I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 49 Power Comes From This

"They control the lifeblood of France, Father!" Shire explained, "Steel, rifles, artillery, and warships—all of these are indispensable. As long as these capitalists close their factory gates or refuse to sell, France is finished."

Dejoka nodded thoughtfully, "Power comes from this, and no one dares to offend them because they can decide the life and death of France!"

"Yes!" Shire said, "They are the upper-class businessmen who set the rules, and the lower- and middle-class businessmen can only make money under their rules. They don’t realize that the powerful upper-class businessmen only need a word to make the lower- and middle-class businessmen lose everything. So, is money really that important?"

You need power to protect your money, and you can even use power to take others’ money. If you have money but no power, you can only watch others take your money away.

Dejoka felt that Shire’s words made sense. He had already guessed that Shire wanted to carve out a piece of the power cake from the capitalists, but he hadn’t expected it to come so quickly.

After hesitating for a while, Dejoka asked in confusion, "But the military’s power is very limited, Shire, they don’t even interfere with politics!"

"That’s not important, Father!" Shire answered, "What’s important is that the military protects France, and the capitalists control the military by selling arms, thus controlling France! The big capitalists you just mentioned all do this!"

The Wentier family is not arms dealers; they control steel, and steel is an indispensable raw material for military and civilian industries alike, so the French Government can only treat them kindly and give them privileges.

Shire finally put down his fork and rubbed his round belly as he concluded, "Although we make less money by cooperating with the military, this is our inevitable path to power, and perhaps our only chance!"

Dejoka didn’t fully understand, but he had already realized that Shire was right.

A typical counterexample is Grevy and those traditional aristocrats. Although they have money, they have been marginalized on the political stage with little influence, which is perhaps one of the reasons they are desperately trying to buy the tank patent.

Shire did not continue to elaborate. He was not being vague or mysterious; rather, there were some things that Dejoka couldn’t imagine. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

At this time, the capitalists almost monopolized everything in the military, from uniforms to rifles to cannons and warships. However, there were two fields that remained almost blank: tanks and other armored vehicles, and airplanes.

The capitalists did not want to monopolize these fields; rather, these items had not developed yet. They were unaware that these fields would have great development in the future and didn’t know how they would develop or how important they would be.

If Shire developed in the direction of rifles, he would become an enemy of the Saint-Etienne Arms Factory.

If he developed in the direction of artillery, he would rob Schneider’s business.

If he developed in the direction of warships, he would touch the interests of Brest Shipyard!

Choosing any of these would intensify conflicts with the big capitalists, and a war without smoke would soon start.

With Shire’s current strength, none of these big capitalists is someone he can provoke. They could easily stage a traffic accident to kill him.

But if Shire moved in the direction of tanks, armored vehicles, and airplanes... Then he would have no enemies or competitors. The big capitalists would at most consider purchasing the patents or whether to follow in the industry and start imitating.

This is one of the reasons why Shire has so far remained unscathed.

So, is low-priced selling with less profit important?

What’s important is being able to cooperate with the military and promote tanks, airplanes, and various armored vehicles under the name "Shire", making the military and even France inseparable from him.

One day, if Shire closes his factory gates, France could face national destruction. What would the big capitalists do then? Get rid of Shire and perish together?

From this perspective, General Gallieni misunderstood Shire. He thought Shire agreed to his plan to cooperate with the military because of "conscience".

Of course, there’s an element of conscience, as well as self-preservation. But more than that, Shire is unwilling to become a pawn in the hands of the big capitalists. He hopes to become a true tycoon, a chess player!

Perhaps sensing Shire’s ambition, Dejoka felt a bit uneasy.

Shire may not genuinely want to help civilians and soldiers; he wants to use them as pawns in his struggle against the capitalists.

But after thinking about it, Dejoka felt this was understandable.

This is a society where the weak are prey to the strong. Unless you willingly stay at the bottom and be exploited by big capitalists all your life, you can only fight your way up. Any hesitation and mercy will lead to failure and endless downfall.

This can even be considered self-preservation.

Thinking of this, Dejoka felt relieved and firmly nodded, "As I said, I will always stand by your side!"

...

Early the next morning, Dejoka went to Paris as a guardian to apply for the industrial patent of the sidecar. Accompanying Dejoka were Guillaume and several other workers.

This was Shire’s idea.

"Many parts and ideas of the sidecar were invented by the workers!" Shire said, "Like the shock absorber, triangular machine gun support... We should protect their rights!"

Dejoka agreed readily.

He was a sentimental and stylish person. He always agreed to such things quickly and felt deeply gratified by Shire’s behavior of caring for the workers.

In this respect, he was indeed not suited for business!

Shire did this for several reasons:

Firstly, it could stimulate the workers’ enthusiasm for work and innovation.

All their inventions and creations are their own. They can create wealth for themselves and are naturally more willing to invent rather than hide it as before.

Secondly, it could attract talents from other factories.

Other factories and capitalists would plunder the workers’ invention patents, while Shire protects their rights and even proactively helps them apply. Naturally, talents would be more willing to work for Shire.

Thirdly, and most importantly, it binds the workers’ fate to Shire’s.

In the future, if any capitalists imitate the sidecar, it won’t just be Shire’s problem. They would have touched the workers’ cake since the workers’ patents would also be infringed by the capitalists.

At that time, Shire wouldn’t even need to step forward. The workers would spontaneously organize protests and demonstrations, and the momentum might be much greater than if Shire called for it.

A small amount of money can yield numerous benefits, so why not do it?

Shire’s approach had remarkable effects. The factory operated all day without supervision. Dejoka and several key figures like Guillaume went to Paris, but everyone worked conscientiously and even resumed motorcycle production. The factory operated in an incredible state by itself.

Shire did not go to the factory either; Camille kept him home.

"Wait till your father comes back!" Camille’s tone was very determined, "Otherwise, you can’t go anywhere!"

Shire tried several times but couldn’t persuade Camille. She had a gentle disposition, but in this matter, she showed unexpected stubbornness.

Helpless, Shire could only lie on the bed, bored, flipping through his textbooks, wondering if the school should reopen. After all, the Germans had been repelled and lost their chance to counterattack!

Then Shire thought... His peers of the same age were about to, or had already, turned eighteen. Next year, they might have to go to the battlefield. What’s the point of returning to school to study?