Mediterranean hegemon

On November 29, Contini and Antonio boarded the train to Frankfurt. There was a very interesting episode on the way.

Contini didn't know the train's departure time at first. When he learned that the train was scheduled to leave in 10 minutes and he was still 15 minutes away from the train station, he was a little dumbfounded. Plus, how could he make it in time to check in tickets? But Antonio was not in a hurry at all, and the driver who drove them was also not in a hurry, and the rhythm was still the same.

"Hurry, we're going to be late."

"Young Master, there is no need to worry, it will definitely not happen..." the driver Locke turned his head and said in a very humorous tone, "In my impression, the trains at Rome Station almost never leave on time."

"But didn't father go and try to catch the accuracy himself?"

"Yes, I happen to be sitting at the train station today."

"Then it can't be done on time?"

"No, the station master knows that we bought the tickets for this train. No matter if it's on time or not, at least he won't leave until we arrive!"

Well, Contini was immediately speechless: On the one hand, his father, who is the Minister of Transport, is personally responsible for ensuring on-time performance, and on the other hand, the Minister of Transport’s son has the privilege of not starting the train until he arrives. I am really drunk when I think about it. The Italians are indeed Still so cute!

"Doing this won't interfere with my father's work, right? If the outside world knows that the Minister of Transport, who is clearly focused on punctuality, opened a back door because his son missed the train, public opinion will definitely not miss the opportunity to criticize him."

"No, no, no, young master, you don't know how complicated the situation is. The master and I spent a day at the train station and figured out where the problem lies." Locke said enthusiastically, "Delays caused by management, technology, and operations are only part of the reason. At best, it’s only delayed by 15-20 minutes. The key is that various calls to the station manager’s office and the dispatch office asking them to delay the departure are the real culprits of the delay.”

Contini was stunned by the situation Locke described: On the first day that old Ciano went to the station dispatching room to stay on site, he received 17 calls asking to postpone the departure time of the train, including newspaper reporters, a certain aristocratic wife, and the daughter of a certain director. , the son of a mayor's friend, and so on. The reasons are endless, such as oversleeping, being in a meeting, eating, etc., there are all kinds of reasons for wearing makeup that are annoying.

As a result, the stationmaster did not dare to make any mistakes that day, because the minister was watching, so he had to order all flights to complete technical preparations before departure. As a result, those dignitaries who called could not even get close to the dignitaries, and could barely be regarded as getting to know the dignitaries. The passengers finally came to the stationmaster's office and roared because they missed the train, which made old Ciano furious. When the last group of people saw that the minister was here, they didn't dare to make any mistakes, so they had to leave angrily.

"So adults have given two names to delays: the first is called technical delays; the second is called telephone delays...Technical delays are usually 15-20 minutes, no more than half an hour at most. Telephone delays are not necessarily limited to one time at most. I was delayed for 4 hours, saying it was because a certain adult wanted to finish watching the comedy before taking the train, so all the passengers on the train were waiting there.”

Contini was sweating furiously. He finally understood what old Ciano meant when he said that day, "The problem has been identified, but it is very difficult to deal with. The management is far more difficult than imagined. I have to take charge personally." Force majeure only accounts for a small half of the factors, and most of the time it is human interference.

"How is it handled now?"

Sure enough, it was 10 minutes after the normal driving time when Contini got on the bus. The station staff were still checking tickets slowly, and the passengers were boarding slowly, without any sense of urgency. Antonio and Contini took their time. He quickly found the first-class carriage he was riding in. Ten minutes passed in a flash, and there was still no sign of the train moving. Contini, who was impatient with waiting, called the conductor: "What's going on? The technical delay has passed, right?" Didn’t you just say that the train will start when we arrive?”

If an ordinary person asked this kind of question, the custodian would not even be able to see the conductor in person. But now that the minister has spoken, the conductor did not dare to neglect. With a smile on his face, he comforted Contini: "Don't be anxious, sir. I'll be there soon." Go ask!”

But Contini soon knew that there was no need to ask, because the old Ciano walked to the carriage he was in accompanied by someone, followed by a lot of people such as the station director and deputy station director.

"Calais, this is the Minister of Aviation, His Excellency Douhet. He is also going to Germany this time."

"It's an honor to meet you, Uncle Douhet." Contini said quickly, "I have read your book "Air Dominance", which is really the cornerstone of air force doctrine. If you have time, can I ask you a few questions? The problem..."

Douhet stretched out his hand to shake hands with Contini and laughed at old Ciano: "Young Master Ling is really interesting. He is worthy of being a rising political star who can make a name for himself in Rome. That article "One Doctrine, One Party, The masterpiece "A Leader" is much more widely circulated than my book..."

"This young man is just fooling around. You have to give him a lot of beatings so that he doesn't know the limits of the sky and the earth."

Before driving, the old Ciano specially called Contini down to explain: "Mr. Douhet is a very knowledgeable person, and now he is the Minister of Aviation. You should ask for advice with an open mind; when you go to Germany to inspect companies, you should also investigate carefully and study in depth. , don’t get lost in the reception. If you want to be in politics in the future, these are essential qualities.”

"Yes! Father, I've got it." Contini nodded. He understood the intention of old Ciano to introduce Douhet to him - this is a father trying his best to help his child cultivate the ladder of politics in advance.

"Don't be greedy when you go to Germany for speculation. You can stop when it's almost done. If the situation turns around, Antonio's people will help you control the loss. Don't bet everything on one thing... If you have anything, please contact me in time. I should be at the train station if I'm not in the office recently. You are still young and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

"I understand." Contini asked, "Do you think this phone delay and technical delay can be solved?"

"It can be solved, but it will take some time. Now at least solve the phone delay first, and then slowly solve the technical delay." Old Ciano sighed, "Now one task is not completed, and a new task has come. The leader has ordered me to start tomorrow and use a week to solve the problem. Transport the Blackshirts stranded in Rome back to their hometowns."

"Send all the 300,000 back?" Contini was shocked, "That's impossible!"

"There are not more than 300,000. Some of the Blackshirts near Rome have returned on their own, and the other part will continue to maintain law and order in Rome. The most important thing now is to settle the 60,000 people in the south back - these people have no jobs in Rome, they have to be consumed every day, and various chaos occur from time to time, which is a great pressure on the government. The leader has been worried for many days."

Contini looked at old Ciano with sympathy: it is always easy to sabotage and find faults, but it is difficult to build and improve management. 60,000 people plus the mess of the Italian railway system are really enough for old Ciano.

"However, I think this is also a good opportunity. If you use it well, it will be useful for your management."

"Tell me about it."

"It is obviously the most important task at the moment to settle the Black Shirts back home as soon as possible, and it is not easy. If someone below is not doing a good job or you don't like him, you can take this opportunity to get rid of him. The Ministry of Transportation has to manage the whole country and enforce railway discipline. It cannot be without authority!"

Old Ciano just smiled with relief and said nothing. He just waved goodbye, but Contini guessed from his father's smile that he probably thought so too. How can he hold his position without some tricks?