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3-October-1915
When the train stopped, I quickly prepared to disembark, followed by several guards; my trip to Romania had been fast after receiving news that Romania had signed the agreement.
In it, it had been stipulated that Romania would sell all its food surplus to Germany at a preferential price.
With that, I had hoped to more closely observe our food production in the greenhouses or with short-growth crops, but the war changed everything.
Bulgaria declared war on Serbia on October 1, launching the offensive against Serbia; I still did not know how that campaign would end, but now that Bulgaria was our ally, they might be the ones buying Romanian supplies, and we clearly needed them far more than the Bulgarians, so I had to travel quickly to the city of Constanța, since that would usually make it easier to transport food, which would be loaded onto ships and unloaded at the port of Odesa and transported from there.
So I had quickly traveled to the city for that same reason; I did not want to find out that Germany or Austria-Hungary had bought all the food to feed their forces or slightly reduce the shortages they were suffering due to reduced supply.
The good thing was that I had more money than ever; I had received another order for machine guns and more rifles, 2000 machine guns had been requested to replace MG-08s at the front with the new model, which apparently, as offensives continued against German positions, had proven highly effective, since they could keep the machine guns stored in shelters and then bring them up once the bombardment ended, making defenses far more efficient, creating massacres among Entente troops who marched forward expecting that after days of bombardment there would be no machine guns, only to find that they had done nothing more than destroy trenches and barbed wire.
That order had left me with a profit of 10 million German marks, plus nearly another million from telescopic sights and modified rifles, so I had plenty of money to both pay off my debts, which were only a few tens of thousands of marks.
I could pay off the first loan completely and part of the second, but now was the time to buy things that would serve me in Romania.
I planned to spend 60–70 million marks, in addition to another 80 million marks that the regent had given me, which were Austro-Hungarian crowns that I had converted by purchasing wheat, rye, and corn, which were produced in Romania, keeping a portion of the German budget to invest in a tractor factory and some kind of chemical facility depending on the cost, since Ukraine lacked everything and most of its mineral resources were in Russian hands.
But I had around 13 million marks in my own pockets, which I planned to use to buy chickens, pigs, and cattle, animals that would allow us to make use of land left to grow foliage for livestock, producing milk, eggs, and pork, while using their waste to produce compost for natural fertilizer.
So I was in a hurry to secure that contract before someone outranking me stepped in and took the deal.
As soon as I stepped off the train, we headed straight to the port area of the city.
My eyes quickly focused when the local translator pointed out where I needed to go to do business: Romanian Grain Export Trade, a kind of grain export consortium located at the port, where most, if not all, export grain was stored, likely bought in bulk and held until deals were made.
Fortunately, the agreement document set a maximum price per ton they could charge me, so if they exceeded that I could enforce the terms, and if they offered something lower, it would be best to keep that quiet, because otherwise they would immediately charge the maximum.
''It is here'' said Ferdinand, looking at the enormous installation, a vast warehouse in the port, with hundreds, perhaps thousands of workers moving sacks.
''It seems so… is it not?'' I said, looking at the translator who approached us as soon as he heard us speaking.
''That is correct… all export grain is concentrated here… so you can be certain your request will be fulfilled'' said the translator with a smile.
''Good, let us go…'' I said, adjusting my uniform and walking into the large warehouse toward what looked like a reception area.
As soon as we entered, we saw workers moving goods and others writing in ledgers, who only paused briefly to look at us before continuing their work.
''Ask to speak with someone who can give me a quick answer, tell them I have a large order'' I said, waiting while my guards stayed close.
We waited as the translator delivered the message, and once he finished, we remained there until someone arrived to attend us.
After a few minutes, a man dressed in an elegant suit appeared, clearly not one of the laborers moving sacks of grain.
He led us to offices farther away from the warehouse floor, arriving at a much more refined setting.
''They ask if you would like something to drink… tea or coffee'' said the translator.
''No, just bring someone who can negotiate, that is all I care about right now'' I said, looking around.
''Understood'' said the translator and relayed my response.
We continued waiting as workers came and went until finally someone appeared who seemed to be a veteran of the company, an older man with a calm demeanor.
''He says to follow him for negotiations'' said the translator, and I stood up and followed the old man into his office, where he quickly sat down and began packing tobacco into a pipe before lighting it.
''I suppose you are the German they told me would come to buy our grain with great interest'' said the old man in slightly broken but understandable German after taking a few puffs from his pipe, staring at me.
''Yes… I want to arrange a large shipment on behalf of the Kingdom of Ukraine to supply the granaries of the young kingdom'' I replied, waving my hand slightly to push away the smoke drifting toward me.
''We do not accept the Ukrainian mark… we know very well that thing has no value whatsoever, but the German mark and the Austrian crown do'' the old man replied.
''I am aware, we were informed that all transactions would be conducted in those currencies since there is distrust regarding the real value of the Ukrainian mark'' I said, nodding.
The old man took a few more audible puffs while seeming to think ''So, how much do you intend to buy?'' he said after exhaling the smoke.
''What is the price per ton of grain?'' I replied, staring at him.
''273 Lei per ton of wheat'' said the old man without flinching.
