Conquering the world from the Kaiser's driver

He knew very well why there was a delicious aroma wafting from his house. He would only smell this aroma at his doorstep when Letitia or Noah came over.

Letitia and Noah would occasionally come to his house to keep him company. If he didn't come home late because he got off work, the two girls would cook and wait for him to come back.

Lin Shangzhou opened the door with a smile. After opening the door, he saw Letitia sitting on the sofa in the living room and turning her head to look at him. There were several steaming dishes on the table in the living room.

"Fritts, you're back!"

Letitia happily ran towards him and hugged him. After being hugged by Letitia, Lin Shangzhou also reached out and hugged her. Then Noah poked his head out from the kitchen, and a smile appeared on his face when he saw Lin Shangzhou.

"Shang Zhou, you're back just in time. The last dish is almost ready. You and Letitia should wait a little longer."

"Ah."

Lin Shangzhou nodded to Noah, then took Letitia to the sofa and sat down.

A few minutes later, Noah came out with the last dish. Lin Shangzhou looked at Noah and his eyes became moist. Whenever this happened, he couldn't help but think of the past days, when his uncle was still alive.

Then the three of them had a pleasant dinner time. After dinner, the two girls stayed together with Lin Shangzhou, who told them about his work. As time passed, the hour hand of the clock on the wall soon pointed to IX.

After noticing that it was getting late, Letitia stood up on her own initiative. According to the agreement between her and Noah, it was Noah's turn today.

"It's getting late, Fritz, I'm going to go back now. Let Noah accompany you."

Letitia said to Lin Shangzhou, then took out the communicator from her pocket and dialed Catherine's number.

Seeing this, Lin Shangzhou grabbed her arm and said, "Letitia, you should stay tonight too."

"I……"

Letitia didn't know what to say. She hesitated for a while with a red face, hung up the phone and nodded. Although she was with Noah that night, she felt extremely shy when she thought about what happened then.

Nuoya didn't expect Lin Shangzhou to say this, but she didn't say much. Since Lin Shangzhou wanted to, she would accompany him.

The atmosphere in the living room suddenly became ambiguous, but at this moment, a knock on the door made the ambiguity disappear.

dong dong dong-

There was a knock on the door, and Lin Shangzhou habitually shouted to the outside: "Who is it?"

Then he heard a clear female voice coming from outside: "Shang Zhou, it's me."

After hearing Wang Zhaoming's voice, Lin Shangzhou instantly felt two gazes that made his hair stand on end, and these two gazes came from beside him.

"Fritts, when did you become so close to her?"

Letitia asked with a smile on her face. Noah on the side had already stretched out her hand and pinched Lin Shangzhou's waist. If he couldn't give any reasonable answer, her hand would twist the soft flesh on Lin Shangzhou's waist and give him a fatal blow.

Lin Shangzhou was extremely speechless. Why did Wang Zhaoming come to him at this time?

He had a feeling that if he couldn't handle it well today, he would have to spend the night alone, so he hurriedly explained: "Maybe my words at that time affected her. After all, I promised her that day that I would help them and help China. This should be the reason..."

After listening to Lin Shangzhou's explanation, Letitia thought for a few seconds, then she looked at him and motioned her to put her hand down. She believed what Lin Shangzhou said. When Noah saw that Letitia asked her to let go, she took her hand back.

"Hurry up and open the door for them. Don't keep them waiting too long."

Noah glared at Lin Shangzhou and urged him to open the door for Wang Zhaoming. Nothing could happen between Lin Shangzhou and that strange woman with the two of them here.

Lin Shangzhou nodded, then quickly walked to the door and opened it. After opening the door, he saw Wang Zhaoming standing in front of him with a can of pear syrup candy in her hand, and there was a stranger behind her.

Wang Zhaoming said to Lin Shangzhou: "Well, Shangzhou, I have to go back for a few days, so I came here to tell you that I will be back soon."

Lin Shangzhou knew that the "go back" she meant was "go back to France". After hearing this, he also understood who the man behind Wang Zhaoming was - most likely a member of the German Workers' Syndicalist Group.

"So you can take this can of pear syrup candy. You should have finished eating the one I gave you earlier."

Wang Zhaoming handed the jar in his hand to Lin Shangzhou. Looking at the jar handed to him by the girl in front of him, although he felt uneasy, after hesitating for a few seconds, Lin Shangzhou finally accepted the gift from Wang Zhaoming.

"Then go back. Don't be too anxious. I will keep the fourth floor for you."

"Well, thank you, bye."

