The Shadow of Great Britain

Steel and weapons are symbols of a nation's power; only the strongest steel can forge the most powerful weapons.

——Alfred Krupp

The sound of the argument in the corridor quickly attracted the attention of Arthur and Disraeli.

Mr. Disraeli, who had traveled from London, sneered, "Arthur, did you hear that? This kid actually wants to sell German industrial products to a British person's school as an academic director."

Perhaps over half a century later, German manufacturing will be labeled as the world's best products.

But in 1833, industrial products from the Germanic Region were cheap and a representation of poor quality.

In the fractured Germanic states, enterprises here could neither find high-quality iron mines nor master advanced British industrial technology. So, in most cases, they could only rely on protective tariffs and lower labor costs to compete with the surge of British goods.

However, even on their home ground, German products had little competitiveness. Slightly affluent families always preferred to choose British-made products when purchasing goods.

And in the export market, German manufacturing had almost become synonymous with counterfeit and inferior goods.

Two identical products, those marked with 'Made in Germany' would generally be more than thirty percent cheaper than those marked with 'Made in Britain'.

Yet even so, more customers still chose to buy 'Made in Britain'.

Cunning German merchants, to find a way for their own goods, often went against their conscience by also labeling their products as 'British made'.

What angers British manufacturers the most is that these self-proclaimed meticulous Germans, even when making counterfeit goods, create the whole set.

They not only label their products as 'British made' but also visit Britain under the guise of travel to inspect their target British companies. Even if they couldn't match British quality, at the very least they would mimic the product appearance exactly.

In this regard, Sheffield's cutlery industry, Manchester's textiles, and London's instrument and clock industries have all been deeply affected.

As for why Disraeli held such antipathy towards German manufacturing?

All thanks to the Tory Party's disastrous electoral defeat.

Since the Tory Party's Lower House seats now total just over a hundred, even politically inexperienced prospects like Disraeli are assigned significant responsibilities within the party.

Benjamin Disraeli is now not only a Lower House Member but also one of the ten members of the Lower House specialized committee on railway and industrial infrastructure.

Given that Britain currently has no dedicated government agency responsible for industry and railways, Disraeli's position in the Lower House essentially equates to holding one of the top ten chairs of the Railway and Industrial Information Departments.

Though not a minister, he is as good as one, having to interact daily with representatives of the British industrial sector.

Throughout these interactions, one of the complaints Disraeli frequently hears includes those about the German 'small goods.'

However, even with numerous complaints from industry representatives, Disraeli has no way to help them solve the problem.

After all, there are neither anti-counterfeiting trademarks nor barcode inventions around to help distinguish genuine from fake. Hence, Disraeli can only helplessly watch as German counterfeits run rampant.

For a young man recently elected as a member of parliament, nothing can be more annoying than such a vexing issue he can't resolve himself.

Nonetheless, while Disraeli didn't give Krupp a good face, Arthur showed interest in this young salesman who seemed similar in age to a university student.

This interest had no special reason, just because this young man's surname was quite peculiar.

Just like Ohm who studied electricity, and Bismarck who raised guard dogs. In Arthur's memory, Krupp from Germany who makes steel has also an interesting surname.

"What's happening here?"

Arthur stepped forward towards Krupp.

The office administrator saw Arthur coming and immediately reported to him, "Sir, this fraudster wants to promote his inferior products in our University of Gottingen's laboratory."

Hearing this, Krupp couldn't help but retort, "Sir, I must emphasize, I'm not a fraudster, I am a factory owner, Friedrich Krupp Steel Factory is my family's business. And we do not produce inferior products; though Krupp Steel Factory is only a small factory, our products are by no means inferior to British goods!"

"Oh? Really?"

Arthur saw the young man's face turn bright red with anger and found him quite interesting.

The office administrator was clearly angered by Krupp's words but, in the presence of the Academic Director, he couldn't directly explode, forcing himself to question, "Do you know what experimental equipment we are ordering? Telescopes, theodolites, sextants, total stations, and levels, these devices can only be made by the most professional manufacturers. Are you trying to tell me that your factory's products are better than those made by Troughton & Simpson Company and Peter Dolonde Optical Instruments Company?"

The name of Troughton & Simpson Company is thunderous in the circles of astronomy and geographic surveying across Europe.

They are renowned worldwide for their precision mechanized metal processing technology, with their instrument precision deemed world-class whether in astronomical observations or geographic surveys.