Chapter 115 The Perfect Script
(This is more in line with Ciel's imagination)
When Francis was sending Vartan out, Djokovic and Charles happened to arrive by car. After parking the car, they hurriedly jumped out and walked forward, completely ignoring the drizzle outside.
"Mr. Vartan!" Deyoka'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, as if he knew that the contract had been signed. He just sighed slightly and stopped.
Vartan ignored the two of them and got into the carriage. He shouted "Paris" to the driver. The carriage drove away with a roar, carrying mud and water. The mud and water raised by the wheels even splashed on Dejoka's pants.
Francis smiled happily: "Hey, Djokovic, Charles, long time no see!"
He turned his gaze 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. It's just 1,800 tractors!"
As he said this he laughed.
Djokovic and Charles stared at Francis blankly, not knowing what to say.
Francis's expression suddenly changed, and he said coldly: "I have been in this business for decades. Young man, I am not so easily defeated! Take care of yourselves!"
After saying that, he ignored the two of them and walked back to the villa with an umbrella, accompanied by the housekeeper.
Djokovic wiped the rain off his face and pulled Charles back to the car in a somewhat embarrassed manner.
"Let's go!" Djokovic said. "It can't be changed!"
The two were quite depressed, and even the car seemed to be out of breath, swaying away on the road.
Francis stood in front of the door and turned around to look at the scene coldly, with a smile on his face again. He fought a good fight. Although Charles had seized the initiative in all aspects, he still had better luck. He was able to sell all the unsaleable tractors piled up in the warehouse at this time.
"Master!" Simon asked, "We have sold all our inventory. Should we call the workers back to continue production?"
"No!" Francis said without hesitation: "Such customers only come occasionally. The Holt 60 cannot possibly compete with the Holt 75. Therefore, we must completely stop the production of tractors and turn our full attention to tanks!"
"Yes, sir!" Simon responded.
Deyoka drove the car for a while on the road, turned his head and glanced in the direction of the villa. It was just a vague shadow in the dense curtain of drizzle.
Then the two of them smiled at each other, and at the same time relaxed and returned to normal.
"Francis was fooled!" Djoka nodded to Charles and sighed, "For so many years, no one has ever been able to fool him, except you!"
Vartin was not an Algerian nobleman at all. He was a drama actor found by Dejoka in Paris, as was his servant. His commission, including props such as the carriage, was 100 francs a day.
"This is different, father!" Charles replied calmly: "It might be difficult to cheat money from Francis, but now I am giving it to him!"
"No!" Deyoka smiled and shook his head. "You have a good grasp of the details, Algerian coffee, farmers, and France's conscription of soldiers from Algeria... God, the script you gave is perfect! You grasped Francis' habits and psychology!"
"We still can't relax!" Charles reminded, "We've only paid the deposit now. If Francis finds something wrong, he may still breach the contract. Even if he pays the penalty, he can still make a lot of money!"
Deyoka nodded. The price that capitalists sold to the military was 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 tractors at a loss of 900 francs per tractor. The full price was only 1.62 million, but he was complacent and unaware of it.
Djoka thought of Francis's smug look just now, and the little guilt left in his heart was simply thrown out of his mind.
"We are doing the right thing!" Djokovic said firmly, "For ourselves and for France!"
Ciel said "hmm", there was no doubt about that.
For themselves: they make money from it.
For France: The military can obtain much-needed strategic resources at a price several times cheaper, which directly affects the casualties on the battlefield.
What Charles didn't expect was that what Dejoka meant by "for ourselves" was not about making money, but about targeting Francis.
After that, Dejoka was in charge. He continued to hire drama actors to perform the entire 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 had no doubts at all. After all, what was handed to him was real money. He was worried that the duck in his mouth would fly away, so he sent people to deliver batches of tractors to Paris and hand them over to Vartan overnight.
In just one day, all 1,800 tractors were parked on the land rented by Deyoka, covered tightly with canvas, waiting to be sold to the military.
Dejoka said to Charles: "Now, we have spent all our money, 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 prediction be wrong?
What's more, Charles' business philosophy is not to let anyone take advantage, and Gallieni is no exception.
…
The next day, the headquarters was busier than usual, which was obviously related to the stalemate between the two armies during the "Run to the Sea". A defense line 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!"
"Mission?" Gallieni frowned. He didn't remember what mission he had given to Charles.
Charles explained seriously, "I failed to convince Charles. He said that the loan interest must be 10% no matter what, and it must be paid monthly, otherwise he will withdraw the funds from the flying club and the pilots, or sell them all!"
Gallieni was stunned; he didn't expect Charles to do this.
After hearing this, the people around unconsciously slowed down their actions and cast curious glances in this direction, followed by laughter.
In their hearts, they actually felt that Charles' request was reasonable.
No one would be willing to contribute both effort and money, and Lieutenant Colonel Fernando even secretly gave Charles a thumbs up!
(End of this chapter)
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