OR1-EP4: Prelude to the Millennium (6)

It had been over a week since Governor-general Herzog had issued the order that had shocked the public. There have been protests all over South Africa, at one-point natives and pro-native Europeans taking to the streets, at another Britannians organizing demonstrations against the former. Governor-general Herzog, who is the key figure at the forefront of these protests, seems to be deaf and dumb. Many dignitaries gathered in front of the Governor-general's residence, hoping to meet with the Governor-general, but the Governor-general might have gone to Central Africa to play golf again, and the dignitaries always returned without success.

"The Governor-general is not here, please return, everyone." This was the phrase they heard most often.

South Africa was different from the EU's other African colonies, and the biggest difference between the two sides was that power in South Africa was centralized in the Governor-general, who had previously been parachuted from Europe. In the South West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa Commissions, the body that held the reins of power in the colony was a council composed of one-third Europeans and two-thirds local white Europeans, and the High Commissioner representing the Office was elected by a vote from within the council - whereas the Governor-general of South Africa was entirely handpicked by the Consul and Senate in Paris. As soon, therefore, as Governor-general Herzog himself went on strike, the whole South African colony was instantly paralyzed, and no one could take the place of the Governor-general. Everyone feared the Governor-general, and everyone hoped to be the next Governor-general, such was the ambivalence that the EU citizens of South Africa could never abandon.

Those who speculated about the Governor-general's whereabouts would not have realized that Governor-general Herzog had gone to Madagascar this time. This lonely overseas territory is a French colony, not subordinate to any African colonial body, and the EU has a separate Madagascar office for it. The aging Governor-general and several other well-placed colonial officials had come to the coast for a vacation, intent on finding out what they could do to stay busy before the storms swept across South Africa.

"One of the consuls used to give interviews to the press on the beach in his swimming trunks to show that he was very hands-on." Governor-general Herzog, dressed in the short sleeves and shorts of an ordinary tourist, was sitting at the round table specially prepared for him by the waiters, and was looking boredly at the playing cards in his hand. These senior colonial officials, whose average age was over fifty, did not have the kind of vigor that young people had, and among this group, whose love of the outdoors was more of a propaganda hobby, were bound to back off if anyone seriously asked them to pick up their backpacks and go on a long trip. As a result, the middle-aged people who were supposed to go on a serious relaxation trip sat around the round table next to Governor-general Herzog as they usually did at meetings, ready to listen to their supreme officer lecture them.

"That's sympathetic propaganda, Your Excellency." A middle-aged man with a shaved head sitting beside Governor-general Herzog said, "Going out on a trip is to avoid official duties, and if you insist on showing it to others, it's just hypocritical propaganda. However, in recent times, the outside world's opinion of you seems to have dropped a bit."

"You can't care about momentary fame when doing great things." The Governor-general took out two photos from his jacket and threw them on the table. The people didn't dare to be slow, they stood up to check the photos, and some of them nearly hit their heads together. They had no hope of becoming Governor-general, Herzog had been a native European official even before he became Governor-general, and there was no way that these fellows who had never had a chance to leave Africa in their lives were going to be appointed the next Governor-general. They are veritable groundhogs, offering their loyalty to and doing their best for the Governor-general, who then pays no attention to their petty maneuvers.

As long as they didn't jeopardize the safety of the EU.

The photo was of three young men who appeared to be no more than twenty years old, a rifle in each of the three hands, and looking at the background it appeared to be in a park or garden. The Governor-general pushed the second photo in front of their eyes, and what caught everyone's eye was the red lettering written on a white banner, so scrawled that they couldn't tell the spacing between the letters.

"Who are they?" One of the youngest looking officials in the group first questioned, "I don't think the reckless behavior of a few young men is worth the trouble you're making, Governor-general."

"Yesterday I heard that a university in Rhodesia had received threatening letters." The Governor-general leaned back in his seat and watched with a rather mischievous sense of humor as his subordinates scrambled to prove their usefulness, "Three students attending the university claimed that if this university dared to enroll those vile, shameless, and underhanded natives in the future, they were going to defend the normal studying environment in their own way."

