I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 898: The Mastermind Behind the Scenes
Paris City Hall, Ministry of the Navy Office.
The flames in the fireplace danced joyfully, several assistants were busy answering calls and delivering sorted telegrams and documents to the Minister of the Navy.
The Minister of the Navy sipped red wine, leisurely flipping through the telegrams, with a casual gaze.
To him, there was nothing that required attention or consideration; nominally, he oversaw the navy in two directions: Brest Port and Toulon Port.
But in reality, Brest Port had slipped from the Minister’s control.
Influenced by the development at Brest Shipyard and the North Sea warfare, they had fully supported Shire.
And most of the intelligence was related to Brest Shipyard.
Those were Shire’s issues, not needing the Minister’s worries.
As for Toulon Port and the Mediterranean, the Germans’ warships could not operate here; what else could happen? It’s merely issues of transport and patrol.
This is why the Minister of the Navy plans to move the main naval force to Toulon; wouldn’t it be great to dominate the Mediterranean? Why compete with the English in the Atlantic?
They are the number one naval power; can they be outcompeted?
Utterly stupid!
The Mediterranean is paramount, directly relating to France’s control over the African Colony.
The Minister of the Navy smugly swirled the wine in his glass.
It is precisely because he holds control over the colonies that he can maintain his aristocratic enjoyment while others are in the plight of a "wartime rationing system."
Of course, there was also his lover, the verdant image of Hari crossed his mind uncontrollably. A sleazy smile unconsciously crept over his wrinkled face, eyes gradually becoming dreamy.
Suddenly, the voice of a staff officer pulled the Minister out of his delightful daydream.
"Minister, the President of the United States is on the line."
The Minister immediately straightened up, aware of America’s importance.
Upon receiving the telegram, he found it read:
"Minister, it is said that you and the colonies united against Shire and blocked the colonies’ resource supply to the Bernard Group."
"I don’t know what personal vendetta exists between you and Shire."
"But it is wartime, and I believe we should not bring personal grievances into official matters. We should unite to defeat the Germans. What do you think?"
The Minister was terrified by the telegram.
What was happening?
This was indeed the Minister’s intention, but he had already severed ties with the colonies; why did the President still point the finger at him?
The Minister hurriedly sent a telegram to explain, declaring that the matter was unrelated to him.
Just as he sighed with relief, another telegram arrived from the Italian Prime Minister:
"Minister, we all know the Toulon Fleet belongs to France and ought to serve France and the war, not personal interests."
"But it seems that this is not the case; we hope to transport military equipment from the Bernard Group only to face obstruction."
"I don’t understand what’s happening, but I am certain this is detrimental to the Allies’ cooperation, a grave dereliction of duty, which I can scarcely comprehend!"
What’s going on?
Not just the United States, but Italy too!
Although Italy’s influence is far smaller than the United States.
But Italy was at a tense period where its defense line was breached by Germany, the Allies were considering providing Italy assistance; otherwise, Italy’s defeat would benefit no one.
And at this crucial moment, if a "dereliction" were to occur regarding Italy, it would incur questioning throughout the Allies.
He looked puzzlingly at the staff officer: "What happened on the Italian side? What military equipment?"
"Minister." The staff officer explained: "I made some calls to understand. Italy purchased a batch of equipment from Shire, but this batch couldn’t promptly pass transport approval."
The staff officer spoke of "not timely."
This is the Minister’s strategy against Shire, slowing down approval of equipment and supplies related to the Bernard Group, not halting transport.
He hoped Shire would understand the Mediterranean area was under the Minister’s control, thus increasing his leverage.
To his surprise, he was overturned here.
Hurriedly, he sent a response to Italy, explaining that due to the wartime demand for transport materials, arrangements fell short, causing this situation.
After "clarifying," he felt the situation wasn’t simple.
Why did two incidents break out simultaneously? And target him first? 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
He was pondering when the staff officer delivered another telegram, looking panicked and pale: "Minister, Alger is under investigation, dispatched by General Gallieni’s team."
(Above shows Alger’s location, the capital and largest port of Algeria, mainly responsible for transporting colony resources and materials to France during the war)
"What?" The Minister stood up with a "whoosh."
Gallieni, everyone knew he was aligned with Shire; without a doubt, this was Shire’s maneuver.
The staff officer supplemented: "They took away the port director and the director of economic affairs."
The port director managed ship scheduling, and the economic affairs department oversaw food collection and mineral export, targeted investigations.
But the Minister pondered for a while, muscles relaxing.
The Minister was very discreet; he had only interacted with colony governors, and as long as they weren’t investigated, he could extricate himself.
However, the Minister soon discovered he was mistaken.
Within half an hour, the staff officer rushed to report in panic: "Minister, the port director and economic affairs director confessed."
The Minister snorted: "Let them confess, nothing to worry about."
That’s the colonies’ headache, precisely the governor’s; they explain, then undergo review, and the Minister believed they wouldn’t betray him.
But the staff officer said: "Minister, they claimed they were acting under your orders."
The Minister nearly stumbled, staring at the staff officer in shock, taking a moment to snatch the telegram from him.
Indeed, as the staff officer stated, their confessed mastermind was the Minister, including a list of wealth embezzled from colonies through his position.
The Minister’s face turned instantly pale, yelling angrily: "No, this is slander, defamation; I haven’t done these things!"
Truly, he hadn’t done so; he was the unseen hand, even the wealth gathered only reached him under the governor’s various guises, that list was non-existent.
Nonetheless, his corruption and bribery remained fact, and the huge sums in his bank account couldn’t be explained.
Once compared, everything would become factual with witnesses and evidence intact.
The Minister realized this, muttering: "This, this is Shire’s conspiracy, it must be..."
But no one would listen to him any longer.
