Munitions Empire

On Brunas's main street, it had become much quieter than five years ago. Time seemed to have halted here, and every building preserved the state they were in when the Great Tang Group left.

Moss covered some buildings, others had windowpanes that were broken, but a few buildings remained as pristine as new.

Flags of the Laines Empire flew atop these well-maintained buildings. Occasionally, a car passed on the street, and the once-bright neon lights now dimmed.

There was no way around it; the tertiary industry here had withered with the departure of the Great Tang Group. No one believed that this place could ever return to its former glory.

Silver Fox Tavern was still in business; a young man wiped the gleaming glasses, indifferent to the sparse patronage. His tavern was nearly empty of customers, yet every corner was kept spotlessly clean.

Across the street was once the bustling Brunas tax hall. Back then, crowds would regularly queue up, taking a number before heading to Silver Fox Tavern to drink and wait their turn to be called.

No Brunasi person didn't yearn for those days when even squatting outside the tavern selling pancakes could make a decent income in a month.

And back then, without high protection fees, large and imposing gangsters maintained order, ensuring the business of every small vendor remained undisturbed.

Now, everything had changed. Noble lords controlled the local businesses; the gangs, exploiting weakness, extorted protection money, turning the whole city into a dismal haze.

Inside the tax hall, a man dressed as a merchant pleaded desperately with the passing director of the Brunas Revenue Service, the great Marquis Conrad of the Laines Empire.

He tried to block Marquis Conrad's path but was stopped by guards. Separated by the guard's arm, the merchant raised his voice to defend himself, "My lord! I've already paid the taxes! You..."

"Where is he from?" Conrad frowned with dissatisfaction and looked to his Guard Commander.

"My apologies, my lord! It's our neglect!" The Guard Commander, at a loss for words, turned and scolded the merchant to shut up, "Where are you from? Be quiet! Stop making such a fuss!"

The dark-haired, dark-eyed Dahua businessman lowered his voice and continued to introduce himself, "My lord, please have mercy! I am a businessman from the Dahua Empire, I came all the way to Brunas just for small trade..."

Marquis Conrad cut him off, feeling insulted, "Even small trade requires paying taxes!"

To him, his time was extremely valuable. Precious time could be spent on trysts with lovers, watching imported movies from Great Tang, or engaging intimately with someone else's wife at parties. Wasting it on an unrecognized plebeian was a profanity and insult to his life!

Such lowly folk had to pay for an audience with him, and within the limited time, state their request and pay a fee—that was the proper procedure.

Publicly handling affairs so blatantly left Marquis Conrad somewhat disconcerted; he certainly wasn't accustomed to such a way of conducting business.

Why couldn't we discuss matters in the office? Where it's private, you can slip me money, and I can accept it quietly, and we're both happy, right?

The Dahua businessman, clearly having no intention of heeding Marquis Conrad's internal monologue, continued to struggle closer while explaining, "But! My lord! I've already paid the taxes!"

The merchant wasn't a fool; upon arriving, he had duly paid taxes, handing over a significant portion of his profits. Then he had greased palms, offering bribes honestly.

But the official who took his bribes had been transferred away, so the newcomer, having not received a bribe, withheld his goods, seeking a bit of advantage.

Unfortunately, such trivial issues would certainly not reach someone like Marquis Conrad. So naturally, Marquis Conrad was baffled.

The tributes his subordinates offered him were one thing, but he would never concern himself with whether his underlings overcharged, undercharged, or collected fees multiple times.

So, somewhat embarrassed, Marquis Conrad coughed, the awkwardness stemming purely from his unfamiliarity with the normal workings of his job, "Ahem! That, that was collected by someone else; it has nothing to do with my office!"

Still feeling aggrieved, the businessman from Dahua called out, "But my lord! My lord! If I have to pay again, I'll be utterly ruined!"

There was no choice, just as he had said, paying again would indeed mean a financial loss. In fact, not knowing the local ways, he hadn't made much money on this trip to begin with.

Before coming, he had thought that only the Dahua Empire's officialdom was dark and corrupt, leaving no room for honest livelihood.

Now he understood that the officials of the Great Tang Empire were the exception in their incorruptibility, while all other nations were cut from the same cloth!

Back when he had escorted his goods through the Great Tang Empire, there were no corrupt tolls, no checkpoints—only a transit fee upon entering and a warning not to unload his goods midway. After that, it was smooth sailing all the way to Linshui.

