Chapter 187 Propaganda War
At the headquarters of Le Petit Journal, as soon as Bonnet received the order from Steed, he immediately realized that it was time to regain sales.
God, an exclusive interview with Charles would help him fight against other newspapers. This would make Le Petit Journal the spokesperson for Charles. If he won, he would be regarded as a hero by the French people!
Bonnet did not dare to neglect it. After hanging up the phone, he rushed to the editorial office like a gust of wind and shouted to the busy reporters: "Emergency, positive reports about Charles!"
Dozens of reporters stopped their actions, and some flexible ones even began to organize their backpacks and cameras for interviews.
Since the sales of Le Petit Journal were compressed, Bonnet has started internal reforms. He plans to increase photo materials instead of using all cartoon pictures, and has added many foreign reporters for this purpose.
"What are the positive reports?" Bonnet asked loudly.
"Victory on the battlefield!" A reporter responded. This is the most impressive thing about Charles.
"No!" Bonnet rejected the proposal without thinking: "It's about living, to fight against the high price of 'Holt 75'!"
Although the words were brief and incoherent, the reporters understood them.
This was to establish a positive image of Charles and respond to other media's attacks on Charles's "Holt 75" for selling it to the military at a high price.
After a moment of silence, a reporter answered: "Field hospital, Charles has been providing funds for the field hospital!"
Bonnet pointed his finger quickly in the direction of the voice: "Antoine, responsible for the interview of the field hospital!"
Antoine responded, and ran out of the door with a few assistants, like a soldier charging at the enemy on the battlefield.
"Orphanage, sir!" Another reporter shouted: "I know Charles has an orphanage, he has been taking care of disabled soldiers!"
"Auguste!" Bonnet pointed with his big hand: "You are responsible for the orphanage!"
Auxt cheered and went out with his assistants excitedly.
"And there are volunteers! They support the transportation of supplies and the rescue of the wounded, and part of their funding comes from Charles!"
"Baptiste!"
"The town of Darvaz, where the Charles family has a good reputation!"
"Baudouin!"
...
The reporters were sent out one by one, looking for good things Charles had done in any possible place in the streets and alleys.
Some of them were not even known to Charles himself.
For example, providing funds for volunteers was the result of a discussion between Dejoka and Camille, who believed that as capitalists, they should also do something about this matter.
…
At the Fifth Field Hospital, a Hebrew doctor was interviewed in tears:
“Yes, Charles is a capitalist with a conscience, there is no doubt about that!”
“Anyone who doubts him has ulterior motives, and they should be sent to the gallows!”
“I still remember what Charles looked like at that time. He couldn’t stand what he saw. Soldiers were wounded in battle with the enemy, but they were waiting to die here because of insufficient supplies.”
“Charles shouted at me angrily, ‘Everything you need is up to me, I will give you everything you need!’!”
“Then he really did it, he didn’t just talk, he really did it!”
The reporter asked: “Can you tell me about Charles’ expenses in the field hospital?”
Hebrew doctor The doctor took out a thick stack of documents and placed it on the table, tapping it gently and replied:
"Of course, every transaction is recorded."
"At the beginning, it was 8,000 francs a day..."
The reporter exclaimed: "8,000 francs? Every day?"
The Hebrew doctor nodded:
"This is just the beginning."
"After that, everyone heard about the Fifth Field Hospital. They knew that this place had the highest survival rate because of the funding from Master Charles, so the wounded were sent here continuously."
"Some of the wounded were even sent from a hundred miles away. Can you imagine?"
"This also brought greater expenses to the hospital. Now it needs about 13,000 francs to barely support it!"
The reporter exclaimed again: " Thirteen thousand francs? Every day? God, this is not a small amount! "
"This is definitely not a small amount!" The Hebrew doctor's eyes were red, and his voice gradually became heavy: "But Charles has no complaints! This is not money, sir, this is life. Master Charles used his money to buy fresh lives. This is a great act of kindness! I am proud of him! I am very happy to serve him!"
...
In the Invalids Welfare Home, as soon as the reporter entered the factory to explain his purpose, he was immediately surrounded by wounded soldiers who came after hearing the news:
"Most of us are soldiers rescued by Master Charles, and only Master Charles is willing to help us."
"Yes, we have paid so much for the country, we risked our lives to go to the battlefield, and now we are broken. We had broken arms and legs, but no one was willing to look at us, except Master Charles!"
"He gave us jobs, let us have our own lives here, and we can even save money. He not only saved us, but also gave us the courage to live!"
...
Neighbors in the town of Darwaz:
"Their family is all good people. Camille has been a volunteer with us."
"Yes, she was busy in the field hospital for several days, and she didn't sleep all night when she was busiest."
"They live a simple life, they don't have servants, you can't even tell that they are capitalists!"
A neighbor pointed to Deyoka's house: "Look, that's where they live, can you see any difference between it and us?"
The reporter held up his camera and took snap shots of Djoka's rather shabby cabin.
…
The volunteer was originally a loyal admirer of Charles. During the interview, he even praised Charles:
"The Charles family has provided us with tens of thousands of francs!"
"Mrs. Bernard is a kind person. She has contacted us several times and told us a lot about the Shire."
"We were originally organized because of the Ciel, so everything we do is, to some extent, done by the Ciel!"
"Yes, this is Ciel's influence!"
…
Soon, the "Little Daily" published these interviews with photos, and finally issued a series of soul torture: "Is everything Charles did really for himself? What did other capitalists do? Capitalists did not hesitate to What is the purpose of all the efforts to slander him?”
The Meritorious Service Newspaper did not say a word about this matter from beginning to end. It showed the calmness that the military should have and seemed to disdain to get involved in such self-defeating rumors.
The Little Daily also didn’t tell the truth.
The truth cannot be told. It is an unspoken rule of the transaction between capitalists and the military. Once exposed, "Little Daily" will become the target of capitalists because it will block their financial path.
However……
There are still several "rumors" among the people:
Capitalists have always sold supplies to the military at four or five times the price, while Ciel insisted on trading at twice the lowest price.
The reason why Schneider's tractors were sold at such a low price was an accident, and the capitalists used this accident to make a big deal.
Citizens instantly understood:
"God, they want to bring down the Ciel!"
"After defeating Shire, they can sell tractors for four to five times the price without any scruples."
"This is a conspiracy of capitalists, we were almost deceived!"
…
Gallieni laughed when he heard these "rumors."
He knew that only by protecting Shire, the military would be able to obtain supplies at twice the low price, or even at par.
For example, Schneider is selling the "Holt 120"!
Thanks to: loloipp, blooming popcorn for the tip, thank you very much!