Mediterranean hegemon

In early May, Italy was full of spring, with the banks of the Po River and the Tiber River covered with green. The most beautiful season in Italy has arrived.

Contini struggled to quietly withdraw from the crowd, avoiding the eyes and ears of relevant reporters, and then got on the car waiting on the side with a happy face and drove away, looking like a complete "United fan".

Today is the day when the first United brand flagship image store was unveiled in Rome in accordance with the "United Speed" requirement. All the United brand image stores were named "United House" by Contini. In addition to Rome, they will be opened in 17 cities across the country. In the future, they will be opened at a rate of one per month - the Rome flagship store in May, the Milan flagship store in June, and then Venice, Genoa, Naples, Florence, Turin and other cities.

The Rome flagship store covers an area of ​​more than 1,400 square meters. It not only involves all the business categories currently operated by the United Group, but also displays the industrial planning of the United Group for the next three years in the exhibition hall, which is open for people to visit and comment. A three-dimensional exhibition model of nearly 6 square meters is specially made to mark various industrial layouts. There is a series of industries named after United on the planning map. In addition to United Power, United Chemical, United Steel, and United Shipbuilding, which Contini has announced publicly, there are also United Real Estate, United Advertising, United Electric, United Film, and even United Machinery and United Electric Power - dubbed by the media as the 18 Apostles of the United System.

However, a careful analysis of Contini's industrial layout shows that it is basically unrelated to Italy's traditional comparative advantage in light industry. He entered either the media or heavy industry. Although household appliances and radios are called light industries in later generations, they were all heavy industries in the 1920s.

In order to avoid suspicion from the outside world and individual consortiums, Contini did not include more core industrial ideas such as military industry, automobiles, and exploration. These are all in his blueprint, but he can do it slowly or just do it without bragging. The real thing to brag about is the media and innovative industries. For example, the second product of United Motorcycle, the sidecar three-wheeled motorcycle aimed at military use - the United Power S1 series has completed the design drawings and is expected to be launched on the market in 1924, which will become a leading trend in the industry.

Under the background color theme of blue sky and white clouds, the logo of the United Group - two hands tightly clasped together convey strength and trust, and a new route completely different from traditional Italian fashion design was born. Italian industrial products usually give people a sense of luxury and taste, but the United Group takes the middle-class main route. Even the deluxe version does not show much jewels and gems, but exudes the modern atmosphere of industrial civilization, full of a sense of the times, technology and sophistication. The unique opening signing, pre-sale, and membership system have deepened the difference between "United House" and other store business models.

However, no matter how good the industrial design and store design are, it is troublesome if consumers don’t buy it. Therefore, Contini is extremely concerned about the opening of the “United Home” flagship store. Now the atmosphere of rushing makes him very satisfied. In addition to the motorcycle exhibition area, other exhibition areas are also surrounded by many people pointing and talking. He thinks it is more sensational than when he traveled through time with Apple. It would be even more perfect if he hired a few more people to set up tents in front of the store to queue up. He plans to try it next time when he opens in Milan. In addition to business model innovation, other equipment innovations will also keep up with the pace. For example, the Naples “United Home” scheduled to open in August will install air-conditioning units imported from the United States. Although air conditioners have been invented at this time, they are large in size, consume a lot of electricity, and are mostly used to cool down the machine. Contini is determined to introduce and install them to bring coolness to Italians in midsummer.

As for the next step, designing and producing household air conditioners, refrigerators, electric fans and washing machines will be the main development direction of United Electric.

To maintain order, the guards of the United Group Warrior Club were armed with live ammunition to maintain order at the scene. The Roman police also cooperated. Grandini dispatched more than 100 police officers to help guide the crowd. Of the 20 standard United motorcycles donated to the Roman police and painted in the police logo, 17 appeared at the opening ceremony and around the flagship store. Every police officer who used them was arrogant, as if to say: See, the United motorcycle that you dreamed of and fought hard to get has now become my car!

"Boss, are you going back to the newspaper?"

"No." Contini shook his head, "Go to the base, Gian is waiting for me."

Unlike other large conglomerates, the headquarters of the United Group is not in the center of Rome but in the suburban aviation base. The Youth newspaper in Rome is where Contini works daily. In less than half a year, the newspaper headquarters has moved three times. Although they are all near the University of Rome, the houses are more magnificent and larger each time. Only the focus around the University of Rome has not changed. The reason is that many capable people in the newspaper are still students of the University of Rome. They do not have the privilege of Contini, who can skip classes as long as they submit a few papers. Most of the time, they have to balance their studies. Therefore, the Youth newspaper is different from other newspapers. It not only has a large library, but also arranges study classrooms. At the same time, it employs a group of service personnel to provide catering and transportation services, so that newspaper members can balance work and study.

But Contini's office is divided into two parts, the open work is usually done in the newspaper, and the hidden work and economic and industrial work are mostly done in the Rome base. So when he heard that he was going back to the base and mentioned Gian's name, Enzo guessed that he had an important task to arrange.

"Boss, I just got the news that the Supreme Court has agreed to accept Matteotti's request and conduct a retrial. During this process, we have been keeping a close watch and found that the important members of the Socialist Party have contacted the judges of the Supreme Court and other legal professionals at least 5-6 times. In addition to the Socialist Party members, there are also the backbone of the Socialist Party, but there is no photo of Matteotti himself. In addition, the Socialist Party may have hired several relatively famous lawyers..." Gian, who had been waiting for a long time, delivered the news just after returning to the headquarters of the United Group.

As a brave captain commander and a meritorious investigator, Gian once thrived in the army, but because the war ended and he offended some military figures in some ways, he was eventually eliminated from the army. After he quit, he thought he would go to the Roma Club to teach others how to shoot and target. Although it was a bit dull, it was better than doing nothing. Although a private detective company invited him to go, he was not interested in such trivial things. Unexpectedly, after more than a month, Contini gave him a brand new task - to form the "Dark One".

Gian didn't know what the Dark One was used for, but when he heard about the personnel and work requirements for the selected Dark One system, his eyes lit up - they were all special personnel with special skills, including fighting, assassination, disguise, spying and other skills, which meant that the boss wanted to form a brand new secret organization. At the same time, two deputies were selected. One was drawn from the Roman police and was considered a local snake familiar with all aspects of the situation. The other was drawn from the Contini family and was considered a manager who was proficient in business and the upper class.

Although Contini's opinions were vague and the Dark One looked like ordinary intelligence collection and data analysis, Gian knew very well that if he only engaged in such work, his future achievements would be limited to this. If he had higher aspirations, he would run this secret organization well.

Tailing the Socialist Party is the first battle of the Dark Ones!

Ps: Please recommend a book by a historical author, "Werewolf Killing in the Ming Dynasty". It is said that the author is a very cute little sister. If you are interested, you can go and take a look...