Wang Zhaoming smiled, said goodbye, and turned to walk downstairs.

After she left, Lin Shangzhou closed the door. Feeling the gazes behind him, he couldn't help but sigh, then turned around and explained to Letitia and Noah.

.

Chapter 249: Investing in Siemens

On the morning of March 17, the Social Democratic government began to plan and implement the decision made yesterday - to reorganize the imperial government.

Before the formal reorganization, Lin Shangzhou and his cabinet members must first confirm which institutions need to be optimized and how the officials who originally belonged to those institutions and departments will be arranged after the abolition of the institutions. If they want to streamline the government by abolishing institutions and departments to reduce fiscal pressure, the number of departments and personnel to be abolished is bound to be considerable, and if those laid-off personnel are not properly arranged, it will also cause some unnecessary problems.

Therefore, after several days of discussion, Lin Shangzhou and Otto Wells decided on the formal reorganization plan on the afternoon of March 21st, and the work began to be implemented the next day, March 22nd.

In the course of this work, some unnecessary departments will be abolished, while some departments with overlapping functions and those that can be merged will be integrated together, for example, the Department of Labor and Social Affairs and the Department of Labor, the former will be integrated into the latter.

Among the employees who were originally from the departments that were laid off or merged and integrated, those who are capable can continue to work or be assigned to other departments. As for those who have mediocre abilities and are just trying to make a living, the government will find them a job in other fields. As for whether they can continue to do the job, that is their own problem. In short, everyone will be properly dealt with.

While reorganizing the government, Lin Shangzhou was also thinking about another thing - economic policies.

Because we mentioned before that economic development can be promoted by promoting business investment, the core of this policy is to invest in German companies. In the work report on the 21st, Lin Shangzhou mentioned this matter to Louis, and our Minister of Economy immediately stated that he would immediately plan and formulate relevant policies.

On the morning of the 23rd, in front of the Prime Minister's office, Louis came over with a document and knocked on the door. After hearing Lin Shangzhou's "Come in", he opened the door and walked in.

After entering the office, Louis handed the document in his hand to Bauman who came to greet him. The prime minister's secretary took the document back to Lin Shangzhou and put the paper on the desk.

"Have you figured it out so quickly?"

Lin Shangzhou said to Louis with some surprise, and at the same time picked up the documents on the table, glanced at them briefly, and then looked at Louis.

Louis nodded to Lin Shangzhou with a serious expression. Seeing Louis' serious expression, Lin Shangzhou couldn't help but be surprised again. If he had praised him in the past, he would definitely show off a little, but today he was so serious. For a moment, Lin Shangzhou felt a little uncomfortable.

However, the surprise in his heart soon dissipated. After all, it was normal to be casual in life and rigorous in work, so there was no need to be too surprised.

Lin Shangzhou began to read the contents of the document in detail. When Louis saw him start reading the document, he began to explain his plan to him.

Ten minutes later, Lin Shangzhou had a more comprehensive understanding of Louis' plan. He put the paper in his hand on the table, looked at Louis and asked: "So what you mean is that we contact Siemens and sign an agreement with it to invest in Siemens, and at the same time use Siemens to contact other smaller companies and sign agreements with them to fund them, so as to promote the development of the German economy?"

After that, Lin Shangzhou picked up the document and looked at it again, then asked, "Louis, do you have any other plans?"

"Have."

Louis nodded vigorously and replied, "In addition to Siemens, we can also choose Krupp, Mauser and other large German companies. However, Krupp and Mauser focus more on the military industry. I personally think that investing in those two companies will not have much effect on promoting the economy. Siemens is a very suitable choice."

After listening to his words, Lin Shangzhou nodded slowly. What Louis said made sense. He knew a little about this. Overdevelopment of the military industry in peacetime would have a certain boost to the economy because factories would need to be opened to recruit workers, which would promote employment, but overall the boost was not significant.

Moreover, the products produced by the military industry can basically only be supplied to the military and cannot flow into the civilian population (except for supplies such as canned food), so they cannot generate more profits.

The proposal that Louis presented reminded Lin Shangzhou of Germany's three economic national policies: "Subsidizing Siemens", "Krupp AG", and "Signing a Contract with Mauser". These three national policies also correspond to focusing on the civilian economy, the military-civilian mixed economy, and focusing on the military industry.

Lin Shangzhou was always unhappy when he had to choose one out of three. He knew he couldn't have it all, but in theory, when he focused on investing in a certain company, he could also appropriately fund the remaining two. However, in the game, he could only focus on one.

