"Isn't Dresden the second largest city in East Germany?"

Wang Chuanfu and Sun Lei walked side by side on the streets of Dresden, looking at this once-famous city in the socialist camp in amazement.

As one of the backbone countries of the socialist camp, East Germany can be said to be famous in terms of economy, industry and science and technology. Products and technologies from Germany have long been synonymous with high for Chinese.

As the second largest city and the largest industrial city in East Germany, Dresden should obviously be very prosperous.

Yes, Dresden is a city with a long history and a very good infrastructure.

But at this moment, the city and prosperity are completely out of the ordeal.

Sun Lei drove his satellite car, carrying Wang Chuanfu slowly on the streets of Dresden.

This type of East German national car accounts for more than 90 percent of the passenger car stock in the GDR, but not because of its performance, but because it is only produced in the GDR and is in short supply.

Although its performance lagged behind, and the drivability and comfort were not good, the East Germans had no other choice. It was sold for a year's salary of the average East German, and was not a big problem for the socialists who had a habit of saving.

As a result, the production of Sputnik cars had been planned for at least four to five years before the merger of Germany. In other words, even if the money is paid, a consumer who wants to get his own car often has to wait until five years later.

As a result, the East German car companies had little incentive to replace their cars. In fact, from another point of view, this is somewhat similar to China's passenger car market.

However, on the premise that the United States supports China as a founding country of TO, the Ministry of Commerce has agreed in principle to significantly reduce import tariffs on domestic passenger cars by 2000. In this way, the original community of interests composed of Chinese passenger car companies and international capital will inevitably have a crack.

In the new century, if the passenger car industry can no longer develop any competitiveness. It is conceivable that domestic passenger car companies may no longer be used as a signboard by international capital.

Of course, this is all far in the future. In the summer of 1991, the big scene that happened in front of Wang Chuanfu will undoubtedly affect his entire life very profoundly.

Dresden, the bustling city of the socialist camp, is no longer as peaceful as it once was.

The car driven by Sun Lei had just entered the main city from a suburban road, and after driving through a few deserted streets, it was blocked on the city's main road.

Outside the car window, workers in blue coveralls, housewives with vegetable faces, and even German aunts with vigorous steps are flooding the entire road.

"Bitola! Bitola!"

The neat shouts resounded in the sky on the street, and Wang Chuanfu was surprised and wanted to roll his head out of the window, but was pulled by Sun Lei.

"What are you doing, don't die?"

"This is a German march, right? Hey, it's really lively, I've never seen it in China. ”

Parades are not uncommon for the older generation, but people of Wang Chuanfu's age are also a Western scene. Besides, this is still a parade of Germans, so you must see it.

Somewhat excited, he shifted his butt in the passenger seat and said, "Is this the East Germans celebrating the reunification of the country?"

"Phew. ”

With a sneer, Sun Lei put the steering wheel a little nervously, shook his head and said, "Do you know what Bitola means in German?

"Liar?"

"Yes, liar. German Chancellor Kohl is visiting Dresden today, and these people are all here to demonstrate!"

"Isn't Kohl a hero of German reunification?" Wang Chuanfu calmed down a little and asked strangely: "How can the Germans call him a liar instead of such a national hero who is destined to go down in history?"

"What's so strange about this, it's been more than half a year since the reunification of the two Germanys. These naïve East Germans should also wake up by now. ”

"Innocent, sober?" Wang Chuanfu came back to his senses, listened to the shouts coming from outside the car, and sure enough, he realized the anger brewing in the crowd that he had ignored before. But such a reaction, from the news he learned in English-language international newspapers and radio, was completely incomprehensible.

Sun Lei looked Wang Chuanfu up and down with his spare eyes, shook his head and sighed: "Think about what you are doing in Dresden, in our old saying, you are here to 'dig the corner of East German socialism'." ”

"How could such a large-scale digging of the corners of a sound country occur? Nominally, the two Germany were merged, but the GDR completely gave up the initiative. The so-called merger was nothing more than the annexation of East Germany by West Germany. This is the third time that East Germany has become a defeated country, and the end will not be much better than the situation in World War I and World War II. No, it should be said that it will be even worse. ”

While the two men were talking, a convoy slowly approached at the end of the road. In front of the convoy were police cars and motorcycles on the road, and German flags fluttered on them.

