Munitions Empire

Chapter 161: 160 Substitute Work_2

A legion's ten cannons fired a total of 30 new-style shells, completely leveling a small hilltop. Whether it was the precise artillery skills or the exaggerated range of the cannon, they deeply impressed the visiting officials from Leite Kingdom and representatives from Suthers Kingdom.

Then, the representatives from Suthers Kingdom ordered 3,000 needle guns from Northern Ridge and also purchased ten C64 cannons at an extortionate price.

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..."

"..." 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.