Munitions Empire

The Wuyang Stadium, just completed less than two months ago, still carried a faint smell of paint, but the entire arena was filled with the common folk of Wuyang City, travelers from various places, and wealthy nobility.

In the stadium, there are special private boxes; as long as you have enough money, you can enjoy various features of the service here. You don't have to sit in the crowded stands enduring the shouts of the common people, you can hug beauties, eat chilled peeled grapes, and overlook the entire field from the best position.

A stadium that can accommodate more than 90,000 people is a gigantic spectacle no matter from which angle you view it.

It's so incredibly vast, to an astonishing degree. On the commentary stand, professional commentators were already in place, and all sorts of broadcasting equipment were aimed at the lush green football field.

Colorful advertisements were printed on the billboard around the track, including Bailu batteries, household appliances produced by Fengjiang, and cotton products from the Qin Territory.

Hot air balloons with promotional banners floated in mid-air, and powerful music continued to play because not all of the ticket-holding spectators had entered yet.

The plastic seats with elegant lines were mostly filled, although people were still continuously entering the stadium, and those looking for their seats kept shuttling back and forth in the already very crowded aisles.

Ying Duo naturally wouldn't appear in the commoners' audience seats; he had his own private box, right next to the best one.

This box was exclusively his because he was half the owner of this stadium, which was the home ground of the Wuyang team, and Ying Duo was the largest owner of the Wuyang team.

The best box was naturally reserved for the Emperor; in all the stadiums across the Great Tang Empire, the best box was reserved for Tang Mo.

This wasn't because Tang Mo was extravagant, but because these football fields and their teams were meant to honor the founder of the sport, initiator of the league, and the father of modern sports, Tang Mo.

Another reason is that His Majesty The Emperor was genuinely likely to appear at some stadium, which had happened in the past, so to ensure the Emperor's safety, the box must be kept empty.

Of course, there's also a third reason: Tang Mo was genuinely wealthy, being almost a shareholder in all stadiums and teams, not necessarily with the largest share, but certainly with a substantial investment. Compared to the funds Tang Mo put in, reserving the best box for him was downright cheap.

In contrast, movie theater boxes did not follow this rule: only the largest cinema in Chang'an had a royal box. And it was a common-use royal box, to which even the Duke of Qin was entitled.

It was just that Ying Duo had never gone into that box once, although his wives rented the box next door when they went to the movies... After all, one must not be too ostentatious in these matters; it was necessary to avoid suspicion somewhat.

This time, Ying Ke accompanied Ying Duo to watch the game live, which was considered a sort of rest. To be honest, since the stadium was built, this was Ying Ke's first time here to watch a football match.

The last time he came was just to cut the ribbon at the entrance to express his attention; he was an old bureaucrat, and he still believed that officials appearing at such events was a display of luxury, which would be questioned by colleagues.

In fact, it's just his stubbornness because there is no such concept within the Great Tang Empire. The Emperor hosting a football viewing is not new, and in recent years, not even caring to attend invites from the Emperor to watch football...

No way, when Tang Mo hosts a football match, it usually involves the Royal Chang'an team's home game. Ministers would almost fall asleep watching it, and fans of the Royal Chang'an team would curse while watching, who wants to endure that...

The Wuyang team's matches were different; these players from Qin Country were all very talented young men, even though their techniques were immature, they could really run, and developed an extremely cohesive style of play, with super-fast transitions between offense and defense, making the scene very exciting.

They ran actively, fought fiercely, and frequently pressed for the ball up the field, and in the match against the Royal Chang'an team, they even shattered the Royal Chang'an's defense line in just twenty minutes. They scored goal after goal, making His Majesty The Emperor clasp his head and scream several times...

It was precisely this non-celebrity, teamwork-focused new tactic that brought fans a new experience. So even though the Wuyang team was a very young squad, the number of their fans wasn't small at all.

Everyone liked these young men, besides, the Wuyang team repeatedly defeated teams from the Tang Territory, gaining plenty of face for the people of Qin Territory, so many nobles within Wuyang were willing to support their home team.

With waves of cheers, the Wuyang team dressed in black jerseys took to the field, with their opponents on the other side, the Bailu team from Chang'an, wearing white jerseys and blue shorts.

The main referee and assistant referees were also in position, the sound of music suddenly reduced by half, and the announcer began introducing each team's head coach, the players on the field, and the referee and assistant referees.

Following the introductions, the home advantage started to show as the People of Qin passionately cheered and encouraged their home team, their loud cries resounding across the sky. Their blood boiled, as if they could truly crush the Bailu team under sheer momentum.

Ying Duo was very satisfied with this kind of atmosphere on the site; he was preparing to turn the Wuyang stadium into a fortress-like home ground, making all teams coming here feel a terrifying sense of oppression, thereby affecting their performance and allowing the fierce Wuyang team to easily crush them.

Ying Duo underestimated the Bailu team, and so did the Wuyang team, as the match began, the Bailu team pulled a little trick; they quickly retreated into defense, allowing the Wuyang team to push past the midfield, then suddenly intercepted and counterattacked with a classic counterattack, teaching the Wuyang team a lesson.

"One to zero! Now it's so quiet in the Wuyang team's home ground you could hear a pin drop!" The commentator for the visiting Chang'an team shouted loudly into the microphone, drawing disdain from the surrounding crowd of fans and the home team commentator.

"A header! The ball's in! Bailu team's striker remains heroic, running toward the stands to celebrate his 116th league goal!" On the main commentary stand, the commentator was noticeably more formal, providing an objective evaluation: "The Wuyang team needs to adjust their tactics; their defense line is pressed too far forward; this time, clearly their opponents have a much higher attacking efficiency than other teams."

"How much did I bet again?" Ying Duo felt sweat breaking out on his forehead; even when he was an Emperor, he didn't dare to randomly throw out 100,000 Gold Coins for fun.