Imperial Elite

Chapter 71 Qiao felt great

Although Joe knew that the Tsar was in a very awkward situation, he did not expect the situation to be so awkward that even the guards around him were not actually his guards.

No wonder she asked him if he was interested in marrying his daughter during their first meeting.

However, after figuring out the situation, Joe was far more interested in the Tsar's guard than in the Tsar's daughter.

Although the Tsar's two daughters were indeed quite beautiful, they weren't beautiful enough to warrant someone risking their life to go to Russia to try and restore the newly abdicated Tsar's kingdom.

After all, if the Tsar had been more popular, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation.

Moreover, Joe is now more interested in the Tsar's guards, who are not actually guards, than in the Tsar's daughters.

Before leaving the passenger ship, Joe learned from a woman named Elena that they were actually members of a women's death camp set up by the provisional government.

Now that the provisional government has collapsed, and given that their company comes from a less-than-ideal background—mostly daughters of nobles or small capitalists—they're the kind of people who would be hung on a street lamp if they went back home.

Logically, they should have been able to return home after escorting the Tsar to Bunitania or another country.

But now, Lucia clearly no longer welcomes them, so the confused girls can only stay by the Tsar's side for the time being.

Hearing this, Joe felt that these people were born with the divine body to fix screws!
Anyone who frequently works in a factory and screws in screws knows that one of the most troublesome aspects of turning blueprints and raw materials into parts and finished products is getting workers to understand your intentions and follow your design.

To prevent workers on the production line from doing things haphazardly without thinking, mistake-proofing has become a fundamental principle and requirement in the structural design of modern products. However, this still only prevents mistakes, not stupidity.

The reason why Qiao initially only dared to make small hardware parts that relied entirely on patents was that, on the one hand, this kind of thing required little investment and yielded high returns. Even if it didn't succeed, he wouldn't lose too much. He could sell the patents and still be a free agent, with the opportunity to make a comeback.

On the other hand, there's the worry that if they were to develop something more complex, like a washing machine or a dough mixer, and then go bankrupt due to quality control issues, the losses would be substantial.

But the female soldiers in these women's death camps were different. First of all, they were basically all educated, at least high school students. Among factory workers who were already highly educated, even elementary school students were considered to be prophetic.

These female soldiers had undergone rigorous training and had combat experience, which instilled in them a sense of discipline, enabling them to act according to orders.

Finally, these women are now far from their homeland, and they certainly didn't bring much money with them when they set off on their mission. So after spending their last bit of money, they will definitely need a job.

Are jobs in London really that easy to find?
The more respectable jobs have long been taken up by children from local middle-class families.

A few years ago, their noble status might have allowed them to snag some rich men, but given Lucia's current situation and the fact that most of the men are on the front lines, even if they wanted to get married, they would need at least one person to marry.

If all the respectable roads are blocked, then all that's left are some less respectable roads.

Compared to those less-than-respectable roads, working in a factory tightening screws seems much more respectable.

Furthermore, Joe didn't plan to have them work on ordinary production lines tightening screws; that would be too wasteful.

Cuban cigars can sell for luxury prices, not only because they are relatively scarce, but also because they are advertised as being rolled on young girls' thighs.

Two cigars were placed in front of him. One was an ordinary cigar, rolled by who-knows-who, and the other was rolled on a young girl's thigh. The choice was obvious.

Cubans can do this kind of propaganda, so why can't I, Joe, do it?

Moreover, coincidentally, Joe also had a product that was suitable for them to have a dedicated production line set up for production.

During a recent conversation with American military officers, Joe discovered that the Americans had developed safety razor blades, and that the American military had begun purchasing and distributing them to the American Expeditionary Forces.

The feeling of having thought about something for a long time but not having had time to do it, only to have someone else snatch the peach first, was truly unbearable for Qiao.

Fortunately, the safety blades that the Americans came up with at this time were not so safe. These sharp blades were still dangerous before they were put into the razor holder. They could even be put on a hat and used as a weapon, or used by thieves to cut open some unlucky guy's pocket.

