It's a deal that will put Rolls-Royce at least the next decade into it, and certainly can't be decided in a single conversation at a dinner party. Even if Toombs is happy in his heart, the first thing he has to do is to convince the board of directors and the relevant government agencies, and even find a few legislators to dredge and endorse them.

As a mature British bureaucrat, Toombs has always been disciplined and unwilling to take responsibility.

The Iron Lady Thatcher was not Jim Harker, at least no Sir Humphrey could easily sway her will, so Toombs had to be more careful.

It's not been a day or two since Margaret Thatcher wants to sell Rolls-Royce, and the biggest problem is that no one wants to be this pick-up man. With losses for five consecutive years and 41,000 employees, none of them are stupid people who can catch this plate. On the contrary, as the saying goes-

The readers of The Times are the ones who really govern the country, and the readers of the Financial Times are the ones who hold the country in their hands.

Mr. Tooms usually reads The Times, but in the end he is just working for the readers of the Financial Times. If you want to have a good future, you have to send a good Rolls-Royce to those who "hold the country in their hands".

The bankers in the City of London are the real masters of the country. When they don't make a profit, they throw the enterprise to the state to take over. Only when it is profitable, will they use a little profit to "buy" the enterprise back from the state.

Mr. Tooms is not one of those readers of the Guardian who thinks he can govern the country, and he is very clear about his place.

Since it's just a "part-time job", then. First, don't do things that are beyond your responsibility. Second, you can't mess up the "boss" thing. The tricks are subtle.

Not to mention how Tumus is going to operate in order to get the board to approve the partnership with ST.

There is one problem that is the most important, that is, no one knows Hu Wenhai's real net worth before. And now that he suddenly discovers that the guest he invited is actually a billionaire, Toombs really can't sleep.

According to previous analysis, like many people, Rolls-Royce has gathered intelligence that suggests that Hu Wenhai may be a white glove for the Chinese military.

Since it's a white glove. It's the people behind him who matter, not the person himself. Rolls-Royce offers plenty of respect, but that's only because Hu Wenhai is in that position, not because of his personal worth.

But now it seems that Hu Wenhai is not a simple white glove, similar to a "simple" vest like Poly. His personal value is no less than the value of his relationship with the Chinese military, or even higher. At the very least, China's navy, land and air force, plus the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, the Science and Technology Commission, the Association for Science and Technology, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. They don't want to put together a sum of money that can be used to develop high-thrust aero engines.

But Hu Wenhai can easily take it out.

Tumbs was a little depressed about this.

Sometimes I think about it, the aero engine industry is really not good. The name of the flower of industry is good. The products are labor-intensive, laborious, and brain-consuming, with various high-risk inputs and fierce market competition. But the money earned is actually very limited. In the late 80s and 90s, the aero engine industry had a bit of a head-scratching feel. The three major aviation development enterprise giants can't even get the funds for the research and development of the next generation of aviation development on their own.

The tragic Rolls-Royce Company had to join forces with Prati-Whitney, Japan Aero Engine Company JAZC, Federal Republic of Germany MTU and Italian Fiat to form the International Aero Engine Company. It was in the way that everyone got together, and finally came up with the next-generation V2500 aero engine, and the five companies fought side by side with GE's CFM56......

The point is that General Electric has a big business, and it didn't just count on aero engines to make money. GE probably didn't miss this amount of money, and single-handedly beat the International Aero Engine Company.

The hard days of the aero engine industry are mainly due to the problem of market saturation. The European and American markets are close to saturation, and airlines are buying second-hand aircraft, and there are no plans to add new aircraft in a short period of time. Without new aircraft, there would naturally be no demand for aero engines, and it is no surprise that Rolls-Royce and Prati Whitney, who specialize in aero engines, are tragic.

The good days of the International Aero Engine Company will have to wait until 2,000 years from now. China has unleashed demand for civil aircraft, and the market for aero engines alone is estimated to be more than $120 billion by 2015.

This market is basically divided between Rolls-Royce and General Electric. More at General Electric, less with Rolls-Royce.

To say that GE's market share in China is higher than that of Rolls-Royce because of GE's good technology, Hu Wenhai does not believe it anyway.

Historically, GE entered the Chinese market faster and more smoothly than Rolls-Royce, and finally got the lion's share of 120 billion miles. If you want to say that there is no ** transaction in this, or an insider such as "no one in the world is incompatible", be careful that the core engine of Taihang Engine will cry to you.