Every time he has to make a choice, he would choose Krupp, because Krupp is a mix of military and civilians. He doesn't know what others think, but Lin Shangzhou himself thinks that the mix of military and civilians is better, as he can get both military and civilian workers. The buff given by the final "Economic Prosperity" national policy is also good, with factory output +10%.

In the past, due to the game's mechanics, Lin Shangzhou could only make one choice, but now he can truly decide the German Empire's economic policy in this regard, whether to invest in the civilian economy or in military industry, everything depends on his choice.

Considering that the year is now 1932 and there are still seven years before the war, it is a bit too early to make arrangements in the military industry seven years in advance. Taking into account the actual situation, Lin Shangzhou chose the leftmost national policy "Subsidize Siemens", which he rarely chose when playing KX. Of course, according to the actual situation, "Subsidize Siemens" should be changed to "Invest in Siemens".

"Then let's do as you say. We will mainly invest in Siemens and other small and medium-sized enterprises, but we also need to give Krupp some sweeteners."

Lin Shangzhou picked up the document and handed it to Louis, adding that although Krupp was also involved in military industry, it was also a large industrial enterprise. Its national policy line could include the "Civilian Industrial Revitalization Plan", which meant that investing in it could also partially drive the development of the civilian economy, so this company could not be forgotten.

As for the military-industrial enterprise Mauser, he would have to wait for a while if he wanted to be valued by Lin Shangzhou.

"Of course, I'll go back and draft a new one."

Louis took the document and agreed without hesitation.

The agreement signed between the government and enterprises will take the lead in boosting private investment, just like Alexandrine's previous initiative to invest in Junkers. After she invested in Junkers, the three aviation designers received more or less mark investment from others. Therefore, Lin Shangzhou believes that this government policy will greatly benefit the development of the German economy.

However, it will take some time to get real benefits from this policy, which is what makes Lin Shangzhou most unhappy. In the game, you can get benefits directly by clicking on a national policy and waiting for dozens of days. He remembered that this economic national policy is 35 days, and it only takes a little more than a month to make the infrastructure of Hesse and East Rhineland directly reach level five. But in reality, he has to wait for a while.

"Well... let's just wait..."

Lin Shangzhou sighed lightly. Bowman and Louis on the side heard what he said. Bowman didn't care. He always heard Lin Shangzhou say some inexplicable words, and he was used to it.

Louis probably guessed what Lin Shangzhou was referring to. Improving finances through economic development is a long process, and his prime minister was probably sighing about the long wait.

Later, Lin Shangzhou and Louis began to discuss investment in other small and medium-sized enterprises. After a while, the two ended the long discussion. During the discussion, they also made some changes to the policy. The final result of the discussion was that the German Imperial Government’s next major direction would be to focus on investing in civilian enterprises and industrial factories in Germany. The leading companies among them were Siemens and Krupp, and the rest were leading companies in various industries, such as Mercedes-Benz and Opel. In addition to the automotive industry, chemical industry companies also received some investment.

In addition to practical needs, Lin Shangzhou himself had some selfish motives in investing in the chemical industry. After all, he was a little tired of knitted stockings... um... chemical products like nylon are still very fragrant and can be used in many fields.

At the same time, companies in the electronic information industry also received a small amount of investment, including Mercury Power. As a leader in the research of ether technology, the Havok Institute under its jurisdiction could not but be supported by the government, otherwise it would be too strange.

After deciding on the target for investment, Lin Shangzhou asked Baumann to call Erich over. This would require money, and since money was required, he had to discuss it with the Minister of Finance.

Faced with Lin Shangzhou's request and the policy before him, Erich Koch was somewhat speechless. This was another huge financial expenditure. After complaining a few words, he could only agree to the prime minister's request and agree to this financial allocation.

.

Chapter 250 Representative of Siemens

On March 25th, two days later, the government announced this new economic policy, published a specific investment list and announced that a new round of investment plans would be launched soon. At the same time, the government also sent invitations to various companies, asking them to send representatives to the government to discuss specific investment plans and projects.

This policy is a great thing for German companies, especially for those on the investment list. The government investment can be said to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. After the announcement of this policy, even companies that are no longer on the list are ready to send representatives to the government to try to see if they can get government investment for their companies. Even a very small share is better than getting nothing.

Large companies on the list, such as Siemens and Krupp, are also very actively selecting representatives from within the company to send to the government, hoping to win more investment for themselves. Although the scale of investment given by the government is not small, it is never a bad thing to get a little more.

