Father of France

Chapter 233 True Democracy

"This railway is crucial to consolidating France's influence in North Africa; otherwise, the wealth gap between the mainland and overseas departments will sooner or later become a ticking time bomb." General Juan asked politely. Although he had reservations about the political turmoil in Paris, as the French commander in Algeria, he still wanted to avoid any appearance of military interference in politics.

Although many people find France's current political system somewhat strange due to its firm stance on retaining its colonies.

To put it bluntly, the French military is an indispensable part of French politics today.

The French army's current role was personally assigned by de Gaulle. As the leader of Free France, General de Gaulle was both a political leader and a symbol of the army.

He dedicated himself to restoring the nation's authority and the army's honor, which at this time became an important tool for his reconstruction of the country.

Since the military takeover of Algeria, some have argued that the army has effectively seized administrative, judicial, and police power in the overseas provinces, and has largely escaped the effective control of the Paris government.

In this situation, General Juan needed to make it even more clear that he was different from politicians, even though he himself was indeed more inclined to the political spectrum of the Popular Republican Movement, as was the case with the vast majority of the French army.

More than politics, General Juan was concerned about the railway, and finally, construction began. It stubbornly began to extend southward, towards the misty, barrier-like Atlas Mountains, and further into the unknown Morocco.

General Juan was not concerned with the internal problems of the People's Republican Movement, but he had heard that there was a voice within the party advocating the establishment of a United States of Europe.

This is the proposition represented by Monnet. Because the proposition of establishing a United States of Europe may encounter a backlash, the elites in Monnet's circle can only quietly promote this process. When they encounter strong backlash from sovereign states and the general public, they may even need to use major crises to force reforms and compel governments to continuously relinquish industrial, trade, monetary, fiscal, tax, and even defense sovereignty.

However, in General Juan's eyes, Monet was a whimsical person, and his biggest impression of him was the unification of Britain and France.

In the early stages of World War II, seeing France's military defeats, Monnet suggested to Churchill that France and Britain be merged into one country, one government, one parliament, and one army, so that the strength of both countries could be combined to fight against Germany.

Churchill accepted the idea on behalf of the British government, and even de Gaulle, who was desperate at the time, agreed to the merger of the two countries.

Later, due to France's surrender, the proposal for unification naturally came to nothing, but Monet still had his own masterpiece, and people would think of the Anglo-French unification whenever he was mentioned.

“The Americans trust Monnet very much.” Congressman Moreau could sense that the French commander, who was born in an overseas department, was not fond of Monnet, but he had to remind him that Monnet’s connections were extraordinary.

After the fall of France, Monnet was appointed by Churchill as a senior member of the British War Supplies Committee and went to the United States to seek assistance. In the United States, Monnet became an advisor to Roosevelt.

Therefore, Monnet has extensive connections in both Britain and the United States. Now that the Marshall Plan is about to be implemented, one of the US's requests is that Monnet oversee the implementation of the Marshall Plan in France.

The People's Republican Movement also had to rely on Monnet's connections to access American resources and commissioned him to develop France's five-year post-war economic recovery plan. Although many de Gaulle supporters had fundamental differences with Monnet regarding nationalist and internationalist values, France desperately needed American aid.

Morrow's meaning couldn't be simpler: even if he didn't like Monet, he had to tolerate Monet's unique position in the French economy in order to receive more than two billion dollars in funding.

"The Americans really know how to pick people." General Zhu'an's expression changed after hearing this. "Are we still a sovereign nation? Can we still find our place in the post-war world?"

“It’s always tough at the beginning,” Moro said with a wry smile, trying to comfort them. “Once we get the American money and solve our current economic problems, we won’t need them anymore.”

General Zhuan nodded, his face full of hope. He really had no choice; France was indeed short of money, and even the initial funding for construction was advanced by the Constantine Industrial Group.

Far away, Koman had a vague feeling of being talked about. It certainly wasn't the purple-eyed girl who came to his door, since she had already come looking for him. Koman thought to himself, "Didn't I pay hush money? Why are they still so persistent?" He never thought he would face such a dilemma with the King of Understanding.

