The third minister to testify was War Secretary Diaz, who came to clear Conceni's suspicion of embezzlement of state assets. Yu Gong, he is the competent authority of this transaction, and if he doesn't make it clear now, there will be a lot of trouble in the future; Yu privately, he has just received 3 million preferred shares, and this kind of favor must be helped.

Matteotti's defense lawyer saw that the previous rounds had fallen behind, and this one immediately launched a barrage of attacks: "Your Excellency Diaz, did the War Department sell nearly 600 planes to United Airlines, which is controlled by the plaintiff, for a low price of 10 million lire? ”

"That's right, 604 aircraft, to be exact, with some accessories."

"Did the War Department also sell an abandoned airfield and ancillary land on the outskirts of Rome to United Airlines for 1 million lire?"

"That's right, the total area is about 104 hectares plus some of the above-ground attachments."

"Very good...... However, according to the information we have, both the idle aircraft and the land far exceed the price itself, and the transaction price has been seriously depressed, and I think there is a suspicion of transferring benefits to the plaintiff, and it is not too much to say that it is embezzling state-owned property. ”

Diaz smiled slightly: "So, how much do you think it should be valued?" ”

"The price of more than 600 aircraft will need at least 20 million lire, and the price of land will be at least 5 million lire." Matteotti said in a tone of righteous indignation, "That is to say, something worth 25 million lire was obtained by the plaintiff for 11 million lira, and the existence of this can be imagined." ”

Diaz laughed and said, "If you think it's worth 25 million, how about I sell it to you for 20 million?" ”

"Objections to the ...... of such statements by witnesses"

Diaz said unhurriedly: "On the surface, United Airlines used 11 million lire to buy equipment and land worth 25 million lire seems to be cheap, but there is an additional clause that you may not know, there is also an agreement signed by the War Department and United Aviation, United Aviation must place a group of retired pilots, mechanics and ground staff officers and soldiers from the army, a total of 597 people, their salary, benefits and allowances for the previous year add up to about 6.1 million lira, according to the agreement, United Airlines must take over the entire board while maintaining the same benefits, and may not be dismissed without a reason mutually agreed by the War Department and United Airlines for a period of five years...... If you are willing to fulfill this clause, I will of course be more than happy to sell you all the equipment and land for 20 million lire......"

There was a lot of discussion in the audience, on the surface, United Airlines earned 14 million lira, but in fact, the salary of this group of people in five years will exceed 30 million lira, which is a heavy burden, and it is really difficult to say who suffers and who takes advantage.

"But this part of the people can create value for United Airlines, and they still need to work, not idle."

Contini stood up and added: "United Airlines has started trial operation since this month, and is currently building other ancillary facilities for official operation, all of which are expenditures, and the only income is aviation training, including me, there are 7 people who have signed up, charging 20,000 lire each, for a total income of 140,000 lire...... However, this is not the point, the point is that Mr. Matteotti, on the one hand, stands on the moral high ground and turns a blind eye to the bad situation of the retired officers and men of the War Department and the Navy, and on the other hand, he criticizes the United Aviation that actually resettles the retired officers and soldiers, so I conclude that he is a duplicitous and hypocrite—and this is well-founded. ”

Matteotti trembled with anger.

Diaz wasted no time in adding: "In view of the tremendous contribution of United Aviation to the War Department, I originally planned to hire Mr. Ziano as Assistant Minister of the Army, but he repeatedly resigned, believing that the independence of the Air Force was inevitable in the future, and it was not appropriate for him to concurrently serve as Assistant Secretary of the Army......

This divine mending knife suddenly made Matteotti's so-called accusation of selling fame and reputation and concurrently serving in public office become empty words.

Pelle, the second barrister invited by Contini, stood up and added: "Your Excellency, in fact, the defendant's conclusion that the aircraft are valued at 20 million lire is also untenable, this is the price list of the planes that we have collected from the United States for sale, the prices are very cheap, and many of them are in better condition than those provided by the Italian War Department. ”

Although the United States was the latest to enter the war in World War I, after the industrial machine was launched, the number of planes produced by the United States was the largest, and the war ended quickly so that these planes were useless all of a sudden, and the Americans were also desperately selling and processing, the price was outrageously low, an almost brand new American single-seat fighter was less than 400 dollars (disarmed), so not many people bought it, because this price can almost buy a Model T, and the American people would rather have a car than a fighter jet, even if the freight is added, It's only 10,000 lira to get to Italy.

