Re: Blood and Iron

Romania was an interesting place to visit. Bruno had never really been to this part of Europe in his past life, or in this one, for that matter. Hell, despite being relatively close to Germany, all things considered, he was actually more acquainted with East Asia nations than he was with Romania.

Even so, he knew the language and had a general understanding of their history, and because of this, he was perhaps one of the better foreign visitors in terms of mingling with the locals. Of course, he did not spend long doing so, at least with the commoner class, because upon exiting the railway station, Bruno was greeted by members of the Romanian royal family who intended to escort him to their royal palace.

Bruno sat rather silently in the back of the exported German automobile that the Romanian royal family used for their own transportation around Bucharest and for the transportation of guests. Daimler and Benz had, after all, revolutionized luxury transit entirely due to Bruno's interference.

Automobiles that would normally not be produced until the 1930s of this life were all the rage in the German Reich, and naturally, if one was wealthy, they would want such an advanced vehicle for themselves.

For example, the primary model that the company sold to the world's elite was the Daimler & Benz 770 Grand Mercedes. It was a beautiful and elegant car, meant for an aristocratic market. And naturally, the Romanian King Carol had used his loose family ties to the Kaiser to get his hands on one when the supply for these vehicles did not meet their excessive demand.

And though Bruno didn't realize it, the Kaiser used this fact while negotiating for Bruno to receive a proper introduction to the Romanian royal family. After all, Bruno was the largest shareholder in Daimler & Benz and had been the one who orchestrated both their merging and the introduction of this exquisite and advanced automobile to the market.

Upon learning this fact, the King of Romania was exceptionally eager to meet with Bruno, even more so when he learned afterwards of Bruno's already substantial investment in the Romanian oil industry.

Bruno wasn't just a powerful Generaloberst in the German military, but he was a wealthy industrialist from a family who had significant ties to German politics and had gained the status of a Russian prince. To put it simply, he was a figure that the Romanian king was all too eager to meet with, even if Bruno still had a tendency to underestimate his own status in this world.

It was perhaps because of this that Bruno was so surprised when he finally stood in front of the King of Romania, who himself was acting as if Bruno was a figure well above him in status. Eagerly shaking his hand, he introduced himself and his wife to this foreign guest.

"Prince Zehntner, I must say it is a great honor to finally meet you in person. I have heard a great deal about you. Your feats on the battlefield are quite renowned, even here in my humble kingdom. But I was indeed surprised when I learned that your industrial interests are even grander in scale."