All in all, Tumbs thinks quite thoroughly, whether Rolls-Royce eats meat or drinks soup depends on this time. The only unexplored blue ocean in the world is probably China.

China, which does not expect GDP growth to exceed 10% from time to time, should it expect India, where trains are still selling tickets?

Tumus was an authentic Englishman, but he didn't have a hobby of drinking a bowl of Ganges.

And the key points of all this are now all tied to one person - Hu Wenhai.

During the period when Tumus was promoting the Sino-British cooperation plan, it was necessary to serve this master comfortably. On the other hand, if this master is the slightest dissatisfied, and if there is any problem with this business, Mr. Tooms's future can be expected.

The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, probably didn't mind hanging him on the "Sky Flash" missile and launching it.

"Our dear Mr. Hu, what are the arrangements for today?"

The first thing Tumus did at work in the past two days. It's not reading the newspaper, it's not talking on the phone. Nor is it listening to the debriefing of subordinates. Rather, he was concerned about the plans and arrangements of the Chinese delegation, mainly those made by Comrade Hu Wenhai.

The female secretary held a notebook, flipped a few pages and said meticulously: "The Chinese plan is to visit the manufacturing plant in Derby today, and in the afternoon we will specialize in studying the test bench technology of our aero engines. ”

"What about Mr. Hu? What is his plan for today? Do you also go to study the technology of the test bench?"

The so-called aero engine test bench is the equipment for testing aero engines. In the past, aero engine testing was carried out directly on the aircraft when there was no test bench. One can imagine how dangerous this way of overlord hard bow is. The test bench is not only capable of onshore testing of engines, but also can easily simulate a variety of harsh environments and failure modes. It is safer, more efficient and more comprehensive than on-wing testing.

There are only a few sets of full-featured engine test benches in China in the future, and sometimes even several group companies are seconded to each other. Such as flight test bench, high-altitude test bench, bird-swallowing foreign body test bench, humidity immersion test bench, to build such a test system cost is huge. And the test run is not a technology that produces benefits immediately after investment, so a company without a certain background and financial strength can only look at the test bench and leave saliva.

However, if Rolls-Royce really decides to set up a joint venture with ST in China to develop a civil aviation engine based on the TF41, Hu Wenhai has promised to build the first complete set of aviation engine test benches in China.

Although the price of the test bench is a bit painful, it is not possible to build it. First learn to visit Rolls-Royce's test bench, which is also Hu Wenhai's small means to win over the two Wu Laos.

and other joint ventures were established. The localization of TF41 was completed, and the two Wu elders probably also reached retirement age. At that time, ST will be able to re-hire. Pull people to their own turbine research institute.

However, Hu Wenhai only knew that the test bench was very important for the research and development of aero engines, and the specific technical details were blind.

The secretary glanced down, and then said: "Mr. Hu will accompany him to visit the manufacturing plant in Derby in the morning, and the plan for the afternoon is to ......"

The secretary's expression seemed to be a little distorted when he said this, and he exhaled before continuing: "Uh, attend the book signing." ”

Toombs plucked out his ears, as if he didn't hear clearly, and asked again: "What are you talking about? What are you going to do in the afternoon?"

"A book signing is an event where an author sits in a bookstore and signs his book. The secretary said seriously.

......

LONDON'S LARGEST COMPREHENSIVE INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE, FOYLES, AND FOR A TIME, THE WORLD'S LARGEST BOOKSTORE.

On the entire street of Channing Cross Street, there are various bookstores that look all the way to the end. There are specialized bookstores, such as niche bookstores in painting, vagueness, politics, art, philosophy, and science and technology, as well as boutiques specializing in second-hand books and art books. ON THIS STREET, THE FOYLES BOOKSTORE, WHICH IS AT LEAST 100 YEARS OLD, IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE MOST SPECIAL AND CONSPICUOUS ONE.

Elizabeth Taylor even "stole" a copy of "Shropshire Boys" in this store, but this scene was captured by the paparazzi. Dickens is said to have sat in the bookstore and conceived A Tale of Two Cities, so much so that many of the characters in the book can be found on the Charning Cross of that era - all of which, of course, comes from the bookstore's promotional text.

But in any case, this street and this bookstore are indeed a place with a lot of history.

Hu Wenhai didn't know if he was the first Chinese to sit here to sign the sale, but seeing the curious and scrutinizing eyes of the British people in line, it was obviously a new experience for many people.

