Chapter 777 Freemasonry

There is only one chapter tonight, I will make up for it tomorrow.

…

"What's the bad news?" asked Charles.

He didn't think there could be any bad news right now.

Lucia did not answer directly, but asked solemnly: "Have you heard of Freemasonry?"

Charles said "hmm".

This is a joint organization originally established in the UK, and later expanded to all parts of Europe and the United States. Its members are all powerful capitalists, high-ranking politicians or celebrities.

Lucia said: "You have successfully attracted the attention of the organization. I guess they may be evaluating the possibility of recruiting you."

Then she turned to look at Ciel: "You're not going to join the order, are you?"

Charles said "hmm".

Charles has become a monopoly and has formed his own system. Joining the society will only tie one's own hands.

Although Charles is also a capitalist, his existence can threaten the capital system itself. He has created another capital system that is in competition with the original system and it is impossible for them to be integrated together.

"So..." Lucia looked towards the Darvaz factory area: "Now is not the end, but the beginning."

The Freemasons are not comparable to ordinary capitalists, and their intelligence organization is not as simple as the Second Bureau.

Ciel nodded slightly to show that he understood.

It is an organization that targets countries, and when they take action, they often trigger a global financial storm.

Their methods are not complicated. They use the concentrated wealth and power to pry open a country's currency, play with its assets in the palm of their hands, and finally cash out at high prices and leave the mess to the country's government and people.

This is what is commonly referred to as "薅羊毛" in modern times.

In order to avoid being passive, one thing is to nationalize and not sell industries related to the country's lifeline, such as energy, military industry, agriculture, steel, transportation, communications, electricity, etc.

Otherwise, the life and death of the country is in the hands of the other side. What can we use to fight them?

But this is almost impossible, the French Third Republic has almost no basis for nationalization, they advocate a market economy.

The other is to develop itself into a strong enough entity, so strong that the Bernard Group and its partner companies alone will be able to regulate the national market and maintain price stability.

Ciel chose the latter, but it wasn't easy.

Before this, Charles thought that the Bernard Group had grown fast enough and had enough resources at its disposal.

Now, he suddenly realized that he was still far from achieving his goal, and even had a sense of crisis.

Because Charles' focus has always been on energy and military industry, but other parts have been neglected.

…

In the afternoon, the sunlight shone through the mist and cast a few afterimages in the Prime Minister's Office.

Clemenceau sat proudly in the rocking chair in front of his office and turned around twice, then picked up the red wine, raised it lightly towards the furnishings in the office and drank it all in one gulp.

"Finally I'm sitting in this position again." He sighed as he put down his glass.

He leisurely picked up a cigar, lit it for himself, and took a long breath in the swirling smoke.

If there is a flaw, it is Ciel's control.

But what does it matter? Clemenceau thought.

Charles also provided himself with protection, protection that provided him with peace of mind, which other capitalists could not do.

Clemenceau felt relieved when he thought of this.

If there were several paths before him now, he would still choose to cooperate with Charles, as Charles is a very reliable force.

At this time, there were two soft knocks outside the door, and the secretary pushed the door open and reported: "Your Excellency the Prime Minister, General Charles is here. He wants to talk to you about the war in Metz."

“Oh, of course.” Clemenceau quickly put down his cigar. “Let him in!”

Clemenceau waited for a moment, and when Charles opened the door he immediately stood up and walked over to him:

"Welcome, General. I was just looking to talk to you and I didn't expect you to come."

"This way, please."

"Want a drink? For our victory today!"

Clemenceau emphasized "we" because he didn't want to anger the "boss" behind the scenes.

"No." Charles walked to the sofa and sat down: "Coffee, please."

“Of course.” Clemenceau waved his hand to his secretary: “Two cups of coffee!”

When the coffee was served, Charles didn't even touch it. He was worried about one thing.

"Prime Minister," Charles said, "I want to know if anyone is buying up large amounts of farmland and building land in France."

“Yes.” Clemenceau nodded.

"This happened shortly after the war broke out."

"You know, during the war, a large number of workers were sent to the battlefield. Even the elderly and women went into the factories to produce ammunition and equipment."

"This has resulted in a large amount of arable land being left uncultivated, farmers and ranchers going bankrupt, and the price of arable land being ridiculously low."

“The situation is similar for building land.”

During the war, no one could afford to build a house. Also, because a large number of soldiers died in the war, a large number of second-hand houses were for sale on the market. Therefore, both land and housing prices reached a low point.

Charles' heart sank. It was just as he expected.

All Charles has been thinking about is military and making money, and his strategy focuses on "the company".

Now that he had most of the control over France, he thought from the perspective of the "country" and suddenly realized that the initiative had always been in the hands of the Freemasonry capitalists.

Arable land represents a country's agriculture.

It is related to "food", which ranks first among the "food, clothing, housing and transportation" of a country's people.

It is indeed possible to import supplies from the United States now.

But in peacetime, the big capitalists who controlled large tracts of arable land could manipulate food prices at will and exploit French citizens in various ways, while the government and Charles could only watch helplessly.

This even concerns national security: once surrounded by enemies externally, the arable land inside is in the hands of capitalists, and survival will then depend on the kindness of the capitalists.

The issue of construction land is "housing". Pulling it to a high price and then cashing out can easily drag down a country's economy.

Charles was a little frustrated.

Another reason why he didn't think of this was that he used to live in a country with "public ownership of the means of production", and inertia caused him to ignore this point.

As a result, Charles is now conquering cities and territories in the front, while capitalists are harvesting high-quality assets at low prices in the rear.

No, Charles thought, these capitalists must be made to give up these lands.

What to do?

After thinking for a moment, Charles said to Clemenceau:

"Mr. Prime Minister, after several consecutive battles, the French army has suffered too many casualties."

"And the British Expeditionary Force should have almost recovered after a period of rest."

"I think we should leave the section east of the Meuse River to the British Expeditionary Force for defense. What do you think?"

Clemenceau agreed without hesitation: "Of course, they are our allies. They should do their part on the battlefield instead of just resting and watching the battle in the rear!"

He then complained sarcastically: "These British people are not marching as fast as we are in recovering our land. They are wasting supplies and food here!"

(End of this chapter)