Munitions Empire

As King City of Dorne was thrown into chaos, the door to Tang Mo's guest hall was pushed open from the outside, and two dwarves from afar stepped into the room where Tang Mo was.

They courteously saluted Tang Mo, and then they were arranged to sit not far from him.

"It is a great honor to meet you, Mr. Tang," a dwarf with a full beard said politely.

The other dwarf also added, "Your reputation has already spread to the Ice Cold Kingdom."

"You flatter me," Tang Mo said with a smile, casually crossing his legs and flicking the burnt ash of his cigarette into the ashtray, before speaking modestly, "We're all busy people, so there's no need to beat around the bush. I'm sure you haven't come to tell me that bards have spread my deeds to the Ice Cold Kingdom, have you?"

"Mr. Tang, here's the thing," the dwarf sitting beside him, who was clearly an assistant, started the conversation.

Indeed, the real envoy next to him got straight to the point, "Our Ice Cold Kingdom hopes that Great Tang Group can set up a branch in our country, and we are willing to offer you conveniences."

"That's not bad, let's hear it, we might actually find some mutual interests," Tang Mo nodded, knowing those who came to him were usually such customers who wished to make purchases.

Of course, general customers were now mostly handled by Harry, so these two dwarves in front of him were probably not simple customers.

The business cooperation they proposed must have been significant enough that even Harry felt he couldn't make the decision on his own, which had piqued Tang Mo's curiosity.

Harry's vision was certainly very high now, being stimulated by projects worth hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins every day. The current general manager of the Great Tang Group, Harry, was actually becoming less sensitive to sums below a million.

Firstly, the indirect dwarf offered a rather marginal condition, "We can provide ports further north, as we are also a maritime country! We can sign a contract with you to ensure you can use our ports for a long time."

"That's just a transportation convenience and doesn't represent profit." Indeed, Tang Mo wasn't impressed by what seemed to him a meager bargaining chip, and he dismissed it directly.

Seeing Tang Mo's lack of interest, the leading dwarf quickly added, "Actually, we need military arms to secure our border interests. At the same time, we can offer steel, coal mines, oil—these are all abundant resources on our territory."

As an experienced businessman, Tang Mo certainly knew what the arms trade entailed.

He was well aware of the importance of those mineral resources to his factories, so without any pretense, he nodded and said, "Hmm... I'm interested, please continue."

This was efficiency, as well as forthrightness. Heaven knows if both people stood there playing riddles and being vague, an agreement for a single cannon purchase could drive the negotiating parties crazy.

Hearing Tang Mo say he was interested, the lead dwarf held back his companion who wanted to speak and continued, "If you're willing, we can offer part of our mineral resources or outright assign mines and oil fields in exchange for your technical support."

"Besides, we dwarves have plenty of skilled craftsmen. We previously replicated Shireck Firearms quite well, and we also have considerable research on precision machinery like clocks. If you set up a factory in our country, we can ensure your production schedule."

"So, what do you want?" Tang Mo asked, nodding slightly.

The leading dwarf put forth a condition. "A brand-new rifle, different calibers, different designs, performance on par with the K3 rifle! This must be an exclusive weapon to dwarves, you shall not sell it to anyone else."

"Agreed," Tang Mo replied, recalling weapons like the Mosin-Nagant, Lee-Enfield... He agreed quite decisively.

The dwarf continued with his demands, "The G1 machine gun—we want the most authentic production line, the complete set of manufacturing equipment."

"As long as you can afford the price," Tang Mo didn't refuse and agreed very swiftly and naturally.

The dwarf continued, "The C64 cannon!"

"Agreed!" Tang Mo nodded without any hesitation.

"The C80 cannon," the dwarf spoke again.

"No problem," Tang Mo nodded once more.

"And also..." The straightforwardness of Tang Mo even made the two dwarves somewhat embarrassed, and they slowed down their pace of making demands, feeling somewhat ashamed.

Tang Mo cut off their hesitation and reminded his guests with a gesture, "No need to be so specific. All weaponry—K1, K2, K3, even future K4 rifles, cannons, machine guns, warships... If it's military hardware, I can sell it, as long as the price is right."

"...Sir, you truly are the most pure merchant I have ever met," the leading dwarf hurriedly offered his flattery.

