He glanced at the other secretaries in the conference room who were organizing documents or taking notes. Among them was a female secretary, Zhang Xin from China. When she saw Alan looking at her, she opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

"What else do you want?"

Alan usually only meets his small team of secretaries on a limited basis. Some things are not arranged directly by Alan, but most of them are relayed to them by Hut or Xiao Shitou. They usually do not come to the new castle very often, but work in the old castle.

Now seeing that the secretary obviously wanted to say something, Alan asked her before leaving.

"boss……"

Zhang Xin was about to speak, but then he looked at his colleagues around him, thought for a moment, stood up, walked to Allen, and said softly, "Boss, I have some personal matters. Can I talk to you in private?"

"Um?"

Allen glanced at Zhang Xin. This female secretary had left a deep impression on her. She was very capable and responsible. Her only shortcoming was that she looked down on the place where she came from.

If it weren't for this thought, he wouldn't have tossed and turned to leave home, go to Hong Kong, and finally arrive in Britain after such a bumpy journey.

But this shortcoming... isn't too important in Allen's opinion. If he had such a person in his previous life, he would have been a sheepdog. But now he is a foreigner, and having more sheepdogs like him would be helpful to his career. It all depends on how he uses her.

"I'm going to talk to Thomas about some work first. You can come to my study after we're done."

"yes!"

Alan gave instructions and motioned to Thomas to follow him to the study first.

…

In the study, Alan asked the servants to set out tea and snacks. After they left, he asked sincerely, "Thomas, among the company information I just asked you to collect, if I want to acquire some of these companies, how much money do I need to prepare?"

"Master, what do you mean? All of them?"

Thomas was a little confused for a moment.

"Well... part of it, let's roughly estimate based on railways, roads, ports, and electricity."

In Allen's opinion, no matter how capable he is, he does not have the ability or financial resources to swallow up all the state-owned enterprises in Wales. The size of this enterprise is beyond his ability to bear. If he forcibly swallows it, he may end up being choked to death.

"hiss……"

Listening to Alan's instructions, even though Thomas had seen the world, he couldn't help but gasp.

No one would ask him these questions for no reason, especially since it was Alan who asked him such questions. The lion asked his fellow villager, "How much do you weigh?" What does this mean? Do you need to think about it?

The lion is hungry!

…

"Well... just take the railway as an example. If we only count the section from the southern region to Cardiff, it would cost at least hundreds of millions of pounds. The same is true for roads. Moreover... because the roads were built relatively recently and the facilities are very new, the price may be even higher."

Thomas had a picture of the transportation topography of Wales.

The whole of Wales may not seem large, but the north and south are severely divided.

Take the south for example, there are dozens of counties densely distributed there, and the economic center is in the capital Cardiff.

From a topographical point of view, it is a narrow strip of land distributed from west to east along the coastline.

In some of the wider areas in the middle, the population density is extremely low. Most of the areas are wilderness, woods, abandoned castles, ancient battlefields, swamps, mountains, etc. In short, they are sparsely populated.

In the north, it is almost the same, but there is basically no economic center in the north. It is just like the surrounding big cities, like the suburbs of neighboring cities such as Liverpool and Manchester. It is... a place in the middle of nowhere, a place where no one loves you.

It’s probably because it’s too close to Ireland across the sea, there are many immigrants, and the overall atmosphere, culture, and economic conditions are not good.

In addition, there was not even a complete railway around Wales before. Although Wales was a whole, people's impression of Wales generally referred to only the long area in southern Wales. Other places... there was not much contact between the two sides, so it could only be said to be a whole in name.

Because there are so few people living in the middle area of ​​Wales,... in a specific social environment, a lot of infrastructure is not that complete.

For example, in the past few years, the railways between the north and south of Wales were not connected because the cost was too high and the revenue ratio was too low, so there was no need.

Until modern times, even when building highways, the whole of Wales would first build highways in the south.

For example, the section of highway from the northernmost town to Cardiff, or to the banks of the Severn River east of Cardiff, is the most frequently used and is also the highest level and best built road in Wales.

This is why Alan complained about road problems before.

This so-called highway, as seen on the map, is generally a flat W shape.

The W is made up of two Vs.

The V on the left is a highway connecting the towns in the coastal area of ​​western Wales, and ends in Carmarthen in mid Wales.

Because Carmarthen is considered to be "deep inland" compared to several other counties, the highway turns a lot inward.

The V on the right that forms the W starts from the town of Carmarthen, then goes straight to the coast, along several coastal counties, passing Cardiff, and connecting to England's transportation network.

This is the general situation of the entire road distribution.

As for why the town of Carmarthen was mixed in, causing the highway that could have been built along the coast to turn inland... this can only be understood but not explained.

Could building a highway in Wales separate the Hill family?

When the road was being built, this section of expressway several dozen kilometers long was added so that the Hill family would have a good road in front of their doorstep for easy travel. Of course... there were also some strategic needs, which everyone understands.

However, this means that every time I go to London from home, I can't take a straight line. If I want to take the highway, I have to walk dozens of kilometers in a circle. There are many mountain roads in the straight line, and it is quite bumpy.

…

Now if Allen wants to take over the operating rights of these railways and highways, the cost will be...

Thomas felt a little desperate just thinking about it. This was a truly asset-intensive industry with slow returns and huge capital requirements.

"Master, if we consider railways, highways, and ports, and we only count the Port of Cardiff, the total cost of these three would be at least several billion pounds... As for the others..."

Thomas and Allen looked at each other, and the latter didn't know whether he should say it or not.

…

“…”

Although he knew that this thing would cost money, when it came to estimating the approximate amount, Alan felt a little scalp-tingling.

If he wants to have his fill this time, doesn't that mean he'll have a shortfall of at least several billion pounds?

