Munitions Empire

Finally, after beating around the bush for a while, he spoke with a heavy heart about the matter at hand, "Sir, I presume you have come this time to entrust me with an issue. The times have changed; I've heard about the Shireck Consortium. I had no choice in the past, but now... I still really want to do something for the Kingdom."

Hearing the other party take the lead, the Prime Minister stopped discussing the political reforms of the neighboring country and, with a melancholy shake of his head, said, "Franklin, Franklin... my dear Franklin... I know you are a good man."

"Sir..." Sensing the old Prime Minister's emotion, the Minister of Finance watched him nervously and called out with a mix of feelings.

The old Prime Minister waved his hand as if filled with regret and sighed deeply before continuing, "Actually, the King gave you a chance... I remember it was a year ago; you passed up the opportunity then."

"But..." Hearing the old Prime Minister say this, the Minister of Finance, Franklin's heart sank. He knew things might be going badly, but he wasn't quite ready to accept it.

He wanted to salvage the situation or offer some sort of defense, but it was clear that the other party had no intention of giving him the chance.

All the old Prime Minister said was, "There are no 'buts', Franklin... The King needs you in your current position; this decision is final."

When he represented the King in negotiations with Tang Mo, he had already promised Tang Mo the position of Minister of Finance for the Kingdom.

From that moment on, the fate of the Minister of Finance's role was no longer in the hands of Franklin, who sat in that position.

If Tang Mo won, then the position belonged to Tang Mo. If Tang Mo lost, it would belong to Shireck, which meant Franklin would keep it.

Unfortunately, Tang Mo was victorious, crushing Shireck and claiming everything the Kingdom had promised him.

The Minister of Finance, Franklin, suddenly stood up from his chair, suppressing his anger as he roared in a low voice, "What? How could you, without even telling me, replace me from the position of Minister of Finance?"

The Prime Minister looked helplessly at the agitated Minister of Finance and said, word by word, "I am here to notify you. Tomorrow, a new Minister of Finance will take over your duties. What you need to do is cooperate with his work."

"You must be joking!" The Minister of Finance, unwilling to believe this reality, fell back into his chair as if about to collapse and shook his head deluding himself.

The Prime Minister shattered his illusions, directly and sternly warning Franklin, who was calculating how to preserve his position: "No joke, Franklin! If you are unwilling to gracefully vacate your position, then the King will use disgraceful means to ruin your reputation."

"You know that Shireck no longer has the power to threaten me! I can obey the King! I can follow your orders!" The Minister of Finance tried to struggle in desperation, hoping to find a glimmer of hope by siding with the King.

"The decision has been made, Franklin! You must relinquish your position; it's irrevocable." The old Prime Minister shook his head, ruthlessly rejecting the Minister of Finance's plea to join him.

The Minister of Finance, cornered and enraged, flew into a rage, slamming his hand on the table as he shouted loudly, "This is not fair! I have given so much to the Kingdom! When you needed Shireck, I was always there for you..."

The Prime Minister interrupted him, looking down and softly said, "What use is there in saying all this... It's all in the past, Shireck is history now."

"I will not relinquish my power! If you mess with me, I will make you pay!" Finally, Franklin stood up once more, pointing at the Prime Minister, and shouted without restraint.

The Prime Minister lifted his gaze, looking up at the standing Franklin, and coldly warned, "Don't say that, Franklin, I think you should calm down."

"I don't need to calm down!" Franklin continued to shout recklessly, his yelling now loud enough to be clearly heard by the butler in the corridor.

For many years, there had been no such intense arguments in this residence. Thus, the old butler had no choice but to disperse the surrounding servants and moved to a distant location himself.

As Franklin was furiously shouting, a voice abruptly said, "Perhaps you should calm down."

It was at this moment that Franklin realized there was another person in the room. The middle-aged man standing behind the old Prime Minister now spoke up, a hint of scorn on his smiling face.

Franklin greatly disliked that smile and asked displeased, "And who are you?"

The middle-aged man smiled as he introduced himself, "Me? I'm just a manager at Silver Fox Company... Oh, that's right! Woodrow was killed by me."

"What?" Franklin was shocked and stumbled a couple of steps backward, nearly falling over.

