Let a woman act as a shareholder and act as a director and representative? Eugène Schneider couldn't believe his ears when he heard the request of His Excellency Chancellor Tréville – Eugène-Schneider would have been shaken by the fact that it was unimaginable to have women in senior positions in business in this day and age.

However, there was no joking meaning in the expression of His Excellency the Chancellor, it was clearly a serious request.

"I know this request will strike you as strange, but it is indeed my request. Sir, please believe that my sister is a very intelligent and enterprising person, and she is willing to serve her country and serve us. I'm a staunch egalitarian personally, and business doesn't depend on physical strength, so I think a woman can play a big role in it if she wants to, what do you think? ”

He looked at Eugène Schneider with blazing eyes, and in this way hinted that his request was neither refutable nor refusal.

Eugène-Schneider understood the will of His Excellency the Chancellor, and wondered why His Excellency the Chancellor made such a request.

Is it to involve your own sister in order to strengthen your control over yourself and the organization you will set up in the future? Or is it to avoid ruining your reputation by personally intervening? Or is there some ulterior motive behind it?

"How much stake do you plan to take after the capital injection?" He asked cautiously.

"How about 10%? I think this percentage will give us enough say in you, but I can't pay in cash right now, only the profit from the order. But rest assured, with our endorsement and support, and your old relationships in the financial world, it's easy to refinance. Seeing that the other party seemed to have moved, Charles replied directly, "Of course, I don't want to embarrass you, if you think this ratio is too high, you can put forward your opinion, it's not that I can't be accommodating." ”

That's a nice thing to say, but I have to thank you if I don't know...... Eugène Schneider sneered inwardly.

His Excellency asked for shares, but he refused to give cash directly, but said that he used 'order profits' to deduct them, which means that he used his power to take the shares empty-handed? This can be said to be blatantly corrupt.

However, he did not intend to refuse.

As His Excellency said, 10% is not too high, and it is indeed not enough to interfere with the operation of his business, but in the long run it will only take away a part of the profits of his family business. But now if an enterprise wants to survive, it must have orders to maintain, where can it care about the amount of profit? Besides, if he can really climb up to His Excellency the Minister, with his status, his own business will definitely have a steady stream of orders in the future, even if some of the profits will be taken away, but the rest will definitely be a very considerable number.

Therefore, excluding any special purpose of His Excellency the Minister, he saw no reason for rejecting the proposal.

Well, it is indeed surprising to have a woman involved—but it would be a great thing for him that His Excellency would keep his promises, even if he wanted a monkey to fill these positions.

It is not very strange for His Excellency the Minister himself to come forward for such a thing, and it is not very strange to let his relatives take responsibility, who told him that he has no brother and only a sister.

"Okay...... I understand what you mean, Your Excellency. Eugène-Schneider soon decided, "I can agree with you and would be more than happy to ...... you Working with your sister, I am eager to contribute to your plans as soon as possible and to participate in the great cause of building France. ”

"You don't really look like an inventor, haha." Charles laughed, "I sincerely believe that the business of the Schneider family will be carried forward in your hands, and you will leave a very strong mark in the history of French industry." ”

As he spoke, he reached over his hand.

Eugène-Schneider immediately extended his hand and shook it with Charles.

"I will let others talk to you about the specific cooperation situation, please believe that the people who cooperate with me will never regret it." As he shook hands, Charles smiled and said to him, "I ask you not to see this as a blackmail or threat to endure, but as a collaboration, a very successful one, which will bring great benefits to me and to you." ”

"What does this mean?" Eugène Schneider asked in a low voice.

"France has been through a lot of ups and downs in the past 80 years, and I think the next few decades will be the same, or even more intense, so ...... It is necessary for like-minded people to work closely together to help each other. Charles's answer was still a little evasive, "This will allow us to survive the storm and even see the light in the storm." ”

It was clear that he was now seeing Charles's actions as 'blackmail or threats', and Charles knew he couldn't avoid making the other person think about it - but he was confident that the other party would change his mind soon after, after seeing the benefits he could bring him.

"I hope so." Eugène-Schneider did not take Charles' words seriously, but only casually perfunctory.

However, at this moment, a hand suddenly reached into his sight.

The plain white, slender hand was encased in a thin white silk glove that looked as if it were made of ceramic. It came to him slowly but very steadily, like a gift from heaven.

