British 1986

I glanced at the other secretaries in the conference room who were sorting out information or taking notes. Among them was a female secretary, Zhang Xin, who came from China. When she saw Allen looking at her, she opened her mouth, a little lustfully. He stopped talking.

"What else do you want?"

For his small team of secretaries, Allen only sees them a limited number of times. Some things are not directly arranged by Allen. Most of them are relayed to them by Hu Te or Xiao Shitou. They usually don't come to New Castle very often. Instead, I work over there in the old castle.

Seeing that the secretary clearly wanted to say something, Allen still asked her before leaving.

"boss"

Zhang Xing was about to say something, then looked at the colleagues around him, thought for a while, stood up, walked to Allen, and said softly: "Boss, I have some personal matters, can I talk to you in private?"

"Um?"

Allen glanced at Zhang Xin. This female secretary had left a deep impression on her. She was very capable and responsible. The only shortcoming was that she looked down upon the place where she came from.

If it weren't for this kind of thinking, he wouldn't have tossed and turned first from home, then to Xiangjiang, and finally arrived in Daying after a bumpy journey.

But this shortcoming is not very important in Allen's opinion. If this kind of person were replaced by him in his previous life, he would have been a proper shepherd dog, but now he is a foreigner, and there will be more shepherd dogs like this. It will also help his career, it just depends on how he uses her.

"I'm going to talk to Thomas about some work matters first. After we finish talking, you can come back to my study."

"yes!"

Allen confessed and motioned to Thomas to follow him to the study first.

In the study, Allen asked the servants to arrange tea, snacks, etc. After they went out, he asked sincerely: "Thomas, among the corporate information I just asked you to collect, if I want to acquire some of them Enterprises, how much money do they need to prepare in terms of funds?”

"Master, what do you mean? All of them?"

Thomas was confused for a moment.

"Well, let's make a rough estimate based on railways, roads, ports, and electricity."

In Allen's view, no matter how powerful he is, he does not have the ability or financial resources to eat up all the state-owned enterprises in Wales. This volume is beyond his ability to bear. If he tries to swallow it by force, he may be squeezed to death in the end.

"hiss"

After listening to Allen's instructions, even Thomas, who had seen the world, couldn't help but take a breath.

No one would ask him these things for no reason, not to mention that it was Allen who asked him such questions now. The lion asked the fellow, how much does he weigh? What does this mean? Do you even need to think about it?

The lion is hungry!

"This. Just counting the railways, if we only count the section from our southern region to Cardiff, it costs at least hundreds of millions of pounds. The same is true for roads, and because the road construction period is relatively short, the facilities are very new. , the price may be even more expensive.”

Thomas had a traffic map of the whole of Wales in his mind.

Wales as a whole may seem small, but the north and south are severely divided.

Let’s just talk about the south. There are dozens of counties densely distributed, and the economic center is in the capital Cardiff.

From a topographic point of view, it is a narrow strip distributed along the coastline from west to east.

The relatively vast areas in the middle have extremely low population density. Most of them are in the wilderness, including woods, abandoned castles, ancient battlefields, swamps, mountains, etc. They are sparsely populated anyway.

When it comes to the north, it's almost the same, but there is basically no economic center in the north. It can be regarded as following the surrounding big cities, like the suburbs of neighboring cities like Liverpool and Manchester, and it is in the wilderness. In the wilderness, a place where father does not love mother and mother does not love her.

Probably because it is too close to Ireland across the sea, there are many immigrants, and the overall atmosphere, culture, and economic situation are not good.

In addition, there was not even an integrated railway around Wales in the past. Although we are considered to be a whole, the Wales in people's minds can be said to generally only refer to the long area of ​​​​southern Wales. Other places. It’s not much, it can only be said to be a whole in name only.

Because the entire central area of ​​Wales has a small population, many infrastructure constructions are not that complete under a specific social environment.

For example, railways. In the past few years, the railways between the north and south of Wales were not interconnected because the cost was too high and the revenue ratio was too low, making it unnecessary.

Until modern times, even when highways were being built, the southern highway was built first throughout Wales.

For example, the northernmost town all the way to Cardiff, or to the Severn River east of Cardiff. This section of the highway is the most frequently used, and it is also the highest-level and best-built road in Wales.

Allen used to complain about road problems because of this.

This so-called highway, as seen on the map, has a flattened W shape.

This W is made up of two V's.

The V on the left connects the towns in the coastal areas of western Wales with a highway, ending in the Carmarthen area in central Wales.

Because Carmarthen is already "deeper inland" than other counties, the highway turns a lot further in.

The V that forms a W on the right starts from the town of Carmarthen, and then goes straight to the coast, along several coastal counties, passing through Cardiff, and connecting to England's transportation network.

The distribution of the entire road is such a big situation.

As for why the town of Carmarthen was mixed in here, causing the highway that could have been built along the coast to take a turn inland, this can only be understood but cannot be explained.

Could it be that building a highway in Wales could separate the Hill family?

When the road was being built back then, there was an extra section of highway that was dozens of kilometers long, so that the Hill family would have a good road at their doorstep to facilitate travel. Of course, there were also some strategic needs, and I understand all of this.

But this way, every time I go to London from home, I can't walk in a straight line. If I want to take the highway, I have to walk dozens of kilometers in a circle. There are many mountain roads in the straight line, which is quite bumpy.

Now if Allen wants to win the operating rights of these railways and highways, the cost involved

Thomas felt a little desperate just thinking about it. This was a truly asset-heavy industry with slow return on capital and huge capital requirements.

"Master, if railways, highways, ports, and ports are only counted as Cardiff Port, if these three are added together, it will cost at least billions of pounds to start with."

Thomas and Allen looked at each other, and he didn't know what to say anymore.

"."

