1 January 1845, Rhineland, Essen.

At this time, Krupp Steel was not the arms tycoon of later generations, and his name was Krupp Steel Foundry at this time.

On the wall of the store is written a variety of high-quality agricultural tools, cooking utensils, as well as finishing parts and machine tools, which are large and preferential, welcome to buy.

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

These two giants were forcibly pulled 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, and with the help of Bismarck, the Kingdom of Prussia heavily subsidized its own industry.

As a result, they remain very competitive in Prussia's own market, even stronger than they have historically.

In the German Confederation market, it was a bit weaker, mainly because the steel industry of the Austrian Empire was relatively large.

In fact, Franz can also use the power of capital to directly crush Krupp Steel to death, or even directly make Siemens' telegraph company unable to open.

But that's a bit outrageous, and it could affect the iteration of technology and make the world a little more boring.

On the contrary, Franz intends to help them.

A luxury carriage was parked in front of the Krupp steel foundry and the Siemens telegraph company, followed by several temporarily rented carriages and dozens of tall guards.

In fact, there were many dignitaries and wealthy businessmen among the people who came to discuss business, but first, the number of guards was small, as few as one or two, as many as three or four, and second, there was only a sense of tension.

At this time, although these people did not put their weapons outside, the feeling of oppression could not be faked.

In-store.

"Hello, Ms. Talia. We are only businessmen, not teachers, and it is impossible for us to teach in girls' schools. ”

Friedrich Krupp had already explained in his gentlest tone, but the other seemed unmoved, just complaining.

"This coffee is so bitter, don't you have any sugar in your shop?"

Friedrich Krupp smiled wryly: "The sugar is all in your coffee." Actually, I think coffee is for refreshing, not for flavoring sugar. ”

"Nope! You're wrong, eating sugar is not only a pick-me-up, it also fuels your brain. In addition, it relieves fatigue and warms the internal organs. ”

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

The main thing is that it is a very faceless thing to be refuted by a woman in this era.

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

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

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

Talia stretched her body and said with a look of indifference.

"Sugar is a good thing, anyway."

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

Talia: "Well, I don't have to take you to Vienna. ”

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

Friedrich Krupp said indignantly, although he thought it was unlikely, but the other party was really not sure what could be done with the support of the Austrian royal family.

Talia laughed "poof", she didn't care about the other party's attitude, after all, she had suffered a lot of cold eyes.

"Your imagination is really rich, but I advise you not to be too busy refusing."

"Why? This is Prussia, not Austria. ”

Talia snapped her fingers, and immediately a group of big men came in through the door, so frightened that Krupp hurriedly fled behind the desk.

Then three heavy wooden boxes fell heavily on the table, and Werner von Siemens' eyes lit up, and he thought that it was probably a huge sum of money.

It's just that as a Prussian soldier, as a nobleman, or as a Protestant, he should not die for Austria.

At this time, Talia also stood up and walked to the three wooden boxes and opened them one by one, there were no gold and silver jewels in them, but some books, notes and other things.

"Here are all the research notes and experimental records in the field of electric power in the world at present, and new results will be sent in a steady stream after that."

In fact, Talia was also very depressed, she didn't understand why she wanted to find a steel company to do electricity research, but Franz had a lot of strange things, and she didn't bother to think about it.

"Satisfied?"

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

Siemens, on the other hand, had already walked to the table and began to look 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 one who could change the world.

Siemens: "What do you want?" ”

Talia was not verbose, she explained her intention directly.

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

"What do we mean?"

Siemens immediately became alert, although Krupp received a little more state subsidies on weekdays, and even received low-interest loans from the royal family, but the former was once a Prussian officer and was deeply influenced by patriotism.

"Between Austria and Prussia."

"Thank you, that's a deal."

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

"Generator?"

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

For example, hand-cranked, foot-operated, wind-powered, hydro-powered, and even a steam generator built under Franz's auspices.

But these so-called generators are either unusable for industrial production, inefficient, or extremely unstable and unable to work for long periods of time.

If it is forcibly used for industrial production, then unless it is aluminum smelting, the kind of profiteering industry can make money, otherwise it is a loss-making business.

Franz also tried to get Austria to develop unilaterally, but the reality was directly stuck for several years, and scientific progress fell into a bottleneck.

And the key to breaking through this bottleneck is electricity, so he has to solve this problem at all costs.

It is unlikely that Britain will be defeated in the age of steam, and the opponent's first-mover advantage will be too great, but in the age of electricity, those advantages will become a burden.

As for what to do with the Prussian side having mastered the technology? Franz is not too afraid, because the size gap between the two sides is there, unless the technology gap can be pulled, it is difficult for Austria to lose at this time.

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

"And what kind of generator do you need?"

"All of Vienna and preferably all of Austria. Then it's better to be cheaper, because that's how easy it is to promote."

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

"Sure enough, a madman, more terrible than that iron madman in England, all of Austria? How do you not the whole world! ”

However, at this time, Werner von Siemens was already in a state of his own control, and he grabbed Talia's arm, and then the latter subconsciously came to an over-the-shoulder throw

(End of chapter)