Chapter 398 Gifts

"Hey, Djoka." When Djoka appeared at the door, James greeted him with a smile and shook hands enthusiastically: "Nice to see you. I wanted to visit when I passed by Darvaz last time. You, but they say you've been busy in the factory."

This is a cliché, James has never left Paris during this period.

"Yes, there has been a lot going on in the factory recently," Djoka replied.

"How's it going? The insurance company made a lot of money, right?" James asked casually.

"It's just average." Djoka smiled softly: "Besides, it can't be said to be 'profitable'. No one can predict the risks during war."

James said "hmm", took two glasses of red wine from Paulina's hand, and handed one to Djoka each: "Char is right, no one can match him in this regard, just like he bombed Like a steel plant."

James' words were thorny, but his face was still amiable, like talking to an old friend reunited after a long separation.

Djoka laughed: "Char is just trying his best to defeat the enemy."

This is a pun. The enemy can refer to the Germans on the battlefield, or to the capitalists targeting the Shire in the mall.

James was stunned for a moment, and then looked at each other and smiled with Djoka.

After a heated exchange of words, both sides knew that the other was not a friendly person.

But what is different from last time is that Djoka is much more relaxed. He is wearing his usual old suit, but he looks more confident and generous.

Instead, James was a little nervous. He was pretending. He didn't want Djoka to see his anxious look.

"You come this time." James sat down on the sofa as elegantly as possible, raised the red wine in his hand and raised it towards Djoka: "You don't want to blow up something again, do you?"

"Of course not, Mr. James." Djoka replied: "I'm here to discuss cooperation with you."

"Cooperation?" James pretended to be surprised.

In fact, he had already guessed that Djoka's intention was probably to buy some high-quality assets from Schneider, taking advantage of Schneider's internal and external difficulties.

"Yes." Djoka put on a helpless expression: "It's not easy for Bernard Company. Mr. James, although we purchased a steel plant, we have no technology and no talent. The steel plant is still in the German-controlled area. There is no recovery.”

Then Djoka shook his head in self-mockery: "If I want to produce qualified steel myself, I don't know how many years and months it will take."

James said "hmm", and he understood the meaning of Djoka's words: "Do you hope to purchase smelting technology and forging technology from me to prepare for the steel plant?"

Djoka nodded heavily: "Yes, Mr. James, it would be better if you could transfer some skilled workers."

James smiled slightly: "When do you need it?"

"The sooner the better." Djoka replied: "I opened an experimental factory in Darvaz and plan to train a group of qualified workers first. You know, prepare in advance to receive the factory."

"Hmm." James nodded in approval: "That's a good idea."

As he lowered his head to drink, a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

The words just now were a test.

If Djoka answered with a specific time, James knew Shire hoped to take the Steelworks before then.

So James can use the help of the Germans to add some trouble to Charles.

However, Djoka tactfully gave a vague answer.

After thinking for a while, James replied: "No problem, Mr. Djoka, since you asked, of course I will try my best to satisfy you. You can make a list another day..."

"Thank you very much." Djoka eagerly took out a document from his briefcase and handed it over.

The smile on James' face was a little unnatural.

This is not what he wants. Skilled technicians are a valuable asset to the company, and some of them involve industry secrets and cannot be transferred casually.

However, James knew he couldn't stop it.

In fact, Charles doesn't need to go through James. Now those workers are on strike and protest outside the door. Charles only needs to raise his arms and most of them will go to Charles' factory.

The reason why Ciel wanted James's consent was to ease the conflict with James, at least that's what James thought.

This is good for James, because he can claim that Schneider and Shire have reached a certain degree of cooperation, thereby alleviating people's protests and resistance to Schneider.

James took the form and looked at it, but found no problems. Djoka didn't want many people, and he carefully avoided sensitive positions. He had obviously been prepared.

"In addition." Djoka added: "I heard that your company has a batch of 'Saint Shamon' in the warehouse that cannot be sold. I can buy it at a unit price of 10,000 francs, which is just for training workers. If the price is right, I can also buy it. The industrial property rights of 'Saint Shamon' to avoid any property rights disputes."

When James heard this, was there such a good thing?

There happens to be a backlog of more than a hundred "Saint-Salmon" in the warehouse. They were originally going to be recycled as scrap metal, but now they can be sold for 10,000 francs, and the industrial property rights are worth at least two million francs.

Although the money was not much, it was a huge sum, so I agreed without much thought.

James never expected that Djoka would go around in such a big circle and seemed to buy "Saint Salmon" as a bonus, but in fact "Saint Salmon" was what he really wanted.

To be precise, it was what Ciel really wanted.

Djoka found it difficult to understand when he heard Charles's thoughts on the phone:

"Are you crazy, Charles, to buy 'Saint Salmon'?"

"Isn't that something that was defeated by the Germans on the battlefield again and again?"

"People have already determined that it is not suitable for the battlefield. Your 'Charles A1' is much better than it, but you want to buy it now!"

Charles did not explain much, he just replied: "That's because they don't know how to use it, father, 'Saint Samon' is not useless, it can find its place on the battlefield."

Dejoka saw that Charles insisted, so he stopped objecting. After all, a few million francs is just a small amount of money, so just buy it.

However, the next second Dejoka felt embarrassed about this: "James is not a person who lacks money, Charles. If we tell him directly about our intention to buy, he will definitely guess that 'Saint Samon' has value that he has not considered, which will increase the difficulty of buying."

"Yes." Charles replied calmly: "So, we should make it look like an insignificant gift."

"Gift?" Dejoka was stunned.

"Yes, a gift." Charles explained: "Our steel mill needs workers, and the workers need to observe and practice, preferably with scrapped tanks, so we need 'Saint Samon'."

Djoka on the other end of the phone half opened his mouth for a while and didn't respond.

Is this still the Charles he knew before?