''Huh… quite an increase compared to what I understood you were charging before, 140 to 150 Lei'' I said, placing my hand on my chin.
''Those prices were before the war, if you have any knowledge you will know that in wars people need to eat, so… that is the current price'' the old man replied.
''I see… I was thinking… 170 per ton'' I answered, keeping a serious expression, feeling my heart pounding and the heat rising to my ears, along with the pressure in my stomach.
''No, impossible… we are not going to give grain away to the Germans… that is the price and it will not change… if you cannot pay it, you can try your luck elsewhere'' the old man said without much interest.
''Well…'' I said, pulling out the document from the Kingdom of Romania ''by order of parliament, the maximum price at which grain can be sold to the Central Powers is set at 180 Lei per ton of wheat… since this is a transaction on behalf of the Kingdom of Ukraine it falls under that category, so I will exercise that authority, so we either have a deal or I will go to the authorities to have this closed down, the grain nationalized and sold to me as agreed'' I said, staring at him while holding the document in front of him.
I quickly saw his expression tighten and his cheek twitch as he read the document, growling and grinding his teeth as he set his pipe aside.
''Fine… how much are you going to buy?'' he said, clenching his jaw.
''Give me a second'' I said while doing calculations in my notebook, converting marks to Lei at a 1:1.25 rate ''972,222 tons of wheat, 140 million marks…'' I said after finishing the calculations.
''A good amount… at least'' he said, showing a hint of satisfaction.
''Yes… just prepare the wheat, at the port the Kingdom of Ukraine has already contracted ships that will transport it to Odesa'' I said, standing up.
''When will we receive payment?'' the old man asked.
''Today'' I replied and left the room to get away from the smoke.
I quickly called my men carrying suitcases filled with marks and handed them over, finalizing the contract that transferred control of the grain to the Kingdom of Ukraine, spending almost everything I had been given, after contacting the barge captains the grain began to be loaded onto ships, this would take several days, so I left a detachment of about 300 men managing the security of the grain and overseeing the shipments as the ships filled and departed toward Odesa, doing it quickly and under Romanian flags to avoid interception.
While that was happening, I moved by train within Romania to find someone in particular who had told me he could sell me the animals I needed, he had said I could find them through Barbu Alexandru Știrbey, the largest and richest landowner in Romania, but the man was a francophile, so I doubted he would do business with Germany.
Which led me to meet in Bucharest with Alexandru Marghiloman, a pro-German conservative politician in Romania, so I had to travel there by train to meet him and begin negotiations.
I had contacted him two days earlier, so he was waiting for me at his estate, where vast stretches of land could be seen.
''So you want livestock?'' the politician asked while drinking from a glass of wine.
''Indeed, it is necessary for certain agricultural plans of the Kingdom of Ukraine, so I would expect you to use your influence to contact the other boyars and landowners for the sale of chickens, pigs, and cattle'' I said, staring at him while thinking through a plan.
''I can certainly do that… but it depends greatly on what you are willing to pay'' the politician replied.
''I currently have 13 million marks… but I would like to make you an offer… one that could benefit both of us'' I said seriously.
''I am listening'' the politician replied.
''I can easily convert that money into 195 million Ukrainian marks… if you consider them as if they were 80 million German marks, you would be doing a great service to the Kingdom of Ukraine'' I said, bringing my hands together and leaning forward.
''You understand… the Ukrainian mark is worthless… they have food shortages and do not even control their mineral extraction regions'' the politician replied, swirling the wine in his glass.
''Germany will win… Russia will collapse soon… and when that happens Ukraine's currency will stabilize… and I have the influence to make Ukraine have a strong currency with the next harvest… if it rises even to 0.5:1 with the German mark, you profit… if I match it… your profits would be enormous'' I said calmly.
''So you want me to convince the others to accept Ukrainian marks and sell to you, correct?'' the politician said.
''Exactly… a good harvest and pushing the Russians out of Ukraine, who are on the verge of collapse… and clearly Germany is winning… it is a solid investment, almost guaranteed… doubling your money easily… nearly tripling it, and nothing stops you from continuing to buy Ukrainian marks through more deals… putting yourself on Germany's good side'' I said after taking a deep breath.
The politician remained thoughtful, making small sounds as he drank his wine and looked at me.
''65 million, I will treat them as if they were 65… and I will handle speaking with the others so they sell you the livestock'' the Romanian politician said.
''70…'' I said immediately.
''Fine'' he said after smiling.
''Then 70 million German marks, 87.5 million Lei… selling cattle at 180 Lei per head… 486,000 cows… that would be a significant portion of the country's livestock'' the politician said.
''I want chickens and pigs, one third of the money in cattle, one third in chickens and one third in pigs'' I said, nodding.
''Good… good… we will make it happen, I will make contact, we will send it by train… where to?'' the politician said with a victorious smile.
''Kiev… it will be used for labor and everything… include some males among the animals, about 1:60, something like that… when the first shipment arrives you will receive the Ukrainian marks, since I will speak with the… king… of Ukraine about our agreement to strengthen the national currency'' I said, standing up, though my legs trembled slightly.
''It should arrive soon'' the Romanian politician said as he walked quickly toward the exit.
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