America 1982

The light blue water of the Pacific Ocean reflects the white clouds. Looking from the Beverly Hills mansion that took Tommy four years to complete, the entire Pacific Ocean is like a large piece of dazzling sapphire.

"I saw in a fashion magazine that your mansion was rated as the second largest private property in the entire Los Angeles metropolitan area." Stephen sat on the terrace, blowing the gentle sea breeze, and said: "It feels good, I only have One question, Tommy.”

Tommy was sitting at the coffee table, flipping through some information that Stephen had brought, and said absently: "What?"

"One hundred and twenty-seven rooms, are you sure you and Otilia won't get lost in your own home? Your backyard is big enough to host the Super Bowl." Stephen looked into the distance: "I feel like sitting there To see the front entrance of your home here, you need a pair of binoculars."

Stephen used to think that he was absolutely good at spending money. It wasn't until he saw Tommy's mansion, or rather what this castle looked like after it was completed, that he felt that he had spent money and enjoyed life better than Tommy before. This trait has been surpassed by Tommy, who built a castle for himself.

The construction of this six-acre residence began in 1984. At least 130 workers were busy every day. It was not completed until recently. The entire building used nearly a thousand tons of steel, countless wood and rocks. , the overall shape of the residence is divided into three main buildings, connected by corridor bridges. Looking from a high altitude, the three uniquely shaped houses and the corridor bridge cleverly form an eagle with spread wings, and it is also a bald eagle.

The surname Hawk originally meant eagle, so Tommy named his mansion the Eagle's Nest.

This Eagle's Nest has more than a hundred rooms of various sizes, including a home library, a home cinema, a home gym, a home bowling alley, a skating rink, a tennis court, a private hair studio, a private kitchen, a private medical room, and a gardening room. Supplies storage room with humidity system, etc. Let's put it this way, if a person doesn't want to go out, he can stay in it from birth to death.

This guy also built a parking lot with 100 parking spaces, a helipad, two swimming pools, open-air and indoor, plus a family zoo with giraffes, zebras, monkeys, alpacas, flamingos, and kangaroos. , tortoise, rabbit, and two damn elephants, let alone children, my mother is prepared to stay for half a month to tease the monkeys every day when she comes to visit.

There is also a women's cloakroom with an area of ​​2,000 square meters. There are four female servants who help Otilia take care of the cloakroom every day. Getting up and going to the cloakroom to change clothes every day is like going directly to a luxury store to go shopping. Exaggerating, after seeing it once, he completely gave up the plan of bringing his girlfriend to Tommy's house. He would not let his girlfriend see the cloakroom.

And the most exaggerated thing is that it took four years to build this house. The architectural design office responsible for the entire architectural design work sent more than a dozen designers from the police station around the world for four years to get handmade furniture from Italy, decoration from the United Kingdom, and French decorations. lamps, Nordic oak stair handrails, every rock, every screw, every tree you see here may have a unique story.

This bastard even bought a baobab tree from Africa at a high price and transplanted it into his home in a malicious way, just to prevent future descendants of the Hawke family from becoming friends with black people.

He will personally teach his children and grandchildren how to become close friends with black people. The teaching method is that if a black person shows kindness to his children and grandchildren, he will let the children dig some pieces of tree pulp from the baobab tree at home and give it to the black person. This will ensure that they will be good friends for the rest of their lives. Failure to gain the friendship of those black people ensures that his descendants will be judged as extreme racists by black people.

The entire estate occupies an area one-third larger than the President's White House. More than 40 long-term servants plus hourly services from five housekeeping companies can complete the daily housekeeping work of Tommy's family.

"First of all, the servants have to occupy more than 40 bedrooms as servant rooms, and the parking spaces also occupy more than 30 cars. They are all servants' cars. I have to consider them. Secondly, there is Old Peppa Pig. Big George, Dorothy and her daughter also need to have independent spaces. Although Big George has not lived in for the time being, his room must still be arranged. The most important thing is that if Otilia gives birth to the child in her belly, according to the Her living habits, the child's nanny, bodyguard, tutor, children's doctor, etc. also need a room." After Tommy finished flipping through the information, he raised his head and looked at Stephen:

"Finally, for example, one day I get excited and invite ten Hollywood female stars to come to my house for in-depth communication and have a crazy party. There are enough rooms here to ensure that Otilia will never discover their existence. As long as I am willing, ten of them will A woman can live under Otilia's nose until she gives birth to a child for me, of course, this is a joke, I will not do that, I will not do those crazy things at home."

