"But initially, I didn't think it was that big of a problem," Curran continued.
"The company's operating conditions are still good, and Moir is sufficient. Even if some human and financial resources are allocated to do something that can't create profits, it won't be a big problem. What's more, the results of Chris' research can also be used in the latest models. On the whaling ship. All in all, at first I just regarded it as a normal research investment. Not only did I not stop it, but I was happy to see its results.
"But gradually, things deviated from what I expected. In order to verify the new technology, Chris's research team needed to build a technology demonstration ship and conduct a trial voyage. At that time, both propeller technology and shipbuilding technology were far behind Now mature, during the trial, they encountered various problems such as insufficient buoyancy, structural damage, propeller explosion, etc. Almost every problem meant the loss of a ship. During that time, the company built a total of Of the nineteen technical demonstration ships, eighteen were lost.
"Up to that time, the company had invested a huge amount of magic in Chris's research, but very few outputs could be converted into profits. At this time, many small shareholders had raised objections, and some conservative The divestment had even begun. I found Chris and the two argued for a long time. Finally she assured me that the next trial voyage would be successful and that the ship would sail to the west of the Western Islands and back. By then, we would be the whole Debsota was the first shipyard to accomplish this feat.
"I agreed. So, under the leadership of Chris, the company began to build a ship much larger than all the ships in the past. At the same time, the competition in the downtown shipbuilding industry became more and more fierce, almost Companies were closing down every day; coupled with the investment of too much Moore in Chris's project and the withdrawal of capital by some shareholders, the company's operating conditions were already very pessimistic at the time, but no matter what, Chris's ship would eventually Still finished, she named it 'Chris Curran'.
"Soon after, the 'Chris Curran' set sail with everyone's expectations, and we watched it until the end of the field of vision. Although it was too far away to maintain contact with the ship, we could still use some method to You can get a rough idea of the ship’s condition…”
When Xia Ye heard this, he suddenly remembered something: Although the Moby Dick had not yet arrived at Debso Tower, Curran seemed to know in advance that they had successfully hunted the beluga, and he had never been able to figure out how the other party used it. You know, now it seems that this is probably related to this method mentioned here.
But she didn't interrupt Curran's story, she just kept the question in her mind silently.
While thinking about it in the summer night, Curran had already continued:
"...the 'Chris Curran' sailed normally for seven days. Based on the sailing speed, it is likely that it has passed the Western Islands, and may even be on its way back. This makes everyone very excited, even those who People who were originally opposed to Chris's project also changed their attitude at this time. After all, if the 'Chris Curran' really sets a record, the company's reputation in Debsota will be greatly enhanced, regardless of this It is very helpful in winning orders and attracting new investments.
"However, on the eighth day, we lost track of the 'Chris Curran'. At first, everyone could find various reasons to comfort themselves, but as time passed and the ship never came back, we finally We have to accept the fact that the 'Chris Curran' has been buried in the etheric sea and will never come back.
"This incident became the straw that broke the camel's back. Shareholders began to withdraw their capital one after another, putting the company's already stretched Moer flow on the verge of rupture (that is, "cash flow" - Xia Ye Note), sensing that the situation was not going well. Miao's suppliers were worried about the company going bankrupt and asked us to pay for the equipment in advance, which further accelerated the company's collapse.
"In the end, the company 'Voyage Ships' that Chris and I established personally came to the edge of bankruptcy. In just a few days, the deadline to pay for the equipment will come. And by then, don't say that it is impossible for the company to come up with the money. There are so many moles, even if we put our own moles in there, we can't fill the gap.
"Just when we were almost desperate, 'Ether Exploration' found me. No, strictly speaking, it was the 'Venture Capital Department Seven' under 'Ether Exploration' who found me, that is, their group."
Coren pointed to the masked witch beside him.
"Chairman Kelun, please do not change the name of our company at will." Mask said helplessly, "I have clarified it many times. The name of the company I belong to is 'Ether Exploration Venture Capital Subsidiary No. 7', and It’s not ‘Venture Capital Seven’.”
"Anyway, they all mean the same thing." Curran said to the Masked Witch, and then explained to Xia Ye: "'Ether Exploration' used to set up many departments specifically responsible for venture capital, and named them in order as Venture Capital Part One. , Venture Capital Department Two... Later, these departments were all independent from the headquarters and became subordinate subsidiaries. Therefore, the name became the 'Ether Exploration Venture Capital Subsidiary No. 7' that this guy just mentioned, which is very difficult to pronounce. ,Right?"
"Indeed." Xia Ye smiled, "Chairman Kelun, you finally said something that I can immediately agree with."
Curran seemed not to notice the irony and said with a smile: "This shows that we can't agree on everything, right?"
Xia Ye avoided answering: "We are off topic, please continue your story, Chairman Kelun."
The girl with gray hair and black skirt nodded and continued to tell:
"At that time, Seven Ventures found me and said that they could inject capital into the Voyage Ship to save our company, but the prerequisite was that they must agree to some of their conditions. The most important one is that Chris must Give up all of his shares and leave senior management.
"I didn't reply immediately. After sending away the masked men, I found Chris and told her about it. To my surprise, Chris agreed almost immediately. She said: 'If this is the case, Of course I am willing to save our company, but, Curran, you have to promise me, no, you have to promise me that I can still carry out my projects in the future."
"I can't promise her that."
When Curran said this, he paused for a few seconds before continuing:
"I can only tell her the truth: the 'Seven Venture Capital Group' is different from the scattered small shareholders in the past. Once they inject capital, they will have the ability to directly interfere with the company's operations. In other words, in the future, the 'voyage ships' will no longer It's just the two of us who have the final say. And the purpose of their investment is, of course, to pursue returns. Your project is a bottomless pit that only swallows magic but not spits it out. It will no longer be possible to continue in the future.
"Chris was very angry at the time and said that if this was the case, what's the point of the existence of the 'voyage ship'? It would be better to let it go bankrupt; I was also angry at the time and said to Chris, if it weren't for you insisting on doing that research , the company would not be in the current situation; Chris retorted that if it were not for her, the company would not even be able to obtain the initial trial qualification, and how could it make money; I said that if it were not for me, even the company would not be able to will not exist...
"Of course, this kind of argument can never come to a conclusion. She and I had a big fight, and eventually the relationship between the two completely broke down. The next day, I accepted the conditions of 'Venture Capital Seven', and Chris was kicked out After leaving the senior management, I arranged a mid-level position for her. I originally thought she would refuse and leave the company directly, but unexpectedly, she actually accepted.
"Even with the capital injection from 'Seven Venture Capital', the company at that time still paid a huge price to survive. Many shipyards and equipment were forced to be sold, and employees either resigned or were laid off; of course Chris's project was It was completely suspended, and even the shipbuilding business was cut off a lot. Only the leasing business remained basically intact. In the end, even the company's name was changed to 'Ocean Ship Leasing'."
(End of chapter)
