I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 46: Revised - The Despicable Middleman

The common people’s house had no dedicated living room or study for conversations, so Camille hurriedly cleared the still-untidy dining table to use as a meeting point.

Shire glanced at Gallieni. He was a person who didn’t care much about his appearance; his glasses sat unevenly on his nose, his white mustache was unkempt, and his suit didn’t fit well. He looked like a disheveled and frail old man, hard to imagine he was France’s most militarily talented general.

Before Shire and Dejoka could speak, Gallieni preemptively said, "You must be wondering why I want to talk to you in secret, right?"

Dejoka nodded, but Shire remained calm.

Gallieni was somewhat surprised by Shire’s reaction. He asked, "Have you already guessed?"

"You don’t want those capitalists controlling the Senate to know!" Shire replied.

"Smart kid!" A slight smile appeared on Gallieni’s lips, "As expected of the inventor of the tank and the sidecar. If I’m not mistaken, the tactics used by Major Brownie were also taught by you, weren’t they?"

Shire did not deny it; Gallieni couldn’t be fooled.

Dejoka hesitated and looked at Shire, unsure whether to tell Gallieni about drawing the Germans to Davaz as well.

Shire said, "It’s the same with the General, father. He knows it was us!"

At first, Gallieni was puzzled, but soon realized, "So it was you who lured the Germans here and exposed their flanks to us? I had always suspected, but didn’t expect it was truly you..."

"It was Shire, General!" Dejoka said, "All Shire’s idea!"

Gallieni looked admiringly at Shire without reservation in his eyes:

"Brilliant idea, Shire. I never thought it possible, especially spreading rumors to make the Germans believe Paris was an empty city! It fooled everyone!"

"If Kluck knew he was defeated by a child, I wonder how he would react!"

"I’m 17, General!" Shire protested.

Gallieni chuckled. After all, he was just a child, even wishing he could appear a bit more mature. When he reached Gallieni’s age, he would understand how great youth is.

Gallieni’s gaze towards Shire gradually softened, and his tone changed from formal to casual:

"Let’s get back to business, little guy."

"You should have heard about the tanks, right? After you sold the tank’s industrial property to Grevy, they used this war to hold the military hostage; the military is still in tense negotiations with them!"

Dejoka became somewhat anxious, "We had no choice, General..."

"I know!" Gallieni interrupted Dejoka, "Don’t misunderstand, Mr. Dejoka! I’m not here to condemn you. The industrial property is yours to sell, I have no right to question it. I just want to see... if we can solve this problem!"

"What problem?" Dejoka asked, somewhat confused.

Gallieni didn’t directly answer. He calmly took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, placing one on the left and another on the right of the table, saying, "These are you, this is the army. The army needs tanks, you produce tanks; between us is a simple buyer-seller relationship. However..."

Gallieni placed the cigarette box in the middle, tapping it with his fingers, "The Senate stands in the middle, gentlemen! Military procurement needs Senate approval, you cannot deal directly with the military. Here lies the problem: efficiency, price, quality, time—all have issues and we have no choice but to buy! You are also pressured to sell, even forced to sell your industrial property!"

Dejoka let out an "oh": "Those capitalists controlling the Senate, they forcefully use the system to become middlemen, profiting off the difference!"

He suddenly understood why Gallieni, as a general, had to secretly meet with Shire. This wasn’t just a simple meeting, but bypassing the "middlemen" to contact the seller directly, touching the fundamental interests of the "middlemen!"

If the capitalists knew about this, they might plot an actual "kidnapping" of Shire.

"Exactly!" General Gallieni nodded, "This forces us to buy low-quality equipment at several times the price, sometimes missing opportunities due to price disagreements. For instance, the army currently can’t get tanks unless we agree to purchase them at 6000 francs each!" freёweɓnovel.com

This price shocked Dejoka and Shire.

The first-generation tank was merely a tractor welded with steel plates and a machine gun, costing only about a thousand francs, yet capitalists sold it to the military for 6000 francs!

Clearly, they were taking advantage of the urgency of war to extort the military and make huge profits.

General Gallieni coldly said, "They have hijacked France’s future and dignity, as well as the lives of soldiers and citizens, to achieve their goal of embezzling tax money!"

"Despicable!" Dejoka, although aware of how heartless the capitalists could be, didn’t expect them to use such vile means to exploit the nation’s calamity. He vented his indignation: "Why can’t the military procure independently?"

"Because they believe the military shouldn’t have too much power!" Gallieni explained, "Once the military has power, it can easily control the country!"

Dejoka fell silent, recognizing this was a convenient excuse for the capitalists.

Shire asked, "General, what can we do? We cannot change the current situation!"

"You’re right, little guy!" Gallieni nodded appreciatively, "If you were as greedy as the capitalists, we would have no options. Once the military reaches a private agreement with you on a price, the capitalists can always use their power to block the deal and offer double or triple the price. Thus, the military always loses in bidding wars with the capitalists, without exception!"

Shire nodded in understanding.

The capitalists were spending France’s treasury, taxpayer money; the military budget could hardly compete with them.

"But if there’s a conscientious capitalist, the situation changes!" Gallieni’s deep gaze fixated on Shire, "He must resist the high-price temptation offered by the capitalists, be willing to earn less, yet firmly choose to deal with the military, and establish a long-term cooperative relationship or even form some kind of alliance with the military. In other words, stand on the same side as the military against the capitalists’ control. Can you do that?"

Dejoka wore an odd expression. A businessman’s goal is profit, and the highest bidder wins as a natural law, fundamental to market principles.

But now Gallieni was demanding they break these market principles and choose the lower-bidding military, which in Francis’ eyes would seem foolish!

Gallieni’s gaze never left Shire.

He had done extensive research on Shire beforehand, knowing Shire used his funds to help field hospitals and aid the wounded. He believed Shire was a conscientious capitalist, otherwise, he wouldn’t have made this trip.

Shire remained silent for a while, then asked, "General, can you solve the military’s problem? I mean, how can you bypass the Senate’s control to procure independently?"

Gallieni answered straightforwardly, "Wartime emergency regulations; during a state of war, the military has the power to choose the best equipment!"

Gallieni then added, "Of course, the prerequisite is ’better’!"