PDLP Chapter 246 Last Stand
Chapter 246 Last Stand
At the same time.
Chiyoda Ward, Nagata Town.
Prime Minister's official residence.
The spacious office was filled with a suffocatingly oppressive atmosphere.
Thick cumulus clouds outside the window completely obscured the already pale sunlight. The room was dimly lit, with only a few wall lamps emitting a faint glow.
The current Prime Minister, Toshiki Kaifu, sat upright behind his large desk.
Since the "Apes (Likurut) unlisted stock scandal" and the former prime minister's sex scandal ignited the political arena last year, leading to the collapse of cabinets one after another, this politician with a clean image, but who came from a marginal and weak faction within the party, was forcibly pushed to the forefront by Ichiro Osawa as a "clean signboard" to quell public grievances.
However, as the nominal highest-ranking official of the country, he had no political base of his own. Every decision he made in this office depended on the manipulation of the Osawa faction behind him.
Therefore, he knew better than anyone else that he was nothing more than a transitional puppet ready to shield others from disaster at any time.
He placed his hands clasped together on the table. His expression was like wearing a stiff mask, revealing no obvious emotional fluctuations.
Hirano, Ichiro Osawa's chief secretary, was standing two meters in front of the desk.
Hirano's posture was extremely respectful, his back slightly bent. But in his lowered eyes, there was an arrogance that came from relying on the power of his master.
He held a heavy document in both hands, took two steps forward, and placed it flat on the table in front of Kaibu.
Speech presented to Congress on repealing the Large Retail Stores Act.
"Lord Kaifu." Hirano took a half step back, his voice steady. "Secretary-General Osawa hopes you will review this speech. At tomorrow's plenary session of the Diet, the Secretary-General requests that you personally address all members of parliament and the people in the name of absolute cabinet leadership, and do your utmost to push forward the vote on the repeal bill."
Kaibu lowered his eyes, his gaze fixed on the cover of the speech manuscript.
He knew very well what this document meant.
With the stock market continuing its sharp decline, the Ministry of Finance's "Total Quantity Regulation" has driven countless small and medium-sized enterprises to the brink of collapse. At this extremely sensitive time of heightened public discontent, forcibly abolishing the "Large Store Law," which protects grassroots retailers, is tantamount to dropping a high-explosive bomb on a powder keg.
Ichiro Osawa has become completely reckless in his pursuit of credit with Washington and political endorsement from the United States.
Meanwhile, Osawa himself remained behind the scenes, yet he was expected to stand against millions of low-level retail workers across Japan, enduring all the scorn, rotten eggs, and even protests threatening suicide.
If the bill is forcibly passed, the cabinet's approval rating will plummet instantly. At that point, the Osawa faction will follow public opinion and initiate a vote of no confidence in the cabinet in the Diet, kicking him aside as a scapegoat to quell public anger.
Use it and discard it. This is Daze's consistent practice.
Kaibu did not get angry.
He didn't slam his fist on the table like a typical politician, nor did he tear up the humiliating speech.
In this cannibalistic arena of power, hysterical anger is a manifestation of the weakness of the weak.
He slowly untied his clasped hands, interlaced his fingers, and rested his elbows on the armrests of the seat.
"Hirano-kun."
Kaibu raised his head, his gaze calmly fixed on the secretary before him.
"I have already seen the speech."
Hirano bowed slightly.
"Since Lord Kaifu understands the Secretary-General's meaning, I will take my leave now. I still need to report the progress to Professor Osawa."
He was just about to turn and leave.
"Hirano-kun," Kaibe's voice rang out in the dimly lit office, "How long have you been working for Secretary-General Osawa?"
Hirano paused for a moment. He turned around, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes, but he maintained a respectful posture.
"Your Excellency, it has been almost five years. Ever since Professor Osawa became the deputy secretary-general of the Takeshita Cabinet, I have been in charge of handling various confidential matters within the faction."
"Five years. That's a long time."
Kaibu nodded slightly. He leaned back in his chair, his gaze becoming deep.
"As the chief confidential secretary, you must have been in charge of managing the flow of funds within the Osawa faction, contacting financiers, and those shady private meetings."
Hirano felt a slight tension in his back. He sensed the danger lurking in those words.
"This is my duty as a secretary, Your Excellency," Hirano replied cautiously.
"It's my duty."
A cold, bitter smile curled at the corner of Kaibu's mouth.
He picked up an internal briefing from the table and casually flipped through it.
"Those key real estate investors under Secretary-General Osawa, the chairman of the Kanto Real Estate Alliance, and those large construction companies in Chiba—they must be having a very tough time these past few days."
