Flowers, Swords and France

What made Charles happy and regretful was that after Jean Calvert questioned the decision to place the administration of the southern area of ​​the railway system in Lyon, no official questioned why he placed the administration of the eastern area in Strasbourg, which is located on the border. ..

He was happy because he didn't have to spend more time and effort to find excuses to explain his decision; he was regretful because these officials were indifferent to the public interest.

These officials were so careless about the public interest when it didn't violate their own interests, which made Charles feel a little unimaginable now-what if the minister and Charles just made a random decision? How much damage would these decisions cause to the national property...

But no one took it to heart, everyone just regarded the above decision as an unquestionable will.

In fact, Charles did have his own deep considerations for this arrangement.

He planned to build Strasbourg into an eastern railway hub, and then use this hub as a fulcrum to arrange the inevitable war against Prussia-Germany in the future.

Only by making preparations in advance can we avoid the tragedy that Napoleon III encountered in the original history. After France was decisively defeated by Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War in 187 and lost its dream of European hegemony, the poor Emperor Napoleon III was forced to go into exile in Britain, where he recalled the nightmare like this:

He and his military advisers knew the potential military advantage of Prussia, and he had hoped to offset this advantage by quickly attacking southern Germany and forcing southern Germany to remain neutral. And rely on the initial victory to guarantee his alliance with Austria and Italy.

To achieve this goal, he planned to concentrate 10,000 people in Metz (in Lorraine), 10,000 people in Strasbourg, and 10,000 people in Chalons (in the Reims area). Then, the first two rapidly concentrated armies were expected to cross the Rhine near Karlsruhe. Directly rush into the heart of Germany. At the same time, the 10,000 people in Chalons should advance to Metz to deal with any movement made by the enemy to the flank and rear of the attacking army.

But when he arrived in Metz, the emperor found that this military plan was immediately shattered. He found that there were only 10,000 people there. In Strasbourg, there were only 40,000 people, and in Chalons, there was not even a single troop. Secondly, the army did not have the most necessary items for marching: backpacks, tents, marching pots and lunch boxes, and even the ammunition could not be replenished enough. And the opposite of this army was hundreds of thousands of German soldiers surging like a tide. From then on. The emperor found that he had lost control of everything that happened afterwards, until he surrendered to William I in Sedan, and fate never favored this once lucky man again.

After the tide receded, people found that the seemingly arrogant Second Empire had been just swimming naked, which was indeed ridiculous.

For a moment, his thoughts seemed to float out of this room and floated to the empty plains of Western Europe. He drifted to the era from Napoleon to Hitler, the era when all the nation-states fought each other with armed forces, and the fields where millions of troops trod.

In the past life, he only saw these fields where there were no traces of craters and artillery fire, and the cemeteries where these soldiers were buried in every village during his travels. At that time. He often stopped there, wandered on the fields, and imagined the magnificent scene of that era.

Now, he is qualified to describe these magnificent scenes by himself, preparing for the fateful battle between one country and another, and calmly preparing for the spectacular expedition of a million troops in the future, just like staying in front of the chessboard and gently moving the chess pieces. And now no one knows what he is planning, and no one can even stop him from making such a great achievement.

In order to achieve all this, in order to finish this game of chess, he must hold this country in his hands, whether with the help of others or by himself, Charles said to himself again in his heart.

Fantasy novels cannot describe a more terrifying magic than the human "country". Driven by the "country", millions of young people abandoned the instinct of biological survival and charged towards the fierce artillery fire, even if this charge was meaningless and destined to lead them to death.

A person draws a line on the map with a pencil that can be erased at any time, and tens of thousands of young people have to die for it - is there any more terrifying magic in the world than this?

I will

This kind of reverie made him feel intoxicated in an instant.

What kind of feeling is this? What a miracle!

It's a pity that his youthful reverie obviously did not resonate with this group of gray-haired and listless officials.

"In the document, the Minister seems to want to set up an Equipment Management Bureau, which is responsible for the procurement and management of railway equipment..." Jean-Calvert's voice returned to that calm tone, "In addition, a Land Management Bureau must be established. Isn't this a big move?"

