I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 109: Gallieni’s Money is Not Easy to Earn

Carter’s flight club was in the 10th district.

Paris East Station was in this district, and Carter believed that planes and trains were both modes of transportation, so setting up the flight club here might bring more business.

The fact was that many people only knew of the existence of planes. They might exclaim in surprise when they saw a plane flying overhead: "Look, there’s a big kite."

However, getting them to spend money to fly was another matter; they would rather choose to ride horses.

After the banks showed up at Eric’s airplane manufacturing plant, Dejoka immediately realized that Shire might be right... If the airplane manufacturing plant had no business prospects, the banks wouldn’t be eager to buy it.

Thus, Dejoka was a bit worried that the flight club might be in the same situation.

"We need to hurry!" Dejoka said. "The bank people might already be negotiating prices at the flight club. That Carter... just hope he is as convinced about you as Eric!"

Dejoka stomped the gas pedal to the floor, wishing he could turn his car into a plane and rush to the flight club.

But Shire wasn’t anxious at all and advised Dejoka, "Relax, father! The bank won’t be interested in the flight club!"

"Why?" Dejoka turned his head slightly and looked at Shire in confusion. "What makes it different from the airplane manufacturing plant?"

"Of course!" Shire answered. "The airplane manufacturing plant can monopolize technology, but the flight club is just a piece of land. The military can easily find another place to replace it!"

"But there are pilots!" Dejoka argued. "There aren’t many people who can fly planes!"

"Pilots can be trained in batches!" Shire glanced at the pedestrians on both sides of the car. "Perhaps the least valuable thing in the world is people. Capitalists aren’t foolish enough to compete with the military for personnel!"

Dejoka felt that Shire’s words made sense. After all, the military had the power to draft, and competing with the military for people wouldn’t make money and might even cause trouble. It was clearly unwise, very unwise!

Thinking of this, Dejoka wasn’t so nervous anymore and eased off the gas pedal.

Sure enough, when the car drove into the flight club, they didn’t find the bank people.

The flight club was a mess, full of pilots, with various models of planes parked on the airfield. When they saw Shire’s car come in, they cheered and raised their hands to salute him.

They were all pilots from around Paris. Hearing that Shire would offer them high salaries, they came flooding in, one after another.

Shire welcomed everyone and asked Carter to screen them, keeping those who could actually fly planes or had relevant skills, such as the ability to repair and maintain planes or manage the airfield.

Dejoka felt a bit uneasy and pulled Shire aside, lowering his voice: "Shire, we only have a little over two hundred thousand francs, and most of that is the deposit from the motorcycle factory. We spent over fifty thousand today, and signing so many pilots will be a continuous expense. Are you sure..."

"We don’t have to pay the pilots’ salaries, father!" Shire interrupted Dejoka. "The club as well; they are needed by the military!"

"What?" Dejoka looked at Shire in confusion. "So, are you signing them as Shire or on behalf of the military?"

"Sometimes I don’t really know!" Shire admitted frankly. "General Gallieni put me in charge of this area, but he didn’t explain much. He only mentioned that it might be converted for military use in the future..." freewёbnoνel.com

After thinking for a while, Shire explained, "I think he means for me to sign them in my name for now. This helps maintain secrecy, so the Germans won’t realize our preparations too early. Once they prove their worth on the battlefield and meet military expectations, they will be converted for military use!"

Dejoka was somewhat disappointed. This meant the club and the pilots were merely Shire’s tasks rather than a business opportunity.

What he didn’t know was that Shire had bought the flight club from Carter for 100,000 francs today, and if the military found it "useful" in the future, they would buy it at an assessed value of 300,000 francs.

The pilots indeed had nothing to do with the business; they were military personnel from the start, and no one could take them away.

Soon, Shire discovered that the money wasn’t as easy to earn as he thought. Gallieni was notoriously tight-fisted with military expenses, and he was known for arguing with capitalists before.

Shire signed contracts for most of the day, eventually selecting 137 pilots, and also repurchased several well-maintained planes in their possession, covering various models: "Pigeon," "Gaudron," "Breguet," and even the German "DD-type Albatross."

(Note: Before the outbreak of World War I, the "DD-type Albatross" had set multiple world records within a few months and was highly popular among aviation enthusiasts.)

Shire took his signed contracts to report to Gallieni, explaining which planes could be used for reconnaissance, which ones could be equipped with rockets for combat, and some could be used as training aircraft for new learners.

"Very good!" Gallieni said while reading the report and listening, nodding in approval from time to time: "I am very satisfied!"

"So..." Shire raised the file in his hand. "We purchased twenty-one planes, which cost 173,000 francs, plus the first payment of the pilots’ salaries, a total of 181,500 francs!"

Shire meant to ask: Where should the spent money be reimbursed?

This didn’t even include the cost of buying the flight club. Should you repay me the original 100,000 francs now or the assessed 300,000 francs in the future? You need to give me a clear answer!

Unexpectedly, Gallieni answered leisurely: "You know, Lieutenant, the military recently purchased a batch of tanks, and a large amount of sidecars, along with recruiting many new soldiers. We are already seriously in deficit and unable to pay for other expenses right now!"

"But General!" Shire looked at the file in his hand. "I’ve already spent the money..."

"Indeed!" Gallieni said. "I certainly won’t let you spend it for nothing. How about we consider a 5% loan interest rate? It’s like the military borrowing money from you!"

Shire immediately refused, "That’s the lowest interest rate; it’s difficult to get such a rate from a bank!"

Shire was a capitalist who understood future trends. He could quickly turn money into more money, like a snowball growing rapidly. Therefore, even lending at a 10% interest rate wasn’t profitable, let alone 5%.

"Then..." Gallieni said, "I might need to send an advisor to negotiate with you and persuade you to accept this plan!"

Shire raised his eyebrows. No matter who you send, I’m not going to agree!

Unexpectedly, Gallieni closed the file in his hand, stared at Shire, and said, "Lieutenant, you complete this task!"

Shire was stunned. He immediately understood Gallieni’s intention: he was sending Shire, the "advisor," to negotiate with Shire, the "capitalist!"

Can it really be done this way?

This wouldn’t be one of the reasons you drafted me as an advisor, would it?

This old fox!