Darkstone Code-Chapter 768 - 0766 This is considered troublesome?

The Emperor of the Empire looked at the Prime Minister sitting below, his calm demeanor making it impossible to discern his true thoughts.

Does he agree or disagree?

The Prime Minister frowned slightly; this idea was somewhat unexpected to him.

In his view, the simplest way to resolve this upheaval is to "kill" a group of merchants, and then have the aristocrats cooperate with him, and things will stabilize.

Eliminating a group of unruly merchants with their own ideas directly brings the benefit of sufficient funds and resources in the short term and also deters some opportunists.

The reason this turmoil could become so large and widespread is indeed also partly the responsibility of the merchants.

These people, with eyes only on profit, never consider whether their actions could bring disaster to this country; they only think about grabbing money and stuffing it into their own pockets.

They must pay the price for their actions; this is Gafura, not the Federation.

Solving the problems brought by these merchants will alleviate some other issues in society caused by the run on banks, as the value of materials and funds is quite solid during this period.

This expression might be a bit unclear; to put it simply, in times when resources are not abundant and society is somewhat turbulent, even using some goods as currency for wages, people will not refuse.

The simplest example is a towel factory using towels as wages, or a light bulb factory using bulbs to pay wages; workers do not have much complaint about this, and even feel they benefited since they received more goods.

As for the aristocrats, he is not worried; recently, he’s frequently been going to the Secretariat, and the old aristocrats have a good relationship with him, and have also come to understand each other’s thoughts during this time.

In recent years, the nobility has been severely suppressed by royal power and indeed needs a Prime Minister to slightly balance the Emperor’s power, giving the aristocrats a chance to breathe.

With a plan to make an example of the merchants and subsequent support from the aristocrats, resolving this bank run crisis is only a matter of time.

However, this plan is not a great one; as soon as the country runs out of money, targeting merchants and capitalists will undoubtedly gradually make the market lose a certain vitality. This is a method that can only be used in special times.

No one expected that the Minister of Finance, aside from the Prime Minister’s ideas, offered a new direction: borrowing money to get through the crisis.

Honestly, the moment this idea entered the Prime Minister’s mind, he instinctively rejected it due to issues of national pride.

If the Gafura Empire borrows money from other countries, what would those countries think?

Clearly, it’s just a minor issue, yet it has become so complicated, completely unnecessarily.

But after his instinctive repulsion faded, he gained some new insights, for instance, within a tolerable range, slightly changing some things.

If they could borrow money from outside to solve the bank run crisis, there would not be too much change in the current industrial and aristocratic structure domestically.

Many at the grassroots level are always foolishly thinking that if there is anything undesirable, reform is the answer.

They even can cite various examples of successful company reforms that led to rebirth.

Or a country whose successful reforms led it to a path of prosperity and power...

But people do not understand, the so-called reform is not something that can be completely changed with just a statement. On the path to reform, there will inevitably be many obstacles, which must first be overcome for any true success in reform.

The issue is, all these obstacles are the vested interests in this country, which means the ruling class and the privileged class.

No one is willing to break their own head to feed others with their blood, but some things ultimately do require some change.

Within the limits of what is possible, relatively safe, top-down changes might be the future path.

After much deliberation, he nodded, "This is a feasible solution, but I don’t know who can help us?", he looked up at the Emperor, "The Bail people?"

The Emperor’s answer was swift, "Why not, or do you have a better choice?"

The Prime Minister shook his head, still keeping silent, weighing whether doing this would be beneficial enough for his own hold on power.

No one clearly opposed it, but no one clearly agreed either, the Emperor nodded, "This is a method, but short-term success is unlikely, we cannot simply hope others might help us."

"We must also prepare to resolve this crisis ourselves as quickly as possible if no one helps us..."

Round and round, it came back to the idea of getting money from some insignificant people, just phrased differently.

"I noticed that some people played very disgraceful roles in the bank run crisis, gentlemen."