All three students are African Britannians who are currently traveling to England instead of the African colonies. God knows why they came up with such crooked ideas while traveling, even Governor-general Herzog, who liked to work on the way of traveling, didn't think that going for a walk with hatred in their hearts was something to be happy about. Students intimidating teachers or schools was nothing unusual in the EU, and college students had never been a peaceful group in the history of the EU. They always liked to be at the forefront of drastic social changes, and despite the mistakes they sometimes made out of ignorance, the majority of citizens agreed that they were on the right track.

"Isolated incidents." The youth official said, "Your Excellency, citizens will always curse a few times at current events, it's the norm. There's no need for us to focus on such issues, they'll be forgotten in a few days."

"What kind of isolated incident is this?" The Governor-general coughed a few times, the tone of his voice wasn't too strong though, the people waiting carefully around him still shuddered, "African Britannians have been vandalizing everywhere in South Africa for the past few days, and yesterday there were 12 shootings ... They are first and foremost citizens of the EU, and if they don't obey the laws of the EU and want to shake up the social order, then they will only be greeted with an iron fist."

A Governor-general in a flowery short-sleeved shirt is sometimes more intimidating than a Governor-general in a suit. When the Governor-general is encased in a suit shell, he is the Governor-general of South Africa, doing things in accordance with the norms of the colonial officials; whereas here it is Jacob Herzog, who is first and foremost a human being, who is judging the propriety of the way matters are conducted by virtue of his own likes and dislikes and not by the duties of the Governor-general. This switch of roles is undoubtedly absurd to outsiders, who hope for a model of perfect compliance with the norms, but all men have feelings. Herzog's philosophy in the world was to make the personalized Herzog part of the masked Governor-general.

So, it was often joked that the black-rimmed glasses that were often perched on the bridge of the Governor-general's nose were the Governor-general himself.

"What are you going to do?" Someone tested the Governor-general's attitude.

"The African Britannians seem to think they can do whatever they want when their compatriot becomes Governor-general." The Governor-general sneered, "I will inform my friends in England to arrest them and have that university expel the three of them outright."

There was none of the expected murmuring, and the silent crowd waited for the Governor-general's next words. So long as there was no direct opposition on the part of Paris and that token local assembly in South Africa, none of the Governor-general's actions would be impeded.

"We want to practice true equality in South Africa - to eliminate the dregs of those who are harming South Africa without discrimination." Pointing to the men in the photograph, the Governor-general said, "They're not lads, they're reserve murderers. It doesn't take long for people who dare to take that tone of voice and threaten each other with violence to get their way to actually commit these kinds of crimes. Folks, I've been alive for sixty years, and in those decades, I've seen a lot of guys on low-drug addictive substances, and the vast majority of them have become literally serious addicts. You only see three young men with guns scaring people, and where we can't see them, there are countless others who are planning similar events or are under their influence."

At this point, the Governor-general paused, probably in the middle of feeling sorry for his acquaintances who were locked up in the brig for rehab.

"... We need to nip the threat in the bud, at all costs."

"The fundamental problem, then, is that these people are able to carry guns." The youth official made a bold suggestion, "If you wish to reduce violence, simply impose a total ban on the possession of firearms by ordinary citizens in South Africa and the problem will be solved."

But this was even less plausible than that previous proposal. The EU was gradually formed in the fires of the French Revolution, and the citizens who rebelled against the ancient regime and those armed for self-defense who swore to defend their homes in the event of an invasion by a foreign foe were considered to be one of the decisive forces in the overthrow of the old monarchy. This is widely regarded by outsiders as the single most important tradition of the EU, which has rightly spread such traditions to Africa. If Herzog did declare a ban on guns, he would be challenging the old order of the entire EU, and Paris would not sit idly by.

Governor-general Herzog looked coldly at his subordinates who were arguing. These people were like the most obedient family dogs when they showed their loyalty to him on weekdays, and when the Governor-general needed them to do something, their incompetence was exposed. Incompetence was not a fault, there were individual differences in life, but to be incompetent and occupy a position that did not match it was the greatest sin of all: a waste of resources. In a trance, Governor-general Herzog remembered those famous views of Emperor Charles, who seemed to think that the new order introduced by the Emperor was conducive to selecting the best people.

