Chapter 853 Now, it's time to change the way
The meeting ended at about three in the afternoon, and Gallieni met with Charles.
The location was in Gallieni's ministerial office, and Gallieni asked Lieutenant Colonel Fernand to call Charles.
This was the first time Charles had appeared in Gallieni's office; he rarely even went into the City Hall.
Because according to the customs of the French Republic, military personnel are best not to be involved with the government, so as not to be suspected of "military-political collusion."
But now, Ciel no longer needs to care too much about these details.
If any member of parliament dared to say that Charles was "colluding with the government and the military" in parliament, he would be laughed at by other members of parliament:
"Charles still needs military-political collusion?"
"Who has such great power that requires Charles to 'collude'?"
"Oh, you mean the Minister of War? The Minister of War doesn't seem to have as much power as Charles?"
…
Charles looked at Gallieni's furnishings with great interest.
This really doesn't look like the office of the Secretary of the Army. The Secretary of the Army should be in charge of foreign military cooperation, internal logistics, military management, personnel promotions, etc.
Therefore, there should be a large accumulation of troops, officers, logistical data and diplomatic documents.
But Gallieni's office was a telecommunications room, sand table, combat map, etc., a real military command center.
"You seem to have not yet stepped out of the role of battlefield commander, General," said Charles.
Gallieni answered casually while signing the document:
"The Secretary of the Army doesn't really mean much."
"Diplomacy? The British don't care about our coordination at all."
"As for other countries, their diplomatic attitude towards France mostly depends on the victory you achieve."
As he spoke, Gallieni raised a few documents in his hand. They were the newly approved arms sales relations with several neutral countries, and these were also Charles's contribution.
Charles walked to the sand table and casually inserted several flags representing France in the correct positions.
Gallieni's intelligence was a little delayed, and these places had already been occupied by the French army.
"You may have more and more to do with that, General," replied Charles; "and I hope it will please you."
"What do you mean?" Gallieni asked.
In fact, he knew what Charles said. Charles began to contact the colonial forces of the British Expeditionary Force, so the "diplomatic" affairs between the French Army and the British Colonial Army would become more numerous and complicated.
Gallieni asked this just to confirm.
"You know." Charles walked around the sand table and came up to Gallieni, glancing at the chair next to him.
Gallieni nodded and allowed Charles to sit down. He asked someone to pour Charles a cup of coffee and asked for a glass of milk for himself.
"You're not completely healed yet, are you?" Charles asked.
"I'm almost well now," Gallieni said with a hint of relief. "But I'm used to drinking milk now."
This is the truth. After he got used to milk, he found that drinking coffee instead caused him to suffer from insomnia. He doesn't know if this is related to his age.
Taking a sip of the milk, Gallieni stared at Charles with worry in his eyes: "Do you know that what you are doing now is very dangerous?"
Ciel nodded.
The colonial army of the British Expeditionary Force was a forbidden area for Britain and a weak spot for Britain.
If Charles touched it, it would be a challenge to their control over the colonies. Britain would never allow others to interfere, otherwise the British Empire might fall apart.
Therefore, Charles's action puts himself in opposition to Britain, and may even involve the diplomatic relations between Britain and France.
"You know that, but you still want to do it?" Gallieni was puzzled. "What can you gain? Take those colonies from the British?"
Then Gallieni added: "You know that's impossible."
"No, General." Charles said in a relaxed tone: "I don't want to take those colonies from the British, but don't you consider the progress of mankind?"
"What do you mean?" Gallieni looked confused.
Charles explained seriously:
"We can't limit our vision to one country, General. We should look at the world."
"This is the idea of the Great Revolution, am I right?"
"Liberty, equality, fraternity, that's what it means, to protect human rights and universal love for mankind..."
Gallieni frowned and said in a more serious tone: "Tell the truth!"
As the Minister of War, Gallieni knew that these were just lies to deceive the citizens. Everything was just about two words: interests.
Charles is certainly no exception.
"Okay." Ciel kept smiling. "England can't handle such a problem. They can't even find fault with us."
"What do you mean?" Gallieni looked confused.
Charles answered in a quiet but serious voice: "Give the colonies full freedom. They should be treated fairly and not oppressed by the mother country."
Gallieni stood up with a bang: "Are you crazy? Have you forgotten that France also has its own colonies?"
Charles looked at Gallieni in silence.
Gallieni suddenly realized that the French colonies were all under the control of capitalists and had nothing to do with Charles.
If the colonies were to break away from France, that is, from the control of the capitalists, it would only benefit Charles and not harm him.
This is a generous act towards others. Giving them freedom will not only weaken the capitalists but also increase the prestige of Charles. Why not do it?
"No, I won't let you do this." Gallieni said firmly: "You know, this is not in the interests of France..."
"No, General," Charles interrupted Gallieni, "it is in the interests of France."
Gallieni snorted, as if he was really angry:
"Don't take me for a fool, Admiral."
"You may not know that more than one-fifth of our food comes from the colonies. When Northeast China was occupied by the Germans, more than half of our mineral raw materials came from the colonies, and the prices were very low."
"Without the colonies, we wouldn't have survived until now!"
Don't tell me about the blood, tears and suffering of the colonies. I only know the interests of France.
Charles knew that Gallieni would react like this.
Gallieni was a famous colonial officer who served as colonial governor in Africa and Southeast Asia and was known for his "tough repression" and "systematic colonial rule."
Sometimes, Charles found it difficult to reconcile the kind-hearted old general in front of him with his cold-blooded colonial rule policies.
But this was normal in this era, the colonists were not even considered normal people in their eyes.
Charles stood by his point of view:
"Because that time is over, General."
“Just as the French Revolution led to the collapse of feudal society, so too did colonial rule.”
"Otherwise, what we face is endless war in the colonies, and we will lose even more than we gain, and much more."
"Now, it's time to change the way!"
(End of this chapter)
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