Looking at such a charming face on the other side, Eugène-Schneider felt a little distracted for a moment.

"...... your sister?" He looked at His Excellency the Minister in front of him in disbelief.

"Yes, she's my sister." Charles smiled and admitted, "Don't you think it's weird?" ”

"Yes...... Don't ......" Eugène-Schneider immediately admitted, and then immediately denied, "Your Excellency, I mean ......"

"It's nothing, it's normal for you to be surprised, don't apologize to me." Charles shrugged his shoulders, "You don't have to think of her here today as my sister, as my assistant - if you wanted to tell me anything, you can still tell me now, and you can say whatever you want." ”

"Your Excellency...... All right. Eugène-Schneider was still a little embarrassed, but he soon remembered the reality that he didn't have much money to bargain with, so he had to agree.

"I'm here to visit you today, but I actually have a request for you." He immediately adjusted his mindset and then said his subject. "I hope to be able to get your help."

"A lot of people have asked me, and you're not the only one." Charles replied quietly, as if he really didn't understand what the other party meant, "Then can you tell me what exactly you need my help with?" ”

"As you know, Your Excellency, I am now the head of all the enterprises and factories under the name of the Schneider family." Eugène-Schneider reluctantly froze, then continued, "I ...... I'd like to ask you to open up so that we can take on more orders from the government so that we can ...... in order to maintain the operation of our factories. ”

"That sounds like a very difficult request." Charles couldn't help laughing, "The government's order was determined by the government after detailed evaluation and deliberation, and I can't interfere more, so how can I talk about it on the Internet?" ”

"Your Excellency, there may be some problems with my wording, but I think you understand what I mean." Eugène-Schneider was a little anxious, "In short, you can see that I, and our factory, need your help very much, and I am happy to do everything to get your help." I think...... I suppose you're willing to summon me, so you must have some similar thoughts. ”

"I don't have any idea right now, sir, but out of respect for a senior in industry, I'm just taking time out of your spare time to meet your request in case you want to see me a few times." Charles didn't say anything at all, but replied unhurriedly, "If that's what you think, you should have made it clear to me beforehand, so that we can be well prepared, right?" ”

Charles's playful resurgence in this coldness made Eugène Schneider feel more and more embarrassed.

However, he knew that he was now asking for something, and Monsieur de Treville was notoriously difficult to mess with, so he could only suppress the dissatisfaction in his heart.

"Your Excellency, I am not a man of words, so please forgive me if I say anything wrong...... I don't really have any other intentions, I just want to ask you to help me...... No, not just to help me, but to help a lot of people. "He plucked up his courage and looked very earnestly at the Minister's coming." I don't want to hide anything from you, in fact our factory, our family business is in trouble right now, we need orders to keep our business running, and we desperately need your help in this regard, after all, you are the Minister of Transportation of the Empire, and you can give us help that no one else can match, as long as you are kind, I think...... I think we can get through this crisis and be a thriving business again. Of course, we don't want to ask you to help us for no reason, we are willing to pay any price, any price, for your help! ”

He deliberately repeated the last few words in order to impress the other person. Although there was a person watching next to him, he couldn't care so much anymore.

After saying this, he stopped, quietly waiting for the other party's verdict. Because he is not good at words, he said it very sincerely, which makes people have to be moved.

"You...... Don't get so excited. Charles waved his hand slightly, signaling the other party not to worry, "Okay, I already understand what you mean." You are a well-known industrialist in our country, and you are a person I have always admired, and you have made your own great contribution to the development of French industry, and I am honestly shocked and sorry to hear that your business is in trouble. ”

"As a businessman, business failure is a common occurrence, and that's how everyone has come." Eren smiled bitterly, "No matter how difficult it is, we won't be more difficult than when we started our business at the beginning of the year, after all, we have accumulated enough equipment investment and personnel reserves." Your Excellency, I can assure you that as long as the government provides sufficient orders, we will not have any difficulties in our business situation, and we will not only be able to do everything the government needs, but we will also be able to repay those who have helped us to the best of our ability. ”

Eren looked at the other party cautiously, and almost said the word kickback directly.

During the days of the July Dynasty, they used to use this method to win over politicians who were useful to them, and they had intended to use the same method to win over the Empire's high-ranking officials, but unfortunately the situation was very different from what they expected.

"Oh, of course, I'm more than happy to help people like you." Charles nodded happily.

The whole room fell silent for a moment, and Eugène-Schneider was a little stunned at first, and then shouted in surprise.

"Your Excellency, you ...... Are you serious? ”

Before he came, he was ready to bargain and even grovel, but he didn't expect the other party to give the order so easily, and he only suspected that he had heard it wrong.

Pleasantly surprised, he immediately suspected that Mr. Trevier wasn't such a good talker—and now he was a direct competitor to the other party.

