At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, imperialism had already carved up the colonies and semi-colonies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and due to the uneven distribution of various countries, the contradictions arising during the transitional period of imperialism could not be reconciled in a short period of time, and the antagonistic contradictions between the old and new colonialism began to intensify. In order to re-divide the world and compete for world hegemony, the unprecedented global struggle has sounded the alarm of war.

On June 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Archduke Dinan and his wife were stabbed to death in Sarajevo, the capital of Serbia. A month later, Austria-Hungary, instigated and supported by Germany, formally declared war on Serbia on the grounds of the "Sarajevo Incident". Then, the Central Powers led by Germany and the Entente led by Britain and France began to resort to force, opening the prelude to World War I.

As the battle progressed, there were some subtle changes in the battlefield between the belligerents, which directly led to the situation that the German Empire was facing a situation of fighting on the eastern and western fronts, especially the stalemate on the western front, and Britain, France, and Germany all paid a huge price.

August, a month that is taboo for many parts of the world, is not destined to be peaceful. As the then commander-in-chief of the Eighth Army of the Eastern Front in Germany, Maximilian ? Feng? Prittwitz lacked actual combat experience, and the commander-in-chief of the Tsarist First Army, the Russian First Army led by Kampf and the Russian Second Army led by Samsonov, drove straight into the army, and successively occupied Galicia in Austria-Hungary and East Prussia in Germany.

Soon Koblem, the German High Command von ? Moltke sent a telegram to the Eastern Front informing the Commander-in-Chief of the Eighth Army, Maximilian ? Feng? Prittwitz and Waldzer, then chief of the General Staff of the Western Front, retired on the spot, and their work was carried out by the new commander-in-chief, Paul Brown. Feng? General Hindenburg and the new Chief of Staff Erich? Replaced by General Ludendorff.

In order to better serve the two-front battlefield, the German Empire had to carry out a huge distribution of mineral resources throughout the country, and the focus of the previous energy strategy was changed from daily necessities to military industry.

Because it was wartime, whether it was a government dignitary or an ordinary employee, entering and exiting the city had to be subject to extremely strict inspections by the military police. Eric? Adrian is here today, but instead of going to Unter den Linden to attend to the company's business, Adrian is invited to attend the regular weekly meeting of the Ordnance Committee held today.

It was an extraordinary meeting, chaired directly by the military. Since it is a redistribution of resources, it will inevitably hurt the immediate interests of some people, Eric? Adrian knew in his heart that this meeting between the government and the capitalists to quench their thirst and cut their shares to cure hunger was a good show.

The smoky conference hall is filled with the mixed smell of raw cigars, wine and sashimi. The gentlemen and aristocrats, who were usually extremely elegant, suddenly transformed into shirtless homeless people in the streets and alleys of Kudam, roaring and accusing in the solemn and solemn parliament hall, and some simply climbed over the human wall, rolled up their sleeves, and stood on the long orange bars in the council hall to shout against this redistribution of resources.

The soldiers who were responsible for guarding the venue did not have the slightest intention of stepping forward to obstruct them, or watching the excitement and listening to the quarrels was far better than the boring standing guard. Obviously, they are used to this situation, in other words, such a phenomenon is not something that the soldiers can solve.

Adrian sat down in the corner, took out a brand new cigar, lit it laboriously, and looked lively.

"Wait and see, you may be going to be squeezed for oil today." A shriveled and lean old man with a mouth full of wine tucked a shiny cane under his armpit, tied a black bow tie, sat on the empty seat beside Adrian with a big grin, and said as if to himself: "I have a very reliable insider, Mr. Adrian, your mining company already accounts for half of the country's resources, and this time it will definitely be difficult to escape." ”

Adrian ignored it, he knew who this person was, Karl, the owner of a local start-up business in Germany? Benz. However, Adrian knew that the current Benz Motors Company was not well-known because the entire industry was in the initial stage. Benz is nothing more than an ordinary Karlsruhe native of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. In the distant future, the brand gradually became known to the people, until it became one of the world's giants in this industry - Mercedes-Benz.

The corners of Adrian's eyes twitched involuntarily a few times, Made, God knows how much blood will come out this time.

While Adrian was still thinking about how to avoid greater losses, an officer with the appearance of a colonel swaggered into the hall surrounded by several guards, and stood straight in the center of the rostrum. The originally noisy venue slowly quieted down, and the gentlemen and aristocratic tycoons who were still fighting for their own interests just now began to find their real seats.

A middle-aged man managed to find his seat in the corner, but in his seat sat Eric? Adrian.

"Mr. Eric, your seat is there, please move and leave this seat to me." The middle-aged man politely pointed to the empty seat at the front of the council hall and politely made a gesture of please.

