Chapter 381: Operation Hunger (5)
As the car drove into the city, Dennis looked out the car window at the long-lost street scene and couldn't help but sigh. "It looks a lot depressed here. Dad, when did you change your car?" Did he remember that before the war, his father drove a German Mercedes-Benz sedan, and now the car's logo is an American Ford? In terms of comfort alone, it is far from the previous Mercedes-Benz sedan. “Don’t the government allow people to use German products?”
Father shook his head. "That's not true, it's just that this car is more fuel-efficient; now there is a shortage of fuel in the country, and sometimes even if you have money, you can't buy gasoline."
"..." After a moment of silence, Dennis asked. "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, you haven't planned to negotiate peace with Germany yet?" It's normal to negotiate peace if you can't win. The party who proposes peace talks will pay some compensation and cede some land. If you are not convinced, you can recharge your batteries for future plans. war.
In his opinion, today's British Empire is in urgent need of peace talks. Hundreds of thousands of army elites were made dumplings by the Germans at Dunkirk and sent to prisoner-of-war camps to produce various supplies for Germany; the proud Royal Fleet Even the Air Force's fighter jets were crushed by the German Air Force in terms of performance and quantity. He really didn't understand what the Prime Minister was still insisting on under the current situation.
What he didn't know was that the war-fighting faction represented by Churchill at the top of the British hierarchy meant that peace talks were not impossible. As long as Germany returned to the 1918 border, the 1914 border was fine, but Europe must spit out all it had eaten.
Germany's conditions are simpler. Germany must station troops in the UK, with no less than 200,000 troops stationed.
Only Britain and Germany would agree to each other's conditions if they were crazy.
The father sighed softly. "This prime minister is very tough and has no intention of peace talks at all. It seems that he intends to fight Germany to the end."
The atmosphere in the car was a bit heavy. If the two sides fought to the death and decided a winner, would this war last for several more years like the last time? How long will Dennis be kept in a prisoner of war camp?
Mother's tears broke down again. "Dennis, can you not go back?"
Dennis said very simply and firmly. "No, Mom, there are thousands of comrades in the prison camp. If we don't go back, they won't have the opportunity to go back to visit their relatives like us. And I am also a brave soldier, and I don't break my word. Coward; I won't let the Germans look down on me, let alone my own people gossiping! Don't worry, I performed very well in the prisoner of war camp, and maybe I will get the chance to visit my relatives again soon." He said a few words of comfort. Dennis noticed that the street scene outside the window had become a little unfamiliar. "Hey, Dad, are you driving the wrong way? This is not the way home?"
Father said a little embarrassed. "Uh, we moved."
"Moving? What kind of home is this good for?" With Dennis' doubts, the car left the city and came to an old-fashioned apartment in the suburbs.
Parking the car in the open parking lot, Dennis got out of the car and couldn't help but look surprised when he saw this somewhat dilapidated building. "Mom, what happened?" His family lived in a small villa before, why did they move to such a shabby old house now?
Mother sighed deeply. "It's not because of this war. Your father wanted to expand the factory before, so he mortgaged a lot of things to borrow money from the bank. As soon as the war broke out, various materials began to be in short supply, and your father's factory couldn't get raw materials for several months. Of course, the factory can no longer operate, not to mention the wages of the workers, and even the bank loans have been confiscated. "
Dennis opened his mouth in shock. "Does that mean we're bankrupt?"
The father who parked the car and got out said somewhat dissatisfied. "My child finally came back, why are you saying such nasty things? Son, don't worry, your father and I have never experienced any big storms, so this difficulty is nothing to worry about. I have asked someone to find a connection, and soon the factory will We will transform into the production of military supplies, and then the factory will be able to operate normally and everything will be fine."
After some consolation, the three of them went up the narrow stairs to the third floor and entered a room. This is a small apartment with one bedroom and one living room. When Dennis looked around this "broken house" that was so simple that there was almost no decent furniture, he heard his mother whispering to his father. "My dear, go and get some meat. The child has finally come here, so he must eat something good."
The father looked embarrassed. Why didn't he want to provide his son with big fish and meat, but he was short of money? After thinking about it, he whispered. "How about I pawn the car?" Now the only thing in the house is the old car.
"Dad, Dad, don't work too hard. I have money here." Dennis quickly stopped his father who was about to go out, took out a handkerchief bag from the pocket of his underwear, opened it carefully, and found a handful of coins and a few banknotes inside. banknotes.
Most people in later generations know that the British monetary unit is pounds and pence. To be precise, it should be new pennies. The conversion is 1 pound = 100 new pennies. The reason why it is called the new penny is because as early as 1971, the United Kingdom implemented an old currency system. Its numerous units and complicated conversions are enough to make people who don't understand dizzy.
Before the currency reform in 1971, in addition to pounds and pence, the United Kingdom also had French currencies, shillings, florins, krona and other currency values.
The smallest currency unit is the "farthing", 4 farthings are equal to 1 "penny"; 12 pennies are equal to 1 "shilling"; 2 shillings are equal to 1 "florin".
The most commonly used are pounds, shillings and pence.
They roughly correspond to the meaning of "yuan, jiao, fen" in RMB, except that our yuan, jiao, fen are all decimal, and 1 pound is equal to 20 shillings, and 1 shilling is equal to 12 pence, which is a little more complicated.
Britain used to be known as the empire on which the sun never sets, so this complex currency system affects half of the world. After World War II, the United States replaced Britain as the center of the world economy, and everyone played with the US dollar, which was much simpler than the US dollar, 1 US dollar = 100 cents. So in order to follow the historical trend and because it was too complicated, Britain carried out currency reform in 1971 and implemented a currency system consistent with the United States: 1 pound = 100 new pence.
Dennis handed the coins in the handkerchief to his mother. "Mom, here are 20 pounds, 13 shillings and 10 pence, not much, but it can subsidize the family expenses."
More than 20 pounds, it doesn't sound like much, but you have to know that if calculated by purchasing power, one pound at this time can be equivalent to 50 pounds in the future.
The couple looked at each other in surprise. "Dennis, where did you get so much money?"
Dennis shrugged. "We work in the prisoner-of-war camp, and the Germans pay us." Of course, the so-called salary is only one-third or one-fourth of what we get outside, but they are prisoners of war after all. "Also, there is no need to buy meat. We can eat meat every other day in the prisoner-of-war camp." Although the texture and taste of the meat are not very good, it is at least meat.
"!!" The couple was shocked again. What kind of prisoner-of-war camp is this? The food is better than theirs?