Dragging his exhausted body home, Ledes heaved a sigh of relief. It was easy to fool people, but it wasn't so easy to fool a bunch of wily old foxes.
If he had a choice, Ledes definitely wouldn't take this troublesome job, even if he could get in touch with more people.
The more he learned, the more he understood the cruelty of this circle. Nobles also needed to compete. Empty nobles without power, wealth, or land were just that.
Of course, even empty nobles could live better than 99% of ordinary people as long as they let go of their pride.
Generally speaking, it was easy to get rich if you let go of your bottom line. For example, marrying a nouveau riche.
As long as there was a hereditary title recognized by mainstream society, the nouveau riche in America would flock to it like ducks, giving them houses, cars, and tickets. It was simply too comfortable.
In fact, Ledes was also one of the fallen nobles. Otherwise, he wouldn't have acted as a link in the money and power trade.
Any nobles with a bit of wealth wouldn't do such dirty work. It seemed like it was profitable, and they could gain a lot of connections, but in fact, it made them cut off from the upper class.
No matter how good their relationship was on the surface, the position of a "white glove" had already determined that they were people of different worlds.
Once something happened and they encountered danger, an existence like Ledes could be abandoned at any time.
Compared to the big shots hiding behind the scenes, Ledes was the most nervous. Once the arrested Jewish capitalist opened his mouth, he didn't know if the big shots behind him would be fine, but Ledes definitely wouldn't be able to escape.
The butler reminded him, "Baron, someone sent a secret letter this afternoon, repeatedly saying that it must be delivered to your hands. It's said that the contents are very important."
He took the letter and checked it to make sure there were no signs of it being opened before opening it.
After a while, Ledes asked cautiously, "Did he say anything else?"
The butler shook his head. "No, the person seemed very nervous. He put down the letter and gave a few instructions before leaving immediately.
Right, he took a small gray car when he left, so he should be quite rich. "
There weren't that many famous brands these days, and the fashion for clothes was still very popular. Without in-depth research, it was difficult to identify at a glance.
The best way to judge a person's financial situation was to look at the way he drove. Someone who could afford to drive a car that cost a few thousand or even ten thousand Divine Shields was definitely not an ordinary person.
Ryders nodded, a few more wrinkles appearing on his forehead. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly said, "Prepare the car. I'm going out."
It couldn't be helped. The contents of the letter were too shocking. Even though he didn't directly threaten Zhang Xuan, the meaning of 'if I'm done for, I'll drag you down with me' was still apparent.
Although the Jewish capitalists were in prison, not all of the people they had left outside had been cut off.
No one knew if these people had anything on them that could be used to blackmail them. If they did, Ledes would be dead for sure if it was leaked.
Since the big bosses behind the scenes could silence the capitalists in prison, they could also get rid of him, the middleman.
In fact, the fact that Ledes was able to live until now was due to the noble title passed down from his ancestors.
After all, killing him would attract the attention of the Government of Austria. At the same time, it would violate the rules of the aristocratic circle. Otherwise, Ledes would have been silenced long ago.
…
Vienna Palace. The undercurrents in the country didn't escape Franz's eyes and ears.
Perhaps three to five corrupt officials wouldn't attract the attention of the intelligence department, but how could there not be a few spies in such a large group of Jews?
The best proof was that they were able to catch all the illegal Jewish capitalists in one fell swoop. Including the division of the Jewish group in Austria, it couldn't be helped by the intelligence department.
Looking at the information in his hand, Franz's face was terrifyingly gloomy. If it wasn't for the evidence in front of him, he wouldn't believe that the Jewish capitalists could extend their reach to the top of the government.
Franz, who was originally prepared to let them go, changed his mind. For the long-term stability of the Empire, it was better to solve the problem once and for all.
"I wouldn't have known if I didn't investigate. After investigating, I realized that there are so many parasites in the Empire. In view of the current special situation, I've decided to set up a special task force.
