In Ireland in late March, the air is humid and rainy. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoNatsuki stayed in the Limerick Palace almost all day, reading books and drinking tea, entertaining friends, and spending a short leisure time very comfortably.

The so-called leisure is, in fact, relatively speaking, it saves the suffering of traveling and traveling, and cannot be separated from various affairs of domestic and foreign affairs, as well as military construction. Recently, Ford's bid to buy Limerick Vehicles has not only attracted a lot of discussion in Ireland, but also in the international community. Whether or not this delicate economic matter can be properly handled has become a great opportunity for the outside world to evaluate the ability of Ireland's top level to govern the country.

Founded in 1903 by Henry Ford, a legend of American industry, and 11 investors, the Ford Motor Company was founded with an initial capital of only $28,000, but in just a few years, it became the largest automobile company in the United States, and the reason for this is that Henry Ford's philosophy of "bringing cars into the ordinary home" and the great success of the Ford Model T brought about a great change. In its first year of production, more than 10,000 units of the inexpensive, easy-to-operate, and rugged Ford Model T were produced, setting a record for the automotive industry. In 1913, Ford established the world's first automobile assembly line, that is, on the basis of standardization, mass production, and mechanization and automation of all operations, this advanced production method brought it a great market advantage.

While drastically reducing the cost of automobiles, Henry Ford also consciously nurtured consumers of automobiles by drastically raising workers' wages. In 1914, Ford introduced a $5 a day wage system. This remuneration was twice the normal wage of skilled workers at the time. Under this remuneration, ordinary workers who make cars are also able to become car owners.

Negotiations between the Irish government, Limerick Vehicles and Ford Motor Company were slowly progressing between the Irish government, Limerick Vehicles and Ford Motor Company, and the Irish Minister of Industry, Kraj Bowen, reported to Natsuki on the progress of the negotiations on a daily basis and dealt with the US side as instructed by him. Now that the negotiations have agreed on a number of basic issues, and the last few key points are yet to be decided, Natsuki finally arranged to meet with representatives of Ford Motor Company in his office......

"Hello, Mr. Ford. I have heard of Lingzun's name for a long time, but unfortunately I have never met. ”

The young man with a young face but generous demeanor in front of Natsuki is 22-year-old Azel Ford, the only son of Henry Ford and the future president of Ford. Under the cultivation of Ford Sr., he entered the business world early, and now has held middle and high-level positions in Ford Motor Company, and this time he led a group of more than 30 people, including the company's technical director, to Ireland across the ocean.

After shaking hands with Natsuki, little Ford said with a respectful expression: "Your Majesty is one of the few people that my father and myself admire the most. In the Battle of Jutland, His Majesty first collided with the British ship on the flagship 'Frederick the Great', and then transferred to the 'King', and in the next few naval battles, His Majesty has been on the 'King', I remember correctly, right? ”

"Ho, it seems that Your Excellency is very interested in naval warfare! I thought the Ford family was only concerned with cars! Natsuki quipped.

"A car is a job, a hobby is a life." Little Ford said with a punch.

Natsuki smiled slightly, in the eyes of future generations, the humorous and lively character embodied in Little Ford is a very practical communication ability, but Prime Minister Hordes and Industry Secretary Bowen obviously don't like this style, and feel that the other party is flamboyant, even inexplicable, which also creates some subjective obstacles to the negotiation of the acquisition of shares.

After more than a week of negotiations, the new price code offered in the United States is $1 million for a production license for the popular T-12 model in the Model T series, plus $2 million in cash, for a total of $3 million to acquire a 49% stake in Limerick Vehicles. The Irish industrial company, which produces frames and parts and assembles vehicles, is jointly funded by the Irish government and private sector with an initial capital of 15 million marks, equivalent to $3.57 million, and its profitability is close to zero in the first year of operation.

In this case, Ford's offer of twice its share capital looks quite generous.

The essence of a businessman who is not profitable is well known to the world. Ford's Model T not only firmly dominates the U.S. car market, but also makes a big push into Europe, and has achieved quite amazing results.

Limerick Vehicles is the Irish military's appointed supplier of vehicle components for the vehicle's control systems and transmissions, and has purchased a license from Daimler AG in Germany for the production of three gasoline engines and one diesel engine, and the engine production line will be up and running in the near future. In addition, the first tank developed and manufactured by the Irish military, the I-15, nicknamed the "Puppies", was technically designed in the fall of 1915 and is currently in the prototype stage.

