Chapter 89 Squeezing the Frenchman's Wool
"Mr. Kahn, can't you have more?" In the living room of the presidential suite of the George V Hotel in Paris, de Gaulle looked at Josie Kahn in front of him and said unwillingly, "My people are starving! "
"Mr. de Gaulle, I am a businessman, not a philanthropist, let alone a Frenchman. A ton of canned meat is my respect for your personal qualities... In addition, I have to remind you that you are not French. Legal representative!" Josie put down the coffee cup in his hand and said indifferently.
The time has entered September, and the Allied forces are still clearing up the remaining German resistance forces across France on the one hand, and on the other hand, they are constantly making final preparations for the anti-Eagle's Nest plan.
But the last French man standing in front of Josie has been busy with another matter recently.
That is the problem of food.
France is short of food, Paris is short of food.
As a veteran agricultural country in Europe, it is also the second largest colonial country in the world besides the United Kingdom.
France has not experienced a shortage of food for one or two hundred years. Even during the First World War, France was actually very abundant in food and other industrial and agricultural products.
But with the rapid defeat of World War II, the situation changed completely.
In order to supply its own huge military system, it is far from enough for Germany to rely solely on its own country's output.
Naturally, it will be plundered from those occupied countries.
If there are some German "insiders" like Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, etc., Germany will naturally be lighter.
But for a feud like France, no one has any scruples when it starts.
From 1940 to 1944 when it was occupied, 72.5% of wheat, 100% of sugar, 87% of butter, and 64.6% of beef produced in the German-occupied area of northern France were forcibly expropriated or bought at low prices by Germany.
Most of these agricultural products were either loaded on trains by Germany and transported back to Germany or were used to give priority to the German army occupying France.
The situation in the southern Vichy Free Zone is slightly better, but 27.5% of wheat, 13% of butter and 35.4% of beef are shipped by Germany.
This is just food, not to mention other materials.
So don’t look at the surrender of the German army in Paris, so that this European pearl has not suffered the baptism of war, but the well-preserved city can’t be eaten as a meal. If you are hungry, you have to be hungry. If you don’t smoke, you don’t smoke. .
U.S. soldiers outside can spend a spring night with a beautiful French girl with a pack of cigarettes and a few pieces of chewing gum, which is cheaper than a British girl.
Not to mention a tycoon like Josie. The future world-famous George V Hotel where he lives now was directly bought with a batch of extremely cheap materials for him.
Lyndon Schneider, who was his white glove, was also very busy after he arrived in Paris. The supplies were directly borrowed from the US military's transportation team, and they were transported into the city by convoy by convoy from somewhere outside the city every day.
All goods will not be charged in francs... After being occupied for so long, the French economy has already been on the verge of collapse, and the inflation is terrible, and this is just the beginning.
If the post-war British economy can barely stabilize, the French economy has declined all the way after the war... It was not officially stabilized until Charles de Gaulle came to power in the 1960s.
Yes, as a French hero, Charles de Gaulle, apart from being a temporary leader for a few months when Paris was just liberated, was soon swept away by the newly formed conquest, and he had to wait until the 1960s before reappearing.
More importantly, the three countries of the United States and the United States do not recognize De Gaulle's current position as the temporary leader... They only recognize De Gaulle's military position, not his government position.
This is why Josie said that De Gaulle is not the legal representative of France.
In this case, Josie would collect francs only when he was out of his wits.
Want to buy his goods, bring us dollars or real money!
High-end jewelry? This is OK, but it has to be discounted by 30%.
Land deed house deed? That's fine too, and at a fair price.
Factory, mine? So-so, 50% off.
GBP? All right, but if you don't want ten pounds or twenty pounds, you have to get a 20% discount.
In just over a month, Linden has earned more wealth and assets than in the UK.
Of course, such a lucrative business will definitely attract people's attention.
But this time, Josie directly asked the US military stationed in Paris to deliver goods and maintain order. The wages were cigarettes and alcohol, and there was nothing wrong with asking for US dollars.
