novelSusiti Chapter 297 The Will of the Empire
Chapter 297 The Will of the Empire
Chapter 297 The Will of the Empire
Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, shrouded in night, was unusually brightly lit.
The Emperor's urgent summons was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, shaking the entire power center of Germany. Urgent telegrams were sent from Berlin to the rest of the country.
Bernhard von Bülow, the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, a career diplomat known for his composure and tact, was urgently recalled from a dinner party and rushed to the Emperor's study.
When he pushed open the door, he found Wilhelm II pacing back and forth on the carpet like a lion trapped in a cage, restless and anxious. The air in the study was as tense as a string about to snap.
Wilhelm II didn't even bother to offer any explanation. He grabbed Sophia's letter from the table and, like throwing out a challenge, tossed it directly in front of von Bülow.
"Look at this!"
Von Bülow picked up the letter, his well-trained eyes scanning it quickly.
He had only read half of it when he secretly groaned inwardly.
As a seasoned bureaucrat with decades of experience in diplomacy, he instantly saw through the letter's true nature. It was no longer a letter from a sister to her brother; it was a carefully crafted political weapon, every word rife with inflammatory rhetoric, powerful enough to detonate a bomb on the European diplomatic chessboard.
He put down the letter, took off his monocle, and carefully wiped it with a silk handkerchief.
"Your Majesty, please calm down," he began, trying to cool the atmosphere in the room with his steady tone. "This is a trap. A very clever trap."
He carefully crafted his words, attempting to steer the impulsive emperor back to reason.
"Our current national policy is to maintain basic alignment with Britain and Russia on the Eastern question in exchange for their concessions on the issue of African colonies. If we were to openly break with Britain for the sake of Greece, a tiny country that is insignificant on the map, it would greatly damage our empire's global strategy!"
"Global strategy?"
Wilhelm II let out a cold laugh. Pointing to the thin sheet of paper, he interrupted von Bülow with agitation.
"My sister, a Prussian princess, a German princess, is being publicly humiliated by a group of British merchants! Is this the reality my global strategy must confront?"
He waved his able-bodied arm, the cufflinks on it gleaming in the light.
"I don't care about this bullshit balance of power! I only know that the honor of the Hohenzollern family must not be tarnished!"
His roar silenced all of von Bülow's subsequent words of advice. He knew the emperor's "chivalry" had flared up again. In this state, any rational analysis of political advantages and disadvantages was utterly useless.
Just then, an attendant knocked on the door to announce that Gustav Krupp, president of Krupp, and Georg von Siemens, president of Deutsche Bank, had traveled overnight by special train from Essen and Frankfurt.
When the two men entered the study, both wore expressions of confusion and unease. The emperor's urgent summons late at night filled them with all sorts of ominous speculations. Seeing the emperor's ashen face and the worried-looking diplomatic secretary beside him, their anxiety intensified.
Wilhelm II did not give them much time to speculate.
He strode up to the two giants of German industry and finance. He revealed no details about his sister's letters, which were a matter of royal dignity.
He declared directly, in an unquestionable tone befitting an imperial emperor: "Gentlemen, our German brothers in the Balkans, heroic Greece, are being subjected to the despicable oppression of the British financiers. For the sake of German reputation and our future commercial interests, the Reich must support them."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the two astonished faces, and emphasized his tone.
"But this support cannot be in the name of the state; it must be private and commercial."
To the even greater astonishment of Krupp and von Siemens, Wilhelm II unveiled his "genius plan," which he had conceived on the spur of the moment in a fit of rage.
He turned to the president of Krupp.
"Gustav, I order you to provide Greece with funds in the name of Krupp. The pretext is a prepayment for arms purchases over the next five years."
Then he turned to the president of Deutsche Bank.
"Georg, this funding will be handled by your bank. You need to find the most inconspicuous Swiss bank as an intermediary, package the money as a pure commercial loan, and secretly deposit it into the account of the Greek National Development Bank."
This plan left the two giants looking at each other in bewilderment. This was simply unheard of.
Wilhelm II stepped forward, closing in on them, and lowered his voice.
"You must remember," he said, his voice carrying an almost threatening intensity, his eyes burning with fury as he stared intently at them.
"This is not a government loan from the German Empire, but a 'commercial investment' by German industry in the future of a friendly nation!"
"It was a purely commercial, flawless act!"
Do you understand?
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