So Joe still has room to maneuver and is able to develop those truly safe razor blades that won't hurt your hands even if you just hold them in your hand.

After tinkering with it, Joe had the noble ladies of Lucia assemble it. He even came up with the promotional strategy: besides advertising that it was all handmade by noble ladies of Lucia wearing stockings and lace lingerie, the slogan was "Every scratch is their gentle caress." How could it not sell like hotcakes?

Of course, Joe wouldn't ask Elena right now if she wanted to bring people to his factory to install blades. On the one hand, Joe had just come up with the idea; the blueprints hadn't been drawn, the patent hadn't been applied for, and the molds hadn't been made yet.

Even if they agree to come and screw in the screws, Joe doesn't have any screws for them to screw in right now.

On the other hand, it's because they've only just arrived in Britannia and should still have some money, so they haven't realized that they actually have no other choice now.

If you offer them a job now, they won't see it as a helping hand; they might even see it as an insult.

So, as Joe was leaving, he simply asked Ms. Elena if she would do him the honor of inviting him for coffee another day, and perhaps they could also do some sightseeing in Paris.

Joe could tell that Elena was somewhat tempted when he made the offer, but she still refused, citing that "your government has not allowed us to enter the country."

Making excuses to refuse, rather than refusing outright, proves that there's still time to work things out, and given Downing Street's attitude, Joe doesn't have a high opinion of the Tsar's future prospects.

So when they went through customs, Joe slipped five pounds to the customs officer, asking him to notify him immediately if anything changed, such as what the Lucia women were planning or doing.

Joe returned to 10 Downing Street to report back.

The Prime Minister originally intended that Joe only needed to meet the Tsar once to be able to return to where he came from.

However, Joe felt that it was necessary to report to his superiors about the Tsar's offer of terms, otherwise the Prime Minister might hear about it from elsewhere instead of from him.

Even if you have no opinion on the proposal, it will still have a negative impact on you.

After being tricked by those white feathers once, Joe has now learned some new things.

During wartime, prime ministers are always very busy. Even Joe, without an appointment, spent half an hour staring at a map in the meeting room before finally meeting the prime minister.

The Prime Minister was quite surprised that the Tsar wanted to marry his daughter to Joe in exchange for Joe's agreement to lead troops on an expedition to Bunitania.

Although they had previously consulted Joe on this matter, it should have been confined to Parliament. The Tsar was able to receive the news upon arriving at the docks in London and attempt to win Joe over.

Clearly, someone had leaked something to the Tsar.

However, this had no impact, since a deposed Tsar couldn't cause much trouble. The Prime Minister said that just as George went to see the Tsar, he also went to see His Majesty George.

Next, they will try to reach an agreement with the United States so that the United States can extend an invitation to the Tsar to go to the New World to make a living.

Upon hearing the Prime Minister's words, Joe's expression subtly changed.

If the Tsar is going to the New World, doesn't that mean that the female soldiers' company will also go to the New World? If they go to the New World, what will happen to my safety blade production line?
The Prime Minister instantly noticed the subtle change in Joe's expression.

"What? You have designs on those two princesses?"

"no no……"

Joe quickly waved his hand, fearing that the Prime Minister had misunderstood him and was about to throw him to the Eastern Front to fight the Teutons. Without hesitation, Joe told the truth.

"Although those two princesses are very beautiful, I have no interest in them. I am only interested in the Tsar's guard."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing Joe's words, the Prime Minister became interested.

After all, Joe had always been perceived by the government's top brass as a belligerent, cunning, and cruel man.

Although the war had been going on for several years, there were very few people like Joe who, even after being attacked with poison gas and losing their sight, could still command their troops to deliver a ruthless blow to the Teutons.

Especially as an inventor, his modifications to tanks and other mechanized war machines made the cabinet feel fortunate that Joe was on their side.

