Make France Great Again
Chapter 227 The National Intelligence Bureau in Action

Chapter 227: Chapter 227 The National Intelligence Bureau in Action

After Jerome Bonaparte’s orders were issued, Marcel Yale dared not delay, and quickly returned to the National Intelligence Bureau to summon his department heads for a meeting.

"Mr. President requires us to gather as much information as possible about the East! Does anyone among you know about it?" Marcel Yale asked coldly with a stern face.

The department heads looked at each other speechlessly. These former police officers, transferred by Marcel Yale from the Police Department, knew nothing about these matters.

Not to mention the East, they only started to understand the neighboring German and Italian regions under the director’s orders.

"Director, do you mean the Ottoman Empire by the East?" one department head cautiously asked Marcel Yale.

Marcel Yale cursed casually, "Fool! If it were the Ottoman Empire, would I need you?"

The direct confrontation from Marcel Yale left the department head with an awkward expression, and the entire gathering fell into an embarrassing atmosphere again.

Having learned from the earlier department head’s experience, another department head acted more cautiously: "Director, in my opinion, asking us about such matters is really not effective! The majority of us here have never been abroad!"

"So? Are you planning to shirk your responsibilities?" Marcel Yale’s voice became even colder.

"No... that’s not it!" The department head hurriedly shared his suggestion with Marcel Yale: "I think this matter should rely on the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs! Only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs understands them best!"

Marcel Yale suddenly also realized that instead of asking this group of people, it would be better to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs personally to inquire about the situation.

The President often says things like maintaining contact with external departments and that foreign work cannot be done without the cover of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Isn’t this a chance to connect with diplomatic affairs?

It is said: With a single thought towards the outside world, vast horizons open up.

With broadened thoughts, Marcel Yale swiftly concluded the meeting and then went alone to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

...

Arriving at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Marcel Yale, led by the Secretary of State, reached the door of the Minister’s Office, where the Secretary of State gently knocked on the office door.

"Come in!" De Luyis’s voice came from inside the Minister’s Office.

"Director Marcel, I’ll leave you here!" the Secretary of State whispered to Marcel Yale as a farewell.

Marcel Yale took a deep breath and entered De Luyis’s office.

At that moment, De Luyis was sitting on the sofa, reviewing diplomatic intelligence from the German region. The conflict between Prussia and Austria involved the entire Ministry of Foreign Affairs, forcing De Luyis to spend a significant amount of time every day organizing and archiving existing intelligence to calmly respond when the President inquires.

As the door creaked open, De Luyis saw Marcel Yale entering the room, with a look of surprise mixed with a slight hint of fear.

As one of the Cabinet ministers, De Luyis had heard rumors that the President had formed a secret police force and that Marcel Yale was its leader.

Therefore, Marcel Yale’s arrival made De Luyis a little fearful.

"Director Marcel, please sit!" De Luyis smiled and gestured for Marcel Yale to come over and sit down.

"Minister De Luyis!" Marcel Yale’s tense face relaxed into a smile as he sat beside De Luyis.

De Luyis put down the newspaper in his hand and jokingly asked with a precise sense of scale, "Director, you didn’t come here to arrest me, did you?"

"Of course not!" Marcel Yale, obviously understanding De Luyis’s probing, decisively said, "Minister, I would like to review some information about Cyan Fruit from your department!"

"Cyan Fruit? What do you want with that?" De Luyis froze for a few seconds, instinctively asking.

Marcel Yale smiled but did not answer De Luyis’s question.

"I am truly sorry!" Realizing his mistake, De Luyis hurriedly explained that he did not mean to pry into anything.

"It’s nothing! Your Excellency Minister, you should understand without me saying it!" Marcel Yale slightly revealed a non-news to De Luyis.

De Luyis also understood Marcel Yale’s implication. He hurriedly called his private secretary and asked him to find the dossier on the Great Cyan Fruit.

The private secretary quickly went to the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take the copy of the materials related to the Cyan Fruit to the minister’s office.

Looking at the stack of documents almost half a meter high, Marcel Yale nodded in satisfaction.

De Luyis further assisted Marcel Yale, saying, "If these are not enough, I suggest you go to the French Academy, where there are some people who have some understanding of the Cyan Fruit!"

