He is Already a Tycoon at a Young Age! - Chapter 24



Only Krnovel

Episode 24

Episode 24 – Disney Brothers & Hitler

“I guess it’s a bit difficult to call this a factory.”

No matter how I put it nicely, it looks like a shabby warehouse.

I looked around the building.

A fairly spacious two-story building.

Women wearing turbans were sewing, laughing and chatting.

“During the last war, military uniforms were produced here. Many people had jobs. But…”

Elizabeth said, bowing her head.

“When the war ended, the supply contract was also terminated. We produced a small number of landlord games, but they didn’t sell very well.”

Calling it a factory is a bit ambiguous.

It seems like a place where the townspeople work together.

A workplace run by Quakers.

“If this place collapses too, people will have no choice but to go downtown to find jobs. They will be exposed to all kinds of crime.”

“To put it simply, you are asking that the employment of the employees here be guaranteed.”

“Yes, if Mr. Hitler agrees, I won’t even accept a hundred thousand dollars. And no royalties…”

“Please keep the royalty terms as they are.”

I don’t feel like working until I get paid.

I’d love it if you developed a new game.

“I will also positively consider the acquisition of the factory. Could you please confirm the list of employees and related documents?”

“Yes? Yes! Of course. Please wait a moment.”

Elizabeth jumped to her feet, her expression brightening.

Richter, sitting next to me, let out a deep sigh.

“I had a feeling this would happen.”

“Anyway, to make a board game, you need a factory and employees. If possible, it’s better to use people with experience.”

I learned management from Edison from time to time. I think I’ll give it a try.

Elizabeth placed a thick stack of papers down in front of her.

“Production figures, work hours, and wages until last year…”

“It will take some time to review everything.”

My head hurts.

Richter and I analyzed the documents together.

Let me summarize it based on what I know about common sense.

“5 days a week, 8 hours a day. Minimum wage is $6, with overtime pay. And bonuses based on sales…”

Is this roughly enough?

If production is insufficient, working overtime or on weekends may be unavoidable.

That part has to be solved with money.

It will take time to build additional factories.

“In cases such as childcare leave and annual paid leave…”

When the explanation was roughly finished,

Everyone looked at me with a blank expression.

Elizabeth and her husband muttered.

“Parental leave?”

“If it’s paid vacation, then what the heck…”

Ah, these were the times.

Who would have thought that 21st century Korean labor law would look like heaven.

I gave a rough explanation.

Richter was also surprised.

“Hey, if the daily wage is $6, isn’t that the same as the Ford factory? It seems a bit excessive.”

“It would be strange to pay only a small daily wage to create a capitalist educational board game.”

Capitalism is going to make a lot of money anyway. It’s annoying to be obsessed with a penny or two.

“I think you could lower the wages a little. If you give me that much daily wages, I’m sure I’ll run into a huge deficit.”

Elizabeth said, waving her hand.

“In the first place, landlord games have never sold that many.”

“You will sell a lot in the future. You will also have to work hard.”

A worker who asks for lower wages and a capitalist who says he will raise them.

This is also an interesting situation.

“We’ll need to build a proper factory building. We’ll also need machines. There’s a limit to what we can do with manual labor, right?”

“Even the machine… if it fails, the damage will be even greater.”

“As I said before, that’s something I have to handle.”

Of course, I will benefit as well.

“…”

A short silence flows

Elizabeth opened her mouth again.

“Are these conditions normal in Europe?”

“Probably not. The Weimar Republic might have been a bit different…”

They did care about worker welfare there, of course, but not to this extent.

‘If I do it well, I can use it as my PR, right?’

Henry Ford received great support from workers when he introduced a five-day workweek and raised wages significantly.

Ford instead of Marx!

It was to the point where a slogan like this came out.

In fact, Ford didn’t make that choice because he was kind.

The Ford system reduced workers to factory parts, and the resulting defections increased.

To prevent this, wages were raised significantly.

‘We will make it possible for the workers who make Fords to become the consumers who buy Fords!’

Well, whatever the case, the result was good.

I should try that too.

The working conditions in 20th century America were so crappy that it wasn’t difficult.

Hitler instead of communism!

Hmm, this sounds a bit like Nazi propaganda.

“Oh, there’s something I’d like to ask you, Miss Elizabeth.”

I looked at the dolls placed all over the house.

If you do this well…

“Can you possibly produce things like dolls?”

“Dolls? How many are you talking about?”

“well.”

I can’t even guess the exact number.

Let’s go to California and check it out.

“We’ll need at least tens of thousands.”

＊＊＊

Hollywood was just as I remembered it.

Young men and women enjoying a date in cool weather.

“Excuse me, is that the studio building over there?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Disney Studios in Burbank.

We didn’t spend a lot of money because we used the existing warehouse building as is.

It’ll cost you some money to build a dedicated studio later.

‘This much is no problem.’

As I approached the building, I heard the sound of a bustling conversation.

From people running around with pens to employees throwing their hats into the air and catching them.

Ink bottles were strewn about in disarray throughout the workshop.

You could say it’s free-spirited.

Or maybe I should call it a mess.

As I approached the reception desk, a female employee greeted me with a smile.

“Welcome to Disney & Hitler Studios. What brings you here?”

“My name is Adolf Hitler. I’ve come to see Walt.”

“Wow, what a coincidence! Our company name is also…”

The employee looked momentarily bewildered, then opened his eyes wide.

“Oh, yes! I’ll go and tell Walt… no, President Disney.”

