Timeline of Major Events:
In 1882, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy held negotiations in Vienna.
On May 20 of the same year, they signed the “Triple Alliance Treaty,” marking the formation of the Triple Alliance.
September 30 — The world’s first hydroelectric power plant began operation (the dam on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, was the site of the world’s first hydroelectric power plant).
On January 14, Ferdinand convened his management staff to hold an industrial development planning meeting.
The meeting attendees included not only those from the emerging industries established by Ferdinand but also the heads of the traditional industries of the House of Koháry.
This was primarily because Ferdinand discovered that many traditional industries still held great potential for development.
In his plans, there were many areas of overlap that could complement each other.
For example, like many great nobles, the House of Koháry had their own wine estate, which served only the family itself.
Ferdinand would drink a little himself occasionally and felt the taste was quite good.
He found it very wasteful; to support a large group of people just to serve a few family members was truly too extravagant.
It could easily be expanded to sell on the market.
Even if increasing production caused a drop in flavor, as long as it wasn’t lower than the common goods on the market, he could still sell it.
Like the wheat and potatoes produced on the estate, starting this year, they didn’t need to be sold externally; his own factories could completely consume them.
Also, for the cattle and sheep from the pastures, he could build his own slaughterhouse and then send the meat to the supermarkets to sell.
Another example was setting aside a piece of land near his own city to grow vegetables for self-production and self-marketing, and so on.
The extravagance of European great nobles often exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.
Just like Ferdinand now, he had over a dozen exclusive maids and a team of chefs no less capable than those in five-star hotels of later generations, able to prepare cuisines from over a dozen countries, including Italy, France, and India.
The castle he lived in had no fewer than three hundred guards and servants.
For his clothing, he kept dedicated tailors who served only him.
He had seven or eight of his own private luxury carriages.
There was also the standard wine estate, which only used the highest-quality grapes for winemaking, and so on.
Of course, his extravagance was nothing; Princess Clementine’s style was truly grand, fully befitting her status as a French princess.
Regardless, the House of Koháry’s income, aside from essential expenses, saw no less than 100,000 pounds spent on their extravagance every year, and this cost was rising year by year.
This was also the source of the transformation from great nobles to great Capitalists; the income from traditional industries could no longer satisfy their increasingly high consumption demands.
Ferdinand deeply loathed these bad habits and urgently wanted to change all of this.
As for whether it would lose face for the nobility, he indicated that he would act undercover.
Ferdinand had no intention of challenging the noble system; his position determined his thinking, and he himself was a beneficiary.
On the surface, Ferdinand remained a loyal supporter of the noble system; the necessary extravagance remained unchanged, at most having the maids work part-time as secretaries.
Just as Ferdinand was reorganizing his industries, the retail world in Vienna was also undergoing changes.
Squeezed by Volvo, many grocery stores saw their profits plummet, and the Capitalists behind them turned to the supermarket industry.
Starting in February, a supermarket named “Little Bell” opened, breaking Volvo’s monopoly and starting a period of intense competition in the retail industry.
Continuing until October, more than eighty large and small supermarkets had opened in the international metropolis of Vienna.
At the beginning, everyone kept a certain distance when choosing locations, intentionally avoiding direct confrontation.
Although there was competition among them, they got along harmoniously, and everyone’s profits were still acceptable.
However, after entering 1883, up-and-comers sprang up like mushrooms, and they could no longer avoid each other.
In some areas, there were seven or eight supermarkets on a single street, and some were even door-to-door, directly competing for business.
Because the supermarket industry required no technical expertise, Capitalists swarmed in.
By the end of 1883, the density of supermarkets in Vienna was comparable to that of later generations.
Cruel competition began, with various methods emerging one after another.
Price wars were naturally the first choice, and advertisements for discounts and promotions were everywhere on the streets; everyone’s good days were over.
Although it had been impacted, its stores in Vienna still maintained profitability.
Until March 1884, when Koteff Department Store announced a reorganization, this retail giant officially entered the supermarket field.
Ferdinand was very surprised.
He had not spared any effort in fueling the cruel competition in the Vienna supermarket field, aiming to scare off some large Capitalists from entering.
It had been quite successful before; although Volvo’s stores in Vienna were impacted, relatively conservative Capitalists in other cities were deterred by this.
Volvo’s losses in Vienna were earned back twofold in other cities.
Ferdinand was quite familiar with the background of Koteff Department Store; it was backed by a major financial group in the Kingdom of Hungary, of which the House of Koháry was one.
Because the dominant group was the interest group of Capitalists engaged in the flour processing industry in Hungary.
Although Ferdinand also had flour processing plants, most were for self-production and self-consumption, so he didn’t usually pay much attention to the situation in this area, and this time he was caught off guard.
After realizing this, Ferdinand immediately utilized his family connections to figure out the ins and outs.
Due to Volvo’s rapid expansion, its share in the retail industry was becoming larger and larger, and the Shuanghui Flour Processing Plant naturally rose with the tide, and its market share continued to grow.
The sales of Hungarian flour in Austria-Hungary plummeted, and the Capitalists engaged in the flour industry could no longer sit still.
If Ferdinand were an ordinary person, they could naturally find ways to make him submit, or perhaps send him to meet God.
But Ferdinand was also a great noble of Hungary; this was internal competition, so many methods could not be used.
Except for those Capitalists who felt the pain firsthand, others stood by and watched.
Thus, they supported Koteff Department Store’s entry to change the situation where Volvo dominated the retail industry alone, and there was also the intention to force Ferdinand to make concessions.
Ferdinand was temporarily relieved; as long as it wasn’t the intention of the entire Hungarian financial group, he was not afraid of a mere Koteff Department Store.
Moreover, the news came so quickly and clearly revealed an intention to negotiate, indicating that the other party did not intend to fight him to the death.
This matter also gave Ferdinand a lesson: he must strengthen the construction of intelligence work.
A transmigrator is not omnipotent; if he had paid more attention to these old family relationships, presumably both sides would have made peace long ago, and this incident would not have happened.