Munitions Empire

Previously an Earl, he had been promoted to Marquis for his merits in introducing Strauss and for donating a substantial amount of money to the war effort.

Of course, his easy promotion to Marquis also indirectly indicated something—the Dorne King, too, had entertained the idea of ascending to Emperor.

This Marquis with a unique vision excelled in investing; he had purchased a sizable share in the workshops controlled by the Great Tang Group early on, which meant he had become a shareholder of Great Tang Group\'s subsidiaries.

This made him extremely wealthy and also cemented his resolve to stay in line with the Great Tang Group.

When one catches the wind of the times, even a pig could fly, no? Moreover, this Marquis, he was certainly not a pig.

"May I inquire what urgent matter brings the Marquis to me?" Tang Mo\'s time was actually very precious, as he dealt with many issues every day, so the chances of him meeting someone privately were not plentiful.

Even inside the Great Tang Group, many people joked that to warrant a meeting with Tang Mo, one probably had to be of king\'s status.

Of course, if someone was wealthy and willing to invest, Tang Mo didn\'t mind spending twenty minutes for a good chat.

"My lord, I have come this time to inquire... whether you have considered selling a football team?" The middle-aged man known as the Marquis of Bailu went straight to the point as he spoke.

Clearly, he knew that Tang Mo\'s time was extremely valuable; normally, when Tang Mo was willing to meet someone, he preferred getting straight to the point, without any frivolous banter.

He was simply too busy; the time spent posturing and pretending depth could be better used designing a couple of blueprints to earn more money.

"A football team? Haven\'t I already released the rules for forming a basketball team? If you\'re interested, you can recruit your own people, form a team... just pay an entry fee of 100,000 Gold Coins, and you can participate in the upcoming competitions..." Tang Mo looked directly into the other\'s eyes and spoke candidly.

"I wasn\'t referring to the basketball team, though... I am indeed forming a basketball team. However, this time my visit is to talk to you, to discuss matters concerning a football team," clarified the Marquis of Bailu.

"A football team? The Marquis is interested in a football team too?" Tang Mo was surprised, for he hadn\'t expected anyone to be so eager to delve into the football scene at this time.

Honestly, it\'s a moneymaking circle, and a very lucrative one at that. The earlier one enters this circle, the more likely they are to make even more money.

Once the sport develops, or more accurately, under the inevitable support of Tang Mo, each team would become sought-after.

Tang Mo had originally planned to sell these teams at that time, to maximize his profits.

But he truly hadn\'t expected that in this world there would be such bold and insightful smart people. The Marquis of Bailu before him dared to invest in the not-yet-widespread football enterprise.

"Of course, I\'m very interested," the Marquis of Bailu earnestly replied.

"The Wolves are not for sale; they are currently assets of the Earl of Northern Ridge, and I cannot agree to that…" Tang Mo thought carefully before he set limitations upfront.

Upon hearing what Tang Mo said, the Marquis of Bailu\'s eyes immediately brightened. He stood up abruptly from his seat, his voice uncertain as he probed, "Does this mean, you agree to sell a football team?"

"Of course, why not? For a high enough price, I rarely have items that are not for sale," Tang Mo declared his stance.

"I am willing to pay 2 million Gold Coins to acquire the Brunas City Victors!" The Marquis didn\'t aim to buy the winning Wolves from the start; he knew that was unrealistic.

However, more than a championship, what he saw potential in was the title of the Brunas City Victors! He keenly sensed that the name was the truly valuable part of the team.

"You know I\'m not short on money," Tang Mo said, a statement he had wanted to utter for a long time and now could confidently use to show off. Without waiting for a reply, he continued, "2 million Gold Coins for the naming rights of the Brunas City\'s team seems a bit childish, doesn\'t it, Marquis?"

"Then... Mr. Tang, how much would you be willing to sell the Brunas City Victors for?" The Marquis of Bailu felt his wallet was likely to take a hit.

"5 million Gold Coins! You can pay in installments! I know you have many assets in Dorne, I can accept land, real estate, mines…" Tang Mo quoted what was certainly not a low price outright.

"To be honest, even if soccer developed into a sport five times its current size, this price wouldn\'t be considered cheap."

