Munitions Empire

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"This is too expensive, one word for 1 Gold Coin," in the lounge, an Elf paced back and forth, excitedly. It was the first time he realized how easily Gold Coins could be earned.

Just now, they had sent a letter to Brunas, and including punctuation, they had spent a total of 48 Gold Coins. Along with a 50 Gold Coin service fee for delivering the message and a 2 Gold Coin personnel fee, they had just spent a full 100 Gold Coins!

It really was a very neat number... The normal cost wouldn't be so expensive, except that their intended recipient was a bit special.

The telegram sent to Tang Mo was charged at the original price, but sending a telegram was clearly not an easy task. Finally, the post office charged 50 Gold Coins for it, a price meant to deter wealthy lunatics who had nothing better to do than to send a couple of telegrams to tease Tang Mo for fun.

"If this message could reach Tang Mo's hands 7 days earlier, then this money would be well worth it," Viscount Fitteral, leading the group with arms crossed, rubbed his palms together as he spoke.

He knew that the Poplar Kingdom could not afford any delays; being able to summon their warships back earlier justified the extra cost of 100 Gold Coins.

While they were pained over the 100 Gold Coins, he reluctantly continued with a question that came out of nowhere, "And have you all considered this?"

"Hm?" The ambassador heading southward, also representing the interests of the Augustin Clan, along with two Guards, all voiced their confusion.

The lead envoy continued, "He has technology... technology that can send words one wants to convey far, far away! It is this technology... that is truly terrifying!"

"Yes..." The envoy startled and then, as if a lightbulb went off, nodded in assent to the other's words. Compared to the Ironclad Warships that forced their march southward, the communication device they were witnessing here was truly the game-changer!

Compared to the super warships that allowed the Elves to dominate the seven seas, compared to modern firearms that let Elf Troops sweep across the world, the current telegraph machine was the truly enticing equipment!

In ancient kingdoms, the speed of information and intelligence transfer limited all monarchs' ability to effectively control their lands.

The larger a country's territory, the poorer the King's control over the borderlands; thus, ancient Empires' maps were constrained.

The limitations in message transmission speed meant that the ruling class received very outdated intelligence and thus could not effortlessly issue their orders and mobilize forces away from the core areas.

However, this difficulty, Tang Mo had unknowingly resolved! Tang Mo's railways made the connection between regions and King City much tighter; Tang Mo's steamboats made maritime traffic more convenient; Tang Mo's telegraphy enabled faster and more efficient order transmission.

With these innovations, a nation's control over its territory became unprecedentedly strong, and the birth of an Empire was now a possibility.

This was more important than guns and artillery! Because if the guns are strong, a ruler's control over local military is actually weakened.

Only with improved communication and convenient transportation can a ruler more strongly control the local regions and military, which in turn sharpens their ambition for expansion.

Describing the telegraph's invention as a communication atomic bomb is not an exaggeration, and a phone system that enables real-time communication is like detonating a hydrogen bomb in the field of communication technology.

With the later emergence of the internet and quantum communication technologies, they became the next-generation's superweapon, akin to an information world's dyson sphere...

Such metaphors might seem over the top, but in terms of human progress, they really represent a super terrifying technological advance.

The meaning of life is to pass on the knowledge one learns, and the exchange of one's knowledge—letting more people and more groups access more information—is what started with the telegraph system.

As people's interactions become more frequent, human progress begins to leap forward every day. This is the terror of information exchange—it is the engine of human technological leaps, or at least one of the engines!

Realizing that nearly everyone present had grasped the crux of the issue, the leading Elf spoke, "With this technology, if our Poplar Kingdom could also possess it, then we could communicate with the regions faster, mobilize the Military more quickly, and obtain information more efficiently..."

Viscount Fitteral, named Fitteral, finally rallied himself, encouraging everyone, "So, this time, our mission... might be even more and more important than we imagined."

"..." At this moment, the envoy representing the interests of the Augustin Family became even more depressed, standing silently as he watched his reinvigorated compatriots.

He was speechless because the conflict, or rather the reason for the war's outbreak, was that the Augustin Clan owed the Great Tang Group 100,000 Gold Coins.

Clearly, the Poplar Kingdom could have stayed out of it since the feud with the Great Tang Group was with Marquis Augustine Reibert.

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If the Great Tang Group had all these new technologies the Poplar Kingdom didn't possess, then the Augustin Family would be even more at a disadvantage...

