were there at the time? Why were you there? Why would Lord Earl choose you for such a matter?" the tall and lean officer pressed, looking at him intensely.

"Why couldn't I be involved?" the burly officer frowned unhappily, feeling insulted.

The tall and lean officer crossed his arms. "Go on, what were you responsible for at the time?"

"I had the honor of replacing the work of this steam engine!" the burly officer responded, oblivious to the severity of the question, still very proud of his answer.

Just as expected! The tall and lean officer immediately felt much more comfortable.

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Dragon Spirit extends New Year greetings to everyone, wishing all readers prosperity and happiness in the new year!

Just this one update for today, a 4000-word mega chapter, so there's no need to wait for more.