Mediterranean hegemon

On Christmas Eve, Contini finally returned to Rome after being abroad for more than a month. Old Ciano was personally waiting to pick him up at the station. Contini's eyes lit up with a black car - it was clearly a Fiat 505!

Seeing his son looking at the car intently, the old Ciano introduced it with a smile: "The special version of the 505S given to me by Fiat is not available on the market. I feel it is okay to ride it. It is faster than a horse-drawn carriage and is very comfortable." The carriage is getting closer, but the only drawback is that the noise is louder than the carriage, and sometimes there is a choking smell of gasoline..."

"The car body is okay, but the sealing is a bit poor. The noise is mainly caused by the engine compartment. In addition to the hood that needs to be shielded with sound-absorbing materials, other doors, floors and even ceilings should be covered with sound-absorbing materials..." Contini carefully said After looking at the car body, he finally came to the conclusion, "We can still keep pace with international trends in appearance design, but the manufacturing process needs to be improved. If Fiat wants to promote it, it must implement standardized assembly line operations."

In fact, the shortcomings of Italian industry are obvious: in a long-term workshop system development environment, it can produce relatively advanced and modern industrial products, which are not inferior to similar products in Britain, the United States, France, and Germany. However, once it reaches large-scale , assembly line production, it is easy to fail due to output problems - either it cannot produce a sufficient number of qualified products, or it barely has the quantity, but the quality is uneven, and the gap between good and bad is too big. This problem is caused by the historical situation that Italy was divided for too long and was not unified until the completion of the first industrial revolution or even the beginning of the second industrial revolution. In addition, the domestic market was divided and the terrain was divided between the north and the south. This problem in the mother's womb will be transmitted to later generations. None of them can be cured.

Therefore, as soon as Italian products are made into handmade versions or limited editions, they immediately appear high-end and unique to international standards. Once they become popular and popularized, they will languish. This problem could not be corrected until the era of Contini. Alfa ·Romeo and Ferrari are both top brands in the world, but their output is really appalling. It's fine in peacetime, but it's over when there's a war, especially a long-term, sustained war.

The second flaw of the Italian industry is that it likes to be extravagant and superficial, and is unwilling to work hard. Take the automobile industry and the aviation industry as examples. Italy’s design level is good, even ahead of international trends, but its engines are always poorly built and suffer from heart disease. This is not so much due to insufficient accumulation and R\u0026D. It is said that Italians like to be in the limelight due to their national personality.

Take this special version of the 505S as an example. The appearance and design are very good, but annoying little problems such as noise and sealing cannot be cured. Fiat is still a first-class manufacturing representative. If you switch to other brands, it may Even more unbearable.

The old Ciano deeply agreed with his son's criticism, but Fiat's affairs were not easy to handle. He smiled slightly and said in an approving tone: "It seems that you learned a lot during your inspection in Germany, and you know how to calm down." Let’s go down and see the problem. Get in the car first, your mother is waiting for you at home.”

After getting on the bus, Contini no longer paid attention to the car, but quietly asked: "Father, have you received the money? How is the situation with United Motorcycles going?"

"Everything went very smoothly. I circled a piece of land of more than 100 hectares on the outskirts of Milan. There were originally some factories on it. I had people make adjustments according to the industrial layout and planning. I also ordered according to your requirements and the suggestions of the engineers. A batch of new technical equipment is expected to be completed and officially opened in March next year. The leader also knows about this and said he will attend the opening ceremony in person. "

"It may also be necessary to build a group of staff dormitories. I brought a group of people back from Germany."

"Germany? Who did you poach? How many people are there?" [Readers who have not seen the relevant content after "Iron Cross" 404 can follow the Weixin public account "Moonshadow Wutong" to get the follow-up plot]

"I bought a motorcycle design drawing from BMW, and then hired more than 20 engineers and experienced technicians. They will report one after another after the New Year."

In fact, Contini's poaching behavior was already anticipated by BMW. It would be difficult to understand it as quickly as possible based on a drawing without relevant technicians and engineers. Since Contini only poached the middle and lower-level backbone, BMW was happy to pretend to be confused - —Now they have too many employees and can’t afford to lay off employees. It’s affordable to offload some employees, as long as Contini doesn’t serve as chief designer!

"It's easy to arrange for more than 20 people. There is a residential area next to it. Just rent more houses. The dormitories will be built slowly and there is no rush." ​​Old Ciano said with a smile, "I originally thought you would recruit people from China, but I didn't expect it. You have already made up your mind to go to Germany."

"These 20 people are just the beginning, and there will be more and more after the New Year." Contini sighed, "It's not far from the time when France and Belgium capture the Ruhr area, and the German economic system will soon face collapse. At this time, I will recruit a group of engineers. If the Ministry of Transport has construction needs for railways, highways, and bridges, you can also hire them from Germany. The price of hiring a German engineer is not high. "

The old Ciano nodded in agreement: His son's judgment has been verified once again. The red line of December 31 is getting closer and closer. Now it is too late for Germany to fulfill its obligations, although diplomats are still making final efforts. , but it feels like a futile struggle. However, he is a little concerned about hiring too many German technicians. The unemployment rate in Italy is now very high. If he hires more technicians from outside, he is afraid of causing public criticism.

"I have thought about this problem. In fact, I also need a lot of Italian engineers and skilled workers, but their problems need to be corrected. I introduced Germans to use the rigorous spirit and hard work of German industry to brainwash Italians. Italians are not short of limbs or intelligence, so why can't we do it when the Germans can?" Contini said seriously, "I can't change the working atmosphere of the whole country, but I can't change my own company, right?"

"That's right!" Old Ziano smiled, "The Ministry of Industry and Commerce will thank you when the time comes."

After returning home, Contini finally saw his mother: a typical aristocratic woman, in her 40s, elegant and magnificent, with an extraordinary aura. He called out awkwardly, "Mom, I'm back." Then he didn't know what to say, his mind was blank. The other party was not surprised at all, and did not know that his beloved son had been replaced. He still kept saying "Calais long, Calais short..." like when he was a child. Contini was caught off guard, but he finally adapted to this atmosphere and adjusted his mentality - you have occupied someone else's son's body, but you are still so shy, what a bastard.

Besides, his family really supports him: if he wants to have capital for speculation, old Ciano mortgages his property to get a loan; if he wants to have status, the minister and the son are always talking about it, and there are people to help him with everything; even his life is arranged very well, the house is bought, the furniture and decoration are all ready, and even a maid is assigned. What else can be said about life at this point? Contini's goal that he had been struggling for 20 years in the 21st century was fully realized in less than 2 months here.

He gradually smiled, talked about his study career in the past two years and his experience of inspecting in Germany, and took out Christmas gifts for the two: his father got a box of top-grade Cuban Havana cigars, and his mother got a diamond necklace, which was worth a lot at first glance. If it were in the past, old Ciano would have accused him of spending money recklessly, but now he doesn't want to say such things - his son is richer than himself, and spending this amount of money is not even a drop in the bucket.