On the night of Gao Bin and the princess's engagement, Robert officially handed over Downton Abbey to Gao Bin. He and Cora lived in Crawley House in London.
As for his three biological daughters and son-in-law, they are naturally still in Downton Abbey.
The relationship between their siblings is very good, and Gao Bin is willing to support them, so there is nothing to say.
Besides, the new hostess, Princess Mary, doesn’t care, so who can say anything?
The only one who felt uncomfortable was Mary of the Crowley family. She regretted it a little. If she had known she should have shamelessly married Gao Bin, then now she could legitimately call herself the hostess, instead of marrying another Mary.
Living in the shadow of.
In the past two years, she had contacted many nobles, including many veteran dukes, but in the end, due to various reasons, nothing happened.
Edith has a very good relationship with Matthew. With her encouragement and care, Matthew can already move around with crutches, but he still needs some miracles to become a normal person.
The love between Sybil and Tom Branson was stopped from the source by Gao Bin, and they had no chance to meet, let alone develop feelings.
In 1918, while Sybil was taking care of an injured baron, the two sparked a love affair.
After a long love affair, they got married in 1920. After the marriage, the two still lived in Downton, because the down-and-out baron did not even retain the family castle after inheriting the title and inheritance.
At the end of last year, Sybil became pregnant, and her due date has recently arrived. Everyone at Downton Abbey is concerned about this matter. Robert and Cora also temporarily returned to live in the manor, wanting to help take care of their daughter and their unborn child. By the way, less than half a month after Gao Bin and the princess returned to the manor for their engagement ceremony, Bentley excitedly rushed to the manor and took Gao Bin to the factory. A brand new, hand-made convertible sports car quietly
Parked in the garage.
The traditional British aristocratic green color scheme, with the white word 01 printed on the door, proves that this is the first car produced by Bentley.
"I named it 'Marquis 1'. It is very fast, unimaginably fast!"
Gao Bin stepped forward, caressed these two vehicles that were like works of art, and couldn't help but say:
"Have you ever done a test? What's the top speed?"
"Yes, we ran a speed of 127 kilometers per hour on the test road. Oh my God, Master, this is the speed I ran myself."
Gao Bin slapped him hard on the shoulder:
"Great, this car is mine, man, you can't steal it from me."
"Of course, it's yours. You are the first loyal customer of our Bentley company." Walter Bentley said generously that this was a wedding gift for him and the princess.
"When will mass production be possible?"
"Let's do some testing in half a year, and we can start mass production in half a year."
"Then we can start advertising. Leave these to me. In six months, I hope to see the first car delivered to customers roll off the assembly line."
"No problem, I can guarantee you."
Gao Bin was not in a hurry to go for a test drive, and he was not planning to drive the car, so he put it in the garage of Downton Abbey as an art exhibition.
The commemorative significance of this car is far greater than the actual driving significance.
In order to win more customers for Bentley, Gao Bin used the name of Downton Abbey to hold more than a dozen banquets of various sizes in the next six months, attracting almost most people in the UK and Scotland who could afford this car.
They all called over.
Walter Bentley urgently produced a second prototype specifically for test drives by potential customers.
The feedback received is quite unanimous: this is a good car. From the chassis, to the suspension, to the actual driving experience, there is no doubt that it is a luxury car. Especially the aristocrats who pursue luxury and excitement cannot put it down.
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The soft and breathable calfskin seats can withstand level 8 wind and rain, and the convertible can be opened and closed electrically. These are all reasons for nobles to open their wallets, even if the pre-sale price of this car is as high as 1,500 pounds!
In just six months, 32 Bentley Marquiss were ordered and the initial investment cost was recovered. Of course, it was far from the time when profits were generated.
In any case, this is a good start. While Walter Bentley is urgently arranging the mass production of the 'Marquis', it is also preparing for Bentley's second model, the 'Duke'!
In his plan, the Duke will become the top four-door sedan, which must not only provide passengers with a comfortable and luxurious ride experience, but also cannot lag behind in terms of speed.
