Chapter 131 The competitor is not just Charles

At this time, Simon came in and said something to Francis. Francis' eyelids twitched and he gritted his teeth and said, "Is this true?"

"Yes!" Simon nodded and replied: "The military's 'Holt 60' is all purchased from the Charles Tractor Factory. The current number is 1,000 units, and the unit price is 2,500 francs!"

Francis didn't speak. He looked calm on the surface, but his heart was bleeding. He didn't even have the courage to count his losses.

"Master!" Simon suggested: "We still have a chance. If the military has such a big demand, we can recruit workers back to produce. We can produce 500 vehicles per month..."

Francis shook his head gently. Simon may be a good steward, but he is by no means an excellent businessman.

"The military's needs have been almost absorbed by these tractors!" Francis said helplessly: "Next, our competitor is still Shire's 'Holt 75'. What do you think of the two tractors? In front of the military, who will the military choose? "

Simon was speechless. Any fool knew that he should choose the "Holt 75" with more horsepower and faster speed.

In other words, Francis has been completely kicked out of the tractor industry by Shire!

It is unimaginable that Francis, who has been running a large factory of this scale for decades and is shrewd and cautious and is known as a business genius, was actually defeated by a child who had only been in business for more than a month and started from scratch, and failed miserably!

It seems that what is waiting for Francis is to sell off the redundant factories and production lines of the factory, leaving only a small part to fully produce tanks.

The embarrassing thing is, who would be willing to buy the backward "Holt 60" production line?

It seems that only Shire Tractor Factory is willing to bid. They can upgrade some of their production lines into "Holt 75" production lines.

If he wants to sell it, Francis must find Charles, otherwise, he will just throw the production line away as garbage!

Francis seemed to have thought of this, and he "hummed" and his face became more and more gloomy.

How much money will Shire use to purchase the production line?

Fifty thousand francs? Or even less…

Francis plans to discuss it with Grevi and Armand first. Maybe they will buy it, or they know someone who is willing to buy it. Who knows?

This is the only thing Francis can be thankful for, his aristocratic "friends" did not abandon him!

However, when Francis' car was about to leave the factory, it was stopped by several French soldiers.

Simon, who was driving in the front, turned around and explained: "They came here early this morning to set up posts, saying they were to protect the safety of tank production!"

"Sir, your ID!" A lieutenant stood in front of the car expressionlessly.

After reading the documents handed over by Francis, he turned his attention to the document bag next to his seat and asked, "What is that?"

"You don't need to know!" Francis replied impatiently.

That was the drawing of a new tank that he planned to bring to discuss improvement plans with Grevi and others.

"It's necessary, sir!" the lieutenant said in a cold voice, "In addition to protecting your safety, our mission here is to protect national secrets!"

Francis had no choice but to hand the document bag to the lieutenant.

The lieutenant opened it, took out the document and took a glance at it. He immediately became alert. He locked his gaze on Francis and asked, "This is..."

"Tank design drawing!" Francis answered truthfully: "I am going to improve it..."

"I'm sorry, sir!" the lieutenant handed the design drawing back to Francis: "You can't take it out. If you must do this, you need to file it in advance, detailing the content of the document, where it goes, and what its purpose is. , we will send someone to go with you!”

Francis, who was not in a bad mood at first, suddenly became furious. He roared: "Lieutenant, I just produce tanks and sell them to you guys. You have no right to interfere with my freedom..."

Before he could finish his words, the next few words gradually became lighter and finally disappeared, because the lieutenant had straightened up and held the gun case on his waist, and several guards in front of the car also took off their rifles from their shoulders.

The lieutenant's voice turned stern, with a hint of command in his tone: "Sorry, sir! You did only sell us tanks, but we paid the money and risked our lives on the battlefield. If the enemy knows the weaknesses of the tanks, , our soldiers will die in droves on the battlefield, do you still insist that this is your freedom?"

At the end of the sentence, the lieutenant even had a murderous look in his eyes.

Helpless, Francis could only ask the housekeeper to drive the car back and leave the tank design in the villa.

This time, the lieutenant added an extra step to the body search procedure. He said, "I have reason to suspect that you brought the design drawing with you, sir. After all, it is just a piece of paper!"

Francis gritted his teeth and said nothing. He knew that there was no point in saying anything to these guards!

…

When he arrived at Blyde Manor, Francis' first words were: "Can you remove the guards at my door? They are as annoying as flies. They almost killed me just because of a blueprint!"

Armand knew nothing about this, so he asked doubtfully: "What guard?"

Grevy had been to the factory in Charles and knew some of the situation. He sat in front of the stove and elegantly warmed his hands in front of the warm firelight. He calmly asked, "Whose guard do you think they are?"

"Whose?" Francis didn't understand what he meant: "Isn't it sent by the government?"

"They are Gallieni's cronies, Francis!" Grevi laughed: "They are used to protect Charles!"

Francis suddenly realized, Charles, Charles again, everything is Charles!

Then he thought, Pierre's military service had been arranged, why did it suddenly go wrong?

Obviously, it was Charles too!

Francis felt that he was fooled, and he even wanted to settle accounts with Charles immediately.

But Grevy didn't care about these at all. He took off his white gloves and threw them on the coffee table next to him, stood up and walked to the stove, staring at the fire and said thoughtfully: "We are in trouble, gentlemen, our competitors are not just Charles!"

Francis looked at Grevy in doubt. He didn't believe that anyone else could produce tanks except Charles.

Grevy then gave the answer: "Schneider, gentlemen! They have obtained the support of Joffre and the Automotive Technical Service Department and are developing a new type of tank!"

Everyone was shocked!

Schneider is a long-established military industrial enterprise in France that produces artillery and warships. It has funds, strength and technology.

Joffre is the commander-in-chief of France.

The Automobile Technical Service Department is the government department that manages military vehicles.

Put the three together, it seems that no one can compete with them!