"Hmm! I got it!" Marcel Yale pointed to all the materials and said to De Luyis, "Is it okay if I take all of these back?"

"Of course!" De Luyis immediately responded, "These are just copies! However, remember to handle these documents uniformly after use!"

"Hmm!"

Marcel Yale took all the materials onto the carriage and transported himself back.

Standing in the minister’s office and overlooking the carriage, De Luyis silently prioritized gathering intelligence on the Far East in his mind. It seemed now that the President’s next target might be the distant East?

With the materials returning to the National Intelligence Bureau, Marcel Yale worked tirelessly day and night through all the documents, including missionary records and the content of the Huangpu Treaty.

He finally managed to gain a rough understanding of Cyan Fruit in half the time Jerome Bonaparte had set, and then he followed De Luyis’ suggestion to find academicians of the Physiocrats at the French Academy to get some opinions on Cyan Fruit from them.

He eventually completed his work within the time set by Jerome Bonaparte.

When Alexander Valerovsky found Marcel Yale, a confident Marcel Yale followed Valerovsky to the Elysee Palace.

"Now tell me what you think about that country!" Jerome Bonaparte, sitting opposite Marcel Yale, clasped his hands on the desk, leaning slightly forward in a relaxed posture.

"According to the correspondence from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the missionaries, I discovered that the country was once a powerful nation militarily, but now it is on the verge of collapse. Its entrenched land system and the restrictive Junkers (which Marcel Yale understood as small landowners) make it difficult for drastic changes to occur in that country! Their officials are extremely corrupt, to the extent that they can’t even collect the most basic agricultural taxes! The weak finances have led to the decline of their military. Not to mention, they lost to the British army in a war ten years ago. An inefficient taxation system and a weakened military can easily lead to large-scale uprisings!" Marcel Yale cautiously explained his understanding to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Well said!" Jerome Bonaparte smiled and applauded for Marcel Yale, "So do you think we can gain benefits in this country?"

Marcel Yale showed an astonished expression, not understanding Jerome Bonaparte’s meaning.

Could it be that the President wants to wage a war against Cyan Fruit?

"Their land system cannot meet our industrial transportation needs..." Marcel Yale evidently had put in effort, as the self-sufficiency under smallholder economics could not meet France’s need for exporting benefits either.

Not to mention even Britain next door could only profit through opium trading.

Jerome Bonaparte once saw an information piece in his previous life, stating that before 1860, the fabric produced by British mainland textile machines was even more expensive than local Jiangnan cloth, which led to British fabrics being defeated, gradually losing ground to local cloth.

France’s commercial interests in the East were much smaller than Britain’s, and the share of exported goods was even tinier.

"If there’s no space, we can create space!" Jerome Bonaparte told Marcel Yale, "As you said, Cyan Fruit is like a fire burning on oil! Just a little spark, and the whole pot of oil would explode instantly! Their army will be unable to effectively suppress the free people below, and with a citizen uprising, the entire country would fall into large-scale turmoil! At this time, we can greatly support the weapons of the ambitious. Although the profit is far less than opium, it’s enough to open a financial route for us! Marcel, do you understand what I mean?"

"You’re asking me to open a market!" Marcel Yale understood Jerome Bonaparte’s idea.

"Exactly!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded, and he thought that even the CIA in future generations could sell arms worldwide, the National Intelligence Bureau must not lag behind: "Currently, France needs to sell about 500,000 rifles, so we must choose a market that can quickly consume those 500,000 rifles! There’s nothing more suitable than Cyan Fruit!"

"Your Majesty, under what pretext will we go?" Marcel Yale asked Jerome Bonaparte.

"Missionaries! In that country, missionaries can move unimpeded in the provinces under their jurisdictions! Remember, you can sell your arms to anyone, regardless of whether they are officials or rebels!" For some reason, Jerome Bonaparte felt a simmering rage that he couldn’t suppress, which made his tone somewhat intense.

"I... understand!" Marcel Yale didn’t understand why Jerome Bonaparte was suddenly angry, and he hastily responded.

"Alright! Go and get prepared quickly!" Jerome Bonaparte instructed once again.