"Mr. Tang!" When Tang Mo saw Solon again, he thought that Solon's lover must have been discovered by Mrs. Solon.
Because Solon's gaunt face was full of stories, probably like that of a corrupt official who pocketed three hundred million and then hurried to the airport with his briefcase.
Tang Mo rubbed his nose, fully aware of why the good sheriff had suddenly come looking for him.
They hadn't been in contact recently; the only transaction between them had been about flintlock guns. So this time, Solon was definitely here for that matter.
Still, Tang Mo played dumb, knowingly asking, "Lord Solon! What urgent matter brings you to me?"
"You hit the nail on the head! They've sent someone from above to inspect our military readiness," Solon replied, somewhat nervously and anxiously.
These local officials could become local officials because naturally, they had their own backers above them. Some backers might not be powerful, but they could act as eyes and ears.
The Shireck Consortium's vast network was mixed in with the rest and naturally intersected with others. Therefore, it was basically impossible for Shireck to investigate the armaments inventory without the bureaucrats noticing.
Some officials naturally passed the information on to "their own people," and those "own people" in turn notified other "own people"... And just like that, the news spread from one to ten and ten to a hundred, similar to secrets among women.
On the other hand, there were rules in the bureaucracy; such inspections were usually announced in advance so that subordinates could prepare for the reception.
Otherwise, if the needs of the incoming officials were not prepared for, it would be incredibly embarrassing. Moreover, if the matter to be investigated was significant and wasn't announced in advance, the local folks might decide to take drastic action, even possibly getting rid of the investigators sent from above.
So, to some extent, those sudden arrivals who start investigations and eventually crack big cases are taking risks and are very determined.
Tang Mo had temporarily stored all the flintlock guns he had transported from Northern Ridge in Solon's warehouse. So he said with a smile, "There are over 400 flintlock guns in your warehouse, my lord. Even if you don't get praised as a model, you should be in no trouble at all. There's no need to panic."
"I'm not panicking... but the surrounding barracks and the town's garrison, the stationed troops are all in a fluster," Solon clapped his hands, revealing his true purpose for coming.
"What does their life or death have to do with us?" Tang Mo continued asking knowingly, with an air of feigned ignorance.
Solon, having a favor to ask, could only continue to explain, "Some camp captains and nearby sheriffs heard that I have cheap flintlock guns for sale… so, they've all set their sights on me."
"And what would you like me to do?" Tang Mo leaned back in his chair, toying with a pair of exquisitely carved decorative flintlock pistols given to him by the Elf Race.
Solon quickly made his, or rather his friends', request clear: "They want another batch of cheap guns, it doesn't matter if they're new or old, just as long as they are guns!"
Tang Mo shook his head regretfully and didn't agree to Solon's request, "That's going to be difficult. The last 700 flintlock guns, I got them through connections from Lord Earl Fisello, smuggled out to sell..."
He pretended as if he had gone through great trouble to acquire the arms, suggesting such deals weren't easily come by.
After all, Tang Mo's thought was, even if he couldn't sell them at a good price on the books, he would still play it up for sympathy to make sure full advantage was taken of the favor!
Solon had no reason to doubt, because in his eyes, the fact that Tang Mo could get 700 flintlock guns out of a place like Northern Ridge was already a herculean feat.
Therefore, with a whining tone, he pleaded with Tang Mo, "Please help! Some are children of the nobility, some are my old friends, and some have even pledged their loyalty... We're all our own people now..."
Hearing this, Tang Mo finally felt satisfied. The network of relationships he wanted to build was starting to take shape.
So he feigned interest and asked, "How many more do you need?"
"1,800!" Solon said somewhat guiltily, naming a figure that made Tang Mo's heart bloom with joy.
However, Tang Mo's face did not betray his delight. Pretending to be shocked, he exclaimed, "Hiss... you're saying, the soldiers around here... sold all their guns?"
Solon quickly waved his hand and then sheepishly revealed some crafty maneuvers, "How could that be? Actually... the majority of the guns, the damn things were never there since the founding of the troops! At that time, the Shireck workshops didn't have adequate production capacity, so they just issued IOUs."
"Then... isn't the production capacity enough now? Go ask Shireck for them!" While listening, Tang Mo played the role of a perfect straight man.
This move reminded him of the infamous mooncake vouchers, crab vouchers, and liquor vouchers from Huaxia. These vouchers, once printed, became like futures contracts that no one actually collected; they were just meant for gifting. Since vouchers didn't expire and could be easily passed on, they became widespread, used for many years, and essentially turned into hard currency...
