Iron and Blood: A Triumph of the Will

The phone kept ringing.

Silence fell over the office, and Joachim closed his eyes.

Tepkamer looked at Joachim with adoration, his eyes practically drooling.

This composure, unwavering even in the face of imminent collapse, was something not even seen in Wilhelm II.

Such a person is indeed suitable to be the next emperor of the German Empire.

"Tepkamer thought to himself."

"How many times has this happened?"

Finally, Joachim slowly opened his eyes and looked at Tepkamer, asking a question.

"This is the third time, Your Majesty."

"It's almost time." Joachim, having timed it perfectly, picked up the phone: "Hello, is this Your Excellency the President?"

"Who are you?"

Albert spoke with a hint of anger in his voice.

He made two or three calls before he finally got through.

Such an action would anger anyone, let alone Albert, who is the head of state.

"Your Excellency, we just met a few days ago, have you forgotten already?" Joachim's voice was languid. "You personally signed a document that allowed me to take 6600 million marks with me..."

"So it was you, you bastard, you liar!"

Upon hearing the price of 6600 million marks, Albert immediately realized what was going on.

He started yelling into the phone, "Joachim, you unfilial beast! You swindled all your father's money! Now he's chasing after me demanding it back!"

During the days that Joachim disappeared, Wilhelm II was frantically calling the Prussian finance minister.

The demand to recover his property was passed on to Albert, whose finance minister, loyal to the emperor, shifted the pressure onto him.

Albert, who was initially intimidated by Joachim, immediately realized what was going on.

That brat must have found out about his agreement with the National Defense Force through some channel.

Then, by using this method to scare himself, he successfully absconded with Wilhelm II's wealth.

What a beast!

Albert took a breath and tried to negotiate with Joachim: "If you really have any filial piety whatsoever, hurry up and bring all that money to Berlin. I'll allow you to keep some!"

"Don't put it so harshly, Your Excellency."

"I only took the money because I was doing it for Germany and to serve them." Compared to the other person's urgency, Joachim remained calm and composed. "Besides, when have you ever seen a son have to pay back his father for spending his money?"

"......."

An eerie silence fell on the other end of the phone, as if Joachim's fallacious arguments had completely refuted them.

On the other end of the phone, Tepkamer had already turned his back, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

If you make him turn around, you'll see that his usually serious face is now bright red.

Looking down, I saw that her neck was completely red.

He was genuinely laughing so hard he almost choked on his own words at Joachim's absurd logic.

That's hilarious! How can anyone be so shameless?

"So what brings you on the phone this time?"

Albert remained silent for a long time on the other end of the phone before finally speaking again.

"You should know what I did in Cilicia. Someone should have told you about it."

"Go on, I'm listening."

Although Ebert's regime was unstable, he still had loyalists throughout Germany, who were his eyes and ears.

Constantly relaying information from all over the country back to Berlin, coupled with Joachim's vast wealth, was enough to attract attention.

It was hard for Albert not to pay attention. At first, he thought Joachim was recruiting an army in Cilicia to protect those properties.

However, now... the other party practically has the word "usurpation" written all over their face, so he naturally can't let them continue like this.

But Albert doesn't have the energy to fight Joachim right now.

Because he was more concerned about the leftists in Berlin than Joachim, and he still had to fight against these people.

Joachim only wanted his money and power, while the latter would take his life.

Therefore, when Potts sent the message, he decisively chose to suppress it.

"Therefore, I need Berlin to quickly transfer those assets to my name."

"That's impossible, that's against the law," Albert tried to argue using the law.

"Stop bringing up the law; the laws of the German Empire didn't even allow the overthrow of the emperor."

Joachim snorted coldly and replied with extreme contempt, "Besides, I already have these assets in my hands. All I want is a title. Berlin just needs to stamp the document; you won't have to pay a single penny."

"Yes, we don't have to spend a single penny."

"So you're just getting those Poles to spend money, right?" Albert said coldly into the receiver. "Others may not know where your wealth came from, but I know you killed a lot of Poles in Potsdam..."

"Yes, that's true."

"But so what?"

"Aren't you afraid I'll report you? Aren't you afraid I'll expose this to the public?"

"I will indeed be infamous by then, but in a sense, I will also become a hero of Germany because I will help Germany protect this land."

"And you, President Abbott? Your regime will fall because of this!"

"The leftists not only want to take away your power, but also your money, and ultimately, your life!"

Joachim didn't bother arguing with him; he wasn't worthy of listening.

So they issued an ultimatum: "Choose one: money or your life."

"Are you threatening me?"

"If you take the facts as a threat, then you can understand it this way," Joachim said calmly, "It's either sign or you lose your life, it's that simple!"

"Oh, by the way, I don't know if the military has told you that my older brother William has also arrived in Silesia."

"He is the crown prince of the entire German Empire, and he poses a much greater threat than I do."

After saying that, Joachim didn't want to talk to him anymore and hung up the phone with a bang.

He patted Tepkamer on the shoulder, who was trying not to laugh, and said, "Is this logic really that funny?"

"That... is indeed a bit funny."

Tepkamer nodded slightly. These words wouldn't have been funny under normal circumstances, since every family has a spendthrift son.

But if this happened within the royal family, it would be absolutely laughable!

"Look at you," Joachim said with a laugh, pointing at him with his finger.

"Do you think Albert will agree, Your Majesty?"

"Of course he'll agree, but given his personality, he'll probably offer me a condition in exchange."

What conditions do you think he will offer?

"Of course they're going to arrest my older brother, not me!"