Eugène-Schneider looked up, and then he saw that the beautiful Miss Tréville was looking at her with a smile on her face.

"Please shake my hand, sir." Her smile made people look like a spring breeze, "I'm afraid I'll have to work with you in the future, and I ask you to take care of me." ”

Even though he was dissatisfied with the Tréville family's approach, Eugène-Schneider couldn't help but feel a little flurry when he saw this smile.

What a lovely woman.

"I'll be happy to help you, miss." He also reached out and shook Miss Treville's hand.

When he gently squeezed this hand, he felt very soft to the touch, and under the gaze of those beautiful eyes, it seemed as if his mood had suddenly improved. However, of course, he couldn't hold it all the time because of the etiquette, so he had to let go of his hand with a little regret after shaking it for a while. "With your and your brother's help, I think everything will go in a direction that is good for us."

"I'm convinced of that, too." Fran nodded, her brilliant blonde hair and the large crimson bow on the back of her head swaying slightly, "I haven't had similar experience before, but I will study carefully, absorb any knowledge and experience that my brother and you have given me, and I will also actively participate in the affairs of the institution and do my best to help you." Of course, I think that since our factories on both sides of Giverny and Le Quiso are already huge enterprises and will certainly have a large market share, we should act in unison in order to increase our voice. As Sir said, I will not interfere with your normal business, but will only focus on coordination - but if you have any major changes in your business, I would like to ask you to let me know in advance, and I ask you to take my suggestions seriously. ”

After saying these words in a serious manner, she suddenly laughed again, "Maybe these words will not make you happy, but I think there are some things that are better to say in advance, which will be beneficial to our future cooperation, do you say?" ”

Although the smile was just as cute this time, Eugène-Schneider was not as relaxed as it was just now. The words spoken by the beautiful woman in front of her were very clever, and on the surface they seemed to be polite, but in fact they were quietly pointing out their detached status, asking him not to underestimate himself because he did not have a majority and was a woman, and at the same time asked him to act autonomously.

looks so young and cute, and talks like an old fox, is this the family education of a famous family? It was then that he realized that this Miss Trevill was not like a vase, but the object of which he had to deal with it with the same seriousness - at least her brain should be of good use.

Hey, the Trévilles are really difficult, if only another revolution would sweep them and the Bonapartes away! He thought to himself.

"I'll go out of my way to tell you what I know, miss." He replied a little helplessly, "Of course, in order to coordinate the operation of the two sides, I will also listen to your opinions very carefully." ”

"That's great!" Charles clapped softly, "It seems as if I see a glorious future for us, and this day is definitely not far off." Mr. Schneider, when you go back this time, be ready, there will be a large number of orders pouring in you, because I am not satisfied with the current progress of the railway industry in France, so I am ready to further expand the construction business, and the specific plan has been prepared, and it will enter the implementation stage at any time. ”

"That's great!" Eugène-Schneider could not help but cheer, and he would surely feel relieved that the things he had been worrying about had finally been resolved, even if it had actually come at a great cost.

"By the way, you'll have to do something else." Suddenly, Charles said, "I need you to start producing a gun in the near future—"

"Guns?" Eugène-Schneider was stunned for a moment.

"Yes, it's a new firearm, but it's made under the name of the Giverny factory." Charles nodded, then went on to explain, "To tell you the truth, the factories here are involved in the manufacture of weapons in addition to steel...... We have developed a new type of firearm that the government has recently procured in large quantities. This is a gun of unsurpassed superiority, so the army is very interested in it, and the order is very large, although we have tried very hard, but we are still unable to complete it for a while...... So I think you can hand over some of it to your factory, and the price is easy to say. ”

Eugène-Schneider, the "gun ......", was a little hesitant, not that he did not want to accept the order, but that the Schneider family's business had not been involved in the arms industry so far, so he was afraid that it would not be able to do well.

"You don't have to worry about not doing well, we will provide you with special drawings and sample guns, and we will also send special engineers and workers to guide." Xia Er smiled slightly, "We have only one purpose, to complete the government's order as soon as possible, so that all officers and soldiers of the army can be equipped with new weapons as soon as possible." ”

Of course, this is not his whole purpose, which is to strengthen the relationship between the two sides, and secondly, to increase the penetration and monitoring of Schneider's enterprises. "Factories that can make good products and equipment have good enough workers and machines, and those workers and machines can make weapons to kill - if there is enough money and determination, and fortunately we have both, why didn't we do it sooner? Mr. Schneider, I guess you won't refuse to serve your country, right? ”

"Of course not, I am very happy to serve my country!" Eugène-Schneider immediately made up his mind, after all, he also wanted to enter the highly profitable arms industry, and now he can get the help of a noble person like Treville, but there are many detours.

