Munitions Empire

"Tap, tap, tap, tap..." High heels clacked on the floor tiles as she walked down the long corridor to a large door.

Yulin rarely came personally to deliver documents to Tang Mo since she also had many things to keep her busy. As the Kingdom's beloved consort, her authority was no less than that of a government department minister.

The door was quietly pushed open; Tang Mo was sitting at his desk, carefully outlining a huge blueprint. The blueprint looked exceptionally complex, with several layers inside and out, round and plump like a fat man.

"When will you be able to put down your drawing pen and take a proper rest?" Seeing the compasses and various rulers scattered around Tang Mo's blueprint, Yulin couldn't help but complain.

"I wish I could, but if I don't have some things firmly in hand, I always feel uneasy in my sleep." Tang Mo smiled, putting down his pen and asked, "What brings you here?"

"The sisters are all very worried about your health; they asked me to check on you." Yulin handed over the documents to Tang Mo, "Just so happens that the Foreign Ministry sent this, so I brought it over."

She glanced at the blueprint and realized it was somewhat different from what she understood, so she curiously asked, "What is this? You never taught this back in school."

"Ah? This? Peace." Tang Mo responded without raising his head, "With this, the world will see peace."

"That's not good news; after all, we are one of the largest and most profitable arms dealers in the world," joked Yulin.

Tang Mo continued to look at the documents in his hands, "I'm talking about Tang Country. With this, Tang Country could maintain peace forever. As for other countries, how could they possibly cease their wars? They will keep fighting, forever until time stops."

"'Forever until time stops,' such an elegant phrase, too bad you're using it in this context," Yulin chuckled.

She tossed the document she was holding onto the blueprint, stretched lazily, and said, "Tell the Foreign Ministry that next time they can throw these protest documents directly into the trash; they don't need to send them here for me to glance over."

"Several countries have protested that we attacked their fleets; they believe that since peace negotiations have already started, there should be restraint," said Yulin as she moved behind Tang Mo and began massaging his shoulders.

With his eyes closed, Tang Mo indulged in the comfort and answered lazily, "That's their view. As long as they haven't signed the peace agreement, the war isn't over!"

"They've signed; now it's us who haven't," said Yulin, quite pleased with her man, proud of everything Tang Mo did, viewing him as an idol.

Even though they were an old married couple and even had a child, she still believed the man leaning against her chest was the best in the world.

"Alright, since there's no advantage to be gained now, have the Foreign Ministry bring over the treaty. Delaying isn't going to help. Restoring order is important; it lets everyone make money more easily," Tang Mo, enjoying the pressure Yulin was applying, felt most of his fatigue leaving his body.

He gently raised his hand, and Yulin ceased her massaging, "You should get back to your department; you have plenty of work too."

"On my way here, Yue'er asked me to tell you she misses you," said Yulin as she let go of him and walked towards the door.

"I also wish I could spend more time with you and the kids. Unfortunately, I can't afford to relax just yet." Tang Mo lowered his head, swept the protest documents from various countries off onto the floor, and bent over to continue sketching the lines on the blueprint.

Yulin slightly bowed then meticulously closed the door for Tang Mo. She paused for a few seconds at the portal before turning and retracing her steps.

As a woman, she actually wasn't very fond of Alice and Yue'er. Yet, as they intermingled, she was gradually coming to accept some things.

To tell the truth, all three women were intelligent, and they knew that domestic strife would only cause trouble for both Tang Mo and themselves. Thus, they all maturely decided to accept reality, even the most naive Yue'er.

The new palace of the Great Tang Kingdom was being rebuilt, with about a hundred people resuming work in the past few days. They were constructing a row of buildings with red bricks and blue tiles, which looked quite festive.

As victory in the war approached, the atmosphere throughout Tang Country was relaxed, and disaster relief and consolation efforts were proceeding orderly. Road construction and infrastructure development seemed to be getting back on track.

The frontlines looked very promising—the Tang Army had completely surrounded Fengjiang and dealt heavy blows to the combined fleet in the northern seas.

Two submarines launched a sudden attack on the entire fleet, critically damaging four battleships and sinking four cruisers, with the rest dispersing.

Including at sea, the Tang Army had achieved a comprehensive victory; the Anti-Tang Alliance no longer had any chance of turning the tables, and even some countries had begun to withdraw from the war.

The Suthers Empire was the first to submit a peace treaty with Tang Country, and at the same time, the Laines Empire, which had suffered the heaviest naval losses, dutifully paid reparations.