The Great Tang Group's aggrievement was with the Augustin Family, not the Poplar Kingdom. Poplar the Eleventh could completely abandon Augustine Reibert and seek deeper cooperation with the Great Tang Group.

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Clearly, just by looking at this telegraph system, it was far more important than breech-loading rifles or ironclad warships, perhaps ten or a hundred times more so!

However, as a trusted member of the Augustin Clan, he had his own stance—he must reinstate the cooperation between the Augustin Clan and Great Tang Group, making their relationship even closer.

Fortunately, before coming here, the Marquis of Augustin, that is, Lord Reibert, had sent someone to tell him that in Brunas he was not without allies.

Early on, when they were in debt, the Augustin Clan had already planted a family member inside the Great Tang Group. Augustine John had been in Brunas all along, waiting for his arrival. Once he reached Brunas, all he needed to do was to find John.

Out of consideration for the family, John would certainly influence the decision-making of Great Tang Group, he would surely sway the high-rank decision-making of the Great Tang Group.

After all, John took not just a warship, but also a map of Black Dragon Island!

Just as the Deputy Envoy was pondering these things, Viscount Fitteral, the Special Envoy, once again broke the silence. Fitteral expressed his regrets and remarked with a hint of remorse, "Why did the Marquis of Augustin have to stir up such a big trouble... They are much more terrifying than Shireck."

The Deputy Envoy didn't conceal his stance, explaining, "The Marquis acted in the best interest of the kingdom. If we had paid the 100,000 Gold Coins at the time, the development of the factories would have been delayed, and we wouldn't have been able to achieve that brilliant victory over Gales Kingdom near the Seine River."

Indeed, by saving 100,000 Gold Coins, the Augustin Clan gained the upper hand in the early development of factories, which is an undeniable fact.

But if one were to delve deeper, this debt was the opportunity for the rise of the Augustin Clan. So, essentially, the debt was the "early development funds" by which the Augustin Clan took advantage of Great Tang Group.

Therefore, Fitteral sighed dejectedly and said, "Now, in just a year's time, they might ask us for 200,000 Gold Coins, or even more..."

The debt incurred by Augustine in those days now had to be repaid by the entire Poplar Kingdom, which was an act of helplessness in itself.

There was no choice, given that when John of the Augustin Family brought back the plans for the breech-loading rifle and the steam engine, the whole Poplar Kingdom benefited from it.

Thus, the Deputy Envoy had no choice but to emphasize the contributions of Augustin, "Besides, we now have the money to pay back, don't we? As long as he agrees to withdraw his warships and sell us this...what do you call it, the telegraph machine..."

Special Envoy Fitteral looked worried, "It doesn't seem that easy, they appear to be running the telegraph machine themselves..."

"Yes, if we had such technology, we would certainly run it ourselves as well." The Deputy Envoy also felt the issue was quite troublesome.

Fitteral seemed somewhat capable as he quickly spotted a drawback, "But if we entrust them with all our information for transmission, then what secrets would we have left from them?"

The Deputy Envoy nodded, agreeing with the sentiment, "...You're right."

He too felt that such a crucial communication device for the nation should not be controlled by outsiders.

"So, we'll have to find a way to acquire this technology for ourselves, to operate it on our own..." Fitteral already had grand plans for this diplomatic endeavor.

The Deputy Envoy was brimming with confidence, looking resolute, "Absolutely."

Fitteral looked toward his deputy and asked, "So, how much do you think we should pay for this technology?"

"50,000 Gold Coins?" The deputy was startled before cautiously responding with a question.

Fitteral was taken aback, then scoffed and asked in return, "...50,000? They might not even agree to set up a single telegraph office in Southwater Port for 50,000 Gold Coins."

"How much, then?" The Deputy Envoy's understanding of the value of Gold Coins seemed to be recalibrated today. Relay a message for 100 Gold Coins, but not even 50,000 Gold Coins could hold back the purchase of equipment...

"It seems we have to shell out several hundred thousand..." Fitteral said with a sense of frustration.

Hearing such a large figure, the Deputy Envoy was so shocked that he started stammering, "Are, are you kidding? That much?"

"A lot? If they agree to that price, the two of us should just quietly celebrate! Tang Mo, that name, will echo throughout the world..." Fitteral shook his head and sighed.

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I still owe everyone three more updates, which I will post later, around 12 o'clock.

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