Munitions Empire-Chapter 912 - The forgotten woman

Chapter 912: The forgotten woman Chapter 912: The forgotten woman For people all around the world, it seemed as if life had gradually gotten a bit better. In their world, many good things appeared that had never existed before.

Firstly, electricity began to gradually become prevalent, although many villages had not yet enjoyed this convenient energy source, yet in the cities, electricity had already become the main energy source.

When people discovered that they could buy better and superior seeds for just a little money, a bountiful harvest of grain became possible.

With more grains and fruits, brewing also became possible. The brewing machines in Tang Country were not particularly expensive, so many places had established breweries.

For a little money, the common people could taste low-quality cigarettes and various flavors of low-quality beer. This was undoubtedly a huge quality improvement for their dull lives.

Even more improvements were inside the cities, some places people could often see large airplanes flying overhead, and they were not surprised by trains passing in front of their doors.

The roads became smoother and smoother, which was an inevitable result: to allow cars to run faster, road construction had become an activity all countries were engaged in.

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Even if they were reluctant, to catch up with this wave of technological progress, all countries had to invest more money to improve their own environments.

This was all competitive; only by building all the infrastructure well enough could they attract more businessmen to invest, and this was also the wealth-building bible that Tang Mo taught these people.

Everyone knew they definitely couldn’t surpass Tang Country, as Tang Country’s infrastructure construction speed existed as if it had cheats enabled, which others could never catch up to no matter how hard they tried.

However, even if they couldn’t match Tang Country, the competition between other countries was still necessary. Everyone hoped to become the second choice for businessmen, so they all worked hard to build their own countries.

Such events were inevitable with the advancement of technology; they didn’t need deliberate promotion, just going with the flow was enough.

Moreover, some clever people directly assigned the tasks of bridge construction and road paving to foreign businessmen. They didn’t even need to pay the construction costs; they just mortgaged these roads and bridges to the businessmen constructing them, allowing them to recuperate their investment through tolls.

Or, the local government could borrow from banks and repay the loans through charges once construction was completed; it was more or less the same approach.

Then, with the intentional encouragement of Tang Country’s capital, many dams were built worldwide, many thermal power stations were constructed, and many large cities resembling real cities came into being.

In the past, due to sanitation and energy constraints, cities with populations over two hundred thousand were almost reaching their limits.

Now, with the widespread availability of medicine and the improvement of drainage systems, large cities had appeared in every country, even a number of mega-cities.

Brunas, although it had become a thing of the past, still maintained its scale. Even if there hadn’t been much development over the past few years, it was still a supercity with a population close to a million.

Of course, now it was no longer the largest city in the world; the largest city was in Tang Country, named Linshui.

This world’s number one was absolutely deserving, as Linshui’s population had already exceeded a million, even beginning to surge towards a scale of two million.

If including the merchants who came and went and the floating population, the total population of Linshui had even approached three million, which was not on the same level as other cities.

Another large city in terms of population was Chang’an, the capital of Tang Country, which had two rivers running through the city, and its population had also surpassed one million.

Originally, these two rivers ran north and south, flanking the old capital of Zheng Country, but with the expansion of the city, these two rivers now ran through the city.

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The Forbidden City, which was previously in the suburbs, now was almost entirely encompassed within the city, and Zhuque Street had become one of the busiest streets in Chang’an City.

Because of improved production capacity, various things had also begun to become abundant: both sugar and salt had ample supply, and under normal circumstances, people could afford them.

This contributed to social stability; when people felt their lives were getting better, they would not easily become restless, questioning those rulers who lived in luxury.

Life in Tang Country had really improved; not only could they listen to various songs broadcasted on the radio, but they could also read serialized novels in newspapers and even occasionally visit a cinema to enjoy a movie for more than two hours.

The influence of big stars also stood out; the most famous male star in Tang Country endorsed cigarettes that were very popular, and many men liked to wear the plaid suits that the star wore in advertisements, standing against walls with a cigarette featuring a filter in their hands, pushing the brims of their hats down low.

At the same time, if one can afford to buy a double-door streamlined sports car, especially the one endorsed by celebrities, it would attract the attention of many young girls.

