Munitions Empire

He stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the forest swaying slightly in the wind. His mood was truly better than ever before.

Just now, he had received news that the Dwarf Empire to the north had been swallowed up by the Ice Cold Kingdom. The Emperor had died suddenly, and there was a subtle trend toward unification among the northern Dwarfs.

His paper currency would serve as the new official currency of the Ice Cold Empire, circulating within the controlled territory of the Ice Cold Empire.

This was exhilarating news indeed, signifying that the paper currency system of the Great Tang Group was now circulating in about one-fifth of the world\'s regions.

It included the territories of the Laines Empire, the Dorne Kingdom, Suthers, Songmu, and the Poplar Kingdom. Now the Ice Cold Empire\'s region and a part of the Empire of Nanla would be added to that list.

The fact that the currency printed by Great Tang Group could circulate in so many regions was already quite telling.

As long as he continued this expansion, the day when his paper currency would cover the entire world was not far off.

The would-be Emperor of the Ice Cold Kingdom, or rather the future Ice Cold Empire, was very satisfied with the cooperation with the Great Tang Group. He had even sent a batch of noble youths, entrusting them to be placed in the artillery command school under the Great Tang Group for their education.

Unlike the Great Tang Military Academy, this artillery command school was obviously a notch lower in prestige. It was established to rapidly and massively produce skilled personnel for the current needs.

Countries that had good relations with the Great Tang Group would select their young people and volunteers to further their studies in the various schools of Brunas and even Dragon City.

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The subjects they studied included management, financial economics, science and technology, and of course, military.

The Laines Empire, the Dorne Kingdom, and the Suthers Kingdom even regularly sent selected outstanding youths to study in the various schools of Brunas.

As for how many of these students would actually return to their hometown after completing their studies, only heaven knew.

But it didn\'t matter. For the rulers of these regions, as long as one was willing to return and serve them loyally, it was an extra gain for them.

Because according to the regulations of the Great Tang Group, all students who graduated from the schools under Great Tang and voluntarily returned to their home countries were not included in the assigned quote.

This meant that, for example, if Suthers Kingdom was permitted to recruit a total of 20 graduates from a particular cohort, and 20 graduates were recruited, any additional individuals willing to go to Suthers were permitted as exceptions.

This also meant that if two more were willing to go back additionally, then there would be 22 graduates returning!

For kingdoms or empires urgently in need of reform-minded talent and who have come to appreciate the importance of such talent, every additional graduate represented immense wealth!

Who wouldn\'t want a genius capable of changing their nation\'s destiny to suddenly emerge at a crucial time in their country? Just like Dorne, which suddenly gained two great generals like Bolton and Strauss, isn\'t that delightful?

Moreover, everyone knows that those tough characters from the Great Tang Military Academy, as long as they are not in a civil war, are simply guaranteed to win when fighting against commanders from other kingdoms!

These freshly graduated youths are virtually like war machines produced on an assembly line. Although they appear somewhat inexperienced, they are really effective!

They are familiar with military logistics, excel in calculations, and their strongest suit is turning warfare into a comparative analysis of data on paper.

Students graduating from the Great Tang Military Academy focus on building a complete national mobilization system, value training and exercises, and are very keen on maintaining the state of the troops.

After emphasizing the fighting power of the military, they reduce the role of individual commanders, and these graduates then turn their attention to logistics support.

This somewhat rigid procedure determines the outcome of wars even before they start. It\'s hard to imagine a well-armed force used to eating rice and white flour daily, which fires dozens or even hundreds of bullets during regular training, encountering any problems against an enemy that looks like a band of beggars.

The forces of those so-called famous contemporary generals can achieve such intense training only in their core units, while the miscellaneous soldiers are simply not up to par.

Modernized military training, mobilization, and command systems easily crush opponents who are all-around backward.

Therefore, in the Great Tang Military Academy, the War God can be replicated. Perhaps these students can\'t perform on the battlefield with the same artistry and passion as Rommel, but they can ensure that everyone is as steady as an old dog like Marshall.

In the academy, the most widely accepted doctrine in command courses is that as long as logistics keep up, ammunition is sufficient, soldiers are well-trained in peacetime, you just push through and win!

As for massive flanking maneuvers, deep encirclements, and grand envelopments, those are just the icing on the cake when talent allows, no big deal if they\'re not there.

Fortifying strongholds and fighting dull battles, taking full advantage of weapon superiority, elevating the quality of troops, and piling up the numbers, that\'s the guarantee of victory!

