I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 53: Revised - Lauren is Very Professional

The guard company was stationed in the open space outside the factory. This was originally the defense position of the French Army against the German Army. Many fortifications were left, and the soldiers set up dozens of tents and reinforced the fortifications to transform them into a station.

Inside the medical tent, the medics carefully treated Lauren’s wounds.

A few days ago, he was beaten up as a "kidnapper" in the town and suffered only external injuries. Today, he was severely hit by an angry worker which caused serious injuries:

His left hand was dislocated, it was bandaged and hung around his neck after repositioning, and it would take at least a week to recover; his nasal bone was displaced, and it was forcibly adjusted with a cry of pain, with a continuous nosebleed that could only be stopped with disinfectant cotton.

After the medics left, Captain Jules, the guard company commander, asked with lingering fear, "No big problem, right, Major?"

"Minor issue!" Lauren covered his nose with his healthy right hand, and his voice sounded somewhat strange due to the nasal congestion: "Everything... is under control!"

"Do you mean..." Captain Jules was skeptical: "Even what just happened was planned?"

"Of course!" Lauren coughed guiltily and straightened his chest: "Only this way can those capitalists believe we have objections to Shire!"

"I know, but..." Jules did not continue. He noticed that Lauren’s eyes were wandering—a sign of lying. He thought it was best not to expose Lauren at this moment.

Lauren continued to emphasize: "Only intense conflicts, even bloodshed, can make the capitalists believe. This is very important, Jules!"

"Yes, Major! You are right!" Jules agreed, though inwardly thinking, leave this kind of thing to you!

Jules hesitated for a moment, then reported: "The problem is only we in the guard company know the truth. The soldiers think they are genuinely monitoring Shire, many are unwilling to do so, and they resist. I am worried this will split the team!"

This was Galilei’s order. For confidentiality, only trusted Luo Lang and Jules knew they were named to monitor but were actually protecting Shire and the factory.

Besides, Gallieni had a private agenda. He wanted to know Shire’s strategic and tactical thoughts and suggestions firsthand.

Lauren looked askew at Jules and asked, "Resistant?"

"Yes!" Jules explained, "Everybody knows Shire saved France, Major, and we are treating him as a spy, monitoring him—at least superficially. The soldiers think it’s unwelcoming, even insulting to their intelligence, so they are unwilling to carry out this task!"

Lauren snorted faintly through his nose: "Does their opinion matter? They only need to consider one thing: obey orders!"

"But, Major..."

"Gather them together!" Lauren interrupted Jules: "Let me handle them!"

"Yes, Major!" Jules replied helplessly.

After Jules left, Lauren stood up and took a look in the mirror. Although his nose was swollen and his lips turned up, he adjusted his military hat. A soldier must always pay attention to their appearance!

When Lauren walked out of the tent, over two hundred soldiers of the guard company were already in line outside the tent.

Lauren walked in front of them with one hand hanging, head held high. He tried hard to open his eyes wide to look "murderous," not knowing this appeared comical to the soldiers.

"I heard some people doubting this mission, thinking we are monitoring a conscientious capitalist, hence wasting time..."

Before he finished speaking, a soldier responded: "Isn’t that right, Major?"

"Of course not!" Lauren quickly turned towards the direction of the voice and yelled angrily: "Did you forget Leisibu? Wasn’t he a good person before he declared bankruptcy? Wasn’t he like Shire, a savior?"

This happened twenty years ago.

French entrepreneur Leisibu obtained the digging rights of the Panama Canal and issued stocks domestically. Under the vigorous propaganda of the media and countless guarantees from many parliamentarians, everyone thought it was a sure-win deal.

The people went crazy. They regarded Leisibu as the savior leading them to prosperity, and they snapped up all the stocks issued by Leisibu totaling tens of billions of francs. Shortly, they also snapped up the new stocks.

However, the company suddenly declared bankruptcy owing 1.28 billion, with only one-third of the canal completed.

People then realized they had been deceived, finding that almost everyone accepted bribes from Leisibu: national figures, senior officials, over two hundred parliamentarians, and many journalists. They collectively created this fraud, trapping the people. Among them, the Radical Party leader Clemenceau received bribes totaling 1 million francs.

This led to ninety thousand small shareholders going bankrupt, and small and medium-sized enterprises collapsing.

Even more unacceptable was that despite irrefutable evidence, the court declared all of them innocent, and the fine for Leisibu was a ridiculous 3,000 francs!

The people protested and went on strike repeatedly, but to no avail.

They were too naive, thinking they could make capitalists judge capitalists guilty and pay the price. This could only happen in dreams!

The soldiers remained silent. Lauren’s words were reasonable—Leisibu was not only a good person before declaring bankruptcy, he was even the hope of the French people.

This was one of the reasons why the French military and civilians hated capitalists so much, and Shire was indeed a capitalist.

"Capitalists have their own agendas!" Lauren continued shouting with a hoarse voice. While speaking, he habitually tried to raise his left hand to enhance the context but quickly switched to his right upon feeling the pain: "They all appear good people before revealing their true nature, but they are all the same in essence—they seek profit, and they all want to cheat sweat money from us, the pitiful ones, always without exception!"

Some soldiers agreed:

"You’re right, they all have bad intentions!"

"They’re just trying to sell their technology at a good price!"

...

Some others opposed:

"Shire is different, he saved our lives!"

"What is more valuable than our lives, than France?"

"He didn’t need to do this. My brother got injured in the war. It was Shire who saved him. Shire paid out of his own pocket and asked for nothing! We can’t treat Shire like this!"

...

It was unclear who started it first—maybe it was just spitting and accidentally hitting someone, getting punched in return. Others thought it was provocative, one helping another, soon they were wrestling each other.

Many even threw their rifles aside and joined the fight again, yelling and unable to distinguish which side others supported.

Lauren looked at this scene feeling helpless. He shouted trying to stop the soldiers’ extreme behavior: "Wait, stop, you all..."

"Bang!" Amid the chaos, a flying punch hit Lauren’s chin, knocking him to the ground.

...

In the third-floor office of the motorcycle factory, Dejoka and Shire looked puzzled at the soldiers chaotically fighting outside the walls.

"What are they doing?" Dejoka asked.

"I don’t know!" Shire shook his head: "Maybe... it’s training. Perhaps they are practicing how to deal with angry workers!"

Dejoka nodded, feeling somewhat moved. Lauren was a dedicated soldier—the training seemed so real. Such a person would definitely protect Shire well!