Hirano's pupils contracted instantly. A fine layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
"As soon as the Ministry of Finance issued the 'Total Loan Regulation,' the banks' orders to withdraw loans fell on their heads like a death warrant."
"Their financial chain has completely broken down. The company has been seized and its accounts frozen."
"I bet they've been calling Secretary-General Osawa like crazy these past few days."
Kaibu looked directly into Hirano's eyes.
"Secretary-General Osawa, what was your reply to them?"
Hirano's breathing became heavy. The scene from the office a few days ago flashed uncontrollably through his mind.
Ichiro Osawa sat in a warm leather sofa, smoking an expensive Cuban cigar, ignoring the desperate cries of his patrons, and refusing to even answer the phone. He simply told him to tell those on the verge of death, "Find a way to raise the money yourselves, and hold on for another half month."
That ruthlessness in treating human life like dirt, that arrogance in treating allies who had once supported him so strongly as disposable expendable resources—even now, the thought still sends chills down Hirano's spine.
"The secretary-general... is actively trying to find a solution." Hirano gritted his teeth and forced a reply.
"Hirano-kun. There's no need to spout such nonsense in this room."
Kaibu tossed the internal briefing back onto the table.
"Osawa's funding chain has broken. All of his domestic base has been wiped out by the banks withdrawing loans."
"He's like a drowning man now. To survive, to keep his power and position in Nagata-cho, he'd readily sell out the country's economic barriers and fawn over the Americans."
Kaibu stood up and placed his hands on the edge of the large desk.
His gaze was sharp, fixed on Hirano's face, which was gradually losing its color.
"He even threw me, the prime minister of the country, out without hesitation to take the fall. He made me endure the scorn of millions of people across the country, and then prepared to launch a vote of no confidence next month to kick me out."
"Hirano-kun, do you think that when the nation's anger has completely boiled over, when the Osawa faction needs to find another scapegoat in order to shirk responsibility for its corrupt politics and to quell the Diet's investigation into its secret collusion with foreign capital?"
Kaibu's voice was extremely low, and every word made Hirano want to turn around and run away immediately, but his feet wouldn't obey him and he was rooted to the spot.
"You are his chief secretary, handling all the dirty work, arranging secret meetings, and even directly liaising with foreign capital."
"What will be the outcome?"
Hirano stood frozen in place.
He felt as if the air in the room had been instantly sucked out. A bone-chilling cold shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
The emotionless face of Osawa Ichiro intertwined wildly in his mind with the desperate faces of those bankrupt financiers.
Will Osawa protect him?
Impossible. At that point, Osawa will absolutely not hesitate to pin all the evidence on him, claiming that his secretary acted without authorization and colluded with foreign capital.
What awaits him is an arrest warrant from the Special Investigation Department, endless interrogations, and possibly even a car accident staged as a "suicide out of guilt" on a dark and stormy night.
Hirano's chest heaved violently. He had done dirty work for Osawa for five years and knew all too well how powerful that man was within the party. The thought of betrayal had barely crossed his mind when it sent a chill down his spine. He tried to recall even a single instance in his memory of Osawa helping a subordinate.
All that came to mind was the profile of Osawa smoking a cigar, ignoring the bankrupt financier's SOS call.
Those people could have been saved, so why? Why turn a blind eye?
...And me? Can I be saved? Will I be saved?
His legs felt slightly weak, and he gripped the hem of his coat tightly with both hands.
"Your Excellency..." Hirano's voice trembled violently, "What...what should I do? Osawa controls the majority of the party's votes and media resources. Even if I know he's going to abandon me, I have absolutely no way to resist..."
As expected, he was just a fence-sitter who borrowed the tiger's power.
Kaibu stood up, looking at Hirano's pale face.
"Ichiro Osawa thought he had everything under control."
"But he forgot that in this country, political power is never created out of thin air."
Kaibe walked around the desk and stood in front of Hirano.
Everything he has now is given to him by others.
"Without someone providing him with substantial funding behind the scenes, could he have overthrown the Takeshita cabinet? Without someone secretly clearing obstacles for him, could he have reached his current position?"
Hirano was stunned.
You mean...
"Go and bring those things here," Kaibu said, his eyes gleaming.
"Specific communication records of Ichiro Osawa's private collusion with William, the U.S. Economic Minister, and his promise to sell the 'Large-Scale Stores Law.' His secret schedule at 'Shototei.' Even those life-saving tapes you recorded for him."
Haibu's voice was low and resolute.
"This evidence is our only chance to survive."
He crossed the plain, walked to the window, and looked at the dark sky outside, shrouded in thick cumulus clouds.
"Then, prepare a private car that is not on the Cabinet's records."
"Let's go to Bunkyo Ward."
"Go to Saionji's house."