I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

Chapter 567: The United States is a Big Fat Meat

Stokes left completely satisfied, even though Shire had set a series of stringent conditions in the cooperation agreement.

For example, the factory must be reformed in Lavaz, the tractor factory must train relevant personnel, and cooperation with Britain can only commence after three years.

Stokes agreed to all of it straightforwardly, understanding that Shire’s guard was against Britain, not Scott Machinery Company.

More importantly, he knew Shire was irreplaceable, whereas the machinery company was not.

If Stokes refused these conditions today and chose not to cooperate, hundreds of machinery companies would immediately line up to collaborate with Shire.

Stokes even believed that Shire had absolutely no need to choose a British machinery company, as a local company would be much safer.

That was true, but not entirely.

Shire felt compensatory, as he had appropriated Stokes’ mortar invention, yet gave him one tank gun idea in return.

But that was just part of it.

"I’m not sure if this is feasible," Dejoka looked at the cooperation agreement, a bit concerned, "Scott Machinery is, after all, a British company, Shire. Once there is a conflict of national interests, no agreement will work."

It was obvious, in the face of national interests, agreements between companies were nothing but scraps of paper.

But Shire was not worried.

"French machinery companies might be even less reliable, Father," Shire replied, "because most of them are related to Schneider."

Then Shire added, "If Stokes is smart enough, he will strive to protect our interests rather than Britain’s."

Dejoka seemed to understand that Shire would have many more inventions to "keep" Stokes interested.

At the same time, Shire’s real opponent was Schneider, not the British machinery companies. From a personal perspective, British machinery companies were actually safer.

However, wasn’t this placing personal interests above national interests?

Dejoka glanced at Shire.

Shire said nothing, as some things couldn’t be explained.

Historically, even though Britain was the country that invented tanks, due to the island nation’s emphasis on navy and air force over the army, its tanks had always been on an awkward path.

From the infantry tanks of World War II to the post-war stubborn use of rifled guns, ultimately, they had to switch to smoothbore guns, falling far behind the times.

Regarding this country, which always had problems with its development direction, Shire was not worried that it would become a competitor in tanks and could cooperate boldly.

But Dejoka wasn’t thinking about that. From another angle, he found a plausible excuse for Shire:

Shire was the most conscientious capitalist; his interests represented national interests.

Yes, that must be it!

Then Dejoka thought of something. He got up, walked to the desk, took out a document from a drawer, and handed it to Shire:

"Your decisions have all been correct."

"Our insurance industry has developed very smoothly, both in Britain and in France."

"In just a few months, we have acquired over a hundred insurance companies, 48 in Britain, and 71 in France."

Shire took the document and saw the insurance company data.

He flipped to the back and was almost shocked by the final data. Excluding the rapidly growing francs and pounds, just the dollars exchanged amounted to over 120 million.

It should be noted that Britain only borrowed a little over 10 billion dollars from the United States during the entire World War I, which had determined the direction of the war. Yet Shire alone possessed over 100 million dollars in foreign exchange.

It was the credit of the war, Shire sighed, which could quickly multiply wealth exponentially.

"This is after we provided large quantities of supplies to the front lines," Dejoka raised his eyebrows, "The 6th Army of over 200,000 men, we had spent over 30 million dollars on it."

Dejoka felt this was a pity, "Although I know you saved many people, this money should not have been our responsibility."

Dejoka meant that this could be reported to the parliament for reimbursement, as it was funds used to solve the army’s mutiny issue.

"It was worth it, Father," Shire replied, not planning to do so.

"Alright," Dejoka nodded, "what should we do next? Continue purchasing supplies?"

Shire casually looked over the document and shook his head, "No, I plan to develop military industry in the United States."

"Develop military industry in the United States?" Dejoka, who was sipping coffee, stopped mid-action, looking at Shire in amazement, "Are you really planning to do this?"

Shire nodded lightly.

"Which areas?" Dejoka asked again.

"All of them," Shire replied, "light machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, grenades, helmets."

Dejoka put down the coffee cup, his voice slightly tense, "Have you considered whether the United States needs these things? What I mean is, the United States is a neutral country; its current national policy is not to participate in the war. I think you must have heard of the ’Monroe Doctrine’?"

(Note: The Monroe Doctrine was published in 1823, wherein the United States declared neutrality in European conflicts or wars between European powers and their American colonies. Any related conflicts in the Americas would be considered hostile actions by the United States.)

"Yes, Father," Shire closed the document, finding the data meaningless. What mattered was how to multiply them.

"Then you should understand that the United States won’t participate in the war."

Dejoka believed Shire’s decision was wrong. The United States not entering the war meant they wouldn’t need those weapons, making developing military industry in the United States unpromising.

"The United States will enter the war," Shire answered confidently, standing up and returning the data to Dejoka.

In his eyes, the United States was a big, fat piece of meat.

Everyone, including the United States itself, thought it wouldn’t enter the war, so it was almost entirely unprepared for it.

This made the United States severely lacking in weaponry and equipment upon entering the war, wearing "cowboy hats" (also known as Montana hats or lemon squeezer hats), with no tanks, no armored vehicles, and relying on France for machine guns, even if they were as unreliable as the Shao Sha Machine Gun.

Shire thought, why not intercept in the United States?

Sell the equipment to the United States for profits, then use American money to buy supplies to ship to France, thus completely getting rid of dependence on British materials, including the "Minister of the Navy’s" materials.

"Alright!" Seeing Shire’s persistence, Dejoka felt he should trust Shire’s judgment, as Shire had yet to be wrong: "Then, whom do you think we should send to the United States?"

Shire immediately gave a name, "What about Joseph?"

"Joseph?" Dejoka was surprised, "His loyalty is undoubted, but he doesn’t know much about the military."

Joseph was Matthew’s father, the most loyal housekeeper of the Bernard family, who had been the director of the tractor factory all along.

"He doesn’t need to know the military, Father," Shire replied, "he just needs to know how to manage and do business."

How many people in this era running arms factories and selling weapons truly understood the military?

Steed?

Wells?

Or James!