Who dares to touch his business?
Even the last man in France in front of him had to condescend to visit a businessman like Josie just for alms.
But just like what Josie said, he is a businessman, not a philanthropist... If the passage is in the local area, he doesn't mind doing more charity for the sake of reputation, but in France? It's not necessary at all!
So no matter what de Gaulle said, in the end Josie just used a ton of canned meat to get rid of it... To be honest, this is already Josie's face for the other party.
This ton of canned meat is now outside, and it can buy a street.
"Then I will buy from you on behalf of the French government, right?" Seeing that Josie had no intention of letting go, De Gaulle was full of helplessness. He thought that after the liberation of France, everything would go well, but only when After less than a month as a representative of the provisional government, he discovered that the situation was far more complicated than he had imagined.
A ton of canned meat sounds like a lot, but it's a drop in the bucket for the whole of Paris - which has millions of mouths.
"Your Excellency de Gaulle, it's not that I'm mean, but the current French provisional government...does it have money?" Josie spread his hands helplessly.
What is a provisional government? It's just a blame man who does dirty work.
It is true patriots like de Gaulle, or people with ulterior motives, who will go here.
Want money but no money, want materials but no materials.
That is to say, there are still a few armies that can barely be seen...but these few armies were all formed by de Gaulle in Africa after begging his grandfather to tell his grandmother.
"We can mortgage...!" However, before De Gaulle could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Josie raising his hand.
"Your Excellency de Gaulle, don't write a bad check here, but if your interim government has a decent collateral, you should not show up with me now, but in our embassy!" Josie said a little Said impatiently.
Josie said to go to the embassy of the United States, which actually means that during World War II, the United States, as the "leader" of the allied forces, proposed the Lend-Lease Act, and provided massive support to the United Kingdom, Mao Xiong and many other allies.
But among them, France received the least support.
The reason is very simple, because France, as an occupied area, does not have a formal regime that can truly be recognized by the world.
And this also means that no one in France has the right to pledge any French national assets to the United States to obtain supplies.
The only material support from the United States that France received was the two armored divisions of Free France to which Charles de Gaulle belonged.
This is because de Gaulle promised independence to Algeria, so he got some donations, coupled with various empty promises, he got the equipment of two armored divisions from the United States, and the food crisis in time and space was finally solved by the United States Yes, but the war is not over yet, and the US should give priority to supplying the army with supplies.
After supplying the army, it is also the first to supply the United Kingdom.
France will have to wait at least a month or two before receiving support from the United States.
The problem of how France repays its debts after the war also stems from the lack of formal power.
After France was officially liberated in the original time and space and established its own government, de Gaulle was directly squeezed out to step down.
Almost none of the empty checks he had promised could be cashed.
For example, Algeria gained independence by war.
As for some loans from the United States, they were initially repaid by opening up the French film market, but within a few years they were overwhelmed by public opposition.
Look, in this state of France, even the United States dares to blame. If Josie believed de Gaulle and gave him supplies, he would really be a meat bun beating a dog.
Hearing Josie's refusal without hesitation, De Gaulle's expression darkened. He actually knew what he said, and he couldn't do it. It was just for the sake of this country that he had to sacrifice his face to make various promises. That's all.
The last man in France is actually quite pitiful to be honest, and has been bearing responsibilities for this country that he shouldn't have.
But it's pitiful, but Josie will not sacrifice her own interests to help the other party.
but…
"Actually, it's not like you have nothing to pledge!" Josie knocked on the table and said.
"What do you want? As long as it is reasonable, you can consider it!" Hearing what Josie said, De Gaulle's eyes flashed.
"Hehe, you don't count French things, but German things are still okay!" Josie said with a smile.
De Gaulle was able to push France from a victimized country to a victorious country by himself, so he was naturally a very smart person. Immediately understood the meaning of Josie's words.
That's right, France's national assets, he, the temporary leader, cannot be the master.
