Chapter 201 Bad News

Not surprisingly, Palmerston's plan for a Jewish state met with unanimous opposition from all countries. Even the Ottoman Sultan Mejid, whom the British said was the biggest beneficiary, opposed the establishment of a Jewish state on his own land.

Of course, the opinions of other countries did not make Britain intend to give up. They tried to contact organizations such as the Zionist Congress and the Freemasons, hoping to use the help of these organizations to move a large number of Jews directly into the Jerusalem area.

This created a fait accompli, and it didn't matter even if the five-nation conference disagreed, because Britain could completely use its powerful power to make cooked rice.

The British idea and good promise of the Jewish state, spread from one place to another through newspapers and businessmen, did attract many lower-class and middle-class Jews, and some of them planned to leave after the war in the Near East and North Africa ended. Syria gets the "promised land".

Franz didn’t know much about this history, but he knew that the state of Israel was established after World War II. So he was sure that Jewish statehood would not succeed.

The Austrian aristocratic circle even held a handicap for this purpose.

Franz originally wanted to make a fortune, but he found that the odds of the Jews successfully establishing a nation were pitifully low. Most of the nobles believed that the Jews would not be able to establish a foothold in the Syrian desert.

Only a small number of Jews can succeed in suppressing the Jewish state.

Even Solomon Rothschild, the backbone of Austrian Jewry, only paid a symbolic one thousand florins.

Franz could only sigh, "It's really hard to make some extra money."

"Archduke Franz, your ability to make money is already very strong. No matter how powerful you are, you can only rob it." Adjani comforted with a smile.

"Rob? That's a good idea." The hills of Bactria in Afghanistan, shipwrecks in Spain, and temples in India are all good places to make money. However, due to limitations of technology and strength, these things cannot be visited for the time being.

"Are you really going to rob him?" Adjani said, pricking up her ears in front of Franz.

Franz grabbed Adjani's ear and said.

"You ask too many questions!"

"Yeah! It hurts! Don't ask!"

Franz then let go of his hand. In fact, he didn't use too much force, it was just that Adjani was too devoted to her performance.

"Archduke Franz, there is good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?" Adjani said with a smile.

".Are you taking revenge on me?"

"How dare you!" Adjani said, covering her ears.

"Okay, let's hear the bad news first." Franz sighed.

"The sales volume of your improved pedal sewing machine has been poor. Except for a few nobles who have good relations with the family, almost no one cares about it."

At this time, the sewing machine was still a very troublesome hand-operated sewing machine. It required two people to operate, one person shook the handle, and the other person put the fabric into it and operated it. It was also extremely easy to cause accidents.

After all, it is impossible for two people to share the same brain, so they can only perform some simple mechanical sutures.

Although the foot-operated sewing machine superficially changes only the driving method, it actually has a dimensionality reduction impact on the past hand-operated sewing machines. It greatly simplifies the operating process and enriches the operating methods, allowing it to be used in most applications. Instead of manual operation.

But Franz didn't expect these people to be so ignorant. They only retailed less than ten units every month, but his mother purchased a thousand units.

At this time, the price of an old hand-operated sewing machine was 250 florins, and the pedal sewing machine modified by Franz only cost 300 florins.

Franz felt that the price increase of only 50 florins was already a very good deal. However, after half a year, only 69 units were sold in retail. After deducting costs and other expenses, only 12,000 florins were earned.

The thousand units purchased by Mrs. Sophie were all taken at cost price, and Franz did not make a penny from this business.

As for the patent fees, there is not even a penny.

"Adjani, didn't you say that the sewing machine is very useful?" Franz asked.

"It's very easy to use. I don't know how many times faster it is than doing it by hand." Adjani replied.

In fact, someone has calculated that if the material is soft or thin, the speed of the sewing machine is almost fifteen times that of manual sewing.

If the material is hard or thick, the speed of the sewing machine is more than thirty times that of manual work.

"Then why can't it be sold?" Franz asked.

"It always takes time for people to accept new things, and the price is indeed a bit expensive. But it is indeed a great invention. Don't be discouraged. People who have used it say it is good." Adjani explained.

"It's been half a year! It's just for civilians, don't those tailor shops have any foresight?" Franz said angrily.

In fact, a sewing machine will be called one of the "four major items" not to mention it now, even a century from now. It is normal that ordinary people cannot afford it. But the owners and professionals of the tailor shops were actually unwilling to spend money to buy them, which made Franz very chilled.

Is it really like what is said in the book that if you have a first-mover advantage, you will not be willing to update the equipment, so that it will become obsolete until it is eliminated by the times?

Thinking of this, Franz couldn't help but start to worry about the future of the Austrian Empire.

At this time Adjani said.

"But the tailors in the shop usually don't visit noble shops."

"Noble store?"

"Yes, that's right! Many families run their own shops, and the royal family is no exception. But thanks to Mrs. Sophie, our products can be sold in several noble shops. For example, Elthazi and Windischgrätz. Maybe we can hire some people to promote them, or try our luck in general stores."

"General stores?" Franz didn't quite understand this term.

"It's a store with a relatively large scale and a full range of products. It's just that the people who run this kind of store are usually Jewish merchants. If you put your products in it, it may be used by people with ulterior motives to create some non-existent rumors." Ajani said with some concern.

After listening to Ajani's words, Franz realized that there were no supermarkets in this era.

However, it is a bit difficult to run a supermarket, and it will rob the business of ordinary people. Maybe department stores are a good choice.

Compared with supermarkets, department stores pay more attention to image and have higher profit margins, but they are still much cheaper than the goods in shops of the same era.

This era is restricted by conditions such as transportation, transportation, and storage methods, which destined the business model of shopping malls to be more profit-oriented.

Maybe he was happy that he had figured out the key, or maybe he wanted to fight back because he was always teased. Franz put his arms around Anjani's neck and kissed her on the cheek.

There was a smell of aloe vera. It was all because Franz said that aloe vera had a whitening effect, so the aloe vera in the royal garden suffered. Anjani would break aloe vera every morning after getting up and before going to bed.

But Franz thought about it and thought that it was good. At least she would not use arsenic trioxide on her face. Otherwise, Franz might end up like Mrs. White's dog one day.

In 1888, a tragedy happened in New York, USA. A noble lady woke up in the morning and found that her pet dog was dead. For this reason, she offered a reward of 10,000 US dollars to catch the murderer who poisoned her dog.

This incident not only shocked New York, but even detectives throughout the United States were eager to try.

Finally, after analysis by a group of famous detectives, it was concluded that the dog died because it licked Mrs. White's face and was poisoned by cosmetics.

It was completely different from what Franz had expected. Not only did Adjani have no reaction when Franz kissed her, but even after the kiss she acted as if nothing had happened.