Mediterranean hegemon

This roaring voice was all too familiar to Contini. Except for Douhet, the Italian Minister of Aviation and an authority on the theory of air supremacy, there was no one else. The Minister of Aviation came down from the stairs angrily, followed by a sobbing woman with a look of grievance on her face. child.

"Teacher, what's wrong? You don't like it?"

"Who likes these incomprehensible things? Take me away quickly, and I'll give this back to you!" Duhei's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot, and he patted the gift money into Contini's hand. He said, "Calais, I'm not telling you, you should focus more on the right path and less on crooked ways."

"Teacher..." Contini smiled bitterly, "I know you are upright, but..."

He pointed to other rooms that were gradually getting dark, "How many of them refused?"

Du Hei's face froze, and his tone slowed down a little: "Then you can't join the others."

Contini first asked Antonio to arrange for the models rejected by Douhet to leave, and then sighed and explained: "I know that the teacher is upright and can't stand these practices, but this is the reality of Italian politics. Hegel said that existence is reasonable. Before I have the power to change all this, I can only adapt to this set of rules, otherwise I will not be able to survive. Each circle has its own rules, and this is true in the political and business circles. The best I can do is manage myself as your disciple. I'm only 20 years old and haven't graduated from college yet, but I already have the titles of 3 ministerial assistants and 9 company chairman hanging on my shoulders. Soon there will be 3-5 more companies that need to be formed. They no longer bring children to see me. But treat me as a person who can talk to you on an equal footing. In this case, I can’t help but understand the truth.”

Duhey nodded slightly. Contini has indeed made achievements at this age that no one can match.

Seeing Douhet's tense face relax, Contini also breathed a sigh of relief and blinked: "In order to realize the lofty ideals, it is necessary to make some temporary compromises. The teacher's own bumpy experience must have explained a lot, to a certain extent. I have learned from your experience and lessons. You don’t want your only disciple to secede from the mainstream before he has grown up, right?”

These words made Duhei fall silent. He thought of his rough and unsatisfactory experience for most of his life. He seemed to think that what Contini said was somewhat reasonable, but he was too embarrassed to say it directly. Finally he said: "Calais, I It’s understandable, but it’s hard to learn good things, but it’s easy to learn bad things. I hope you can stick to your heart and don’t lose your way in the feasting and greetings. The career you want to achieve is very big and far-reaching.”

"I know, teacher, I won't forget it." Contini smiled, "I won't stay in the hotel myself, let alone spend the night with a model. I can control this. I will go back with Uncle Antonio in a while. "Go to the base, there are hundreds of pilots and other personnel waiting for me to settle in."

Duhei patted him on the shoulder: "Sorry, I may have spoken too harshly just now. I hope you don't think too much about it. These paratroopers are well trained, and the motorized assault in the end is also interesting. Others regard it as a stunt, but I am a military officer." Literacy and new tactical drills. ”

"Teacher, I hope so. I hope you will take care of me and correct me in the future."

Douhet sighed: "I will step down after the establishment of the Independent Air Force in May, and the leader himself will concurrently serve as the top commander of the Air Force. If you have anything else you need me to do in the past two months, please hurry up."

Contini knew that this was inevitable, but he still held on to the last glimmer of hope: "Can't the teacher continue to stay in the army? Even if he does not serve as a commander, he can still be a consultant, right?"

"No, first of all, I want to make some noise without restriction, and it is inconvenient to have an official status; secondly, the leader himself is sensitive to military power. If I continue to be here, he may not feel comfortable."

"Then if you retire, I hope you will agree to serve as a consultant to United Airlines. This title will have no official color."

"Let me think about it." Duhei nodded noncommittally, "It's getting late. You should go back to the base early. Pay attention to safety on the road."

On the way back, Contini said to Antonio: "Uncle Antonio, at the dinner just now, Secretary of War Diaz and I whispered that the leader hopes that I will help him train a group of leader guards according to the method of guard training, and it will be up to him to select them. The selection and training costs will be borne by us.”

Antonio was shocked: "This is a big expense, it's best to decline politely."

"It is impossible to refuse politely. It is difficult to refuse from the leader. However, Diaz also knows that there are economic factors involved and said that he can compensate us in some subtle ways. What kind of compensation do you think we should ask for?"

Antonio also felt a little troublesome if he couldn't give money directly. After pondering for a long time, he said, "What do you think, young master?"

"The three cities of Bologna, Florence, and Cagliari will find me land to build a new aviation base at a more favorable price; in addition, they will coordinate a loan of 60 million lire, and the interest will be calculated according to normal commercial standards, but the Ministry of War or the Prime Minister's Office will need to come forward. Make a soft guarantee.”

The so-called soft guarantee means that the government's top figures and bankers give instructions for loans but do not issue official letters and do not guarantee the government's obligation to repay on their behalf. To put it bluntly, it is a credit guarantee.

Antonio was a little surprised when he heard that the loan would continue to be 60 million lire: "This will bring the loan amount this year to 130 million lire, and the interest expenses alone will be nearly 8 million a year."

"Everything is difficult at the beginning, and you have to bear the price. Besides, the market is so big now, and the companies behind me, including United Steel, United Chemicals, and United Shipping, have made rumors, so we must do it."

Antonio pondered for a moment and thought that there were still tens of millions of dollars in the United States, which was worth 200 million lire, so the risks were basically controllable, so he said: "If you really want to borrow money, then just borrow more, start with 90 million, and see how much the Army Department can bargain for. As for the land, there is no need to lower the price too much, just give a proper discount. Now Matteotti is staring at it like a mad dog, and we can't give him a chance."

"Then I'll entrust this matter to you. I have a headache when I think about dealing with bankers. At my age..."

"No problem, I'll do it." Antonio smiled, "Master, I find that I have a new understanding of you. I always thought you spent too much money on these guards, but from the effect of today's scene, it is indeed excellent; I was also a little worried about this grand opening and launch ceremony, but now it seems that the feedback is also good. , the latest statistics just now show that more than 300 motorcycles have been ordered today, only a few of which are standard versions, and most of them are deluxe and commemorative versions. At this rate, I think sales will be considerable, perhaps far exceeding the estimate of 200 motorcycles per month. "

"My estimate is 500 motorcycles per month, so I have arranged such a large production system and personnel." Contini smiled slightly, "In two days, there will be a ceremony in Rome to donate 20 motorcycles to the police station, which can create momentum again and promote it to part of the government system. I think the police, customs, army, and postal service can all use it. Just give them the standard version."

Antonio quickly calculated: the X1 series is priced relatively high, and the gross profit can reach about 40%. If it can really achieve an annual sales of 6,000 vehicles, then the net profit margin is expected to exceed 25% - the more the number, the more obvious the scale effect, and the higher the income. As for income tax, there is no need to worry about it. The young master has so many loss-making units under his control, and he can make the account even by making a transfer payment casually. This is finally a consolation for the heavy losses.

He nodded slightly in his heart. For the first time, he sincerely believed that Contini's seemingly nonsensical business moves actually contained a lot of power. If multiple ecosystems can really work together, he believed that in a few years there will be a prosperous day!