And surprisingly, this guy didn't try to make money off the project; he genuinely wanted to push the project forward and provide the troops with more and better equipment.

Even if someone did receive some money, in the Bonitania political system, that money was considered "if you don't take it, how can I take it? If I don't take it, how can Commissioner John take it? If Commissioner John doesn't take it, how can the ministers take it? If you don't want to advance, don't hinder my advancement!"

Therefore, the Prime Minister, His Majesty George, and other ministers all felt that Joe was a very simple person.

Now, this very simple person suddenly says he's interested in the Tsar's guard... As far as the Prime Minister knows, the guard that escorted the Tsar consisted of a company of female soldiers. And then there's the legend of the Paris Rose... Could it be that Joe has a hobby in this area?

Just when the Prime Minister was thinking, "Joe, you've got a taste for this stuff..."

Joe explained to the Prime Minister, “Your Excellency, you know me well. Besides being a soldier serving His Majesty, I am also a small factory owner…”

Although Joe briefly explained his idea of ​​having these noble female soldiers work in his factory to tighten screws, he didn't mention any specific projects or marketing plans; he simply analyzed the issue from the perspective of labor costs.

However, the Prime Minister still felt that Joe's ideas were not so simple. The story of the factory owner and the pretty female worker had been reported in The Sun countless times. Now you say you just want to screw things in? I'm afraid you want to screw things in them.

However, in Bonitania, such things are not a big deal as long as they are not discovered. In fact, the fact that Joe was willing to tell the Prime Minister about this directly made the Prime Minister feel that Joe either considered him one of his own or was guileless. In short, he was easy to get along with.

Moreover, Joe is not even thirty years old yet and has already achieved so much. If nothing unexpected happens, he will have enormous influence in the military for decades to come.

So why not give Qiao face for something as trivial as this?

In any case, I don't actually need to do anything; I just need to slightly delay the execution of His Majesty's orders.

The Prime Minister even thought that even His Majesty George would not refuse Joe's small request.

In fact, when His Majesty George met with the Prime Minister later that day and heard from the Prime Minister that Joe wanted to do something, His Majesty George burst into what could be described as a hearty laugh.

His Majesty George had a very good impression of Joe. After Joe met with the Tsar, he not only did not privately agree to the Tsar's proposal, but also reported the proposal to the Emperor. His Majesty George's impression of Joe improved even more.

Because of Joe's remarkable past record, His Majesty George always thought of Joe as a seasoned veteran, but it was only at this moment that His Majesty George remembered that Joe was a young man under thirty who was still unmarried.

After shaking his head and sighing about how wonderful it is to be young, His Majesty George summoned his butler.

"Go and find out which good families in London still have daughters who are unmarried..."

At this point, His Majesty George seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to look at the Prime Minister.

"Do you know what type Joe likes? Young girls or wealthy widows?"

Upon hearing this question, the Prime Minister shook his head blankly.

"I really don't know that."

Joe, who had already returned to the camp, was unaware that his simple desire to find a group of high-level employees for some marketing purposes had led His Majesty George to make arrangements for him.

Although on Ms. Catherine's first day, Joe said he would arrange a table for her as soon as possible.

However, Joe was usually too busy, either brainstorming with engineers at Rolls-Royce or conducting bullet drills with officers on the training field.

Ms. Catherine didn't spend much time in the office; she basically just came home every day, sat on the sofa, looked at reports, and signed them. So she always used Joe's desk to work.

So when Joe was about to start drawing blueprints again after a long time, he faced a very awkward situation: the two of them only had one table.

This might be a problem for others, but it's not a problem for Joe.

"You can leave work early today."

After using the excuse of leaving get off work to shoo Ms. Catherine away from the desk, Joe moved the files aside and took out drawings from deep inside the drawer to begin sketching the design for a safety razor. While Joe was drawing, Ms. Catherine brought him a cup of coffee and placed it beside him.

This made Joe think that having a capable secretary was really great, really great.

Then Joe continued to bury himself in drawing.

