Persecution

The carriage stopped again, and there was a commotion ahead, as if we were back in Ninety-Three. Carnot poked his head out of the carriage and asked, "What's going on?"

"Sir, a group of people are blocking the road in front of a bank," the coachman replied.

Hearing this, Carnot couldn't help but shake his head, then said, "Ah, Batz, let's take another detour, we need to hurry, I'm going to be late today. Do you know there's no bank on that road?"

This morning, Carnot had already taken several detours on his way to work.

By this time, the crisis had already spread to the banks, and once the crisis affected the banks, the impact on the entire society became apparent. A large number of banks closed down because they were unable to cope with the bank runs, and this led to many small and medium-sized banks declaring bankruptcy.

Generally speaking, smaller banks are more willing to offer higher deposit interest rates than larger banks in order to attract depositors. This naturally increases their operating costs. Moreover, in order to make enough money, they have to engage in more aggressive investments or even speculation. Therefore, in this trend, these small banks that engaged in aggressive speculation were the first to go bankrupt in large numbers.

When banks collapse, depositors' money vanishes. Many people work hard their whole lives, hoping for higher interest rates, and deposit their life savings in these small banks. As a result, within days, these small banks close down and go bankrupt. As for the owners, it is said that they all took their last bit of money and fled to Americas.

The coachman turned the carriage around, preparing to take another route, when a voice reached Carnot's ears. "Those damned Jews, those vampires! It's them who have swallowed up all our hard-earned money!"

"Damn Jews! We can't let them get away with this! Let's kill them all!" someone shouted.

Upon hearing this voice, Carnot frowned. To be honest, Carnot didn't have a good impression of Jews either. In fact, Carnot himself felt that some Jews really deserved to be beheaded. However, that should only happen after a court trial, not as the current attempt to use vigilante justice. If vigilante justice became rampant, the Republic would be going back to the old ways of Ninety-Three.

By this time, the coachman had turned the carriage around and was preparing to leave. Carnot quickly shouted, "Stop!"

The coachman stopped the carriage. Carnot opened the door and jumped onto the roof.

"Citizens, citizens, please hear me out!" Carnot shouted loudly to the citizens who were preparing to take action.

"Who is that?" someone asked.

"It's General Carnot, the Minister of War."

"What Minister of War? Wasn't it already called the Ministry of Peace?"

"Quiet down, let's hear what General Carnot has to say."

Seeing that everyone had gathered around and quieted down, Carnot asked loudly, "Does everyone believe in the First Ruler?"

"Believe!"

"I believe!" people shouted.

"Does everyone remember the chaos of Ninety-Three? Do you all want to live like that again?" Carnot continued, raising his voice.

The crowd fell silent.

"I know that many people have suffered undeserved losses in this matter, and I also know that some Jews have plundered everyone like vampires. But since everyone trusts the First Ruler, why break his promise to everyone and use vigilante justice to solve the problem? Why not let the First Ruler use the law to give them a fair trial?" Carnot asked loudly.

"Yes!" someone said.

"General Carnot is right. We should trust the First Consul General; he will definitely help us get justice!"

"But those Jews, they might have already run off with the money."

"If that's the case, there's nothing we can do but rely on His Majesty Bonaparte."

"Let's go to the Consulate, let's go to the Consulate, and plead our case to His Majesty!" someone shouted again.

So the crowd changed direction and headed towards the Consulate.

Carnot jumped off the roof of the carriage and said to the driver, "We're going to the Consulate right away."

When Carnot arrived at the Consulate, a large crowd had already gathered in the square in front of Consulate. Napoleon also came out and stood on the steps of the Consulate, where he addressed the crowd. He assured them that the government would do everything possible to help them overcome the difficulties and hoped that they would trust the government and trust him.

The crowd cheered for Napoleon, while Carnot stood by and watched. After Napoleon finished his speech and the crowd dispersed, Carnot went to the Consulate to request an audience with Napoleon.

Upon hearing that Carnot had come to see him, Napoleon frowned. Carnot was his former superior, a man who was somewhat pedantic, and it wouldn't be good if he saw through anything in the current situation. Nevertheless, he still had Carnot invited into his office.

"Your Excellency the First Minister," Carnot said, "I see that many banks are in trouble now. Many people have lost their life savings because of this. The situation is very dangerous. What action do you plan to take?"