Upon hearing the other party's introduction, Franklin's hair stood on end in an instant. In that moment, he realized many things, including why this man had the qualifications to stand by the Prime Minister's side and walk into his reception room with him.

"Someone! Guards!" Instinctively, he wanted to summon his own guards, partly to capture the bastard who had killed his illegitimate son, and partly to protect his own personal safety.

"If I were you, I would quietly listen until I finish talking." The middle-aged man made a silencing gesture and continued, "I found something at Woodrow's place, including human trafficking, kidnapping, murder, and misappropriation of state assets, using illicit gains to bribe... and so on..."

His words halted Franklin's cry for help, as he knew that his illegitimate son was probably holding onto a ledger, which served as the foundation of his security.

This matter should not be made known to too many people since the ledger clearly contained far too many things that should not be exposed to others. Therefore, Franklin shut his mouth and stared at the speaking middle-aged man with a quiet yet venomous gaze.

The middle-aged man walked past where the Prime Minister was seated, came up to Franklin, and continued speaking. His tone was filled with contempt yet carried a chilling coldness, "A name frequently appears in there, Franklin... see, isn't that a coincidence? So, I did a little digging and uncovered many things."

"You!" Franklin pointed at the middle-aged man, now feeling dizzy and infuriated but trying to remain composed.

The middle-aged man brushed away Franklin's finger, leaned in close, and coldly warned, "Don't point at me, or I might get really scared. Tomorrow, leave the Leite Kingdom with one-tenth of your wealth... or you can just stay buried here... your choice. I really don't care."

Before Franklin could say anything else, the old Prime Minister intervened, "Franklin... leave this place."

"My lord..." Franklin began with a bitter voice, seemingly wanting to say more. However, in the end, he lacked the courage to continue.

"Leave," the old Prime Minister stood up and walked towards the door, seemingly addressing his accompanying middle-aged man, but equally, it could have been meant for the standing still Franklin.

"I understand..." Eventually, Franklin was defeated, his head drooping as he said softly.

The middle-aged man glanced at him and, while speaking, followed the Prime Minister out, "Finish the handover work tonight! I don't have that much patience!"

The Prime Minister paused, turned to instruct the middle-aged man, "Let's go! He is the Minister of Finance after all; the Kingdom's dignity still matters."

The middle-aged man immediately flashed a smile, bowed slightly, and obsequiously flattered the Prime Minister, "Of course, the future business of the Silver Fox Company in King City will entirely depend on Your Excellency the Prime Minister."

"By the way, did Lord Tang Mo just generously give up the position of the Minister of Finance to a confidant?" The Prime Minister, about to board his carriage, turned to ask the middle-aged man assisting him.

The middle-aged man immediately explained with a smile, "Minister Simon is quite capable, and the master trusts him immensely."

He had thought his master should personally take up the position of the Kingdom's Minister of Finance, but who could have expected that Simon, a mere tax officer from Brunas who had just pledged allegiance to Tang Mo, would be so fortunate?

Tang Mo did indeed grant this position to an old tax officer, and let this elder take over quite a few properties in King City.

The Prime Minister looked at the middle-aged man, who acted decisively and was very competent, and praised him, "You're doing well; you must be one of Tang Mo's trusted ones, right?"

The middle-aged man immediately said with a laugh, "Your Excellency jests; I'm just a nobody. Anything I have achieved today is solely because of my master's appreciation and nurturing."

He wasn't speaking out of modesty, for within Tang Mo's system, personnel like him from the lowest ranks of the Silver Fox Tavern did not count as confidants.

In Tang Mo's system, the core consisted of graduates from the Tang Army Military Academy. Next were those gifted individuals who had supplemented their education at night school to learn Tang Mo's doctrines. Only then did it come to side branches that learned on their own from the manuals—with this middle-aged man being of the third type.

When the Prime Minister heard him say this, he burst into a laugh, "Hahaha! The more I hear it, the more I think Lord Tang Mo is a matchless hero."

"Indeed he is," the middle-aged man did not hide his admiration.

"Hm? Hahaha! Well said!" The Prime Minister was momentarily taken aback but then continued to laugh heartily.