My German Empire - Chapter 5: Speer's Fast Food Restaurant

Albert Speer, who became the Minister of Logistics and the leader of the Empire’s economy in the original Nazi Germany, he presided over the entire war economy, promoted a new military production system, mobilized employees in the industry, tapped economic potential, and used prisoners of war with coercion. The foreign workers in Germany were used to overcome the shortage of labor and rapidly increased the production of armaments, which played a major role in the war in the later period of Nazi Germany, and was later called “the man who extended the life of the Third Reich”.

Paul Joseph Goebbels , German statesman, orator. He served as the Minister of National Education and Propaganda Department during the Nazi German period. He was good at giving speeches. He was called “Propaganda Genius” and “Nazi Mouthpiece”. He defended Hitler’s regime with an iron fist and maintained the system of the Third Reich. He was considered to be “Hitler’s creative person”.

This morning the principal called to inform them about their ‘situation’. They were a little confused after going through the resignation procedures and decided to go to the bar for a drink.

Goebbels is usually a very arrogant person, he was talking like a chattering box after drinking two glasses of dark beer. “Have you known His Royal Highness before?”

Speer shook his head. “I haven’t seen him before, how about you?” He is still at a loss. It’s doubtful how the crown prince knew such an unknown person, and asked him to report to the palace.

“I was once fortunate enough to be invited to the same gathering as His Royal Highness before, but His Royal Highness Wilhelm is notoriously known for not showing up, so I have never seen him before either. I heard that His Royal Highness likes to appear in brothels.”

“…” Speer poke Goebbels with his arm, motioning him not to talk nonsense. Goebbels didn’t care. “What’s the matter? What offence is there for speaking the truth?’Wake up to the power of the world, drink and lie on the knees of a beauty; live in this world, be a romantic forever’, heroic! A man should be like this.”

“…” Got drunk with two beers? Speer looked at Goebbels who was talking a little speechlessly. He became aloof and indifferent after drinking a glass of wine. He didn’t dare to stay there and let Goebbels go crazy, so he quickly paid for the drink and pulled Goebbels out of the bar.

After sending Goebbels away, Speer returned to his residence, rummaged through the boxes and found a thick pile of design drawings, and began to carefully select them.

The next morning, they went to the palace, going through the security check into the office of His Royal Highness.

“Salute to you, your royal prince.” As they met the royal family for the first time, especially the future German emperor, the two seemed very cautious.

“Mr. Speer, Mr. Goebbels, please sit down.”

After a few greetings, Speer solemnly handed over a stack of drawings. “His Royal Highness, this is the Deutsche Stadium that I designed.” This is the most perfect one he picked from all his other works .

“…” Wilhelm almost laughed when he saw the thick pile of design drawings. Man, I do know that you have great design skills, but I don’t have any extra money to build your magnificent designs.

However, out of courtesy, Wilhelm accepted the design drawings, pretended to flip a few pages, and then spoke. “Mr. Speer, your design is indeed excellent. But you should also be aware of the current situation of the empire. Our money is not even enough for the war compensation, so there is no spare money to carry out these big projects.”

“Then the reason you are looking for me?” Speer was a little confused, so why did you ask for me to come to the palace.

Wilhelm gave an answer that Speer had never dreamed of. “I want to open a restaurant, you manage it for me.”

Speer’s mouth twitched slightly, and a few drops of cold sweat leaked out of his forehead. “With all due respect, your Royal Highness, my major is architecture, not business administration. I don’t know anything about business.”

Wilhelm smiled secretly in his heart, you don’t need to understand, you are a natural genius like Reinhardt. “It’s time for lunch. Miss Annie, go get two sets of meals.”

Soon Annie and Ina walked in with a dinner plate each and put them in front of them.

On the plate is a burger, two chicken drumsticks, a corn salad and three drinks. “You two, please, don’t be restrained.”

Speer and Goebbels couldn’t help but glance at each other, confused at what to do, but it’s impossible for his Highness to poison them so they Immediately grabbed the burger and started to eat.

“How does it taste?”

The two nodded at the same time. “Very good.” It wasn’t their graceful flattery to His Royal Highness, but the taste was really good.

