At dusk, a manor on the outskirts of Vienna was brightly lit. Under the cover of a banquet, Ledes quietly slipped into a secret room. “Now that everyone is here, let’s begin.” The speaker was Count Witters, the Deputy Minister of the Austrian Ministry of Finance at the time, one of the top thirty most powerful figures in the Austrian government. The other people in the room were certainly not ordinary either. Aside from Sir Ledes, who was responsible for external coordination, the rest were all senior government officials. Anyone familiar with Austrian politics would immediately recognize that this room held high-ranking officials from six key departments: the Ministry of Finance, Anti-Corruption Bureau, Tax Bureau, Ministry of Police, Ministry of Transport, and Ministry of Commerce. It was practically a miniature version of a cabinet. If word of this meeting were to leak out, the Austrian government would be rocked by a political earthquake of magnitude twelve the very next day. And yet, all these powerful men sat upright with solemn expressions, as if the sky were about to fall. Paul Bodis, Director of Internal Affairs at the Anti-Corruption Bureau, was the first to speak: “The current situation is extremely serious. His Majesty is very dissatisfied and has ordered a full and thorough investigation. The Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Commission for Integrity, and the Ministry of Police have all become involved. Even the Intelligence Bureau may join the investigation. Director Gennero has already sensed that there’s a problem within the ranks. He’s ordered that all investigation team leaders report directly to him and to no one else. As Director of Internal Affairs, I now only have access to partial investigation data. We don’t even know how far the investigation has progressed.” After he finished speaking, Paul Bodis’s mood sank. Deep down, he already regretted it. After all, he had never been short of money to begin with. It was just that he hadn’t resisted temptation for a moment and got himself involved in this mess. With retirement just around the corner next year, the outbreak of the anti-Jewish movement had suddenly dragged all the hidden problems into the light. If things went badly, his final years could be completely ruined. Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a cure for regret. Money from capitalists never comes easy. If you take the money, you have to do the job. Heaven’s net is vast and wide, yet it misses nothing. No matter how covert the exchange of benefits is, once it intersects with a power transaction, it always leaves traces. Now, every Jewish capitalist involved had already been thrown into prison. If even one of them talked, it could bring the whole group down with them. Of course, these transactions were all conducted through intermediaries. From beginning to end, none of the high-ranking officials had ever shown their faces. In theory, they could sacrifice a pawn to protect the king and claim ignorance. But that was only in theory. The real issue wasn’t whether they had taken money, it was the fact that they had indeed provided special treatment to those Jewish capitalists involved. An isolated incident could be passed off as an accident. But if it happened multiple times, could it still be called an accident? Even if the arrested Jewish capitalists stayed tight-lipped and denied everything, investigators could still slowly follow the breadcrumbs and eventually suspect them. In politics, evidence is not always necessary. Evidence is merely a tool to send someone to prison, it’s not essential. Many times, mere suspicion is enough to send someone home to farm. And that’s no good thing. What could be suppressed while holding power doesn’t mean it can still be kept under wraps after being dismissed. Accountability in the Austrian government is permanent. Even if someone meets God, their illicit gains can still be reclaimed, let alone if they’re still alive. If they wanted to walk away unscathed, they had to clean up all the messy business completely. That was the reason everyone had gathered to discuss a strategy. Count Witters nodded and said, “This was expected. From the moment the government suddenly ordered the arrest of Jewish capitalists, it signaled that the higher-ups already suspected there were insiders within the government. The key issue is that we were too careless. We forgot that the government’s tolerance toward the Jewish capitalists had already reached its limit. That’s why today’s disaster happened.” Capital knows no borders, but capitalists do. However, Jewish capitalists belonged to the kind that had no national boundaries. Originally, everyone was equally corrupt. The only difference was that regular capitalists had a higher degree of national loyalty to Austria. When national interests were involved, most of them would still choose to stand with their homeland. Only the Jewish capitalists consistently stood with profit. They never considered national interest and often even opposed the government for the sake of their own gains. With contrast comes resentment. The reckless behavior of the Jewish capitalists naturally provoked dissatisfaction within the Austrian government. But blinded by profit, those Jewish capitalists couldn’t see any of this. Not only did they fail to correct their behavior, they went on to challenge the government’s bottom line again and again. In this light, the anti-Jewish movement sweeping across continental Europe can’t exactly be called unjust. At least when it comes to actions against the Jewish capitalists, most governments involved have justifiable reasons. Whether it’s “stock manipulation,” “hoarding goods,” “selling inferior products,” “abusing labor,” or “colluding with foreign hostile forces in conspiracies”… these are all things Jewish capitalists have personally been involved in. That’s the core reason why, after the anti-Jewish movement began, Jewish people quickly found themselves universally condemned. The evidence is solid. Even if they wanted to defend themselves, they wouldn’t know where to begin. Even influential interest groups like Count Witters’ circle, despite their close ties to Jewish capitalists, did not speak up for the Jews during the anti-Jewish movement. Of course, this was also because the Austrian government carefully targeted only a small portion of the group. Everything was handled strictly according to the law. Faced with real and undeniable criminal evidence, even ordinary Jewish citizens largely believed that these capitalists deserved what they got. Paul Bodis, Director of Internal Affairs at the Anti-Corruption Bureau, shook his head and said: “It’s not just for those reasons. The key point is that the pigs were already fattened. As of now, the assets seized have already exceeded 3.5 billion guilders. Adding the confiscated cash and some yet-to-be-accounted-for properties, the final amount could surpass 4 billion guilders. That’s equivalent to more than a decade of revenue for the central government, or six times the combined revenue of all the federal states. Even if the government sells off these assets at a loss of two-thirds, we’re still looking at over a billion guilders. With that money, our Near East Development Plan will no longer be underfunded. Urban renewal projects and road expansion within the country can also begin. It’s the same principle we follow with corrupt officials. If they’re efficient and not too destructive, even if we have evidence, we wait until they’re fat enough before taking them down.” From his dismissive tone, it was clear that Paul Bodis held no affection for the Jewish capitalists. If he hadn’t been implicated himself, he probably would’ve jumped at the chance to kick them while they were down. No, scratch that, he already had kicked them while they were down. More precisely, it was the entire upper echelon of the Austrian government that had collectively stabbed the Jewish capitalists in the back. Even the best orders need people to carry them out. Judging by the number of Jewish capitalists arrested, the coordination among government departments had been excellent this time. Aside from a few lucky ones who were out of the country and temporarily avoided disaster, nearly all the targets had been captured. The asset seizures that followed were also handled just as efficiently, made possible only by strong interdepartmental cooperation. In theory, they could have warned the capitalists in time. As members of the Austrian government’s top brass, they would have been notified even before the regular police received any orders, no matter how secretive the cabinet tried to be. Of course, what really stopped them from leaking any warnings was the risk. Put simply, this was always just a partnership of interests. No one had ever truly considered the Jewish capitalists as one of their own. No one had expected the government to pursue the matter so thoroughly. Among those present, quite a few likely welcomed the chance to get rid of the Jewish capitalists for good and eliminate future problems. Count Witters said, “Whether or not we fattened the pigs first is irrelevant now. The Jewish capitalists are finished either way. What matters now is finding a way to get ourselves out of this mess. Sir Ledes, you’ve been in contact with them. Is there any chance they’ll hold out and refuse to confess?” The inconspicuous Ledes quickly replied, “Count, capitalists are spineless. Even if we hold their families as leverage, it’s going to be difficult to make them stay quiet...” Count Witters nodded and replied, “If that’s the case, we may have to resort to extreme measures. Alberti, you’re the expert in this area. Got any good ideas?” *** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH)
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