"It is precisely because it is a big matter that we will discuss it with everyone..." Charles has retreated from the world of fantasy to the real world. He smiled and looked at the officials who were sitting upright and serious in front of him, "In order to let us get it done as soon as possible. "In order for the Ministry to become an effectively functioning institution, we must complete these institutional structures and changes as soon as possible. These departments are extremely important for our future work."

"But... Sir, from the attitudes of you and the Minister, we can't see much trace of 'discussion'." Jean-Calvert replied coldly, "You seem to have thrown an established fact to us. , and then asked us to accept it immediately and do it without reservation... There is no doubt that as the head of the ministry, we should implement the will of the minister. However, how can we cooperate with the will of the minister in such an arbitrary manner? If something goes wrong, who should be responsible?”

Following his sudden accusation, the entire conference room instantly fell into dead silence. The officials looked at each other, confused as to what was going on. As a government bureaucrat. Calvert's behavior of publicly criticizing colleagues and even ministers in department meetings is extremely rare, not to mention extremely dangerous.

Charles did not speak, but looked at Jean-Calvert with a frown, as if he was a little shocked by the sudden attack. And Jean-Calvert also looked at the officials next to him. These officials seemed to have woken up from a dream, and then they all echoed each other's words - of course, some of them hesitated for a moment. Therefore, the words were somewhat sparse, which greatly reduced the momentum of this group of people.

"It is really difficult to implement a hasty decision..."

"We still need to discuss suitable candidates..."

"Your Excellency, the Minister, is not able to attend right now. Should we wait until he comes over to make a decision?"

Charles listened to the clamor of the group without saying a word, and at the same time calmly observed those who echoed Jean Calvert, those who wisely chose to become neutrals.

Wait until you feel it's almost done. Charles finally spoke, and his first words were directed at the stunned stenographer.

"What are you doing here? Hurry up and take notes for me. Write down everyone's speeches! When the meeting is over, bring all the records to me. I will review them myself and sign them!"

His words caused the entire conference room to pause again. The stenographer was stunned for a moment. Then, under Charles's stern eyes, he had to pick up the pen again and write it down quickly.

There is no reason to be afraid. According to the government's habits, the meeting minutes usually delete those heated disputes. Only those important speeches were recorded, and this time the State Secretary actually ordered the stenographer to record all these remarks. Obviously, he wanted to use them as a basis for future retaliation. No one would believe that if he got the records, he would not hand them over. To the minister.

Thinking of this, the momentum of Calvert's comrades couldn't help but weaken by half, and they stopped making noises, for fear of becoming the main target of the minister's hatred in the future. None of them expected that Mr. de Treville, who was usually so peaceful and seemed to offend no one, would suddenly behave in such a vicious manner.

Then, Charles, who had won the first battle, turned his attention to Secretary General Jean Calvert.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

It seemed that he was confident, but Jean Calvert did not show the slightest fear.

"Sir, I am not completely opposed to your Excellency the Minister and your idea..." His face remained calm, "But I think you need to let more experienced officials like us when discussing strategies. We must be able to provide you with enough support..."

Charles understood that he still wanted to delay these matters until the political situation changed and the two nobles left, and then officials like them would be responsible for everything on their own. Therefore, he didn't want to talk nonsense to the other party at all.

"Let me tell you clearly, we will implement this reform immediately. Immediately! I need to see the results within a few days. Any delay is against the will of the Minister. If anyone dares to do this, , he needs to be responsible for the consequences."

From ancient times to the present, the word "self-responsibility" has been the most lethal word for officials. Even Jean Calvert couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"But..." His face couldn't help but turn ugly, and he couldn't care less about the recorder, "Aren't you forcing things on others? How can you change it in a few days?"

"That's not my concern, sir," Charles replied with a sneer.

The two men glared.

After a while, it seemed that he understood that the minister's will could no longer be changed, and Jean-Calvert planned to attack from the side.

"You plan to designate a supplier for the Equipment Administration. Isn't this self-serving, sir?")

ps: Thank you for the positive tip from Book Club Diving

Thank you for your encouragement and comfort. As a student, you don’t have to force yourself so much...

I've been in a really bad mood recently, and I don't know how to get out of it.

Whatever, just take things as they come.