The reason why Contini does not want American planes is precisely because they are not armed, which is unpleasant, but now no one has discovered this problem, purely in terms of value, the price of airborne machine guns is not expensive, and the headache for Contini is the lack of suitable reasons and suitable channels to get weapons, and what he wants is to establish a long-term and stable relationship with the Air Force, rather than buying planes from the United States for the sake of greedy petty profits, then it will really become a commercial category and will not be a political account.

In the first three rounds, the original defendant undoubtedly lost the prosecution of Matteotti, and lost extremely badly, except for the first round of speeches about "dog cubs", which was nothing more than a play on words, and the rest in turn made footnotes to Contini's career and noble character, and disguised publicity of Contini's work achievements for the country and the people.

Before the other party could come to his senses, the third barrister hired by Contini stood up and said in a serious tone: "Regarding the fourth content, which involves Mr. Matteotti's entry and exit from the red light district, in order to protect personal privacy, do you ask the judge to announce the temporary recusal of the auditorium?" ”

As soon as they heard this, the reporters immediately became interested, and when they heard that they were asked to withdraw from the seats, they expressed their dissatisfaction, and the auditorium immediately buzzed.

"What about the defense's opinion?"

Mateotti trembled with anger and stood up and said, "I've never been in or out of any Wind Moon Place, so I don't think there's a need to avoid it!" But the plaintiff slandered me in such eloquent terms, and I would love to hear it......"

"Very good...... "Deldale laughs, "may I ask Mr. Matteotti what you were up to on December 21st and 22nd last year." ”

"I'm not busy with anything, probably meeting with guests, conducting social surveys, and listening to voters."

"But we have ample evidence that the place where you called 'meeting guests, conducting social surveys, and listening to voters' during these two days was at the Barbara Club, which is a typical ...... Well...... Special hospitality venues. "Could it be that Mr. Matteotti conducted a 'frank' social survey in his bed and listened to the opinions of the electorate 'in simple terms'?" ”

With a "boom", everyone laughed sneeringly, and the judge was so anxious that he hurriedly rang the gavel, "Silence! Quiet! ”

Matteotti finally remembered that he had met with the Italian Communist Party at the club for the past two days to discuss the possibility of reuniting the two parties against the growing oppression of the fascists, and as for the special hospitality, he did not enjoy it at all, but now the question was how the other side would know that they were following him.

Contini also smiled meaningfully: in fact, it was a complete accident to learn that Matteotti had entered and left the Fengyue Place, because when a student of sociology went to investigate, a "hostess" muttered, "It's not fun to come, it's just as stupid as the last time—this fool is referring to Matteotti." Originally, Contini had found Grandini and wanted him to find a way to find an absolutely reliable person to testify against Matteotti, but as soon as he spoke, Matteotti couldn't speak clearly.

Matteotti jumped up and retorted angrily: "You are following me? ”

"Mr. Matteotti, if you want people to know that you can't do anything unless you do, you are admitting that you have indeed been in and out of special places."

"I vouch for it with my honor, I have not received special services."

"Do the two sides need to call witnesses for each other?"

Matteotti shook his head: the only people who can prove him are the representatives of the Communist Party, how can he come out to testify on such an occasion?

Contini also shook his head, but his mouth was unforgiving: "Forget it, so many citizens and reporters are present, save a little face for Mr. Matteotti, a normal man in his 50s, occasionally too much pressure and need to vent, and at the same time can hear the cry of the soul from the bottom of the society, I fully understand this, it's not a big deal." As long as Mr. Matteotti admits to having been in and out of certain places, I don't care what he did. ”

"Defendant, is that so?"

Matteotti bites the bullet: "I haven't received any special services. ”

This means that Matteotti admits the fact of discrepancies in disguise, in fact, he does not dare to deny it, he does not know how much black material Contini still has in his hands, he does not dare to gamble......