War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

January 1, 1845, Essen, Rhineland.

At this time, Krupp Steel was not the arms tycoon of later generations. At this time, his name was Krupp Cast Steel Shop.

It is written on the wall of the store that it specializes in all kinds of high-quality agricultural tools, cooking utensils, as well as finishing parts and machine tools. Large quantity will give you the best price. Welcome to buy.

There is also a small line below: Siemens and Halsk Telegraph Company.

These two giants were forcibly brought together by Bismarck, but at this time neither Krupp Steel nor Siemens could compete with the powerful industry of the Austrian Empire.

However, they were not overwhelmed. In addition to Bismarck's help, the Kingdom of Prussia heavily subsidized its own industry.

Therefore, they still maintain strong competitiveness in Prussia's own market, even stronger than in history.

The market in the German Confederation seems a bit weak, mainly because the steel industry of the Austrian Empire is relatively large.

In fact, Franz could also use the power of capital to directly crush Krupp Steel to death, or even directly prevent Siemens' telegraph company from opening.

But that seems a bit shameless, and may affect the iteration of technology and make the world more boring.

Instead, Franz planned to help them.

A luxury carriage was parked in front of the Krupp Steel Casting Shop and Siemens Telegraph Company, followed by several temporarily rented carriages and dozens of tall guards.

In fact, there are many dignitaries and wealthy businessmen among the people who come to discuss business. However, firstly, the number of guards is small, ranging from one or two people to as many as three or four. Secondly, there is only a sense of tension.

Although these people did not put their weapons outside at this time, the feeling of oppression was undeniable.

Inside the store.

"Hello, Ms. Thalia. We are just businessmen, not teachers, and we are even less likely to teach in a girls' school."

Friedrich Krupp had explained it in his gentlest tone, but the other party seemed unmoved and just kept complaining.

"This coffee is too bitter. Don't you have sugar in your store?"

Friedrich Krupp smiled bitterly: "The sugar is all in your coffee. In fact, I think coffee is used to refresh yourself, not to flavor the sugar."

"No! You are wrong. Eating sugar can not only refresh you, but also provide energy for your brain. In addition, it can relieve fatigue and warm your internal organs."

Rebuttal in person, especially by a woman, almost made the somewhat traditional Mr. Krupp unable to step down.

Mainly in this era, being refuted by a woman is a very shameless thing.

On the contrary, Werner von Siemens on the side found it interesting and interjected.

"That's what you taught the doctors to say, but they should be referring to brown sugar."

"I'm a Protestant, and I don't believe in witch doctors." Krupp emphasized.

Thalia stretched her body and said indifferently.

"Sugar is a good thing anyway."

"Yes." Siemens smiled, but he didn't feel offended.

Thalia: "Well, I don't have to drag you to Vienna."

"Do you still want to open a girls' school in Prussia?"

Friedrich Krupp said angrily that although he thought it was unlikely, there was no telling what the other party could do with the support of the Austrian royal family.

Thalia laughed. She didn't care about the other party's attitude. After all, she had received a lot of cold looks.

"You have a really rich imagination, but I still advise you not to refuse in a hurry."

"Why? This is Prussia, not Austria."

Thalia snapped her fingers, and a group of big men immediately came in from the door, scaring Krupp and hurriedly fled behind the table.

Afterwards, three heavy wooden boxes fell heavily on the table. Werner von Siemens's eyes immediately lit up. He felt that there was probably a huge sum of money here.

It's just that as a Prussian soldier, as a nobleman, and as a Protestant, you should not sacrifice your life for Austria.

At this time, Talia also stood up and walked to the three wooden boxes and opened them one after another. There were no gold and silver jewelry inside, but some books, notes and the like.

"Here are all the current research notes and experimental records in the field of electricity in the world, and new results that will appear in the future will be continuously sent."

In fact, Thalia was also very depressed. She didn't understand why she wanted to find someone who ran a steel company to conduct electrical research. However, there were so many weird things happening to Franz that she didn't bother to think about it.

"satisfied?"

Krupp didn't know what these research notes in the field of electricity contained, because the knowledge was too advanced for him.

But Siemens had already walked to the table and started looking through those precious notes. He knew what electricity could bring to the world in the future, and he had always been convinced that he was the person who could change the world.

Siemens: "What do you want?"

Thalia didn't hesitate, she directly explained her purpose.

"Technology sharing, of course, is only between us and cannot be leaked to third parties."

"What do we mean?"

Siemens immediately became alert. Although Rupp usually received more state subsidies and even received low-interest loans from the royal family, the former was a Prussian officer after all and was deeply influenced by patriotism.

"Between Austria and Prussia."

"Thank you, it's settled."

"Don't worry, we have one more request, that is, you need to give priority to the research and development of generators."

"dynamo?"

Siemens was a little confused because there were actually many simple generators on the market at this time.

For example, hand-operated, pedal-operated, wind-powered, water-powered, and even steam generators developed under the auspices of Franz.

But these so-called generators are either unable to be used in industrial production, are inefficient, or are extremely unstable and cannot work for long periods of time.

If it is forced to be used in industrial production, then unless it is aluminum smelting, a hugely profitable industry can make money, otherwise it will be a loss-making business.

Franz also tried to let Austria develop it unilaterally, but the reality was directly blocked for several years, putting scientific progress into a bottleneck period.

The key to breaking through this bottleneck is electricity, so he must solve this problem at all costs.

It was impossible to defeat Britain in the steam age because the opponent's first-mover advantage was too great. However, in the electric age, those advantages would become a liability.

As for what to do if Prussia masters the technology? Franz is not too afraid, because the size gap between the two sides is there. Unless the technological gap can be improved, it will be difficult for Austria to lose at this time.

"That's right, it's the generator. The current generator can't meet our requirements."

“So what kind of generator do you need?”

"If it can supply the whole of Vienna, it is best if it can supply the whole of Austria. And it is best to be cheap, because it will be easier to promote."

Thalia thought about what Franz had said before, and Krupp on the side listened to these words and said in a strange way.

"He is indeed a lunatic. He is more terrifying than the iron lunatic in England. The whole Austria? Why don't you the whole world!"

But at this time, Werner von Siemens was already overwhelmed. He grabbed Thalia's arm, and then the latter subconsciously threw her over the shoulder.