However, while the Marquis of Bailu hesitated, Tang Mo added something that made his heart skip a beat, "I don\'t mind if you change the Brunas Victory Team to the Brunas Bailu Team... and I can guarantee that there will be only one team in Brunas City..."

"Deal! My lord! 5 million Gold Coins!" It took the Marquis of Bailu just three seconds to make his decision.

"You\'ve made the right decision! Trust me, the future value of this team will definitely exceed 100 million Gold Coins." Tang Mo said with a smile as he reached out his hand.

Those who were familiar with Tang Mo or had dealt with him knew his rules well; the Marquis of Bailu immediately extended his hand and shook hands with Tang Mo.

The Marquis of Bailu had many industries under his control, including textiles, and he had been considering how to market his brand. Soccer opened an exciting door for him.

When the Brunas Bailu Team played their games a few months later, his industries would also be repeatedly mentioned along with the Brunas name, which was exactly what he needed.

In his view, spending 5 million Gold Coins to bind his industry to the famous Brunas City was definitely not a loss.

Moreover, if the team were to win the championship, he would gain additional benefits, including tangible economic returns and extra reputation.

"Thank you! Mr. Tang! I will never forget your kindness." The Marquis of Bailu, choosing to believe Tang Mo\'s words, truly believed that he had gotten a bargain, so he became even more humble towards Tang Mo.

Then, on the evening of the day the Marquis of Bailu left, a super-rich individual from the Songmu Kingdom made the same decision.

He owned nearly all of the saltpeter mines within the borders of the Songmu Kingdom and was also an important partner of the Great Tang Group.

The purpose of this elf Earl\'s visit to Tang Mo was the same as that of the Marquis of Bailu. He too saw the potential in soccer and wanted to invest early to gain an advantage.

Recently, with the support of the Great Tang Group, the elf had traded his saltpeter mines for a variety of other industries. For instance, a significant part of the Earl\'s industry now included food.

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As he was undergoing restructuring and had accumulated some spare cash, the elf Earl aimed to acquire the only remaining team in Tang Mo\'s possession that had played in the first round—the Jade City Team.

Naturally, Tang Mo did not refuse the request of this astute individual, selling the Jade City Team to him for 5.5 million Gold Coins.

Almost the moment the transaction intent was confirmed, the Jade City Team acquired a new name: Jade City Songmu Group Team.

There was no helping it. Influenced by the Great Tang Group, many nobles and wealthy merchants with significant industries had recently started rebranding their industries as XX Group.

This was a trend. Names like consortium, which seemed to pale in the face of \'group,\' appeared quaint and hardly usable anymore.

Suddenly, XX Groups sprouted like bamboo shoots after a rain, and the term \'group\' became less venerable and sacred due to its overuse.

Regarding this matter, the Great Tang Group didn\'t have a good solution, because now, even a slightly larger steel smelting workshop would dare to claim the title of X Steel Group...

Besides, those imitating Great Tang Group were not merely small enterprises; the Ice Cold Group from Ice Cold Kingdom, the Southern Group from Dorne Kingdom, and a coalition of tycoons from the Leite Kingdom who had formed a joint group, were all substantial in size.

Although small in scale compared to the Great Tang Group, these groups genuinely deserved to be called groups, and there was no denying that.

In fact, Tang Mo had been pondering recently whether he should split up his various businesses to make them appear more independent.

Right now, Tang Mo\'s holdings spanned from low to high, including food production in Brunas and Dragon Island, ore processing such as steelmaking and forging, machine tool production, power and energy generation, entertainment-related industries, the emerging sports industry, luxury art goods, military industry, pharmaceutical and medical industries, automotive industry, shipbuilding industry, to banking and financial industries...

Any one of these industries, taken separately, was a group in its own right; thus, confining them under Great Tang Group seemed unfavorable for the expansion and development of these industries.

Therefore, Tang Mo intended to reorganize Great Tang into a higher existence, leaning the core leadership circle towards a more reclusive background.

After all, the size of the economy he controlled had become so vast that his key subordinates now wielded power greater than the kings of kingdoms. Staying behind the scenes was safer for him and his subordinates...

At least on the surface, it would make Great Tang Group appear less intimidating.