"Of course I'm serious, sir, you came to me for help, and then you suddenly became skeptical after I nodded, isn't that okay?" Charles couldn't help but laugh again, "I'm also embarrassed by your words. ”

"No...... Excellency...... No, I'm just too happy, please forgive me. Eugène-Schneider hurriedly apologized to him, "I just said that I am willing to pay the price for your help, please tell me, Your Excellency, what do you need me to do?" ”

"We're not here to help you in return." Charles hypocritically pushed, then asked, "So, what can you do for me?" ”

"If you could...... I can give you some rebates. After hesitating for a long time, Eugène-Schneider didn't care too much, and simply singled out directly, "You can set the specific points yourself, as long as we can maintain the operation of our factory and the minimum investment, we are willing to bear the price." ”

He offered a very humble condition, which could almost be regarded as a surrender, just to be able to receive enough orders to keep the business running. But he can't blame him, now the Schneider family's business has indeed fallen into very serious business difficulties, the continuous reduction of orders has brought serious capital loss, and after seeing the operational difficulties of Schneider's business, the Parisian bankers who were originally brothers and sisters of the Schneider family quickly changed their faces, not only refused to continue to borrow, but some even chose to withdraw funds, these situations are superimposed, which naturally makes the Schneider family's business situation worse, fortunately, the family has accumulated a lot of money, Therefore, it can be maintained by injecting funds all the time, but if it continues, I am afraid it will be difficult to support.

However, his declaration of surrender did not impress His Excellency.

"Haha, your condition is really interesting, you actually said that you want to bribe an imperial minister! It's really bad to get out there. Charles laughed a little mockingly, "Also, let me remind you that the place you are in now is a huge factory that can take orders from the government, and even more than you...... And it can provide more profit than you can give, right? ”

This merciless blow immediately made Eugène-Schneider's face even more ugly.

It's hard to hear, but it's true - isn't it much better for people to make a lot of money on their own than to take some kickbacks?

"Your Excellency...... I'm sorry I may have said something stupid. After hesitating for a long time, Eugène finally calmed down, and then looked at the other party almost beggingly, "Then please tell me, what exactly do you need me to do?" What does it take for you to be satisfied? Please let me know. ”

"Don't do that, sir." After finding that the other party's psychological defense line had finally been completely penetrated, Charles restrained his smile and waved his hand slightly, "We are all smart people, and we respect each other, we can be as sincere as possible." As I have already said, I am very sympathetic and sorry for your current predicament, and I cannot bear to see a senior industrialist like you face a disaster because of financial difficulties, so I want to help you. ”

After hearing his humble and respectful words, Eugène-Schneider's face suddenly turned pale. This proposal, which contains something terrible to him.

"You want to capitalize?" He finally got up and asked.

At this moment, he had already decided that if the other party had to forcibly inject capital and control his own business, then he would turn his face and go home directly. He would rather die until the final bankruptcy failure, rather than give up the business that the two brothers have worked so hard to run to others.

"Huh? Don't get excited! Charles hurriedly stopped the other party, "Don't worry, I'm not a villain who takes advantage of people's danger, and I don't intend to embezzle your family business...... By capital injection, I'm just giving you some money, which of course has to be converted into shares – but you can rest assured that it won't go beyond the control and management of your business. Didn't you just say you could grant me any request? I don't think this is a harsh request. ”

Just ask for a capital injection and then ask for a small stake? Now Eugène regained his composure from his anger.

Literally, this request of His Excellency the Minister is not very harsh, and this request does not exceed his bottom line.

But is he such a kind person? He looked at each other cautiously, speculating.

"Hey, don't put on a show like that!" Charles couldn't help but laugh again, "I said, I really respect you, and I want to help you—so let's be honest, I'm planning a reform, a reform that will completely reshape the French railway industry, and I think it's necessary to bring in a well-known industrialist like you to participate in this vital reform, and those shares are just a kind of guarantee for your participation." ”

"You...... Can you explain that to me? Eugène found himself unable to understand what the Chancellor meant.

"Quite simply, in order to adapt to the growing technological innovation in the railway industry, we have to change the terrible situation of disorderly competition in the market today - you see, there are many manufacturers in France today who produce everything that the railway industry needs, but this is not a good thing, because excessive competition will make people continue to reduce prices and fight each other in price wars, so that all companies will have lower profits, and in the end there will be no way to invest in improving technology and equipment." Charles patiently explained to the other party, "In this case, as the Minister of Communications of the Empire, I think it is necessary for me to reform the status quo of this disorderly competition, and it is necessary to set up a special enterprise organization, so that enterprises with sufficient strength can stay in the market, accept financial and policy preferences, and slowly support them, so that they have spare energy for technological research and development and progress." And you...... Sir, you have gained enough prestige over the past few decades of hard work and I think it would be important to be able to get you into such an organization...... You won't say no, will you? ”

"Pulled into such a corporate organization?" Eugène was shocked again.

But this time it was ecstasy, and his mood fluctuated so much today that he was a little speechless.

"I ...... Of course I do, Your Excellency, and I am more than happy to serve you and my country. After a long silence, he agreed. I've already understood your terms, and if the shares you want are not enough to replace control of our family, I'd be happy for you to inject capital into us to ease our current financial situation. ”

"By the way, how about making her a director and representative?" Charles gestured to his sister, who had not spoken at any time. "I think it's necessary because she needs to be part of the organization in a way that doesn't stand out."

That's what he's for? Eugène finally understood. (To be continued.) )