It must not only have the speed of a sports car, but also have a calm and comfortable riding experience. The purpose is to impact the status of Rolls-Royce.
By the way, Gao Bin sent a Bentley Marquis to their king through Princess Mary. This is a living humanoid billboard. Think about it, the king himself drives a Bentley car. You little nobles who swear allegiance to the king are still
Won’t you hurry up and follow?
I didn’t say anything, even if I was trying to sell iron, I had to build one.
Coupled with Gao Bin's partners and the support of some nouveau riche friends, Bentley's orders grew rapidly. By July 1922, orders for the 'Marquis' had exceeded 120.
As production increases, costs are gradually reduced. According to calculations, if the 'Marquis' can be produced to 200 units, the net profit can reach an astonishing 50% in the future. Making money is really simple!
Also in this year, Princess Mary became pregnant. It is not known whether she is a boy or a girl, but for the Crowley family, this was a top priority.
If he is a son, he is likely to become the next generation heir to the Marquess of Grantham.
Coupled with her mother's relationship, it is not impossible to be promoted to a duke in the future.
Of course, this is all a story for later, let’s not mention it for now.
In fact, this is not Gao Bin's first child in this world. Anna became his only daughter a year ago.
Anna is now Gao Bin's secretary in the Crowley Group. This was agreed between the two before the princess got married.
No matter how much she loves this man, she cannot live under the same roof with another woman, let alone serve that woman.
Therefore, she decided to move out of Downton Abbey and stay with Gao Bin in a different way.
In fact, this is fine, Gao Bin belongs to Anna during the day, and stays with Princess Mary at night, without any delay.
But how can you walk by the river without getting your shoes wet? Princess Mary is not blind, so she can see some things very clearly.
But her reaction was different from other women. In fact, having lived in the royal family since she was a child, she was not surprised by this kind of thing. Her father had countless lovers and had a lot of illegitimate children, but her mother never cared about it. And compared to her troubled father, Gao Bin's care and attention to her was always seen in her eyes and remembered in her heart.
This man is not a heartless person, and through investigation, Gao Bin has only ever been with Anna, a woman, and they were even with her long before him.
If the identity gap between the two hadn't been too big, Mary would have even thought that they were a couple, and she would have become a latecomer.
Through secret contacts, Princess Mary discovered that Anna was a good girl. She followed Gao Bin without any regrets and even gave birth to a daughter for him out of wedlock. This is such a great courage.
Moreover, this woman does not fight or grab, and never asks Gao Bin for anything. This is what Princess Mary admires most about her.
Gao Bin didn't know that his two women had met secretly and reached a tacit understanding. The two of them joined forces to pay attention to Gao Bin's pants to avoid being taken advantage of by a third woman.
With the two of them watching inside and outside, the possibility of Gao Bin fooling around with others was basically eliminated.
The most important thing is that Gao Bin has no intention of messing around at all. His greatest joy in this life is to turn the Crowley family into the three stars of the Sunset Empire.
It's better to let the John Bulls get into a panic whenever Crowley is mentioned. Isn't that much more interesting than playing with women?
It was also because he focused all his attention on his work and ignored the situation where the two women had reached a united front behind the scenes.
Although it didn't have much impact on him,...
Closer to home, as Princess Mary’s belly grew bigger and bigger, Gao Bin decided to continue working in the food industry.
In terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation, so far, he has only the real estate industry that he has not set foot in.
There is no way, they are all nobles, so we have to leave some way for other nobles to survive, right?
This group of nobles is not good at anything else. They are good at buying land. They have basically taken over all the high-priced areas in London. If Gao Bin takes action, he will definitely drive up the land price. Not only will there be no benefit, but it will also be easy for the nobles to take advantage of it.
Offended to death.
Besides, even if you want to do real estate, you won’t do residential real estate. Commercial real estate is the way to go.