Tang Mo humbly dismissed the compliments, "Of course, I'm a merchant. Since I'm a merchant, why should I overthink? Being straightforward is better for everyone, isn't it?"

"You're absolutely right, sir," the other dwarf praised excitedly.

"So, any other demands?" Tang Mo wasn't swayed by the flattery, leaning comfortably on the custom sofa, he asked.

After musing for a while, the leading Dwarf continued with his purchasing list, "We want to build 2 advanced power plants to supply electricity to our King City."

"There's no problem with that." Tang Mo had guessed why the other party seemed so hesitant and anxious—it seemed that what they wanted was almost all of Great Tang Group's technology.

Sure enough, the leading Dwarf's request did not disappoint Tang Mo, "We want to construct two railways, with lengths ranging between 200 to 300 kilometers."

"Actually, I can provide the production line for the rails, so you can produce them yourselves." Tang Mo seemed even more generous as he was planning to speed up the construction of the railways.

The Dwarf was a bit incredulous of Tang Mo's generosity and asked subconsciously, "Really?"

"Of course, as long as you can afford it." Tang Mo's reply was still the same, familiar to the ear.

After hesitating for a moment, the Dwarf continued, "We want a production line for a next-generation car that is better than the T1 model!"

"Why would you think that I have such a thing?" Tang Mo was taken aback; he hadn't expected the Dwarves to make such a request.

The Dwarf Envoy smiled and said, "Because I've noticed that no matter what the product, you always have a better version for yourselves."

"You Dwarves are very clever; I like doing business with clever people. The same saying applies—if you can pay the price, I can sell you a brand-new automobile production line." Tang Mo reiterated the phrase "if you can pay the price."

After nearly getting everything they wanted, the Dwarves seemed to grow bolder. The leader continued with what was almost a package purchase of the entire Great Tang Group's technology, "We also want all industrial machinery that the Great Tang Group can produce."

Tang Mo laughed and exclaimed, "You really want a lot."

"Are you unwilling to sell these machines?" The leading Dwarf thought this was Tang Mo's limit.

However, he saw no displeasure on Tang Mo's face.

He only saw Tang Mo humorously reply, "How could I? I'm afraid you can't afford it."

He took a puff of his cigarette, exhaled a ring of smoke, and spoke seriously, "Now we can discuss the issue of price."

Having said that, he paused and then emphasized, "You must understand that what you're about to purchase is virtually everything Great Tang Group has. Technology is very valuable, and to obtain the most advanced technology in this world will naturally be very expensive."

"We can pay with gold," the Dwarf nodded and said.

"Of course." Tang Mo also nodded and continued to listen as the other party named the price.

"We also have gold mines, gold mines that can be mined immediately." The Dwarf continued to raise the offer because they had a basic judgement of the value of what they wanted.

Moreover, their purpose for coming to Brunas was not solely for procurement.

Tang Mo was quite interested when he heard about gold mines, since he urgently needed gold to support the issuance of his paper money. Thus, he curiously inquired, "One?"

"Five!" However, the Dwarf gave an astounding number.

"That really is good news." Tang Mo blinked, and then his smile became much more sincere. Only at this moment did he truly confirm that these Dwarves had indeed come to buy, that they indeed had the capital…

The Dwarf then continued to introduce their family assets, or rather the funds for this procurement, "Additionally, we have copper mines! Tin mines! Saltpeter mines… Silver mines, tungsten mines. Plus, we have an oil field with a very decent output."

"Your Kingdom truly is filled with treasures everywhere." Tang Mo sighed—it was rare indeed for a country on this world to be able to offer 5 gold mines in one go, apart from the Ice Cold Kingdom.

"Previously, due to transportation issues with the roads, these treasures were difficult to mine, and the production capacity was very low. Moreover, buyers intentionally suppressed the prices," the Dwarf explained somewhat guiltily.

"And now? What's different?" Tang Mo was taken aback.

"Well, now they are yours…" The Dwarf spread his hands with a rogueish gesture.

"…" Tang Mo expressed his speechlessness…

"They're completely different when in our hands compared to yours. Therefore, we hope you can give a fair conversion price," the Dwarf explained again, somewhat embarrassedly.

"Hmm… That makes sense. I will offer you a price you won't refuse." Tang Mo nodded slightly; since the other party was sincere in their purchase, he didn't mind sincerely appraising his goods.

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Dragon Spirit will take a break today, just two releases.