Flowers, Swords and France

"As everyone said, a state-owned railway industry needs a healthy manufacturing system. If you like it, go for it. One of the important responsibilities given to our department by the state is to establish and maintain a manufacturing system. Only by accomplishing this, we can Only then can we be considered to have fulfilled our responsibilities..."

In the conference room of the Ministry of Railways, State Secretary Charles de Treville spoke the opening remarks of this meeting in a lifeless tone.

Although autumn has just entered, the wind outside is already slightly cool, so the doors and windows in the conference room are closed, making people feel a little stuffy, and they can't help but become even more out of breath when speaking.

To be honest, in this kind of environment, everyone is a little listless, but because it is their duty, they have to work hard to cope with it. The staff listened quietly to the Secretary of State's speech, and the conference room was eerily quiet. Only the sound of the stenographer quickly writing down notes on paper slightly echoed his words, indicating that the place was not deserted.

"Although the Minister was not present today for some reason, you should have already understood what he meant. Yes, he just wants to focus on supporting several factories to be responsible for the manufacturing of rails and locomotives." With his usual calmness, Charles continued, "Gentlemen, if you have any opinions, feel free to speak up." Except that there is no modern printing equipment, everything is very similar to a government department meeting in the 21st century. It seems that governments have been the same throughout the ages... Charles, a former civil servant, thought with a wry smile in his heart.

Of course, he quickly put this meaningless reverie aside.

Today's meeting is mainly to clarify the government's layout of manufacturing industries related to railways - of course, such an important issue will never be decided in just one meeting. It must be discussed at length. Only through discussion and distribution can the final decision be made.

This question is indeed very important.

Different from ordinary workshops or small factories, the heavy industry of manufacturing rails and large machinery naturally has the attribute of high investment and high threshold. It is enough to deter ordinary investors, so appropriate government support is necessary. Moreover, because they are very important to the national economy and people's livelihood, it is inevitable for the government to properly manage these enterprises. Although a certain degree of competition is conducive to improving efficiency, the government will not be happy to see blind production and production caused by vicious competition. The consequences of reduced quality. Charles didn't speak anymore, but quietly waited for feedback from other officials.

He didn't wait long. After discussing quietly for a while, the officials slowly stopped talking, and then focused their attention on Mr. Jean Calvert, the permanent secretary-general who was sitting opposite Charles. Jean-Calvert, who was wearing a pair of monocles, coughed pretentiously and spoke to Charles.

"Mr. de Treville, there is no doubt that I very much agree with the minister's opinion and admire his foresight. Such a detailed plan clearly wastes a lot of effort by the minister," Jean-Calvert The gentleman's tone also contained the reserve and indifference typical of officials, making it impossible to hear his admiration for the minister. Our duty as a matter of course is to help realize his idea, but... if the Minister just comes up with such a plan without consulting us in advance, it may be difficult for us to implement it... I just got the plan, I I don’t know how to improve it, I think we still need to discuss the plan in detail.”…

"Then how long do we need to discuss?" Charles asked directly, "The minister has always been very concerned about this plan. If there is no progress, I am afraid he will be angry, right?"

"Important things always need enough discussion, and the government has always been like this, sir." Jean-Calvert frowned slightly, but soon suppressed his disgust for this rude young man, " Now even the Minister himself is not here, how can we express our opinions?”

To be honest, he is very angry right now. It's not because the young people in front of me are rude, but because the minister and the state secretary dared to discuss such an important matter in private without discussing it with officials like them. It's simply too much! Why do you still pay attention to him?

To be honest, if it is in other departments, the officials below are mainly responsible for this kind of thing. After all, what can those ministers and secretaries who change every one or two years take care of? In the end, isn't it only possible to rely on permanent officials to formulate and implement plans, and reap countless benefits from them?

However, because it is a newly established relationship, the structure within the Ministry of Railways has not yet been completely finalized. Because the minister is the first-termer, many of the rules in the ministry are really only decided by him. In addition, Minister Dillion and the Minister of State Secretary Treville is a difficult character, and it is difficult to be fooled by the officials' old tricks, so these officials really have nothing to do with them for the time being.

Therefore, Jean-Calvert could only barely suppress his anger and planned to continue delaying it until later.

Because of the sudden death of his father, the Minister has been busy with funeral arrangements and has no way to take charge of the affairs. However, the work of the ministry cannot stop here, so most of the meetings are now chaired by Charles and Mr. Jean Calvert. Others are responsible for execution. This system is of course fine for handling daily affairs, but it cannot be done this way for such important matters.

But Charles was unwilling to give him such an opportunity.

"Although the Minister suffered the pain of losing his father, he still took state affairs to heart." He smiled slowly, "So he has instructed me to implement his plan quickly without any delay. I think we'd better follow his advice. It's not good to make the Minister angry, don't you think? Sir?"

Jean-Calvert couldn't help but frown again. He wanted to say something, but he held it back. Then he glanced at the officials next to him, but found that no one stood up to express support - others found that the two big bosses had quarreled again, and the Minister was involved, so they were too quiet to dare to say a word?

There was no way. In theory, the minister and the secretary of state were indeed higher than their officials, so if the two of them were not afraid of causing trouble, these officials could only be humble and dare not openly oppose them, even Jean-Calvert himself.

"Since you said so, let's discuss it now." After a few seconds of silence, Jean-Calvert regained his composure, then he turned to one of the pages, pointed to a few lines and began to speak.

"According to the minister's plan, he wants to set up several railway bureaus to be responsible for the operation of the future railway system in different regions, and then Paris in the north, Nantes in the west, Metz in the east, Valence in the south, and Toulouse in the southwest will be the centers for regional management, right?"

"Yes, that's it." Charles nodded and began to explain. "The railway system will only become more and more complicated in the future, and we will have tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers of railways to manage. There is no doubt that we will not be able to manage all affairs in Paris by then, so I think it is extremely necessary to manage the railway system in different regions, just like the army. We will be responsible for managing the above regions, and then these regions will manage the railway institutions in each province, so that we will have enough energy to handle all affairs. What do you think about this?"...

To be honest, most of this plan was formulated by him, and the minister was only responsible for endorsing and signing it.

"I have no objection to this idea, sir. But some details are worth discussing." Jean-Calvert nodded gently, "Why should the regional administration of the south be placed in Valence instead of Lyon? It is a more important transportation hub than Valence, and the economy is more developed."

The original text can be read in Liu # 9 @shu/bar!

Jean-Calvert is from Lyon, and of course he hopes to fight for more benefits for the people of his hometown.

"Valence is closer to the south, which will facilitate management at that time. In the planned plan, Valence will also become a railway hub." Charles answered softly, but he knew that this reason was certainly not enough to convince the crowd, so he continued, "Moreover, precisely because Lyon is too developed, we cannot give the responsibility of regional management to Lyon, otherwise they may feel that they are qualified to compete with Paris.

Gentlemen, although it has not been stated explicitly, we must make it clear that Paris must be the center of this country and the only hub of the entire railway system. I don't want anyone to influence our plans at that time. Yes, whether now or in the future, everything about railway affairs should only be decided by us!"

His words rarely made all the officials nod their heads - which official would want someone to influence his power? Even Jean-Calvert secretly agreed with his opinion.

"Okay, since you think so, that's fine, but I have another question...")