Munitions Empire-Chapter 900 - King of Arms 823

Chapter 900: King of Arms 823 Chapter 900: King of Arms 823 Paper is an important carrier of modern civilization; before the advent of electronic storage, the production of paper could even determine the speed of a civilization’s development.

Tang Country had the highest paper output in the world, with a scale so immense it made other nations green with envy. Not only did Tang Country produce a complete range of paper types, but its production capacity was so substantial that the country even began to actively promote the use of paper for wiping one’s bottom.

This was no joke, but rather a true compliment. In years past, ordinary people were reluctant to use paper to wipe their behinds.

Most of the time they would just find a grass stick or something similar to make do; some even went so far as to use their hands. In short, it was an era that, upon recollection, seems quite disgusting—a tradition still continued in other countries.

The people of Tang Country, in fact, rarely abused their bottoms with such messy things anymore, especially once they realized that loo paper was actually very cheap.

Though the cheapest loo paper made in Tang Country was really not of good quality, it was still far more effective than other methods. At least with loo paper, you wouldn’t accidentally hurt yourself while wiping.

Beyond loo paper, Tang Country also mass-produced a variety of textbooks, greatly improving the learning efficiency of its citizens.

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With the intentional support of Tang Country’s upper echelons, all sorts of simple literacy manuals were distributed everywhere. Even those who were completely illiterate could at least write their own names now.

The schools in Tang Country now used more paper for textbooks in just one year than the rest of the world used for copying classics in the past.

It was precisely because there was so much paper, and using it was not a cause for heartache, that civilization was able to increase its speed of inheritance and spread.

Some of Tang Country’s technical blueprints were incredibly large, far exceeding the dimensions of paper from the past—something that was once unimaginable.

These large sheets of paper not only improved efficiency but also made it truly possible for engineers to convey their design ideas more intuitively through large-scale drawings.

Color printing was no longer a novelty, but combined with color photographs, it made the dissemination of information and knowledge more accurate and vivid.

Nowadays, elementary school textbooks in Tang Country are all color illustrated. The combination of text and images is vivid and lively, greatly increasing learning efficiency.

This would have been impossible in the past. The exquisite quality of Tang Country’s elementary school textbooks now far exceeds the printing technology level of the most important documents from bygone days.

In all seriousness, it was the advancement of paper and printing technology that made Tang Mo’s decision to expand the scale of talent cultivation possible. It was also these knowledge-bearing books, now widely popularized, that put the world on the fast track of progress.

Imagine today, you could casually tear up a sheet of white paper, crumple it into a ball, and throw it in the trash because a single word was written incorrectly or because a math problem was not solved to your satisfaction. Yet in the past, a sheet of the same quality paper could only be afforded by the Emperor. How could such a slow and limited spread of documents carry the weight of progress?

Tang Country did not tolerate idlers: if officials and lower-level bureaucrats discovered any idle persons, they would quickly find a way to assign them work.

Distributing flyers, sweeping streets… in short, if you were capable of working, then you were expected to work.

For those who repeatedly cheated and shirked their duties, the officials of Tang Country were not merciful—they would genuinely flog them, then send them to a “Reformatorium” for forced labor of even greater intensity.

If they still refused to obey, the solution was simple: send them to an even harsher place. There were reeducation camps and slave camps; there was always one suited for the indolent.

In other words, it was a very strict wartime management system: all civilians were managed, taught, and allocated according to the nation’s needs, with punishment meted out for the slightest disobedience.

By comparison, farming in Siberia seemed somewhat gentler. But for those refugees who previously couldn’t even manage to fill their bellies, the life provided by Tang Country was the stuff of their dreams.

So long as the starting point is low enough, expectations won’t be too high: it was by leveraging these low expectations of the common people that Tang Mo forced them to rise to the task and contribute brick by brick to the construction of Tang Country.

Under this highly efficient and somewhat brutal system, idle ne’er-do-wells were a rare sight in Tang Country, and the employment rate was close to one hundred percent.

However, how many innocent souls perished unjustly behind this facade, how many unfortunates cursed their fate from within the labor camps—only heaven knows.

Surprisingly, under this severe system, the cities of Tang Country were not desolate but sickeningly prosperous and lively.

The streets were filled with people out for leisure after work, and over time, the colors of their clothes on the streets began to change and dazzle with variety.

Initially, some off-white began to appear. Later came brown and dark red, and then flamboyant pink and red became beautiful accents on the streets.

Cars started to sport a spectrum of colors as well. Bright red and white had become very common, and blue or beige also gradually increased in number.

The buildings in Tang Country were initially unattractive because the emphasis was on construction speed, so these buildings were essentially of one style and so clean on the outside that they lacked any decoration.