However, as a representative figure of the French military, he has great autonomy in dividing up Germany and its allies after the victory.
And what Josie meant was to use France's temporarily unknown post-war divided interests as a pledge in exchange for supplies.
"It's absolutely fine. All the war compensation obtained by France after the war can be selected by you first, but it cannot exceed the value of the materials you provided." Almost without much consideration, De Gaulle agreed to Josie's conditions.
The right to not use it, and it will become invalid after the expiration date. De Gaulle also understood this truth very well.
"Of course!" Josie readily agreed.
After World War II, although France was only the most insignificant of the four main countries of the Allied Forces, it also had a large occupied area. It occupied a total of four years from 1945 to 1949. What about the output above? It is also enough to pay back the supplies provided by Josie.
Originally, Austria and France would also have an occupied area, but as long as the operation of returning to the Eagle's Nest is successful, I am afraid that Austria will transform itself and become a member of the victorious country, and France will naturally not be able to share it.
"The whole of Paris needs at least 120,000 tons of grain to get out of the predicament. How much can you provide, and what is the price?" De Gaulle asked impatiently.
The reason why France is short of food, apart from the plundering by Germany, is actually the lack of wheat harvest this year.
The wheat in France is mainly winter wheat, which is basically matured and harvested in June to July every year. The war was so fierce before, and coupled with the rush to harvest in Germany, the wheat that France can actually harvest is less than one-fifth of the normal year. This amount of food is simply not enough to feed so many people across the country.
As for the potatoes that were planted in August, they will not be harvested until at least November.
In fact, it is okay to talk about other places, because farmers can store grain, but big cities like Paris can’t do it.
There must be enough food for at least two million people for two months to be able to sustain it-this is still the case when Paris implements the rationing system.
"I definitely won't be able to get 120,000 tons of grain." Josie thought for a while and said.
Can be taken out or not taken.
It is easy to say that he usually transports dozens of tons of grain to Paris every day. After all, despite the war, there are still all kinds of courageous people who transport materials to the war zone through various methods such as shipping and land transportation. The numbers don't seem too weird.
The military will not care.
But the 120,000 tons at a time, it is impossible for the U.S. Army logistics department to produce it. If Josie really dares to do this, there is really no way to cover it up.
Besides, the business of selling materials is not only done by Josie himself, but also by many American businessmen, but their goods are not as good as Josie's, and they are not as sufficient.
Even the U.S. military itself is doing it.
Josie can eat meat, but he can't even give these people soup, let alone spoil the pot.
Otherwise, it will really kill people.
"However, 10,000 tons per month is still possible." After thinking for a while, Josie said a number that would not be too exaggerated.
"But it's mainly canned meat, wheat and potatoes. I don't have much, so I won't supply them." Josie added.
"Enough! What about the price?" De Gaulle was not stupid, and naturally he knew that Josie couldn't produce 120,000 tons of food at once.
But the 10,000 tons of canned meat a month is already far beyond his expectations.
I don’t know how about the price.
"Ten thousand dollars a ton, I think this is a very reasonable price!" Josie quoted a number without thinking too much.
Hearing this price, De Gaulle's lips trembled.
$10,000 a ton.
That’s $10 a kilo.
There is no doubt that this is an extremely high price in terms of the purchasing power of the dollar.
But for Paris now, the price is really not expensive.
The current official exchange rate between the franc and the U.S. dollar is 5 francs to 1 U.S. dollar.
But what are the prices in Paris now? A chicken about a kilo costs 100 francs, and even an egg costs 3 francs.
Converted into US dollars, a kilogram of chicken costs 20 US dollars, which is twice as expensive as the price of canned meat given by Josie.
And that is the price of a live chicken, and at least 20% of the loss of internal organs and bones must be deducted to turn it into meat.
As for the canned meat sold by Josie, Charles de Gaulle also ate it. It is really full of meat, extremely rich in fat and almost free of starch.
In such a comparison, the $10,000 per ton given by Josie is really a very conscientious price.
