Holy Roman Empire

Sarajevo was still just an ancient city embraced by mountains with beautiful scenery, before it became the fuse of the World War.

Among the numerous cities in Austria, it was hardly noteworthy. Especially after it failed to become the capital of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Province, it became even more insignificant.

This had to do with the policies of the Vienna Government. In order to avoid the unnecessary waste caused by an overly concentrated distribution of resources, administrative centers, economic centers, and industrial centers were generally not clustered together.

As the land transport hub of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Province and with decent industrial development, along with being a historic city, these advantages had become disadvantages in its bid to become the provincial capital.

Despite its low profile, Sarajevo’s economic development was not at all dissatisfied, particularly after Bosnia and Herzegovina became another heavy industry center of Austria, then the local economy soared.

With geographical advantages, Sarajevo could also rank within the top twenty among the many cities in Austria.

Inside an office building on Uerle Boulevard in Sarajevo, the headquarters of Fick Group, a giant in the field of hardware accessories, was located here. At this moment, Executive President Arno was reporting on work to the boss.

"Mr. Slov, our proposal for establishing a comprehensive food processing plant didn’t pass the review. The government’s reason is the market has already been saturated, and that Sarajevo isn’t suitable for developing the food processing industry. They also suggested that we change our investment direction,"

Fick-Slov furrowed his brow. Next to munitions, food was the best-selling material during wartime, especially food that could be eaten just by tearing open the packaging.

Compared to the high-end munitions trade, food was much easier to handle. While the profits from food might not match those from munitions, the sales volume was huge!

Austria was a neutral country and could export materials to both Prussia and Russia at the same time. The total strength of the combatants had long exceeded two million, with the drafted Civilian Husbands being twice that number.

It was impossible for so many people to cook meals every day, and often, in the interest of time, they could only resort to self-made rations.

Eating rations every day was unbearable for anyone. What was needed was a large number of "better tasting" and "more nutritious" convenience foods, such as biscuits, canned goods, fries, alcohol...

Slov had calculated that the Prusso-Russian forces consumed over 2,000 tons of fast food each day, with a total value exceeding 280,000 Divine Shields.

Assuming the war lasted one year, that was a market worth over one hundred million Divine Shields. That was the most conservative estimate; Slov believed that the war would take at least another two to three years to resolve, equating to a market worth two to three hundred million.

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The profits of wartime business were high; it didn’t take much, just a mere one percent of the market share was enough for him to recoup the investment and make a fortune.

After contemplating for a while, Slov said slowly, "Send someone to check who is targeting us. Also, arrange a time soon; I want to invite Director Danilo to dinner."

Overcapacity was something Slov had not observed; what he saw was Prussia and Russia both waving their checks to buy, buy, buy. Where was there any overcapacity? It was clearly a case of demand outstripping supply!

Arno explained, somewhat uneasily, "Mr. Slov, this time it doesn’t seem to be a targeted action against us.

After our proposal was rejected, I sent people to investigate, and not just us, but all recent investment projects in the food processing sector haven’t been approved.

It may be related to the risk warning issued by the Vienna Government not too long ago. The capital invested in the food processing sector has surged recently, and the existing processing enterprises are also desperately expanding their capacity.

The market response is not obvious in the short term; from investment to production takes some time. We’re already late entering the scene."

Arno was against entering the food processing industry; even in those days without the concept of food safety, investing in the food processing industry in a heavy industrial center was not a reliable business.

A small enterprise scale was manageable, but once scaled up, the source of raw materials became a troublesome issue.

Being able to survive and thrive in an age of survival of the fittest, Slov was naturally no fool. He had already considered these risks.

Huge profits always come with risks; there are surefire business ventures, but those have already been divided up by the Nobility and are well beyond his reach.

An overcapacity crisis would only erupt post-war; during wartime, both Prussian and Russian sides would be desperately sweeping up supplies.

This was determined by reality; they couldn’t afford not to buy. If anyone did not purchase, the supplies would fall into enemy hands. Without stockpiling enough supplies, what would happen to the troops at the front?

They’d rather have excess supplies sitting in warehouses than face a shortfall leading to defeat in war.

The post-war crisis would depend on who could run fastest. Anyway, as a passerby cashing in, Slov wasn’t focused on whether the industry was good or bad; it was not his main business.

Slov didn’t care, but the Austrian Government did. Without passing the approval, one could still invest and build a factory as long as it conformed to legal regulations, but government support would no longer be available.

