Munitions Empire

Tang Mo met with the merchant who had previously wanted to buy his cement formula in his office the day after Tagg had left. The merchant had finally chosen to cooperate, as the performance of the samples Tang Mo provided was simply too tempting.

This material could effectively bond bricks together and was extremely sturdy. Seeing the profit potential, there was no reason to ignore it.

In the end, after several days of consideration, the local building materials merchant decided to purchase Tang Mo's formula with a sum of money and provided Tang Mo with a considerable amount of cement products at cost price.

As a result, Tang Mo had finally saved a large sum of money and obtained enough building materials from the new channel to construct his new factory.

On the other hand, good news came in succession. In the afternoon of that day, before Tang Mo had the chance to inspect the foundation of his fifth new workshop, two teachers who had applied for jobs arrived before him.

Yes, the news of Tang Mo hiring teachers had finally paid off. Two teachers, both around fifty years old and slightly anxious, took over most of the work previously done by Tang Mo and Roger.

One taught mathematics, and the other taught literature; they relieved Tang Mo, who was already stretched thin, from the time-consuming task of teaching.

The entire factory had begun to take shape, and Tang Mo's efforts over nearly a month were finally showing results. In the new factory workshop, 50 workers and a newly built steam engine took over the production of paper cartridge bullets.

This newly established workshop could produce 700 bullets per day. Once another steam engine was installed, the daily production of bullets would increase significantly, reaching a terrifying scale of 2,000 rounds per day.

Another workshop had also begun production, which was the first factory workshop Tang Mo had built outside the original walls of the workshop!

This workshop was for producing gunpowder and various chemical substances, so for safety reasons, it was situated a distance away from the main building of the factory.

The corresponding fire-fighting facilities were under construction, but Tang Mo was too impatient to wait and had already started production in this workshop.

Dozens of female workers, from Northern Ridge, from Brunas, from various places, were carefully manufacturing some odd and curious items here, including various formulations and strange powders.

To keep them healthy, Tang Mo mandated that every worker wear a mask during production and limited their working hours to only 4 hours per day!

The things produced here were not much now, but they would become the foundation for Tang Mo's future expansion. These female workers would gradually become the backbone of production in the future expansion of the factory, becoming the technical talents Tang Mo had cultivated.

In the old workshop, the production of Quick Gun K1 had already scaled up. Under Parker's supervision, nearly 100 workers were producing new Quick Guns every day.

Of the two steam engines, one had broken down, but the production in the factory had not halted. Mathews was fixing the steam engine, which needed new parts, and that was inevitable.

Because when the steam engines were initially produced, whether it was levers or rotating shafts, they were used directly after casting.

These parts weren't allowed sufficient time to set, and considering the stress during operation, damage was actually a natural occurrence.

Since Tang Mo was in a hurry to give Tagg confidence and perform a miracle for all the workers, there was bound to be a cost—damage to steam engine parts was indeed part of that cost.

Mathews had started to build more spare parts and was preparing to replace those power components that might fail in the future.

The new steam engines weren't rushed and could thus have most of their parts more polished and allowed time to set.

The engines currently in production, including one that was broken, one used for drilling gun barrels, and another for manufacturing bullets, were all hastily put into operation and were bound to have some faults.

However, this was all part of Tang Mo's plan; these steam engines were also rushed into production to accelerate output. Soon, the new steam engines meticulously crafted by Tang Mo would become the true main force in production.

More haste, less speed, as the saying goes. Since Tang Mo wanted both speed and results, he naturally had to pay a price in some details.

"The parts that are replaced should be melted down and recycled as much as possible..." Tang Mo noticed that Dwarf Mathews had lost quite a bit of weight when he saw him again.

"I know that. I came here to report to you. The fourth and fifth steam engines have been made, and according to your instructions, they will not be put into production until Tagg brings back the new materials," Mathews said in a deep voice and then plopped down into a chair in Tang Mo's office.

He twisted his neck a couple of times, looked at Tang Mo, and reminded him, "If it's just to fulfill Lord Earl's order, you actually don't need to expand the production scale that much."

