shadow of britain

Chapter 548: Accurate German Flattery

Steel and weapons are symbols of a country's strength. Only the strongest steel can forge the most powerful weapons.

—Alfred Krupp

The noise of the quarrel in the corridor soon attracted the attention of Arthur and Disraeli.

Mr. Disraeli, who had come all the way from London, sneered and said, "Arthur, did you hear that? This guy actually wants to sell German industrial products to a school where a British is the director."

Perhaps in more than half a century, German products will be labeled as the best in the world.

But in 1833, industrial products in the German region were cheap and of poor quality.

In the divided German states, the companies there could neither find high-quality iron ore nor master the advanced industrial technology like Britain. So in most cases, they could only rely on protective tariffs and lower labor costs to compete with the surging British goods.

However, even in Germany, their products are not competitive at all. Any slightly more affluent family will tend to choose British products when purchasing goods.

In the export market, "Made in Germany" has almost become synonymous with counterfeit and shoddy goods.

For the same two items, the one with the 'Made in Germany' label is generally more than 30% cheaper than the one with the 'Made in Britain' label.

But even so, more customers choose to buy 'Made in Britain'.

In order to find a way to sell their own products, cunning German businessmen would often go against their conscience and label their products as "Made in Britain".

What makes British manufacturers most angry is that these Germans who claim to be rigorous will make complete sets even if they are making fakes.

Not only will they label their products as "Made in the UK", they will also go to Britain in person to inspect the British manufacturers they are benchmarking against. Even if they cannot catch up with British products in terms of quality, they will at least imitate the appearance of their products exactly.

In this regard, the cutlery industry in Sheffield, the textile industry in Manchester, the instrument and watch industry in London, etc. have all suffered greatly.

As for why Disraeli was so disgusted with German products?
This is all thanks to the Tories' disastrous election defeat.

As the Tory Party currently has only a little over a hundred seats in the House of Commons, even a relatively inexperienced political newcomer like Disraeli has been entrusted with important tasks by the party.

Sir Benjamin Disraeli is now not only a Member of the House of Commons, but also one of the ten members of the House of Commons Railways and Industrial Infrastructure Committee.

Given that Britain currently does not have a government agency specifically responsible for industry and railways, Mr. Disraeli's position in the House of Commons is essentially equivalent to the top ten positions in the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Although he is not a minister, he is better than a minister and has to deal with representatives of British industrial circles every day.

In the course of dealing with them, Disraeli often heard complaints about the "small commodities" from Germany.

But no matter how much the industrial representatives complained, Disraeli could not help them solve their problems.

After all, there were no anti-counterfeiting trademarks or inventions such as barcodes that could help distinguish true from fake. Therefore, Disraeli could only watch German fakes run rampant in the market.

For a young man who has just been elected as a member of parliament, there is nothing more annoying than dealing with troubles that he cannot solve.

However, although Disraeli did not treat Krupp well, Arthur became interested in this young salesman who looked about the same age as a college student.

There was no particular reason for this interest, it was simply because the young man had a special last name.

Just like Ohm who studied electricity and Bismarck who raised wolfhounds, in Arthur's memory, Krupp who made steel in Germany was also a very interesting surname.

"What's going on here?"

Arthur walked towards Krupp.

When the office administrator saw Arthur coming, he immediately reported to him: "Sir, this liar wants to sell his fake products to our laboratory at the University of Göttingen."

Upon hearing this, Krupp could not help but retort: ​​"Sir, I must emphasize that I am not a liar, I am a factory owner, and Friedrich Krupp Steel Foundry is my family business. Moreover, we do not produce inferior products. Although Krupp Steel Foundry is only a small factory, our products are no worse than those of the British!"

"Oh? Really?"

Arthur saw Krupp's face flushed with anger and thought the young man was quite interesting.

The office administrator was obviously angered by Krupp's words, but because the supervisor was present, he couldn't get angry directly, so he could only suppress his anger and asked: "Do you know what experimental equipment we want to order? Astronomical telescopes, theodolites, sextants, total stations and levels, these equipment can only be made by the most professional manufacturers. Are you going to tell me that your factory's products are better than those made by Trotton & Simpson and Peter Dorond Optical Instrument Company!"

The name of Troughton & Simpson is well-known in the European astronomy and geographical surveying circles.

They are world-renowned for their precision mechanized metal processing technology, and the precision of their instruments is the best in the world both in astronomical observation and geographical surveying.

Because of this, Troughton & Simpson became the instrument supplier to the Royal Society. Not only that, they also provided the Royal Greenwich Observatory with many famous astronomical telescopes, including the first equatorial telescope in history.

As for Peter Dollond Optical Instrument Company, this time-honored brand founded in the 18th century is currently the world's leading optical instrument manufacturer. Their navigation instruments such as sextants are deeply trusted by the Royal Navy, and many well-known British astronomers are also loyal fans of their company.

William Herschel, the British astronomer who discovered Uranus, and his son John Herschel were particularly fond of Dolonde's products.

In addition, Mr. Elder Carter, a legendary Royal Navy cartographer who was a rigorous person and rarely gave high praise, also rarely praised the company's instruments.

