It is not difficult for Frank to understand why the strong-natured John Raul would embark on such a desperate path, and only hate himself for not being able to perceive the other party's plans earlier.
The old abbot crept up to Frank, said a few polite words of conformity, and finally pointed to the sheets and made explicit hints to him.
"Your Highness, Mr.
John's deathbed drawing with his own blood on the sheets seems to have some intention" Frank wiped the corners of his eyes, picked up John Lauer's body in both hands, and transferred it to the desk next to him.
Looking back at the sheets again, without the cover of the corpse, the blood-stained image was clearly presented in front of him, and the scarlet sword-shaped object cut a string of equally scarlet chain-like devices in two, what did this mean A strange thought flashed through Frank's mind.
"This is the flag of the Far East" "As His Highness can see, before his death, Mr.
John painted a picture of the flag of the Far East with his own blood, and left a last word, asking that the sheets painted with the flag be wrapped around him and buried, and only a true patriot would leave such a wish."
The abbot smiled strangely, "It's a pity that Mr.
John loves not the Assanian Empire, which gave him great fame, nor his birthplace, Fizhen, but the illegal secessionist regime established by the rebels in the Far East. ” "What do you mean" Frank couldn't take it anymore and turned to glare at the abbot, "Are you trying to slander John as a spy sent by the Far Easterners?"
"Your Highness, don't be angry, for we might as well imagine that if Mr.
John was really a spy sent from the Far East, then what he did would be even more meaningful.
For example, this catastrophe caused by his indiscriminate issuance of Imperial gold money is likely to be a conspiracy pre-designed by the rebels in the Far East, and Mr.
John played a key role in penetrating the upper echelons of the Empire and carrying out this conspiracy, which eventually caused the empire's economy to suffer heavy losses, the people's wealth was looted, and all the tragedies that happened to the empire were full of resentment, which is not exactly the scene that the rebels in the Far East are happy to see."
"What nonsense are you talking about, no one will believe this far-fetched nonsense, and I won't allow you to use conspiracy theories to tarnish John's reputation," Frank snapped.
The old abbot shrugged his shoulders and said with a face full of grievances: "In fact, this is not my own conjecture, Your Highness, have you seen the group of tabloid reporters outside the door, and they all have the same opinion, and I believe that they will publish this speculation in the newspaper in a sensational style, and publish it widely.
After today, the same conspiracy theories will prevail in the holy city of Assan, and indeed throughout the Empire, and as for Mr.
John's reputation, it is a pity that he would have no reputation without that blood-stained banner of the Far East. ” Frank suddenly remembered John Lauer's last letter to himself, in which he had "nothing to lose", perhaps including the reputation he valued most during his lifetime, and now he looks sad.
"No matter what you say, I can't tolerate this ridiculous stigma behind John" Frank turned and walked out the door, and said coldly, "I want to warn those pen-shaking guys that if they haven't lived impatiently, it's best not to let their imaginations run wild about John's death" "You can't do this" The abbot suddenly raised his hand to stop Frank, his face was extremely solemn, "Your Highness, those tabloid reporters were all invited by Mr.
John before he died, and what I said just now was also explained by Mr.
John, if you really care about this friendship, then please accept Mr.
John's arrangement, and don't let him die with regrets." ” Frank was dumbfounded.
Could it be that all this is directed and acted by John Lauer himself?
It sounded strange at first, but the old abbot's sincere look showed that he was not lying.
If you think about it, it really seems that John Lauer could have done this kind of thing, not to mention that he had already explicitly hinted at this arrangement in his last letter.
Frank now does not suspect that John Lauer directed and acted in this "Far East espionage case", but what puzzles him is why John Lauer has such a strong grudge against Roland that he will not hesitate to sacrifice his own life and reputation to direct the anger of the imperial government and opposition to the Far East.
It's not hard for Frank to imagine the consequences of this "spy scandal" getting spread.
Although the whole thing is absurd, the details are unbearable, and anyone with a discerning eye can see that it is a deliberate frame-up, but this conspiracy theory is undoubtedly very much in line with the public's appetite, and it is also in line with the hearts of the military radicals.
The financial crisis has discredited the reformers of the empire, the collapse of the Mueller cabinet is imminent, and the conservative forces have seized the opportunity to incite public opinion.
Since reform doesn't work, the only option left is to start the war machine.
At the right time, the "spy scandal" caused by John Lauer's suicide will provide a pretext for the new cabinet to take revenge on the rebels in the Far East, and thus win public support.
Under the influence of such a frenzied atmosphere in which almost the whole people wanted to fight, no matter how unwise and unreasonable the military action against the Far East was, it was as if it were ready to be launched.
Thinking like this, Frank felt a deep sense of powerlessness in his heart.
After the bubble of the imperial gold money burst, the financial crisis quickly swept the whole country, even the Far East, which was separated by a Ulino moat, and a number of commercial banks in different parts of the country were collectively run on the bank to varying degrees in late August 1624.
Fortunately, the Central Bank of the Far East, which is not the central bank of the empire, prepared a plan to deal with the financial turmoil as early as March last year, sending an audit team to conduct a carpet inspection of financial institutions across the country.
These young and intelligent central bank inspectors, like the "ministers of the imperial mission" as mentioned in the folk tale, are eager to use a magnifying glass to inspect the accounts of various financial institutions, and grasp the small problems of sesame seeds and mung beans, not to mention blatantly falsifying accounts.
From March last year to the end of the year, financial institutions in the Far East were "sifted through the central bank's audit department", and all non-compliant institutions were forced to suspend operations, rectify within a time limit, and meet the legal requirements for capital adequacy ratios and reserve ratios before they were allowed to reopen
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