In Europe at this time, William was receiving several important guests from Poland: "...... Mr. Minister, we are old friends, and with all due respect, although your Solidarity won the election, you inherited a devastated country. The politicians who have stepped down are getting ready to see your jokes. ”

The Polish deputy minister nodded: "That's true, so we need the help of friends from all sides." I am also very grateful to White Lotus for its donation and material supply to our country. I don't want to hide that these necessities are very important for the stability of Polish society now. ”

William smiled and nodded. The rest of the European manufacturers only recognize hard currency, and although the Polish market is blank, there are still very few goods. Only the White Lotus boldly agreed to settle the settlement with the East German mark. It can be said that in the Polish and Hungarian markets, which have been opened, it is a horse and a horse......

In 1989, Poland had a severe economic situation, with an extreme shortage of goods, soaring prices, inflation as high as 2,000%, a declining gross domestic product, a foreign debt of $49 billion, and the country almost lost its ability to pay. A poll conducted in Poland in early 1989 showed that more than 95 per cent of respondents considered the economic situation to be "extremely poor" and that 85 per cent of households had deteriorated extremistically.

On 4 June 1989, the parliamentary elections were held, in which the Polish Party lost and Solidarity won to form a government. The coming to power of Solidarity marked a drastic change in Poland's political and economic system. It was also like dominoes, which led to the beginning of the collapse of the Warsaw Pact system in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

At the same time, the Hungarian economy has been stagnant since the 70s, and the Kadar government has borrowed heavily in order to maintain a good impression among the people, and by 1987, the external debt had exceeded 20 billion US dollars, and the per capita debt was 2,000 US dollars, ranking first among Eastern European countries. The stagnation of the economy has also led to a skyrocketing price of daily necessities and rising public discontent.

By the end of 1988, the Kadar government had been overthrown. In May 1989, the Hungarian border guards announced the dismantling of the Warsaw Pact electronic alarm system on the Hungarian-Austrian border. At that time, in order to prevent citizens from defecting to the West, the Hungarian side set up a special electronic alarm system along this border line: as soon as the stowaway touched the barbed wire fence densely covered with low-voltage currents, the alarm system would send a signal, and the border guards would immediately go out. Now that the Iron Curtain has been abolished, a large number of people from Hungary and Eastern Europe, including East Germany, have secretly crossed the border to make permanent travel in Austria. The Berlin Wall has become virtually non-existent.

At that time, people in Eastern Europe gathered in the muddy water, watching the barbed wire fence on the border being cut by Hungarian officers and soldiers with large scissors, and the cement pillars being uprooted by cranes. None of those present could have predicted that the consequences of the incident would be far beyond their imagination.

Gradually, more and more motor vehicles were converging on the streets of Hungary, they were used as motorhomes, and then abandoned in the wilderness and on the banks of the Danube, and the East Germans kept coming in and soon disappeared, with the simple goal of getting to Austria, to West Germany.

Some people have visas, others always think of a way to find a smuggler, or to buy off people at the border with the West German mark, which has been treasured for several years. It was a year of hundreds of East Germans crossing the famous "Trans-European Picnic", which was followed by tens of thousands of East German citizens flocking from here to the West.

Facing the Polish deputy minister, Wilhelm smiled and asked, "My friend, I can agree to your conditions." But what about my conditions?"

"......?" the deputy minister hesitated, "we don't have a precedent before. Privatization is certainly the goal, but how? To tell you the truth, no one has any experience. ”

William smiled: "Your country has more than 30,000 employees, and the annual subsidy is equivalent to millions of dollars? Is it just for the screening of those political propaganda films? And your current situation, you will definitely not continue to subsidize, will you let those employees lose their jobs?"

"My friend, I have a plan here......"

“…… If you think about it, your government can get so many benefits and lose a big burden. And we promise that we will never let these more than 30,000 employees lose their jobs and will give them a decent life. This is like your government's pilot market economy reform, you want to do a good job, we also want to do a good job. Besides, cinema is not a core industry at all, and it has no impact on the national economy. And ......"

At the end, William whispered a number in the deputy minister's ear......

The Polish deputy minister walked briskly and left with a beaming face. It wasn't long before Wilhelm warmly received a high-ranking Hungarian official. The same rhetoric, the Hungarian official returned with the same satisfaction......

……

In the transformation of Eastern Europe, it can be summed up by "two radicals": a radical political transformation, from a socialist system to a Western-style multi-party system, and an economic radical "shock therapy", from a planned economy to privatization and marketization, the core of which is also a dream: as long as radical political and economic changes, these countries can quickly become developed countries. As a result, political radicalism has brought with it a sudden explosion of political participation and continued chaos.

But that was the cruel future, and now these newly elected politicians in Eastern Europe are still dreaming of turning around.

In August, Wilhelm reached agreements with the Polish and Hungarian governments to provide $64 million and $21 million respectively for the purchase of affordable daily necessities provided by the White Lotus Hamburg branch. Of course, most of these necessities are produced in China. It also ostensibly provided $3 million and $1.2 million in humanitarian relief respectively. Private bribes were also essential, for which William paid nearly five million dollars.

There is no doubt that the governments of Poland and Hungary will certainly not be able to pay. In exchange, overnight, all 425 state-run cinemas in Poland and 139 state-run cinemas in Hungary became cinemas under the Seed Cinema Line. And this actually includes the projection equipment, real estate, land, and printing factories of these theaters...... , all of it!

In addition, due to the opening of the Austro-Hungarian border and the dominance of the White Lotus merchandise, the sales of the Hamburg branch in Eastern Europe increased exponentially. The monthly increase in deposits in the GDR marks has exceeded 50 million and is still growing.

The goods-for-goods program is also well underway. The first two bulk carriers loaded with "scrap steel and copper" have sailed to China. However, no one knows that in the face of truly large-scale plunder, such a small fight is not even an appetizer......