Munitions Empire

For the people here, the military officer standing before them was a ruthless Yama King, one who cared not for reason. Their only wish now was to walk out of this hall of the Yama King alive.

"Sir, I will disband my private army as soon as I get back. I'm willing to offer 1,000 Gold Coins! From now on, I will support and carry out any order from His Majesty the King! Sir, sir! I truly am not the murderer!" another wealthy merchant collapsed as well, likewise kneeling on the ground and crying out loud.

"Look at you all, what are you doing…" The officer, with a pistol in his hand, looked at the people kneeling on the ground and continuously kowtowing, and shook his head, "I just lost a classmate and am feeling a bit sad, that's all. Look how scared you've got."

"If only you had this realization earlier, how great that would have been. But alas… it's too late." As the officer spoke, he put the pistol back into his waistband, impatiently waving his hand.

The next second, the soldiers holding submachine guns on all sides started spraying bullets, and instantly, blood splattered within the crowd. These nobles, who once covered the sky with one hand here, piled up like mud, and in the end, silenced completely.

"Sir… killing so many people without evidence, won't there be... issues from above?" The old official, who followed the young officer to the gate, bent over, carefully avoiding the bodies on the ground, and asked in a whisper.
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"The case of Sun Ze has already reached His Majesty, and His Majesty's reply was… to prevent future troubles, all governing officials within the kingdom must make a choice today."

"There are only two options. 1, deal with all potential threats locally. 2, the local area is cooperative and does not require handling." The officer looked at the older man, "This is not a game, it's a war!"

The two walked out of the gate like that, with luxury cars nearby littered haphazardly with bodies. Just as gunshots were heard inside the room, the cleansing had already begun here too.

The luxury car doors were covered with bullet holes, and some of the horses in front of the lavish carriages had also been shot dead, lying on the ground.

There was blood everywhere, bodies everywhere. The two walked forward, walking over the blood on the ground, over the corpses that were once fierce, cruel, strong, and vicious.

Every bastard lying here carried a heavy burden of sin! They relied on the power and influence behind them to bully men and women, committing every imaginable evil.

They colluded with the City Defense Forces, bribed the officials here, and even dared to openly defy the royal power, acting as if they were the true masters of this land.

Now, they lay here, turned into sieves by bullets that rained down like droplets, even unable to escape justice by hiding in their cars.

Unexpectedly, there were civilians gathered in the distance, who, upon seeing people exiting the administration building, burst into cheers after a few seconds of silence.

These people had run amok here for far too long, never paying any price for whatever they did. Like leeches, they sucked blood from everyone in this city until their bellies were bloated.

Now, these people had finally been dealt with, so the civilians, who dared not speak their anger before, began their revelry.

In their shouting, in the courtyard of the distant administrative building, the police officers who had just given testimony, with their hands tied behind their backs, were being forced to kneel on the ground and then shot in the back of the head one by one.

With each gunshot, the remaining officers kneeling on the ground would cry out and beg for mercy, but the shooting never stopped, until the last crying voice also faded away.

"The new administrators will arrive soon! This city… will embrace rebirth!" The officer yelled at the top of his lungs, inciting the civilians around him to cheer even more frantically.

"Long live!" People kept shouting, releasing emotions suppressed for so long.

"Long live Our King!" the young officer shouted loudly.

"Long live His Majesty the Great King!" The surrounding soldiers joined in the shouting.

"Long live Great Tang!" The young officer yelled once again.

"Long live Great Tang!" Everyone—civilians and soldiers alike—joined in the chant, firm and magnificent.

Meanwhile, in other small and mid-sized cities within the Great Tang Kingdom, similar slaughters were taking place. The military of the Great Tang Kingdom brutally suppressed all dissent and destroyed those old powers that had yet to be dealt with.

Before, out of concerns for stability, some space was left for these people to survive, but with the outbreak of the Sun Ze case, the cold machinery of the state began to turn, grinding everything into dust.

What these arrogant nobility, landlords, and rich gentry, who were once so lofty, did not expect was that during the massacre, the civilians actually sided with the government of Tang Country.

They were impotently enraged, they wanted to resist, but in the end, they found they were not untouchable giants, but rootless duckweeds.

When they were being slaughtered, panic did not spread, turmoil did not follow, what remained was only serenity and the cheers of the people.

"These bastards really take me for a pushover!" Tang Mo said with a frosty expression, glaring at the group of Ministers before him, and burst out angrily, "If it weren't for waiting for the local governors to lay the groundwork and let the common people realize the superiority of the Great Tang Kingdom, I would have had the Military take action against these parasites long ago!"