He knew that this thing cost money, but when he really estimated the approximate amount, Allen felt a little numb.

If he wants to be full this time, doesn't that mean he has to have a shortfall of at least billions of pounds?

He has made so much money over the years, cobbled together, deceived and deceived, and all the money he earned in total is not that much, right?

Now let him suddenly take out so much, even if William and Harry are packaged and sold together, it is not worth the money, right?

Allen waved his hand to signal Thomas to drink tea, but he scratched his head and felt worried.

Money. He can't get rich in a short time.

I can only turn my attention to the bank.

loan?

When this word came to Allen's mind, he was actually a little resistant.

Ever since he first came to the throne, people from the bank came to his door to collect debts. Whenever he thought of the embarrassment he felt at that time, he never wanted to owe the bank even a penny again.

But now it seems that it is no longer possible without a loan. With such a large amount of money, even if Allen asks someone to borrow it, who can come up with such a large amount of money?

Check the boss?

Forget it, let’s get a loan

"Master, you asked us to collect this information because you intend to take down these companies?"

Thomas looked at Allen's frown, put down his tea cup and bravely asked.

"There is intention in this regard, but now it is just an intention, and the funding gap is too big."

Allen had nothing to hide about Thomas. Whether he contacted people from Welsh state-owned enterprises or negotiated prices, Thomas would be needed.

"Well, Master, do you want a loan?"

There were only so many ways to go, and given the amount of money involved, Thomas couldn't think of anything else to do other than a loan.

"Um no! I don't take out a loan!"

Allen suddenly realized that money does not necessarily have to rely on loans.

The loan must be repaid!

If he wants to take out a loan, he won't repay it!

In this case, how to operate?

Allen suddenly had some ideas in his mind, such as a clever name!

Now it's not even sure whether the proposed compensation plan can be passed. Allen just got a whiff of such a plan from the old guy.

For example, state-owned enterprises are in trouble due to the current environment. Otherwise, if they are running well, it will be exponentially more difficult to extract benefits from politicians.

Now that they dare to propose such a compensation plan, it will most likely prove that this plan is feasible. State-owned enterprises are expected to be privatized on a large scale, which will also generate a wave of fiscal revenue.

Under such circumstances, outsiders don't know, can Allen operate the state-owned enterprises in Wales under another name?

For example, do you want to go it alone without waiting for their compensation plan?

if

If he can come up with a plan, which is called leading Wales to economic recovery, under the guidance of this plan, as a well-known noble in Wales, does Mr. Allen have reason to lead Wales to economic recovery?

"Thomas, I remember Shakespeare once said that with great power comes great responsibility. You said that as the largest nobleman in Wales, and the external economic environment is so bad now, do I have the ability or need to stand up first? Is it within my capabilities to lead Wales’ economic recovery?”

Thomas looked at Allen who suddenly looked at him seriously and asked such a question again.

He couldn't keep up with Allen's rhythm for a moment, and he was still thinking about Allen's words. When did Shakespeare say that with great ability comes great responsibility?

Looking into Allen's eyes, Thomas wanted to say that it would be the same with or without you. In fact, with your participation, the situation might get a little worse. But in front of Allen, he would not say this again. I dare not tell the truth.

"Master, you are indeed capable. Wales can't do it without you. What do you mean?"

"Well, since the economy in Wales is not doing well right now, and neither are those state-owned enterprises, why not transfer it to me. I will run it. If the results are good, everyone will benefit together. If the results are not good, everything is risky."

"I will transfer it to you for management?"

Thomas's mind slowed down again. Didn't he just talk about acquisitions and raising money?

In the blink of an eye, it has become a matter of helping Wales recover its economy, so doesn't this acquisition become an investment plan?

Transfer these state-owned enterprises to him, let Allen lead the development and operation, and then ignore the profits and losses.

If such a company fell into his hands, wouldn't it be like a meat bun beating a dog?

No matter what happened in the past, if it falls into his hands, it will definitely suffer losses. He even dares to incur losses and go bankrupt for these companies.

He doesn't have to take any responsibility anyway.

"What do you think of my idea? Is there any room for operation?"

Allen stared at Thomas with burning eyes. He felt that he had a little room for maneuver.

Anyway, it’s up to people!

He can't solve the financial problem, but he can think from another angle and solve the people who cause him financial problems!

For example, the leaders of state-owned enterprises and the Welsh MPs responsible for this field, Allen is much more skilled in solving these problems. As long as they are solved, won't the funding problem also be solved?

Anyway, his ultimate goal is to swallow up these industries. As for the process used in the middle, this is not important, as long as the result is correct.

Now, in this way, he has transformed from a mere acquisition to the savior of Wales. He wants to save the Welsh economy!

As for the failure of the final rescue, we can only say that he is incompetent, but Mr. Allen's original intention at the beginning was absolutely unselfish. He was dedicated to the people!

In the end, it was found that the capacity was still insufficient and the revitalization failed, so we could only tearfully swallow up these state-owned enterprises to reduce the burden on the Welsh official and the Welsh people.

"This. I have never done anything like this before. I have no experience."

Sweat dropped from Thomas's forehead. In his opinion, although this was not an open robbery, it was almost the same as an open robbery.

But for Allen to do this kind of thing, it doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary. Whatever their family has done in Wales over the years, it’s not too out of the ordinary. Everyone is always jealous of what their family does. , with particularly strong endurance.

If you think about it according to Allen's thinking, it doesn't seem impossible.

As long as he doesn't think that the plan is destined to fail from the beginning, he can still deceive people if he makes the plan better and more realistic. However, due to his limited abilities, this plan will definitely not work on his own.

Thinking of this, Thomas looked at Allen with some embarrassment and said: "Master, even if you want to do this, this early written plan needs to be carefully prepared. I am not very good at this aspect."