The conference hall.
Every officer's gaze was fixed on Sankara, waiting quietly for what he would say next.
Major policies!
And several of them, at that.
Just as the officers' curiosity reached fever pitch, Sankara continued:
"First, expanding the army!"
"I intend to expand the Dugagu Brigade and the Wagaar Brigade into two divisions and six brigades!"
The entire Republic of Burkina certainly had more than two brigades.
But for now, Sankara had only these two brigades under his control-or rather, only these two would carry out his orders without question.
The remaining brigades either paid lip service while disobeying in practice, or simply refused to take orders!
That was why most of the officers attending today's meeting came from these two brigades.
"!?"
The moment he finished speaking, the entire conference hall erupted!
"Expand into two divisions and six brigades?"
"Seriously?"
"Doesn't that mean I could become a brigade commander?"
"Deputy Commander, our brigade commander is the president now. He certainly can't come back to be a division commander. After the expansion, I'm afraid the position of commander of the Dugagu Division will be yours for the taking!"
"But come to think of it, does the government still have the money to expand the army?"
"Quiet!"
Sankara tapped the table with his hand. Only after everyone had quieted down did he continue:
"Next is the matter of military pay and benefits!"
"Nowadays, a single slice of bread costs fifty North African francs, yet our lowest-ranking soldiers earn less than two thousand North African francs a month!"
"With those two thousand North African francs, they might just barely support themselves, but supporting their families as well is absolutely impossible!"
"So I intend to introduce a new pay scale based on military rank!"
"The documents in front of each of you contain the new pay scale. Take a good look!"
Only after hearing Sankara's words did the officers open the documents that had been placed before them at the start.
Then...
"Gasp..."
The global temperature instantly rose several degrees Celsius at that moment!
"A new recruit's monthly pay is going from eight hundred North African francs to two thousand!?"
"A private first class, the rank after recruit, can get five thousand North African francs a month? That's two or three times as much!"
"Let me check mine... What the fuck? As a major, I'll get thirty thousand a month from now on!?"
"The highest rank, general, gets... three hundred thousand North African francs a month!? Come to think of it, isn't the highest rank in our Republic of Burkina only major general?"
"Is this just for us? Or will all units be paid according to this scale from now on?"
Perhaps having heard that question, Sankara answered:
"All units will be paid according to this scale from now on! Whether it's you or them, you are all soldiers of our Republic of Burkina!"
After saying this, a slight smile appeared on Sankara's lips.
Because within Sankara's field of vision...
These officers, whose loyalty to him had already been high enough, had gained at least three to five loyalty points after learning of the enormous pay rise.
Sankara could already imagine it.
Once the junior and mid-ranking officers and the soldiers learned the news, their loyalty to him would certainly rise too-and by even more!
When that happened, even if the other brigades remained beyond his command for the time being, they probably would not openly oppose Sankara's rule!
Sure enough, when ideals and convictions can't maintain the army's loyalty for the time being, money is often the quickest and most effective method!
Sankara thought to himself as he watched the smiles on the officers' faces.
The President's Office.
"What!?"
When Compaoré, the minister of finance sitting across from Sankara, saw the document, he nearly went dumb with shock.
He instantly tossed the document in his hands back onto Sankara's desk as though it were a piece of red-hot iron.
"Phew-"
It took Compaoré quite a while to recover before he looked back at Sankara, who sat calmly behind the desk, and objected in as even a tone as he could manage:
"Mr. President, I know you mean well, but you may not fully understand the government's current financial situation."
"The government's finances are already on the edge of a precipice."
"They could collapse at any moment!"
"Never mind anything else, our Ministry of Finance might not even be able to pay next month's government salaries. Now you're planning to raise military pay, and by this much all at once!"
"Even if I agreed, the reality wouldn't allow it. We simply couldn't come up with that much money..."
"Stop!"
Sankara interrupted Compaoré and said:
"Rest assured!"
"I think I may understand the government's financial situation even better than you do! Not only do I know you're about to run out of money for salaries, I also know you may not even be able to pay this year's interest on the debt!"
"Uh..."
Compaoré froze. He had not expected Sankara to actually know the government's current financial situation.
But that only made him more puzzled:
"If you already know all that, then why would you..."
"But!"
Sankara interrupted Compaoré again and continued:
"I'm not just raising military pay!"
"I'm also raising salaries for government officials, as well as the police officers at the police stations, and finally, the teachers at the schools!"
"These other documents contain the new pay scales for the officials, police officers, and teachers!"
As he spoke, Sankara found three documents in the mountainous pile beside him and handed them to Compaoré together with the document Compaoré had tossed onto the desk.
"Huh?"
At that moment, Compaoré wondered whether Sankara had gone mad!
If he had not, how could he say something so outrageous?
Raise military pay, raise officials' salaries, raise police pay, raise teachers' salaries... Anyone could say the words!
But the question was, where was the money?
Where would the money come from!
That was what Compaoré thought, and it was also what he said:
"I know you have a grand plan, Mr. President!"
"But the question is, where's the money? Where will it come from?"
"Mr. President, you must understand that if they learn they're getting a raise, but you can't pay them that much next month, then I'm afraid..."
Compaoré did not finish, but Sankara knew what he wanted to say.
If Sankara could not produce that much money when the time came, his presidency would probably be over!
Could Sankara come up with that much money, then?
Naturally, Sankara had a way to come up with that much money!
Even if something unexpected really did happen and he failed to secure a loan from the Soviet Union, Sankara still had several backup plans!
"You don't need to worry about where the money will come from for now. When the time is right, I'll certainly tell you!"
"For now, all you need to know is that if I dare say these things, I naturally have the backing to say them!"
He simply could not tell Compaoré where the money would come from yet, because Sankara could not fully trust Compaoré, whose loyalty was only 64.
"..."
Compaoré fell silent.
He could not understand at all where the backing Sankara spoke of came from!
After all, one person's salary certainly did not seem like much.
But the combined salaries of over a hundred thousand people, or even several hundred thousand, were no small sum for the Republic of Burkina!
Hah!
Compaoré sneered inwardly, then nodded at Sankara, reached out to take the four documents Sankara held out, and said:
"All right!"
"Since you have a way, Mr. President, I won't object any further!"
With that, a somewhat angry Compaoré stood up and left without looking back.
I thought you would bring the Republic of Burkina a bright future after taking office. Instead, you've turned out to be another fool just like the president before last!
"Let's see what you do when you can't come up with all that money later!"
Just as he left the President's Office, Compaoré glanced back at Sankara and muttered under his breath.