Mediterranean hegemon

When Antonio called the newspaper, Contini was quietly writing an article in the editorial office, but this time it was not for the Youth Daily to publish, but he was writing a historical paper on "Rupture and Continuity: Culture, Religion and Institutions in Italian History", systematically expounding the cultural heritage of Italy's more than 1,000 years of history since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD until its reunification in 1866, and arguing that although the Italian Empire in the full sense did not exist, there was at least a relatively unified cultural heritage, which was the root of the formation and struggle for unity of the modern Italian nation.

After traveling through time, Contini found that the most embarrassing thing was the law major that Xiao Ziano studied. He was not familiar with the law, and he was not prepared to conduct academic research in the field of law, let alone study the Italian legal system in the 1920s. But he couldn't lose his student status at the University of Rome. On the one hand, he needed a dazzling diploma to enter the upper class, and on the other hand, he had to rely on this student status to continue to expand the influence of the Young Italy League. Contini's main energy was now focused on business, speculation, newspapers, leagues and other matters, so his studies had to be compressed as much as possible.

After thinking about it, he decided to transfer to the history department, which was his strong point. Due to his social status and influence, the transfer application was successful as soon as it was submitted. The law department unfortunately lost a rising political star, and the history department welcomed a famous student.

However, teachers and classmates regretfully discovered that although Contini was registered under the name of the history department, he rarely came to class. Even though skipping classes was common among college students, he, the focus student, received too much attention. Not only several professors, but even the department head and school leaders came forward to persuade him to put some of his energy into his studies. In order to prove his academic level and not be surrounded by heavy courses, Contini tried his best and finally got the professors' consent to use this paper to replace the study content of this semester.

This article is also Contini's graduation thesis in the undergraduate stage before crossing. In addition to the new feelings in the past month, it feels very good to write it at a fast speed. Unfortunately, there is no computer and it has to be laid out stroke by stroke, which restricts the progress. The content of the previous part has been affirmed by the professor in advance. It is believed that his research level has surpassed most of the students and he really does not need to follow the class. However, it is recommended that he finish the whole article in order to give the academic year grade - this is the greatest accommodation that the history department can give.

Contini can only laugh secretly. He is a doctoral graduate from the University of Rome and is writing a sophomore thesis in the field he is most familiar with. If he cannot surpass his classmates, he will have lived in vain.

"Master, the master asked me to inform you to go home for dinner tonight. The wife is also here..."

"Uncle Antonio, I'm glad to hear your voice." Contini said happily, "That's great. Our family is finally reunited. I will go home early."

"In addition..." Antonio lowered his voice, "The loan application to Germany has also been approved. The master used the family property as collateral and borrowed 3 billion marks with an annual interest rate of 50%. The bank draft will be issued tomorrow and can be used as soon as the day after tomorrow."

Contini raised his eyebrows: "It's so fast this time?"

"This time the master accelerated the negotiation speed, and the German side also cooperated, so the speed was very fast." Antonio thought that Germany provided the loan so quickly in order to finalize the vehicle transaction as soon as possible. In fact, the German side was under pressure from Britain and France and hoped to exclude Italy from joining the claims.

When the cabinet meeting was asking for the opinions of ministers on the issue of compensation from Germany, Ciano Sr. put forward a very valuable viewpoint - "An overly powerful Germany is not in the interests of Italy, and an overly powerful France is also not in the interests of Italy's country." He suggested maintaining "equidistant diplomacy" between Germany and France and cooperating with Britain's "continental balance of power." This was very attractive to Mussolini, who did not want to follow France and was submissive, and he agreed immediately. Germany learned of this news, and as a gesture, it naturally gave Italy some preferential treatment in commercial cooperation.

"In addition, the Frankfurt market capital account has also been opened. For the sake of safety, it is divided into three accounts. After the funds arrive, we plan to inject capital in a proportion of 5:3:2." Antonio reminded, "But the interest rate for the mark loan is 50%."

"Cheap! Too cheap!" Contini said happily, "After receiving it, you must convert it all into US dollars or pounds as soon as possible, without wasting a minute!"