After all, time is money. This kind of double-layer safety blade is something that can be found anytime soon. Now that the Citibank has even produced the blades, we are only one step away from making this kind of double-layer safety blade. I need to get this thing out as soon as possible.

After a frantic period of drawing, as midnight approached, Joe finally finished the last drawing and stretched in his chair, accompanied by a "crackling" sound from his bones.

Joe felt that I was truly worthy of his reputation, as I completed the design in less than a night.

Then Joe saw Ms. Catherine sitting on the sofa where he had been sitting and reading the report, looking at him.

"Why don't you leave?"

Joe looked at Ms. Catherine with some confusion.

“I remember telling you a few hours ago that you could leave work.”

Upon hearing Joe's words, Ms. Catherine rolled her eyes with a charming and alluring expression.

"The organization report for the mechanized infantry battalion is important and urgent and needs to be submitted to the Army Department by tomorrow morning. The exercise application with the 1st Armored Regiment is important but not urgent and needs to be submitted before the weekend. The feasibility study report for assigning Royal Fist MK-3A cannons to armored battalions that are not equipped with self-propelled artillery to replace 3-inch cannons with 4-inch cannons is important but not urgent..."

After rattling off a long list of reports, Ms. Catherine said, "I have so many reports to finish right now, how can I have time to go back and rest?"

Seeing the dark circles under Ms. Catherine's eyes, Joe felt a little embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, Zhuozi, and the other secretaries, I'll make sure you arrive as soon as possible. Zhuozi will be here tomorrow..."

As she spoke, Joe stood up from her chair, glanced at the clock on the wall in the office, and said, "It's already very late. You can do any work tomorrow. I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong. I'll take you home now."

Since Joe had said so, Ms. Catherine naturally didn't want to work overtime late into the night.

As the group leader, Joe now had a car assigned to him. Soon, Joe dropped Ms. Catherine off at her apartment building. After parking the car, Ms. Catherine didn't get out. Instead, she fiddled with the keys in her hand and asked Joe if he wanted to come up for a drink. She had a bottle of very good red wine in her apartment.

Watching Catherine fiddling with her keys, Joe felt guilty. She seemed like a smart girl, so how could she have no sense of time now? It was already past one o'clock, she had to go to work tomorrow, and she was drinking red wine? Was she not going to work tomorrow?
However, considering that Catherine had done a really good job, Joe got out of the car, opened the door for Catherine, and said, "It's very late now, you should get some rest."

Seeing Joe open the car door for her, Ms. Catherine's eyes flickered for a moment before she got out of the car, kissed Joe on the cheek, whispered "thank you," and returned to her apartment building.

Watching Catherine's retreating figure, Joe touched the spot where Catherine had just kissed him, wondering if he had missed something.

But for someone like me, who exploited her labor, promised to treat her to a meal but hasn't even bought her a sandwich yet, she took the initiative to make this kind of statement...

"Catherine!"

As Catherine opened the apartment door, Joe called out to her.

The next morning, Joe felt incredibly good sitting in the tank. Although he had to handle the documents himself for some reason, it didn't stop him from feeling extremely happy.

Joe was so happy that even Lieutenant George wondered what good thing had happened to make him so excited.

Just as Joe was feeling incredibly good, Erich was also feeling incredibly good.

After receiving supplies in Riga, Ehrlich began his rapid march toward St. Petersburg.

The road conditions here seem to be much better, probably because it's closer to the capital region.

The closer they got to St. Petersburg, the fiercer the resistance from the Russians became.

However, after Joe destroyed the station in Bourget, Ehrlich also realized that although armored units could move faster on roads, sometimes they could still maneuver off the road.

After a rapid advance and maneuvering, Erich, acting as the vanguard, arrived outside St. Petersburg and occupied an important location outside the city: the former royal estate and summer palace.

Although the left-wing government organized troops to resist here, these hastily assembled soldiers, full of morale and enthusiasm, made Erich feel as if he had returned to Paris, but without Joe and his Paris detachment.

