"Neville, did the Italians really send more troops to Libya?" British Prime Minister Baldwin is asking Foreign Secretary Neville Chamberlain.

"Yes, two more divisions have been added, and we have also coordinated with our ambassador: we are ready to intensify the clearance of Libyan tribal forces, and at the same time may consider putting pressure on Ethiopia."

"Is he really thinking about going to Ethiopia?"

Chamberlain shrugged: "Whether it's true or not, at least we can sell weapons to the Ethiopians...... They were a little nervous about it, you know, the Italians fought Ethiopia once 30 years ago and lost badly. ”

"Will they be able to win this time? Rely on these 4 divisions? ”

"I don't know, I don't have a study of the military, but my personal instinct is that it's hard...... Think about us in Afghanistan, in the Boer war......"

Baldwin nodded: "Whether he can win or not, it will not prevent us from selling weapons, and it can also consume Mussolini's excess energy - his government is already in deficit because of its huge spending, and he dares to do this?" He doesn't have a sense of financial health in his head at all. ”

"I almost forgot to mention that we got the intelligence that Ziano Jr. had financed 50 million lire from the government for military expenses – because Libya is not yet able to produce oil, which is considered military spending."

"Damn...... Where did he get that much money? Baldwin cursed, "Not long ago, I heard that he donated 40 million lire to the education system, and now it is 50 million, is his money all from Dafeng?" ”

"He is building up his prestige, and if he doesn't donate these 40 million lira, how dare he do it to the education community?" Chamberlain smiled, "I have received reliable information that 18 Italian universities have dismissed nearly 400 teachers in three months, including professors with high reputations, because they do not agree with the family planning and public opinion control policies proposed by the younger Ziano, and now he has a bad reputation in the educational circles and in the public intellectual circles, of course, those fanatical nationalists and militarists praise him even higher, as if under Mussolini is the younger Ziano." ”

"Touting a young man who is only 23 years old, are these all brain-dead? What do you make Mussolini think? ”

"Don't say it, the praise is still effective, many people have heard Mussolini say in public that he can let little Ziano take over in the future...... Of course, this will be more than 20 years in the future. ”

"More than 20 years later, he is only in his 60s, and he is willing to let go of power?" Baldwin was skeptical.

"I can only say that, could it be that he said that he would hand over the power after he died? It is estimated that it will take more than 30 or even 40 years, and little Ziano can't stand it. He is now slapping Mussolini's sycophants, not only donating a lot of money, but also hearing that he will build the Ida cruise ship, because they have established a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship this summer, and many people say that little Chiano will definitely marry this girl......"

"Boyfriend and girlfriend? How old is Mussolini's daughter? I feel like I'm still a little girl......"

"Just turned 16 years old, Italian girls mature early, so ...... You get the idea. Chamberlain shrugged his shoulders and smiled like a man would smile, and Baldwin couldn't help but laugh.

"The cruise ship is not groundless, the ambassador has received the invitation, and the ceremony will be held half a month later, on September 24, when celebrities will be on the scene...... The ship is said to weigh more than 30,000 tons and can reach speeds of up to 33 knots......"

Neither Baldwin nor Chamberlain knew the mystery of special cruises, and the Grand Union Shipyard prepared two sets of drawings, one for special cruises, and one for standard cruises to cover people's eyes.

"So little Ziano is desperately trying to curry favor with Mussolini, because he wants to make his position a little more stable, and the former has also given him a certain amount of reward, and now little Ziano is the secretary general of the fascisty, which is a very important position - not counting the party elders, but his words carry a lot of weight, and besides, he still has an old Ciano on his head, and the old Chiano will speak if it is inconvenient."

"I don't care about this, what I care about is where does this guy get so much money?" Baldwin said confusedly, "He lost 2 billion lira last year, right?" He is going to lose 3 billion again this year? Still donating? Can he print money at home? ”

"His money was borrowed or exchanged for ......shares," Chamberlain said, "but I have to admit that he is very talented in business, and we sent people to carefully follow up and investigate his business, and think that it is very strict in management and operation, and the quality is also very good, very innovative, and more importantly, he has brought in a lot of German engineers - you know, the Italian thinking is a little bit out-of-the-box, the German thinking is a bit rigid, and he combines the two very well, the Italians are creative and design, The Germans are responsible for production and quality control, which complement each other perfectly. He has launched a variety of management models, such as the elimination of the last position, performance appraisal, industrial chain linkage, hunger marketing, and brand building, all of which are currently being learned by the industry, and the effect is said to be good, so some people tout him as a master of management and a business genius, and Wall Street recognizes it very much. ”

