Crisis

"Mr. Hans, this is your prize money. Five million marks in total. However, you will have to pay the taxes yourself." Karl von Jonath, general manager of the German Welfare Lottery Company, smiled broadly as he handed a check to Hans, the first-prize winner.

After confirming the first-prize winner, Karl had rushed to Düsseldorf overnight with a five-million-mark check. At the same time, he had notified all the major newspapers. Now, before reporters from those newspapers, he publicly presented the prize money to Hans.

"I... I truly can't thank you enough." Hans was at a loss for what to do. He felt as though he were dreaming. He had never imagined that God would smile upon him and let him win first prize. Even after paying taxes, he would still have four million marks! To him, that was already an enormous fortune. With this money, he would no longer have to dig coal, and his wife and children would no longer have to squeeze into that cramped little room.

"Mr. Hans, how do you feel right now?" a reporter asked, envy in his eyes. He envied the man's good fortune. Why hadn't he won? If he had won first prize, he would never have to work himself to the bone again.

"I'm very excited, and very happy. Thank God, and thank the German Welfare Lottery Company. I'm a coal miner, and life has been hard. But from this day onward, my life will be completely different." Hans was filled with anticipation for his future life.

"Friends from the press, the purpose of our German Welfare Lottery Company is to give people a chance to change their fate. Two marks may not be especially cheap, but most people can afford it. Exchanging two marks for an opportunity to change one's destiny is undoubtedly an excellent bargain. Once someone wins first prize, their life will be fundamentally transformed from then on. Furthermore, our company gives back to society. From the proceeds of every lottery draw, we will set aside a fixed portion for social welfare, making society as a whole a better place." Karl seized the opportunity to promote their mission. Though he was not very old, he behaved with great maturity and showed no trace of stage fright.

Clap clap clap! The reporters and onlookers alike burst into enthusiastic applause.

News that a coal miner had successfully won first prize and received five million marks spread through all the major newspapers. Of course, Oscar and the others had also spent quite a bit on public relations. This made sales of the Double Color Ball boom once more. More and more people longed to change their fates and threw themselves into buying lottery tickets.

Although two marks was not a small sum for ordinary people, given current wage levels, it was not difficult to save a little. As a result, Double Color Ball sales rose once again.

By the fourth draw, sales had climbed to forty million marks. After costs and prize money were deducted, Oscar and the others earned around four million marks. Of those profits, Oscar's share alone was a full two million marks. With this steady stream of income, carrying out Oscar's plans would undoubtedly become much easier.

The explosive sales of the Double Color Ball naturally drew the attention of many people. Quite a few wanted to take this golden goose that laid golden eggs into their own hands. Yet they found they had nowhere to begin.

Although Oscar was not favored by Wilhelm II, he was still a Prince of Germany. Moving against a prince's business was undoubtedly a provocation against the imperial family. Without sufficient strength, no one could bear the imperial family's wrath.

Furthermore, every week the German Welfare Lottery Company donated more than a million marks to Germany's civil affairs department for social welfare, earning the company an excellent reputation among the public. If anyone rashly moved against the German Welfare Lottery Company, they would inevitably face a storm of public condemnation.

Even so, Oscar could sense that as the German Welfare Lottery Company's ability to rake in money grew stronger and stronger, those greedy fellows were nearly unable to restrain themselves.

In a capitalist society like Germany, even the imperial family was deeply wary of those great capitalists.

"Karl, up to now, we have issued six lottery draws and earned a total profit of ten million marks. After deducting the two million marks already donated to the civil affairs department, eight million marks remain. This one million marks belongs to you." Oscar handed Karl a check for one million marks.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I never imagined that we would recover our costs in just over ten days. What comes next will be pure profit." Karl's face was full of smiles. Although he could only receive ten percent of the profits, he was already extremely satisfied. At the current profit rate, he could receive more than two million marks a month.

"Yes, but making so much money has naturally made others green with envy. There are probably quite a few capitalists now who want to swallow us whole." Oscar felt a powerful sense of crisis.

"Your Highness, can't even your status make them wary?" Karl's expression immediately turned grave.

"In the short term, I should still be able to keep them in check. But as we make more and more money, they will soon be unable to hold back. When that time comes, my status as an ordinary prince will not be enough to frighten them." Oscar shook his head with a bitter smile.

"What should we do?" Karl likewise understood the bloodiness of capital accumulation. For profit, those capitalists would often stop at nothing. Oscar's status as a prince truly could not make those people hesitate. If Oscar could rise another step and become Crown Prince, perhaps it would make them wary of breaking the rat's cage for fear of the vase inside.

"Karl, go to the palace and find your father. Have him deliver this check to my Father Emperor. Our previous decision was to give twenty percent of the profits to the imperial family. I hope Father Emperor will, for the sake of this money and the bond between father and son, provide us with protection."

Karl nodded. "All right, Your Highness. I'll head to Potsdam at once."

Karl knew that if the imperial family warned those greedy fellows, they should give up their designs on the German Welfare Lottery Company. After all, since Germany's unification, the imperial family's prestige in Germany had been like the sun at high noon. Even those great capitalists did not dare openly oppose the imperial family.