As John expected, the other four had little interest in taking over the Foundation from Frederick Sr. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 InfoExcept for John, a "newcomer", others have heard more or less about the state of the Foundation over the years. During the First World War, he was tricked by a group of French loan sharks to lend a large sum of money to the Russian royal family at the time. As a result, with the sound of the October Revolution, Nicholas II was killed, and this huge investment was completely wasted. In order to recoup the losses, the third uncle later financed Denikin's White Russian rebels in an attempt to overthrow the nascent Bolshevik regime, but once again lost all his money. After these two tosses, coupled with the tragic death of the third uncle in 1920, the Foundation has been in a state of collapse ever since. Frederick Sr. has worked hard to keep the Foundation from going bankrupt over the years.

As for the "chicken ribs" of the foundation, the opinions of the other four people are to let John, the youngest and most powerful, take over. John didn't want to say yes so quickly, after all, FedEx was just getting started, and although the European market is important for the company's future development, it is far from that far. His immediate priority is to seize and stabilize the North American market, and he does not have so much time to go to Europe to clean up the mess. However, when he saw the list of Foundation assets that Frederick Sr. had brought out, he immediately changed his mind. Because he saw the name of the Swambold Steamboat Company in the list. I thought it was a chicken rib or a hot potato, but I didn't expect a big easter egg hidden in it.

The Swambrough Steamship Company was the predecessor of the Maersk Group, the famous leader of the maritime industry. There is not a single person in the logistics industry who does not know its legend about this maritime overlord. After all, in an extremely high-risk industry like shipping, it's a miracle to be able to maintain a profitable streak for 105 years. The founder of this legendary company, Arnold Peter Müller, came from a family of Nordic seafarers, who were either pirates or whaling captains for generations. In 1904, Müller and his son bought a second-hand steam cargo ship with a deadweight of 2,200 tons and founded the "Swinburg Steamship Company" in their hometown of Svenburg Anna Village, which began a legend in the maritime world. More than 100 years later, the small company has grown into the Maersk Group, which is involved in container transportation, logistics, terminal operations, oil and gas extraction, and many other sectors. Maersk Line, a subsidiary of the Group, is the world's largest container carrier, with operations in 145 countries around the world, with more than 500 container ships and more than 1.5 million containers, accounting for 17% of the global container shipping market. At its peak, the company accounted for half of Denmark's GDP and is one of the country's most famous symbols.

According to Frederick's list, the Swambold Steamship Company is still a medium-sized enterprise with only 11 freighters and 5 tankers, mainly engaged in shipping from the East Coast of the United States to the Nordic region. The Vanderbilt family originally owned the company with a 17 percent stake in a shipyard in Norway. In the memory of John's previous life, Maersk's take-off began in World War II. After Denmark was occupied by Germany in 1941, Maersk's fleet in the United States was taken over by the U.S. Navy. During the war, Maersk lost more than half of its cargo ships on the dangerous Nordic routes. After the war, the Muellers not only miraculously recaptured the surviving ships from the hands of the US Navy, but also received the corresponding royalties and depreciation. What's more, as compensation, they also received a large annual transportation contract from the U.S. government. You must know that Denmark was occupied by the German Nazis at that time, and Maersk's ships were strictly enemy assets and could be requisitioned without compensation. Later generations have always wondered why the U.S. government loves Maersk so much, and now it seems that there must be a shadow of the Vanderbilt family behind this.

Although taking over the Foundation will inevitably greatly involve Han's energy and increase the difficulty of his work, there is no reason not to eat the fat that is sent to his mouth. John gritted his teeth and promised Frytrick Sr. that he would go to Europe to complete the handover of the Foundation by July next year at the latest. Anyway, in just over a year, war will break out in Europe. At that time, it is estimated that the other industries on the list will not be able to be saved, and there is no need to spend more time on them, as long as the Muller family's shipping company and FedEx are firmly tied together. Even John had already begun to wonder if by 1941 he would simply take the opportunity to eat the Swambrough Steamboat Company. I believe that the US government must have supported it at that time, after all, it was better for such an important maritime force to fall into the hands of its own people during the war. And with the military coming out to be the villain for him, John can also reduce a little moral pressure. Although, John did not see anything immoral about this kind of "forcible seizure" of other people's property.

By the time John returned to the room Frederick had arranged for his family, little Ella was asleep, and Adele was leaning against the bedside reading a book while waiting for him. John took out the Snow White dress hidden in the suitcase, quietly stuffed it into the big Christmas stocking hanging from Ella's bedside, and put the Chanel perfume in his wife's hand.

"Merry Christmas, dear!"

"Merry Christmas!" Adele took the gift, happily put her arms around John's neck, and kissed him. "It's yours, dear." With that, she pulled out a delicate little box from under her pillow, which contained a Breguet pocket watch.

"It's beautiful!" John was playing with his pocket watch and asked Adele, "Would you like to go to the sea tomorrow to watch the sunset?" ”

"Well, the sunset here is so beautiful, it's a shame I didn't bring the painting tools." Adele suddenly remembered something, "During our evening walk, we met Mrs. Hemingway next door, and Ella was very fond of her six-toed cat. She invited us to go for afternoon tea tomorrow. ”

John knew that Adele was talking about Palin Fauff, the second wife of the famous writer Ernest Hemingway. At this time, Hemingway should have been on the front lines of the Spanish Civil War as a war correspondent, and he later used this as a backdrop to write his famous anti-fascist novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls". In John's previous life, the house next door had been converted into a museum as Hemingway's former home, and he had visited it specifically. There is a large group of cats living in it, all of whom are said to be descendants of the six-toed cat that Ella likes. The cat was a gift from a captain to Hemingway because it had six toes. Considered a mascot that brings good luck, Hemingway gave it the name Snowball.

Interestingly, the descendants of this cat eventually became the owner of the house. In his will, Hemingway made arrangements for these cats: "The cats are the owners of this courtyard, and they can enjoy everything here." But in 2003, the USDA demanded that the cats be kept in cages on the grounds that they were exhibits in the former home, or a fine of $200 per cat per day. For this reason, the house manager fought a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for four years. It wasn't until 2007 that the Keywest City Council changed the local rules to explicitly give the cats the status of legal occupants.

"Okay, do you need any gifts? It's Christmas, after all. John was very fond of Hemingway's cats in his previous life, and he took a lot of pictures of these cats when he went to visit. Although they all have a "shovel officer, don't disturb me basking in the sun" expression, it would be nice to have a chance to meet the ancestors of those tsundere cats now.

"I'll be ready, you can wash up, and you will go to church tomorrow morning." Adele urged with a yawn.

After a brief wash, the two went to bed. The day's work was hard enough, and Adele snuggled up in John's arms and soon fell asleep. Looking at his wife's peaceful sleeping face on his chest and sniffing her faintly scented breath, John suddenly had a good idea in his heart. I have too little time to spend with my family during this time, and when I go to Europe to take over the foundation in the next year, I will bring their mother and daughter with me by the way, and it will be like a family trip abroad. The third World Cup seems to be held in France in June next year, and you can take Adele back to her French hometown to see it. War is about to break out in Europe, and it will be many years before I miss this opportunity to travel to Europe.

So decided! John thought he had a good idea, and he was a little excited. What chance to tell him about this surprise? He designed various romantic scenes in his mind, and gradually fell asleep.

On Christmas Eve 1937, when John first conceived his family's plans for a trip to Europe in the queen bed of his Key West villa, he had no idea what would await him on the other side of the Atlantic.