Fearing immature technology and shoddy workmanship due to rushed construction, the building teams of the Great Tang Group also refused to put any decoration on the exterior of the buildings, which would not only waste materials but also be susceptible to damage.

Thus, the buildings in Tang Country were all simple, bulky rectangles adorned with countless windows, arranged in a neat order reminiscent of a military barracks.

Such structures could not possibly be considered aesthetic, at most revealing a sense of order tinged with helplessness.

However, soon, as time passed, many streets started to strive for a bit of individuality—they would add a few extra bricks on the rooftops, building faux crenellations to increase the sense of beauty.

Then some buildings began adding vertical strips of decorations on their facades, which was soon followed by homes with protruding patterns around every window.

Later on, the variety increased with cement patterns and carved stone creatures. The orderly vibe of Tang Country’s cities began to break down, and the beauty of steel and concrete started to bloom in the corners.

Those foreign artists who had seen the Forbidden City in Tang Country did acknowledge the presence of artistic beauty there. They marveled at the grandeur and magnificence of the entire Imperial Palace, yet they sneered at the prosperity of Chang’an City.

For them, the skyscrapers of reinforced concrete, while sufficiently awe-inspiring, lacked any sense of “aesthetics.”

But on the Forbidden City and Zhuque Street, they saw another side of Tang Country, full of the ambiance of literature, art, and ancient charm.

In the eyes of these artists, Tang Country was schizophrenic. Their His Majesty The Emperor was simply a treasure of the art world, while the other architects “just knew how to build houses,” that’s all.

In a sense, the art of Tang Country truly was severed, exuding a clear, chaotic, “bizarre state” of cultural bifurcation.

According to the normal historical development of aesthetics, it was impossible to explain the chaotic and wild state of art development in Tang Country. Therefore, these artists from afar were practically driven mad by the beauty and ugliness of Tang Country.

This was, in fact, an inevitable phenomenon because all these disparate beauties were directly copied by Tang Mo, the transmigrator from another world.

It’s simple: if one only looks at the Rolls-Royce cars with their lines full of opulent grace, then the aesthetics of Tang Country would undoubtedly be seen as the pinnacle of beauty.

But if you look at the “People’s” brand cars running through the streets, their straightforward lines combined with the rough welding work, it would cause someone who had just seen a Rolls-Royce to vomit blood.

If you had seen the wonders on the Forbidden City and Zhuque Street and then went back to look at the ten- or twenty-story concrete buildings on Chang’an Street…you would probably have the illusion of a splitting headache.

In short, this was a hodgepodge, with cheese bubbling temptingly in the pot, while scallions and coriander rolled back and forth with these bubbles, garnishing the beef brisket and giving off the aroma of masala.

If some poet were to see such a magnificent city, the bright red palace walls against the gray steel and concrete forest next door, he might write: “Red drapery and flowing willow beauty, iron walls and bronze ramparts cold,” or some other sentence he himself couldn’t make sense of.

Actually, this didn’t matter much because given the air quality in Tang Country…especially in Tongcheng, even if Li Bai were to come, he probably could only manage to write quatrains. For seven-character lines…he would need to cough a while before making himself clear.

It’s just a pity that Li Bai never saw trains, nor skyscrapers, and of course, he never saw ballistic missiles and carrier rockets…

Otherwise, his boastful words would certainly be of a higher level: if he had seen the buildings of Chang’an, he would probably insist that a dangerous building needs to be at least a thousand feet tall…

Despite the severe fissure in aesthetic development in Tang Country, Chang’an still became a holy place in the hearts of many artists.

Because just like in the Brunas Era, every burst of inspiration exuded a refined intelligence. It was as if pooling the blood, sweat, and tears of millions of people, emitting an enchanting glow.

In Chang’an, one art festival after another was held, already world-renowned since the Brunas Era.

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It was only at this moment that people were surprised to discover that it wasn’t Brunas that was dazzling, but the genius who established Brunas.

“He is an artist hindered by worldly matters!” exclaimed a contemporary sculpting master in front of the gate of the Forbidden City.

“You’re wrong, he’s an engineer whose future was held back by art,” retorted a technician who came on a pilgrimage with disdain.

“You’re all desecrating an educator! You have no idea what he means to the education sector,” murmured a bespectacled man from behind them.

“Heh…if you had seen a White Phosphorus Bomb, you wouldn’t say that,” said Feng Kezhi in a voice that no one heard. Standing in a corner, he looked up at the walls of the Forbidden City: “He is the king of the munitions industry!”

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There will be another update later, which will be quite late, so everyone can read it tomorrow morning.