It was a matter of sequence. A direct execution might plunge the locality into turmoil due to fear and anxiety, but if achievements were shown first, then dealing with the disobedient would become much easier.

If the Sun Ze case hadn't erupted, this massive purge might not have come so quickly, nor would it have been so thorough.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!" Nangong Hong pleaded, bowing his head, "The army has already taken action, everything is under control. After this, the Kingdom will surely emerge in a new light!"

The two deliberately summoned former enemy generals were so frightened at this moment they didn't even dare to breathe.

Bai Fei, with his head bowed, glanced at Lu Qianshan standing beside him using the corner of his eye and noticed that his legs were shaking.

This was a thorough cleansing of the cancer of Zheng Country, and whether they would end up as mere side dishes at His Majesty's feast was up to the heavens to decide.

As for why they considered themselves side dishes rather than the main course, it was because they were acutely aware of their own standings; they knew they were nothing more than side dishes, far from being the main course.

"I am not angry. If anger were useful, those who obstruct my progress would have been melted by my fury long ago," said Tang Mo, waving his hand to signal to Nangong that he was fine.

He approached the two former Zheng Country generals, who looked as if they were about to lose their nerve, and asked, "You both were Ministers of Zheng Country. What do you think, am I doing the right thing?"

"This subordinate dares not question Your Majesty. Whatever Your Majesty says is right, this subordinate will hold it to be right," Bai Fei hastened to answer Tang Mo's question.

"Those people deserve to die! They all deserve death! This subordinate believes what Your Majesty is doing could not be more correct!" Lu Qianshan also hurriedly bowed his head.

"Both of you are indeed wise and insightful," Tang Mo said noncommittally, simply nodding his head before continuing, "Then would you be willing to deal with those who look upon the Kingdom with enmity, disturbing the order and ignoring commands, committing wanton acts of rebellion for me?"

"This subordinate, this subordinate is willing," Bai Fei, with sweat on his forehead, bowed his head and agreed somewhat reluctantly.

Lu Qianshan also didn't wish to accept this task, for his identity did not fare well to begin with. Leading his men to slaughter the old Ministers of Zheng Country, his reputation would be beyond redemption for the rest of his life.

But in desperate times, he couldn't afford to think about his own reputation. If he really had an unwaveringly loyal heart, he wouldn't have surrendered in the first place.

Therefore, he too quickly bowed his head, offering the same answer as Bai Fei, "This subordinate also wishes to relieve Your Majesty of concerns."

Tang Mo nodded slightly, then issued a command, "Then the two of you will do me the favor, rooting out those rebels and exterminating them, putting an end to future troubles for me."

"The more you kill, the more accurate, the better, the prettier... then, I assure you here, I'll give you a future, and our friendship will be seen through from beginning to end," Tang Mo said, drawing out his words as he looked at the two old Zheng Country Ministers who dared not even lift their heads.

After a pause of a few seconds, he continued, "But if you kill the wrong ones, kill too few, do it incorrectly, make a mess of it... then our friendship will also come to an end. Do you understand?"

"This subordinate… understands," Lu Qianshan answered bitterly.

Bai Fei too responded as though he had swallowed a fly, "This subordinate accepts the order."

"Bartender, take them to work, arrange manpower for them, let them each carry out their investigations," Tang Mo looked towards the tall and burly bartender, assigning tasks to the two Zheng Country turncoat generals.

Everyone present knew, assigning an official from the Brunas faction was not quite proper at this time, and using a capable local official seemed somewhat wasteful.

Putting these two turncoat generals to use was clearly a very rational personnel decision: whether they performed well or not, in the end, they wouldn't be able to bring the boiling public sentiment back to Tang Mo's court.

If they did well, then Tang Mo would have eliminated a malignancy, disciplined the atmosphere, and increased his control over the entire Kingdom. Perhaps he could even gain one or two useful talents to make full use of.

And if they performed poorly, then getting rid of the two of them wouldn't cause Tang Mo any heartache nor any real loss.

"Thank Your Majesty! This subordinate will definitely handle the task well." Lu Qianshan, realizing the implications, now wore a relieved expression. He understood this was a path given to him by the King; if he walked it well, it could become his road to advancement.

"This subordinate thanks Your Majesty, this subordinate will certainly relieve Your Majesty's concerns," Bai Fei also became excited, with a string of names already in his mind, a group he felt he should personally see off. These names shimmered like gold, each one seemingly spelling "promotion."