The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1636 Cash Register (Part 2)
As for the goal of building a cash register in three months, Franz actually thought it was too low. After all, the inventor of the cash register in history only took less than a year from conception to the development of a finished product.

During that time, he only had his older brother, a junior mechanic, as his assistant, while he himself was a bar owner with only a primary school education.

Of course, the inspiration of many geniuses is difficult to estimate based on education and material conditions, but Franz's existence can completely solve this most difficult problem.

There's no reason why Austria's top scientists and engineers should be inferior to two amateurs.

However, it must be said that at that time, countries other than the Austrian Empire might not have been able to develop a cash register.

The high-strength parts and high-precision gears alone can stump 99% of countries, and the rotary drilling technology can completely eliminate all countries except the Austrian Empire.

Even among high-precision lathes, there are still differences in accuracy; as the saying goes, a small error can lead to a huge mistake. Moreover, apart from the Austrian Empire, other countries could not afford high-carbon steel springs, or even produce them at all.

Sure enough, as soon as Babbage gathered his team, before he had even finished drawing up his blueprints, the engineers below used their imagination to assemble a simple cash register by hand.

Babbage stared blankly at the cash register in front of him, seemingly able to perform all the functions Franz had requested. The other engineers, seeing this, asked him questions.

"Can we report back now?"

"no!"

Babbage was losing face. The previous incident had already displeased Franz, and if he messed things up again, he wouldn't be able to stay in Vienna anymore.

Babbage immediately began testing and indeed found a whole host of problems. So he started redesigning it, and within just one month it had reached a point where it couldn't be improved any further.

Franz watched the demonstration, and it looked almost exactly like the cash registers he remembered from old European and American movies. However, he was well aware that there was a big difference between the laboratory environment and the actual business environment.

Sure enough, after a month of practical use, some problems were discovered. Another month passed, and the cash register no longer had any obvious defects.

Franz then decided to roll it out on a large scale, and the launch of the cash register immediately attracted widespread attention.

Paris, Champs-Élysées.

Customers at the United Power Department Store stared curiously at the strange box made of walnut wood, brass, cast iron, and with handles and buttons.

"what is that?"

A wealthy young lady asked curiously, and a well-dressed gentleman immediately stepped forward to strike up a conversation.

"In my opinion, it should be a musical instrument."

"Musical instrument?"

The rich heiress looked at the strange thing in front of her again and asked noncommittally.

The well-dressed gentleman laughed and said.

"That's right. Look at those keys, don't they look like piano keys? And look at those handles, don't they look like a miniature pipe organ?"

The rich heiress observed for a while longer and found that there were indeed some similarities. However, at this moment, the first person to pay walked to the cashier, and the cashier began to fiddle with the machine with her fingers.

Each time it is turned, it makes a "click, click" sound, and the numbers on the several discs facing the customer also rotate accordingly.

"Why does it sound so bad?"

The rich heiress asked with some confusion.

Listen attentively, feel with your body.

The French gentleman seemed completely absorbed in the moment. Suddenly, a bell rang, startling the romantic gentleman. To cover his embarrassment, he could only say...

"It really is a strange instrument."

"But it's clearly meant for paying the bill."

"That's what the rich girl said."

The romantic gentleman pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Austrians love music, so it's not unusual for them to use musical instruments to pay their bills."

"Mom! It's a music box!"

The little girl standing nearby also heard what the young gentleman had just said, and the lady with the child smiled and said something.

"Silly child, how can a music box do math? It's clearly a calculator."

The little girl's eyes showed great confusion.

"Mom, why can't it be a music box that can do math?"

"A calculator is a calculator. Only ignorant people who like to show off would call a calculator a musical instrument. Honey, don't fall for it."

The lady's voice was very loud, making the young couple blush.

Soon after the transaction was completed, the customer received another piece of paper, which was full of holes.

The people behind were quite puzzled as to what it was for. In any case, the customer took the piece of paper, nodded with great satisfaction, and even gave a thumbs up.

The noblewoman continued to be sarcastic.

"Shouldn't we just say it's sheet music?"

The young gentleman was also curious about what it was, and soon it was his turn. The checkout process was much faster than before, especially the discs that displayed the amounts – a stroke of genius.

After their relationship ended, he received a card full of holes. He glanced at it and immediately understood: the holes were to display the amount; it was a brand new bill.
The application of cash registers has had a revolutionary impact on the department store retail industry, greatly reducing cash losses and even significantly improving the speed of reconciliation.

It shifts some of the "trust risk" from pure interpersonal trust to mechanical system control, and even customers can play a supervisory role to some extent.

It was only after the advent of cash registers that retail chains dared to hire large numbers of strangers, enabling the large-scale development of modern department stores, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants.

This also provides more accurate data for business decisions and may even influence economic patterns. The significant decrease in disputes has further enhanced the reputation and brand awareness of United Power Department Stores.

With its higher efficiency, higher daily profits, more effective management, and the traditional advantage of being backed by the Austrian Empire, United Power Department Store quickly made a name for itself and was invincible in the market.

Franz even opened branches in London and Paris. Although the British and French were furious, they couldn't win the competition through normal means.

At that time, other department stores simply did not have the ability to compete with it, and could not even imitate it; they could only accept being eliminated.

Of course, economic subsidies could be used to help them survive, but the cost of doing so would be too high, so they would choose more effective administrative measures.

However, this would expose the lie of so-called free trade they were talking about. It would not bring the Austrian Empire anything, but its absence would be very important to the Austrian Empire.

However, even though they could keep the United Forces department store out, they couldn't stop the development of the Austrian Empire's retail industry; the economic vitality of the two sides was simply not on the same level.

Those seemingly minor innovations were, in fact, levers that could move the entire world. The Austrian Empire was reshaping the world with its will.