Although the next day was Saturday, all companies sent representatives to Berlin on the afternoon of the 25th. Most of them could only stay in Berlin temporarily after arriving, while those companies with headquarters in Berlin, such as Siemens, had inherent advantages.

The company seemed to have been prepared in this regard. When Lin Shangzhou led the Social Democratic Party to participate in the general election, it recalled a group of employees from China. Siemens, which had developed its business in China early on, recalled these employees with the hope that they would gain the favor of the Social Democratic Party chancellor in negotiations with the government. Of course, the premise of this was that Lin Shangzhou needed to become prime minister, and the actual results showed that they made a very correct choice.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, two representatives from Siemens arrived outside the Reichstag. One of them was an employee who returned to Germany from China a month ago, and the other was a local employee.

Siemens believes that one employee who is familiar with China is enough. If there are too many employees, it will be suspected that they are doing it on purpose, which will then arouse the prime minister's disgust and it will not be worth it.

The two walked into the Capitol, told the staff their purpose, and were taken to Louis' office.

Louis received the two warmly. He was not at all surprised that one of them was an employee of Siemens' Chinese branch. He knew that Siemens had business in China, so it was normal for them to send this employee.

However, this still affected Louis' judgment. Out of consideration for his status, Louis decided to take the two to Lin Shangzhou's office to meet the prime minister directly.

Louis believed that Lin Shangzhou would be very interested in this Siemens employee who had lived in China for many years.

Louis' decision surprised the two of them, and they were then nervous. Going directly from being the Minister of Economy to talking to the Prime Minister, anyone would be nervous, right?

On the way to the prime minister's office, the two calmed down their emotions and decided to face the prime minister in the best condition.

On the other side, Lin Shangzhou was taking a nap in the office. After working for several hours, he decided to take a short break. However, not long after he closed his eyes, a knock on the door forced him to open his eyes.

"Tsk..."

Lin Shangzhou made a dissatisfied sound, then straightened his attitude and said to the door: "Come in."

click-

The door opened and he saw Louis walk in with two strangers.

"Fritts, these two are representatives from Siemens...

After entering the office, Louis introduced two representatives to Lin Shangzhou. Lin Shangzhou looked at the faces of the two carefully. After seeing one person clearly, he turned to look at the other, and then he felt as if he had seen that representative somewhere.

“…This is Mr. John Rabe, he was previously the accountant of Siemens’ Nanjing branch…”

After hearing Louis say Rabe's name, Lin Shangzhou was stunned for a moment, and then an indescribable emotion surged in his heart.

John Rabe, Lin Shangzhou knew very well what he did in OTL. No one would forget the heinous crimes committed by the Japanese army in Nanjing, and no one would forget John Rabe, who used his identity as a NAZI party member and joined other international friends in Nanjing to provide a protective umbrella for refugees.

Whenever Lin Shangzhou thinks of Rabe's deeds, he feels extremely grateful. As a Chinese, he sincerely and respectfully thanks Rabe and his companions for their contributions.

This is the feeling in his heart now. Even though this is in the KX world, even though Rabe has not done any earth-shattering good deeds, Lin Shangzhou is extremely grateful to this man with a noble soul.

Even if this is not OTL, even if Rabe is not a member of the NAZI or any political party, as long as he is John Rabe, he will still help the Chinese people.

Lin Shangzhou wanted to stand up and shake Mr. Rabe's hand immediately, but after calming down, he stood up and shook Rabe's hand after Rabe came to the desk.

"Mr. Rabe, before you came back, you were an accountant at Siemens' Nanjing branch? So what was your life like in China?"

Holding Rabe's hand, Lin Shangzhou asked him with interest.

When Rabe heard Lin Shangzhou's question, he realized that this was a good opportunity to get closer to the prime minister, so he began to tell Lin Shangzhou about his experiences and observations in China.

His companions were so happy to see Rabe and the prime minister chatting so happily. They stood quietly by and listened to their conversation, expecting Rabe to ask the prime minister for an increase in his share.

The conversation between the two about China lasted for nearly an hour. Lin Shangzhou was very interested in Rabe's experience, and through his narration of his own experience, he successfully made it seem that agreeing to Siemens' request was a simple and easy thing.

Lin Shangzhou didn't have any feelings for Siemens, but he hoped to help Mr. Rabe. A direct promotion would be too abrupt and unreasonable, and would easily affect him. Now this opportunity couldn't be better.

If Rabe can win more market share for Siemens in this matter, it will surely lead to his being reused. Both his personal ability and his performance will make him valued by Siemens. This is what Lin Shangzhou wants to see.