Speaking of which, Hu Wenhai himself almost forgot that he actually has the title of "writer" on his head. The pile of manuscripts that were once handed over to the American Scholars Press for publication has only released three novels so far.

Of course, the first edition of The Da Vinci Code, published last year, was almost immediately a craze throughout the English-speaking world. "American Gods" and "The Matrix" Volume 1, two science fiction novels, also sold quite well.

The Scholar Publishing House, which tasted the sweetness, made persistent efforts at Hu Wenhai's strong request. With the idea of making a big news. At the end of last year, the blockbuster "Codename Zeta", a novel about KGB, was launched.

Outcome. "Codename Zeta" is like a bamboo, and it has hit the street in the market without any suspense. This time, the American Scholar Press, which is still a new publishing house, has suffered a lot of damage, and almost all the money earned from the first three novels has been lost.

Even if Hu Wenhai suspends the payment of remuneration for the first three novels, I am afraid that the Scholar Publishing House will not be able to recover for a while.

After all, the revenue from the first edition of the three books has not been fully collected from the bookstore, and after deducting the cost, distribution and publicity expenses, the actual profit is actually not high. And the publishing house itself is a very liquidity-intensive business, if it weren't for the quality assurance of Hu Wenhai's articles. Scholars Publishing House categorically did not dare to use a book by a Chinese author as its first business.

The success of the first three times spurred the confidence of the scholar publishers, who invested a huge amount of money in promoting the book Codename Zeta.

But how could this really original Soviet KGB heroic novel by Hu Wenhai get good results in the United States in the 80s? It's like even if Jin Yong's books are sold all over the world where there are Chinese, if he writes a book that plays the leading role and sings praises for the pioneers of the invasion of China by the Special High-tech Branch or the Black Dragon Society, I am afraid that he will pounce all the way from Nantianmen to Penglai East Road without any suspense.

Fortunately, Hu Wenhai's previous three novels are not only fragrant in the wall, but also fragrant outside the wall. The United Kingdom, which is also in the English-speaking world, has an even higher acceptance of the book "The Da Vinci Code" than the United States. After all, this is a novel about the secrets of European history, and Europeans are clearly more interested than Americans.

Except for Hu Wenhai, there is a question, are the British considered Europeans?

Anyway. Britons who are able to read English are still very fond of The Da Vinci Code.

Hu Wenhai considered the game box, although it is a copycat FC. But in the end, there are still some games written by myself, and this time I also brought a batch of cassettes with the plane, and I didn't release them on the market to try the acceptance of Chinese games in the Western cultural circle. Just because the book doesn't sell well doesn't mean the game doesn't sell well. Later generations of Chinese played games, Battlefield 4 blackened China all over, shouldn't everyone still play it? No one has ever played the game and taken the things in the game seriously.

However, the crux of the matter is that the copyright of "Codename Zeta" is in the hands of the Scholar Publishing House after all, and Hu Wenhai had to call Douglas, the general manager of the publishing house.

Hearing that Hu Wenhai had arrived in London, the British agent immediately contacted the Scholar Publishing House, expressing the idea of holding a signing promotion for "The Da Vinci Code", and was even willing to pay a lot of money for the promotion.

The Scholar Publishing House, whose poor eyes were almost green, immediately came forward to contact Hu Wenhai and used the tricks of coercion and temptation.

In Hu Wenhai's heart, he felt a little guilty about Douglas, the general manager of the Scholar Publishing House, who believed in him, so he had to reluctantly agree to this request. Anyway, he couldn't help much with the research of the test bench, and the only thing he could do was to wait for the two Wu elders to calculate the cost, and then hand him over to sign the check.

There was nothing to do, and he happened to go to Channing Cross Street, which had been famous for a long time, to kill time.

After all, I heard that in order to save the decline, Scholar Press plans to publish the first volume of "Game of Thrones" next. Emi Tofu, Hu Wenhai didn't have the idea and ability to continue writing the next few parts of this book, just to atone for this book that was destined to "have no below".

"Hey, are you really the author of the Da Vinci Code? Are you from China? Do you have braids? How did you know the secrets of the Xunshan Monastery? Are they related to Freemasonry? Will you write the next one?"

A little girl who looked to have just entered high school and had freckles on her face, handed over a copy of The Da Vinci Code in her hand, and spat out a series of questions like a machine gun.