In today's international arms market, the German-made light tank Hubert-13 is almost readily available, not only the United States, but even Britain, France and Russia have started a lot, but these vehicles delivered to Austria, Turkey and other allied countries under the banner of aid are inferior to the original, and Hubert-13 itself belongs to the pathfinder in the field of tanks, it was very eye-catching when it first appeared on the battlefield, and gradually exposed various deficiencies, and in the later stage of the war, the heavy responsibility of charging for the German army has fallen on the Hubert-14 with stronger armored defense, However, the Hubert-14 and its successors were classified as classified equipment by the German military, and even allied countries could not obtain them.

Whether or not Ford Motor Company was entrusted by the U.S. military to go straight to this "convenience", Natsuki cannot make an absolute judgment without evidence, and the deployment of Irish intelligence services overseas, especially in the United States, is still very weak, and it is almost impossible to provide valuable information, but it is certain that once Ford Motor becomes the majority shareholder of Limerick Vehicle Company, the technology involved in this Irish company with an official background will be equivalent to being openly shared with the Americans. From this point of view, it seems that Ireland should not covet the funds and technology of the Americans to cooperate with it, and the German side has also expressed this view euphemistically through diplomatic channels, but the positive significance of the Ford Model T to the development of the Irish automobile industry and social development is so significant, when he learned of the intention of the American side, Natsuki thought of the mustachioed Führer of the old time and space, and thought of his highway and family car. Nowadays, Ireland is using German aid and loans to build infrastructure on a large scale, solve employment with domestic demand, and create a seemingly beautiful economic miracle with the strategy of deformed development, so as to win the hearts of the people and win the broad support of all strata, and the negative effect of this approach is very prominent - infrastructure itself does not produce a lot of economic benefits, and when the loan matures, the government can only borrow new to repay the old, or fall into a debt crisis, or seek a solution by war speculation.

For the consequences of all this, Natsuki has already made a full consideration, with the current strength of Ireland, it is difficult to win the foreign expedition alone, and before the new war opportunity comes, it is necessary to find a breakthrough in economic and trade. Permission to exploit oil in Bahrain is one of Natsuki's cards - Bahrain is rich in oil resources, and there is no difficulty in extracting it, and the Irish government has already sent an exploration team and purchased a full set of equipment for oil extraction, transportation and refining in advance. Now that the first oil fields have been discovered and will soon be ready for commercial exploitation, over time, Ireland will be able to produce oil not only for domestic needs, but also for export, which is one of the important ways to maintain government spending and gradually repay loans. If Ford's capital, technology and mature mechanical assembly line production methods can be introduced, its economic, social and military potential value is no less than another Bahrain!

Although he had already made up his mind, during the meeting with little Ford, Natsuki still pretended to be curious and asked why the other party would think of investing such a large amount of money in Ireland.

"Because the changes that are taking place in Ireland are very similar to the trajectory of Ford Motor Company over the years, we have all done wonders without being overlooked." Little Ford gave a very crowned answer.

"To tell you the truth, the Limerick Vehicle Company is one of Ireland's important strategic projects, according to our development plan, it is not only Ireland's main civilian car producer, but also the main manufacturer of military vehicles, and will also provide important parts including engines for aircraft manufacturing, its future scale will be comparable to Daimler-Benz super-large conglomerate, it is said that such an enterprise is not suitable for cooperation with foreign companies, but there is no way, the charm of the Ford Model T is too great, We can almost imagine the Irish-made Model T driving in every town and every road, and the standard of living of the Irish people will be greatly improved by this car. ”

Hearing what Natsuki said, little Ford happily pandered: "All this is becoming a reality in the United States, and I believe that in the near future, it will also come true in Ireland." ”

"After much deliberation, the Cabinet and I believe that Ford's takeover proposal should be accepted and that Ford should be allowed to acquire about 45% of Limerick Vehicles for no less than $4 million. Of course, if our decision is strongly influenced by diplomacy, it is possible to change the original intention, so ...... If Ford is willing to accept a deal with repudiation, we can move on to all the remaining details of the big deal. ”

According to Natsuki, the premium for the acquisition of the stake is much higher than the price offered by Ford, and if the US side is not interested in purely economic prospects but in the military technology mastered by the Irish, it should make this concession.

(End of chapter)