Bismarck raised his teacup, smiled and did not answer.

Legend has it that Bismarck joined the Prussian mission as a private and made a big deal at the Vienna Peace Conference (1839, Turkish-Egyptian War), claiming to overtake Metternich.

Many people dismissed it as a joke or a self-marketing ploy by the farmer, but Alfred Krupp believed that the young man had the energy.

He had read countless people in his life, from the arrogant Viennese merchant, to the greedy British officials, and even to the self-righteous Frenchmen, who were not even qualified to carry shoes in front of the young man in front of him.

At this time, Alfred Krupp seemed to suddenly think of something, and continued.

"You say the Austrians are poaching talent? What kind of talent is that? ”

Bismarck listened, nodded, took a sip of tea and said.

"Aren't you?"

Alfred Krupp smiled when he heard this, sighed in his heart that he had not seen the wrong person, and took a sip of tea.

"The Austrians did throw an olive branch to me, and they were willing to spend it."

In fact, Franz's idea of recruiting Krupp was purely taken for granted, to be precise, a preconceived impression. The idea of building an arsenal in the Tyrolean region was brewing in his mind, and it happened that he thought of this famous king of artillery.

So he decided to let people buy guns and artillery, and it was obvious that this was difficult for Krupp, who had been making agricultural tools and tableware.

He had no idea that there were only 67 employees in Krupp Steel at this time, and that the person in charge of soliciting work and purchasing was asking for 3,000 rifled guns and twenty cannons in one mouth, so that the other party thought that this was a deliberate provocation and humiliation, so the first meeting between the two sides ended in an unhappy atmosphere.

When Franz learned the truth, he secretly regretted it, and immediately changed his strategy, intending to recruit him under his banner with the promise of "steel project leader", but was sternly rejected by the other party in the name of patriotism.

This brings us to the unreliable negative impression that the Austrians left on Alfred Krupp. When he first took over his father's business, there were only five smelters and two blacksmiths, and the business of the factory was barely enough to make ends meet.

Krupp's financial situation was very bad, and all his possessions included a half-defunct factory, a house worth 750 thalers, a cow, and a few pigs.

Alfred Krupp wrote in his diary:

"If even a crucible breaks or overturns, we will go bankrupt and even sleep on the streets. I had to be a secretary, a letter writer, a cashier, a craftsman, a smelter, a coke worker, and a night watchman, and all I could do was feed my family."

So Alfred Krupp developed an extraordinary talent for sales from an early age. When he travels, he always brings some home-made cutlery with him, because a professional buyer can see important information about the material and workmanship from these simple tools.

However, he once hit a wall in Vienna, where almost all the buyers he met did not think his kitchenware was beautiful enough, so they would not place orders for farm tools from his factory.

Unwilling to let himself go, Alfred Krupp gritted his teeth and hired a sculptor to carve a delicate pattern for his tableware.

When he met with the buyers again, they scolded the country people in a mocking tone: "It's not cutlery at all, it's a fragile work of art!"

Obviously, the other party, who thinks highly of himself, doesn't take himself, a poor boy from the Rhine, in his eyes at all. In the end, Alfred Krupp had no choice but to leave Vienna in disgrace.

Later, in 1840, he was given another opportunity to work with the Imperial Mint in Vienna. The Imperial Mint needed a new rolling mill, and after negotiations between the two sides, the price was set at twenty thousand florins.

Historically, due to its poor economic situation, such a thing as defaulting on goods has happened from time to time even in the heart of the empire. Although the economic situation has improved in this life, this old problem of Austrian officials has not been eradicated.

To be sure, 20,000 florins may have been a pain in the face of the growing Austrian Empire, but it was an unacceptable loss to Krupp, who was anxiously waiting for payment.

If it had only ended here, it might not have left Alfred with an unforgettable memory, but Lady Luck suddenly made a joke; Just as a person in Vienna was about to pay for the goods, the rolling mill broke down.

The enraged mint official immediately demanded damages from Krupp and even threatened to put him in prison.

Desperate, Alfred's family had to scrape together and pay 100,000 florins to the Austrian Imperial Mint to redeem it.

When things were back to normal, Alfred Krupp finally received the Austrians' belated payment, but only in the hands of 20,000 Austrian banknotes.

The deal nearly removed Krupp Steel from the world, so his hatred for Austria grew stronger ever since.

But the series of accidents was not planned by Franz at all, after all, he was not insidious enough to harm a legitimate steelmer.

And if he does, Franz will do it a little more thoroughly, so that he will never have a chance to turn over.

"Not only you, but many professors, soldiers, businessmen from the German Confederation, and even a high school student named Helmholtz were invited. The Austrians offered him a scholarship of 2,000 florins a year and brought his family to Vienna. ”

This unwarranted solicitation soon aroused Bismarck's interest, and after investigation, he discovered the terrible fact that those recruited by Austria would make some astonishing achievements shortly after arriving in Austria, which made him even more convinced of his own judgment.

"2000 Florin Scholarship? Annually? "Alfred Krupp seems a little incredible, 2,000 florins at that time was definitely a huge amount of money, equivalent to a soldier's salary for 20 years, 70-800,000 for later generations.

"That's right, five times as many as the University of Berlin."

In fact, the so-called scholarships of most universities during this period are just a waiver of some tuition and fees, as well as a little living allowance, usually no more than five pounds per year.

For particularly outstanding students, the school will provide them with or introduce them to jobs to help them. For example, the famous Sir Newton completed his studies at Cambridge University through a work-study program.

"So how is he now? Helmholtz? I haven't heard rumors about this person. ”

"I didn't hear of any amazing discoveries or acts of him, but he was invited by the Royal Society of Science in Vienna as a student. Even if we had, we wouldn't know, but you should know how hard it is to join this society. ”

Alfred Krupp gasped when he heard this.

(End of chapter)