"Do you really think the mark will depreciate by more than 90%?" Antonio has also read some analysis and generally agrees with Contini's conclusion, but the necessary reminder is still necessary. "Some bankers believe that the mediation of Britain and the United States will eventually succeed, and the reparations crisis It's just a false alarm at best."

"I'm sure the French won't turn back until they hit a wall. There will be jaw-dropping results in the middle. Just wait and see. Will you go to Germany with me?"

"The preliminary arrangement is this: the train tickets have been bought. We will leave in the evening of November 29th. The first stop will be Frankfurt. If you have any other needs, you can also tell me and I will take care of it."

"I need to install a telex machine in the newspaper office to receive the latest news. I also need some mainstream economic and financial newspapers for daily reference. After all, I can't stay in Germany for a long time..."

"No problem, it will be done within 3 days."

"Uncle Antonio, if it is convenient, can you arrange for me to visit large companies in Germany during this trip abroad, such as Siemens, Krupp, Mercedes-Benz, etc.?"

"Siemens and Mercedes-Benz are definitely fine. They are the providers of vehicle trade for the Ministry of Transport. They will be very welcome to visit. Krupp is in some trouble. It is said that French supervision has been conducting investigations and suspects that Krupp has hidden secret production lines and other Patent drawings, how about changing to another company, such as BMW? Maybe you will like their new motorcycles, and there is no problem in bringing one back.”

"Okay, let's go see a BMW. But forget about motorcycles. I don't feel safe. I would rather choose a car - if I make money, I will buy a car for my family. The Mercedes-Benz is pretty good... ugh... ...Forget it, just buy a Fiat and have fun, my father is the Minister of Transport.”

Antonio was very pleased with Contini's maturity: Indeed, there is nothing wrong with the minister's request for a magnificent luxury car. Public opinion is completely understandable, but if even the Minister of Transport takes the lead in using imported cars, the public opinion will be too ugly. Use Fiat cars. It's different. This is a national enterprise and an enterprise that has very close ties with the Ministry of Transport. It has to be given this face.

In the evening, as soon as Contini mentioned the topic of buying a car, Ciano Sr. laughed: "If you choose Fiat, you don't have to buy it at all. They will give me a car of the latest model and hope that I will start promoting it to the government." Currently, many government members and business celebrities are still riding horse-drawn carriages. Fiat really wants to do this business, and the Agnelli family also invested a lot of shares in the establishment of the bus company. "

The current helm of Fiat is Giovanni Agnelli, but Contini knows that his son Edoardo Agnelli will soon take over as the helm, and then Fiat will usher in a new development. However, Fiat is currently encountering some problems. Their best-selling model during World War I was the Fiat 501 produced for the army. This is a compact small car that can be used to perform general military tasks and is used by dignitaries and celebrities. But the car was far from up to snuff and not as comfortable as a horse-drawn carriage.

Now that all military orders have disappeared and other commercial orders have failed to come up, no wonder Fiat is anxious.

"There are some problems with Fiat's positioning. Although the 501 model is very useful, it is still too expensive for Italians. It is impossible to popularize it, at least for now, but they can broaden their horizons and send this model to There will definitely be markets for sales in France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Far East. The Ministry of Transport can work together to develop it. As for the domestic market, it is recommended that they use luxury cars to open up the situation..."

"I heard what you said is very reasonable. Why don't you go to Fiat Company for me next month and have a good chat with them." Old Ciano smiled, "Recently, I want to focus on the problem of train delay rate. The problem is to find the correct answer. But it’s very difficult to deal with and the management is far more difficult than I imagined. I have to go and take charge of it myself.”

"Okay, it just so happens that I am going to Germany this time to have a look at the automobile industry. When I come back, I will communicate the inspection results with Fiat." Contini found that the old Ciano really used him as the assistant to the Minister of Transport, but Considering that the old man had just mortgaged all his belongings to finance his own speculation, and sent a butler to take care of all other matters, he really had to help with this errand.