Flowers, Swords and France

After having a conversation with the Prime Minister and reaching a secret tacit understanding, the two tacitly left the sensitive topics just now and talked about the insignificant historical topics before. Charles has been listening to Count Opule talk about his war experience, and occasionally he relayed some of his grandfather's war memories.

The two people's chat just to kill time did not last long. When the clock pointed to two o'clock in the afternoon, the office door opened and a secretary walked in and saluted the Prime Minister.

"I wish you all the best, Charles." Perhaps because of the happy conversation just now, Earl Ople changed his name to a more affectionate name, and then made a gesture to Charles.

"Thank you. Goodbye, Your Excellency."

Charles stood up with a smile, saluted to the other party, and then followed the secretary out of the room.

The person leading the way walked along the corridors and stairs for a while, and then stopped in front of a conference room.

｀Correct｀｀｀.s.?? "This is it, sir, they are waiting for you here, you can go in directly." The secretary explained to Charles in a low voice, "I'm waiting for you here, you go After the meeting, I will take you to your office, which has been tidied up. "Very good, thank you for your help." Charles thanked the other party gently, without showing any arrogance.

Seeing that Charles was ready, the secretary didn't say anything more, directly reached out to the doorknob, and then opened the door.

Then, he became the center of attention for a moment. Give everyone here a clear look.

Just like the scene he had experienced many times, a large group of officials sat in the conference room with expressions similar to their colleagues in the Ministry of Railways. Serious and cold.

If there is any difference, it can only be that among the people here, basically all are wearing military uniforms - although there must be many of them who have never seen a battlefield.

Undoubtedly, many of the oncoming glances were not kind, but mixed with suspicion, defensiveness, and even jealousy. But that's okay, everything is expected.

Under the guidance of his secretary, he walked to an empty seat in the center of the conference table. Then. He looked at the officials present expressionlessly.

These officials are the highest-level officials in the Army Department and are in charge of extremely important deployments. In charge of personnel and ordnance. Logistical. Financial officials, and even military doctors or veterans affairs officials were all sitting in the conference room at the moment, looking at him intently. The more times like this, the less likely you are to have stage fright.

"Hello, gentlemen, I am Charles de Treville, the new Secretary of State assigned to this department by the President."

He trailed off. All the officials present stood up and saluted Ciel.

Ah yo. This is a bit different from the officials of the Ministry of Railways. After all, it is a military agency.

"Oh, please sit down, everyone." Charles smiled quickly, waved his hand, and sat down first. "As everyone knows, I have never been in the military, so maybe I don't want the atmosphere to be tense. In addition, you are all older than me. If you take me too seriously, it will make me feel bad! Please don't Be nervous, don’t be nervous..."

Under Charles's explanation with a smile, the originally tense atmosphere in the conference room slowly relaxed. However, some officials looked at Charles and couldn't help but become more contemptuous, as if they were wondering how long he would last. It seems like he will leave.

However, Ciel didn't care about their feelings because he didn't put his hope in these people in the first place - they were all too old.

"There is no doubt that you may be a little surprised that I was suddenly appointed to this position... To be honest, a few months ago, I myself did not expect such an appointment. Even after Mr. President told me After talking about his arrangements, I still told him my concerns uneasily..." Charles still smiled, "However, Mr. President's next words made me put aside my worries and realize my own mission."

Ciel successfully whetted the appetite of the officials, and they all became slightly curious.

"I came here just to use this position to win over more army officers and let them help Mr. Bonaparte usurp the country and become emperor." Of course he would not say this.

"You all must have known for a long time that I worked in the Ministry of Railways before. With the support of Mr. President and all walks of life, I have achieved some achievements. I can't say without shame that our country's current railway planning The construction is basically carried out according to my previous plan." After a moment's pause, Charles continued directly, "It is because of seeing this that Mr. President deliberately asked me to come here to build the railway. Development and application, coordinated with the needs of the military..."

Many people nodded secretly, and it seemed that this reason was indeed good.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Ciel also breathed a sigh of relief.

