Solon had be riding high lately, yet he was also a bit on edge.
As Sheriff of Brunas, he had joyed a rect stroke of luck because he had received an extra "thank you" of Gold Coins from Tang Mo.
Of course, he knew where this extra income came from, but the bribe still made him buy his mistress a ring and a pair of earrings.
This gerosity had significantly boosted his status with his lover, so much so that his legs felt a little weak wh he wt to work lately.
Middle-age really takes its toll; he was no longer the strapping young man he once was. While reflecting on this, he supported his aching back and cautiously carried out some waist-twisting exercises in his office.
The anxiety and unease, ev a sse of trepidation, was because he had never heard of Beiji nor se any subsequt moves from the Shireck Consortium.
As things had progressed, he had become somewhat afraid. If this matter leaked and reached the ears of Xiuyi Jisi, the grim reaper of the Shireck Consortium... his life would be over...
So, he had be very nervous lately and dared not inquire too much about Beiji, fearing that someone would link Beiji to him.
Middle-age is truly becoming more challging. He sighed to himself, his face filled with dejected despair in the middle of the day.
Just th, someone knocked on his door.
"Come in!" Solon stopped his movemts and called out as he held his waist.
A guard pushed op the door to Solon's office, bowed slightly, and immediately reported, "Sir! Mr. Tang Mo is here to visit."
"Hmm?" Solon was startled but th quickly realized it was the young man who oft bribed him paying a visit. He immediately ordered, "Quickly, let Mr. Tang Mo in."
As soon as Tang Mo tered the room, he complimted Solon, "Sir, your room is really arranged quite uniquely!"
"Oh, not at all! It's quite modest. I'm afraid it's quite laughable to a gtleman like you!" Solon replied politely. As he spoke, he remembered Beiji's last visit and his fondness for the respectful Tang Mo grew ev more.
Seeing that there were no others in the room and the door was securely closed, Tang Mo lowered his voice slightly and said to Solon, "Sheriff Solon, I hav't yet expressed my gratitude for the note you st about someone coveting my terprise."
Solon immediately responded with an impeccable trifecta of dial, waving his hands as he vehemtly died, "Ah! Sir Knight, I've never st any note. You must be mistak."
"Is that so? Hahaha! Perhaps... But, I'm here this time to return the favor for your kindness," said Tang Mo, knowing the prudce of an old bureaucrat like Solon, and continued to speak.
Hmm, so this young man has come to give me money? Upon hearing Tang Mo's words, a brilliant smile spread across Solon's face.
Since he had helped Tang Mo, he naturally wanted to reap greater befits; for a bureaucrat like him, free money was always welcome.
Tang Mo waved his hand, feigning humility, "I don't deserve such praise for the favor, it was just a little help, a little help indeed."
It was hard to imagine that he, merely 8 years old, could adopt such a mature demeanor, "To speak of it as a 'little help,' sir, you are being too modest, that small deed of yours was of great befit to me!"
Of course, Solon, equally adept at acting, put on a noble air, "After all, I am the Sheriff here, it is only right to do some things for the citizs, only right!"
"Since you are such an upright and principled man, the citizs under your jurisdiction would be willing to help you with small favors, and you certainly wouldn't refuse," Tang Mo continued to flatter Solon in their conversation.
Solon was thoroughly joying the praise and showed a contted expression, "Hahaha! It is always tertaining talking with Mr. Tang! Entertaining! What brings you here this time, Mr. Tang?"
"Look at what you're saying, sir, I'm obviously here to offer a bribe," Tang Mo said bluntly, with no hint of evasion.
"Pfft..." Solon almost spat out his drink.
Seeing Solon struggle to hold back his reaction, Tang Mo found it amusing and continued, "We're all smart people, there's no need to beat a the bush with Sheriff Solon."
"..." Solon fell silt, his eyes fixed on Tang Mo, waiting for him to continue.
Without beating a the bush, Tang Mo stated his purpose directly, "I've got a shipmt of Shireck Flintlock Guns, which are of no use to me. There are several hundred of them; I thought maybe they might be of some use to you."
Upon hearing this, Solon pretded to be uninterested and laughed, "Hahaha! Perhaps you've made a wasted trip this time, Mr. Tang. The weapons here are all issued by the Kingdom; why would I need them?"
Tang Mo raised an eyebrow and drawled, "Is that so?"
