Father of France

Chapter 259: Fishing for fame and reputation
In any competition, it's inevitable that there will be instances of people taking bribes or engaging in collusion. Such things are unavoidable, but the final product must never be judged by the public.

Even after winning the championship, they still need to make frequent public appearances. If they produce a mediocre or inferior product, wouldn't that be a disgrace to France?

"Can I do it?" Ava Gardner asked hesitantly. Although she was no longer a pretty face earning four hundred dollars a week, she was just a legal representative of the so-called Constantine Industrial Group. She was nominally in the public eye, but how to develop the business was all planned by Koman.

It's simply because Koman is an active-duty soldier that she was pushed to the forefront. If this beauty pageant were to take place, she would definitely be in charge of the entire process. This was something Ava Gardner had never done before, which reminded her of her timid nature back then.

"Why not? I'll help you analyze the problem later." Koeman watched confidently as the black Citroën was unloaded. "Is there any gas in the car? This gift is truly heartwarming."

Actually, it's possible for Koeman to copy the shell and build cars. No one in the world is more professional at copying shells than Koeman. Why did he suddenly think of building cars?

The reason was that he discovered the seatbelts in the bulletproof Citroën that Eva Gardner had ordered at a high price were faulty.

After getting into the car, Coman gestured to the seatbelt. It was like wearing a rope around his waist. A custom bulletproof car with such a seatbelt? Can you blame Coman for noticing something was wrong?

"What's wrong?" Ava Gardner asked from the driver's seat, gripping the steering wheel. She thought Koeman had never seen a seatbelt before. "In the US, only a few car companies equip their high-end models with seatbelts."

"Hmm." Koeman didn't even fasten his seatbelt and sat directly in the passenger seat. "It seems I have to push this world forward."

"You are pushing the world forward every day." Ava Gardner didn't realize that Koeman's world was inseparable from his self-awareness? The two could even sleep in the same bed.

Eva Gardner was also visiting Algiers city for the first time. Although Constantine Industrial Group was nominally a company in an overseas province, she didn't know much about North Africa. Once she entered the city, she discovered that it was a blend of two styles. "Is this what you mean by exoticism? Aren't there many immigrants? I don't see any."

“The Maronite immigrants are not in Algiers; they have been settled in the eastern and western provinces of Algeria,” Koman replied lazily. Of course, Eva Gardner could not see the Maronite immigrants, because Christians, including the Maronites, were in the western province of Oran and the eastern province of Constantine.

As for Algiers, one reason is that it is the main base for European immigrants, and another reason is to reserve some reserves for future needs.

In the near future, Algiers will absorb Hajis, and later Arabs, and even Black nobles from French Africa, becoming a diverse city.

The Christian immigrants from Syria served to physically isolate Tunisia and Libya to the east and Morocco to the west, preventing these Arab countries from infiltrating the overseas provinces.

This could limit the possibility of Algerian Arabs gaining support from neighboring Arab countries.

Every country's military deployment has its own inclinations, and the Eastern power is no exception, representing its focus on the direction of threats. Since the Qin Dynasty, the Eastern power has placed its main military forces in the north, which should be an unchanging principle. The three most recent dynasties, Yuan, Ming and Qing, were established by different ethnic groups, but the choice of which to deploy remained the same.

Simply put, the Great Wall was the most important line of defense. South of the Yangtze River, a few second-line troops could be deployed to deal with the situation. This explains why, despite the Red Turban Rebellion's greater strength in the north at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, it was the south that was the first to break away from control. After the Ming Dynasty's border troops were wiped out, the Southern Ming Dynasty couldn't hold out at all. The reason why the southern provinces were able to quickly declare independence at the end of the Qing Dynasty was because the main force of the imperial court was not in the south.

The reason why Yuan Shikai was able to negotiate with the revolutionaries and successfully become the first president was not due to any conspiracy theory. It was simply because he controlled the six Beiyang Army divisions. Why would he need to engage in any conspiracy? Judging by strength and status was the simplest approach.

“Your job is to keep an eye on the Arabs,” Eva Gardner couldn’t help but joke. “It seems like France’s progressive ideas are going to be applied to the Arabs.”

"No, I have great respect for Arab culture. We have as much in common as you might think," Koeman categorically denied. "The importance we place on family is one of them. A strong society produces a strong army, which is inevitably based on stable families. Even if they resisted France, I admit their will to resist was strong enough."

In the 21st century, there is a term called "de-masculinization," which refers to the deliberate promotion of effeminate culture in the East by Western countries in order to prevent East Asian countries from challenging their hegemony.

Although there is no evidence for this conspiracy theory, Koeman believes in it.

However, he felt that some keyboard warriors who talked about demasculinization were only focusing on their own countries. Was it possible that Western countries had also demasculinized? From a male perspective, becoming the head of a household and protecting one's family is itself a masculine concept.

Whether a man is a father or a husband, it is his duty to protect his woman and children, but first and foremost, he should have a family.

What is the image of a male in many people's eyes? Is it that of an unkempt, unshaven Viking pirate who constantly spouts profanities?

Given the marriage rates in Europe and America in the 21st century, especially in countries like France, men are not bound by family responsibilities, they can just run away every day without a care in the world, and they have no sense of responsibility. Doesn't that mean they are becoming less masculine?
From the perspective of undermining social cohesion, in most European countries, men have no sense of responsibility and have actually completed different levels of demasculinization. Perhaps only the rednecks in the United States still retain some family values, but whether this is the case in the United States is unknown.

