"Do the Germans really say that?"

Arnold held the phone, the look of surprise on his face could barely be concealed. He almost gritted his teeth, angrily said to James Duncan, the Secretary of State for European and American Affairs of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on the other end of the phone: "The Germans are not willing to bear even the fluctuation of five thousandths of a thousandth?

"Yes, the Bundesbank is very clear. Germany is now in need of a lot of capital to invest in infrastructure, and any bill to cut interest rates is unlikely to pass. German Chancellor Mahkahar Kohl even said that Britain was the one who had to be blamed for the overvaluation of the pound. ”

The Secretary of State for European and American Affairs is a powerful figure in the Outer Corner and the Commonwealth Office, and Duncan is a prominent figure in British politics, and he has never been so humiliated in the past. The dignified British Empire, put down its face and negotiated with Germany, a defeated country in World War II, with good words, and the result turned out to be such an attitude?

But the situation is stronger than people, the Soviets are playing tricks, and the Americans have clearly loosened the dog leash around Germany's neck, and the British cannot continue to put pressure on the already united Germany.

Although very angry, Britain could not do anything about this reply from Germany. What's more, what people say is right, the pound is overvalued, and that is because your British Empire will die to save face. The economic downturn still maintains a high exchange rate, and these economic policies are not formulated by the Bundesbank for the British.

"Mr. Arnold, we in the European and American Affairs Department have done our best. On the question of the exchange rate, the Prime Minister asked you to ask if we can bring the exchange rate down through our internal efforts."

"Mr. Minister, if you want to lower the exchange rate, we can do so at any time. But the problem is that we have an agreement with Germany, and the foreign exchange rate is linked. Once our exchange rate falls out of a certain range and cannot be restored, there will be a default problem, which will be a disaster for our financial market!"

"So, as long as our exchange rate falls at the same time as the exchange rate of the Deutsche Mark falls, there will be no problem, right?"

"That's right, that's a way to do it. But the Bundesbank has refused to cut interest rates, is there anything else you can do?"

"Well, we may need to do some work, the specifics are not yet clear. ”

......

"Moise, the last potatoes in the house have entered your stomach, and if there is no money tomorrow, our family will be hungry!"

"Don't worry, our shipyard has changed owners. The new boss heard that he was very rich, and he would be paid immediately. ”

Moise wiped his mouth haphazardly, his thin cheeks covered with a rough beard, and there was no sign of careful care. In fact, the last blade in Moise's house is no longer usable, and it is better to shave with it than with a kitchen knife!

Moise's wife, Wismater, also had no energy to put her husband in order, and in addition to cooking and taking care of the children, she had to take a pile of rags with her family to set up a stall on the street every day, hoping to get back one or two hundred rubles to make ends meet.

After eating the last potato in the house, Moise grabbed the clothes behind the door and walked out of the house.

The scenery in Ukraine in October is just right, and the forests and squares of previous years will be filled with joyful crowds at this time. After working in the morning, you can call friends in the afternoon. Then a fist-sized Ukrainian white pig is dressed in a large iron hammer, and the fat and lean pieces of meat are roasted until the potatoes on the skewers are covered with meat oil, and finally the whole afternoon is spent enjoying a feast of Ukrainian barbecue and vodka.

Oh my God, what a wonderful day it was!

However, all this has long been a thing of the past, and today's Moise, not to mention Ukrainian barbecue, has long since been sold.

"Moise, look at your sloppy look!"

As soon as he arrived at work, the team leader Gulick stopped Moise and handed him a bar of soap and a razor: "Go wash your face, and hang up your beard." Today, the new boss is going to hold an on-site work meeting, don't let people see you like this, that will doubt my management level!"

"It's not going to be easy, Gulick. Moise shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the soap and razor: "Oh, rhinoceros blades, where did you make your fortune?"

"What do you say, this is the daily necessities distributed in the factory today, and everyone has a share. Gulick smiled and said, "I'll give you this first, don't forget to return it to me when you get it later." ”

"Distribute supplies?" Moise shook his head wordlessly and sighed: "What kind of reform should be carried out, to the rationing system!"

