Chapter 669: Wartime Rationing System

Dejoka's cottage in the small town of Lavaise.

Perhaps because he is used to a simple life, or perhaps because he enjoys getting along well with his neighbors, Djokovic has never moved to a bigger house even though he is very rich now.

The only thing he did was to update the furniture in the house. Dejoka disposed of the things that he had been reluctant to throw away before, and tidied up the utility room on the first floor into a cozy little study.

It was already past eleven o'clock in the evening, and Djokovic was still checking accounts in his study.

The business has been expanding rapidly recently. The newly added insurance and shipping businesses, as well as the military factories opened in the United States and the expanded factories in the town have kept Deyoka, the nominal owner of the Bernard Group, very busy.

Camille came in with a cup of coffee and gently placed it on Djokovic's desk.

Normally, she would quietly walk away at this time so as not to interrupt Djoka's work, but this time, she stood by the desk for a while.

"What?" Djokovic noticed something was wrong, stopped what he was doing and looked at Camille.

"Do you have time to talk?" Camille asked cautiously.

"Of course." Djokovic nodded.

"I know Charles wouldn't do that, but..." Camille stopped talking.

Djokovic instantly knew what Camille wanted to talk about. He looked helpless: "Of course he wouldn't do such a thing, Camille."

"I know." Camille replied, "But you don't know how scarce the supplies are now, Deyoka. Uncle Anatok told me yesterday that many people can no longer afford flour. They can only make bread with sawdust and potato peels mixed together. There is almost no milk or other meat. People can only eat dogs and cats."

(Note: During World War I, some people kept cats and used them as food. Because cats could catch mice, they hardly needed to be fed. People called them "roof rabbits.")

"This has nothing to do with Charles or the Bernard Group." Deyoka replied: "The materials we transport are always sold at a fair price, but we have no control over who buys these materials..."

Deyoka also hopes to sell these supplies to people who really need them, and he even refuses capitalists' high-priced purchases.

However, the capitalists hired a group of poor people to rush and buy up the supplies no matter where Dejoka dropped them.

"Can't we think of a solution?" Camille's eyes were filled with anxiety. "Although I know all this, this happened after the Charles took control of shipping. People still believe that this is related to the Charles."

Djokovic nodded slowly, his face heavy.

People would not listen to Deyoka's explanation, they only knew that Charles controlled the shipping, and then life became worse and worse, and now they even reached the point where they could not survive by starving.

What's worse is that it's just after winter and they have eaten all their stored food but have no seeds to plant.

Just when Djokovic was in trouble, the sound of a car engine was heard outside the door, getting closer and closer, and finally a brake sound.

"It's Charles." Camille was surprised and happy, turned around and ran out to greet him.

Djokovic didn't rush out. He walked slowly to the living room, thinking about how to solve the problem.

Soon, Charles appeared at the door. As soon as he saw Deyoka's expression, he guessed what was going on: "Are you worried about the supplies, father?"

Djoka was stunned, and looked at Charles with surprise: "You already know?"

"Yes." Charles nodded and glanced at the living room: "Did we buy a new sofa?"

"Yeah." Djokovic sat down with Charles. He didn't want to waste too much time on the "sofa" issue, so he asked directly: "How are you going to solve this problem? I mean supplies."

Camille originally wanted to go to the kitchen to prepare food, but when he heard this topic, he sat quietly at the dining table and waited for Charles to answer.

Ciel took off his general's hat and put it aside, saying in a relaxed tone: "I just need to clarify something."

“I know.” Djokovic nodded. “People will believe you. You can also provide evidence to let people know what the capitalists have done.”

This was a piece of cake for Charles. He had a high reputation among the people and controlled two media outlets, one of which was an authoritative military newspaper. No one could shut him up.

but……

“This still doesn’t solve the problem.” Dejoka said unhappily, “I mean, the capitalists will continue to do this to oppose your control over the materials, which can also be regarded as a form of coercion.”

Charles understood what Djokovic meant.

What the capitalists really want is an echo sounder.

Like they told people this happened because the Shire had a monopoly on echo sounders.

As long as Charles sold the "Echo Sounder" to others, such as the Toulon Shipyard and the United Kingdom, the military would be able to produce a large number of "Echo Sounders" in a short period of time and equip them on warships.

Then the material situation will improve and people will be able to get a lot of food.

It’s a pity that the capitalists were wrong, Charles would not give in.

Not only will this not bring any obstacles to Charles, but it will also provide Charles with an excellent opportunity.

"That's easy, Father," Ciel replied. "We can implement wartime rationing."

"Wartime rationing system?" Djokovic's eyes lit up.

Camille looked confused; she had no idea about the rationing system.

"Yes," Charles replied, "Once it is passed, France will purchase the landed materials at a unified price in the name of the country, and then distribute them uniformly."

Before this, although Charles was in charge of the safety of the route and the life and death of the supplies, he still had no actual control over these supplies.

Because the capitalists only need to buy Charles' insurance to transport the materials needed by France from the United States and use it to control the economy and bribe parliamentarians and politicians.

Once the wartime rationing system is implemented, all these dark hands of the capitalists will be cut off.

"But..." Deyoka still had doubts: "What if the capitalists teamed up with the congressmen to embezzle the materials by falsifying the accounts?"

Charles smiled and said, "You forgot that all the supplies were brought ashore under the protection of the French Navy. We can count the supplies on the grounds of protecting their safety."

Djokovic understood instantly.

The French Navy can count how much supplies have been transported, which means it has an account book in its hands.

If any capitalist embezzled materials privately and failed to record them in the national treasury for unified distribution, the French Navy only had to check the account books to expose his true colors.

"Good idea!" Djokovic was delighted. "Then what about the rationing system..."

"I have reported this to General Gallieni," said Charles. "All that is needed now is the voice of the people."

As long as the public outcry is loud enough, the legislators will not dare to go against public opinion and fail to pass this project.

(End of this chapter)