18 confidential

When Tang Mo saw Tagg again, the military officer dressed in bright yellow was somewhat shyly bowing his head as he admitted his mistake, "I have to admit, I misunderstood you; I'm sorry, Mr. Tang Mo, I'm here to apologize to you."

He was a confidant of Lord Earl Fisheo, so he had always stood from Lord Fisheo's perspective, monitoring Tang Mo's every move.

Previously, he didn't understand the technology at all, so even if he had doubted Tang Mo's actions, he didn't have a good way to deal with him.

Now, having witnessed with his own eyes how the enormous machine Tang Mo had created could indeed replace manual labor in drilling gun barrels, he realized he had misunderstood the young weapons manufacturer.

Tang Mo smiled and waved his hand, indicating it didn't matter to him, "That's nothing; you were just being loyal to your duty."

He actually really liked the soldier before him—loyal and honest; he was the perfect subordinate.

It was unfortunate that this subordinate belonged to Earl Fisheo; he could only admire him, but not possess him. However, Tang Mo still believed that one day he would have a group of subordinates as loyal as Tagg.

Tagg, looking at Tang Mo's smile, nodded slightly in gratitude, "Thank you for understanding, sir. I think with such... such a magnificent machine, you will definitely be able to fulfill your promise to the Earl."

The steam machine that was constantly operating had driven two machine tools, which had drilled two qualified gun barrels in the past day.

It should be noted that this was still the experimental stage; if the machine were to operate at full capacity, it was estimated that it could produce ten gun barrels a day.

However, there were also problems. The estimated smoke emissions were somewhat miscalculated, and the chimney had been built too short in the rush to finish, causing the entire factory to be filled with the strong smell of coal smoke.

Tang Mo pointed to the steam machine that was still working tirelessly nearby and said to Tagg, "Yes, I plan to continue manufacturing such machinery in the next half month, and then start producing the weapons that Lord Earl needs."

Tagg was taken aback as he had thought that as soon as Tang Mo had manufactured this machine, he would start building the weapons required by the Earl the next day.

But from Tang Mo's words, it seemed he planned to continue making similar machines before producing the weapons and equipment that the Earl needed.

This outcome almost made him want to say something, but looking at Tang Mo's face, he opened his mouth and ended up saying as if possessed, "Then, that's really great."

"I hope everything goes smoothly." Tang Mo saw that Tagg did not criticize his production plan, and the smile on his face grew even more.

He clapped Tagg on the shoulder and began to persuade gently, "I hope you can help me with some things, Tagg."

"I will do my best," Tagg said, taken aback. Then he nodded and supported Tang Mo. For him, helping Tang Mo start production as soon as possible was his greatest loyalty to the Earl.

"First, I need a sufficient supply of steel. Although I have bought up almost all the steel that comes from the sea, the quality of these metal materials varies... We need large quantities of high-quality steel, an unending supply of it." Tang Mo raised a finger as he spoke to Tagg.

Tagg knew that Tang Mo's production of new equipment had already used a large amount of steel; if he didn't get enough steel soon, there wouldn't be enough steel for producing gun barrels.

To ensure that Tang Mo could start production quickly and supply the Earl with high-quality weapons, Tagg decided he must aid in acquiring what he wanted right away, "I understand; I will immediately send people to contact Lord Earl to arrange for as much steel as possible."

"Also, I need some Gold Coins. As you have seen, I need to purchase the land around us to build more factories," Tang Mo said while hooking Tagg's shoulder, walking out of the factory, pointing at a row of wooden houses that had begun construction.

In those times, everyone's economic situation wasn't very good; having a row of wooden houses to live in was actually quite a decent situation.

But these were just the workers' dormitories, temporarily built wooden houses in the pursuit of progress. What Tang Mo really wanted was bigger factory buildings that could accommodate more equipment.

So he continued to say to Tagg, "The old factory is no longer suitable. The new factory needs more space and taller chimneys... cough cough... The chimneys are too short. If we don't want to be suffocated here, we need more land and taller chimneys."

Feigning a cough, Tang Mo expressed his firm determination to improve the living environment and commit to an environmental revolution.

Before Tagg could come to his senses, Tang Mo continued on his own, "And I want to build more dormitories. If possible, I hope to bring all the families of the factory over and settle them together! This is to let our workers work better! It's one of our factory's welfare benefits."

