Munitions Empire

A Boeing 737 passenger plane slowly landed on the airport runway. The initial 737 passenger plane's safety and various technical standards were quite satisfactory, so Tang Mo directly introduced it as the jet passenger plane for the Tang Empire's civil aviation.

Another more advanced Airbus plane, Tang Mo plans to bring out later as a competitive model, ensuring the Great Tang Group will not become complacent due to technical monopoly.

Of course, the aircraft technology of Airbus is more advanced, and Tang Mo will not hand it over to the Shireck Company; instead, he will assign it to the second civil aviation company of the Great Tang Group to foster internal competition.

The 737 aircraft slowly docked at the designated position, and then the corridor connected to the side port of the aircraft. The cabin door was opened by the flight attendants inside: "Sir, you've arrived at your destination, Wuyang. Wishing you all the best."

Contrary to what one might imagine, there weren't many passengers. Several flight attendants smiled, courteously escorting a middle-aged man in his fifties out of the cabin.

There were not many people at the airport to greet him, just one person. However, this person's identity was somewhat special. He was Ying Ke, the mayor of Wuyang city in the Tang Empire.

It was Ying Duo's first time returning to his former capital Wuyang since being treated in the Tang Empire's capital, Chang'an. This kind of trip also demonstrated the confident control the Tang Empire had over the Qin Territory.

Ying Ke's secretary, standing by, helped Ying Duo open the car door, and the two of them got into a Rolls-Royce owned by the Wuyang city government. The car was started and slowly drove out of the airport's designated waiting area.

"The airport here is larger than it was before..." Ying Duo looked out at the airport from the car window as he spoke to his former Prime Minister.

Ying Ke immediately replied, "Since you left, it has been expanded. Now it can handle the landing and takeoff of hundreds of flights daily, making it a very busy airport."

"You've done well, Wuyang is more prosperous than it used to be." Ying Duo had naturally done his homework before coming and was well aware that now even the subway construction had commenced in Wuyang.

Ying Ke, worthy of being the Prime Minister of the Great Qin Empire, indeed had real talent and skills. With his abilities, he had developed the city of Wuyang quite well.

Even in the Tang Empire's internal meetings, Tang Mo had specifically praised Ying Ke, placing considerable pressure on many high-ranking officials within the Tang Empire.

"Thank you, Duke of Qin, for the compliments." Ying Ke was somewhat reserved, but he had to meet Ying Duo. After all, he was once Ying Duo's official, and even now, in name, he was still a subordinate, so he had to make an appearance.

However, he did have a reason to avoid suspicion: because he was formerly the Prime Minister of Qin Country, while the person who had traveled from afar used to be the Emperor of Qin Country.

If the two of them had any intention, now might be the best opportunity—a chance for rebellion: this was once the area where Qin Country's ruling power was strongest, and they were its former rulers.

If they called for action, they might be able to gather some forces here no matter what, and the Tang Empire didn't seem to guard against them at all. Neither Ying Duo nor Ying Ke had any monitoring forces openly placed around them.

"Isn't it a bit unsafe for you not to bring even one guard?" Ying Ke noticed Ying Duo walking alone out of the airport, without even a secretary, and spoke out to remind him.

"What's there to worry about? Who would assassinate a leisure duke like me?" Ying Duo laughed self-deprecatingly but did not retract his gaze from the scenery outside the car window. He was genuinely interested in the development of Wuyang, having seen its transformation in less than a year.

Outside the airport lay flat farmlands, making everything appear harmonious—the locals had new homes, and the rising electricity poles lent a touch of modernity to the place.

The roads were very smooth, and the Rolls-Royce traveled across these highways without feeling a bump. All along the way, Ying Duo even felt, briefly, that he was still in Chang'an.

"Right now, except for having money, there's not much worth someone remembering me for." Ying Duo was telling the truth, because he indeed had quite a lot of money now. His son-in-law had given him a large sum, and his daughter was not stingy at all.

The current Qin Country Mansion was indeed wealthy to the extreme, to the point that Ying Duo's several wives privately felt that knowing earlier they would be wealthier as a duke's wife than as imperial concubines, they would have urged Ying Duo to surrender long before.

It was somewhat embarrassing for Ying Duo: the income from his imperial treasury as Emperor was genuinely not as much as the stock earnings from the Duke of Egret's company...

Put simply, if the Duke of Egret were to sell his property and fight an extermination war against Qin, it might even be sufficient. Of course, this was an exaggerated statement; the disparity in size between the two could not be measured by wealth.

"This time coming here, firstly, was to see how Wuyang is doing. If you're not doing well, I'll go back and recommend to His Majesty The Emperor to replace you, to save me from embarrassment." Ying Duo said as he withdrew his gaze, looking at his former Prime Minister.

He was joking, because Ying Duo naturally knew that Ying Ke had a good reputation among the upper echelons of the Tang Country, even showing faint signs of being promoted.

After cracking a joke that made Ying Ke bow and laugh apologetically, Ying Duo continued, "The second reason, isn't my Wuyang team having their home game? I've come back to support and cheer them. I wonder if our Wuyang team can defeat the Bailu team!"

He was genuinely not joking; this trip back to Wuyang was truly for this soccer grand match.

The Wuyang team defeated Tongcheng Steel, narrowly won against Linshui Port, and then had a big victory over Royal Chang'an, achieving a stunning three-win streak, gaining significant momentum.

Chang'an Bailu is a three-time total champion of the Tang's Super League, considered truly the strongest in history, and widely regarded highly for their strength.

The first meeting between these two teams was naturally sensational, sparks flying! Everyone was opening bets, and the Duke of Egret was even putting up 100,000 Gold Coins to challenge.

Ying Duo, as Duke of Qin, naturally didn't want to show weakness, and directly also put up 100,000 Gold Coins to match, making a high-stake wager with the Duke of Egret—in essence, whoever lost between them would have to give the other 100,000 Gold Coins; this situation even shook Tang Mo.

Tang Mo understandably had no interest in managing the trivial games of two dukes flaunting wealth, merely putting up an additional 100,000 to add incentive, stating the winner would take home 200,000...

Two decades ago, such a huge sum could almost decide a kingdom's fate, yet now it's merely the prize in a few people's wealth flaunting, showing the flourishing power of the Tang Empire.

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Sorry, not in the mood today, only two updates, postponing the rest.