Chapter 444: In the Cards

[Chapter 444: The Meat in the Pot]

No one believed that the disaster concerning the ruble was a randomly orchestrated event. The groundwork for this situation quietly began once Mikhail Gorbachev started reforming the Soviet economy.

By the late 1980s, the Soviet Union unguardedly opened its financial market to the West. Almost overnight, a flood of foreign banks, investment companies, and even insurance firms rushed into major Soviet cities, gathering more rubles from the Soviet populace and businesses through high-interest savings schemes than local banks could muster.

Simultaneously, the Soviet Union embarked on a privatization reform of state-owned enterprises. A substantial number of state enterprises were distributed to Soviet citizens in the form of shares and bonds. However, the average person was more inclined to seek tangible cash rather than abstract investments. Consequently, Western investment firms began to use the rubles collected from ordinary Soviet citizens to purchase shares of state-owned enterprises right out from under them.

As vast quantities of Soviet state assets fell into Western hands, the final blow was imminent.

Starting in the latter half of 1991, both North America and European nations began intensively predicting the downfall of the Soviet economy. Newspapers and media overflowed with negative headlines such as "Soviet Reform Will Inevitably Lead to Ruin," "Soviet Economy on the Verge of Collapse," "Ruble Severely Overvalued," and "Ruble Needs Reevaluation." It echoed the old saying that "if three people say something, it becomes a truth." When everyone spoke this way, even the most steadfast began to waver. Thus, panic regarding the collapse of the Soviet economy and the severe devaluation of the ruble spread swiftly across various classes in the USSR.

Sell-offs, runs, hoarding, panic buying...

Under the manipulation of Western powers, this rash bandwagon behavior within the Soviet Union dragged the already precarious ruble further into the abyss.

In just a few short months, the exchange rate of the ruble against the dollar plummeted from a high of 2 rubles to 1 dollar, spiraling down to 112,000 to 1 dollar, akin to an avalanche. Even the most harrowing periods in human history, including wars, had not witnessed such staggering inflation. The rubles in the hands of the Soviet people effectively became worthless scraps of paper.

It was well-known that a nation's currency typically relied on its gold reserves. Faced with the ruble's free fall, the Soviet Union began to utilize its gold reserves, desperately attempting to alleviate the domestic economic crisis through direct gold sales. Just at this critical moment, the worst international gold market crash of the 20th century coincidentally occurred.

After the gold prices collapsed, the Soviet Union found itself unable to locate any buyers for its gold exports.

This plummet in gold prices became the final straw that broke the back of the Soviet camel. On December 25, 1991, Soviet President Gorbachev acknowledged the complete failure of economic reform, signed multiple presidential orders, and declared the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In a moment, the only superpower capable of competing with the United States evaporated into thin air.

...

Chris was a great speaker, thrillingly describing this world-class game of chess, which caused Emily, sitting beside him, to set her utensils down and gaze at her boyfriend with admiration, while Connelly's eyes widened in shock.

"So you're saying we essentially seized the entire wealth of the Soviet Union?" Chris concluded, leading Connelly to voice his curiosity.

Chris shook his head, "That's clearly impossible. This isn't a zero-sum game where we win at their expense; this is wealth evaporation. The wealth accumulated by the Soviet Union over half a century was like a pot of boiling water -- once the steam dissipated, all that speculation yielded merely the dew that formed on the pot's lid."

Imagining the scene Chris painted, Connelly exclaimed, "That's quite the waste!"

Emily, who was near Chris, chimed in, "Honestly, the dissolution of the Soviet Union is for the best. At least we no longer have to worry about the threat of nuclear war."

Eric nodded, "Definitely. That big Ivan that exploded over the Arctic Circle sure frightened the living daylights out of everyone. If a nuclear war broke out, the Soviets would only need to drop a few of those Ivan-class bombs on both coasts to end it all."

"What's an 'Ivan'?" Connelly asked, curiosity piqued.

All four of them had been born in the 1970s, but apart from Eric, the others looked puzzled.

Eric had only stumbled across information about it while browsing online in his past life. "In 1961, the Soviets detonated a nuclear bomb with an estimated yield of 58 megatons in the Arctic Circle. At that time, a lot of us weren't even born yet, so you might not know much about it."

Seeing that the others had no frame of reference for a 58-megaton bomb, Eric clarified, "To give you an idea of how terrifying Ivan was, the plane that dropped the bomb traveled at subsonic speed and flew 250 kilometers away before the explosion. Yet the shockwave nearly destroyed it. The bomb's impact area reached 200,000 square kilometers, almost twice the size of New York State. On the other hand, the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of only 13 kilotons but evaporated approximately 70,000 people immediately, leading to over 200,000 subsequent deaths. Ivan's power was 5,000 times that of Little Boy. Rumor has it the Soviets later developed a bomb with a 100-megaton yield, but they couldn't find a sufficiently large detonation site to test it."

Hearing Eric's words, Chris and the others displayed signs of mild fear.

Eric lowered his head and nibbled on a sausage, quietly stating, "So I actually believe any guy involved in making nuclear bombs should be sentenced to life imprisonment."

Emily chuckled. "You know, Einstein himself regretted the indirect invention of the bomb."

"But he was still guilty," Eric replied.

Chris laughed. "Eric, your tone really does sound like that of an extreme pacifist."

"I am one. Rather than war, I prefer those in power to settle their disputes through one-on-one combat -- unarmed, with cold weapons, or revolvers -- whatever it takes, as long as they don't start a war."

At this, the other three laughed, and Eric joined in.

Well, this was just a bit of a joke.

...

"This is for you," After lunch, while they tidied up the kitchen, Eric took Chris to the study and handed him an Apple PowerBook 140.