So much money... All the money he has earned over the years, by scraping together and cheating, shouldn't be this much, right?

Now he is asked to suddenly take out so much money, even if... he sells William and Harry together, it is not worth the money, right?

…

Alan waved his hand to signal Thomas to have some tea, but he scratched his head and felt a little worried.

Money...he won't be able to get rich quickly in a short period of time.

We can only turn our attention to banks.

loan?

When this word came into Allen's mind, he was actually a little resistant.

Ever since he first ascended the throne, people from the bank had come to his doorstep to collect debts. Whenever he thought of the predicament he had faced at that time, he didn't want to owe the bank even a penny.

But now it seems that he has no choice but to take out a loan. With such a large sum of money, even if Alan borrows from someone, who can come up with so much money?

Check the boss?

Forget it, let’s just take out a loan…

…

"Master...you asked us to collect this information. Do you intend to take over these companies?"

Thomas looked at Alan's frowning face, put down his teacup and asked bravely.

"There is an intention in this regard, but it is just an intention now. The funding gap is too big."

Alan had nothing to hide about Thomas. Whether it was contacting those people from the Welsh state-owned enterprises or negotiating the price, Thomas would be needed.

"Well... Master, do you mean you want to take out a loan?"

There were only so many options available, and considering the amount of money involved, Thomas couldn't think of anything else to do except take out a loan.

"Um... no! I don't take out loans!"

Alan suddenly realized that money doesn't necessarily have to rely on loans...

The loan must be repaid!

He wants to take out the loan and never pay it back!

In this case, what should we do?

Alan suddenly had an idea in his mind, such as... coming up with a clever excuse!

…

Now it is still uncertain whether the proposed compensation plan can be passed. Alan just smelled something from the fact that the old guy could come up with such a plan.

For example... state-owned enterprises are also failing because of the current environment. Otherwise, if they are operating well, it will be exponentially more difficult to get benefits from those politicians in this situation.

Now that they dare to propose such a compensation plan, it is highly likely that this plan is feasible, and state-owned enterprises are expected to be privatized on a large scale, which will also bring in a wave of fiscal revenue.

In this case, outsiders don’t know whether Allen can operate the state-owned enterprises in the entire Welsh region under another name?

For example, without waiting for their compensation plan, you go it alone?

if……

If he could come up with a plan, under the euphemism of leading the Welsh economy to recovery, then under the guidance of this plan, as a prominent noble in Wales, wouldn't Lord Allen have reason to lead the Welsh economy to recover?

…

"Thomas, I remember Shakespeare once said that with great power comes great responsibility. As the greatest noble in Wales, with the current bad economic environment, do I have the ability or need to step forward and lead Wales to revitalize its economy within my capabilities?"

Thomas saw Alan suddenly looking at him seriously and asked this question again.

He... couldn't keep up with Alan's rhythm for a moment, and his mind was still thinking about what Alan said. When did Shakespeare say that the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility?

Looking into Alan's eyes, Thomas really wanted to say that it would be the same with or without you, and in fact, with your participation, the situation might even get a little worse, but... in front of Alan, he didn't dare to say such words truthfully.

"Master... you are indeed capable... Wales cannot do without you... So what do you mean?"

"Humph... Since Wales' economy is not doing well right now, and those state-owned enterprises are not doing well either, why not transfer it to me... I'll run it. If the benefits are good, everyone will benefit. If the benefits are not good... everything has risks."

"Transfer...transfer it to you for management?"

Thomas was slow to think again. Wasn't he just talking about acquisitions and raising money?

In the blink of an eye, it has become a plan to help Wales revive its economy, so doesn’t this acquisition become... an investment plan?

Transfer these state-owned enterprises to him, let Allen lead the development and operation, and then... don't worry about the profit or loss.

If such an enterprise falls into his hands, wouldn't it be like throwing meat buns at a dog?

No matter what happened in the past, once it falls into his hands, there will be losses. He even dares to drive these companies bankrupt.

Anyway, he doesn't have to take any responsibility.

…

"What do you think of my idea? Is there any room for maneuver?"

Alan stared at Thomas with burning eyes. He felt that he had some room for maneuver.

Anyway...it's all in our hands!

He cannot solve the financial problem, but he can think from another perspective and solve the problems of those who cause him financial troubles!

For example, the leaders of state-owned enterprises and the Welsh MPs in charge of this field, Alan is much more skilled in solving these problems. As long as they are solved, won't the funding problem be solved as well?

Anyway, his ultimate goal is to swallow up these industries. As for the process used in the middle, it is not very important, as long as the result is right.

Now, he has transformed from a simple acquirer to the savior of Wales. He wants to save the Welsh economy!

As for the failure of the rescue in the end... we'll talk about it later. We can only say that he was not capable enough, but Master Allen's original intention, at the beginning, was absolutely selfless. He was wholeheartedly for the people!

In the end, it was discovered that the country lacked capabilities and revitalization had failed, so it could only swallow up these state-owned enterprises with tears to reduce the burden on the Welsh officials and the Welsh people.

…

"This... this... I have never done anything like this before, so I don't have much experience."

Sweat broke out on Thomas' forehead. In his opinion, although this was not robbery, it was almost the same as robbery.

But for Alan to do this kind of thing, it doesn't seem too abrupt. Whatever his family has done in Wales over the years, it has never been abrupt. Everyone is always very tolerant of what their family has done.

If you think along the lines of Alan, it seems... it's not impossible.

As long as he doesn't think that the plan is doomed to fail from the beginning and makes the plan better and more realistic, he can still fool people. However, due to his limited energy, this plan will definitely not work on his own.

Thinking of this, Thomas looked at Allen with some embarrassment and said, "Master... even if you want to do this, this preliminary written plan needs to be prepared well. In this regard... I am not very good at it."