"If you do that, you are really an asshole. Otilia is pregnant now. You can't mess around at home. Brother, Otilia...is inseparable from our CS." Stephen heard Tommy teasing the house After the benefits were big enough, he reminded her seriously: "Are you sure you're not ready to propose to her? Are you going to let her give birth to your child in the name of your girlfriend?"

"I didn't know that Otilia had quietly popped the balloon, which made me very passive. According to my thinking, it would probably take another one or two years before we would get engaged, get married, and then live a married life and have children. "Speaking of Otilia's pregnancy, Tommy rubbed his forehead with his hands: "Let's change the topic. Dealing with Otilia is much more difficult than dealing with Murdoch. She actually colluded with Ashley and specifically chose one. Time was squeezing Tony and I like crazy. Now it’s better. Both women were successfully pregnant with the Hawke children. Can you imagine my dad’s reaction when he learned about this surprise? All the stray dogs on the streets of Warwick were killed. He stopped to inform us of the good news.”

Otilia's pregnancy was a little accident. She and Tony's wife Ashley didn't know why they went crazy. In short, Ashley was pregnant with Tony's child, and Otilia was pregnant with her own child. By this time next year , it’s time for the Hawke family to add a new child, but Tommy is not ready to propose to Otilia yet. He is not afraid of marriage, but he just doesn’t have time to manage marriage for the time being. In the past two years, he must be busy running another business. thing.

But except for him, Tony, Dad, and Bethea of ​​the Hawke family were all overjoyed. A new life should have arrived in the Hawke family long ago, which gave him a headache.

"I saw the information you brought said that Citibank, Murdoch's backer on Wall Street, began to put pressure on creditors like us, hoping that the due loans can be extended." Tommy took the initiative to change the topic and said to Stephen.

Stephen nodded: "Citibank hopes that the Federal Reserve Board will come forward to put pressure on News Corporation's loan extension. However, Benjamin's connections on Wall Street played a role. It may also be that Ed Curry's fate was too scary. In short, the committee ignored Citigroup." The bank refused to come forward to put pressure on the proposal, but the other party did not gain anything. The committee gave an evaluation report. You have seen the report. If News Corporation goes bankrupt, it will have serious consequences. As a media with enough influence in the world, Company, its bankruptcy will accelerate the recession of the world economy and have a serious impact on the U.S. financial system. It is recommended that all creditors continue to believe in and support News Corporation, which is beneficial to both parties. However, currently everyone is obviously not prepared to listen to the committee’s opinions. Citigroup The bank was interviewing creditors one by one, hoping to reach a consensus, but before it was our turn, we took the initiative to refuse."

"Then Murdoch should also know that the biggest opposition to the extension is KeyBank in California?" Tommy looked at Stephen.

Dorothy, the housekeeper who is now in charge of all daily affairs of Tommy's family, personally brought a freshly baked biscuit over. Stephen picked up one and put it in his mouth and bit it slowly: "Man, it's not just KeyBank, Murdoch All we have to do is post photos of Mr. Shriver, me, you and Jim in his office in London. All day long, you let me spread those wild words about buying Fox and buying his American assets, lest the other party not know that we want to do what."