Adrian was not pretentious, he had no intention of sitting in this oblivious corner, but when he first entered the venue, everyone was too noisy to look for a makeshift and perhaps pin-and-needle seat in the smoke-filled atmosphere.

On the rostrum, the colonel's expression was extremely serious, and first waited quietly for Eric? Adrian sat down, then scanned the room with his characteristic, eagle-like eyes. He was obviously not a master of greetings, so he only straightened his hat and went straight to the topic: "Gentlemen: in 1913, the national coal production was 460 million tons, pig iron was 32.11 million tons, and raw steel was 34.22 million tons...... In 1914, the country's coal production was 420 million tons, 33.42 million tons of pig iron, and 41 million tons of raw steel......" After reading the thick pile of materials in his hand, the colonel took a sip of water and continued: "The issue of the distribution of resources, the government and relevant experts have passed repeated discussions, and we don't have to fight for it, the cake is so big, considering the current situation on the Western Front, the plan of the General Staff is to tilt the quota of raw steel to the defense and offensive weapons and equipment manufacturing industry, and the people's livelihood enterprises, in addition to the continued production of existing military orders, other companies will reduce the quota this year, and the specific data will be sent to you in a detailed document. ”

Before the colonel's words fell, all the livelihood entrepreneurs behind Adrian couldn't sit still. Since the beginning of the war, but more than a year, the proportion of resources of people's livelihood enterprises will decline every 2~3 months, the authorities' headache, foot pain, care for one or the other, coupled with the scarcity of social material supply, soon led to a surge in prices, the cost of living of the people continued to rise. Obviously, the reallocation of resources is the first to bear the brunt of the majority of small and medium-sized livelihood enterprises, which are already struggling, and in the long run, they will be even worse and miserable, and they will inevitably be unable to sustain themselves, or even directly squeezed out of the capital market. Records show that dozens of companies filed for bankruptcy last month and began bankruptcy liquidation. At present, the contradiction between supply and demand in the market has become increasingly prominent, and many large-scale livelihood enterprises have been in the intermittent situation of raw material supply. Operating costs are constantly increasing, and in order to survive, individual companies have to start cutting corners or adding costs to their products to ensure the "normal" operation of the enterprise. The people pay directly for the war, which can grit their teeth and get through it in a short period of time, but if the time is too long, the unemployment rate will continue to rise, causing an artificial economic crisis, which will inevitably cause panic in the society, and what is more terrible will directly lead to a crisis of confidence in the government, and make the people lose patience with this protracted war. War is a meat grinder, war is a money-burning furnace, and war is also a catalyst for science and technology, relying on the support of GDP, national children and science and technology, in other words, fighting a country's comprehensive strength......

Just when the meeting was happy and sad, the colonel ordered the soldiers to send the documents to the entrepreneurs present.

The document is classified as a third-class confidential information, and the mouth of the bag is tightly sealed with mud.

When a group of distribution data is presented in front of the civilian entrepreneurs, the whole venue is like an explosion. The reality is that their peace dividend is gone, and the days of sharing resources are over.

Sitting opposite Adrian are the giants of the Empire's military-industrial complex, and it is clear that the balance of fortune will be completely tilted in their favor today, and they will be able to win without a verbal war, without a big fight, and they seem to have come today only to collect a debt that should have belonged to them, and they are now the supreme creditors. At this moment, these creditors did not show obvious elation, nor did they show obvious smugness, because they knew what it meant to steal fun, so they only needed to sit upright, only need a humble smile, and the whole venue, they were more like a group of the most obedient children. Adrian knew that these old and spicy military-industrial giants had been crawling around in the treacherous market for decades and had accumulated a wealth of pseudo-reserve, so in their eyes, what sat behind them was actually a group of wealthy beggars, whose hearts were suffering from the gifts of reality.

The fierce war between the east and west fronts of the empire is in full swing, and the supply and demand of military products are booming, and with the continuous escalation of the war, weapons and equipment will only tend to be in short supply, and there will be no surplus, which makes the military industrial enterprises once again see the bloody sun.

The colonel, who was standing on the stage, did not rush to stop the disgruntled entrepreneurs, but set his eyes on Adrian. As a manufacturer that straddles both military and civilian categories, Eric Group has not been on the rise for too long, because of its strong mining of geological resources and paramilitary management, it has done well in all the industries it has been involved in. As is customary in the Empire, this is usually not allowed, but the top brass who are actively preparing for war cannot find the corresponding laws and regulations to sanction it, so they secretly acquiesce to the rapid expansion of the Eric group. Eric? Adrian's Eric Group has received enough convenience and dividends to make other companies blush, so the return he gives to the empire has become an infinite speculation.

