NFBE Chapter 1676 Bloodstained Cotton
Chapter 1676 Bloodstained Cotton
The task force began an in-depth investigation into the cotton sector of the Holy Empire.
The more they investigated, the more terrified they became.
Because there are just too many people involved.
The incident at the First Store already left tens of thousands of people with criminal records.
This matter concerning the cotton department has now shaken the entire officialdom of the Holy Empire.
And the local officials were the most affected by the poisonous oath.
To be precise, it's a garrison.
Although the Holy Empire Army is currently under the command of the military, it actually has close ties with officials of the Holy Empire.
Because the Holy Empire Front Army is commanded by the military headquarters during wartime, but is handed over to the Holy Empire Front Army Command during peacetime.
Because the national defense forces cannot personally command the armies of these other countries.
Because of cultural differences, you cannot directly command the army of another country.
At least in peacetime, they are unwilling to obey your orders.
After all, it's difficult to get someone to listen to you if you ask them to run around in peacetime.
In addition, there was close contact between local officials and senior military officers.
When the military headquarters issues an order, the rear army may not necessarily obey, or rather, the lower-ranking soldiers may obey, but the officers may not.
The lower-ranking soldiers didn't have so many considerations; they only knew that they had to obey the orders given by their leaders to the military and the orders given to them by the military.
In the early days, they believed that their military pay was issued by the army group.
But later they found out that the military pay was given to them by the common people.
They instantly became an army of the common people.
Because Lyon spread the word among the instructors, political commissars, and army soldiers.
Your military pay comes from the people at the bottom of society.
Therefore, the soldiers of the Holy Empire have awakened from the root.
They understand why they are fighting, and they understand for whom they are fighting.
The Holy Empire Front Army primarily undertakes regional defense tasks, as well as maintaining order and disaster relief missions.
Therefore, their numbers are not large.
After two rounds of troop reductions, their numbers have dwindled to a mere 20.
Within the vast Holy Empire.
The garrison of each city's army group will not exceed 1000 men.
Moreover, a significant portion of them are logistics personnel.
Because combat troops don't stay in cities at all; they are mostly stationed in the wild.
The vast chain of interests involved in the cotton sector has drawn the entire upper echelons of the Holy Empire into its fold.
Furthermore, the cotton department does not refer to the department in charge of cotton.
To be precise, it is somewhat similar to the agricultural sector.
Moreover, it governs the Holy Empire's small territory.
The powers of the Holy Empire Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Cotton Department overlap to some extent.
At first, the Holy Empire's Ministry of Agriculture wanted to suppress the Ministry of Cotton.
Because the cotton department's reach has gone far too far.
They not only controlled cotton cultivation throughout the Holy Empire, but also interfered in the fur trade.
Because the soldiers of the National Defense Forces are fighting everywhere.
Moreover, they often operate in frigid regions.
Therefore, in addition to their regular combat uniforms, the National Defense Forces also have several military overcoats.
These military overcoats are mostly made of fur, and are somewhat similar to the overcoats worn by the Red Russians back then.
The army needs these fur coats, and so do ordinary people.
After all, cotton cultivation had not yet been widely promoted in Lyon at that time.
It's impossible to grow cotton on such a small area of land in Da Yan.
Later, after occupying the Holy Empire, cotton production gradually increased and began to replace fur.
Even the well-funded national defense forces cannot change their coats and such every year.
Because the armed forces wore these coats, it naturally generated publicity for fur, and ordinary people began to buy fur coats like crazy.
Lyon has been keeping fur prices low in order to improve the lives of its people.
Furthermore, it adopts extremely strict nationalized management.
To put it bluntly, we produce as much as the quota allows.
The strict control of raw materials is aimed at preventing fur from becoming a luxury item.
In small countries, it might be impossible to popularize fur at all.
However, the Great Yan is now sparsely populated and has no shortage of fur.
The problem is that Lyon has suppressed the profits of the fur industry.
A significant number of people have their eyes on the huge market of fur, but they haven't dared to take a bite because they're afraid of being beaten to death by Lyon.
However, the cotton sector is different; it is a ministerial-level department.
Moreover, its priority is higher than that of the Holy Empire distribution of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Therefore, the Holy Empire's Ministry of Agriculture had no way to restrict the cotton sector.
The cotton sector has extended its reach into the fur industry.
Due to strict raw material controls, they simply couldn't obtain more raw materials.
However, they came up with a solution: using machinery to stretch the fur.
The material that could originally be used to make two fur coats was transformed by them into material that could be used to make three fur coats.
By handing over two fur coats, the remaining one would naturally flow into the black market to generate profits for them.
The profit margin on fur is low because it's sold cheaply in Lyon.
To be precise, it's almost cost price plus a small labor fee.
But it's different on the black market.
Fur coats are practically a must-have for everyone, but the problem is that merchants aren't satisfied with just one; they want more fur coats.
They have money but can't buy fur, so naturally they buy fur from the black market. But reselling genuine fur can get you shot.
So they split the two into three, sent the third one to the black market, and made more than double or triple their profit.
This is why the cotton department was able to bribe officials of the Immortal Empire.
How much money can you make growing cotton?
The fur industry is incredibly profitable!
It is because they have this money that they are able to bribe officials.
The intelligence agency agents were already on edge after finding out this.
One cotton sector was responsible for 50 deaths, displaced millions, and was also implicated in fur smuggling and bribery of officials.
This is beyond terrifying!
While the intelligence agency's task force reported to the military, requesting them to mobilize troops to the Holy Empire, they also hesitated.
Because they didn't know whether they should request assistance from the army group.
Because they feared that the Holy Empire's officers in the army were corrupt.
What was originally a simple task force operation turned into a military shootout.
The military was stunned when it received the news.
They were completely dumbfounded after seeing the Book of the Shah.
50 people died...
50 million!
Without hesitation, Cadis, who was also serving as the Minister of the Army, immediately called the First Panzer Army.
"Guderian, order the First Armored Army to immediately end its training and proceed to the Holy Empire."
As for the reason, it was stated that they were responding to the military's request to conduct exercises in the Holy Empire.
After giving the order, Cadis immediately called Hans.
"Don't rush into action over there. I've already sent the First Armored Army over there. Does anyone else know about this?"
Hans wiped his sweat after hearing this.
"I haven't told the leader yet, because I'm afraid of him..."
Cadis fell silent upon hearing this.
What are these things?
Lyon has just taken away his top-tier combat forces and is now leading a personal expedition to destroy the dragon.
No sooner had they left than a bomb exploded behind them.
This is beyond just being extraordinary...