Karl grumbled inwardly as he walked out of the Old Emperor’s study at Schönbrunn Palace.
In today’s audience, the “prodigious and well-behaved imperial grandson” image he had painstakingly cultivated was docked points until it couldn’t get any worse.
If it were an ordinary royal child, they would probably get a few scoldings and a fine on their pocket money to brush it over.
But his reputation for “precocity” had already spread like wildfire through the Viennese court and high society, so the Emperor’s standards for him were naturally different.
Therefore, the Emperor ultimately ordered that Karl was not to leave Vienna without permission.
Perhaps in the Old Emperor’s mind, he felt that since he couldn’t successfully stop Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s unequal marriage, Karl became even more precious, leading him to simply tether him firmly to Vienna.
To use a football analogy, Karl had just received a yellow card.
To get rid of this yellow card wasn’t actually impossible.
After all, Karl had long been secretly planning another matter to gain points with the Emperor.
Thus, until that matter yielded significant results, he should honestly obey the ban and focus on making movies.
It just so happened that a cooperation channel had been established with Edison in America.
With a stable and voracious new client, Karl also intended to put more effort into the movie content itself.
The target audience this time was Americans.
Something prepared for Americans naturally had to get their blood pumping so hard they’d bolt upright in the middle of the night.
An authentic Western!
A prototype had already taken shape in Karl’s mind:
A handsome white gunslinger with a mysterious past wandering the western wilderness arrives at a lawless border town to settle down, inevitably coming into fierce conflict with local gangs, brutal bandits, and cunning gamblers.
Riding a horse that understands human nature, he sweeps through the scene with a double-barreled shotgun at the critical moment.
Finally, amidst increasingly tense and stirring music, he has a showdown with the final boss on the sun-drenched main street using a revolver.
Just thinking about stuffing all these clichés into one Western made Karl want to laugh.
Wasn’t the scene of Americans holding out cash and begging him, “Please, take the money,” clear enough?
With just this trend-setting work, he was confident he would firmly dominate the American film market for years to come.
Academics?
Those so-called classmates at the Theresian Academy?
In Karl’s eyes, they were all small fry.
He could make movies and do other things simultaneously and still mop the floor with them.
“As expected of His Highness Archduke Karl, always an overwhelming first place.”
“Sigh, don’t lose heart.
Just work harder next time?
You didn’t do anything wrong; your opponent is just too strong.”
In the academy, no one even compared their children to Karl anymore; not even complaints like “Look at the neighbor’s kid” were heard.
They simply gave up the idea of competing with Karl academically.
Losing to Archduke Karl seemed to have become something that wasn’t embarrassing—even natural—in Vienna’s upper-class circles.
War finally broke out between America and Spain.
History did not change its macro direction because of Karl’s arrival.
In this Spanish-American War, under the guise of “liberating” Cuba, America practiced expansionism.
It not only gained actual control of Cuba but also seized Guam and Puerto Rico, and even brought the distant Philippines into its sphere of influence.
Through this, it truly opened its eyes and tasted the sweetness of overseas expansion.
Having tasted flesh and blood, how could it hold back?
Imperialist sentiment within America also began to rise, becoming somewhat frenzied.
Exerting influence on both ends of the Pacific and Atlantic with relatively superior force, this emerging nation officially took an interest in the “Imperialism” game.
This war also allowed Karl, who had purchased American treasury bonds earlier, to reap a large profit, making him naturally happy.
But at the same time, the rise of a more aggressive America meant that the challenges facing the Old World, Europe, were intensifying.
This sign that the era of peace was about to end couldn’t help but make one feel bitter.
And what happened next in Vienna made Karl’s heart sink even further.
He naturally hoped everything he laid out would go smoothly, but things were never that simple.
One day, in a side hall of the Augarten Palace, two uninvited guests arrived.
Two middle-aged men, looking nervous and behaving stiffly, walked in timidly under the guidance of an attendant.
“Your Highness, it has been a long time since our last visit.
We are truly apprehensive.”
The leader said as he bowed extremely respectfully.
Karl recognized him as Dr.
Hantzsch, the head of the biological research institute he had personally founded and continuously invested in several years ago.
“Yes, Dr.
Hantzsch, we really should meet more often…”
Karl’s response to their greeting was cold and hard.
It was no wonder his attitude was poor.
Money was being poured in constantly, but decent results were nowhere to be seen.
How could his tone be gentle?
Seeing them, Karl just wanted to sigh.
Even the movies, which were originally made out of interest and for profit, were now bringing him a continuous stream of amazing earnings, gaining both fame and fortune.
As for Van Gogh’s works, they only required a bit of family reputation and advance financial backing to yield rich returns in the future.
Yet, it was the very thing he cared about most and had the greatest long-term expectations for that had almost no breakthrough progress.
Over the past few years, besides continuous burning of money, the output was meager, making it hard to see any hope.
“Director Hantzsch, I hope you’ve brought truly good news today.” Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
Karl signaled them to sit, while he leaned back in his chair, staring at them with a serious gaze.
“Your Highness, although we are still some distance from final success, my team and I, especially this newly joined capable assistant, have indeed made some encouraging progress.”
Dr.
Hantzsch wiped the sweat from his brow and replied cautiously.
“Assistant?”
Karl’s gaze turned to the younger man beside Dr.
Hantzsch, who was equally nervous but had a focused light in his eyes.
“Allow me to introduce him to you, noble Your Highness.
This is Dr.
Karl Landsteiner.
He has unique insights into bacteriology and serology.
Although he hasn’t been with our institute for long, his contributions have been outstanding.”
Dr.
Hantzsch hurried to introduce him.
The man named Karl Landsteiner stood up and bowed slightly again: “It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”
Karl understood that this type of research naturally required long-term investment of time and funds to slowly show results.
Adding fresh blood and recruiting new talent was a normal and necessary part of the R&D process.
However, Karl still couldn’t help but grumble in his heart:
Why hasn’t any super genius like Tesla or Einstein, whose names are household words destined to be recorded in history, taken the initiative to join?
He had never heard of these two in the history of penicillin in his previous life.
The name Landsteiner vaguely reminded him of something else, but he couldn’t place it for the moment, so he naturally felt some doubt about his strength.
Had all the top talents been poached by Britain, America, France, or Germany?
“Nice to meet you, Dr.
Landsteiner.” Karl maintained a polite smile and then returned to the main topic, “So, what specifically is this ‘encouraging progress’ you mentioned?”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Dr.
Hantzsch took over, his tone becoming slightly more fluent.
“We have been following the direction you initially pointed out, focusing on that specific Blue Mold.”
“After countless experiments, especially after Dr.
Landsteiner introduced new cultivation methods and identification techniques, we have indeed made some unprecedented discoveries.”
Blue Mold.
That was precisely the mold from which the miraculous substance—penicillin—could be extracted.