According to Mr. Carter, Dolonde's improved sextant is hundreds of times better than the traditional sextant for latitude positioning.

Although Krupp did not want to admit it, as a small Prussian steel plant, he certainly knew that he could never compete with these two British scientific instrument manufacturing giants.

Seeing that he was silent, the office manager snorted again, "Perhaps this standard is too high, but if you can produce the same quality as Lerbul & Secretan, I think Mr. Gauss and his team won't mind."

Hearing this, Arthur couldn't help but laugh and said, "Karl, you are too harsh. The products of L'Erbre & Secretan are no worse than those of the first two companies. Their position in the French instrument manufacturing industry is also very important. When I visited the Paris Academy of Sciences before, more than half of the precision instruments used there were made by them.

If I remember correctly, there should be a refracting telescope produced by them in the school observatory. And the spectrometer in the optical laboratory seems to be made by them, right? I heard from Mr. Gauss that it seems that both of them are antiques bought during the Napoleonic Wars? "

The office administrator pursed his lips when he heard this: "Sir, you have a good memory. But now is not the time to learn history. You don't understand, if I don't speak more decisively, this guy will not give up. These salesmen are always like this, before you place an order, they can praise the product to the sky, but once the goods arrive, they disappear without a trace."

When Krupp heard this, he became so angry that his face turned red.

He knew that it would not be easy to get an order from the University of Göttingen. After all, it was one of the best universities in Germany, and their purchase orders were the fat meat that all major European instrument manufacturers were eyeing.

Whoever can get the order from Göttingen will have enough money to survive even if the business is not open for the next few years.

After all, whether it is an astronomical telescope, spectrometer, electrostatic machine or biological microscope, none of these instruments are cheap.

If Krupp could win this order, even if it was just a small piece, it would be enough to bring his 60-person steel foundry, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, back to life. In other words, if Krupp was not facing the crisis of bankruptcy, he would not have come to Göttingen to try his luck.

Arthur had no idea what Krupp was up to. Although he didn't mind throwing a few orders to Krupp, the prerequisite was that the other party's product quality must meet the standards.

After all, purchasing scientific instruments is different from the Italian Revolution. Mazzini and Garibaldi could not guess how much money the British Foreign Office allocated to them, but scientists such as Gauss and Weber could tell at a glance whether the instruments they received were useful.

When it comes to purchasing equipment, Arthur would rather spend a little more money to buy reliable products. He doesn't want Gauss and others to jump ship while he is the school supervisor.

Although Krupp is not very old, as a businessman who inherited a steel plant at the age of 14, this is his eighth year in this business.

He quickly found the key information from everyone's words. The annoying old administrator who always spoke ill of him was not important at all. The guy who really had a say in the school was the young man. And from what the old man said, it seemed that the boy was a noble?

Krupp stepped forward and stood between Arthur and the administrator, and asked with a smile on his face: "I forgot to ask you just now, who are you?"

Arthur took off his hat and smiled politely, "Arthur Hastings, the proctor of the University of Göttingen."

"Proctor?!" Krupp seemed to have grasped the core of the problem. He quickly shook Arthur's outstretched hand and said, "Nice to meet you! I am Alfred Krupp, the manager of Friedrich Krupp Company. Nice to meet you, Mr. von Hastings."

"No, no, no." Arthur waved his hands repeatedly: "No von, it's Hastings, I'm not German."

Krupp smiled brightly, as if he had guessed something: "Ah! Foreigners! Damn, I should have thought of it earlier! It seems that Hanover, like Prussia, likes to find talented foreign nobles to serve as officials."

After saying this, Krupp looked at Disraeli behind Arthur and asked, "Who is this?"

Arthur introduced: "This is my friend, also a foreigner, Mr. Benjamin Disraeli."

Krupp greeted Disraeli enthusiastically: "Hello! Mr. Di Israel, as soon as I heard your name, I knew you were an Italian."

Arthur corrected him: "It's not Di Israel, it's Di..."

Unexpectedly, before Arthur finished speaking, he heard Disraeli shout: "Damn it! You actually guessed it right."

After these words came out, it was Arthur who was surprised: "Benjamin, you changed your last name?"

Disraeli said with an unhappy look on his face: "It's not that I changed my last name, but my original last name was Di Israel. Have you forgotten? I am a second-generation immigrant. My grandfather was born in Venice, the wealthy city of Italy. He was an authentic Italian Sephardic Jew. You should know that the Italian middle name 'Di' means 'from', just like the German 'von' and the Dutch 'Van'. The real meaning of our family name is 'from Israel'."

"From Israel?" Arthur counted on his fingers. "Then it seems that your family has been rooted in Venice for quite a long time."

Agares, who had been lying on the fence watching the show, added: "To be precise, it has been rooted in Venice for 2,400 years. The Hebrew Kingdom established by King Solomon split into the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south after his death. Samaria, the capital of the Kingdom of Israel, was conquered by the Assyrian Empire in the eighth century BC."

Arthur frowned and asked Disraeli: "Benjamin, why did you change your last name when you have nothing to do? Is it because you don't like this last name that has both Italian and Jewish characteristics?"