"He refuses to extend the bond when it expires. It is impossible for him to go bankrupt. The British TV network is in a critical period. In addition, the American people are now disgusted with Fox for giving away free movies and infringing on actresses. Selling Fox is his best choice. He acquired The Fox Film Company spent 600 million, and the establishment of the Fox Television Network cost him 2.5 billion U.S. dollars. The figure given by the consulting company is that the Fox Television Network and the film company are worth approximately 4.3 billion. As for his American newspaper business, although It seems that the price is not high, only about a billion, but the intangible value of just the three major newspapers, "New York Post", "Washington Post" and "Boston Herald", is higher than 4.3 billion, not counting other regions. Sexual newspapers and magazines are his next frontier for landing in the United States. Compared with Fox’s film and television assets, the newspaper industry is his real high-quality asset. By selling Fox, he will still have US$1.2 billion in hand after repaying due debts. In our hands, we can ensure that we can continue to promote the Sky TV network, and we don’t have to worry about the expiration of other debts for at least half a year. It must be Fox, but it will definitely not be sold to us. According to Murdoch’s character, even if he earns 1.2 billion, it will be a disastrous failure. , as the troublemaker who ruined his good deeds, he must teach us an unforgettable lesson, just like teaching those unlucky British politicians who offended him." Tommy also picked up a cookie and put it into his mouth, and said slowly:

"Wolf Tucker told me that the four financial reporters he fired at my request who had previously conducted an in-depth investigation of KeyBank and were forcibly stopped by him had already been connected with Murdoch's newspapers, and 100% of those newspapers would publish it. His glorious deeds of using KeyBank to lend usury to niggas so that they could start businesses and sell drugs, and plundering high-value assets in the name of charity in Africa, Europe and other countries, once exposed and widely publicized, the president who had not spoken out for him before Your Excellency will definitely signal the federal judiciary to investigate this time in the name of justice. Normally, in their view, the three of us have no other choice but to commit suicide. Even if we don't commit suicide, someone will help us look decent. I guess Murdoch He must be aware of this, so he must want to see the obituaries of us troublemakers appear in his newspaper.”

"So you made Ted prepare for this for a long time." Stephen swallowed the cookie and licked his lips.

Everyone now feels that Tommy must be eyeing Fox's two big fat pieces, which is true, but that is to underestimate this bastard's appetite. If Murdoch did not choose to lie down and get hammered, but wanted to face Teach him a lesson before leaving, and you'll just fall into the trap Tommy prepared for him.

Murdoch's best choice is to be a coward and quietly leave the United States. If he dares to fight back, not only the Fox film and television industry, but also the newspaper business in the United States will be sold.

…

Murdoch acted very decisively. When Citibank told him that it could not convince all creditors to agree to a loan extension and gave him half a year, and no capitalists were willing to help him buy these billions of maturing debts at a high price, he immediately The decision to sell Fox Film Company and Fox Television Network was made swiftly and without any hesitation.

For the current News Corporation, it is of course very good to continue to own Fox, but it will still take many years of operation before it can stand out in the United States and truly stand out. But now in the UK, Murdoch only needs a bloody battle to defeat the BBC and his Sky TV network can dominate the whole of Europe.

After all, a thousand birds in the forest is worse than a bird in the hand. He chose to give up the strong bone of America first and swallow Europe.

Just after News Corporation submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to sell the Fox Television Network and 20th Century Fox Film Company, Turner, Steve, and the heads of the other three major television networks, who had previously shared the same hatred with Tommy, They immediately showed their abilities and contacted News Corporation.

Tommy, who had played the first role in ruining Rupert Murdoch, was regarded as a close partner by the three major television networks, and was treated like a son by Turner. It was as if he had been forgotten by everyone, as if he was completely irrelevant. Get to know this young man.

The three major TV networks and Turner all know the value of the Fox TV network. The wonderful programs produced by Fox are like honey, constantly attracting advertisers to spend money. They are determined to win, but it is a pity that the core asset of the Fox TV network , the eight flagship TV stations in seven major cities in the United States were not acquired by one of the three major television networks, and Murdoch's enemy Old Turner did not even have the opportunity to negotiate.

John Krueger, the former richest man in the United States, used the right of first repurchase agreed upon when he sold his television assets to Rupert Murdoch, and repurchased the Fox TV network for 3.5 billion in cash. When asked by reporters why he bought back the Fox TV network four years ago, When he sold it for 1.5 billion and now repurchased it for another 1 billion, the old German man said humorously that it was because his grandson liked to watch Fox's "The Simpsons" with him.