There is no competition for resources, no foul language and complaints, and a needle dropped in the entire venue can feel earth-shattering. The Colonel is embarrassed, Eric? Adrian can't open his mouth, but today's topic can't be delayed, the battle on the front line is tight, and all the armies are reaching out to themselves for money, food and equipment, especially those generals who are always dissatisfied with their hearts, all of them are eager to eat themselves alive. The Colonel shrugged and motioned to Adrian: "Give me a word, boy. The reason why he always looks at Adrian is very simple, the natural resource exploitation of Eric Group accounts for half of the country, and the other 50% of the mineral resource owners have been scraped down layer by layer for nearly a year. In fact, the colonel understands very well that forcible assignment is not impossible, and he is afraid that it will cause unexpected adverse consequences. It's easy to poke the basket, but cleaning up the situation is not as simple as others think, after all, Adrian is not only a business such as mineral mining, and the proportion of his dual-use products is also not to be underestimated.

At this time, a series of salute orders from the guards came from outside the venue, and then the heavy military leather boots and the sound of the guards' orders intertwined in the corridor outside the venue. It should be a big official, and there are quite a few followers, Adrian said in his heart.

At the moment when the guards opened the door of the venue, the colonel on the rostrum quickly made a straight posture, turned to the left, and raised his right hand to salute the visitors......

The entrepreneurs sitting in the front row hurriedly stood up and took off their hats to greet them.

Paul? Feng? Hindenburg, because of his good management of the army, proper command, and outstanding military achievements, he had just been promoted to field marshal and became the commander-in-chief of the German army on the Eastern Front. His arrival came as a great surprise to the Colonel and all the entrepreneurs present. Wasn't this famous and powerful veteran general on the front line commanding the German army on the Eastern Front to attack cities and seize land? Why did it suddenly appear here? Everyone was puzzled.

Paul? Feng? Field Marshal Hindenburg was dressed in a neat and straight dark gray woolen marshal uniform, with high-waisted black general boots on his feet, his posture was erect, and the coat of arms flashed, exuding an air of formidable majesty. He slowly returned a noble military salute to the Colonel, and motioned for the Colonel to continue, then stayed at the door and did not immediately enter the hall.

With the marshal pressing the formation, the colonel appeared full of confidence, and he no longer looked at Adrian with the meaning of inquiry, but began to call the roll call in a tone of superior-to-subordinate tone: "Captain Eric, please express your opinion on this redistribution of resources, I hope your opinion can give a good start to the gentlemen here." Adrian was generalized, so he had to stand up with a smile on his face: "Your Excellency Colonel, you should change your title to myself, oh yes, I'm no longer a captain, but I'm still proud to have served in the Imperial Army, but I'm just a law-abiding citizen now, that's all, haha, that's all." After saying that, he didn't wait for the colonel to continue speaking, and turned to Paul? Feng? Field Marshal Hindenburg said: "Hello! Dear Paul? Feng? Your Excellency Field Marshal Hindenburg, thank God that you have been able to witness your noble demeanor, and that your commanding skills have been admired by the people of the empire and the world as much as you are. Today, in the presence of the noble marshals and honorable colonels and the elites of the enterprise, I swear to the holy God that I will hand over all the mineral resources of the Eric Mineral Mining Group under my name to the Imperial Quartermaster Department free of charge. After speaking, he took out a pen from his pocket, signed his name in the blank space of the document he had just sent, and then stamped the company's seal in front of everyone

Any difficult thing will be solved, as long as this secretive Adrian is on the set, the other small fish and shrimp will have to bow down. The Colonel was a little surprised, he had planned a whole set of methods to coerce and lure Adrian, but it didn't come in handy at this time. He couldn't believe it was all true, it seemed that it was far from being as simple as he saw it, but it was all true. He had heard from his father before he was a soldier, so he never believed Adrian and the misers in front of him, but he never doubted the importance of authority, just like now, maybe power is the all-powerful master.

Adrian was like a mirror in his heart, although the proportion of his civilian goods production is not small, but the abundant raw material inventory in the early stage should be enough for him to survive the entire war, if the current military products are better and bigger, it will undoubtedly be an excellent great victory for him.

Field Marshal Hindenburg withdrew his white gloves and took the lead in applauding, and immediately afterwards, the military-industrial entrepreneurs also began to applaud vigorously. Although the civilian entrepreneurs were eager to bite Adrian to death, but the matter had come to this point, and there was no way to return to the sky, so they had to applaud for a while. What can I do? Who can stop Adrian from dealing with his own business? Who can shake the Empire's determination to fight? At this moment, they admired Adrian's arrogance.

Just when everyone thought it was going to be over, Adrian broke the big news that made all the entrepreneurs scream: "Since September 1914, all orders signed by the Reich and all the groups under my name have been charged only at cost price. ”

The audience was silent.