Before looking for Josie, de Gaulle also looked for many other big businessmen in Paris, but either they just shied away and were unwilling to sell, or the price was skyrocketing.
No one speaks better than Josie.
But de Gaulle was still heartbroken.
20,000 tons in two months, that's 200 million US dollars.
It's enough for him to form ten more armored divisions.
Taking the Second Armored Division of Free France as an example, its main force is 85 Stuart light tanks, 164 Sherman medium tanks, 36 M10 "Wolverine" tank destroyers, 64 armored vehicles, and 664 half-track vehicles And patrol cars, 27 M8 "Scott" 75mm self-propelled howitzers, 54 M7 "Priest" 105mm self-propelled howitzers.
And what about the price of these weapons? A Stuart is less than $40,000, and a Sherman is $50,000-60,000.
M10 "Wolverine" tank destroyer is the most expensive, nearly 100,000.
The rest of Lin Lin always counted, in fact, it was only in the early 20 million.
Isn’t 200 million US dollars equal to ten armored divisions?
"The price is very reasonable!" De Gaulle tremblingly took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it tremblingly and took a puff, exhaled a few smoke rings, and said in a deep voice, "So when will it arrive?"
"Your Majesty de Gaulle, don't worry. Although you have a lot of autonomy in carve-up after the war, you can't just say nothing, right? So the contract must be signed. In addition, I will invite the ambassador of our country and General Eisenhower as witnesses... no Question?" Josie said calmly.
"Phew...of course it's possible!" De Gaulle sighed and nodded.
"Then wish us a happy cooperation!" Josie showed a very bright smile on his face, and stretched out his hand to De Gaulle.
De Gaulle was in a relaxed mood, but also very heavy. He didn't speak, but just reached out and touched Josie.
"I have someone throw a banquet, would you like to have a light meal with me?" Josie didn't mind, and instead invited her to dinner rather generously.
In the case of business and not business, Josie doesn't mind making friends with this person.
In any case, it is also the last man in France, and it is an endangered species.
De Gaulle did not refuse Josie's invitation. For this country and this city, he has shouldered so much, can't he still have a good meal?
The next day, under the special invitation of Josie, under the witness of the US ambassador to France who had just been in Paris for less than half a month, and General Eisenhower, Josie and de Gaulle signed the contract in the conference hall of the George V Hotel .
In fact, under normal circumstances, Eisenhower, as the commander of the Allied Forces, has a high position and authority, so he is not so easy to invite, and his relationship with Josie is not so close.
But this agreement is good for the United States... because the United States actually doubts whether de Gaulle or the French government will be able to pay back after the war, or whether they will be willing to pay back the debts of the two armored divisions.
But now that Josie and de Gaulle have signed this contract, as long as France dares to renege, the U.S. military can justifiably withhold France's post-war compensation!
So Eisenhower was also happy to be a favor.
The day after the contract was signed, two free ships full of canned meat appeared on the Seine River.
These two Liberty ships were second-hand goods that Josie bought from a shipping company at half price when he was in the UK.
Specially for the purpose of "transporting" bulk goods.
With the 10,000 tons of canned meat provided by Josie, coupled with the rationing system that has been implemented since the fall of France, the food panic in Paris is barely considered so serious.
And even if so many canned meats were sold to the provisional government at a "low price", it would not affect Josie and other businessmen's ability to continue to make money.
Food shortage still exists, but people will not starve to death.
The rich citizens of Paris are still willing to spend a little more to make themselves more full.
Even if there is no money, beautiful French girls can make money from American soldiers.
Besides, even if Josie doesn't sell food, she can still sell other things.
Since you can’t die of hunger, the romantic French people are not allowed to smoke some small cigarettes, drink some wine or coffee, and taste candy or something?
The provisional government will not distribute these things to the people.
In this way, Josie kept picking up the wool of the French people while quietly waiting for the launch of the "Return to the Eagle's Nest" plan.