He simply couldn't believe there was such an efficient and honest bureaucratic system in the world. For a moment, he even thought about selling his goods in the Great Tang Empire.

Unfortunately, at that time, he was still preoccupied with the goods prices in the Laines Empire, greedily imagining he could earn more in the Laines Empire.

Indeed, the prices here were higher than in the Great Tang Empire, but sadly no one had told him that the taxes here were also much higher than what the Great Tang Group charged!

What he regretted even more was that, aside from the higher taxes, there were countless officials and government offices lined up, waiting to take his money. The police demanded a public security fee, the port a management fee, customs a passage fee, and the Nobility a benefit fee.

After being exploited at every level, what he earned from his bumpy journey wasn't really more than if he had just left his goods in the Great Tang Empire. Alas, it was too late for regrets now, as no cure for hindsight existed in the world.

Marquis Conrad was starting to lose his composure. He felt it beneath him to argue with a lowly commoner in such a place and became somewhat infuriated, berating loudly, "You troublemaker! Keep shouting, keep shouting, and I'll have you arrested!"

"Your Excellency! Please have mercy! Spare me! Please be kind…" The merchant, out of options, could only beg pitifully.

Finally, Conrad lost his patience and pointed at the man, commanding, "Ignoramus! Arrest him! Take this lowlife away!"

Upon hearing his command, the surrounding guards immediately took action. In no time, they had the merchant from Dahua pinned to the ground, unable to break free from the grasping arms and hands.

The merchant, in despair, was pinned down, and could only shout loudly, though it was unclear whether he was begging for mercy or still worried about his trapped goods: "Your Excellency! Have mercy! Have mercy!"

His voice echoed through the hall before quickly fading to silence. The tranquility of the tax building returned as if nothing had ever happened.

...

On the docks of Bonas Port, a steamship laden with cargo sounded its horn and slowly approached the shore, lowering the gangway.

The size of the transport ship was quite larger than a liberty ship, appearing to have a displacement of at least 20,000 tons.

Similar transport ships were about the largest that the port of Brunas could accommodate. When the Great Tang Group left, there were no such massive civilian ships in the world yet.

The port of Brunas, which had been in operation for many years, was now outdated. Linshui Port, a great distance away, could now dock vessels over 50,000 tons. Because no other country had ports that could accommodate such behemoths, ships like this only operated between Dragon Harbor and Dongwan in Linshui.

It was said that soon, Chu Country would also have ports that could dock such large tonnage vessels, prepared for transporting oil.

As an ear-splitting horn blast resounded, everyone at the port turned their eyes toward the massive, snow-white vessel.

This giant had a four-digit hull number, and typically, such large ships with numerical hull numbers came from one place.

The tax officials who had been strutting around the docks shrunk their necks, and the Laines Empire's sentinels, armed and on guard, instinctively straightened their stances a bit.

After the gangway reached the land, a man in a suit descended from the lofty deck, a cigarette dangling from his mouth and carrying a leather bag.

"Welcome to Brunas, sir," the Laines tax officer greeted with a fawning smile, rubbing his hands obsequiously.

After handing over the leather bag and casually stamping out the cigarette butt on the dock, the middle-aged man exhaled the last puff of smoke: "I'm in a hurry."

The tax officer, upon opening the leather bag, saw the cash and the documents for passing through within, a practice that had almost become routine.

The documents in the bag were for the customs clearance procedures, which he was responsible for signing and stamping. The money was his bribe; the excess would be passed higher up through the ranks.

No one dared to tamper with this money, just as no one dared to mess with these giant ships from Tang Country. Everyone knew the terrible consequences of causing trouble, particularly for the nobility that controlled Brunas.

"Understood! Understood! The documents will be sent to the sir shortly," the tax officer bowed and scraped, eager to please.

"You seem pleased," the man commented as he pulled a Gold Coin from his pocket and tossed it to the official before turning to head towards the car that was waiting for him.

Catching the Gold Coin, the tax officer polished it on his sleeve, his smile growing even more ingratiating—such generosity was rare these days, and it was the reason why he treated ships from Tang Country so differently.

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Today Dragon Spirit shamelessly took some time off to sneak in a movie, supporting "Small Broken Ball." It was quite enjoyable. I'm still writing yesterday's update; it will probably be late at night before I finish, so please look for it tomorrow morning.