"What's wrong?" Solon felt a bit guilty, but still retorted.
Tang Mo provided an accurate figure: "If Brunas were to fully allocate Shireck flintlock guns, there should be a stock of 400 guns, am I right?"
Solon didn't say anything, just continued to wait for Tang Mo to go on.
And Tang Mo did not keep Solon waiting for too long, he directly continued, "However, the sheriffs who have be taking pay without working over the years were not as diligt and caring for the people as Lord Solon. They not only took pay for nothing but also secretly sold off the stockpiled weapons for gold coins."
Without waiting for Solon to speak again, Tang Mo revealed the information he got from the Silver Fox Tavern: "Taking into account another camp's forces in the southern part of Brunas, there should indeed be a total of eight hundred Shireck flintlock guns in the armories of the two camps. Now, I'm afraid there ar't ev two hundred guns left!"
It was precisely because he had obtained reliable information that he had come here to sell the 700 useless Shireck flintlock guns in his hands for a good price.
"How… how did you know?" Solon was tak aback upon hearing this and asked nervously.
With a wise and all-knowing air, Tang Mo obscured the fact that there had be a leak and pretded to have intuited everything himself, saying, "Your Excellcy need not worry about a leak, in fact, ev if no one had told me, I would have guessed the geral outcome."
In fact, it was true that he had made a rough guess and th used his resources to investigate the matter. After all, most people from Huaxia with knowledge of the late Ming and late Qing dynasties were well aware of such embezzlemts.
Th he intimidated Solon, "With war clouds looming, the Kingdom will definitely check the weapons, at least for appearance's sake... If the weapon shortage gets exposed... that won't be fun at all."
Solon grew ev more anxious because he knew that what Tang Mo was saying made sse. The situation had indeed grown tse, as if war could break out any momt.
And before, wh he stubbornly claimed he wasn't short on weapons, it wasn't because he was audacious but because he truly lacked the capacity to procure weapons, to fill the gap tirely on his own.
So, he sighed with a hint of helplessness, "Those guns wer't just sold by me! Before I took over..."
Hearing Solon say this, Tang Mo immediately wt along, "I know, I know, Your Excellcy! Of course, I know! However, after taking office, you did sign an acceptance documt. There's no faking that... wh the time comes, I fear the Kingdom will still see Your Excellcy... as having committed the graver error."
"So, you plan to sell me this batch of weapons at a high price?" Solon was straightforward, "Just to be clear! I have no money."
Tang Mo feigned shock and hurriedly waved his hands, "What joke is this... If Your Excellcy thinks I'm here to make a quick buck, that's an underestimation of our fridship."
"Th what...?" Solon paused, seemingly grasping at a lifeline, looking at Tang Mo and prolonging his question.
With a smile, Tang Mo gave a very gerous offer, "Actually, I plan to sell you these weapons... at a third of the market price." Tang Mo gave a discount so steep that Solon had never ev considered it.
In reality, while Solon might have claimed it was his predecessors who sold off the weapons, he had done the same himself.
At that time, there were less than 90 Shireck flintlock guns in his armory, yet he gritted his teeth and managed to smuggle out over 70 rifles, which he sold to black market traders.
Now, just as Tang Mo had guessed, there were indeed fewer than Shireck flintlock guns left in the armory.
And the price he had sold those flintlock guns for was half of what the Shirek Consortium sold them for!
But now, Tang Mo was ready to sell a batch of flintlock guns to him at one-third of the market price to help fill his armory, which truly tempted him.
Betwe the bribes tak and the guns returned to the armory, for Solon, it was much better than having an empty armory and living in constant fear.
It was just that this purchase would mean coughing up the illicit money he had previously swallowed, which felt as painful as cutting flesh from his own heart.
He hesitated, unwilling to agree but also reluctant to refuse, torn to the extt of looking comically worried and anxious.
Leaning closer to Solon, Tang Mo lowered his voice and made an irresistible proposal, "Your Excellcy, you're not the only one with a shortfall of weapons. Why not ask the nearby garrisons or other sheriff colleagues... get in touch... it's possible they all have a need... If your demand is high, how about I throw in an extra 300 rifles?"
At this point, Solon also realized that this was not only a chance to cover the shortfall but pottially also an opportunity to strike it rich.
So, rubbing his hands together, his smile gradually became sincere, "This... How could I possibly accept?"