……………
"I thought you wouldn't come back before the plan started!" A few days later, in the study of the presidential suite, Josie said to the woman sitting opposite while gently wiping a bronze faucet on her hand.
"Don't I miss you so much, I can't see you, I can't eat, I can't sleep!" The woman fiddled with the collar on her neck and said with a smile.
Needless to say, this woman is none other than Ophelia.
"Really? I really didn't know I was so attractive!" Josie raised her eyebrows and carefully put the faucet into the box in front of her. miss him? I'm afraid I want him to die!
"Tsk tsk tsk, His Royal Highness Kahn is really too modest. Those young girls in Paris want to have a spring evening with you, but it's a pity that our Highness Kahn seems to have a problem with his orientation." Ophelia said Lu sneered.
"...Hehe, are you provoking me?" Josie's face turned cold.
In fact, Vito and the others have responded to him recently, and there are rumors of this in Paris.
The reason for this rumor is also very simple, because during the period after Paris, although Josie often went to nightclubs such as the Moulin Rouge and the Lido, it was never really rumored that he and that woman really had a relationship. What an affair.
This is actually an unbelievable thing in this era, especially in France, which is famous for its romance.
Plus Josie's excellent appearance.
This looks very abnormal to the outside world.
So somehow, some rumors that he had a problem with his orientation began to appear.
It's just that Josie has always dismissed such outside rumors.
It is up to you whether we are men or not. After all, he is more picky. France is said to be the capital of romance, but to be honest, ordinary women really don’t catch his eyes.
And this is just a gossip after all, under normal circumstances no one would dare to say it in front of him.
People with high positions and powers will not offend him without thinking, but if ordinary people dare to say that, wait until they go to the Seine River to feed the fish.
But now that Ophelia mentioned this, it is purely provocative.
But it’s not to blame for Ophelia’s provocation. In fact, she went back to Austria and found many ways, but she couldn’t untie the collar.
The resentment towards Josie has deepened.
It's just a pity that she seems to have forgotten the fundamental role of this circle.
"I'm sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have said that, but it's just... ah woo woo woo!" Ophelia originally wanted to hurt Josie, but Josie directly pressed the button on the anti-mind control necklace. One button, and she fell directly on the sofa and smoked.
"Cut, that's all!" Josie shook his head, opened another box on the table, and took out the bronze snake head inside.
That's right, these two bronze heads are the heads of the Chinese zodiac in Yuanmingyuan.
Josie just bought it from a French collector. He also found rats and rabbits before.
He also got four when he was in England before.
That is to say, he has now collected eight.
As for the remaining four, they have not yet fallen.
But Josie is not in a hurry. She looks slowly, and she can always find it.
In addition, Josie also found a lot of national treasures from these two countries.
For example, Napoleon’s golden crown with bay leaves... To be honest, it is quite ugly, because all the gold leaves on it have fallen off, and there are only three pieces left.
Just as Josie was playing with the copper head, the phone in the study rang.
Josie picked up the phone, and General McGinnis' angry voice came from the other side of the phone.
"Josie, go to the window! We're getting started!"
Hearing what McGinnis said, Josie was taken aback for a moment, and then there was a loud bang, and then he quickly put away the things in his hand, and walked to the window quickly.
The sky was dark and dense, and countless planes flew northeast from the sky above Paris.
Return to the Eagle's Nest, let's start!
"It's really spectacular!" Ophelia, who didn't know when she recovered, also walked to the window and murmured while watching the spectacular scene in the sky beside Josie.
Josie glanced at her, then pressed the shock switch on the collar again.
Immediately, Ophelia fell to the ground and twitched again.
Josie just turned around and watched this spectacular scene unprecedented in human history... There were more planes dispatched in this operation than the Normandy landing.
Originally, I wanted 7,500 words, so with the addition of 2,500 in the early morning, everyone can just smoke twice.
But still failed, only less than seven thousand, time is not enough.
I'm sorry everyone o(╥﹏╥)o!
(end of this chapter)