Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 826 - 89: In the Face of Great Disaster, Everyone Scatters

The announcement of the special investigation team’s personnel appointments instantly caused a sensation. The domestic anti-Jewish public was satisfied; those at the top were all hard-liners.

As the head of the special investigation team, Count Witters had, at a recent press conference, publicly called for the courts to severely punish criminals, certainly not intending to be lenient.

The Jewish capital forces, which had narrowly escaped disaster, were also satisfied. Although they had not made direct contact, everyone vaguely knew these were their own people.

Ledyard, who was responsible for mediating, also breathed a sigh of relief. Since their own people were leading the investigation, he expected the matter would soon pass.

The only thing he found strange was that there were too many of their own in the investigation team, and many unrelated department officials had also been pulled in. This did not conform to the Vienna Government’s consistent governance model.

Not understanding why, he was too lazy to think further, attributing it to the massive influence of the powers behind the scenes on the Vienna Government’s decision-making.

Making this judgement was logical; the relationships between the nobility were intricately complex—it was relatives everywhere you turned.

As long as one was willing to swallow one’s pride and ask for help, in the absence of conflicting interests, achieving one’s goals was generally possible.

Everyone was satisfied, except for a few of the people actually involved who were now in a plight.

Perhaps there was initial surprise upon receiving the personnel appointments, but after seeing their colleagues in the investigation team, joy was hard to come by.

One or two of them joining by coincidence might be possible, but everyone being on the team was too much of a coincidence; Count Witters did not believe it.

After the initial panic subsided, they still thickened their skins and went to report to the investigation team. No matter what, there was no backing out at this point.

...

At dusk, within a manor to the south of Vienna, lights shone brightly. Taking the opportunity of a colleague bonding event, Count Witters hosted a banquet.

In the Austrian official circles, banquets were no longer popular, unless there were special days needing celebration. Normally, officials would not invite colleagues personally.

"Exchanging sentiments" as an excuse seemed somewhat far-fetched at the present, but Count Witters could no longer care about these details.

Now, they were exposed under the spotlight, and holding secret meetings at this juncture would simply be courting death.

Although everyone worked together during the day, who dared to discuss these issues in the office?

Seeing that the crowd was not in high spirits, Count Witters didn’t beat around the bush; he went straight to the point: "I’ve invited you all here today to discuss how to deal with these capitalists’ issue.

The situation has developed beyond our expectations. The original plan is no longer feasible. If we don’t handle this properly, we’re afraid it’ll be hard for us to get out of this mess."

There was no escape; from the moment they entered the investigation team, they were tied to the Jewish issue and couldn’t disengage if they wanted to.

Paul Bodis analyzed from a professional standpoint: "Count, you’re right. The current situation is indeed very bad. This special personnel appointment is too targeted.

There were no signs beforehand, and suddenly the investigation team was established, and we just so happened to be in it.

All these signs indicate that our dealings with the Jewish capitalists are now known to those above us.

Being put in charge of this case leaves only two possibilities: either those above want to remove us but lack solid evidence, thus deliberately setting us up to burn on the fire; or they don’t want to blow the matter up and are prepared to give us one more chance. How it ends will depend entirely on our next moves.

Regardless of the situation, what’s most important now is to manage the aftermath well. As long as the government doesn’t have concrete evidence, they won’t act against us."

Knowing there is a trap ahead and yet having to jump in with eyes shut, this feeling of one’s life being at the mercy of others is naturally far from delightful.

Albert nodded in agreement, taking over the conversation: "I agree with Paul’s assessment, but right now, the remedial work is not easy to do.

The Jewish capitalists are mired in too many filthy matters. Just the evidence currently in the hands of the police is enough to send all of them to prison.

I’ve personally reviewed the case files. According to Austria’s existing laws, at least three hundred people will be sentenced to death, over two thousand will be sentenced to more than twenty years, and the rest won’t get less than ten years.

There’s no one with a light case; the many arrested are all hardened criminals. Those with less severe issues were merely fined, warned, and restricted from leaving the country to monitor the effects.

Especially those who have been in contact with us, they are the very epitome of scum and villainy. The absurdities they’ve committed are probably beyond your wildest dreams.

I won’t even mention tax evasion, which all these numerous detainees are involved in.

Manipulating markets, colluding with the underworld, running underground casinos, and loan sharking are all routine operations.

Some of these people are simply local mob bosses, forcing women into prostitution, trading drugs, and counterfeiting currency—all the trades heavily cracked down upon by the government—nothing has been missed.

On the surface, they’re all shiny and respectable, but behind the scenes, they stop at no evil. Each and every one of them has blood on their hands.

What’s more, these bastards are also tampering with Jewish schools, inciting the Jewish common folk to resist the government’s ethnic policy.

Forget it, I don’t even want to go on. Collaborating with these people is the most regrettable thing I’ve done in my life.

Now that the outside world is watching us, getting away with a light sentence is practically impossible.