"You see, you immediately saw the benefits of working with us, right?" Charles laughed.

After a secret conversation with Charles, Eugène-Schneider left the office with a somewhat conflicted feeling of having gained and lost, but finally relieved, and he had already received the assurance and commitment he wanted. Although there is some deplorable price to pay, at least for the moment, he has kept the family business and sees the dawn of further development and expansion in the future.

And after he left, the two remaining people in the room did not leave, and remained in it.

"He doesn't like you." After a moment of silence, Fran said suddenly. "If there's a chance to break the contract, I think he'll do it."

"I don't expect people to like me once I see each other." Charles shook his head, "It doesn't matter if he likes me or not, I've at least achieved my goal, and he'll slowly rely on us in the future - after all, we can give him a lot of benefits." ”

"You...... Seems to be deliberately courting him? Fran left the couch she was sitting on, sat down next to her brother, and leaned back to Charles's side, "I don't think we need to give in to him?" He has a request for us now. ”

In her opinion, there was no need for her brother to be so lenient with this Mr. Schneider, after all, now that the Tréville family was the dominant party, there was no need to bypass them with such lenient conditions.

Being suddenly brought to his sister's side like this, Charles felt a little uncomfortable, but after struggling a little, he acquiesced to reality.

"Spare me? No, I didn't want to kill them in the first place. Charles smiled reluctantly, "We can't have everything in our hands after all. Not only is this unnecessary, but it is also dangerous. ”

"Do you think we've gotten too much and can't afford to gain any more than enough to attract resentment?" Fran asked immediately.

"Yes, that's it, what I'm doing now is enough to make people bust, and if we continue the current trend, we'll soon be one of the leaders in industry -- so now I don't need to exclude everyone else, but I'm going to add some friends to us, some controllable friends, and I think this Mr. Schneider is a suitable friend."

"If you have such a group of friends, you must be more solid as a rock." Fran seemed to understand something, "Is this also the purpose of this federation that you set up?" ”

Charles didn't answer, just shrugged his shoulders. However, at this time, he suddenly found that his chest was pressed a little uncomfortable. "Hey, don't lean so tightly, you can't breathe well."

"I just want to lean on your side and listen to your heartbeat, otherwise you will always love to deceive, who knows which sentence is true." Fran smiled, but she was also slightly panting.

"I didn't lie to you." Charles smiled wryly. "Okay, now you should be satisfied, right? I've paved the way for you, and the rest depends on how you go. ”

"I will serve you with my greatest enthusiasm, sir...... No one in the world is more loyal to you than I am. "You'll be glad you made today." By the way, what do you think of what I just did? I've never dealt with this kind of person before......"

"Good performance." Charles nodded, "Keep it up." ”

"Great." Fran laughed, then hooked her hand on the back of her brother's neck, and then pressed his head down with a slight force.

But Charles was a little embarrassed and didn't go as she wanted.

"Don't forget what you promised me!" Fran's eyes widened as she looked at Charles, "Are you just cheating on me?" ”

"Okay, okay." Charles sighed helplessly, then lowered his head and kissed the other.

Fran closed her eyes as she was about to meet her lips, and then smiled contentedly. "I really hope that day will come soon......"

For a moment the room fell into a shy silence, and it wasn't until a long time later that the lips parted from each other.

Fran's face was as red as a cherry, and it hadn't dissipated for a long time, and it was clear that she wasn't as careless as she seemed.

"Did you let me in this way to not be irritated...... Not irritating Charlotte? She suddenly asked, "If you use the name of a supervising collaborator, Charlotte will not be able to object." ”

"If you know, don't say more." Charles lowered his gaze. "Her Majesty the Queen is coming after a while, and I originally wanted you to attend the wedding, but this time...... You don't want to participate, okay? Since you're going to do these big things, don't show yourself in public too often. ”

"Don't worry, I won't speak ill of her in front of you, and I won't compete with her." Fran laughed again, "She can have as much brilliance as she wants, and I'll help you silently behind you, as for the public...... I wish the flies had forgotten me. (To be continued.) )