Chapter 115 The Perfect Script
(Charles' home is more like what I imagined)
When Francis sent Vartan out, Djoka and Charles happened to arrive by car. After parking the car, they jumped out of the car and walked forward, completely ignoring the light rain outside.
"Mr. Vartan!" Djoka's tone was almost pleading: "Let's talk about it again, we will give you a more favorable price..."
Charles didn't say anything. He looked at Francis' smug expression and seemed to know that the contract had been signed. He just sighed slightly and stopped.
Valtan ignored the two of them and got on the carriage by himself. He shouted "Paris" to the driver. The carriage drove away with a shout of mud and water. The mud and water raised by the wheels even splashed on Djoka's pants.
Francis smiled happily: "Hey, Deyoka, Charles, long time no see!"
He turned his eyes to Charles and asked hypocritically: "Is Charles on vacation today? I guess he was delayed by something! You should have come earlier, your eloquence might have convinced Mr. Vartan, but unfortunately..."
Francis shrugged his shoulders and said in a comforting tone: "It doesn't matter, there will be another chance, but it's just 1,800 tractors!"
He laughed.
Deyoka and Charles looked at Francis blankly, not knowing what to say.
Francis's face suddenly changed, and he said coldly: "I have been in this industry for decades, young people, I am not so easily defeated! Take care of yourselves!"
After that, he ignored the two and walked back to the villa with an umbrella accompanied by the housekeeper.
Deyoka wiped the rain off his face and pulled Charles back to the car in a somewhat embarrassed manner.
"Let's go!" Deyoka said, "It can't be changed!"
The two were quite depressed, and even the car was weak and staggered away on the road.
Francis stood in front of the door and turned his head to look at this scene coldly, with a smile on his lips again. He fought a good battle. Although Charles took the lead in all aspects, he still had better luck and could sell all the unsalable tractors piled up in the warehouse at this time.
"Master!" Simon asked: "We have sold all the inventory. Should we call back the workers to continue production?"
"No!" Francis did not hesitate at all: "Such customers only come occasionally. 'Holt 60' cannot compete with 'Holt 75'. Therefore, we must completely end the production of tractors and turn our full attention to tanks!"
"Yes, Master!" Simon responded.
Deyoka drove the car on the road for a while, turned his head and glanced in the direction of the villa. It was only a vague shadow in the dense curtain of drizzle.
Then the two smiled at each other, and relaxed and returned to normal.
"Francis was fooled!" Deyoka nodded to Charles and sighed: "For so many years, no one has ever been able to deceive him, except you!"
Valtan was not an Algerian nobleman at all. He was a drama actor found by Deyoka in Paris, and so was the servant. The commission, including the props such as the carriage, was 100 francs per day.
"It's different, father!" Charles replied calmly: "It might be difficult to cheat money from Francis, but now we are giving him money!"
"No!" Deyoka smiled and shook his head: "You have a good grasp of the details, Algerian coffee, farmers, and France's conscription from Algeria... God, the script you gave is perfect! You have grasped Francis' habits and psychology!"
"We still can't relax!" Charles reminded: "Now it's just a deposit. If Francis finds something wrong, he may still breach the contract. Even if he pays the penalty, he can make a lot of money!"
Deyoka nodded. The price that capitalists sell to the military is usually two or three times the original price. Francis could have made a net profit of four or five million francs, but now... he sold the tractor at a loss of 900 francs per vehicle, and the full price was only 1.62 million, but he was complacent and unaware of it.
Deyoka thought of Francis's smug look just now, and the only remaining guilt in his heart was thrown behind his head.
"We did the right thing!" Deyoka was firm in his thoughts: "Whether it's for ourselves or for France!"
Charles said "hmm", there is no doubt about this.
For themselves: they make money from it.
For France: the military can get the urgently needed strategic resources at a price several times cheaper, which directly affects the casualties of the battlefield.
What Charles didn't expect was that Deyoka's "for ourselves" did not refer to making money, but to Francis.
After that, Deyoka was in charge. He continued to hire drama actors to perform the whole set, and during the period, he also expressed the idea of canceling the order to stimulate Francis to deliver the goods as soon as possible.
Francis didn't doubt it at all. After all, what was handed over to him was real money. He was worried that the duck in his mouth would fly away, so he sent people to drive batches of tractors to Paris to deliver them to Vartan overnight.
In just one day, 1,800 tractors were parked on the land rented by Deyoka, covered tightly with canvas, and waiting to be sold to the military.
Deyoka said to Charles: "Now, all our money has been spent, and we have less than 10,000 francs left, which may not even be enough to pay the pilots' wages next month. If your estimate is wrong, we will go bankrupt!"
Charles just smiled and didn't answer. As a "veteran", how could his estimate be wrong?
Moreover, Charles's business philosophy is not to let anyone take advantage, and Gallieni is no exception.
...
The next day, the headquarters was busier than usual. This was obviously related to the stalemate between the two armies during the "Run to the Sea". The defense line of the two armies stretching more than 300 kilometers from Switzerland to the English Channel was being formed, which was a heavy burden for any country.
Charles didn't care about that. He walked straight to Gallieni who was busy and reported: "I'm sorry, General! I failed to complete the task you assigned to me!"
"Task?" Gallieni frowned. He didn't remember what task he had assigned to Charles.
Charles explained seriously: "I couldn't convince Charles. He said that the loan interest must be 10% no matter what, and it must be paid monthly, otherwise he would withdraw the funds of the flying club and the pilots, or sell them all!"
Galieni was stunned. He didn't expect Charles to do this.
After hearing this, the people around unconsciously slowed down their movements and cast curious glances in this direction, followed by laughter.
In their hearts, they actually felt that Charles's request was reasonable.
No one would be willing to contribute both labor and money, and Lieutenant Colonel Fernan secretly gave Charles a thumbs up!