"In today's era, the rapidly developing railway network is greatly reshaping all aspects of society. As a part of civilized society, the military is certainly not immune. You are all experienced people, and you can naturally see the impact of railways on Revolutionary changes in military mobilization and logistics.

Therefore, Mr. President specially transferred me, who had previously served as State Secretary of the Ministry of Railways, to the headquarters, hoping that I could promote cooperation between the military and the railway department. I can assure you here that not only me, but also my former colleagues who worked in the Ministry of Railways are also very patriotic people and they will be happy to provide due help to the Army..."

Then, Charles glanced at the officials present again, "Because I have just arrived, I am not particularly familiar with my work, so I need to ask you for advice on many things, and I hope you can cooperate when the time comes - of course, I also It won’t interfere too much with everyone’s work As for me, if you need help, just tell me, I will try my best to help. Okay... you are all busy people, so I won't waste time with the background. I have finished introducing the situation, thank you all.”

After he finished speaking, a burst of applause that was insincere but polite enough also sounded, as if to praise Ciel's concise and concise style.

Next, under Charles's instruction, the officials present also introduced themselves one by one, allowing Charles to have an initial impression of his colleagues.

Different from when they were at the Ministry of Railways, the officials here are much more reserved and cold, but it's no wonder. After all, this is an old yamen with many powerful forces. Of course, they won't treat someone like Charles as someone who doesn't know whether he can be one year or two years old. Liu Shui Guan took it seriously.

Because of this, Charles knew that he could not put on airs as soon as he arrived, so he just chatted with the officials for a few words and then announced the adjournment of the meeting and let the officials go back to their work.

However, due to work-related reasons, he still retained Baron De Milo, the head of the Logistics Department, and Baron De Gerlot, the head of the Military Affairs Department.

Baron De Milo is a bald, fat, middle-aged man who simply does not match the uniform he is wearing. However, although he looks fat and clumsy, his eyes are very smart, and he is obviously a smart and cunning person. It seems that he should have been a quartermaster originally.

Baron de Gerlot is a little different. He is an active general, as calm and indifferent as other strictly trained people.

"Mr. De Gerlot, I want to ask you a question." After everyone else left, Charles spoke directly.

Baron Gerald did not answer, but looked at Charles with an inquiring look.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"I hope to organize a military exercise within a short period of time. Can you prepare a unit for deployment at that time?" Because the other party definitely didn’t like to talk in circles, Charles’s words were very direct, “In about a week, the railway line from Paris to Le Mans will be fully opened. I hope to take this opportunity to practice the rapid mobilization of troops. Since The president sent me here just to coordinate the work, and I think the sooner we start, the better.”

Baron Gerald pondered for a moment before answering.

"How big a scale do you want? If it's at the regiment level, I think there's no problem."

"That's enough." Ciel nodded with satisfaction.

Then, he turned to look at Baron De Milo.

"Mr. De Milo, I hope you can prepare the necessary supplies by then."

"This is not a big problem..." Baron De Milo agreed, but seemed a little uneasy about Ciel taking the lead in the topic. "However, conducting an exercise of this scale will probably cost a lot."

"It doesn't matter..." Ciel replied with a smile. "As for the cost, I think the Army has enough budget to bear it. I will talk to the people in the audit department later. No other questions? A lot of words."

"No, sir." The two men looked at each other and replied.

"Then, let's ask you two to start working on it after you go back. I hope to have a specific plan in the next few days." Charles nodded, indicating that he had finished what he wanted to say, "I I will be watching and available to assist you at any time.”

"Okay, sir." Seeing that Charles had made up his mind, the two officials said no more, stood up, and left the conference room.

It seems that these senior officials have made up their minds - they can cooperate with official affairs but will not get involved in politics.

Therefore, they seriously lacked the enthusiasm and enthusiasm for cooperation - from the beginning to the end, no one said anything to them about anything other than official business, not even a hint.

Watching the two officials leave, Charles thought to himself.

It seems that we can only start with those young officials.

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