11-year-old Zhou Chunxi was wearing a floral skirt and was held by Zhou Hexuan as she walked down the gangway. Suddenly, she broke away and ran forward, shouting happily: "Mom!"
"Baby," Vivien Leigh opened her arms and hugged her daughter, her eyes were wet with excitement, and she touched the top of her daughter's head and said, "She has grown so tall, my mother almost didn't recognize her."
Ornis still looked like a handsome middle-aged guy, but a bunch of white hair appeared on his temples. He smiled and said, "I only know my mother, but don't I know my grandpa?"
"Grandpa." Zhou Chunxi threw herself into Ornish's arms again.
Zhou Hexuan walked over quickly, and Vivien Leigh tilted her head and smiled at him. The two quickly hugged each other, and Vivien Leigh took the initiative to kiss passionately, and there were many couples doing this around them.
The war that has lasted for several years has separated countless relatives and friends, and now it is time to enjoy the reunion.
Everyone got into the car, and Zhou Chunxi snuggled into her mother's arms and acted coquettishly. Ornish talked about the basic situation of Britain: "The government's economy is very bad. It not only owes the foreign debt of the United States, but also owes the national debt of its own citizens. The new Prime Minister Attlee is
Wartime controls will be gradually lifted, and many military-related industries are planned to be sold to private individuals. If you are interested, you can buy a few military factories, or even a tank factory."
"Why did I buy that thing?" Zhou Hexuan asked funnyly.
Ornish said: "If you buy a tank factory, it will definitely not be used to produce tanks. But the equipment and workers are there and can be transformed into automobile production at any time. I plan to buy several factories."
Selling state-owned factories to private individuals was Attlee's last resort in the early days of his administration. He had to use this method to relieve financial pressure. Once the British government recovered, it would immediately launch a series of socialist reforms. In the past six years, nationalization
Nearly 3,000 companies, factories and mines have been established, and universal welfare policies have been gradually implemented.
The Second World War directly changed the thinking mode of the British. The social atmosphere collectively turned to the left, and socialist ideas became increasingly popular among the people.
The British people strongly demand the realization of socialism!
Let's take an example first. When facing the German bombing, the British government evacuated the urban population to rural areas twice. The urban upper class came to the backward rural areas and discovered that there were such poor places in Britain; and the urban slums
Women and children were arranged to live in the homes of middle- and upper-class rural landlords. The ignorance of these urban refugees from the lower class about ordinary daily necessities shocked the rural homeowners who owned phones and cars.
The war allowed various classes of British people who had never interacted with each other to begin to interact. This was simply a journey of "discovery of poverty" in Britain. The tragic situation of the lower working class and peasant class exposed during the period inspired some middle and upper class people to have a desire for social reform.
expectations.
In the original words of former British Prime Minister Chamberlain: "I never knew that such a situation existed, and I feel ashamed of my ignorance of the situation of my compatriots. During my lifetime, I will try my best to help them live a clean and healthy life."
Of course, this is only a change in moral concepts, but more powerful is a change in the political status quo.
In order to tap the potential of war, the British government continued to improve social welfare, and it became common for workers to participate in corporate management during wartime. After tasting the taste of rights and interests, how could the working class be willing to let go? They are eager to carry out socialist reforms, and this is exactly the same as
The governing philosophy of the Labor Party is consistent.
Therefore, as soon as World War II ended, the British people couldn't wait to tell Churchill to go away.
Britain's socialist reforms lasted for twenty or thirty years, until Mrs. Thatcher came to power, and the capitalists finally began to counterattack. By then, a large number of British state-owned enterprises were privatized, and social welfare continued to be reduced. Mrs. Thatcher made socialist Britain
Became capitalist Britain again.
In the eyes of British people during and after the war, socialism meant that everyone was entitled to reasonably good housing, had good health care, had equal opportunities and a decent life.
As a result, Britain's middle and lower classes frantically sent votes for Attlee. When Attlee won the election and Churchill sadly stepped down, the whole world was dumbfounded, including the British media, who felt like they were living a dream.
The British media at the time described it this way: "An empty taxi stopped and Attlee stepped out." It was like a magic trick.
The most embarrassing thing was Churchill. He was representing the United Kingdom at the Potsdam Conference. The Prime Minister was changed while the conference was still going on. By the time it ended, Attlee had taken a group photo with Stalin and Truman.
…
The pharmaceutical factory was bombed twice during the war, and Ornish's house in downtown London was also bombed. Fortunately, their country house was still intact.
As soon as he returned to the villa, Ornis threw out a large pile of reports and information.
Zhou Hexuan casually flipped through the key content and found that "Royal Pharmaceutical Company" had become a behemoth by relying on sulfonamides and penicillins. Just two series of drugs, sulfonamides and penicillins, have been derived from more than ten varieties, and seven companies have been acquired and merged in five years.
It is a pharmaceutical company with more than 60 types of drugs.
What's even more ridiculous is that there are several radioactive drugs.
From the time Marie Curie discovered radium to the present day, radioactive elements have been like a panacea that can cure all diseases.
Have a headache? It's okay. My headache water contains "thorium", which is guaranteed to solve your headache problem. Got a stomachache? It's okay. My pills contain "radium". If you take a few more pills, the pain will go away.
Even the cosmetics used by women and the toys favored by children are branded with radioactive elements.
In the early 1930s, people were killed by radioactive potions in the United States, but the U.S. government only limited the content of radioactive elements. Radioactive substances were not really noticeable until two atomic bombs exploded in Japan.
Zhou Hexuan sweated furiously and said: "Please stop producing these radioactive drugs."
"Why? These medicines are very popular." Ornis asked puzzledly.
Zhou Hexuan said: "Radioactive substances are harmful to the human body. Long-term use will kill people."
"You think too much." Ornis laughed.
Zhou Hexuan did not explain anymore. Anyway, the atomic bomb was about to be dropped on Japan, and it would not be too late to withdraw it by then. The radioactive content of these drugs was very low.
Ornish said: "The preparations for the listing of the pharmaceutical company have been completed, but I hope to change the shareholding."
"Yes, you are in charge of the pharmaceutical factory, so you should get more shares." Zhou Hexuan said.
Ornish shook his head and said: "I don't need it. What I mean is, give Rebecca some equity and she will be supervised by Vivian until she reaches adulthood. When I die one day, my 15% equity will also be transferred to
Rebecca.”
"No problem." Zhou Hexuan didn't care. After all, Xiao Chunxi was his daughter. Even if Ornish wanted to give Vivien Leigh equity, Zhou Hexuan would not object. After all, Ornish was responsible for the big business of the pharmaceutical company.
After thinking for a while, Zhou Hexuan asked again: "Where is the king?"
Ornis smiled and said: "The king does not value money. In comparison, he prefers art, wine and cigarettes."
Half a month later, Royal Pharmaceuticals was listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Zhou Hexuan holds 35% of the shares, Ornish holds 12%, George VI holds 8%, Zhou Chunxi holds 10% (Vivien Leigh manages it), and the remaining 35% of the shares are used for public offerings and employee rewards.