"What a bore." The Governor-general squinted his eyes, somewhat lost in thought.

"... However, procedurally speaking, neither the Consul nor the Senate has the authority to give orders directly to the Governor-general." The others were considering ways to buy time from the complexity of the governing structure, "As long as the Governor-general is not removed, then we can keep introducing new bills, just make sure that one or more of them are in effect all the time, from start to finish. There's no way the guys who value procedural justice above all else would have the guts to ignore the steps necessary to overturn a bill."

The officials eventually came to the opinion that since the threat to Rhodesia had all but disappeared, the Governor-general was fully justified in ordering the collection of weapons - the proliferation of which was the result of a series of hemlock-induced methods forced upon the then-Guardian Corp by its inability to effectively counter the natives who attacked the city from time to time. The order was not directed at the citizens as a whole, but only took effect against the autonomous armed groups in the Rhodesian region that held a large number of firearms and were far more volatile than other groups. In the past, those people had run around in the name of Governor-general Herzog, and now that the Governor-general had finally decided to go ahead and deal with them, no one knows who else they could lift up as a talisman.

"When we return to South Africa, this matter will be in your hands." The Viceroy hammered out, "We can't deal with enemies in both directions at the same time, and I myself will be going to Paris shortly to lobby the wavering guys. As soon as the Paris side's attitude stabilizes, we can start implementing the second phase of the plan."

There used to be a saying in the EU that if you wanted to go into politics, you had to study law first. Many famous politicians were lawyers by trade, and their proficiency in the letter of the law allowed them to step over many of the pitfalls often overlooked during their long political careers. Governor-general Herzog was not a legal professional, and once he was in a position of high authority, he hired a team of people who specialized in legally analyzing the basis and possible consequences of every action he took. Nowadays, Governor-general Herzog is on the opposite side of most laws, he has one foot on the edge of breaking the law, and can only plug people's mouths by exploiting legal loopholes. Worst of all, he has begun to challenge the authority of the EU itself, despite the fact that what he is doing is precisely for the sake of the EU.

He still has one last card left, and this is the root of what really gives him all his power - the South African Colonial Resources Integration Act. The only reason this act, born in one of the darkest times in the EU's colonial history, has not been repealed to date is that the strong control of successive Governor-generals has provided many opportunities for speculators and traders who covet minerals and diamonds to exploit. Governor-general Herzog had to satisfy the appetites of the European merchants in order to have any chance of realizing his ambitions. Once Paris suddenly pulls the plug at the critical moment, Herzog will be powerless and no one will be able to control the situation in South Africa then. Any further deterioration of the situation would result in horrors that even the Governor-general himself dared not envision.

"A bunch of litigants."

On the day Governor-general Herzog and his staff returned from Madagascar, the Governor-general 's office once again issued a new order: the disbanding of the local Rhodesian civil armies. Unexpectedly, this order was met with widespread resistance in the north, with the Guardian Corp and defense forces sent to carry it out expressing their refusal to follow orders. The result alerted the Governor-general, who realized that the army, which should always be in the same trench as the current colonial administration, was wavering, and that the enemy's wings could no longer be cut off with the sharp edge of the sword.

Not only could a dull blade not be used to attack the enemy, it could kill him.

Governor-general Herzog remembered McNeil when his secretary reported to him on matters pertaining to the pensions. He was sure the young man had the skills to take care of these messes in a clear way.

"And that foundation in his name ..."

"Since Mr. Malcal hasn't given the word, we'll let it continue to exist." The Governor-general looked at the financial statement, "Leave it for those guys to use for money laundering and tax evasion, it's a favor we need."

TBC

Chapter Notes:

At the time of the UFN's founding we can learn that even if both the EU and the Chinese Federation disintegrated there would only be 30 or 40 more new countries, which would most likely be based on the original political districts. Predictably, the first-level administrative units are generally larger.

But there were no African blacks in the EU army until more than 20 years later.