It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 36｜Youth Version of the King of the Sky
In order to confirm his guess, Shang Ke also stood up and walked back to the bathroom.

One of the two flight attendants, a sweet girl, was pouring tea in the back row. Shang Ke called her softly, and she came over and bowed.

"Sir, how can I help you?"

"Who is that family?"

"you……"

Seeing her puzzled expression, Shang Ke pretended to be serious and leaned close to her face and whispered a few words.

The sweet stewardess nodded slightly and answered his question in a low voice.

From her, Shang learned that the family was indeed from Valland, and the truth was consistent with his guess.

Seeing that he looked a little happy, the sweet stewardess reminded him with concern: "Sir, if you need anything, please call me anytime."

Shang Ke waved his hand and said, “Okay, don’t think too much about it, I just met them a long time ago.”

The four people there were the Hartmann family.

There is no need to say much about the economic strength of the Grand Federation, and the attraction brought by the good environment can be imagined - whether it is immigration or changing places to work, this country is a good destination.

For people from all over the world who want to immigrate in this era, the choice is basically between the United States of America and the United States. The former has a lower threshold, while the latter usually only accepts people with a skill because there is no shortage of ordinary labor.

Old Hartmann was a military doctor in the Wallander Imperial Army. After the end of the European War, he and his wife had two sons. The eldest son was Erich Hartmann.

Later, in order to seek better development, old Hartmann followed the advice of his friend who worked in the embassy and came to Xijing with his wife and children. After so many years, they decided to return to their hometown.

Their family's experiences deviated somewhat from the historical facts of the original dimension, and it took them many years to prepare to return home.

To be honest, it is hard to believe that the young man in front of me who speaks fluent Shaanxi dialect is the super fighter ace in history.

Shang Ke couldn't resist his curiosity, and an idea suddenly occurred to him. He started the conversation seriously by introducing the civilian flying club.

Old Hartmann was a calm and cautious man, but his wife was the complete opposite, full of adventurous spirit and a frequent visitor to the flying club. It was her mother who led young Hartmann into the world of aviation.

What made Shang Ke laugh and cry was that Erich Hartmann was really a troublemaker. The mischievous things he had done included but were not limited to throwing metallic sodium into the pool, catching snakes to scare female classmates, making homemade small rockets to shatter window glass, etc.

In short, I was almost expelled from Xianyang County No. 2 Middle School.

The unexpected encounter added a special kind of fun to the journey. Shank enjoyed it very much and boasted to little Hartmann about how cool fighter pilots were, which made the latter's eyes light up.

"...A small biplane can't compare to a fighter jet. Nowadays, aluminum alloy monoplane fighters can fly up to 500 kilometers per hour. They're more than four times faster than those club planes. They'll fly by in a flash. You understand?"

"One day I will become a Sky Knight!"

Old Hartmann was actually not very happy. He didn't want his son to join the army, but his wife didn't care.

After landing, Shang Ke said goodbye to the family and left first because he didn't need to pick up his luggage.

I hope Hartmann will continue to shine in the future! Maybe we can see each other again in the future? He wished.

The coincidental encounter made Shang Ke sigh. He suddenly thought, if that was the case, what are so many historical celebrities doing now?
He thought about this problem all night and didn't fall asleep until midnight.

The next day, Shang Ke packed his clothes at dawn and went straight to Yifeng Soda Company.

Yifeng Soda is well-known, with its popular orange and white peach sodas. They also have a partnership with steel mills, distributing their salty soda byproduct. The shrewdness of southern companies is evident in the fact that the R&D manager who approached them carefully estimated the manufacturing costs and advantages of cans.

Compared with glass bottles, tinplate cans are definitely cheaper, which is why major beverage manufacturers are gradually increasing the proportion of tin can packaging.

In addition, the design of the prefabricated cutout and pull ring obviously helps to improve the user's drinking experience. It is very disappointing if you cannot find a bottle opener when facing a crown-capped glass bottle, especially female users hate this situation.

Therefore, the R&D manager was convinced that the can design was reasonable and accurately addressed the pain points of crown cap users, but it required a large upfront investment to design the machinery and equipment.

He called the company's boss and got his approval.

He probed, "Mr. Shang, this thing is indeed good, but the price you quoted... can be negotiated."

He has to pay three cents in patent fees for every ten cans produced. It's not a lot, but it's not a small amount either. Moreover, it's not an exclusive license, so he wants to bargain a little more in this regard.

Shang Ke stared at him with a smile and asked, "If it's more favorable, do you have the right to sign the contract now?"

"Now?"

"Just tell me, yes or no?"

The R&D manager hesitated and said, "Well... well... if you are sincere, Mr. Shang, I dare to make this decision."

Shang Ke nodded and said, "Cut your company's patent fee in half. I want to sign the contract now."

"Okay, deal."

"Well, it's a pleasure to work with you."

The patent fee is halved, which means that the patent fee is three cents for every twenty cans manufactured.

After signing the contract step by step, Shang Ke left without staying for long.

The operations manager, a tall woman who was there to join in the fun, exclaimed in amazement, "I haven't seen such a neat contract signing in a while. He's not greedy at all."

The R&D manager smiled and said dimly, "Because he just wants to find a way in."

The prosperity of Matsue Prefecture is second to none. It is an unparalleled financial and economic center city, and only New York and Edo can be compared with it in the world.

However, Shang Ke had no time to appreciate the skyscrapers and dazzling things here.

With the contract with Yifeng Soda Company, it will be much easier to negotiate with other companies.

After all, there are already competitors in the same or similar industries. How can we turn a blind eye to them?
In the following day, Shang Ke went to a beer company and a soda company continuously without stopping, and easily negotiated patent authorization without any failure.

They received 10 yen and 11 yen respectively, as well as additional patent fees for future can manufacturing.

The last company Shang Ke went to was the domestic branch of Coca-Cola, which offered him a price of 3.5 US dollars right away, which was almost equivalent to a million in later generations. You have to know that the monthly salary of white-collar workers in large cities in America at that time was only about 107 US dollars.

As a classic among classics, Coca-Cola can almost be said to be the most famous and enduring soda in the world, so it is appropriate to charge a little more for it.

Because Shang's price was too high and he refused to budge at all, the branch could not act on its own and could only send a telegram to the headquarters in Atlanta for instructions.

Shang Ke was too lazy to wait any longer, so he set off north to Gandan the next day. After all, he was sure to get the patent fees from Coca-Cola Company!
(End of this chapter)