Father of France

Chapter 239 The Bible and the Classic of Mountains and Seas
“That’s really good news,” Major Thierry exclaimed. “If things continue like this, it looks like we’ll soon be back to our pre-war prosperity.”

"I hope so." Coman chuckled, waved goodbye to Major Thierry, and said that the good news should be immediately shared with the wealthy elites of the Gaohua. Good days were coming, and these were some of the few good days left for them. In another year, many of the Gaohua would be in a difficult situation, caught between a rock and a hard place.

There isn't really a good solution to this problem. After all, the majority of Chinese people live within the territory of this great Eastern country, and socialism is definitely the best way out for them.

However, many of the Chinese in Southeast Asia were originally Indians who lived in British colonies. Unlike Indians, they also spoke English. Many Chinese never wanted to integrate into the local culture, which created a big problem.

The locals in British colonies were far less prejudiced against Indians than Southeast Asians were against Chinese. In the eyes of the locals in Southeast Asia, Chinese were just a group of foreigners, no different from British, French, or Dutch.

While the Eastern superpower's alignment with the Soviet Union undoubtedly brought immense benefits to its own country, Western countries viewed it very differently. Consequently, Southeast Asian powers found themselves caught in the middle.

However, the Chinese in French Indochina were actually doing relatively well. They had been driven out by Le Duan and hadn't suffered much persecution during the French colonial period. Their situation improved even more after Coman arrived. At least in French Indochina, while they weren't excluded, he adopted a supportive attitude.

Now the Chinese are slowly beginning to repay Koman. Colonization was not the worst option for the Chinese in Southeast Asia, but it was a very bad option for the great Eastern power. Who would like a bunch of imperialist powers on their doorstep?

Inside the Chinese Association, a group of Chinese men bowed to Corman to express their gratitude. He felt he deserved it, as he truly embodied the French national motto of liberty, equality, and fraternity.

They all promised to dominate the Japanese and South Korean food markets, but Koeman just listened to them casually. Trade and politics are intertwined; otherwise, there wouldn't be a trade war. Before the 1970s, the United States treated Japan like its own son, something that Gao Hua and his ilk couldn't possibly overcome.

"For the sake of France and for yourselves, let's not make any more promises." Coman clapped his hands and revealed another piece of information, "This government has allocated two hundred scholarships to Saigon. Your families can allocate them as they see fit. I'm just reminding you that while the influence of families is unavoidable, France still needs smart people, which is also very important."

The purpose of the scholarships offered by this government, the Schuman government, is not hard to guess: to win over the upper class in French Indochina. After much deliberation, Commann decided to give them all to the Chinese in the embankment. Giving them to the Vietnamese would be of no use; the Vietnamese population was too large, so small favors were unsatisfactory, and large favors were unaffordable for France.

The so-called truth that the dominant ethnic group has no value in united front work once again came to Koeman's mind. Since he couldn't afford to offer them any benefits, Koeman simply excluded the Vietnamese from the program altogether.

Giving these quotas to less than a million Chinese people would be more effective, but if you give the same quotas to thirty million Vietnamese people, they won't care at all; it's pointless.

These high-ranking officials were practically offering Corman two bed warmers, yet they were busy showering Vietnamese women in Ao Dais with attention, believing Corman's unwavering devotion to Eva Gardner. In the end, the promised benefits to the colonists were replaced with cold, hard cash—how disappointing! Did Corman lack cash? Absolutely!
Koman, penniless, left the Chinese Association, and Bokassa, who was waiting for him, naturally followed. "Sir, are we going to see the young mistress?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm asking." Coman smiled knowingly, giving Bokassa a look that said, "You'll have to figure it out yourself," before lazily lying back in the back seat.

Having just endured the sugar-coated bullets from the elites on the embankment, Coman immediately passed them on to Taylor, subjecting the budding British treasure to the corruption of the comprador class. Although young, Taylor had already shown some qualities: "I prefer diamonds, and seeing diamonds makes me happy."

“Easy. I’ll need some time after I return to Africa. I’ll fill your needs with diamonds.” Koman thought this request was too low. Although there was no technology to create artificial diamonds yet, diamonds were not rare at all.

Although the main diamond-producing regions are in British Africa, the reserves in French Africa are also considerable.

If it were merely to satisfy one woman's needs, Corman would only need a little time to prepare to cover Taylor's bed with diamonds and collect a small "blood diamond tax."