Chamberlain's understanding of Contini is still very deep, but even deeper is Wall Street on the other side of the ocean, Contini spends money so recklessly, and spends borrowed loans, so the Wall Street giants are also a little worried. Now the United Group has more than 600 million US dollars in borrowing exposure in the United States, although there are stocks and shares as collateral, but this thing is still very empty, and they want to focus on the industry. As a result, the investigators found that although the United Group spent a lot of money, but the speed was also very fast, a 400,000-ton steel plant, from the new construction to the production, but it took three years, which is unique in Italy.

At the same time, they were surprised by the construction of the United Buildings and the United Estate, which alone built more than 20 million square meters of houses and other houses, and that in 1925 Italy consumed more cement than France and England combined, and that the United Group accounted for at least half of the cement used in Italy. That's a terrible number.

Therefore, in just four years from 1923 to 1926, Italy's industrial compound growth rate was as high as 11%, which was second to none among all the great powers, greatly surpassing the second-place United States, and far better than Britain and France. And this growth is not the result of waste, Italy's steel, cement, glass, ceramics, machinery, metallurgy have all achieved rapid sales, and the inventory turnover days are only 71 days - an astonishingly fast. This rapid development has also led to a sharp decline in the unemployment rate in Italy, so it is not unreasonable for propaganda agencies to blow up the leader and the president.

It is based on this consideration that Wall Street dares to continue to lend to the United Group with confidence and boldness. The Union Bank, sponsored by several investment banks, was also in full swing in the final preparations for the issuance of documents and issuance, preparing to land on the New York Stock Exchange in March 1927, and the current share capital of the Union Bank was about $340 million, and the issuers were ready to raise its valuation to 400 million, and then issue 25% more shares in New York, bringing him to a market value of 500 million - they believed that by the end of the year it would exceed at least 600 million, which was quite a heavyweight IPO.

After listening to Chamberlain's explanation, Baldwin was stunned for a moment: he didn't expect the business community to rate Contini so highly. Such a high evaluation means that his original idea of tossing the United Group economically will be changed, because the United Group does not engage in large-scale trade with the United Kingdom, nor does it have too many entanglements with the British financial community, and there is no way to crack down on it. As for spreading rumors in Italy, he didn't even think about it - isn't it boring to play this set in a fascist country? People have already openly shouted that they want to be rich and strong, not freedom, openly deal with public intellectuals, and control more than half of the public opinion media, how can they be afraid of a little rumor?

"What happened to his oil fields in Algeria? Mussolini actually reached out to the Middle East two months ago and dared to sign an agreement with Yemen, and he lived a little impatiently. ”

"The situation is obvious, the Algerian oil fields will be able to produce oil by the end of this year, and since the talks with the French have collapsed, he will not go ...... from the Algiers port" Chamberlain took out a piece of paper from his purse, "This is what our personnel got after mixing in Libya mapping, and the little Ziano is laying the oil pipeline, from Tripoli to the Algerian oil field, the project has been 70% completed, and I expect it to be completed by the end of the year!" ”

Looking at the black line on the map, Baldwin said thoughtfully: "It seems that it is not unreasonable for the business community to tout him, and I can't think of this idea." Walking to the port of Tripoli? Very good idea, no wonder he has been carrying out port dredging works, no wonder he has been indifferent to the failure of the French negotiations, it turns out that he has already thought about the way out, what a smart young man, the more I look at it, the more I like it, how can I highlight his ability without adding a little difficulty to him? Neville, we need to help him and let him continue to show a completely different business flair – not to waste. ”

Chamberlain smiled: "I am going to meet with the French ambassador tomorrow, do you need me to express it?" ”

"No, that's too straightforward, we should choose the right channel, let the French know but not leak the news from us, you know? Brian's cunning guy is like an old fox, and he doesn't simply take the information we put out as a good intention, so we'll have to trouble ourselves to keep him from getting too careful......"

"I'm going to have to think a little more about this, which official is better to arrange to get drunk and talk nonsense?"

"This time I'm learning from the Italians to get creative...... For example, if you leave a drawing in a lady's salon or home, ......"

"Great idea." Chamberlain burst out laughing, "I'll arrange it immediately." ”