While Graz was at his wits' end, two other key executors of the British "fake orders" scheme—Lunna and Bosnia—or their subordinates, were equally bombarded with notices from French factories that orders were fulfilled and final payments were due.
The Thiesselin Company in Nantes had already shipped nearly two million francs worth of textiles, setting sail from Marseille, expected to reach Parma in about ten days.
The Bertus Winery in Bordeaux had also completed an order of 1.5 million francs worth of premium wines, and the delivery carts had entered Bavaria a few days earlier.
There were also paper goods, furniture, steam engines, and such, totaling seven transactions, all high-amount contracts that had finished production and were pressuring Austrian or Italian buyers for payment.
Of course, this so-called "finished production" was merely Joseph's arrangement. According to the actual production capacity of these factories, it wouldn't be possible to fulfill the orders until at least October.
Joseph had secretly orchestrated the Industrial Development Fund to divert similar products to designated factories in bulk, then claim they were their own production.
In essence, the production capabilities of the entire France were cobbled together to fulfill these orders.
If the companies that placed orders in Austria and Italy were unable to pay the final installments, then a massive shock would be triggered, making French factories realize that the orders they held might also be part of a scam.
However, Joseph had no intention of simply exposing the scam.
Not squeezing some blood out of the fraudsters would be an insult to all the various fraud cases he had seen in his later life!
After failing to bribe the assistant manager of Gregoire Brothers Steel Company, Graz had decided to flee to the United States at all costs. However, he suddenly saw a middle-aged man clad in luxurious clothes and reeking of money appear outside his office.
"Viscount Plummer?" Graz naturally recognized this hotshot from the Vienna business circles and asked in surprise, "What brings you here?"
"Ah, my old friend!" Mesmer, posing as Plummer, gave him a hug and cheerfully said, "You can't turn me down this time. I mean about buying those French goods you have."
"I've said many times, not for sale." Graz waved his hand impatiently, "Please go back..."
"Don't be so heartless," Mesmer pulled him to sit down on the sofa, signaling the servant at the door, "Two cups of tea, with extra sugar."
Then he turned to Graz with a smile, "I'm here to help you."
Mesmer patted his shoulder, "Have you been having trouble with your cash flow recently?"
"Ah, no need to hide it, we are friends," Mesmer said, "I have some connections at the bank.
"I know you've received the batch of French goods that were delivered to Kochasai Town's warehouse, and there hasn't been a large fund transfer on your end."
He certainly had no friends at Vienna Bank; it was purely a bluff to trick Graz.
He then lowered his voice and said, "Moreover, I heard you met with Mr. Lucca and suggested a private payment to push back the deadline by four months."
Lucca was the executive of Gregoire Brothers Steel Company.
Graz was shocked and blurted out, "How... how do you know about this..."
"Oh, don't worry, old friend." Mesmer thought, of course, it was Lucca who told me yesterday, but merely smiled and said, "Who hasn't had cash flow problems in business?
"However, if you can't pay for the goods on time now, you'll face a hefty fine and litigation from the other company."
"No, I won't default!" Graz was still being stubborn.
"Why don't we be honest with each other?" Mesmer took a sip of his tea, "Actually, I'm very interested in those French goods, just like I said before.
"Maybe, I could buy them off you."
Graz was stunned and then overjoyed, "You mean it? Those goods are worth over 700,000 florins."
"It's nothing to me," Mesmer said, waving his hand adorned with gemstone rings, then his tone shifted, "But as you know, we need some profit in business. I'd expect over 10% interest even if I loaned this amount to the King."
Like afraid he would change his mind, Graz rushed him, "Yes, of course, I can't let you lose out. How would you like to trade?"
Mesmer showed six fingers, "I want to buy this batch of goods at 60% of the price."
Graz was taken aback, "What about the remaining 40%?"
"You might need to cover that."
Graz turned pale with anger right away. This guy was trying to make a killing out of the fire!
He was about to refuse outright but then thought that not being able to make the final payment would cause the other ten orders to fail.
He wouldn't see a penny of his commission!
As long as he could stabilize Gregoire Brothers Steel Company, the other French factories would continue production, which was an opportunity.
But 40% of the payment amounted to 280,000 florins, and he didn't have that much money...
Perhaps, he could confess to Mr. Kleistier and ask him to put up some more money. He would definitely have his commission cut, but if he saved his entire plan, he'd still get something.
Thinking this, he immediately haggled with "Viscount Plummer" and quickly reached an agreement for the latter to buy this batch of metal products at 70% of the order price, while he himself would pay 30%.
Both sides were exceedingly happy and signed the agreement that very noon.
Graz repeatedly stressed that this transaction must remain confidential, as it could expose his lack of payment ability to the outside world and affect other orders.
Mesmer readily agreed, bade farewell to Graz, and immediately instructed his coachman to hurry to the MokeBruno Caravan, which had also received a notice of order completion yesterday.
At the same time, Carolina's assistant, posing as a Bavarian rich man, made contact with Bosnia.
And in Tuscany, Italy, his man had already signed an agreement with Elwin Lenna to buy the recently delivered wine at 75% of the price.
At Duke of Leeds's temporary residence in Vienna.
"This is the only chance to save your plan," Kleistier told Duke of Leeds, "I've sent people to investigate, and apart from this batch of orders, the production speed of the French people is not that fast.
"The next completed orders won't be ready until the end of September at the earliest.
"So, if these seven payments are resolved, France will still suffer a tremendous loss."
Duke of Leeds furrowed his brows in deep thought.
After the shipment from Gregoire Brothers Steel Company had arrived in Vienna, he had the British intelligence system investigate. It turned out exactly as Kleistier said, the other orders were far from completion.