"Our mercy and tolerance are for those good citizens of the Empire, for those merchants who abide by the law, not for these people."

"To make people follow the rules, you must first make them feel afraid..."

The Emperor continued to look at the Prime Minister, "You’re responsible for this."

He didn’t specify who exactly, but everyone knew what to do. Things had reached a point where the populace ignored government announcements and requests, having lost respect. It was time to remind them that this is not the Federation; this is Gafura—

A monarchy, deemed "decadent" by the populace of some developed countries!

That very night, police cars began to wail through the Imperial Capital. It’s said that in the cities around the Imperial Capital, and even in farther cities, a large number of police were mobilized.

These so-called "dogs of the Empire," including many secret police, emerged en masse, starting to arrest some instigators openly.

Some were indeed instigators, such as merchants, those who stir trouble, and some speculators.

Others were suspects, and how large their suspicion depended on the subsequent interrogations.

The events in Gafura quickly spread around the world, given that this former military powerhouse has always been a focal point of global attention; the Imperial Emperor once spoke proudly about it.

He said Gafura is the center of the world, with everyone’s gaze focused on the core of this country, even on his Imperial Palace.

What he said in the morning could cover neighboring countries by noon, and by sunset, all the world leaders would know what he had said.

He had always been proud of this, but now, clearly, something bad happened here, and the whole world knew by sunset.

"Gafura has encountered a financial crisis," in the President’s office of Bail Federal, the President was fiddling with the pen in his hand, uninterested in what those seated below were discussing.

Nominally, he is a typical radical of the Progressive Party, but inwardly he still longs for those days of minding one’s own business behind closed doors, unlike now, when domestic affairs are not enough, and international issues also demand his attention.

He appeared to be listening earnestly, but his mind was on the election.

He has already started participating in various public campaign speeches, in some well-known places, some universities, and on television.

This is the sound of the campaign horn; the final assault is about to begin.

The Conservative Party’s candidate also started relevant campaign work, and if Lynch returned to Bupen at this time, he would find the streets filled with posters of the smiling President showing his teeth.

Oh, and his campaign quotes.

These were the things he cared about, who would care about how troubled the Gafura Emperor currently was, but this matter ultimately is important, which is why such a meeting was convened.

He glanced at Mr. Truman, appearing very relaxed, as with him present, these problems would eventually not be the ones troubling him.

"This is consistent with what Mr. Truman analyzed earlier..." the person from the Ministry of Defense spoke, not forgetting to glance at Mr. Truman with a bit of surprise in his eyes.

He was merely expressing his amazement at Mr. Truman’s foresight. No wonder he is not only the President’s most trusted aide but is also about to ascend the political stage of the Federation on his own--this time with his theme music, no longer sharing the stage with a group of people.

Mr. Truman nodded slightly, indicating it was indeed so, though he was also somewhat curious, knowing only some textual information about the matter; he didn’t know what Lynch did that so quickly worsened Gafura’s situation.

The Ministry of Defense continued, "Now Gafura is facing unprecedented major trouble with no experience, and we’re unsure if this is a good opportunity, but we’re also not willing to let it pass easily, hence the assembly to discuss whether there’s room for our involvement."

Then the Ministry of Defense provided more detailed accounts of what was happening in Gafura. After hearing it, nobody had much of a reaction, but the President gradually got drawn into the storytelling-like narrative.

After the Ministry of Defense fell silent at last, the President looked at the speaker for a few seconds and then somewhat unexpectedly asked, "Is that all?"

The person from the Ministry of Defense nodded, slightly embarrassed, "Yes, that’s the situation..."

The President suddenly laughed and shook his head, "I thought something major happened, but it’s just a run on the banks..."

His tone seemed to convey it’s something ordinary, and indeed it was, as bank runs have occurred frequently throughout the Federation’s relatively short history.

Someone tallied it, saying from the Federation’s founding to now, there have been nearly three hundred various banks, but currently, the number of banks is less than twenty.

This raises a question, where did those approximately three hundred banks go?