Wilhelm smiled slightly. “The taste is not the point. The point is that you can order this at the restaurant we will run. You can get this kind of set meal in less than a minute. It is also convenient to take away or eat in the store.”

Speer was surprised. ” a minute? So fast?”

Wilhelm explained. “Because a lot of food can be cooked in advance and kept warm, or reheated when ordering. This kind of restaurant can also be called a fast food restaurant. The most important feature of this kind of restaurant is that it is economical and efficient. The price of a set meal only needs 60% of their hourly wage for ordinary workers to buy.”

Speer nodded thoughtfully. “If it were me, I would choose this kind of shop in order to save time, and it tastes good. The 60% of hourly pay will be the selling point, after all, the German people are not very rich now.”

“So, do you want to help?”

“I can give it a try, but I can only guarantee that I will do my best. I can’t guarantee that it will be profitable. Can I ask why you want me to do this?” He was really curious. There are a lot of professors and doctors in business management at the University of Berlin. Why do you ask him, an assistant professor in the Department of Architecture, to manage a restaurant ? He should be designing a hotel or a building.

Wilhelm touched his nose and made up a lie. “I went to school yesterday. I heard that your grades are very good. I asked you to come over to take charge of a few buildings on an impulse. However, I realized I had no money, so I could only wrong you first. But don’t worry, I will let you design a building in the future.”

“…” Speer listened to Wilhelm’s faint explanation, and checked out the three cups with transparent liquid in them. Small bubbles were constantly rising in the liquid.

He took a sip carefully, and an unprecedented refreshing feeling flowed down his throat, and he couldn’t help but exclaim. “This drink tastes good.”

The corners of Wilhelm’s mouth were slightly bent. This was a drink made imitating the later Sprite. “You try the other two.”

“…” Speer tasted the orange liquid and the black liquid, but the black drink gave him a feeling of deja vu. “This is Coke? It’s not very similar.”

“You can say yes and no, do you think this drink can sell well?”

The recipe of Coca-Cola in later generations was passed down under strict supervision.

According to the company’s website, the earliest formula was written in 1919, which is half a century later than in 1866 when the morphine addicted pharmacist John Pemberton invented the beverage formula in 1866. Before 1919, the recipe was passed down by word of mouth.

A businessman named Ernest Woodruff led a group of investors to buy this formula. Since the 1920s, this confidential formula has been locked in a certain bank in Atlanta. 86 years later, the Coca-Cola Company decided that the secret formula be promoted as a selling point, and the company transferred the formula to the Coca-Cola Company’s museum in Atlanta.

Coca-Cola has always claimed that only two senior executives of the company know the formula, but the company has never announced the names of these two people or where they are. But from an advertisement surrounding the formula, we learned that the two people who knew the contraband were not allowed to travel on the same plane.

However, Wilhelm had doubts about this. Coca-Cola kept the formula secret in order to increase sales and stifle competition with the help of mysterious marketing. On the other hand, it can hide the cheap raw materials they use by preventing consumers from knowing the formula and make huge profits.

On the other hand, it has a brand premium, because even if you have the same formula, the taste will be the same, but no one will buy it. And these so-called formulas may also be more of a marketing method, a gimmick that makes people feel mysterious and authentic. Just as there are many similar drinks in later generations, the tastes are almost the same, but it is the same reason that people no longer choose new drinks.

Speer carefully tasted these three drinks again. “Personally, this taste suits my taste. And there is no similar drink on the market. I think I can set up a factory for mass production.”

They all say there are geniuses. “Then you will be responsible for setting up the factory.”

The unswallowed drink in Speer’s mouth almost squirted out, and he didn’t expect that the prince would just said it out so casually, adding another burden.

Wilhelm couldn’t help feeling proud as he watched Speer drink with a bitter expression. You will be in charge of wartime economy and logistics in the future, don’t let me down.

After they finished eating, Wilhelm took out the materials he had prepared and introduced the business model of this fast food restaurant to Speer in detail.

The KFC logo of the original time and space has the smiling face of an old man, with gray beard, a white suit, and black eyes.

Wilhelm replaced the old man with his own grandfather William II in a spoof manner. It was still gray beard, white hair, white suit, black bow tie, and smiling face. But those familiar with him can tell at a glance that this is William II.