Empire Conquest -
Chapter 298 - 294: Seeking to Compromise and Accommodate
Chapter 298: Chapter 294: Seeking to Compromise and Accommodate
Compromising with the Republican Party was actually a minor issue.
Although economic inherent laws triggered the Great Depression, in the eyes of the public, the root cause was the Republican Party’s advocacy of "free-market capitalism," which led to these consequences. Rofuss’s "New Deal" policies had not only rescued the economy but also benefited the majority of Newland citizens.
According to media propaganda, Rofuss was hailed as a savior not only for the Newland Federation but for the entire Western world.
This was also Rofuss’s political capital for his third election bid.
Regardless of how the Republican Party’s congressmen criticized Rofuss’s third run for election and even brought up his personal life, in the eyes of the voters, Rofuss was a competent President. The centrist voters were still willing to cast their votes for the President who had made their lives better.
Moreover, the current international situation also required the federal authorities to maintain stability.
Even those media outlets that spoke for the Republican Party admitted that unless there was an irresistible event, Rofuss was certain to win the election for a third time.
What the Republican Party needed were just a few seats in the federal government, or rather, a say in federal affairs.
And Rofuss had given them just that.
Three months ago, appointing Rox, a hawkish representative of the Republican Party, as the Minister of Navy was the result of a political compromise with the Republican Party.
Moreover, Rofuss had privately assured that after joining the war, he would remove Vice Admiral Short, the Army Commander of the East Ocean, and Admiral Kimmel, the Fleet Commander of the East Ocean Fleet, at the request of the Republican Party. They would be replaced by Mike and Nizi, respectively, with the former being a Republican Party member.
To put it bluntly, a few key positions had bought the Republican Party over.
The real trouble was with the conglomerates.
Though at the beginning of the year, Rofuss had convinced the conglomerates to let the "Aid Bill" pass in the third Congress vote, becoming the "spiritual leader of the Western world" from the "arsenal of the Western world" required more than just providing aid.
In Rofuss’s words, it required a sacrifice inspired by noble ideals.
The ones who needed to make sacrifices were not only the Newland people but also the conglomerates that controlled the lifeblood of the Newland Federation.
Should the soldiers on the battlefield shed their blood in fierce combat only to have the conglomerates reap vast wartime profits from the home front?
According to Rofuss, the conglomerates had to compromise with the federal authorities and cooperate unconditionally during the war, submitting to the leadership of the federal authorities.
Would the conglomerates agree?
Over the past few months, Rofuss’s primary job was negotiating with the major conglomerates, also known as haggling.
In fact, in the more than a month since arriving in "Shangri-La," Rofuss was almost daily engaged in secret talks with representatives of certain conglomerates.
It wasn’t a vacation to escape the heat; it was even more arduous than dealing with government affairs in the Grey Palace.
Ultimately, it was all about interests.
Rofuss was very clear in his attitude that if it was only about helping the Bulan Kingdom against the Tiaoman Empire, then whether to mobilize or not was insignificant.
With the scale of the Newland Federation, they could crush the Tiaoman Empire even in peacetime.
However, the issue was that to defeat the Liangxia Empire, not only was mobilization necessary, but it also had to be completed with the utmost speed.
The conglomerates had to give way.
In simple terms, they had to hand over the lifeblood of the Newland Federation to the federal government for unified allocation to maximize the potential for war.
In Rofuss’s words, the Liangxia Empire was an epic monster, and even if the Newland Federation gave it their all, victory was not guaranteed.
If there were any reservations, participation in the war amounted to defeat!
The conglomerates’ obedience to the federal authorities’ dispatch was inherently part of the total war mobilization, including wartime control over financial activities.
The logic was straightforward and easy to understand; those guys from the conglomerates couldn’t possibly be unaware of it.
It was just that relinquishing power was clearly not an easy matter.
After months of back and forth negotiations, considerable progress had been made.
However, what truly forced the consortium to concede was not Rofuss’s firm stance, but the daily worsening of the war situation.
The Newland Federation was running out of time!
It wasn’t just the consortium that couldn’t afford delays; Rofuss couldn’t either.
In the last secret negotiation that took place three days ago, Rofuss and the consortium representatives reached an agreement.
The consortium gave up all financial institutions except the Federal Reserve Bank, promising to unconditionally obey the federal government’s commands during the war, support the federal government through measures including, but not limited to, currency minting, and assist in implementing wartime financial policy.
Rofuss assured that he would not confiscate the ownership of the Federal Reserve Bank through wartime privileges.
With this secret agreement, the federal government essentially gave up the right to mint currency.
You could say, "the right to mint currency" was the last issue.
Before this, Rofuss had been trying to nationalize the Federal Reserve Bank, that is, to take over the minting rights held by private bankers.
The consortium had given up nearly all of its industries but was always unwilling to relinquish the minting rights.
Both parties were well aware of the profound implications.
Despite the consortium’s vast reach, directly and indirectly controlling thousands of companies, with a focus on heavy industries like steel, shipbuilding, and munitions, essentially controlling the lifeblood of the Newland Federation, fundamentally, the foundation of the consortium consisted of hundreds of banks linked by the Federal Reserve Bank.
Within this, the right to mint currency was the core of the core, and one could say that with the right to mint currency, one had everything.
Of course, it was the minting rights that unified these banks, creating this monetary behemoth that could tower over the Federation.
Another crucial point was that this monetary beast didn’t have a national identity and thus wouldn’t prioritize national interests.
For it, a nation was merely a tool for acquiring and protecting interests.
Since moving into the Grey Palace and beginning his new policies, Rofuss had been competing with the consortium for the minting rights.
Of course, Rofuss’s fight for minting rights was not just about implementing new policies, but also about fundamentally uprooting the consortium to establish an unprecedented federal government.
Simply put, it was about increasing the centralization of power.
Thus, the struggle for minting rights was essentially a life-and-death struggle between the federal government and the private consortium, and even during wartime, the consortium would not compromise.
As said before, the consortium lacked a national concept.
Don’t forget, these Newland Federation conglomerates came from the West Continent, with the most representative being the "Rose Son" family from the Bulan Kingdom.
If they could abandon the Bulan Kingdom to come to the Newland Federation, why couldn’t they abandon the Newland Federation for another country now?
If things really came to a head, these guys wouldn’t hesitate to turn their guns against the Newland Federation.
During the Great Depression, in the interest of preserving their own interests, these families did not hesitate to plunder on old empires like Bulan Kingdom without a second thought for past relations.
Rofuss also made his concessions after realizing this point clearly.
This secret agreement was, in effect, a compromise by Rofuss.
During the war, the consortium assured that the minting rights would serve the war effort, and Rofuss indirectly acknowledged the privatization of the minting rights.
At that time, Rofuss had mentioned to Hale that the concessions borne out of seeking a compromise were a ticking time bomb, which when detonated, would blow the Newland Federation to pieces.
A compromise led to today’s meeting.
Since the main issues had been resolved, convening a meeting was only to provide a clear conclusion, so there wasn’t much to discuss.
To say the least, the focus was on reiterating the importance of entering the war as soon as possible, clarifying several key timescales, as well as the main tasks for all parties.
Even so, it was a troublesome affair.
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