He originally founded the Fox TV network, but later his investment focus shifted from media to industry, so he sold these assets to Murdoch and turned to manage communications in the United States, Eastern Europe, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Regarding the cable and optical cable business, the reason is that he is more optimistic about the Internet era that has arrived, but it is normal to buy back now. After all, although the Internet has arrived, it is far from entering public life.

Fox Film Company was ultimately led by President Barry Diller, and was jointly acquired by Entes, the major shareholder of Columbia Pictures, oil tycoon Mark Rich, and Yannick, the major shareholder of French Vivendi Media, with a total acquisition value of 900 million. US dollar, Barry Diller will continue to serve as president of 20th Century Fox Film Company to promote the continued production of existing film projects.

The three major TV networks and Turner, Tommy's scandal campaign against Murdoch was like a farce. Murdoch was indeed driven out of the U.S. film and television industry due to financial crisis, but he took away 1.4 billion in cash. But everyone who accompanied Tommy to jump up and down ended up with nothing like Tommy.

"Why did the Vivendi Group in France jump out to participate in the acquisition of a Hollywood movie company!"

"Damn John Kruger! He said before that he has no interest in TV, he chose to bet on the Internet! But now this old guy is back to kill him? Just because his grandson likes Simpsons?"

The Hollywood tycoon and the bosses of the three major television networks, who clearly had two pieces of fat on their lips but failed to eat it, could only roar angrily. After roaring, they were glad that although they gained nothing, they were still better than Tommy Hawke. Lucky for that guy, not only did that guy get nothing, but he also got into trouble with Murdoch.

Because after Murdoch lost the job after making only 1.4 billion, his American newspapers such as the Washington Post, the New York Post, the Washington Herald, and the Wall Street Journal quickly broke out a KeyBank investigation report. , this investigative report was completed by four financial reporters who spent several months anonymously infiltrating into KeyBank to gain an in-depth understanding. During this period, they also encountered a lot of resistance, including KeyBank executives directly asking financial TV boss Wolf Tucker to fire them.

But fortunately, the four reporters have the unyielding American spirit of insisting on the truth. They insisted on making this investigation public, and then made this investigation report public. The investigation showed that KeyBank, a credit union system bank, was suspected of not conducting any credit investigation, and was recklessly Lending loans at high interest rates to low-income groups and encouraging these borrowers to engage in illegal and criminal activities. Moreover, overseas, KeyBank is also suspected of colluding with international grain merchants to force famine-stricken countries to pay for high grain prices. It is also suspected of bribing officials of other countries and allowing those countries to mortgage high-quality assets to KeyBank while concealing their citizens. KeyBank resells at a profit.

The report even names the owners of KeyBank, Tommy Hawke and the group of emerging wealthy people in the computer industry he represents, Stephen Penn and the group of California bankers he represents, and Jim Mantz and the group of American politicians he represents. , as well as Benjamin Rosen and the Wall Street groups he represents.

This investigative report almost seamlessly replaced the previous scandal involving Murdoch's alleged complicity and became the new gossip that the American people paid attention to. KeyBank, a bank that provides loans to support the poor and drug dealers to start their own businesses? Frankly speaking, in the week before the report came out, many poor people who had just learned about this path made KeyBank's small loan business increase a lot compared to before. This is also thanks to the free publicity of Murdoch's newspapers.

This time, the President did not continue to choose silence. When pressed by reporters, he stated that he would push the federal judicial agencies to conduct necessary investigations into KeyBank. If the illegal activities in the report are really involved, the offenders will be sent to where they deserve to be. place.

"Under normal circumstances, according to the development of the plot, at this time, in order to avoid being implicated, the group behind us should send people to help us look decent." Tommy read the investigation report about KeyBank in the newspaper, threw it directly on the ground, and then Spit the gum in his mouth on it:

"Mr. President needs to learn a lesson. He should not rush to help Mr. Murdoch vent his anger and prove to Murdoch that he will not just collect money and do nothing. I mean, he should at least let the FBI, CIA or other The agency with great power figured out how this investigation report appeared. If he knew that the explosive information in this investigation report was carefully selected by Tommy Hawke and exposed to those four idiots, he should not An investigation would be launched so hastily.”