I Became a Tycoon During World War I: Saving France from the Start

Chapter 22: 990,000 Francs

Francis had originally planned to say nothing. After all, if the patent remained with Charles and he handled the sale, Francis would get nothing from it.

But Charles added, "While we have a potential buyer lined up, we haven't signed any contracts. If you, Mr. Francis, can sell it for a higher price, we'd be happy to offer you ten percent of the final amount as a commission."

Francis was taken aback. At the current offer, ten percent would mean 60,000 francs—a sum no one would turn down.

Derek stared at Charles in shock. He'd said "we've already found a buyer" simply to avoid negotiations and leave quickly. Yet, Charles had initiated a commission discussion with Francis.

Thinking it over, Derek realized that Charles might be right; mixing personal feelings with business could weaken one's position. Perhaps this was why his father had little faith in him.

Charles, however, had his reasons. The tank patent should be sold quickly. After all, this invention was little more than a tractor with steel plates. French arms manufacturers could easily reverse-engineer or bypass the patent, and neither Charles nor the Bernard family had the power to defend the patent long-term. In time, it might be worth nothing.

Only someone with the resources to defend the patent could make it worthwhile.

Reluctantly, Francis accepted the offer. As much as he disliked it, he led Derek and Charles to meet Grevi and Armand.

Grevi stood to shake hands politely with Derek and Charles, turning to Charles and saying, "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Charles. An extraordinary invention—who would have thought a tractor could perform so impressively on the battlefield!"

Armand, however, sat with his legs crossed and barely glanced in their direction. He looked Derek and Charles up and down with a slight sneer.

Charles didn't mind. He'd heard that traditional nobles looked down on those of low birth, and it seemed to be true of at least some of them. Grevi, for his part, seemed friendly, but Charles suspected it might just be for appearances.

"You have some competition, gentlemen," Francis interjected. "I just learned this morning that while we were filing the patent in Paris, we received an offer from another party."

Francis casually cast himself as part of the seller's side, using the word "we."

To make his statement sound even more plausible, Francis added, "The offer came from Mr. Bonnit, the owner of Le Petit Journal."

"Oh?" Grevi raised an eyebrow. "And what was his offer?"

Francis looked at Derek, as if to let him answer.

Before Derek could speak, Charles responded softly, "He offered 500,000 francs."

Derek shot Charles a bewildered look. Did Bonnit really offer 500,000? Why did I think it was 100,000? Am I remembering wrong?

Armand laughed lightly, sitting up and saying confidently, "Then it appears we've won, gentlemen. We'll offer 600,000."

He had initially suspected Francis and his family might be inflating the price, but now he felt reassured.

Charles quickly added, "That's for domestic rights only."

"What do you mean by that?" Armand asked, puzzled.

"The Paris Convention, Armand," Grevi explained. "It means they can also apply for patents in other countries."

Armand paused, then gestured with open hands as if to say, So what's the final offer?

Feigning naivety, Charles turned to Francis. "Mr. Francis, how should we price foreign rights?"

Francis brightened at this opening. With a base of 500,000 francs, adding foreign rights could easily boost the sum by a few hundred thousand—meaning even more commission for him.

"I'm not entirely sure, gentlemen," Francis said. "For the British market, should we estimate it at 300,000?"

"No, Mr. Francis," Grevi interrupted. "The British don't need to produce tanks; their troops are fighting on French soil and will use French tanks."

Francis took his opening without missing a beat. "So, for Russia—a nation with pressing combat needs—we could reasonably estimate another 300,000 francs?"

Realizing he'd fallen into Francis's trap, Grevi calculated that they were now looking at a total of 800,000 francs.

The negotiation heated up:

"Russia might not use tanks at all—they have far more manpower than we do."

"No, no. No one wants to see masses of soldiers die needlessly. Tanks could win battles and save countless lives. And even if Britain doesn't immediately need tanks, they won't want to lag in military technology, so the rights still have value!"

"Why would we buy foreign rights at all? It's not like they affect us here."

"You don't have to buy them, of course, but that means we would still own the foreign rights. We could then set up a British company to produce tanks in France. Are you sure it wouldn't affect you?"

Francis had clearly mastered the art of negotiation. Derek and Charles decided to withdraw from the "battle," each taking a small plate to the side of the room to pick out some snacks.

Derek selected a slice of beef pizza, while Charles went for a piece of cream cake.

Already past lunchtime and hungry from the morning's work, they ate eagerly as they watched the nobles bicker across the room. Derek leaned close to Charles and whispered, "You lied, Charles!"

Charles nodded and replied, "So did you, Father."

Derek chuckled. "Well done. Look at them…"

…

After rounds of back-and-forth bargaining, the final agreement was struck at 1.1 million francs. Francis, however, had added one condition: the tanks would have to be produced in his tractor factory.

This was a transparent move to enrich himself, sacrificing some of Charles's benefits in favor of securing his own production rights.

Grevi and Armand didn't object. They had no factory of their own and needed a well-established tractor plant for production. And Francis's factory was the largest and most advanced in France, as well as the factory that had produced the tanks that turned the tide at Davaz. Clearly, tanks built there would gain quicker acceptance from the military.

With this arrangement agreed upon, both sides reached an easy compromise, granting production rights to the tractor factory.

Derek still couldn't believe it—1.1 million francs. After deducting Francis's commission, they would be left with 990,000 francs.

In a matter of days, they had earned 990,000 francs—without a single risk!

Any attempts to undercut, counterfeit, or attack the patent were now problems for Grevi, Armand, and Francis to handle.

(End of Chapter)

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