After easily defeating the garrison and occupying the place, Erich felt extremely pleased as he entered the summer palace.

Although the soldiers of the left-wing government inevitably caused some minor damage when they seized the place from the provisional government, this damage was negligible in the face of the luxurious decorations.

In particular, the Amber Room, which Frederick the Great had given to Peter, was so quickly acquired that the left-wing government was unable to unload and move the amber pieces. So, several hundred years after giving the Amber Room to Lucia, Erich reclaimed the national treasure for the Teutonic Empire.

Of course, for national treasures like the Amber Room, Erich supervised the engineers to carefully remove them from the wall in preparation for sending them back to Germania. The Amber Room, in particular, was personally dismantled and packed by Erich himself, especially the black eagle symbol representing the Teutonic Kingdom and the number indicating the completion date of the Amber Room.

Ehrlich no longer restrained his soldiers, who, during patrols, "accidentally bumped things into their backpacks while turning around."

These soldiers fought very bravely during this period, but the number of medals was limited, so Erich felt he should reward them in other ways.

Besides the recovery of national treasures, the former royal servants remaining at the estate, such as cooks and ballet dancers, also made Erich and his rapid armored assault battalion members feel extremely happy.

Waking up in the palace every day, looking out at the fountains and the Baltic Sea in the distance, eating royal cuisine, and enjoying performances by court actors made the entire unit feel incredibly happy.

However, this incredibly enjoyable period came to an end with the arrival of subsequent troops.

While the Summer Palace was being requisitioned by the Crown Prince to serve as the army group's command headquarters, the Rapid Armored Assault Battalion was also ordered to begin preparations for the siege.

While the rapid armored assault battalion was preparing for the attack on St. Petersburg, a battleship squadron of the Teutonic Navy, under the cover of destroyers, began shelling the Kronstadt naval fortress outside St. Petersburg, which controlled the alleyways leading to St. Petersburg, in preparation for a combined land and sea attack to capture St. Petersburg.

Although the sailors of Kronstadt firmly supported the left-wing government, this could not diminish the weak fighting power of the Baltic fleet inherited by the left-wing government from the Russian Empire.

Faced with the Teutonic battleship fleet, which could rival the main fleet of the Bunitas, the left-wing government chose to leave the naval fortress forces on the island to hold out, while transferring the main force of the Baltic Fleet to the inland waterways of St. Petersburg to prepare for urban warfare.

The left-wing government has also analyzed the current situation in St. Petersburg, concluding that achieving a complete military victory is virtually impossible.

The disparity in combat strength between the two sides was too great, so this was destined to be a desperate battle.

However, it's not entirely impossible to "win".

Given the dangers posed by Buntania and Gaul on the western front, the Teutons could not afford to focus their attention on the eastern front for long, or even waste too much time there.

As the war has progressed, the military threat posed by Lucia to the Teutons has been reduced to a very low level.

In contrast, the greatest threat to the Teutons came from the western frontier, including Bunitania, Gaul, and the newly joined Caucasians.

The constant reinforcements sent by the Americans to the Old World meant that the Teutons could not afford to expend too many troops and resources on the Eastern Front.

Therefore, the left-wing government's plan was to resist layer by layer and hold firm. When the Teutons realized that the price they had to pay to occupy St. Petersburg exceeded their acceptable limits, the Teutons would naturally return to the negotiating table.

In any case, the situation couldn't have gotten any worse for the left-wing government.

Even if they lost, their existence, like the Paris Commune, can inspire those who come after them to embark on this glorious path.

As these left-wing party members began to go down to the front lines to inspire soldiers and workers, and even members of the left-wing Politburo went to the front lines to tell them what a great cause they were now engaged in, and that they would not be sent to their deaths far from the front lines like the Tsar or the Provisional Government, but would stand with them in the trenches to fight for their country until the last moment.

Although the Teutonic troops were steadily approaching St. Petersburg, the morale of the defenders did not decline; on the contrary, they began to develop a strange desire to fight.