"This has truly taken me by surprise; it's practically another Tulip Bulb Craze," Napoleon said. "I've decided to suspend the stock market for three days to prevent the panic from spreading excessively. I've also ordered the Ministry of Police to intensify its pursuit and crackdown on those who absconded with the funds. Furthermore, we will temporarily cut taxes in the hope of stimulating the economy. But Lazar, you know, there's very little the government can do about the economy."

"And what about the Roman Bank? Don't they do anything?" Carnot asked again.

"The Roman Bank is buying up some of the more dangerous banks. But this will put a lot of pressure on the Roman Bank. More importantly, Lazar, you know the problems with the banks aren't just what you just mentioned. The banks are also linked to factories, and factories are linked to the livelihoods of even more people. That's the real problem. If a large number of businesses really go bankrupt, then we..." Napoleon paused here, "Then perhaps we'll have no choice but to expand our army."

"Your Excellency, are you planning to start a war?" Carnot asked in surprise.

"No, Lazar, I didn't want to either. But sometimes, circumstances push us along, and I hope we don't end up like this... those damned Jewish speculators!" Napoleon said through gritted teeth.

"We really should crack down on those Jewish speculators!" Carnot said. Cracking down on Jewish speculators will certainly harm many innocent people, but it's better than war.

The following day, * Science Truth Daily * published an editorial entitled "Vigorously Rectify the Financial Order to Ensure the Stable Development of the National Economy." In this editorial, * Science Truth Daily * attributed the current turmoil to malicious speculation by some unscrupulous businessmen. The editorial also pointed out that these malicious speculative activities not only damaged the market but also violated France law, and they would inevitably face severe legal punishment! Below this editorial was the emergency decree issued by the Consulate, according to which the France stock market would be suspended for three days for comprehensive rectification.

Following this, * Businessman's Daily * published a news report exposing the criminal activities of some unscrupulous businessmen—most of whom were Jewish. Businessman's Daily specifically pointed out that the first to short-sell the stock market was the famous Jewish banker Rothschild. Of course, * Businessman's Daily * also acknowledged that Rothschild did not engage in any illegal operations; he only suffered minor losses in this crisis and did not make any ill-gotten gains. However, the actions of other Jewish businessmen were truly abhorrent.

Then the Council of State proposed an emergency bill authorizing the establishment of Special Court for Economic Crimes and crack down on all kinds of illegal speculation.

The bill was passed quickly, and then Special Court for Economic Crimes was established. The tribunal was remarkably efficient; on its very first day, it arrested fifteen Jewish merchants and sent more than sixty others to the mines.

By this time, the economic crisis that began in France had swept across Europe, and the practice of blaming the Jews for this crisis was gaining momentum throughout the Europe. From Saint Petersburg to London, there were bonfires everywhere where Jews were lynched. Terrified Jews fled to Turkey or France for refuge.

Yes, they fled to Turkey and France. Compared to Christianity countries, the Ottoman Empire Turkey were much more lenient towards Jews. Apart from not allowing them to build churches taller than mosques and requiring them to pay a poll tax, they had almost no other discrimination against Jews, and the persecution of being arrested and roasted was virtually nonexistent.

As for France, France was the starting point of this persecution of Jews. However, compared to other Europe countries, France was at least a civilized nation. At least they had to go through the courts to persecute Jews. And frankly, the number of death sentences handed down by France courts was far fewer than the number of executions in other countries. What remained were mostly hard labor and fines.

Considering that Jews fleeing abroad to France were almost certainly not involved in illegal speculation in France, once they arrived, they were unlikely to face the death penalty or hard labor; at most, Turkey France extremely difficult, requiring crossing a series of heavily guarded borders. In comparison, even illegally crossing the border into France was much simpler. Therefore, France, which had initially spearheaded the persecution of Jews, unexpectedly became the leading refuge for Jews throughout Europe during this period.

Of course, there was an even better refuge: North Africa under France control. Staying in France meant facing discrimination from the locals; for example, one might be suddenly spitting at or even slapped in the street. (Jews were not allowed to retaliate, otherwise the arriving police would unconditionally assume it was a Jewish provocation.) In the North Africa regions jointly controlled by the France and Turkey, even this kind of discrimination was less common. Therefore, many Jews who went to France quickly went to North Africa afterward.