According to the political spectrum, Koman is a far-right conservative military man whose acceptance of progressive ideas is conditional. Moreover, he would never compare himself to the Soviet Union in terms of who is more progressive. Ava Gardner passively accepted this, and Koman's self-righteous statement—"I admire Arabs, but I disagree with the current Arab world, and I have my reasons for being backward"—was quite inspiring.

Upon arriving at the address of the Constantine Industrial Group in Algiers, Eva Gardner got out of the car and said, "We're here. Thank goodness you gave us directions."

“This is my first time here too,” Koeman said. He knew where the company headquarters was in Algiers, but he had never been here before because he was an active-duty soldier.

Ava Gardner walked over and grabbed Koman's hand, leading him toward the company's gate, muttering, "Stop pretending to be aloof from women. Have you forgotten what you looked like at Vanderbilt Estate? Perfect opportunity to talk to you about the definition of beauty."

"Talk here? Is there a bed inside?" Koeman asked in a tone that suggested he was being too forward, earning him a glare from Ava Gardner.

However, as Corman said, beauty pageants are definitely a major event worth promoting, and this is in line with the French spirit.

At this time, none of the three major world beauty pageants were in the picture. The three major world beauty pageants are Miss World, Miss Universe and Miss International, but strictly speaking, Miss International has a slightly less influence than the other two.

The Miss International pageant is the latest to emerge, having been held in Japan since the 1960s. Compared to Miss World, which began in the UK in 1951, and Miss Universe, which began in the US in 1952, it has a relatively smaller influence.

Given that Miss World and Miss Universe are only one year apart, Koeman has reason to reasonably speculate that the British and American families are up to something, using beauty pageants to compete for influence.

The influence of the United States and Britain overlapped so much that in the early Cold War, the United States treated Britain with far more seriousness than it treated the Soviet Union.

France desperately needs influence right now, and Corman, disregarding whether it objectifies women, immediately began advising Ava Gardner: "For the Miss World pageant, France still retains influence in Europe and Africa, that's no problem. Syria will represent the Arab world, as we still have some influence there. In Asia, it's French Indochina. The rest is about winning over the competition. Given Paris's fashion standing, it urgently needs such a competition. We can try to win over Latin American countries, and North America?"

Ava Gardner clearly received the signal in Koeman's eyes and said in a resigned tone, "I am an American, the best spokesperson."

“Eastern European countries are all under Moscow’s influence right now, so it’s definitely going to be very difficult. But Greece, Yugoslavia, and Finland? That shouldn’t be a problem.” Koeman paused for a moment. “Don’t have too high hopes for Yugoslavia either. Greece is an Orthodox Christian country, and Finland still has a certain degree of independence, so it can be considered to represent Eastern Europe.”

Ava Gardner nodded repeatedly as she listened to Koman's objectifying remarks about women: "There are only two standards: appearance first, ethnicity second."

These two points reflect the tendencies of Miss Universe in the United States and Miss International in Japan. As for the Miss World pageant in the United Kingdom, it reflects the twisted mentality of the British. It's clearly a group of beauty pageant contestants wearing bikinis, yet they emphasize talent and social responsibility.
At least the Miss Universe pageant in the US is clearly about appearance. Of course, the freaks and monsters during the Democratic Party era were also quite an eyesore.

"We can unite with the Parisian fashion industry; that's all the influence France has left."

As Koman pondered, he said, "I believe luxury brands and the fashion industry will also give their full support. Now let me talk about beauty standards. There are subtle differences between different races, and since it's a beauty pageant, we should highlight our strengths and downplay our weaknesses. What do you think are the physical advantages of Black people?"

Uh! Seeing Ava Gardner's expression, Koman knew he was asking a pointless question and continued, "In terms of physique, Black people probably have the best proportions among different races. When people of the same height stand together, Black people have the longest legs, while Asians are characterized by their longer upper bodies. White people are somewhere in between, and I don't know about South Asians."

There are other differences. For example, white people age the fastest, while black and yellow people look younger. However, the ways in which they look younger are different. Black people often look like they are in their twenties or thirties when they are teenagers, and even when they are in their fifties or sixties, they still look like they are in their thirties.

"So?" Ava Gardner asked, like a curious child.

“Leverage the strengths of different races. Let them bravely showcase them. The winner, regardless of race, will naturally have luxury goods companies sign contracts.” Koman originally wanted to discuss how to leverage the strengths of different races, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized he only needed to set a framework. Didn't the people themselves know what beauty was?

Whether or not this competition can be organized depends on Eva Gardner herself; France can only rally influential regions to lay the foundation and at most borrow some Latin culture.

He doesn't have many ways to make this competition influential in North America. Isn't Ava Gardner currently of great value to the US government in terms of united front work? Let's see if this united front value is real or fake.

Finally, Koeman took out a piece of paper and drew a picture of a seatbelt, saying, "Remember to apply for a patent for me when you return to Paris, and then give up the patent and publish it free of charge."

"Oh, so you're saving the world, aren't you?" Ava Gardner's face was full of self-aggrandizement.

(End of this chapter)