I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France
Chapter 267: Business Intelligence

Chapter 267: Chapter 267: Business Intelligence

If it were the old Shire, other than military intelligence, he could be said to know nothing about the outside world.

Even if he knew something, it was outdated, useless, or could even be lies carefully woven by his opponents.

But now, Shire had the "Lady in White."

The "Lady in White" might not be very suitable for gathering commercial intelligence; Shire worried that the "Lady in White" would resist this task.

After all, they demanded to be treated as warriors, and warriors must not turn their guns on civilians.

However, Lucia gave a very reasonable explanation: "Your factory produces equipment needed on the front lines, Colonel, and this equipment is defeating the enemy. If anyone is against your factory, they are stopping us from achieving victory!"

"Makes sense!" Shire nodded and calmly handed the task of tracking Grevy to the "Lady in White."

Thus, Shire knew that Grevy had gone to Saint-Etienne to meet with Layom.

Although he couldn’t hear the details, anyone could guess Grevy’s intentions.

Additionally, Shire knew that Grevy had recently become very close with Bonnet, the owner of the "Little Daily."

This suddenly awakened Shire: there would be many people within the alliance who had conflicts of interest with him, despite the alliance being formed for mutual benefit.

For example, Steed’s eldest son Layom, who could originally inherit Saint-Etienne and had always been fighting for it, even treating Saint-Etienne as his own armory for a long time.

But now, Shire’s presence might cause him to lose his inheritance.

To be precise, it wasn’t losing the inheritance, but inheriting Saint-Etienne would turn him into Shire’s "puppet," at least in his eyes.

The "Little Daily" also had conflicts with the "Merit Newspaper."

Although Steed was very willing to sacrifice the "Little Daily" to fully support Shire,

Bonnet was not. "Little Daily" was his property, and he didn’t want to be sacrificed or become a companion piece to the "Merit Newspaper," much less watch the "Merit Newspaper" take all his readers without a chance to fight back.

Therefore, transferring to Schneider was the best choice for the "Little Daily," as which party he supported didn’t seem to matter much to him.

Steed listened to Shire, scowling, and then looked at Shire apologetically: "Please believe me, this is not my wish, I didn’t know these things."

"He also came to see me," Dominic said, "I mean Grevy."

"He came to see you?" Steed looked at Dominic in shock.

"Yes," Dominic answered, his expression slightly embarrassed. "At the time I thought he just wanted to cause discord, but I didn’t expect it to be..."

Steed snorted and glared fiercely at Dominic.

"What are your plans?" Shire asked.

"Don’t worry, Colonel," a hint of coldness flashed in Steed’s eyes, "I will handle these matters."

Steed had already thought it through: Bonnet would die in a traffic accident.

At this time, Bonnet had not yet publicly announced his transfer to Schneider. If he died unexpectedly, everyone would suspect Schneider, and Schneider would gain nothing.

As for Layom, he would forever lose his succession rights. Knowing too many secrets, he would at least be put under house arrest for a while. And managing Saint-Etienne might be safer in the hands of a third party with no inheritance ties.

Steed was just not creative, but that didn’t mean he lacked means. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have survived in this politically contentious society until now.

After considering for a moment, Steed bowed slightly to Shire: "I hope these unpleasant matters do not affect our cooperation."

"Of course," Shire replied calmly. "However, I might give you some advice."

Steed was somewhat puzzled. Did Shire want to use his own methods to vent anger?

Then, a flash of fear appeared in Steed’s eyes. Would Shire demand that he sacrifice his own kin?

If so, what should he choose?

Steed gritted his teeth and decided to sacrifice Layom. After all, compared to a family and Saint-Etienne, Layom was insignificant!

However, Steed quickly realized he was wrong.

"Don’t worry about Bonnet," Shire said. "What you need to do is persuade Layom."

"Persuade?" Steed looked surprised. The punishment seemed too light.

"Layom might become a pawn in our hands," Shire explained. "Next time, you won’t need to transfer the blueprints to Pito Armory by dismissing technicians."

Steed suddenly understood.

Schneider could exploit Layom, likely by using him to expand Pito Armory and suppress Saint-Etienne, specifically Shire.

For instance, if Shire had an invention, Pito Armory could get the blueprints in advance and produce similar equipment.

If so, Layom might instead be utilized in return.

Steed had great confidence: "I can persuade him, Colonel. If he refuses, he will have nothing!"

But Steed still didn’t want to let Bonnet go: "But the ’Little Daily’ has a significant impact on us..."

"Its impact is negligible," Shire interrupted Steed.

Steed was somewhat troubled. It seemed to have little impact on Shire, even Schneider’s "Morning Paper" had to publish Shire’s successes and victories. Even if the "Little Daily" ’defected,’ it would still be the same. Even if it wanted to spin the narrative, it couldn’t turn victory into defeat.

But to the morale and cohesion of the Republican Party...

Shire seemed to see through Steed’s thoughts and added, "Even if you want to deal with him, wait for a while."

At this point, Steed understood.

This was not Shire being merciful; he wanted to deal with another person: Grevy.

Steed guessed correctly. In Shire’s eyes, the most important opponent had always been Grevy.

Grevy’s presence was like an "anti-Shire alliance." He would connect all of Shire’s enemies, some of whom Shire hadn’t even realized.

Grevy was a smart man.

If Steed swiftly dealt with the two "rebels," Grevy would immediately sense the danger: Shire had intelligence capabilities, so he would act more cautiously in the future, or even refrain from certain actions.

But if Shire seemed oblivious, with Bonnet still defecting to Schneider and Layom continuously providing information to Schneider,

then Grevy would continue to collude with the Germans as he did before.

Before, Shire might not have been able to do anything, but now with the "Lady in White" watching Grevy, and more importantly, Grevy unaware of the "Lady in White’s" existence.

Then, the future awaiting Grevy and the right wing was the charge of "treason!"

What would be the result?

Suicide, or execution by shooting?

Pick one!