Mediterranean hegemon

Just when Contini and Francisco were discussing future work arrangements, the 4.4 billion order had obviously become a focus of Wall Street's attention, and Mellon was the person who connected these focuses.

"I heard that you were scolded by Hoover during the meeting?" someone asked maliciously.

"It's nothing. He also apologized to me. Who doesn't always say something unjustly? I also forgive him." Mellon shrugged and said nonchalantly. In fact, he was very concerned about this matter. Especially since the news has spread throughout the tycoon circle, this makes him feel a little embarrassed, but if he loses face again, the matter ends here. We are all adults, so why worry about this?

"How's the deal with the United Group's orders going?"

"The president personally went to talk once, and the answer he got was the same as the information we got. Little Ciano still wanted the things, but the price was very low..." Mellon said in an unhappy tone, "Hoover has reduced the overall price to 40% off, but the other party still didn't let go. He just said he would think about it again."

"This little bastard!" Several people were itching their teeth with hatred, while a few others were thoughtful.

"So, how many folds does it take for him to be satisfied?"

"Hoover didn't say, I guess the gap is very big, at most 45% off..." After all, Jiang is old and spicy. Mellon's estimate is very close to the truth. Contini plans to use a price of about 1.8 billion (including 500 million). The deposit that has been paid) to take this batch of 4.4 billion orders, it is basically a 4.1% discount price.

"This is impossible! I'm not crazy yet!"

Morgan smiled and said: "Little Ciano must have made a lot of money, right? He took away at least 1 billion from the 1.5 billion convertible bonds alone. He also made a lot from other short positions. Why are you so stingy?"

"He is buying old equipment." Mellon sighed. "Since the stock market crash, 50,000 companies across the country have submitted bankruptcy applications, and more than 20,000 companies have been debt collection by banks and are actually bankrupt. But in fact, Not even 10% of them have been liquidated. There is a large backlog of equipment, factories, raw materials and semi-finished products. Ciano Jr. bought a large amount of them. The documented amount alone has reached more than 200 million US dollars.

In addition, United Bank also spent more than 100 million to carry out banking mergers and acquisitions and asset restructuring - as you all know, those bankruptcy cases have little value except for some claims and debt-repaired assets. I expect there will be a lot of meaning here. A number of companies were controlled by him. Of course he doesn't want the company, he only wants these real things, and he will ship them back to China after the liquidation is completed. Oh, by the way, he also bought more than 20 second-hand freighters and oil tankers at ridiculously cheap prices. It’s a pity that no one else wants such cheap things..."

"Everyone is short of money, and even those who are not short of money are not short of things..." Morgan sighed, "Those high-end furniture and high-end cars bought in the good days are all being disposed of at a low price. The cost of more than 1,000 US dollars only costs more than 100 US dollars." You can take it away, it makes me feel bad to see it! But what can I do? The stock market is over, life has to go on, and the high-end villas bought by many people have fallen into negative equity. If you lose your job again or the company goes bankrupt, there is no choice but to jump off the building. The second way. As the old saying goes, assets are only called assets when they can be realized. If no one takes over, they are a burden. "

"Weren't there contacts from the Russians? Either they?"

"The price they offer is a little more generous than Ciano's, about 50% to 55% off, but you know, the Russians are poor people, they can't afford US dollars, they don't even have a place to borrow!" someone laughed. , "They also want us to give them loans or accept Russian goods...what a hell!"

Someone joked: "How much caviar must Mr. Stalin export to get equipment back?"

"Who knows, it won't be enough to take out all the Russian fish anyway!" Morgan sarcastically said, "They asked for this. Who told them to pay off all their debts to the French? Otherwise, how could they not find anyone now? Loan? If I hadn’t defaulted on the loan, even if I had to pay back a third or a quarter, I wouldn’t be in this situation now!”

This is not a fabrication. The debt problem was a major obstacle to the normalization of relations between the Soviet Union and the great powers. In the end, the Soviet Union defaulted on all debts. Of course, the biggest loss was Russia's traditional ally France. This is why France has not been able to recover after World War I. At the peak, apart from the losses on the battlefield, it was also related to this huge sum of money that was wasted. Although the debt had been canceled, the Soviet Union's national credit was also bankrupt and it could not enter the international financial market to borrow money. There was only one way to obtain foreign exchange, which was to use hard currency and commodity export transactions.

The Soviet Union had a pretty good life in the past few years. Because of the United Group as a major customer, their coal, crude oil, other minerals and agricultural products were turned into accounting currency, and then this accounting currency was used to pass through the United Group. In exchange for much-needed industrial equipment and technology, they even obtained the Caracciolo-class blueprints and the patent for the 381mm drug cannon.

The unit of account is a special international currency jointly invented by Contini and Bukharin. It is equivalent to the US dollar. You can purchase goods priced in lira according to the lira to US dollar price on the trading day, but if you want to exchange it for real US dollars or other foreign exchange Currency - such as pounds, francs, etc., Italy charges a 5% handling fee.

At the beginning, the Soviet Union did not dare to hold too much accounting currency. Once it got it, it would go to Italy for large purchases or could not wait to convert it into US dollars or pounds to go to other countries for purchases. Later, it was found that the Union Bank could always cash it out in time. In addition, the same thing was cheaper to buy through the United Group than to buy it directly in US dollars in the United States, so the motivation for replacement was insufficient.

This accounting currency is used for bulk imports and exports because it is convenient and does not have to bear the crime of 5% loss of state-owned assets. In addition, Italy is quite good at dealing with people. Every year, comrades from the relevant trade and military departments of the Soviet Union are invited to visit Italy and the Mediterranean (of course, it is actually a public travel plus gifts). Why not? As for why it is cheaper to use accounting units, it is because Contini purchases in bulk, plus there is 5% room for maneuver. It is definitely cheaper than the Soviets buying alone.

One of the charges for overthrowing Bukharin is collusion with foreign capitalists and accepting improper gifts. In fact, this is selective law enforcement. Who has not received such gifts? Comrade Bukharin only took a few Swiss watches and women's pajamas, and they were registered with the diplomatic department. Many comrades have received New York local specialties. Even if they don't accept them, they can't do it. Other superiors and colleagues are accepting them. Do you want to be special? Can you still maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee?

There were some twists and turns in this process. For example, Soviet crude oil was exported in large quantities at the beginning. Later, after the United Group produced a large amount of oil in North Africa, the Soviet Baku crude oil was not easy to sell. However, Comrade Stalin found other ways at this time, accelerating collectivization, increasing grain exports, and then introducing crude oil refining equipment for local digestion. This way, the hole was plugged. Comrade Bukharin opposed this one.

As for caviar, although it is the most prestigious export material of the Soviet Union, the money it gets in exchange is actually pitiful-how many people can afford caviar? Now that the stock market crash has occurred, the number of people who can afford it has to be reduced by at least half, so it is absolutely impossible to rely on caviar. Using caviar to exchange equipment is obviously a joke on Wall Street.

"Didn't they have a lot of money before?" Mellon asked, "I remember that a lot of our equipment ended up in the hands of the Russians."

"That was in the past. Now the situation has changed. The good days of the Russians are coming to an end..." Rockefeller sighed, "Even the good days in the past were related to the United Group. It seems that we can't get around the United Group..."