The most interesting case was Chu Country, where the King of Chu directly submitted a document to Tang Country, officially declaring itself as a "perpetual dependency" of Tang Country.

This was not a title that could be recognized casually—it required settling relations with the previous suzerain country first before it could be announced to others.

Clearly, Chu Country was convinced that the Dahua Empire no longer had the energy to pursue its disloyalty. After submitting the document of dependency, Chu Country also announced it recognized the legitimate occupation by Tang Country of Chu Country's northern plains, thus perfectly playing the role of the filial son.

The King of Chu had taken matters to this point, groveling so completely that it made it somewhat awkward for Tang Country to make further demands.

As the saying goes, "don't slap a smiling face"—even if it was to set an example for other countries, the diplomatic department of Tang Country felt it should not further embarrass this filial "prized stallion".

On the other hand, it was also because the diplomats of Tang Country were inexperienced and lacked depth in their practice—they had truly never imagined that one day they would arrogantly take on a dependent like this...

Being a vassal state, Chu Country, was not easy—acknowledging a "father" was not a matter to be taken lightly either. According to the treaty, Chu Country was required to provide Tang Country with 13 million tons of oil every year in the future, a figure more than four times its current oil production capacity!

Yes, you read that right. Chu Country's current annual oil production was around 3 million tons, but in the future, it must supply 13 million tons of oil annually to Tang Country as a form of... filial piety.

Of course, this required a process, namely, oil companies from Tang Country had to help Chu Country increase its annual oil production to 25 million tons.

In other words, Tang Country would first use its technology to help Chu Country enhance its oil extraction capacity. About half of the increased capacity would go to Tang Country, while the remaining half would be kept by Chu Country to divide among themselves.

Additionally, Chu Country had to fully open its market to Tang Country, allowing Tang People to invest in sectors like grain, electricity, roads, real estate, and healthcare within its territory, allowing Tang People to build factories and schools on Chu land.

Chu Country guaranteed that all Tang merchants investing in Chu Country would only be charged the most basic taxes, and Tang Country would also enjoy the most favored nation treatment for import and export costs. These sets of terms were even more humiliating than the treaties signed by the Qing Government.

And in exchange for such concessions from Chu Country, Tang Country provided a guarantee: if Chu Country were invaded by other countries, then Tang Country would send troops to protect it, ensuring the royal family's legitimate governance over Chu territory.

After much deliberation, Tang Country agreed to this request from Chu Country, thus Chu Country became a vassal, a thoroughly subordinate "younger brother" to Tang Country.

Consequently, the conflict in the southern region had completely ceased. The guerrilla forces of Chu Country had all retreated back to their mountainous areas, and Strauss's troops no longer had to carry weapons while repairing roads at the foot of the mountains.

Upon hearing this series of good news, businessmen from the southern region immediately crossed the border with their technology and capital.

Armed with Tang Country ID cards as their amulet, they moved about unobstructed in Chu territory, more arrogant than even the local nobility.

The nobility of Chu Country were no fools; they immediately followed suit, driving carriages with their families back to the former northern plains of Chu Country, now the southern region of Tang Country.

They used their savings to purchase land here, fawned over officials from Tang Country, and worked hard to integrate into society, embracing the wave of reversal.

Better to be a dog in times of peace than a person in times of chaos, these nobles of Chu Country no longer wished to stay and live the dangerous life of uncertainty in Chu Country. They preferred to stay in Tang Country, enjoying the glory and wealth that belonged to them here.

Anyway, earning unscrupulous money in Chu Country and spending it in Tang Country had become the new fashion for the nobility of Chu Country, as they tried to transform themselves into Tang People—though this still required some time.

Not everyone coming to Tang Country could obtain Tang identification documents. Tang identification documents used to be the easiest in the world to obtain, as the enslaved refugees bought within Tang territory would receive their identification.

But, following the victory in this war, Tang Country seemed to be tightening its naturalization process—Tang Country already had enough people, and it now needed time to assimilate the lands it had annexed in recent years.

While the war had completely ceased in the southern part of Tang Country, the war in the western regions was still raging fiercely.

After besieging Fengjiang City, the Tang Army immediately launched a new round of attacks on the Dahua military, eventually driving the troops nearest to Fengjiang 20 kilometers away.

The whole world was watching this place, waiting for this war to end here. But peculiarly, both the destined-to-fail Dahua Empire and the victorious Great Tang Kingdom seemed to not want the war here to stop.