In short, he, who is well versed in the ways of the world, will naturally not compete with the nobles for food now, so he should continue to delve into the food industry.
During World War I, his food company provided compressed dry food and alcohol to the military.
However, after the war, the processing plant began to transform and develop towards the civilian field. In recent years, biscuits, bread, chocolate and other branch products have been developed one after another.
Now, he has set his sights on the field of milk.
To be precise, it is deep processing of milk, yogurt, cheese, etc.
To this end, he acquired several ranches and controlled the source of milk to influence the dairy deep processing industry.
First, it made other deep-processing brands suffer by regulating milk prices, and then relied on its strong financial strength to enter the market, driving down the price and killing several peers at the same time.
After the market recognizes and accepts your brand, you can then use the public opinion channels you control to turn Crowley Foods into a national brand, bit by bit eroding the market share of your peers.
It's very simple. I will make whatever product you make, and it will taste better than you and the price will be cheaper than yours.
Consumers can’t control so much. Who doesn’t like cost-effective products?
In just two years, Crowley Foods became the largest food company in the UK and began to be exported to Europe and the United States.
This is not over yet, Gao Bin established another company called "Very Coke", which set off a cola storm in Europe.
Although Coca-Cola and BEST have become popular in the Americas, they have not yet fully become popular in Europe, which gives Coca-Cola room to survive.
Anyway, this thing has no technology at all. If you add a little lemon flavor, it will become your own patent, and you will not win even if you sue.
Very Coke is a local brand in the UK. You two foreigners are trying to sue "Very Coke" in the UK. It's just a waste of money. It's surprising that you can win the lawsuit.
Besides, Gao Bin always likes to start with price. If you sell Coca-Cola for two shillings, I would dare to sell Coke for one shilling.
If you, Pepsi, dare to do promotions, I will give it away for free if I am very coke.
Of course, the latter is a joke, and it is impossible to give it away for free, but it is possible to play the "one more bottle" game.
Young people and children in the UK enjoyed the pleasure of "one more bottle" in the summer of 1923.
Gao Bin is so ruthless, he directly increased the winning rate to 20%, which means that if you buy five bottles, you can get "another bottle".
What? Will you lose money with such a high winning rate?
Ha ha ha, unless the British water company wants to stop doing this and sets the price of water to the same price as whiskey, it is impossible to lose money.
One gallon of puree can be converted into tens of thousands of bottles of Coke, so you won’t lose money if you take Coke in the shower every day!
Coupled with its early monopoly in the low-end wine field, Crowley Beverage Company completed its monopoly on the British beverage market in the summer of 1925.
50% of the whiskey distilleries in the Scottish Highlands have become the possessions of Crowley Drinks.
Starting from this year, one out of every two bottles of whiskey produced in Scotland was printed with the totem of the Crowley family.
In the same year, Bentley's second mass-produced car, the Duke, officially rolled off the production line. The royal family purchased 20 cars at once, which will be used as royal courtesy cars.
These 20 cars are all customized models. The champagne gold Bentley Duke is like a moving work of art. Whenever it appears on the road, people know that it must be a member of the royal family.
Gao Bin specially customized a pure white Bentley ‘Duke’ for his beloved wife Princess Mary, and the interior is painted lake blue, just like the blue of the sky reflected on the lake when the sun is shining.
This color scheme is also treasured by Gao Bin. If others want to use it, they must obtain the consent of him and the princess.
In addition, this Bentley "Duke" named "Princess" also uses a lot of luxurious decorations, including the letter B composed of rubies in the center of the steering wheel, including the letter B hidden in the rear armrest box, worth 30
A pound crystal wine glass.
The main thing is luxury!
If this car were put at an auction in the 21st century, it would fetch at least an 8-digit price in pounds.
However, no matter how expensive a car is, it is still a car. After getting this car, Princess Mary took it for many trips, unlike Gao Bin who hid his first Bentley Marquis in the garage and never drove it.