"Not really, I'm proud of my Jewish heritage and my family's Italian heritage."

Disraeli said, "But, Arthur, you know that my father is a famous writer and historian. I have always been called 'Mr. De Israel's son' since I was a child. I hate this title, and I don't like being called the son of someone. In my opinion, this is a kind of disrespect for my years of hard work. So, I removed the dot in the middle of my surname. From then on, I was no longer someone's appendage, but the unique Mr. Disraeli."

When Krupp heard this, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "You changed your last name, doesn't your father have any objections?"

"Of course he disagrees. He even swore at me."

Disraeli smiled proudly and said, "When I first changed my last name, my father was furious when he saw my newly printed business card and scolded me for not respecting the tradition of the Disraeli family. I told him that only people without ability would say that. Someone as capable as me would naturally become the tradition of the whole family in the future. I told him that I would definitely be elected as a member of parliament and even become prime minister in the future. My father didn't believe it and swore to me that if I was elected as a member of parliament, he would change his last name to be the same as mine."

Krupp listened with great interest: "What was the result?"

"The result?" Disraeli laughed. "Now my father has got what he wanted. Not only has my father's business card become Disraeli, but even my sister's last name has become the same as mine!"

Krupp originally thought Disraeli was joking, because the other party looked no more than 20 years old, but he was a British MP. Krupp, who was also a young man, could not help but be surprised and asked: "You...you really got elected as a member of parliament? And as a Jew?"

"As a Jew? No." Disraeli pulled his red bow tie cockily. "As a capable person. There are many Jews in Britain, but as far as I know, the Jew who was elected to parliament before me was named David Ricardo."

Krupp complimented him at the right time: "Although I don't know much about economics, I have heard of the name of David Ricardo, who is a leader in the British economics community. I didn't expect that at such a young age, you can already stand shoulder to shoulder with a figure like Ricardo."

Although Disraeli tried his best to appear calm, the smile in the corner of his eyes betrayed him.

Although he was elected as a member of parliament, Disraeli was obviously not incapable of playing the role of a shrewd politician in the eyes of the audience. He was born with an extraordinary desire to perform, always liked to stand in the center of the stage, and did not like to hide everything in his heart.

Disraeli turned the conversation to his old friend at the right time. He put his arm around Arthur's shoulder and said, "Not only Ricardo, but Sir Arthur Hastings beside me is a disciple of Jeremy Bentham. At the same time, he is also the first person in the UK to be knighted as a policeman. Don't blame me for not reminding you that Arthur is an expert in scientific instruments. If he hadn't been sent to the University of Göttingen as a supervisor, he might have been working in the laboratory of the Royal Society by now. He is a master in electromagnetism."

"Of course. How dare I commit fraud at the University of Göttingen?"

Krupp's face was full of sincerity, but his eyes kept winking at Arthur and Disraeli: "Would you two like to have a word with me for a moment?"

As a duo who had handled the Liverpool urban renewal project, Disraeli and Arthur knew what this guy was trying to do as soon as they saw his performance.

It seems that things like project bidding and equipment procurement are not just British characteristics, but also the same in Germany.

Disraeli glanced at Arthur and said with a half-smile, "It's a bit hot today, why don't I treat you two to a drink?"

Krupp felt relieved when he heard this.

This order is promising!

He saw the office administrator walking away, and then he asked with a smile: "This is the biggest difference between foreign officials and German officials! No wonder Prussia and Hanover like to hire foreigners to serve as officials in Germany. If it were a German who served as the school supervisor, he would have asked me for money by now, and you, you two actually want to buy me a drink!"

The three of them were walking side by side. Arthur couldn't help laughing when he heard Krupp's words: "Are German officials corrupt?"

"Oh! It's more than just corruption!"

Krupp pretended to grit his teeth.

"Take my hometown of Essen as an example. The local tax officials there were accused of embezzlement two years ago. These bastards not only intercepted the government's tax revenue by falsifying tax accounts, but also imposed many non-existent taxes on local merchants and farmers like me. Some people also took advantage of their power to buy farmers' land at low prices and resell it to nobles or merchants at high prices to make huge profits.

As for the military, it was even more of a mess. I had bid for a military procurement contract before, and although our price was obviously lower, we just couldn't win the bid. Later, I found out that the top brass of the Prussian military usually only gave military supply contracts to their relatives and friends, and received kickbacks and bribes from them.

Not only were the military supplies they supplied of poor quality, but military expenditures were also greatly overstated. This kind of corruption directly affected the military's combat effectiveness and caused huge financial losses. Although the military conducted several internal investigations and several senior officers involved were dismissed, due to nepotism among the top brass, it would not take long for the offending officials to be reinstated.

After speaking, Krupp sighed and said, "In comparison, foreign officials like you two are much easier to deal with. The relationship is not that complicated, and you don't beat around the bush. The kings and grand dukes of various states are also very confident in you, and they are not as strict on you as they are on German officials. I used to wonder why this was the case, but later someone told me that this is because foreigners with outstanding talents like you were personally invited by the kings and grand dukes. Could it be that the kings and grand dukes made a mistake and carefully selected a corrupt official?"

(End of this chapter)