Hu Wenhai turned his head, made her look at the back of his head, and made an innocent expression: "Dear Adele, do you think I look like a person living in the nineteenth century? At least the British no longer use child labor and mercury salts in milk, right? China is also a modern society now, it's very good, even I can understand European history in China, and write a pretty good European story, right? But don't take it too seriously, it's just a novel." ”

Hu Wenhai spoke, and wrote a string of blessings to Adele on the title page without stopping, and then returned the book to the girl with a smile.

"Hey, kid, I heard your book is good, help me write a few words for my boyfriend. A tall, muscular man lined up and threw a book on the table.

Hu Wenhai reluctantly opened the cover and made a gesture of please. This kind of book buying and giving away is not a book lover, so there is no need to pick the attitude.

"Just write, uh, dear Billy, may your philosophy be recognized by more people. ”

When Hu Wenhai waved the pen and returned the book to the hands of the Han, for some reason the chrysanthemum tightened......

The signing went smoothly and smoothly, and there were no surprises. Not to mention the close protection of Qin Kai, a bodyguard from the Central/Southern/Haihai Sea, for Hu Wenhai's safety, Rolls-Royce even invited the London police to stand guard in the FOYLES bookstore, and there were plainclothes security personnel of the security company in the venue to patrol the crowd. Any suspicious character can't even appear in Hu Wenhai's gaze.

The signing time is not long, only two hours. From half past one to half past three in the afternoon, Hu Wenhai signed about two or three hundred people. He had never done this work before, but fortunately he wrote English that didn't require much pen power, otherwise his hands would not only be swollen and unbearable, but I was afraid that his wrists would be broken.

After this signing, Hu Wenhai's intention to continue to be a "writer" was completely dispelled.

Finally, at half past three, the organizer announced the end of the event, and Hu Wenhai picked up a few more books in the bookstore, and finally came out of the FLYLES bookstore.

"Mr. Hu, where are you going next?" Qin Kai was carrying a suitcase in his hand, looking left and right with some caution.

"Okay, Brother Qin, relax. Then go back to the hotel, you are always so nervous, the safety of London ......"

As far as Hu Wenhai's impression is concerned, the security in London in the 80s should have been very good, right? At this stage, Middle Eastern immigrants had not yet gained an advantage in terms of population and did not show a closed cultural atmosphere. Many Middle Eastern immigrants are "second devils" who immigrated to Britain before and after World War II, or second-generation native immigrants, and social stability is still acceptable.

What's more, Channing Cross is also a prosperous area of London, and it is not a slum in the northeast of London, and the law and order are still guaranteed.

Before Hu Wenhai finished speaking, suddenly a sharp wind whistle sounded from high to low in the sky. Then a gray shadow swept through the air of Channing Cross Street, and rushed directly into a window on the fourth floor of a small four-story building, followed by an earth-shattering explosion!

With a bang, a red flame erupted through the window. At the same time, the window panes of the entire Channing Cross Street were shattered into smithereens.

Qin Kai opened the leather bag in his hand at the first time, and an alloy shield was blocked by him, knocking Hu Wenhai to the ground.

At the same time, several security personnel also rushed out of the bookstore, several people surrounded the city, and a Rolls-Royce car sped to the door of the bookstore.

Hu Wenhai was almost "stuffed" into the car by Qin Kai, even if he closed the door, he still did not throw away the alloy steel shield in his hand, and instead observed the situation on the street back and forth.

With this explosion, Channing Cross Street was like a hornet's nest that had been alarmed, and the crowd screamed and ran around.

But not only Hu Wenhai's side, but suddenly several buildings rushed out of similar security personnel and fenced off protected people - there seem to be a lot of big people in this place.

For a while, several bulletproof cars scrambled to drive outside. In almost ten seconds, Hu Wenhai's car had already left the FOYLES bookstore without a shadow.

However, even though he seems to have been temporarily out of threat, Hu Wenhai's face is still not good-looking.

His gaze retracted from the back of the car, sat back on the back seat, glanced at Qin Kai in shock, beckoned his hand and asked in his ear in a low voice: "Brother Qin, the one that came down from the sky just now, did you see it clearly?"

Qin Kai recalled slightly, and nodded with some caution on his face.

"Mr. Hu, what do you mean?"

"Damn, we're in trouble. Hu Wenhai said with a dark face. (To be continued.) )