Munitions Empire

"I didn't have breakfast either!" The man sighed, his fingers feeling the few old copper coins left in his money pouch.

The problem was, he hadn't noticed a place in Brunas where a few copper coins could buy him a meal. Along the way, entering those incredibly grand restaurants seemed an unattainable dream, perhaps he couldn't even touch the doorway?

There were some street vendors selling snacks, but even this street food wasn't cheap. There was something called a hamburger, stuffed with meat and lettuce, doused in sauce, looking immensely delicious, yet priced scarily high.

Truth be told, these street-side hamburgers were actually quite affordable. They were, after all, targeting the working middle and lower classes of Brunas.

However, two or three silver coins for a hamburger was undoubtedly not considered cheap by those who had just arrived in Brunas, as poor as they were.

In cities other than Brunas, a few copper coins could get you something to eat, and if you were willing to splurge a silver coin, you could eat quite well.

Unfortunately, the cost of living in Brunas... for newcomers from outside the city, it was frighteningly high. Inevitably, consumer prices had inflated with the economic development, beyond control.

You see, at some luxury hotels—especially at the entrance of the Brunas Grand Hotel—valets were paid with paper money!

Wealthy people lived extravagantly here, as they could earn in one day what they used to earn in a year. Therefore, not only were their expenditures lavish, but their tips were hefty indeed.

The phenomenon of casually giving out a gold coin was not rare, and in some upscale venues, there were those who, for the sake of face, would spend a hundred gold coins without a second thought.

"Don't worry, with my innate talent, a few thousand gold coins come and go freely, easily earned and easily spent? Wealth..."

"My lord... maybe stop boasting for now... We don't even have a place to stay or money for food... Aren't you worried?" The Attendant Student felt even hungrier and thus spared no face in revealing the man's true state.

Looking at the neatly arranged array of strange wooden boxes behind the glass window, and seeing the prices marked underneath, the man swallowed and realized that finding a job to earn money here might not be easy after all.

The place they were standing at was a radio shop, where radios were still a novel item and priced frighteningly high for this era.

A decent radio's current price was around 10 gold coins—keep in mind, the price of a popular brand car was only around 70 gold coins.

What's more exaggerated is that there are naturally more expensive and better radios—rich families naturally want to use high-grade, tasteful designs, so the price of a classic walnut wood designed radio might even exceed that of a car.

"What you're saying... does make some sense." Retrieving his gaze, the man truly couldn't understand why a wooden box with a few circular buttons could be sold for 30 gold coins.

"Right!" The Attendant Student immediately nodded. He had been carrying the books all along on their journey, and of course, he was the first to feel hungry. The logic was sound, wasn't it?

"Let's go then! Let's meet this place's owner and have a talk... If he's truly capable, staying to assist him wouldn't be a bad idea." The man spoke with grandeur, striding toward a businessman standing by the road reading a newspaper.

"Excuse me... How do I get to the Lord's Mansion of Brunas City?" Approaching the man, he seized the opportunity when the other was flipping through the paper to ask.

"The Lord's Mansion? You mean the city hall, right? Just follow this street, head to Bright Avenue, and turn right... look out on your left side, you'll see the sign." The businessman casually pointed, inadvertently revealing his rather expensive watch as he answered.

Seeing the man thanking him and leaving with his servant, the businessman smirked regretfully as the other had not recognized the least expensive model from the Great Tang fashion brand on his wrist.

Following the instructions given, the man realized it was not a short distance. There were some construction works on the road, which didn't seem like major projects.

A sign, which looked to be made of iron, was being erected; clearly, Brunas had become wealthy enough to use metal sheets for signs.

Of course, the man didn't know this was in preparation for the buses, a sign post with an accompanying rain shelter design. Nor did he realize the sign wasn't iron but stainless steel.

Certainly, Brunas wasn't extravagant enough to use stainless steel for entire bus stations; in fact, only the Braille bus signs were made of stainless steel.

The remaining rain shelters and the large advertising boards were actually wooden, made of leftover material from the Brunas shipyard's shipbuilding.

Honestly, this was already quite extravagant because this expensive wood was previously used for shipbuilding!

Before the spread of steamships, these woods were undoubtedly pricey, with sophisticated manufacturing processes.

