"We're going to work! We want to live! ”

"Oppose the government's forced closure of coal mines"

……

Outside the window was the protesting sound of a noisy marcher, while the television repeatedly showed images of workers walking out of the Manfus Building in disappointment. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoAn hour earlier, the Yorkshire coal miners had begun strike action. Soon after, miners in Scotland and Kent also began their own strike action, and a nationwide strike officially kicked off. Just down the street next to the hotel where Seryosha lives, an angry crowd is denouncing Ian McGregor, the head of the Thatcher government and the UK's National Coal Board. And the person Seryosha is desperate to meet now is none other than Ian McGregor.

Based on the information he had gained from his contacts with the British business community over the past few days, Seryosha had roughly sorted out the reasons for the strike. About a year ago, Ian McGregor, the head of British Steel, was transferred by Margaret Thatcher to the position of director of the British National Coal Commission. Mr McGregor had a successful tenure at the helm of British Steel, successfully transforming the least efficient British Steel into the most efficient steel company in the UK, and almost turning a profit. The reform came at the cost of cutting half of the steelworkers in two years. Mr. MacGregor's transfer to the post of director of the National Coal Service did not make life easy for the workers, and he immediately threw out a reform plan to close 23 coal mines, which involved 20,000 jobs for coal miners in Britain, and the coal miners, of course, would not accede to the government's demands, and they broke out into serious clashes with MacGregor under the leadership of Arthur Scargill, president of the miners' union.

Interestingly, just two years ago, coal miners had supported the steelworkers' strike, but this time the National Miners' Union did not support the British trade union congress, because the impact of the coal industry on the economy was so great that the steelworkers' associations opposed the strike, and the trade unions in the electronics and electrical and plumbing industries did not support it, only the railway workers and dock workers supported the coal miners' strike. But because of the importance of coal in British industry, the National Union of Mineers is arguably the most powerful trade union in the country, and even without the support of the British Trade Union Congress, they can still independently launch strike action that affects the country's economic development.

Seryosha looked at the time, and it was almost time to leave. He was going to make a trip to the British Banking Association, and during this time, Seryosha sold large quantities of Soviet coal to British Steel and the British National Power Company through his banking connections, gradually gaining the trust of the two British state-owned enterprises. With their matchmaking, Seryosha contacted Ian McGregor through British Steel's connections. He hopes to establish a direct partnership with McGrady's National Coal Board to help the Soviet Union gain a larger share of the British market.

Now the streets are so crowded with parades that cars can't move at all. Seryosha could only walk to the location of the Financial City Banking Association. After about fifteen minutes, Seryosha arrived as promised. The guild staff, who had been waiting for him for a long time, led him to an office on the second floor, and Belford of the Royal Bank of Scotland hurriedly got up to greet him, and the two chatted for a while about a few minutes before there was a knock on the door outside. Seryosha and Belford got up at the same time, and it was none other than Mr. McGregor who came in, and the TV was full of McGregor's pictures these days, and it was difficult to know him or not.

"Hello, Mr. McGregor, this is Mr. Ulyanov!" Belford introduced Seryosha.

"I'm sorry, I've had some trouble there lately, so I'm going to have to avoid those when I come out...... Reporter, so there was a little delay on the way! McGregor said apologetically for being late.

"Please don't worry about that, okay, I'll leave it to you two gentlemen, I'll go out first, you can call me at any time if you need anything, I'm just outside the door!" After shaking hands with the two, Belford turned to leave, leaving the office for Seryosha and McGregor to continue communicating.

Seryosha shook hands with McGregor, and the two sat down. McGregor began by saying: "I've heard from former British Steel colleagues that you want to sign a long-term supply contract with our National Coal Board. Truth be told, in the current situation, we welcome a powerful international businessman like you. However, as you know, we are a state-owned enterprise with a government nature, and we have the responsibility to stabilize the domestic coal price, so if you sell us raw coal, it is better to go directly to those end-consumer companies, and our purchase price is much lower than theirs! ”

"Thank you for your honesty, Mr. McGregor! In fact, I came to the UK this time, not just for the coal business, but on behalf of the Soviet Union and your country to negotiate on energy cooperation, in addition to coal and natural gas! Seryosha said straight to the point.

"Soviet Union!" McGregor was surprised and almost jumped out of his chair, he never expected Seryosha to come on behalf of the Soviet government, and he thought that Seryosha was some Russian from the United States. McGregor suddenly scolded: "Could it be that you Soviets are behind this strike?" ”

"Calm down, Mr. McGregor! On the contrary, we are here for friendship and cooperation with your government. We are willing to expand our coal trade with your country during this period of workers' strikes and make up for the gap in your country's energy supply during this period! Of course, we also have some of our interests, but you can rest assured that these things need to be taken into account by the government, and we in the USSR and the State Coal Agency only have business dealings! Seryosha had a smile on his face, patiently and meticulously dispelling the other party's concerns.

"I'm sorry, I'm just the person in charge of the State Coal Bureau, and I can't help you with business accidents!" McGregor said with some vigilance.

"All right, Mr. McGregor! Then I'll get straight to the point, and I hope you can arrange an interview with Prime Minister Thatcher for me, and you won't have to worry about the rest. If you agree, we will continue to discuss the coal supply business, and if you don't agree, it will be treated as if there is no such thing, and I will return to China today! Seryosha said at the end, his tone somewhat threatening to the taste in it. He took out a contract from his briefcase and put it in front of McGregor, the price on it was much lower than the price in the British spot market, and the National Coal Bureau would definitely make a lot of money as long as it handled it, of course, the bulk of it was still earned by Glencore and the Soviet government. After all, the cost of labor and exploitation in the USSR was too low.

McGregor looked at Seryosha while looking at the contract, and after a long time, he stretched out his hand and said, "I hope we have a good cooperation!" ”

Seryosha hurriedly grabbed the other party's hand and said excitedly: "Happy cooperation"