As Tang Mo's chief technical consultant, he was obviously more interested in technological innovation than in expanding production—technical talents were all alike; Mathews now had lever-action rifle blueprints on his mind and had grown somewhat indifferent to steam engines.

"The steam engine isn't just for driving a few lathes and drill presses, Mathews! You might not be able to fully understand the power system in your lifetime, but don't underestimate this thing," Tang Mo smiled and continued to sketch an aesthetically pleasing line with the pen in his hand.

"I'm not underestimating it, it's just... I just really want to make a prototype of the lever-action rifle! I love seeing the surprised expressions on people's faces, just like... just like Tagg's expression when he saw the revolver!" Mathews defended himself.

"You still don't understand..." Tang Mo shook his head, a smile on his face known only to him: "The history of mankind, in essence, is nothing but boiling water and throwing stones."

As he spoke, he lifted his head to look at Mathews: "When you understand the true meaning of this phrase, you'll realize that what you're doing is the greatest endeavor in this world."

Tang Mo actually knew that the joke he was making would surely go over Mathews's head. But he still looked forward to Mathews's response, hoping to hear the answer he was anticipating.

But he was destined to be disappointed because Mathews did not smile, nor did he realize any connection between throwing stones and boiling water with the history of mankind.

Mathews wasn't amused by Tang Mo's joke; in fact, he was more curious about the drawing that Tang Mo was working on... what was this new contraption?

So, he stood up and walked over to Tang Mo's desk, coming close enough to the paper without having to bend down.

It was only then that Mathews realized that Tang Mo wasn't drawing blueprints but something more like a sketch of an effect diagram.

He stared with one eye larger than the other for quite some time, making out a smoking steam engine and a bunch of identical carts, winding along two long straight lines.

Consequently, he turned to Tang Mo with a curious tone: "What is this?"

"This is a steam-powered mining system. It can help the miners haul the coal and iron ore they've dug out of the mines... saving their strength, so they can mine three times as much ore in the same amount of time," Tang Mo replied with a smile as he added to the lines above.

Mathews asked incredulously, "Are you joking?"

"Of course I'm not joking! The steam engine is our product too, Mathews! We're definitely going to sell them to those who need them," Tang Mo answered, pleased with the effect diagram he had drawn.

"But... but how can a steam engine... possibly haul coal out of the mines?" Mathews continued his puzzled inquiry.

Tang Mo countered with a question: "Isn't its power sufficient?"

"Of course not... Of course, it is! It's practically inexhaustible in strength... but, Master! The roads in the mines are rugged and uneven, it's not easy to get the coal out," Mathews contemplated and answered Tang Mo's question.

"That's why I designed a brand new mining system," Tang Mo said, pointing to his effect diagram, hoping to use it to sell his steam engine products.

"This..." Mathews was still not getting it.

"These are mine carts, their structure is very simple, this is a dump car, just tipping it can pour out the coal..." Tang Mo pointed to the neatly aligned mine carts, explaining to Mathews.

He couldn't, of course, bring out a train just yet because that was too advanced and ahead of the time for him.

He didn't have enough talent to support such advanced creations, nor did he have enough resources or land to lay sufficient lengths of railway for his steam trains.

However, he could certainly start by providing his allies with more advanced mining technology, boosting their mining speed, and thereby securing more mineral resources for himself!

Following this, he pointed to the wheels beneath the mine carts and continued to explain the key to the whole system: "Each has four wheels, and beneath the wheels are sections of iron tracks! Made of iron, very smooth, very straight... so that the mine carts on top can be pulled along."

Mathews looked at the two smooth iron tracks on the table and suddenly had an epiphany: "...this, this is truly a genius design."

Tang Mo certainly knew it was a genius design, so what concerned him more was another matter: "So, do you think... Lord Earl would buy this steam engine and one kilometer of railway track, and thirty mine carts?"

"..." Mathews looked at his master speechless, feeling that recently Tang Mo seemed to have developed a new quirk, wanting to sell everything for cash or materials...

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After working through the night, I've finally written another chapter, so I'm posting it, so no one worries. Goodnight... or rather, good morning.