Mediterranean hegemon

The Alliance Dinner was finally held at the Alessandro Hotel. Although it is not the best hotel in Rome, it is still one of the best. Hearing that the new Minister of Transport, Mr. Ciano, would also attend, the hotel manager was busy like a top. Not only did he give up the most luxurious box, but he also specifically instructed that the best chefs and the most famous dishes should all be sent here. From morning to evening, he worked all day. In the end, he not only gave Contini a VIP card, but also gave him a 20% discount.

Even with a 20% discount, it cost more than 10,000 liras. The Alliance members who witnessed the scene were all amazed. On the one hand, they were shocked by the luxury of the hotel, and on the other hand, they were shocked by the high price. At the same time, they were full of expectations - this was not only their first time to dine in such a luxurious hotel, but also their first time to sit down and dine with senior government officials. Although the Ministry of Transport is not the most outstanding among the various government departments, it is attractive enough for college students. All the alliance directors and newspaper members, no matter what their usual image is, are all dressed in formal clothes today. The female students are all dressed up and arrived at the venue early to wait for the arrival of the Minister.

Boji has been teasing them: "I said why are you dressed so beautifully? This is not the way to get close to the Minister. Galai is here today. Let's see if he won't come back to settle accounts with you."

"Humph, Galai didn't say anything, why do you care!" Now everyone is familiar with this dandy boy, and they talk casually.

"Your attitude is not friendly... You know, the dinner was paid for by this young master."

"I know, you have money, why don't you change the hotel and treat us again tomorrow..."

"Forget it, I won't argue with you." Boji turned his head away angrily and said nothing.

Contini knew that this guy was actually very proud of himself: he was allowed to speculate. This young man somehow persuaded Grandini and swindled nearly 300,000 liras from his family. He was surprisingly bold and invested all of it. When asked what he bought, he didn't know anything. Fortunately, this oversold rebound was a general rise, and the varieties he bought blindly also rose with the trend. It was just that he entered the market several days late, and in the end he only got a small profit. He stopped after making nearly 200,000 liras.

But he wanted to brag again. He first called Grandini to brag, and then he boasted in front of the alliance members. As a result, he was caught by a bunch of directors and treated to dinner. In the end, he had to pay for the banquet - which made him bleed.

Compared with Poti, Contini is much more mature and stable in other people's eyes. He doesn't brag about how much money he makes, nor does he show off that his father is a minister. He looks very low-key, but he is very good at speaking, debating, writing articles, etc. - the female classmates dress up for Contini rather than for old Ziano.

But they are destined to be busy in vain, and the latter has no time to think about these things - after all, he is not the real little Ziano, and his mind is still full of the shadows of his wife and children before he traveled through time. He can't forget everything and start from scratch or even get hot with other women right away. This goes against his principles as a human being.

This performance was praised by others: he was indeed a rich second-generation official from an aristocratic family, low-key, restrained, cultured, and generous, different from a playboy like Poti. Several girls' eyes were all sparkling. Now the whole University of Rome knew this celebrity...

The clock quickly pointed to 6 o'clock, and everyone went down to welcome the old Ciano. In less than 5 minutes, the latter's car appeared in everyone's sight - first the secretary got off, then the special commissioner, and finally the new Minister of Transport Mr. Costanzo Ciano came.

The hotel manager also squeezed into the crowd to welcome him. The old Ciano first shook hands with him and thanked him for his careful preparation, and then shook hands with everyone and thanked them for their hard work - if his son was not there, he could just say a few polite words to explain it, but now his son was there, and he made it clear that these were his trusted team, and as a father, he couldn't help but say a few more words.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Today I am here to visit you on behalf of the leader, and I am also here to thank you for your help to Calais as a father. From Calais, I learned that you have done a lot of great work for the establishment of the alliance, for the arrival of the Black Shirts, and for the promotion of the leader's policies and ideas. From you, I see the vigorous and enthusiastic youth image of the young generation of Italy, and feel the down-to-earth and dedicated patriotic sentiment. I am very happy and relieved. Italy has great hope for the future. As long as we follow this correct path, the goal pursued by the leader and you - Italy's prosperity and strength will surely be realized soon with our joint efforts!"

Everyone applauded this encouragement and then took a group photo at the entrance of the hotel. Needless to say, this photo and related news will definitely become the front page headline of Youth Daily tomorrow.

Contini saw more from the excited eyes of the crowd: with the recognition of the top government officials, a good start, and unprecedented favorable conditions, this team will surely play a further role and will surely spread its influence from Rome to the whole of Italy.

The correspondent Mussolini arranged for Youth was very interesting. He was a secretary who had worked for Ciano Sr. and was now the deputy editor-in-chief of People's Daily and concurrently the director of the External Liaison Department. With this relationship, Contini was worried that the correspondent would not interfere in the future - no matter what, he had to save face for Ciano Sr.

Mussolini actually thought so too. After all, Contini was the one who built the Youth. He only took 50,000 lire from the Blackshirts, but he made so many contributions. It was not reasonable to interfere too much. Although the special commissioner still had to be sent, his main focus was still on the People's Daily. He only had a symbolic management relationship with the Youth. After all, Contini could not play against his father.

Old Ciano sat for more than half an hour, chatted with everyone for a while, toasted once and prepared to leave - after all, he was a government minister, with his status and position here, it was impossible for him to accompany these college students to make a fuss all night. He could also see that with him and the special commissioner around, these kids couldn't let go.

Before leaving, when only the father and son were alone, Contini took out a check from his suit pocket: "Father, this is the money you gave me a few days ago."

"You didn't spend it?"

"I used it and made some money."

Old Ciano took a closer look and saw that the number written on the returned check was 180,000 lire. He couldn't help laughing: "I didn't expect you to be able to make money."

"It's not bad. I made more than 500,000."

"How much?" Old Ciano was surprised.

"More than 500,000!" Contini told the story of speculating in the capital market in detail.

"Since you have the ability, I won't take the money back. You can keep it for your future use."

"But you need money too."

"No..." Old Ziano looked around and saw no one around. He lowered his voice and said, "I just took office as a minister. A lot of people came to give me money. They are all important people. I have to deal with them in the future. I have to accept them. So I am not short of money for the time being."

"Then...what if I ask you for another sum?"

"How much?"

"Is 10 million okay? 20 million is best!"

Old Ziano was shocked: "Why do you need so much money?"

"I... I have chosen a speculative target and plan to do it well, but the situation is a bit complicated and cannot be explained in a few words. "

"I have other banquets to attend now. I will wait for you in the office around 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. The leader will convene a cabinet meeting after 9 o'clock. One hour is enough for you to explain it clearly, right?"

"Enough, enough, I will sort it out today and report it to you tomorrow."

Old Ciano patted Contini on the shoulder: "Son, don't be too stressed, you have done a great job, better than I thought, we are not in a hurry, we can take our time..."