Sun Lei looked out from the gap in the crowd with a complicated expression, and suddenly said, "It's Cole's convoy here." ”

At this moment, it was as if everyone had received some order. The crowd of marchers suddenly surged and rushed towards the convoy. Although there is a human wall of police and security personnel, like a sampan in a storm, this line of defense is already precarious.

"Bitola! Bitola!"

The East Germans shouted and threw their eggs and tomatoes at the convoy. Not content with the "gentle" expression of food, some young people simply filled plastic bags with red paint and threw them at the heads of the convoys.

"Well, Kohl is Germany's head of state!"

Wang Chuanfu was completely stunned, and the people of a country "welcomed" the head of their country with eggs, rotten tomatoes and paint, which was a scene he had never imagined.

"Kohl is the Chancellor of Germany, that's why East Germans are so mild!"

Sun Lei shook his head, shrank his body towards the seat of the car tremblingly, and said: "Do you know what happened to the previous director of the State Property Trust Bureau established after the merger of East Germany?

"Didn't the East Germans want to merge with the West Germans, and why did they make that decision in the first place?"

"After the merger of East Germany, the state economic system needed to be reformed, so the State Property Trust Office was formed. The mission of this bureau was to turn the state property of East Germany into private property. The capitalists of West Germany used this institution to loot the wealth accumulated in East Germany over the decades overnight. The previous director, as the specific executor, became the key point for the outbreak of contradictions. ”

"Even so, the new incumbent director still declared in public that the murder was pointless and that there would be no change in the policy of the Trusteeship Board. When Cole came to Dresden at this time, he overestimated his popularity too much, and he was simply asking for his own hardship. ”

Wang Chuanfu looked at the crowd around him who were angrily throwing "ammunition" at the convoy, and he was really speechless about the state of East Germany at this time.

......

It was more than half an hour before Cole's motorcade had finished crossing this stretch of the road, and the crowd was finally back in motion. Sun Lei took Wang Chuanfu back onto a small road, and his speed of action became faster.

"Xiao Wang, you are new to the city, I will help you circle a few projects first. While driving, Sun Lei handed him a document: "We are going to the DKK company in Dresden, whose main business is to produce and assemble refrigerators. Before the merger of Germany, DKK's refrigerators were selling well. Not only in the socialist camp, but also in the Western countries also have a large market share. Even in terms of technology, it is not much different from international manufacturers such as Siemens and Bosch. ”

"If your institute can introduce their compressor technology, the domestic demand will be enough for you. ”

Wang Chuanfu overcame the up and down shaking in the car, and quickly read the information in his hand with great difficulty. The pages contain a wealth of information, from DKK's assets to technology, workers and equipment, as well as inventory and management. It is hard to imagine that such a detailed business secret would appear in the hands of outsiders.

"Brother Sun, if I'm not mistaken, this DKK should be a high-quality asset, right? If their products could have been sold in the West before the merger, how could it have become a loss-making enterprise in less than a year from this report of the Trusteeship Bureau?"

"What's so strange about this?" Sun Lei pursed his lips and said: "After the merger of the two Germanys, all the East German marks were deactivated, and one to one was exchanged for West German marks. The value of the West German mark was four times that of the East German mark, which means that the price of the refrigerators produced by DKK increased by four times in an instant after the merger. How can a product that used to cost $100 now have to be sold for $400 to recoup its original cost? If the product has a backlog of inventory and cannot be sold, it is naturally a loss-making enterprise. If the enterprise loses money, it is not possible to sell it cheaply. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Lei braked, and the car stopped in front of the gate of a factory. The spacious and magnificent door withered and deserted, like the eyes of a man who has not woken up, and is open without a god.

"The place is here, let's go. ”

Wang Chuanfu followed Sun Lei to push the car door and walked towards the gate of the factory. Right at the door, a group of people were also coming out of the door.

A "successful man" in a sleek suit strides ahead, leaving behind him a crowd of workers in shabby overalls.