In short, this operation was summed up in one word: "crafty." Essentially there weren't any crabs, or perhaps only one crab to sell, but ten gift vouchers could be sold for it, making gifting convenient and safe without anyone losing out, a miracle in its own right.
Solon spread his hands helplessly and complained, "Want them? How do we get them? Some of these matters are years old now. Besides, selling weapons might keep everyone on tenterhooks, but selling IOUs... How easy is that?"
At this point, Tang Mo also became "smart" and immediately caught the underlying meaning of Solon's words. He gave a thumbs-up to Shireck and praised, "That's ruthless! Are you saying the Shireck Consortium sold the weapon IOUs to the Kingdom at the original price, and then you guys resold them back to Shireck for half the price?"
Solon nodded, "More or less... Anyway, it's all a confusing mess that nobody dares to quibble over. But this time, the officials coming down to check the weapons stock might not let us runners off the hook, so everybody's nervous, hoping..."
"There's definitely no way there are 1,800! You could kill me, but I couldn't possibly swap out and sell all of Lord Earl's Northern Ridge Legion's weapons," Tang Mo immediately refused with an overacting performance.
Seeing the exaggerated and false demeanor, Solon knew there was still something to squeeze out of Tang Mo, so he quickly spoke up, ingratiatingly saying, "Think of a way!"
You see, the speed at which successful people switch faces is faster than flipping a book. A few days ago, they might have been acting like sheriffs, and a few days later, they might well turn into the appearance of old friends in debt.
"No way." Tang Mo continued to extort, because he might have been the first to know that Northern Ridge actually still had more than 1,800 old guns, replaced by the pinfire guns he produced.
"1,700! I can't do any less." Solon bit his teeth and cut the number of rifles by 100. Actually, despite his agonized facade, these weapons were his money-making business!
He earned a profit on every weapon he bought from Tang Mo! Although it wasn't much, the little gains did add up, didn't they?
Worried that Solon might really get scared off and cut the order quantity again, Tang Mo immediately regretted his blunt refusal and quickly changed tack, pretending to be annoyed as he complained, "This is too difficult."
Seeing that Tang Mo did not give an explicit refusal, Solon quickly spoke up, "Consider it a favor for your old brother!"
"Old guns are okay too?" Tang Mo continued to feign hesitation.
"Old guns are fine!" said Solon, also putting on a show of acting.
Tang Mo continued, "I can't guarantee they'll work well, though."
"Don't worry! It's the non-working ones I want!" Solon chuckled heartily.
"Ss..." Tang Mo made a pained expression.
"Hehehe!" Solon rubbed his hands together, the picture of someone who had hit the jackpot.
In the end, Tang Mo nodded, "Alright! I'll try! Wait for my news!"
"You'd better hurry, they're all waiting for the news over there! The higher-ups might send someone down any time..." Having achieved his goal, Solon got up to leave.
"Okay!" Tang Mo continued nodding, "But, Lord Solon, when are you going to introduce me to these friends of yours, so I can get to know them?" Tang Mo didn't show Solon out immediately but instead asked.
Of course, Solon knew what Tang Mo meant and was already prepared, "Don't worry, your generous reputation will soon reach their ears..."
After seeing off the hastily arriving Solon, Alice appeared in front of Tang Mo: "Had you anticipated from the beginning that they would buy these old guns?"
"How could I? I'm not a deity," Tang Mo said with a laugh, shaking his head.
"Then you…" Alice thought Tang Mo was deceiving her again.
So Tang Mo explained, "Because these old guns, even though I don't make money off of disposing of them, I don't lose money either, right? And during this process, as long as a situation arises that's beneficial to me, then I can make some profit, be it goodwill or Gold Coins... It's a no-lose situation, why wouldn't I do it?"
"It seems I'm no match for you when it comes to business," Alice said, a bit downcast. This was once her pride.
Tang Mo corrected her, "No, you might be stronger than me in legitimate business, but in this kind of business, you are definitely not as good as me."
"So what's our next step?" Alice already felt that asking Tang Mo these kinds of questions seemed more likely to yield the right answers.
Tang Mo said nonchalantly, "Give them the guns! After all, these things have been phased out by the Northern Ridge, they can be used as favors, or to make money."
"You're really a cunning merchant." Although she had already agreed with Tang Mo's plan in her heart, Alice couldn't help but say so.
Tang Mo didn't mind the appraisal, "The feeling is mutual."