Count Wittes, the Vice Minister of Finance, will be the team leader, Paul Bordis, the head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and Alberti, the Vice Minister of Police, will be the deputy team leaders. We will thoroughly investigate these lawless capitalists and the umbrella behind them! "
It wasn't strange to set up a task force, but the appointment of personnel confused everyone. Mark Leo von Josef, the Minister of Finance, objected, "Your Majesty, we need professionals to investigate the case.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Police Department will be in charge. Count Wittes, the Vice Minister of Finance, doesn't have experience in this area. I'm afraid he'll be in charge … "
Professionals should do professional work. This was the consistent principle of the Government of Vienna. This kind of cross-border behavior rarely happened.
If it was any other job, even if it could be related to the Ministry of Finance, Mark would be happy to fight for the opportunity for his subordinates.
But this time was different. The Ministry of Finance was reaching out to the judicial system. It was scary just thinking about it. As a veteran in politics, Mark didn't think this was the emperor's true intention.
Franz smiled and handed over the information in his hand. "Look at this information. You'll know why I made this decision."
In an instant, Mark's face suddenly became gloomy. The people involved in the case were from all major departments in Austria. They also held great power. It was like a "small cabinet."
It could be said that this was the biggest money transaction in Austria in the past 30 years. The people involved were of the highest level and had the most serious consequences.
If this information could be confirmed, the Government of Vienna would face a big political reshuffle.
Unfortunately, these people didn't personally participate in this power-money transaction. There was no evidence of them colluding with the capitalists for illegal profits.
It was confirmed that there was a power-money transaction. That was because these people had used their power many times to provide convenience for the capitalists. This included suppressing many cases that involved them.
These actions had essentially become an umbrella for the evil forces.
Knowing was one thing, but Austria was a legal country. Without conclusive evidence, even Franz couldn't arrest these officials and interrogate them.
Of course, not being able to interrogate them didn't mean that there was no way to deal with them. With such a big thing happening, the hat of "malfeasance" could still be put on them.
However, this was meaningless. Malfeasance didn't cause serious consequences. At most, these people would be sent home to take care of their grandchildren. It didn't constitute a crime.
Now that Franz put these people in charge of the investigation, it was actually a form of fighting fire with fire.
Anyway, the existing charges were enough for the capitalists to go to jail. With so many pairs of eyes watching from the outside world, it was impossible for him to let these people go no matter how easy he tried.
It wasn't easy to stay in prison these days. Even if they escaped the death penalty, an exile order could make these pampered people unable to live.
For example, exiled to the icy Alaskan gold mining, or exiled to the desert to plant trees, or exiled to the colony to build railways.
According to incomplete statistics, the average life expectancy of the criminals exiled to Alaska to dig for gold was only 2.7 years. The average life expectancy of the gold mine with extremely harsh weather conditions may be less than three months.
The average life expectancy of those responsible for greening the desert was only 2.6 years. In some areas, the average life expectancy was only half a year.
Relatively speaking, the life expectancy of the criminals who built railways was the longest, but it didn't exceed five years. Generally speaking, after two or three years, the criminals would become useless.
In addition to the harsh natural conditions, it was more the officials' blind pursuit of political achievements. They wanted to leave these godforsaken places as soon as possible and ignored the personal safety of the criminals.
They had to go to these godforsaken places to die, and the people who pushed them to the gates of hell were the people who used to make money with them. Anyone would feel unbalanced.
In the face of life and death, whether to betray these traitors and fight for a chance to reduce their sentence, most people would know what to choose.
Franz didn't have evidence of the crimes of these bureaucrats in his hands, but it didn't mean that these capitalists didn't have evidence. If these bureaucrats didn't want to be unlucky, they could only kill these capitalists first.
The specific method of killing them and whether they could succeed or not had nothing to do with Franz.
As long as the two groups of people fought, no matter who won or lost, some hidden problems would gradually come to the surface. At that time, it would be handled according to Austrian law.
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