Darkstone Code-Chapter 753 - 0751 Intervention

"I heard the Finance Minister is quite troubled recently, with many citizens going to his place to protest?"

In the office, the Prime Minister’s sudden question momentarily stunned the assistant who was sorting out documents.

In the past, the Prime Minister didn’t care much about affairs (he appeared infrequently in the text), often just reading the newspaper, sipping coffee or tea, and representing the Emperor in some out-of-town engagements when necessary.

Sitting or standing on site, he would then read the speech entrusted to him by the Emperor.

This is also the origin of his "mascot" nickname, as he rarely expressed his own ideas, often just serving as an ornament, a symbol.

Now, his sudden question caught the assistant a bit off guard; however, he quickly reacted, "Yes, reportedly someone even threw stones and smashed the Finance Minister’s house window."

"That’s truly frightening!" The Prime Minister showed an expression... of anger?

The assistant wasn’t sure he saw anger, because he vaguely noticed a slight smile when the Prime Minister lowered his head, which quickly vanished upon closer inspection. He couldn’t tell if it was his imagination.

The Prime Minister frowned slightly and pondered for a moment, "Protesting and demonstrations are normal, but such violence should not occur; notify the Police Station to disperse these crowds and inform them of the reason."

The assistant’s response took a few seconds longer; his thoughts clearly couldn’t keep up with the Prime Minister’s, needing to seriously think for a few seconds to uncover hidden issues.

Once he understood, he suddenly felt a bit hot, "Wouldn’t this... anger those protesting citizens?"

His voice was light and low, not expressing resistance to the order but rather an addition.

The Prime Minister looked up at him, "Do you think tolerating these irrational protests is the correct choice?"

"If they can throw stones today, they might shoot inside tomorrow. Do as I say."

The voice wasn’t loud, but the pressure was substantial; the assistant knew he’d made a mistake and immediately obeyed, jogging out of the room.

The Prime Minister shook his head as the door slowly closed; years of silence changed more than just him, even the sensibility of assistants around him had become so low.

What he wanted was precisely to provoke those protesters, otherwise how could the drama that followed open?

A few minutes later, the Director of the Imperial Capital Police Station received a phone call.

"Hello, I am..., regarding yesterday’s events, the Prime Minister expressed great concern."

"Empire citizens’ demonstrations should be a way to express their attitudes and opinions, not a means to foster violence; hopefully, you can disperse the crowds quickly and bring stable order to the Imperial Capital."

The Police Station Director holding the phone receiver showed little expression; it was all nonsense, but out of courtesy, he responded slightly, "It’s not that we don’t want to act, but rather too many people, causing potential disorder."

"We’ve already deployed police officers on duty, incidents like this won’t happen again."

The person on the phone was not satisfied with his response, "You don’t need to explain what you’ve done, you need to disperse those people; they have deviated from the definition of a protest under Empire law, evolving into a violent group."

"For the safety of the Ministers, you should take responsibility as the Police Station Director, this isn’t a discussion, it’s an order."

"Or are you unwilling to execute?"

With unprecedented firmness, the Police Station Director sensed something amiss; everyone knew the Prime Minister was now a mere decoration.

Almost all national policies and state affairs discussions and decisions were directly negotiated between the Emperor and the Ministers, with the Prime Minister mostly just listening in, occasionally voicing his opinion, rarely adopted.

Now, with the sudden aggressive stance from the Prime Minister’s Residence, the Police Station Director realized a storm was coming.

He shuddered, realizing his level couldn’t resist in such high-level struggles, immediately responding solemnly, "I think I know what to do, I will quickly disperse the crowd outside the Finance Minister’s house, ensuring the safety of the Empire Ministers and their property."

Three minutes later, directives were issued from the Imperial Capital Police Station, including cooperation requests to the other departments.

Gafura Empire had a total of nine police departments; the First Police Department was responsible for routine police work.

The Second Police Department consisted of armed police tasked with suppressing riots; this wasn’t a free country, sometimes unruly citizens caused trouble.