"This thing is worthless; I'd rather write things down by hand," Chris muttered while poking at it.

Eric replied, "I'm not asking you to use it for work; I just want you to take a good look at it. You know, at the beginning of the year, IBM, and several other hardware and software companies joined NSFNET, and that will be our direction for development going forward. The traditional American industries have been divided among various factions; it's nearly impossible for Firefly Investment to penetrate them. However, the high-tech industries related to computers are still an untapped field. Think about it -- throughout the 1980s, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Larry Ellison became billionaires. I'm certain that the development of computer technology hasn't come to an end; there will be even more opportunities ahead."

Chris awkwardly managed to start up the laptop and, upon hearing Eric's words, didn't argue. Eric had already brought him numerous surprises that inspired a kind of blind confidence in him.

"I'll carve out some time to learn more about it. What's next on your agenda?"

Eric recalled that the internet took off after Clinton took office, thanks to U.S. policy support. "As of now, not much. It's still a bit early; we have to wait until next year. However, you should keep an eye on Bill Clinton, the presidential candidate in the upcoming election. He proposed an information superhighway plan, which I just mentioned because this network may eventually serve as the backbone of the superhighway. You could gather some relevant materials for the Cisco management team to review; it'll undoubtedly be beneficial."

In the original timeline, NSFNET was indeed the precursor to the internet.

Chris silently jotted down Bill Clinton and the information superhighway as key terms and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll head back to New York. Oh, and you'd better find my dad a couple of assistants; he is getting up there in age, and he isn't as energetic as those old-timers like Redstone or Murdoch."

Eric laughed. "Of course, you shouldn't worry about that, but I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate hearing you say that."

Chris shrugged. "No old guy likes to hear that, but it's the truth."

Chris and Emily were set to take a 4 p.m. flight back to New York. After a brief conversation with Eric, he walked them out of the estate.

...

"I've arranged to meet Jeffrey Katzenberg to check out Disney's production base. Do you want to come with me?" After seeing the two off, Eric asked Jennifer Connelly.

Connelly shook her head. "Not really, I just finished filming and I'm too lazy to move. I'll rest at the villa; just come back early tonight."

Even though Fox's Hot Shots! Part 2 had flopped during the summer, Connelly wasn't too affected because of her connection to Eric. She quickly landed another comedy, scheduled to be released around Easter. Of course, Eric didn't inquire about it; he had his own affairs to tend to and couldn't be bothered to chase that little bit of "extra change."

Eric glanced at Connelly's delicate face and said, "You just stay at home. That little girl Drew bought two more cars lately, both very woman-friendly. If you want to go shopping, you can just take one from the garage."

"Sounds good," Connelly replied, feeling a twinge of jealousy at Eric's casual mention of Drew but decided not to show it.

Eric noticed this little detail, but he didn't dwell on it too much. He had low expectations for the women in his life, never fantasizing about a harmonious scene where they would all get along. As long as they could coexist peacefully, that was enough for him.

...

Since Michael Eisner took over Disney, the company had transformed dramatically over the course of more than seven years. Disney had broken away from its reliance solely on animated films, and now it not only had the Disney Studio for all-age films and animations, but also Touchstone Pictures for PG-rated and above films. Additionally, Disney managed a children's TV show, but it wasn't large-scale and had always struggled with performance.

Compared to the Firefly Studios in Playa Vista, Disney's production base was smaller, but it was located in the bustling Burbank area.

"The story of Aladdin is based on a tale from the medieval Arabic period about a lamp that can grant wishes, originating from the famous One Thousand and One Nights. However, we made localized modifications to the characters to better fit American audiences."

In the Disney Animation Studio's office, Katzenberg accompanied Eric in watching clips of Aladdin's production. Eric recognized this film as one of Disney's most renowned animations from the 1990s.

Afterward, Eric and Katzenberg moved into Katzenberg's former office, where a secretary served them coffee before leaving. Eric then asked, "Aside from Aladdin, does the studio have other animation projects in the pipeline?"

"Of course, many. During our weekly meetings, I always ask each director for five animation ideas. Over time, we've reached the project preparation phase for about five or six of them."

Eric pressed, "You remember them all, right? Let's hear the details."

Katzenberg found Eric's reaction a bit odd but nonetheless continued, "How about I have someone bring you the proposals so you can review them personally? Everyone knows you have an excellent eye for these things."

"That works best."

Shortly after, a secretary from the studio delivered a stack of project proposals.

Eric patiently perused each one until he quickly identified his target: a story about the African savannah resembling Hamlet -- a rough draft of what would eventually become The Lion King.

In the original timeline, The Lion King not only marked the final flourish of Disney's 2D hand-drawn animations but also became its most successful 2D animated film, grossing nearly a billion dollars worldwide in box office revenue.

Quietly extracting The Lion King script from his stack and handing it to Katzenberg, Eric asked, "What about this one? Have you guys discussed it yet?"

Katzenberg took a look at it and replied, "This story was proposed by Brenda Chapman and is inspired by Hamlet. At first, I thought it might be a bit cliche. However, once I saw the character designs, I approved it because they were all quite appealing. But it hasn't launched yet; if you're interested, it might be queued up after Aladdin is completed."

Eric didn't push for it, thinking it was alreay in the cards. It didn't matter if they ate it sooner or later: "I think this story is excellent; have them prepare a detailed proposal for me. If it's good, let's make this project a top priority."

Katzenberg nodded, called for his secretary, and briefly instructed her before turning to Eric. "Then let's head to the TV production department. They've made significant reforms to the classic Mickey Mouse Club recently and have changed the cast."

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.