What no one expected was that, now, with the development of steel giants, the originally expensive wood was becoming more affordable.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In the distant sky, a giant hot air balloon hung, advertising the slogan for Brunas's upcoming first World Industrial Expo.

The long canvas hanging in the air bore the message, written in super-sized letters, "Brunas Welcomes You."

The electric streetlights at this moment had not yet been lit, but these tall columns standing on both sides of the road were enough to give people a sense of oppressive order.

Under such oppressive order, the man, accompanied by his young Attendant Student, finally arrived at the entrance of the city hall.

This was his first time seeing such a majestic "government office"; if this were in Dahua, one would probably need to go to the Capital City to see such a grand building.

"Excuse me..." Having finally stood before the guard, the man was polite and ready to state his name to request an audience with the City Lord here.

However, before he could finish declaring his family name, he realized that the guard standing there had no intention of paying him any attention...

The man was merely leaning on his rifle, lifting his chin high, and did not even glance at the man who had approached.

The city hall's guards were not actual combat troops; they were, according to the division, under the jurisdiction of the Brunas City Hall and were a parallel unit to the police headquarters.

Basically, these guards were not much different from a ceremonial unit and did not conduct much actual combat training. Their daily work consisted of standing guard, patrolling in style, taking photos with people, and performing flag-raising ceremonies and such.

In terms of combat prowess, they were inferior to Great Tang Group's worker reserve troops, as they seldom engaged in real combat training. Those familiar with this place knew that if one truly wanted to challenge the security forces of Great Tang Group, they should jump over the wall of the Great Tang Group's factory area in Brunas, rather than cause trouble at the city hall...

"Hey, what are you doing?" The on-duty sergeant who walked out from the guard room, spoke as the silent guard remained at his post.

As the size of Brunas City continued to expand, the management team also began to fine-tune and clearly delineate their responsibilities.

Gradually, the city hall had become merely a symbolic workplace; very few people came here for direct services.

This was the advantage of a modern management system: more and more detailed divisions of labor, with specialized personnel managing specific tasks, significantly enhancing work efficiency to a certain extent.

The whole system was efficient and smooth, maintaining better operation of the city during economic growth. As for it gradually becoming overstaffed and cumbersome, that was a different issue altogether.

Clearly, this compared to other regions where the City Lord and the officials managed everything, was so many times better.

"I come from the Dahua Empire. My surname is Nangong, with a single name Hong. My ancestor, Nangong Yu'ang, was the eighth Prime Minister of the Dahua Empire..." Formally, the man, named Nangong Hong, introduced himself starting from his ancestors, which was essentially like handing in a resume.

The gatekeeping sergeant was slightly confused; he really didn't know why this literary man was standing there showing off to him.

But to become a sergeant in Brunas, even if just a city hall guard sergeant, he was an educated man.

He might not be great at showing off literacy, but he could understand the man's silly introduction of himself.

So the sergeant interrupted the man engrossed in digging up his ancestry and asked, "So... what exactly are you doing at the city hall? Speak plainly!"

"I would like to meet with the City Lord; please notify the General..." Nangong Hong stated his intention.

Where did this fool come from... The sergeant sized up Nangong Hong, feeling that 'fool' might be an impolite description, and in his mind, switched to another word—beggar.

"To meet the Mayor requires an appointment, for complaints go to the office next door to register..." The sergeant unavoidably stuck to his job's requirement, and even though he considered Nangong Hong as a beggar, he still conscientiously performed his duties.

He went through the motions, explaining all the possible reasons why someone might come to city hall with the intention of meeting the Mayor, and as he spoke, he pointed in the direction of the neighboring office.

Let's be real, if every random person claimed to see the Mayor or the Director, the Mayor wouldn't have to do anything else all day...

Having more or less understood the sergeant's words, Nangong Hong felt a bit embarrassed... He was there to put himself forward as a strategist in search of a job, not to lodge a complaint.

However, he did understand that he needed to make an appointment in advance to meet the Mayor, but he could not wait—he hadn't eaten yet!

"Well... I, am here to... seek a position..." Nangong Hong could only pluck up his courage and explain awkwardly.

"Hmm?" The sergeant was taken aback, then realized, "The civil service exam registration closed a while back, come back on the 5th of next month!"

--------

Not feeling well, offering two updates for today...