I Became a Tycoon During World War I - Chapter 111

Chapter 111: The Capitalists' Price War

Eric's airplane factory was located in the 20th arrondissement of Paris.

The 20th arrondissement was a poor district. Eric believed placing the airplane factory there would allow him to hire low-cost workers.

However, the reality was: if he couldn’t sell even one airplane, no matter how cheap the workers were, he couldn’t afford to hire them.

When Charles went to the factory to finalize the contract, he brought Djoka along. Charles’s money was managed by Djoka, and without him, Charles couldn’t pay for anything.

Djoka happened to be at the municipal building near the command headquarters, applying for industrial rights for the Congreve rocket. The Congreve rocket itself had nothing to do with Charles, nor did airplanes, but attaching rockets to planes to shoot down balloons—now that was directly related to him.

Under industrial rights law, if the Entente wanted to use this method on the battlefield, they would have to pay Charles a licensing fee. This was one of Charles’s key sources of income.

Charles called home and learned from Camille where Djoka was. He immediately sent someone to the municipal building to fetch Djoka, who came with his checkbook and drove over.

When Djoka found out that Charles planned to spend hundreds of thousands of francs to buy an airplane factory and a flying club, he was so astonished his mouth could have fit an apple.

“Have you thought this through? Do you really want to spend 400,000 francs to buy an airplane factory?” Djoka asked anxiously on the drive to the factory, ignoring that Eric was sitting in the back seat.

“Yes, Father!” Charles replied firmly. “As long as it can produce airplanes!”

Eric was moved. Everyone knew airplane factories were difficult to run, but this young man was sticking to his promise, even though he knew it would lose money.

What Eric didn’t know was that Charles had already received orders from the military and was eager to get the factory running.

When they arrived, what they saw surprised Charles and Djoka. The factory was well-maintained, and even the machines were spotless and free of rust.

“It can produce about fifty airplanes a month,” Eric explained. “As soon as workers are hired, production can begin immediately!”

Djoka was skeptical. He asked Eric, “I heard your factory hasn’t sold many planes and that you owe the bank a lot of money. How is the factory still in such good shape?”

Eric replied somewhat awkwardly, “That’s because I’ve always wanted to sell it. I knew no one would want to buy a pile of junk, so whenever I had time, I maintained the equipment. A few months ago, I even borrowed money to purchase a production line for Gnome rotary engines. This gave the factory the capability to produce Avro airplanes. The cost was that I’ve been homeless ever since…”

Charles was puzzled. “Uncle Eric, you knew airplanes didn’t have a market. Why did you still do all this?”

Eric smiled helplessly. “Lieutenant, do you understand the mentality of a gambler? They always think they can turn things around with one last bet, so they keep putting money on the table. I guess I’m a gambler, just not at a casino. I’m gambling with the factory!”

Charles nodded in understanding.

Some businessmen indeed had this mindset. They figured that since they already owed the bank so much that they couldn’t repay it, why not take one last gamble? Maybe they’d succeed and turn their fortunes around!

Eric gambled on the Avro because he knew it was an excellent airplane with low production costs.

However, he ultimately lost everything because there was no market for it.

If only he could have held on for just a bit longer—ten days, twenty days, maybe a month—he would have seen the dawn of the aviation industry’s spring. He would have made a fortune as orders poured in.

But at this critical juncture, he planned to sell what had been his life’s work and hope for a low price of 400,000 francs. And yet, he still felt gratitude toward Charles.

This made Charles feel a bit guilty.

But Charles quickly set aside that useless guilt. He understood that business was like this. He knew the future and could seize opportunities.

Eric didn’t know that he would eventually sell the factory or have it seized by the bank.

Just then, a man in a suit and tie carrying a black briefcase appeared at the door. He knocked and looked directly at Eric, saying, “Mr. Eric, I’m from the Bank of France.”

Eric asked doubtfully, “Here to repossess the factory? I’ll have money to pay you back very soon!”

“No.” The suited man glanced at Djoka and Charles before stepping forward, pulling a document from his briefcase, and handing it to Eric. “We’d like to buy your factory. Would you be interested?”

Eric flipped through the document and stared at the man in surprise. “450,000 francs? You’re offering 450,000 francs to buy the factory?”

“Yes!” The man nodded. “After deducting the 350,000 francs you owe the bank, you’d still receive 100,000 francs.”

As he spoke, the man pulled a contract from his jacket pocket and handed Eric a pen. “If everything looks fine, please sign here.”

Charles suddenly understood why Gallieni had discussed certain matters with him in the lounge.

The military had no secrets from capitalists, not even at headquarters. Capitalists were quick to grasp the needs of the military—it was an opportunity for them.

Now the capitalists knew the military needed airplanes. They needed a lot of airplanes.

They even knew that Charles intended to buy Eric’s factory for 400,000 francs, so they offered 450,000 francs to snatch it away.

Djoka looked at Charles in shock, as if asking whether they should raise their bid.

Charles shook his head slightly. If they raised the price, the bank would just counter with an even higher offer. They couldn’t win a price war against the Bank of France.

Charles nodded at Eric and said, “This is perfectly normal, Uncle Eric. You should accept the money. Congratulations!”

He turned to leave with Djoka.

But before they had taken a few steps, Eric called out, “Wait, kid!”

Eric handed the contract and documents back to the suited man. “Sorry, sir, you’re too late. The factory has already been sold. If you want to buy it, you’ll need to speak to its real owner.”

He winked at Charles as he spoke.

The suited man was baffled. He had arrived in time and offered 50,000 francs more, yet Eric had rejected him!

“Are you dissatisfied with the price?” the man asked, puzzled. “We can negotiate…”

“No, sir,” Eric interrupted. “As I said, I’ve already sold it.”

Later, Eric explained to Charles, “This isn’t for you, kid! I just don’t want to work with capitalists. They must have ulterior motives!”

But Charles knew the truth: it was because of Eric’s promise. Eric believed that Charles had helped him in his darkest hour, and he couldn’t betray him at the last moment.

No wonder Eric couldn’t be a successful businessman.

But as a capitalist, Charles valued Eric as an assistant and partner.

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