Those battlefield anecdotes of winning against the odds with fewer numbers are just mythological tales, not to be listened to or believed!n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Those so-called cases where 40,000 soldiers crushed an opponent of 100,000, or 8,000 cavalry pierced through an enemy army of 200,000, actually, all confirm another aspect of the truth: that the strong defeat the weak, the many overpower the few.

In the eyes of the teachers and students of the Great Tang Military Academy, those poorly-trained, under-equipped ragtag troops, no matter how numerous, were no better than chickens and dogs made of clay.

Only armies that have undergone strict training, have well-established logistics, and possess powerful weapons could be considered as the true "numbers."

So, to them, their seniors graduating and defeating tens of thousands of enemies with just a few thousand soldiers was simply "basic operations, don\'t overthink it, sit tight"…

"Master! The storage for today at the gold vault has been completed," Li\'ao walked in, standing by Roger\'s side, reporting without any hesitation.

He knew Tang Mo trusted Roger, and Roger\'s role was more like that of Tang Mo\'s family, rather than a subordinate. It\'s just that Roger knew his place and had never pretended to be an elder of Tang Mo.

"10 tons?" Tang Mo indeed had no intention of secrecy and asked with a smile.

"Yes, 10 tons!" Li\'ao nodded slightly.

To tell the truth, Li\'ao didn\'t even know the full interior structure of that gold vault. He only visited once and knew that it might be the place with the most complete defense facilities in the world.

It was said that the thickness of the concrete walls exceeded 2 meters, and there were guard posts around it. To ensure absolute security, even the number of machine guns deployed was terrifying.

Last time Li\'ao went in, there were only 100 tons of gold, but even just 100 tons had been enough to make his legs tremble.

It was truly the most gold he had seen in his life! Bars of gold neatly piled in the room, each weighing 5 kilograms!

Each entry had to be accompanied by specialized personnel, every access thoroughly checked, and everyone qualified to enter there was an outstanding individual who had established themselves with merit and shed blood for the Great Tang Group over three generations.

This underground facility was vast and had been constructed by many workers; moreover, it ran along the hollowed-out mountainside, right beneath Tang Mo\'s castle.

It basically also served as Tang Mo\'s safety bunker, hence the extremely high standards. Inside, even vehicles could pass through, and the thickness of the steel gates exceeded 20 centimeters.

Yes, from today\'s perspective on Earth, these security measures seem pitifully low, but in this world, there were few weapons capable of blasting through a steel plate 20 centimeters thick!

If someone really did bring over a 150mm caliber naval gun from the Tang Navy\'s Wolf-class warships to bombard this gate, then Tang Mo would admittedly be out of options…

Now, as the world\'s first super gold vault, it had stockpiled over 420 tons of pure gold. Describing it as rich enough to rival nations was by no means an exaggeration.

Real gold! Dazzling gold! The kind you couldn\'t help but take a second look at, genuine gold!

With this vault, Tang Mo\'s bulk trading had become easy and safe. Since many forces stored huge sums of money in Tang Mo\'s Great Tang Bank, trade transactions could be completed simply by altering the figures on documents.

By the end of each month, the accounts were settled, and personnel from both sides stamped and signed off on deals involving hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins, making transactions incredibly convenient!

Of course, convenience comes with a cost; storing gold with Tang Mo earned no interest. After all, in this era, the bank was something that Tang Mo himself had full control over.

The concept of interest should appear a bit later and then it was intended to draw in savings from the commoners.

As for national gold reserves, have you ever heard of them earning interest? My country stores hundreds of tons of gold in the Federal Reserve\'s vaults. If that accumulated interest, the United States would go bankrupt within a year.

"If the transfer is completed and Brunas\'s gold is transported here, plus the subsequent income, by the end of this year, our gold vault could reach an astonishing 1,000 tons of gold reserves," Li\'ao stated proudly.

He had never seen anyone with such a talent for amassing wealth. When he saw that 100 tons of gold, he almost cried.

At that moment, his heart overflowed with tears. If back then he had such a formidable support and so much money, perhaps slapping a court official\'s face wouldn\'t have resulted in being labeled a criminal and exiled overseas.

"So much?" Roger was startled by the number. Over three years, in less than four, he and Tang Mo had been worrying over a few hundred gold coins, running around for the operation of a small workshop.

Now, beneath their feet, was a real mountain of gold!

Really!

A mountain of gold!

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