This film, which whitewashes the French colony of French Indochina by bringing civilization to the locals, is nearing its end. If Corman hadn't sent Ava Gardner away, it would probably have already been filmed.

Taylor will also be able to film smoothly under the protection of Ava Gardner, a senior actress whose looks she admires, and will not be left to suffer losses and always end up eating baguettes.

Taylor is accepting of her current situation, since the Frenchman is really generous. She has agreed to some loyalty-related contract terms and will have several female assistants arranged by Koman, who will be on equal footing with Ava Gardner.

"You've struck gold. I'm a former child star with a bright future ahead of me." Taylor, lying on top of Koman, squinted his eyes, the purple glint clearly visible in them, obviously trying to inflate his own value.

When Ava Gardner arrived in Saigon, she was exactly the same as before she left. She couldn't wait to share with Koman how hard she had worked for him, and immediately seized on his weakness to complain, "Did you miss me?" "Of course." Koman, caught red-handed, thought to himself, "Where did this come from? Why is she like this the moment we meet? Luckily, I didn't go to the dock to pick her up."

"The Mediterranean Railway project has already begun." Eva Gardner finally started talking about business. The Constantine Industrial Group had invested in the first phase of the project in the Sahara Atlantic, but that wasn't all; one group's investment alone couldn't move the railway forward.

So France resorted to its old tricks of usury imperialism and applied them to the construction of its colonies. In short, it raised funds from the public, just like it had done with the sovereign state of Tsarist Russia, seeking stable returns through social fundraising to drive construction.

The French previously believed that investing in industry domestically was risky and yielded slow returns, while lending money to foreign governments, which was guaranteed by national credit and offered a stable source of high interest, was a safer and more worry-free way to make a profit.

This method was once used on Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire, and now it is being used on North African countries, including Tunisia and Morocco.

This method is essentially old wine in new bottles, and it has previously caused millions of French families to lose everything. This time, it has been used in French Africa and has achieved good fundraising results, mainly because the French still believe that France's control over Africa is not problematic and that the security is quite high.

"At least the method was used where it was needed," Koeman commented indifferently. The method that had been used on sovereign states was useless when faced with the collapse of Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union's default on its debts; France could only watch helplessly.

Applying the same approach to African countries is a great step forward.

“After the fundraising was completed and the loan was accepted by Tunisia and Morocco, Prime Minister Schuman announced the devaluation of the franc.” Eva Gardner glanced at Koeman, expressing her great shock.

Koeman was unusually embarrassed and stammered, "It's normal. It's not like only France does this. Britain treated India the same way back then. Not everyone does it this way. I'm very good to the Chinese."

"Isn't it the Chinese who are more useful?" Ava Gardner's tone was full of disbelief. She had long seen through this man who treated everyone equally, depending entirely on their value. He wouldn't be nice to anyone for no reason.

She used to be a lowly actor earning a weekly wage, how did she become so smart?
Besides, isn't this normal? If the Chinese community were as large as the Korean community, wouldn't it be crazy to treat them like royalty?
"You don't understand. Quantity equals quality. Now is the time to do everything we can to expand our domestic base," Koeman said meaningfully. "You can't even imagine what the future will bring. As long as you're strong enough, other countries will come to you on their own. Isn't the United States feeling that now? But that's not the real reaction. Only when the United States is no longer the strongest will it see the true nature of the world."

Decades later, the major Eastern power has already felt this change, mainly in neighboring Southeast Asia and Central Asia.

That's just the beginning. As long as you're strong enough, any country you want to align yourself with will find its own reasons—ethnicity, culture, or even genes.

It's worth noting that Hungary was the first European country to grant visa-free access to a major Eastern power. Hungary had already granted visa-free access to the major Eastern power shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but later became alarmed by the number of people entering the country and canceled the visa-free policy.

The most recent connection between Hungary and the great Eastern power is simply that both countries' surnames begin with the first character of their name. As for Hungary and the Huns, they have absolutely no genetic relationship.

As for genetic relationships, there are some. Finland and the major Eastern power are genetically related, and it was the Finns themselves who first announced it.

Ancient civilizations all love to associate themselves with the great Eastern power. It's only natural that after gaining hegemony, the descendants of the Indians in Latin America would awaken some strange ideas.

The most likely, and also the least expected, way to receive a materialist education is through an idealist approach.

It must be made clear that a people who can claim the Promised Land simply by producing a Bible will not mind replacing the Bible with the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Religion can evolve into liberation theology, and the evolution into Western Confucianism is even easier.

(End of this chapter)