Mediterranean hegemon

On the afternoon of the next day, Contini, who was not aware that the second cold arrow had struck, went to the Palazzo Simino with confidence - this was where Mussolini's Prime Minister's office was located. In the early years of his power, the leader was very Diligent, I often work here late at night and review various reports tirelessly, feeling the feeling of having great power.

There were already a lot of people queuing up, waiting to be summoned by Mussolini, but Contini had the privilege, and he was directly welcomed in as soon as he arrived - the eyes looking at him from behind were full of envy and jealousy, but Contini didn't care. .

"Leader, according to your request, I went back overnight yesterday to convene a high-level meeting of the Youth League. We unanimously agreed that the entire organization would join Fascist. However, we encountered a little disagreement during the discussion. I am very eager to get further instructions from you."

Mussolini was very satisfied with this attitude. He smiled and pointed to the chair in front of his desk: "Calais, sit down and tell me, what are your differences?"

"For those Youth League members who are unwilling to join Fascist, should we expel them from the Youth League first or wait until they are merged before announcing their expulsion?"

Mussolini frowned: "How many such people are there? Many?"

"The alliance currently has more than 10,000 members, and we initially estimate that such people may account for one-fifth to one-sixth, about 2,000 people."

Mussolini asked calmly: "What do you think of this?"

"My personal opinion is that it is best to expel them in advance. Otherwise, when the alliance merges with Fascism, people will continue to withdraw, which will show that the party has problems of one kind or another. This is not good for the image of the party and the prestige of the leader." Contini explained. "But some people are worried that expelling them now will easily cause the alliance to split. If they boycott the party after joining, they will have just the right reason to expel them," he said.

Mussolini shook his head. Neither of these was a good solution. What he wanted was a complete Youth League, not a splintered alliance that frequently quit the party and was expelled. So he asked: "Why are they unwilling to join Fascism? They Don’t they know the close relationship between you and the party? Don’t they understand that the Youth League’s political demands are highly consistent with the party’s political program?”

Contini was waiting for him to ask this question, and immediately replied calmly: "That's right, the Youth League first emerged in Rome, and the first members who joined were all members who were loyal to the party and supported the leader. But as we develop to other secondary and higher education institutions, other ideas are inevitably mixed in. The increase in new members will also lead to diversification of ideas. The political consciousness of some members is not enough. They have not fully recognized the fact. Talking about politics one-sidedly.”

Mussolini laughed: "What political fact?"

"They talk one-sidedly about patriotism, love for Italy, and promoting Italy's prosperity, but they don't understand that abstract Italy does not exist! At this stage, loving Fascist is patriotic, and supporting the central government with the leader as prime minister is patriotic. Follow The principle of 'one doctrine, one party, one leader' is patriotism. Any attempt to oppose patriotism to party love, to separate patriotism from love for the government, or to separate patriotism from supporting the leader is not true. Patriotic!" Contini said sincerely to Mussolini, "I fully realize that at this stage, only Fascisti can save Italy, and only leaders can lead the Italian people to move forward bravely! To talk about patriotism outside of this context is actually to hope that Italy will return to its past situation of fragmentation, political strife, and chaotic governance. If the Democratic Party loves their ideal country, the Liberal Party loves their ideal country, and the Socialist Party loves their ideal country. How can the country unite 40 million Italians and speak with one voice?”

Mussolini slammed the table and stood up, saying excitedly: "Calais, you spoke so well! What you said is exactly what I thought. It has depth, height and breadth! You are better than those pen writers in the party." , The propaganda department’s words are much more clever and thorough, no, I have to call them over to hear you say it again!”

He did what he said, and summoned his confidant Cesar Rossi, director of the Press Office of the Prime Minister's Office, and Marina Fascisti's administrative secretary (actually the director of the party office) who were working next to him, and asked them to listen to Conte again. Let me reiterate what I just said.

Of course, Contini pondered this point of view all night before he matured it, but he did not expect Mussolini to be so serious about it, so he had to say it again, adding a tail at the end: "Of course, when the party is promoting We must pay attention to the methods and methods, and we must not speak too directly. We must use data and results to prove to the people, instead of just issuing blank checks like previous politicians!”

"Look, is Calais speaking well? Is it clear or not?" Mussolini waved his arms excitedly, "We usually need to learn this good method in our propaganda reports. You should communicate more with Calais. Don't We think that he is insignificant because he is young. The career that Calais is doing now, the political ideas he puts forward, and the political views he expresses are much more mature and comprehensive than when we were 20 years old. We can also learn new things from him and bring youth to the forefront. The alliance merges into the party in the hope of adding new blood to the party!”

The other two people quickly said: "Yes, leader, we will learn more from Minister Calais in the future..."

Contini thought to himself, isn't this putting me on the fire? He quickly said: "No, I have to study more from now on and try to contribute to the party's work!"

"Galais, the two methods you just mentioned are not feasible. You have to come up with a good method. I want both of them!" Mussolini replied, "If you don't have a good method, you can wait for a while."

Contini hesitated and said, "We have another suggestion. Should we let the members of the Youth League voluntarily apply to join the party? Let them mature and develop one by one, and join in an orderly manner? For those who are not able to keep up with the ideological awareness for the time being, we will continue to cultivate them within the league system. I believe that as long as we work harder, everyone will understand the painstaking efforts of the party and the leader."

"I think this is okay. The party is to absorb the fresh blood of the youth, not to squeeze out the Youth League - this is the party's reserve army. I can't develop it vigorously enough, so how can I let it split?"

"The leader is wise." Contini hurriedly followed up, "Now the Socialist Party, the Democratic Party, and the Liberal Party are all eyeing the campus to compete for young people. Some schools have their own leaders, and some schools have their own leaders who are members of these dissident parties. I will further try to squeeze out their power and strive to make sure that there is only one voice of the party in middle and higher education institutions in the future. "

Mussolini patted Contini on the shoulder: "It is good that you have such ambitions. This is also the most important task you face after becoming the youth leader of the party. You must unite the youth of the country, especially the intellectual youth, under the banner of the party. Only when you have young people can any political party talk about having a future!"

"I will do my best to do it!"

"I believe in you." Mussolini smiled, "You have done a great job in the tasks I assigned to you. I believe there is no task you cannot complete."

Just after giving Contini a high hat, Mussolini put on a more intimate and more unpredictable smile: "Now I have a personal request and I hope you can help me..."