Chapter 87: Going to give gifts

"In just a few minutes, you spt ,000 Gold Coins, boss. Don't you have anything to say?" Wes leaned on the carriage, watching Tang Mo emerge from the tavern, ready to climb into the carriage.

By Tang Mo's side followed the old man, Li'ao, the former leader of the Silver Fox Tavern, who was now Tang Mo's butler.

For Tang Mo, Roger was more than just a butler, so in a way, Li'ao might become the real "butler" in Tang Mo's residce in the future.

"At least from now on, wh you come here for a drink, you won't have to pay," Tang Mo said as he got into the carriage.

"Ha! That is indeed good news!" Wes closed the door of the carriage after Li'ao had climbed in.

Sitting in the rocking carriage, Li'ao looked at Tang Mo in front of him and curiously asked, "Ar't you worried that we'll betray you after taking the money?"

"Why?" Tang Mo sat in the carriage, looking at the old man Li'ao who raised the question, "Why would you betray me?"

"You run an intelligce network and naturally want to serve a worthy master," Tang Mo said before Li'ao could reply, continuing, "You are full of hope for the future, and I can offer you a future like no one else can!"

"You've se it, I have a fleet, new weapons... you also know, I have a private army, and I'm training more talt... I have more ambition than all the nobility and royal families you know or have heard of!

My future has the pottial to be vast, and as long as you follow and support me... I can walk more steadily, more firmly," Tang Mo finished, looking at Li'ao, waiting for his response, "So, why should I worry, a smart man would betray me?"

Li'ao knew that this was not just Tang Mo convincing him; there were other implications in his words. Tang Mo was showcasing his power and the trd of his future developmt.

In his eyes, as Tang Mo said, it was important to serve a goal that had good, rising prospects.

He had no reason to betray Tang Mo, who had the manpower whever he needed it, the means, the financial power, the developmtal trd, and was also a fellow convict.

In some respects, Tang Mo truly possessed advantages other nobles did not: he had advanced industries, his own military, a large fortune, and was willing to develop his intelligce network—few in the tire Leite Kingdom possessed so many qualities.

And there wasn't a single noble willing to spd a large sum of money to control the Silver Fox Tavern. The rich nobles looked down on these muddy-legged people, and the poor ones couldn't afford them...

"So, as you said, I will serve you loyally, never to betray!" Li'ao showed a smile, his wrinkles unfolding like blooming flowers.

"Choose some people to go to the fleet and keep an eye out for me... You wouldn't want the ships carrying your hopes and dreams to be secretly stol away, or sunk, would you?" Tang Mo ordered with a smile, leaning in the carriage.

"I understand, I will look for people to join your fleet," Li'ao promptly replied, "Eighty m! All have gone to sea before."

What? Upgrade these weapons? Don't be ridiculous, Tang Mo wouldn't ev consider such a thing. What he lacked now was time and production capacity, neither of which could be wasted on refurbishing these outdated Shireck Flintlock Guns.

If he had hundreds of idle workers, th, of course, upgrading these weapons to sell for money would be a better choice.

But nearly all of his workers were busy with important tasks: some were producing steam gines and railway tracks, others were making K Quick Guns and Revolvers, and still others were expanding his factory.

And the factories he had built with great effort were also occupied by a large number of machines, ready to produce ev more advanced equipmt.

He still owed Northern Ridge steam gines, owed them needle guns, owed them revolvers... he still had to build more workshops for weapon production in advance...

In such a situation, how could he possibly afford to waste precious production capacity on remodeling these Shireck Flintlock Guns? In his eyes, these were almost as good as garbage.

Where would he find the time to build a production line specifically for refurbishing these weapons? Th waste valuable workers on these meaningless tasks? He would rather have the workers improve their education, learning mathematics or other subjects...

Ev if Tang Mo spt money on upgrading these weapons to expand the production line of needle guns, he could earn a larger profit.

Besides, the cost of refurbishing flintlock guns is higher than one might expect. It would require cutting op the rear of the barrel and producing special parts to convert the rear d of the guns into a particular form.

Ev after such a makeover, these flintlock guns would be only just serviceable and would not be in the same league as the K Quick Gun. For Shireck, remodeling might be an option, but for Tang Mo, that option never existed.

Because Tang Mo knew that by the time the battle for Northern Ridge was over, these weapons could be less useful than firesticks; thrown by the roadside, no one would give them a second glance.

In Tang Mo's eyes, these weapons only needed to be preserved in small numbers, hung on the walls of a museum for posterity to admire and remember.

Therefore, he wanted to dispose of these weapons as quickly as possible to recover his funds, rather than waste time refurbishing them.

The outcome was actually quite simple, just as Tang Mo had anticipated—inside any decaying kingdom, amidst peaceful indolce, embezzling provisions and selling off stockpiled supplies are very common affairs.

The case in Brunas was no differt. The Sheriff here might have already sold almost all the City Defse Forces' weapons and equipmt purchased for the armory twty years ago.

And those nobles and officials didn't care the slightest about how many guns were left in the city's defse force of a small hinterland town.

As long as the commoners didn't dare revolt, as long as the City Defse Forces still had their Longswords to bully the weak and disabled, and as long as there were a few doz muskets for show, those lofty fools wouldn't care whether the armory was sufficitly stocked.

"It seems it's time to give gifts again," Tang Mo chuckled after receiving a message from a member of the City Defse Forces, looking at the trusted aides following him, "Come, let's prest the Solon Sheriff with a gerous gift!"