Frankly speaking, a man who can take out hundreds of Gold Coins to buy a sports car is indeed very attractive to women.

Women, on the other hand, don’t even need to be mentioned. Whatever the female movie stars wear in the films quickly becomes popular on the streets and alleys. Every woman likes to focus on those beautiful clothes and then stuff their wardrobes with them.

It’s unknown who said a profound truth, “A woman’s wardrobe is always short of one piece of clothing,” and women immediately remembered this phrase, then convinced themselves to continue indulging.

Aside from clothes, of course, there are also the expensive cosmetics: Tang Country didn’t come up with bizarre products like lead-mercury make-up, after all, Tang Mo had somewhat of a conscience while making money.

The kind of tech that encourages women to smear lead on their faces to show their complexion is doing well, Tang Mo’s cosmetics company directly phased them out.

But when it comes to the conscience of the Great Tang cosmetics company, that’s about all there is. The various cosmetics and skincare products they launched could virtually match the profit margins of cigarettes.

Never underestimate the determination of women in their pursuit of beauty and youth—their speed in spending money is not any slower than that of men when they smoke or drink.

Add in handbags and jewelry, and their combat power only increases, even exceeding that of men in some aspects.

To women, these items are the warriors’ rifles, the lovers’ hearts, their status, their life!

As the fashion capital, the women of Chang’an are on the forefront of the world. The trends that have already become popular there are just starting to take off elsewhere.

So when women from other Empires talk about Chang’an, they are incredibly excited, like a group of devotees discussing their holy city.

This feeling existed even before when they worshipped Brunas, but now… they worship Chang’an.

“I heard Chang’an had a new fashion show, but it’s a pity my godfather wouldn’t let me go,” a beautiful-faced girl stirred her teacup with a spoon and said with a smile to her best friend.

“I didn’t go either, but it’s okay, I sent a servant over, and he’s going to pack up all the clothes for me to bring back! And the bags…and the jewelry!” Her best friend was equally excited, unable to contain her enthusiasm whenever these items were mentioned.

“I’m so envious of Angie, she actually got to go with her boyfriend,” they both said enviously when another friend was mentioned.

The three of them were close friends, having hung out together since their schooldays and enjoyed a deep relationship. Each of them had also ended up quite well off, coming from wealthy families.

Now, they were all society ladies—one being the goddaughter of the Foreign Minister Somi, and another had married the oldest son of the Agriculture Minister.

The one who was doing the best had found a noble boyfriend who had just inherited a considerable fortune from his father and went to Tang Country to manage his business.

Hearing these two women giggling and chatting, a woman sitting not far away had a face that was uglier than ever.

If there was one woman left in the world who hated talking about Chang’an, it was Susan. She had once worked for the Great Tang Group and was undoubtedly the fashion guru of that time.

Unfortunately, when the Great Tang Group gave up on Brunas, she chose a different path. Back then, as a VIP in Nanla high society, she broke away from the Great Tang Group to strike out on her own.

She soon realized, without the support of the Great Tang Group, she couldn’t make it in the Empire of Nanla. Mo Kangsen, who had once supported her, no longer offered her protection.

Unable to make it in Nanla, Susan had no choice but to return to the Laines Empire, where she created a fashion brand in an attempt to maintain her prestigious image as a fashion guru.

Sadly, her brand was quickly overwhelmed by the high-end labels from the Great Tang Group, losing all its business and going bankrupt in a few days.

Having spent all her savings, she had to, while still possessing some fame, marry a noble. Without the spotlight, she naturally lost her days of being celebrated and admired.

“Damn it! These brats! They’d rather have those ugly skirts that don’t have any sense of beauty at all, instead of appreciating real art,” Susan cursed under her breath, venting her dissatisfaction.

In her view, the clothes she had once designed were countless times more upscale than the popular items in Chang’an… Unfortunately, there were too many blind fools in this world, only believing in the nobility from Chang’an, unwilling to pay for other brands.

“Sooner or later! You’ll regret it! Sooner or later! I will prove! I am…the real mother of fashion!” She gritted her teeth, almost snapping the spoon she held in her hand.