"These good welfare benefits require more buildings; constructing houses costs money, a great deal of money," he concluded after a lengthy explanation. With one hand hooked over Tagg's shoulder, he made a gesture of counting money in front of Tagg, speaking with deliberate exaggeration.

"I don't understand, my lord. If we expedite the work, maintaining the current pace should suffice. Why should you need to build so many houses?" Tagg felt he was struggling to keep up with Tang Mo's line of thought and posed the question.

Tang Mo was taken aback; he hadn't expected the other party to raise doubts after such a spiel, so he continued to persuade with earnestness, "Tagg! Tagg! My dear Tagg! Everything here is new—my equipment, our secrets... Sooner or later, people outside will find out. What do you think we should do to keep it a secret, to have outsiders learn of it as late as possible?"

As soon as Tang Mo brought up secrecy, Tagg instantly understood—it was closely related to his military expertise, making it easy for him to grasp what Tang Mo was getting at.

Of course, that was what he thought, and Tang Mo certainly wasn't going to reveal his true intentions, so Tagg nodded in agreement, believing he had figured it out, "I understand, my lord. You want to keep things secret! Alright then, I will do my utmost to fulfill your request."

"Purchasing land requires Gold Coins, building houses requires Gold Coins, and paying workers' salaries requires Gold Coins, so we may not have enough Gold Coins," Tang Mo listed his financial needs while counting on his fingers.

Tagg felt a bit sheepish but still did his best to satisfy Tang Mo's requests, "I will convey your requests to Lord Earl as soon as possible."

"There's no need to rush that. Where were we? Oh, right—I need to purchase the surrounding land, a vast amount of it," Tang Mo abruptly returned to discussing the matter of land acquisition, "I hope to buy up a large tract of cheap land closer to the Vicious Forest, since that area isn't considered particularly desirable, being far from Brunas and largely wasteland."

Tang Mo wanted to expand his factory, which required extensive land. He intended to build his own arsenal empire, thus needing a more complete industry chain.

According to Tang Mo's plan, his first step was to ensure safe passage between his location and the Northern Ridge, so he prepared to buy the needed land in the direction of the Northern Ridge.

On one hand, he required the port of Brunas to serve his needs—transporting and stocking up on more goods, including a considerable amount of steel from sea transport and fishery products.

On the other hand, he also planned to explore timber resources of the Vicious Forest. With this timber, he could further expand his production and build more factories.

Between these raw material sources and the port, he needed a lot of land to construct his industrial empire—including numerous dormitories, factory buildings, and agricultural lands.

He would plant cotton here; the climate was very suitable for it. Previously, due to the sparse population and the cost of cultivation, nobody supported the venture, but now he was ready to spare no expense to transform the place into a genuine utopian retreat.

These empty spaces would become pig bristle farms, large smelting centers, and factory areas with chimneys lined up in succession.

In the midst of these factories would be schools for cultivating talent, markets filled with stockpiled goods, and worker dormitories that were tidy and hygienically maintained.

He wanted to turn this place into an industrial base even more spectacular than Germany's Ruhr district, stretching north to Wolf City, south into the mountains, backed by the Endless Sea, and facing the vast Leite Plains.

Enveloped by Tang Mo's embrace and overwhelmed by his requests, Tagg responded subconsciously, "I think that could be possible."

"You had better come with me. The Sheriff and Mayor of Brunas may not be so easy to talk to," Tang Mo continued.

Tagg naturally nodded in agreement, "I will make them see reason."

"That would be most fortunate. Additionally, I need leather workers, pig bristle processors, and it would be best to have doctors...," Tang Mo spoke excitedly.

"Are you planning to build your own town, my lord?" Tagg felt he might have agreed to too much, giving Tang Mo an incorrect estimate of the Earl's support.

In fact, the Earl's influence really was quite limited beyond the Vicious Forest, so using his name might not carry much weight here.

Of course, he couldn't possibly tell Tang Mo that the Lord Earl's name essentially carried no weight here, and that it would be better to be forthright...

"Roughly speaking, I want my workers to be able to buy food and necessities in my factory, to see their wives, to raise their children..." Tang Mo felt Tagg was quite astute; he had even thought of a town.

At that point, Tang Mo paused abruptly, and then he found a new angle, "Speaking of children... I should build a school here. The children should learn to read; they should be educated. If you can find some teachers, that would be better yet."