The Seventh Police Department was the secret police, responsible for arresting domestic criminals posing threats to national security.

Other departments had their duties, replacing the military’s local role to some extent.

During the previous war, there was even societal appeal suggesting using police as soldiers instead of the army facing embarrassment.

Though the police didn’t support this idea, they preferred not risking their lives, this still reflected the police’s significant power locally, even surpassing the army.

The First and Second Police Departments responded quickly, deploying armored vehicles and armed police to the incident site to handle the situation.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister wasn’t as apprehensive at home as outsiders imagined.

Although he stayed inside, his demeanor lacked anxiety or panic; anger towards his subordinates’ inefficient response was evident, but not fear.

He didn’t believe citizens would storm his residence; invading a noble’s private residence was a severe crime in the Empire, punishable by lifelong imprisonment.

If serious consequences arose, he might directly face the nobility’s exclusive punishment - execution by hanging.

Executed in front of a large audience on Empire Square; while such treatment seemed a form of honor to some, it didn’t mean anyone wished to be hanged publicly.

Years ago, there was a saying circulating among gangs, "If I die, I want to be hanged," expressing ambition for their profession’s future.

The Finance Minister not only ignored those outside, but even arranged people to further push actions; now he was racing against time, willing to do anything to win more time, regardless of dignity.

He aimed to portray himself as a victim to gain sympathy points; if he could get slightly hurt, even better; yet now wasn’t suitable for him to appear.

It’s like someone punches you and immediately apologizes, you’ll never forgive them, your anger demanding retaliation.

But if they run after hitting you, waiting three to five days, then someone persuades you to let it go, and they come forward to apologize, you might feel it’s not a big deal, might even chat with them.

The citizens’ money was recently deceived due to Finance personnel corruption, these people were furious, even if the Finance Minister now knelt to beg their forgiveness, repaying their money, they wouldn’t listen and would curse him.

However, waiting until their emotional peak passed, coupled with investigation results, and presenting himself as aggrieved or injured, seeking forgiveness, citizens might forgive him.

Of course, he would propose corresponding measures to address the untransferred money and plans for other accomplices.

Thus, the urgent matter wasn’t showing anything; that would only aggravate the chaos.

Winning these times and acting pitiful to gain some support would grant him more time to resolve issues.

He’d conduct internal cleansing, dispose some individuals, and resolve the issues.

He’d already arranged talks with major listed companies’ influential shareholders, hoping for cooperation to boost the index.

The operational method was simple, frequent trading to maximize factors, raising key stocks’ prices, halting the downward financial index trend and elevating it again.

This was beneficial to listed companies, raising stock prices, boosted shareholder wealth, including their noble backers, whose fortune expanded.

Once resolved, he’d find a few minor subordinates to scapegoat, appropriately accepting external interference, like the Emperor implanting confidantes to navigate through the crisis.

He had various ways to gradually turn the situation around.

He’d contemplated the entire plan throughout the day, believing the plan was flawless, just waiting for results.

But then, the noise from outside made him frown, hearing synchronized footsteps, nonexistent among ordinary people, indicating external forces intervening.

He immediately stood up, walked to the window, noticing armed police...

Those police held weapons resembling long-handled hammers, though in militaristic terms the hammerhead was metal, now wrapped in rubber-lined metal.

Hitting a person was painful, but unlikely causing irreversible effects, like smashing heads; it merely knocked people unconscious.

The neat police formation advanced step by step, followed by patrol cars broadcasting, demanding immediate dispersal and departure, or facing legal consequences.

Wide-eyed, the Finance Minister stared at these individuals; he couldn’t believe, why were the police meddling when even he hadn’t reported the incident?

He swiftly turned, wearing an expression ready to devour, returned to the desk, picked up the phone, dialing the Police Station Director’s number, but unfortunately, there was no answer.

If only he watched the window a bit longer, he’d notice the Police Station Director was within the formation...