Chapter 874 The Capitalists’ Counterattack
If similar corruption incidents had occurred in France before, the authorities would have done everything they could to suppress them rather than investigate them, let alone report them in the newspapers.
The reason is that the interest groups they involve are too large, which will shake the entire ruling class and cause unrest.
Just like the Panama Canal scandal, everyone knew what was happening, but there was nothing they could do about the capitalists and politicians.
It seems that the only thing the military and civilians can do is to take to the streets to protest or "mutiny."
But now that France is under Charles' control, he certainly will not and does not need to be polite to these capitalists hiding in the dark. He immediately reports the corruption cases one by one in the "Le Merit".
There was no additional issue and it was reported as normal the next morning.
Charles hopes to create a psychological suggestion of "homely meals".
Charles was pleased with the citizens' reaction; they hated the capitalists, but there were no large-scale protests or strikes.
This is also Charles's test of the citizens.
"Look, only Charles' factory has no quality problems. A considerable portion of his equipment is even new."
"The new equipment should have more 'reliability' issues, but they are far more reliable than the old equipment."
"Charles is the only one who truly cares about this country and its citizens. We can safely hand over the country to him."
…
They did not think about the deeper issue: if "Charter will sort out the country" or "hand the country over to him", another meaning is to support "Charter dictatorship".
Some people knew this, after all, French citizens at this time valued freedom of speech and were keen on institutional discussions.
But they chose not to speak out.
Because these people are also thinking:
Could it get any worse than it already is?
What are the benefits of the so-called "checks and balances" of a republic?
In the end, isn't it that the capitalists control the government and engage in all kinds of corruption, while the citizens are unable to do anything about them?
If Charles didn't have power, how could he get rid of these parasites?
The silence was broken two days later.
The opposition came from the Page family, the family of Colonel DeParer who was in cahoots with the army boot supplier.
As if to rescue his son, 51-year-old Funik stood in the court and shouted:
"We do not acknowledge these crimes, this is political persecution."
"Haven't you figured it out yet? All of this is Ciel's conspiracy."
"He used his intelligence unit to fabricate these crimes in order to eliminate dissidents and establish his dictatorship. All of this was fabricated by Charles, and it's not just targeting us!"
…
Although Funik was kicked out of the court, it seemed that it had been planned in advance, and more than a dozen newspapers reported the incident:
"Funico accused this of being a political persecution. Although we cannot be sure, it is true that Charles' power has reached a point where it is out of control."
"Is this a conspiracy by Charles? I'm not sure. But I believe there are many similar corruption cases in other armies. But why did Charles only rectify the Eastern Army Group? Is this a biased choice?"
"As much as I'd like to believe Ciel, we seem to be heading down the path of dictatorship."
…
When Charles saw these remarks, he just smiled. The capitalists' counterattack has come, and they will not sit idly by and wait for death.
The problem with a republic is that the concentration of power is the original sin, whether it is power gained by winning the hearts and minds of the people or by usurpation.
For example, Charles built a military-industrial system and created countless jobs. He defeated the enemy on the battlefield time and time again and won victory. He saved France from danger several times. Shouldn't he, who has the trust of the citizens, be given power?
However, according to the republican principle of "checks and balances", such people must be suppressed and restrained, or even disarm themselves, otherwise it would be a dictatorship.
But the capitalists were still too naive. They used old tricks from modern times. How could Charles not know how to deal with them?
He published the evidence of Colonel Depar's guilt in the "Meritorious Newspaper" and then said lightly: "They are just trying to exonerate the termites."
The others said nothing, as if they were too disdainful to argue with those capitalists.
The citizens understood what Charles meant:
"Yes, everything Charles did was for France. He did nothing wrong, but he had to suffer the unwarranted suspicion of the capitalists."
"Charles has solid evidence, but the capitalists have no evidence at all. All they have is 'Charles has too much power.'"
"They shamelessly threw dirty water on Charles just to exonerate themselves. Those damn bastards should be punished."
…
Angry people surrounded the Page estate and demanded that Funico provide evidence, otherwise he would plead guilty and apologize to Charles.
However, this is only the initial and more rational state.
Fonico refused to give in. He stood on the upper floor and gave a speech to the citizens in an attempt to change people's minds. He even prepared his speech.
At first, Funik was able to remain calm, but when someone threw stones at him and called him shameless, he angrily scolded: "You fools, you have all been deceived by Charles, but you don't know it..."
The anger of the citizens was instantly ignited:
"Shut your mouth. Ciel has never lied to us. He saved this country, including you and your family."
"And yet you deceived countless people. We all know that some of the low-quality military boots were produced by you."
"You should be brought to court and tried and confess your crime!"
…
People became angrier and angrier as they talked, and soon they used a tractor to break down the gate, rushing into the estate like a broken dam and taking control of the entire family, including Funico.
Coincidentally, they did find a lot of evidence about Funico producing inferior military boots and food: it was a chain of corruption, Funico was responsible for production, and Colonel Depal in the army was responsible for "acceptance" and "promotion".
Funico was beaten into a pig's head and almost burned to death. In the end, Gallieni sent people to rescue him in order to form a complete chain of evidence.
On the other hand, the newspaper that had previously supported Funico and suspected Charles also suffered.
Stone attacks were common, newspapers were boycotted, newspaper offices were splashed with paint or covered with insulting words such as "capitalist running dogs" and "shameless liars", and journalists were beaten when they went out...
It is not difficult to foresee that these newspapers will soon be unable to make ends meet and eventually go bankrupt.
Everyone overlooked one thing:
How could Fu Ni Ke be so stupid as to keep the evidence of the crime in his own home?
Even if it was kept at home, it should have been hidden in a secret place where it would not be easily found by people, but he hid it in a drawer in the study.
People only knew that it was one of Funico's servants who told them the secret. He shouted to them, "I know where Funico hid the secret. Let's go find it!"
So the evidence became public.
(End of this chapter)
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