I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 49: Hence the Power
"They hold the lifeblood of France, father!" Charles explained. "Steel, rifles, cannons, and warships. They are all indispensable. If these capitalists close the doors of their factories or refuse to sell them, France will be finished."

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

"Yes!" Charles said, "They are the upper-class merchants who make the rules, and the middle- and low-class merchants can only make money under their rules. They don't know that the upper-class merchants with power only need to say a word to make the middle- and low-class merchants lose everything. So, is money really that important?"

Only with power can you keep your money, and you can even use power to steal other people's money. If you have money but no power, you can only watch others steal your money.

Djoka felt that what Charles said made sense. He had guessed before that Charles wanted to cut a piece of power from the capitalists, but he just didn't expect it to come so soon.

After hesitating for a while, Deyoka asked doubtfully, "But the military's power is very limited, Charles. They don't even interfere in politics!"

"That's not important, father!" Charles replied, "What's important is that the military protects France, and the capitalists control the military by selling arms, thereby achieving their goal of controlling France! Those big capitalists you just mentioned all do this!"

Among them, the Unter family is not an arms dealer. What they control is steel, which is an indispensable raw material for military industry and civilian industry. Therefore, the French government can only give them privileges in a friendly manner.

Charles finally put down his fork, touched his bulging belly and concluded: "Although we make less money by cooperating with the military, this is the only way for us to gain power, and it may be our only chance!"

Djokovic didn't quite understand what he heard, but he realized that Charles was right.

A typical counterexample is the traditional nobles in Greve. Although they are rich, they have been marginalized on the political stage and have little influence. This may be one of the reasons why they are desperate to buy the ownership of the tank.

Charles didn't go on to elaborate. He wasn't trying to keep the secret or act mysterious, but some things were beyond Djoka's imagination.

At this time, the capitalists took control of almost everything in the military, from uniforms to rifles to cannons and warships, but there were two areas that were almost blank: armored vehicles such as tanks, and aircraft.

It’s not that the capitalists don’t want to take over, but these things have not yet developed. They don’t realize that these two areas will develop greatly in the future, nor do they know how they will develop, and of course they don’t know how important they are.

If Charles develops in the direction of rifles, he will become an enemy of the Saint-Etienne Arsenal.

Developing in the direction of artillery would steal Schneider's business.

The development into warships affects the interests of the Brest Shipyard!

No matter which one is chosen, it will intensify the conflict with the big capitalists, and a war without gunpowder will soon begin.

With Charles' current strength, he can't afford to offend any of these big capitalists. They can easily create a traffic accident and kill him.

But if Charles goes in the direction of tanks, armored vehicles and aircraft... then there will be no enemies or competitors, and the big capitalists will at most consider the issue of purchasing the property rights or whether to follow this industry and start imitating.

This is one of the reasons why Charles is still safe and sound.

So, is it important to sell at a lower price and make less money?
What is important is to cooperate with the military to promote tanks, aircraft and various armored vehicles to the army under the name of "Charles", so that the army and even France cannot do without him.

One day, if Charles closes the factory gate, France may be destroyed. What can the big capitalists do to Charles? Kill Charles and perish together?

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

Of course there is an element of conscience and self-protection, but more importantly, Charles is unwilling to become a pawn in the hands of big capitalists. He hopes to become a true chaebol and a chess player!
Perhaps sensing Charles' ambition, Djokovic felt a little unhappy.

Perhaps Charles did not really want to help the people and soldiers, he wanted to use them as bargaining chips in his fight against the capitalists.

But on second thought, Djokovic felt that this was understandable. This was a society where the strong preyed on the weak. Unless one was willing to stay at the bottom of society and be exploited by the big capitalists, one had no choice but to fight one's way to the top. Any hesitation or leniency would lead to failure and a never-ending chance of recovery.

This can even be considered self-protection.

Djokovic felt relieved when he thought of this. He nodded firmly: "Like I said, I will always stand on your side!"

……

The next morning, Dejoka went to Paris as a guardian to apply for the industrial property rights of the sidecar. Dejoka was accompanied by several workers including Guillaume.

This was Charles' idea.

"Many parts and ideas of the sidecar were thought up by workers!" said Charles, "such as shock absorbers and triangular machine gun struts... We should protect their rights!"

Djokovic readily agreed.

He was a sentimental and graceful man, so he always agreed to such things readily and was deeply pleased with Charles's behavior of caring for the workers.

From this aspect, he is indeed not suitable for business!

Charles did this for several reasons:

First, it can stimulate workers' work enthusiasm and creativity.

All their inventions belong to them and can create wealth for themselves, so of course they would rather invent rather than hide them as before.

Second, it can attract talents from other factories.

Other factories and capitalists would plunder the workers' intellectual property rights of their inventions, but Charles protects their rights and even takes the initiative to help them apply for them. Talented people are naturally more willing to work for Charles.

The third is the most important, as it can tie the workers' fate to the Shire.

If someday in the future there are still capitalists who imitate sidecars, it will not just be Charles's problem. They are also touching the workers' cake, because the property rights in the hands of the workers are also infringed by the capitalists.

By then, Charles won't even need to take the lead, the workers will spontaneously organize marches and protests, and the momentum may be much greater than what Charles calls for.

Why not spend a little money to get many benefits?
Charles's approach was very effective. The factory was unattended for the entire day. Several key members, including Dejoka and Guillaume, went to Paris, but everyone worked conscientiously and even resumed the production of motorcycles. The factory operated on its own in an incredible manner.

Charles didn't go to the factory either, so Camille locked him up at home.

"Wait until your father comes back!" Camille said firmly, "Otherwise you can't go anywhere!"

Charles tried several times to convince Camille but failed. Camille was indecisive by nature, but in this regard she was unshakable and showed unexpected stubbornness.

Helplessly, Charles could only lie on the bed and flip through the textbooks, wondering if school should resume. After all, the Germans had been repelled and lost the opportunity to counterattack!

Then, Charles thought again...his classmates of the same age as him are about to turn 18 or have already turned 18. They will most likely go to the battlefield next year. What's the point of returning to school?
(End of this chapter)