Once the newspapers published the story, the strike at Da Ke'er Textile Mill swiftly became a hot topic across society.
The Kingdom of Lombardy government quickly intervened. The first to suffer were several Milan news agencies, whose people in charge were invited by the government's Press Administration Bureau for a cup of coffee.
Newspapers had a duty to expose the truth, of course, but choosing not to report it was also acceptable. At most, it would damage a paper's credibility; it was not a crime.
But if there had been an exchange of interests and they had deliberately covered up the truth, that would be a crime.
Reporters from newspapers all over the country had arrived, yet the Milan-based papers had remained silent. Naturally, that aroused suspicion.
Without question, the final result was that nothing could be found. Since they had dared to help conceal it, they had naturally made preparations.
There had always been business dealings between newspapers and enterprises. Exchanges of interests did not necessarily involve direct cash payments; they could be scattered throughout advertising business, making them extremely difficult to investigate.
Take the Milan Daily, for example. The newspaper had sent its reporters far away early on, and aside from its routine operating staff, several chief editors had all gone to Vienna on holiday.
With the upper management absent and all the reporters dispatched elsewhere, it seemed understandable that they had failed to notice the strike at Da Ke'er Textile Mill due to insufficient manpower.
Evading the investigation did not mean the matter was over. For a news agency, credibility was the most important thing. Without credibility, who would subscribe to your paper?
Many clever people had already come to their senses. Ludwig II was most likely not targeting Da Ke'er Textile Mill this time. After all,