"Then what's the solution?" Gulick sighed and said, "It's okay to send daily necessities, if it's rubles, I really don't know how to live this day." Today prices have tripled, and the ruble is no different from waste paper. ”

The two of them looked at each other wordlessly, and then Gulick patted Moise on the shoulder: "Go and clean up, we can have a job now, it's already very good." After a while, the on-site meeting performed a little better, and the new boss heard that he was very generous, so he might be happy and pay his salary today. ”

"I know, don't worry. ”

Moise waved his hand, turned and came out of the locker room, and walked towards the water room next to it.

After October, all work at the Nikolaev shipyard was completely stopped. The previously rumored shipbuilding order from Norway has come to naught, and the Ulyanovsk nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which had already started construction, has been dismantled by themselves.

Having lost all its working capital, the Nikolaev shipyard was on the verge of de facto bankruptcy.

For almost half a month since then, the Nikolaev shipyard has been in almost a state of "anarchy". There is no work without orders, and workers without work are a bunch of dangerous barrels of explosives.

Just when the Nikolaev shipyard was about to be cornered, a piece of gossip suddenly came out.

It seems that there is a mysterious big man who took out a considerable amount of money and bought the shipyard.

This is the Nikolaev shipyard! The Black Sea Shipyard capable of producing the Ulyanovsk!

For the workers of the shipyard, it is almost impossible to imagine that such a large shipyard will one day belong to only "one person".

But in the following series of changes, this news was gradually confirmed from the side.

For example, in the middle and senior management of the shipyard, a considerable part of the management has completely lost their positions. The rest of the management, for example, finally began to put the workers in order. Of course, the more important reason is that the factory finally sounded sporadically with the sound of machines running.

Some well-informed people privately claim that the new boss is worth hundreds of millions. Others say that the new boss has a good background. Those former management who were fired, which one didn't have some identity and background, but didn't the result still say that they would get out?

In addition, the environment in the factory has also improved a lot during this time. The middle-level cadres began to perform their duties, and there were occasional rations of daily necessities in the factory. In this way, the ranks of workers can be maintained to a greater or lesser extent.

However, the stabilization of the situation at the Nikolaev shipyard is not good news for everyone.

"Stolov, you kid hasn't been seen for a few days, why don't you pay attention to your work at all?" Gulick had just come out of the locker room when he saw another worker in the team, whistling past him.

"It's Gulik!" Stolov raised his eyebrows and smiled: "There is no job in the factory anyway, I always have to find something to support myself! Hey, Gulik, what do you think of my jeans?

"Come on, I can't appreciate this thing. Jeans are meant to be worn for work, you have holes all over here, and you're not afraid of accidents when you're working!"

"You don't understand this, do you? This is the trend, do you know the trend? My comrade!"

Storov was triumphant, touched the hole in his jeans, and said with a smile: "This pair of jeans costs me ten dollars, and it will cost me more than 20,000 yuan in rubles." Wear it out and go out without a girl at all. ”

"I think if you wear it to work, you won't have to worry about not getting a work-related injury bonus. ”

"Alright, let's go and change my clothes. Put on your work clothes, today is a big day. Gulik patted Stolov on the head, shook his head, and watched him walk into the locker room.

The slipway zero, the largest shipyard in Nikolaev, has been deserted for more than a month. However, here today, it seems to have some popularity again.

The steel beasts that have been dismantled are like sperm whales that have washed into the beach and are dying. Because of the lack of maintenance, the bare planks are rusty and mottled, and the steel and iron bones are full of branches, which has a different wasteland style.

"Ulyanovsk, it can never be finished. ”

The director of the Makarov plant and Chief Engineer Valery got out of the car and could not help but look up and silently look at the Ulyanovsk on the slipway of Zero. This Soviet dream battleship no longer has the opportunity to gallop on the sea.

"yes, we'...... It's been lost forever. Valery withdrew his gloomy gaze, and there were tears in the corners of his eyes.

"You may be telling the truth, but — it's a fact that no one else may know. You just know, do they dare to gamble?"

With two clicks, Yulia, who was wearing high heels, had already walked over from another car behind and looked at the two of them coldly. Makarov and Valery looked at each other speechlessly, nodding silently in their hearts.

Yes, even if it is known that the Ulyanovsk can no longer be completed. But "they" - needless to say who they are, both of them have a mirror in their hearts - do they dare to gamble?