"Don't think this is something money can solve." Taylor looked at him as if he were a heartless man, thinking he could be dismissed with a mere $100,000. He was dreaming. Coman took a sip of his black tea and spoke after a long pause, "Why don't you name your price? It's all negotiable. Even if we don't make a deal, we can still be on good terms."

“I don’t even have a boyfriend, and you…” Taylor almost blurted out, but swallowed it back, “How could you do this to Ms. Ava? You’re unfaithful in your relationship.”

Koman thought to himself, "I don't have any feelings for you either, otherwise we would be talking about feelings, not money."
But he couldn't say it like that, so he changed his tone and said, "Yes, I made a mistake that all men make. I was not strong-willed and was bewitched by beauty, which is why I have become so haggard."

Seeing that the girl still had something to say, Koeman certainly couldn't let her keep pressing him. Was he, Koeman, the only scoundrel in all of French Indochina? Why should he be held hostage?
If it could be solved with money, he would have done so long ago. Unfortunately, he just invested the funds he used to sell the Vietnamese National Army to Ali Khan, as well as the funds from the Baihu oil field, into the Mediterranean Railway project.

We need some time to recover, so we can only stabilize the third-generation British Treasure for now.

Because he still had other matters to attend to, Koeman could only say whatever came to mind, seemingly making some promises, though he himself didn't take them to heart.

The so-called business to attend to was that his subordinate Lefebvre had returned to Saigon to report on his duties, and the French army's strategy in West Java, which focused on food supplies, had finally extinguished the resistance of the Indonesian Republic supporters in West Java after persistent attacks. They were so hungry they had no energy left.

West Java is currently calm, reportedly due to a famine caused by a natural disaster that resulted in the deaths of over a million people, with public reports indicating that more than 10,000 starved to death.

Now that this matter is over, it's time to reward those who have contributed. Lefevere is now back, just like Coman was in Madagascar a few months ago, waiting for his reward. They can't exactly reward the entire army in Jakarta, can they? That's a Dutch colony.

Upon his return, Lefebvre naturally visited his superior, Corman, who also encouraged his subordinates, saying, "I was originally going to return to the overseas provinces, but Paris asked French Indochina to solve the demand for railway sleepers for the overseas provinces, so I'm still busy here. However, this batch of sleepers will only take a few months, after which I will leave. Do you want to stay in Saigon?"

Lefebvre nodded in agreement. It was obvious that French Indochina was the fastest way for a soldier to advance in rank, because there were military operations there.

Even if military rank promotions aren't that fast, who wouldn't complain about getting more medals and awards?

Koeman wasn't surprised by this reaction; after all, everyone thinks of themselves. But he still cautioned, "If you choose to stay in French Indochina and continue to strive, I certainly won't object. But there are a few factors I need to remind you of."

He had already told Guo Cheng and his Saigon compradors about the course of this civil war in the Eastern superpower, and his subordinates would certainly not hide it from him.

The fate of French Indochina is objectively not in the hands of French Indochina itself, and we cannot pretend not to know just because we are concerned about France's face.

"Their civil war will spill over into French soil." Lefèvre's words now sound like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, unwilling to face reality.

“Yes, in essence, this is a civil war that came too late after 1911,” Koeman replied calmly. “The true victor will build a strong nation, a genuine democracy, and will use its power in the war that best reflects the will of the people.”

Koeman held this view. In his opinion, dynasties that died after only two generations all had something in common: they had not experienced large-scale civil wars and largely took over the ruling class of the previous dynasty.

The Qin Dynasty was formed by the ruling class that came with the unification of the six states. It is clear that the ruling class of the Qin Dynasty was not well adapted to the evolution from the Qin state to the Qin Dynasty.

The new dynasty is quite obvious. Usurping dynasties are all similar to the new dynasty. The ruling class is the same as the old one, so there is naturally no new atmosphere. The problems of the previous dynasty are mostly retained.

The history of this great Eastern power has proven time and again that the fiercer the civil war and the more people die, the fewer problems the newly emerging dynasty will have, and the more decisively it can implement its will.

(End of this chapter)