The trouble is that the network of relationships among Jewish capitalists is vast. Currently, only they themselves have been arrested, but their family and close associates have not been imprisoned."

It’s very likely that these people outside know about our relationship, and now that they’ve learned we’re in charge of the investigation team, they’re probably celebrating.

If we handle things strictly by the book or let them off lightly within the permissible range of the rules, I’m afraid that won’t satisfy them.

If someone takes the lead to stir up trouble and exposes the trading matters, everyone here, every single one of us will be implicated—no one can escape."

It’s an inevitable outcome that lending at high interest rates without involvement in the underworld is a joke.

It’s just that being involved to such a deep extent is hard for the public to accept—this is clearly a tactic to doom us all.

But everyone present has seen their fair share of crisis, and knows that these charges are not necessarily the doing of the Jewish capitalists.

Maybe a few of them truly participated, but most Jewish capitalists probably don’t have the energy to deal in drugs or counterfeit currency. After all, such businesses get raided by the police every now and then, and the profits might not be as high as those from usurious lending.

However, that’s not important. As long as the underworld gangs they are in collusion with engage in these trades, they share part of the guilt for those crimes.

When it comes to combating the underworld, Austrian law has a very wide scope.

The law explicitly states: joining or colluding with underworld criminal organizations entails joint liability for all crimes committed by that group.

It’s no wonder that Albert regrets the collaboration. These Jewish capitalists are clearly willing to earn any money and collaborate with anyone.

Keep in mind that not only Jewish capitalists have transactions involving power and money, but to make the charges this severe is a first-time encounter for him.

The majority of capitalists simply navigate the grey areas. To reduce trouble, they prefer to hire their enforcers rather than getting involved with local gangs.

Even if there is occasional cooperation, it’s usually a one-off deal with both money and goods cleared, and long-term collaborations are rare.

The Austrian Police have swept through underworld organizations not once or twice. Previously, Jewish capitalists have been able to escape implicating thanks to the support from their powerful backers.

These matters are fine left uninvestigated, but once the lid is lifted, they have to face destruction of both their reputation and status.

Even without concrete evidence for a conviction, as long as there are accusations pointing at them, and the public is convinced, the reputation of the family is doomed.

The nobility’s glory shines only under the precondition of a good reputation. Once tarnished, the circles of power won’t continue including them in their games.

When it comes to their self-interest, self-preservation is the top priority.

At this point, no one wants to save the Jewish capitalists anymore, but the trouble is their families and cronies won’t agree!

In a nation of laws, we must act according to the law. Jewish capitalists who commit crimes will be incarcerated, but unless the case involves treason or regicide, their families and confidants won’t be implicated as long as they are not involved in the crime.

Typically, these people are just placed under surveillance and forbidden from leaving the country until the court hands down its final verdict.

With the number involved in the tens of thousands and scattered all over the country, no matter how influential we are, we don’t have the capability to silence all these people at once.

After a moment of hesitation, Count Witters spoke slowly, "Then we don’t give them the opportunity to speak out. Dig deep into these cases and find a way to implicate their families and confidants as well.

I recall there’s a legal provision for the crime of failing to report a known crime. These scoundrels have done so much wrong, there’s no way those around them are completely unaware.

It’s precisely because these people did not report them that these criminals have been able to evade the law for so long. We must punish them to serve as a warning to others."

In response to Count Witters’s righteous statement, everyone fully affirmed, in unison citing the necessity of severely punishing these "silent accomplices."

"Strict with others, lenient with oneself."

It’s a common human sentiment; this double standard in law enforcement is just a basic skill for politicians.

Count Witters simply harbored some inexplicable sense of superiority, not an isolated case, as most of the nobility exhibit the same attitude.

The reason is very simple: in this rotten era, their integrity is just slightly higher than that of capitalists.

This minute superiority isn’t inherent but due to the burden of their family’s reputation, forcing them to show restraint publicly.

Albert, with some hesitation, asked, "Count, wouldn’t that be going too far? The higher-ups haven’t instructed us to escalate matters rashly, and taking action might provoke..."

Count Witters interrupted, "We no longer have a choice. If we don’t act now, the situation will spiral out of control.

At this point, if we want to walk away unscathed, we must go all the way on the anti-Semitic path.

The current social sentiment is very favorable to us, and the harsher we are on these Jewish capitalists, the less likely the outside world will believe we have colluded with them.

After all, none of us have taken the lead, and as long as we all assert: we have not engaged in transactions involving power and money.

With our firm anti-Semitic stance, even if some escaped Jews presented substantive evidence, the public wouldn’t believe it.

The worst-case scenario would be to abandon some industries. Just claim that others have been committing fraud in our name, and suggest to the government to seize those companies to clear our name."

No problem, everyone has their own biases by default. To the common people, the most resolute anti-Semites are definitely not in collusion with Jewish capitalists.

…