Because both the Duke and the Marquis use Bentley's most advanced car-making technology, they are expensive and cannot be afforded by ordinary people. They can only drool with envy when they see them on the road.
However, how could Gao Bin keep his money and not make any money? Isn’t the money in the middle-class wallets money anymore?
Adhering to the concept that no matter how small a mosquito's legs are, they are still meat, Gao Bin asked Walter Bentley to set up a new production line - Knight.
The Bentley Cavalier is mainly aimed at the middle class, and is priced at around 300 pounds. The middle class can afford it if they grit their teeth and save for two years.
If you want to buy early and enjoy it early, Bentley 4 Sons store also provides them with considerate loan services. With only a small amount of interest, you can buy a Bentley Flying Spur in installments.
300 pounds is not enough to buy a wheel on Bentley's Duke. The price of a bare "Duke" is as high as 2500 pounds. If you choose to customize it, it will be doubled even if it is doubled. Gao Bin has transferred all the rogue ideas of Porsche to
On the 'Duke'.
Make money, don’t be ashamed if you have more tricks!
No matter what, you can buy a complete car for 300 pounds. It is said to use the same chassis and structure as the Bentley Marquis. Although the speed is not that fast, it is not used on the track every day, and it is enough for daily use.<
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This is a great advantage, not to mention that you can get a loan. The down payment is only 100 pounds. You deserve to own the Bentley Cavalier.
An overwhelming amount of advertising was launched, and people all over the UK, including the young middle class in the Netherlands and Germany, which are closer to the UK, also knew the news. What are you waiting for? Buy it.
The phone number at the Bentley 4 Sons store was flooded with calls from people asking about the car booking process.
Unfortunately, the production capacity is limited. If you order a car now, you will have to wait half a year to take delivery.
Even so, it can't stop the enthusiasm of customers. No matter if it takes half a year or a year, put my name on the list first.
One year at a time, if you save more money, you won’t need to take out a loan.
In this way, Bentley's "Duke" and "Marquis" failed to make Bentley's name resounding in the European continent, but unexpectedly they did it with a 300-pound "Cavalier".
The 4-son store model promoted by Gao Bin also quickly became popular in continental Europe, especially in Western Europe.
Countries like the Netherlands and France are okay. After all, they have no enmity with Britain, and some of them are still partners.
Germany is different. The two countries had a deadly feud during World War I. Even so, there were bold businessmen who wanted to take a gamble and bought Bentley's agency rights in Germany at a high price.
Not to mention, he actually won the bet, even though he faced a lot of criticism, which completely ruined the reputation of this general agent.
Moreover, the world's first car was born in Germany, which makes many Germans very proud and think that the hateful John Bull cannot produce a good car.
No one is optimistic about this big gamble of the general agent.
But no one expected that he succeeded.
Bentley successfully opened up the German market. What the British military failed to do, the car company under his name Gao Bin did it.
For this matter, Gao Bin specially booked the front pages of all major newspapers in the UK and publicized it.
Unexpectedly, John Bull's patriotic enthusiasm was aroused, and many people placed orders to express their support for Bentley.
This year, Bentley's cash flow reached a terrifying £200,000!
Also in this year, Gao Bin established a new car brand-'Land Rover' under Crowley Automotive Industry Group, focusing on the luxury off-road vehicle market.
However, at the beginning, they did not target civilian use, but produced off-road jeeps for the military.
Five years after its establishment, when the technology gradually matured and a huge patent pool was accumulated, two models for the civilian market were simultaneously announced.
And announced the concept of ‘SUV’ to the world.
Range Rover and Discovery are two models launched simultaneously by the Land Rover brand. The former is a large road SUV that focuses on off-road use and uses a load-bearing body;
The latter uses military off-road vehicle technology, a non-load-bearing body, and is a traditional off-road vehicle that can be driven over mountains and rivers, and through virgin forests.
The birth of these two cars has also opened the door to a new world for the rich in the UK. It turns out that cars can still drive like this!