What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 493 The Instigator

Murmansk Base

"Where's my submarine? Where's my huge submarine and titanium alloy ship?! Who did this?!"

The row of officers and experts in front of Yeprini all bowed their heads, their hearts filled with resentment.

After the Nizhny Novgorod reported a possible discovery of Project 685, Yeprini ordered an investigation into whether the wreckage of K278 was still there.

You wouldn't believe it until you see it – when the submersible was placed in the water, it completely disappeared!

It's important to know that the K278 Kosomoyets did not sink suddenly. Many crew members escaped successfully, and the ship would be launched periodically to retrieve confidential documents or check for nuclear leaks.

Now, the submarine has disappeared!

Of course, they never suspected it was a reincarnation of the dead. Yeprini suspected that someone had salvaged the remains and sold them!
The Type 685 may be sunken, but its advanced nature is undeniable. Countries like the University of Tokyo, India, Japan, South Korea, and even Turkey would certainly be willing to study it if given the opportunity, and the Empire is no exception.

Yeprini believed that many people present had completely lost their loyalty to Russia. They would sell anything, not just a piece of wreckage, but even a submarine deployment plan, as long as the money was right.

The officers at the base shared the same opinion: upon discovering the wreckage was missing, their first reaction was not anger or panic, but rather to search for suspects and believe that it was unethical for the other party to hog all the spoils without sharing with them.

“Andrei, you have organized many salvage operations for K278 before.”

The officer whose name was called immediately waved his hand:
“It wasn’t me, General. You should think differently. There aren’t many people who can move a salvage ship without your knowledge. I don’t have that ability.”

Yeprini nodded thoughtfully, then called out several more names, but each person protested their innocence, which infuriated him.
"You're not one of them, you're not one of them, none of you are either, so did I sell them?!"

The subordinates immediately raised their heads, and although they didn't speak, the meaning in their eyes was clear:

Hard to say.

It's not uncommon for generals to secretly resell goods and then cry foul, trying to find a scapegoat. One of them might end up being pushed out to take the blame.

Just as the atmosphere reached an impasse, someone suddenly said:
"The most recent salvage operation was before General Petrovich left."

"Yes, Petrovich emigrated with a large sum of money."

"He went to Australia, not even Europe, he must be afraid of being investigated for something!"

"..."

Others immediately chimed in with their analysis, deciding to shift the blame regardless of whether it was right or wrong.

Seeing this, Yeprini couldn't help but think, and he also felt that Petrovich was probably not immune to responsibility.

Within minutes, a group of people had summarized all the suspicious points about Petrovich, and were almost certain that the former general had committed this despicable act. However, at that moment, a servant suddenly entered from outside and, upon seeing Yeprini, immediately said:

"General, the Winter Palace requests your presence."

Yeprini: "What is it? I'm very busy here."

Attendant: "This is a very big deal! The Empire... the Empire is going to punish you, saying you sold the mushroom egg technology to the Third Brother!!"

"What nonsense!"

Yeprini was furious. He had secured many arms deals, but how could he dare to touch something so sensitive? A slight misstep could mean certain death!

However, he remembered that his third brother did seem to have some plans. KBG had known about them for a long time, but... would anyone actually make a deal in his name?
Thanks to the current situation in the Xiong family, where personnel changes are frequent and the situation is extremely unstable, Yeprini really can't be sure!

……

大湾
In order to build up fame and popularity, Tang Wen planned a publicity campaign for the New York and New Moscow's voyage to the Empire 20 days later:
People from all walks of life are invited to board the ship and embark on a sea voyage of about 22 days, during which parties are held and short clips are filmed and broadcast on television.

Such promotional activities require inviting celebrities and actors with high profiles, preferably popular actresses. Tang Wen directly entrusted the operation to a Hong Kong agency.

The brokerage firm was also quite pleased; in the past, they would at most rent a yacht to hold a charity gala and drift at sea for a few days.

But this time it's a battleship, a battleship! Not only are the cannons imposing, but the steel hull of over 20,000 tons is also quite large.

"Hello Mr. Tang, it's an honor to serve you!"

In Tang Wen's eyes, a typical salesman was sitting across from him. He introduced himself as Li Kun, the general manager of the brokerage company.

He simply pushed over a hastily prepared schedule, which roughly listed some of the projects to be prepared and the celebrities to be invited.

Tang Wen glanced at the package and realized that Li Kun wasn't just helping him complete his plan; he was also preparing to sell the tickets for the Great White Fleet to other film crews or variety shows, which would not only bring popularity to the fleet but also allow him to make a profit.

"Please rest assured, the concept of a battle fleet is unprecedented. Many big names are willing to come even if it costs nothing. This time, we can not only make a name for ourselves, but we might also recoup all our costs."

But we need to confirm first..."

Li Kun mainly talked about the living environment on the warship. Fortunately, Tang Wen had already carried out electrical renovations on its interior. The seemingly old battleship had actually been simplified to be similar to a cargo ship, with a crew of less than two hundred people. The cabins had also been drastically adjusted to resemble cruise ship compartments.

The battleships that originally had a crew of over a thousand people now have a total crew of no more than 500, so the conditions are not bad.

After more than an hour of confirming everything, Li Kun was getting up to leave, but suddenly bowed and said:
"Mr. Tang, you may not know this, but the major shareholder of our brokerage firm is the Li family."

Tang Wen paused for a moment, then raised an eyebrow:

"So how do you plan to retaliate?"

"No, no, no, you've misunderstood, you've misunderstood."

Li Kun quickly apologized and then explained:

"Young Master Li is very willing to maintain a good relationship with you. All services provided for you this time will be free of charge, and there will be no issues with quality. He sincerely welcomes you to Hong Kong and hopes to resolve any previous misunderstandings."

……

Li Xiaochao was sitting in the brokerage company's office, and it was purely his own decision to instruct Li Kun.

After Black Friday, everyone realized that Cheung Kong Holdings had been set up, and then the U-boat crisis hit, causing its stock price to plummet to rock bottom.

Although they managed to pull through in the end, bad news followed one after another:

Tang Wen wrote an article on the BBS, and within a few days, official news actually came out, discussing the implementation of certain controls on the loopholes in the real estate market and the merger crisis that Tang Wen exposed, including Hong Kong.

Although it's just a rumor and concrete discussions and implementation are estimated to take place no earlier than next year, it has already caused a large number of small real estate developers to start selling off their properties, and even the Li family has been severely affected.

Old Li is now hoping to buy up the housing market during the financial crisis and expect it to surge and return to its peak next year. If this news comes true, wouldn't it all be for naught?

Old Li quietly headed north, trying to do something, while Young Li hoped to find a breakthrough through Tang Wen.

The door opened, and Li Kun walked in with his head down.

"So, what's Tang Wen's attitude?"

Li Kun didn't dare to look up, and after several hesitant attempts, he awkwardly spoke:
"Mr. Li, Mr. Tang said, said..."

"It is said that...the one who started this practice will have no descendants."

Xiao Li's eyes widened, not from fear, but from disbelief:

"What does this mean? Does he think we hired someone to kill us? I wouldn't stoop that low, and neither would my father!"

But looking into Li Kun's eyes, which he dared not meet, he seemed to realize something.

The probability of the Li family doing this is almost negligible, and it doesn't fit the father's way of doing things, unless... it's Dai Ying!

(End of this chapter)