Richter snickered as he watched her run away in a panic.

“So, do the employees also just call the CEO by his first name?”

“That’s Walt’s style.”

“I think it’s a bit too crazy to be called a style.”

“If you look closely, it’s quite systematic.”

Even though it seemed like the animators were resting, they were talking about their work.

New techniques, stories, gags, etc.

Let’s take a look at what kind of picture he is drawing.

As I approached the nearby drawing board, a black and white drawing appeared.

Mickey Mouse and his friends get together and take off their clothes…

Uh, um.

I guess it’s better not to see this.

It feels like my innocence is being shattered.

Whether it’s the 21st century or the 20th century, men are men.

After a while.

A man approached us.

“Not Walt?”

A face that bears an uncanny resemblance to Walt Disney.

But it had a much more calm and dignified impression.

“Mr. Adolf Hitler?”

“Yes, you may be…”

“My name is Roy Disney. He’s Walt’s older brother. Walt is in the conference room right now, so I’m here in his place.”

Oh, it was Roy Disney.

The person who built the Disney empire together with Walt.

Have you already joined your brother?

“When Walt first told me he was starting a company, I thought he was lying.”

He smiled faintly.

“The boy has been daydreaming a lot since he was little. He must have been so surprised when he found out that Mr. Hitler had invested so much money…”

“It wasn’t that much money.”

I answered with a smile.

Rather, it was closer to pocket change when you consider the value of Disney.

“The Mickey Mouse commercial we made recently was also very popular.”

“We had no idea Mickey would be this successful. Iwerks spent days and nights drawing pictures…”

Roy nodded.

“One day, I came to my senses and found myself receiving hundreds of fan letters. Walt and Iwerks both tried to make sure that Hitler would not be disappointed.”

“It’s harder to be disappointed when it’s Disney.”

Disney would have made top quality animation without me forcing them to do so.

Then Richter coughed and said,

“Oh, while I’m here, I’d like to check the financial statements. Is that okay?”

“Oh, yes. Of course. I’ll bring it now.”

Richter sat next to Roy and looked through the stacks of papers.

“Well, there are no problems. The records are also meticulously kept. The labor costs are a bit higher than other businesses, but…”

“That’s what I assured Walt. I told him to hire as many people as he wanted.”

“There are no other problems. Did Mr. Roy Disney manage it himself?”

“Yes, Walt is good at drawing, but he’s bad at numbers. He’s also bad at managing people.”

Roy nodded.

“I don’t have any creative talent, but I have experience in finance and management. Even so, I’m not very good at it.”

“Looking at these documents, it seems like you are quite capable.”

Richter said, looking through the papers.

“I don’t think you need to worry, Alf.”

“Well, that’s fortunate. I wasn’t that worried in the first place.”

I looked at Roy.

Roy Disney.

‘This person has been in charge of Disney’s finances throughout its history.’

As Walt expanded his business, Roy would somehow borrow money.

It must be much more comfortable now.

Anyway, I’m going to pay all the money you need.

There was no need for Roy to go around to banks and distributors and start a war of nerves.

‘Is there another talent coming in after Walt?’

I opened my mouth and coughed.

“We should hit it now that Mickey Mouse is popular. Since you’ve gained popularity through commercials, why don’t you work on a separate short animation? I’ll take care of the distribution.”

Cartoons in short animation.

And there’s one more thing that’s most important.

“We should prepare goods including dolls in advance.”

“If it’s goods…”

“Bag, pencil, doll, card, etc. Anything that can fit a character will be worth a lot of money.”

I said.

Simply put, it’s a character business.

Popular characters have become money in themselves.

“It’s great that we’ve finally found a place to produce dolls. In the future, we’ll be able to expand our factories nationwide.”

I guess we can leave this part to Elizabeth and the Quakers.

Richter looked at me and whispered.

“So, is that why you asked the question in Chicago?”

“Let’s start by testing it out in Chicago.”

I nodded and continued.

“As the radio industry grows, the advertising effect will also grow. We can even advertise Disney works directly.”

Board games.

Capitalism can also be advertised on the radio.

If there are a lot of Disney characters, it might be a good idea to include them in a board game.

It would be more fun to move characters instead of boring tokens.

There are so many ways to make money, it’s a problem.

“Well, how about taking a break from radio for a while?”

Richter said.

“RCA has taken a step back, but I don’t think it would be good to attract unnecessary attention. Politicians will also be interested.”

“It’s a gaze.”

Richter might have been right.

The radio industry is practically led by me now.

If they monopolize too much of the profits, they might run afoul of anti-monopoly laws.

‘no.’

It would be better to go out confidently.

Even if I shrank, I would only look weak.

“To avoid attacks, we need to find a balance among politicians.”

Last time, I asked Roosevelt for help.

I guess I’ll have to make some connections with Republicans too.

“Balance? Uh, how do you balance it?”

“We’re throwing a party that’s going to kill you.”

In Rome, do Roman law.

In America, you have to follow American law.

“We invited all the celebrities and politicians from New York and Washington.”

I’m sick of having to go to politicians one by one every time a problem arises.

Now it was their turn to come to me.

“Who exactly do you plan on inviting?”

“I told you. I told you all.”

“Everyone?”

“Yes, everyone. This time, we can invite Louis Armstrong. Since it’s a jazz concert, it’ll give it a modern feel.”

I kept stretching.

Democrats and Republicans.

It is necessary to introduce the name Adolf Hitler to the political world.

“Both sides should be interested in me by now?”