Just as a fierce battle was about to erupt on the Eastern Front, a fierce battle was also taking place intermittently in Joe's office.

Although Joe and Ms. Catherine had a wonderful night together, Ms. Catherine acted as if nothing had happened when she returned to her office the next day, refusing to mention what had happened that night.

Even after Joe kept his promise and got a new set of chairs for the office, Ms. Catherine moved to the new desk and chairs to work without hesitation.

Only occasionally, when no one was in the office, Ms. Catherine would casually lift her collar or stand by the cabinet, tiptoeing to reach for documents on the high shelf.

When Joe tried to do something, Ms. Catherine would always put him off with urgent and important work.

Once or twice a day, Qiao thought it was still fun, but after a while, Qiao wondered... was she being used as bait?
Regarding the current problem, Joe believes that the problem lies in the problem itself. In a market environment lacking competition and only having monopolies, it is natural for monopolistic businessmen to do whatever they want. However, when market competition is introduced, Hayek's big hand will punish everyone equally.

I should also think of ways to find a few more capable secretaries.

However, the priority of finding a secretary should be put on hold for a while.

Joe's biggest headache right now is Rolls-Royce's wheeled armored vehicles.

The original plan was to equip this eight-wheeled off-road vehicle with an aircraft engine, and then add a differential and a suspension system that Rolls-Royce had already put into production before the war. It seemed like a pretty reliable project.

However, the complexity of heavy off-road vehicles clearly exceeded Joe's expectations.

Rolls-Royce threw a pre-war convertible into a Jeep, upgraded its suspension, replaced its engine with an aircraft engine, and added a Harrison differential that had been drastically simplified to improve its off-road performance by reducing the number of planetary gear sets and even replacing the involute splines of the gears with straight splines. Rolls-Royce then put the Jeep into the test track for testing.

The armored personnel carrier that Joe really wanted is still lying on the equipment platform; not even a prototype has been developed yet.

Although the American engineers who came to Rolls-Royce for joint research and development projects thought that this heavy off-road vehicle was a brilliant idea after seeing the design drawings and prototype, and that it could even be directly used for civilian purposes after the war with some modifications.

But if it can't be built, it can't be built. The complexity of the eight-wheeled off-road vehicle exceeded Joe's worst-case scenario. Even if it were changed to six wheels at this point, although the difficulty would be reduced.

However, the project's progress, which essentially required starting from scratch, made it difficult for Joe to make the decision to begin again.

So, feeling down, Joe took the prototype Jeep for a drive around the test track to clear his head.

The power of the aircraft engine was naturally extraordinary, and the roar of the V12 liquid-cooled engine was exhilarating for Joe. Although the simplified version of the differential could not be like the one advertised in the past, where you could just step on the gas and leave the rest to QUATTRO, it still felt great.

Then, just as Joe was happily speeding up to the third lap, the car suddenly shook violently, and Joe was almost thrown out of the car.

After getting out of the car and checking, Joe found that there was nothing wrong with the car, except that the tire had blown out.

Just looking at the thin tires on the rims and the seat that almost threw me out of the car.

Joe scratched his head.

When I was reading about brand stories back then, I wondered which brand invented the vulcanized rubber?

Never mind, anyway, I'm the one who invented vulcanized rubber here. And why are the tire treads so shallow?
It seems Grandpa has found a new patent...

Finally, the lack of seat belts in this car is extremely dangerous; I need to make sure I have seat belts.

Looking at the stranded SUV, a smile gradually appeared on Joe's face.

Sigh... It feels so good to be a few steps ahead of the times, and new patents have been added again...

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The seatbelt, invented by Joe in collaboration with Rolls-Royce, is one of the most important inventions in automotive safety, effectively reducing the rate of injuries and fatalities in car accidents.

Few people know that Joe's idea stemmed from a tire blowout that occurred while he was testing a new car.

——————————A Century of Automobile Development

(End of this chapter)