Slov asked, "If we’re unable to obtain government support, how much will the cost of investing in a factory increase?"

After pondering for a while, Arno replied slowly, "According to the relevant government regulations, the food processing industry is a key industry for support, which includes government provision of land for factory construction free of charge and a 50 percent tax reduction for the first three years.

According to our plan, to build the plant and warehouse, we would need approximately 158 acres of land; with the current land prices in Sarajevo, that would cost about 126,000 Divine Shields."

"The scope of tax relief is quite broad, making it difficult to determine specific figures, but the tax rate for the food processing industry is relatively low, approximately 3.5% of the business turnover."

After hesitating for a moment, Slov sighed helplessly, "Forget it, cancel the plan. Allocate the funds to expand our hardware accessories production capacity, and quickly."

There was no way around it; without access to free land use rights, land costs alone accounted for one third of the total investment. Without tax advantages, profits severely declined, making the risk and return disproportionate.

And this was industrial land, which was relatively cheaper. If it was commercial or residential land, the land prices would be substantially higher.

While the Vienna Government did not vigorously develop real estate, land prices still soared as urbanization progressed.

This was beyond the government’s control. Besides state-owned land, the majority in Austria was privately owned. These followed the principle of free trade and their prices simply couldn’t be controlled.

The land prices in Sarajevo were still moderate, but in the Vienna City Center, there were lands costing tens of thousands of shied per acre, affordable only for developing luxury residential and commercial properties—other industries simply couldn’t bear the cost.

This was the result of multi-polar development and a relatively small population in Vienna; otherwise, land prices would be even more insane.

…

Unable to participate in the most profitable industries, Slov had no choice but to fall back and expand his current businesses. In the face of a frenzied market, all industries were making a killing.

After a brief hesitation, Arno suggested, "Mr. Slov, perhaps we should add some auxiliary services. For instance, the manufacture of canned food boxes.

"With the rapid expansion of the canning industry, the demand for boxes is also increasing swiftly. With our technology, there is no problem producing canned food boxes."

Back in those days, cans were mostly made of tin, while glass containers were considered luxury items.

This wasn’t because the technology for producing glass was inadequate, but rather because glass jars were relatively more expensive to produce, and they were difficult to transport and prone to damage.

As costs increased, so did prices, and they lost their competitive edge in the market.

Especially in times of war, there was definitely a preference for cost-effective tin canisters! Food safety has never been an issue since the important people never consumed them anyway.

Producing canned food boxes was a minor business, but even a mosquito is still meat, and as a qualified capitalist, Slov never felt he had too much money.

"Excellent, Arno. Your proposal is great, getting the right mindset is what matters.

With such fierce market competition, we must expand our new businesses as much as possible and enhance corporate profits to survive in the upcoming market challenges.

Not just canned food boxes, but also wine bottles, water kettles—these small items we can also produce. Go ahead and arrange it!"

Ever since Austria joined the free trade system, market shocks occurred daily, and ’crisis awareness’ gradually penetrated people’s minds.

If it hadn’t been for the timely Prusso-Russian War, a crisis that could have spread across the European Continent’s industrial market might have already erupted.

Wise individuals knew that the war only delayed the process, that which is inevitable will still arrive; no one could stop it.

One had to either seize this opportunity to soar or fall in the competition.

The Prusso-Russian War, while delaying the outbreak of the crisis, also exacerbated it. The Austrian newspapers propagated it daily, and the capitalists naturally had their reactions.

Some chose diversified business expansion to enter new ventures and spread the risk; others chose intensive cultivation to enhance their business’s competitiveness within the industry.

Slov himself was an advocate of diversification and planned to use the opportunity provided by the Prusso-Russian War to expand his business into the food processing industry.

Do not be fooled by the intense competition in the food sector; it is Austria’s trump industry, and in this field, all competitors in Europe are second to it.

Under the free trade system, Austrian food processing, with its advantageous position, had stronger risk resistance than other industries.

But reality pulled Slov back; after all, Sarajevo was a landlocked city, somewhat insulated from the outside world, making Slov’s response less prompt.

Unable to expand into the food processing industry, he had to choose to intensively cultivate hardware accessories and expand related businesses around this core.

As for the power and internal combustion engine sectors, where Austria was even more competitive, Slov had ideas but couldn’t reach that high.

Those fields that relied on technology were not something an ordinary person could just stumble into.

The era of knock-offs had passed. Austria had already entered the era of patents, and without one’s own core technology, there was simply no way to stand firm.