I want to be emperor

Chapter 815

In order to solve the problem of illegal immigration in the southwest region, and also to completely solve the problem of the Nanyang Peninsula, the entire Nanyang Peninsula was annexed, making the entire Nanyang Peninsula the back garden of the Great Chu Empire.

In October of the 33rd year of Chengshun, the top leaders of the Great Chu Empire held a strategic meeting before the imperial court.

What was different from the previous imperial meeting was that this time, besides one vote of ministers and Luo Zhixue, there was another person present at the imperial meeting.

That is Luo Ji, the prince of the Great Chu Empire.

Although many years ago, Luo Zhixue had actually arranged for Crown Prince Luo Ji to watch the government and learn how to handle various affairs, but he had always been working at the grassroots level in various departments.

Over the years, Luo Zhixue basically arranged for the prince to go to a department to observe and study at regular intervals. In addition to observing and studying, he would also be responsible for handling some affairs through remote control from behind, but he would not stand at the front desk.

Over the years, the prince has basically rotated through all the departments in Gyeonggi, and even the Palace Affairs Office, which is responsible for the royal household affairs, has sent the prince to observe politics and study, so that he can understand how the royal family works internally.

At the same time, he was also allowed to study in the Yin Yamen of Yingtian Mansion to understand how local governance is carried out.

After so many years of training, Luo Zhixue reckoned that the prince should also have a basic understanding of how the huge machine of the empire works, so he began to cultivate the prince's higher-level overall view and transaction processing ability.

This is how the crown prince Luo Ji appeared in the imperial study today.

Luo Zhixue is going to officially announce that the prince will enter the imperial study to observe and study politics.

And a group of ministers were slightly surprised at first, but all of them are old politicians who have become mature, and quickly cleaned up their expressions. Many people even have slightly strange eyes, and even their facial expressions have not changed!
And this matter, in fact, they can understand after a little thought that this is Luo Zhixue's next arrangement for the prince.

Luo Zhixue's cultivation of the prince was not secretive or sneaky.

In fact, his cultivation of the prince is open. The middle and low-level officials and the people may not know it, but the senior officials of the empire basically know it.

And the prince's experience of observing and studying politics in these years has also given the high-level officials of the empire a basic understanding of the prince.

But this kind of understanding is superficial... After all, when the prince is outside, most of the time he only listens but does not talk. When handling various affairs remotely, there is actually an entire staff team from the East Palace behind him.

At most, the courtiers can learn about the prince's tendency in some policies through the way the prince handles some things, but it is more difficult for you to say what you know about the prince's character.

As the crown prince of the empire, Luo Ji didn't have much direct contact with these ministers, and it's hard to accurately judge a person's character if you only listen to what others say.

Especially Prince Luo Ji, who was raised as a prince since he was a child. He knew how to hide his emotions when he was a child, and he was familiar with the operation of the political arena when he was a teenager.

You think he is just a young man in his twenties, but in fact, the prince has been exposed to various government affairs since he was a teenager, practicing various political operations while studying!
Speaking of the experience of messing around in the top political arena of the empire, many cabinet ministers who have been in the cabinet for a short time are not as experienced as the crown prince.

The prince cultivated in this way is definitely a top elite... It is not a prince who is ignorant in a traditional dynasty.

Such a prince, in fact, it is very difficult for you to get a deep understanding of what kind of person he is through superficial contact.

How should I put it, the current crown prince is still somewhat mysterious to outside ministers, even the top ministers of the empire do not have a deep understanding of the crown prince Luo Ji.

Just a basic understanding is enough.

At least in the past when the prince was observing and studying politics in various ministries, the overall performance was still humble and studious, without any negative performance such as domineering or stubborn.

Well, I don't know privately, but it never happens on the surface.

The entire empire, including high-level, middle- and lower-level officials, and even ordinary people, still have a very good impression of the imperial prince Luo Ji.

But then again, the senior officials present also knew that the image of the prince in the outside world is nothing more than a character created by various means. It is estimated that only some people close to the prince know what kind of character he really is. .

Even His Majesty Luo Zhixue may not necessarily know what kind of character his son is.

There is nothing wrong with this kind of person setting to fool middle and low-level officials, but I want these cabinet ministers to think that Prince Luo Jian is just simple and humble and eager to learn... What a dream in broad daylight.

A group of ministers looked at the crown prince who followed Luo Zhixue into the imperial study, most of them were just a little stunned in their hearts, but there was no surprise on the surface.

After saluting Luo Zhixue, he bowed to the prince again.

The prince, on the other hand, had a formulaic smile on his face, nodded slightly to a group of courtiers, then raised his right hand slightly and said, "You elders, please don't be too polite, please hurry up!"

At this moment, all the cabinet ministers stood up straight and returned to the front of their respective positions, but they did not take their seats, but waited by the chairs.

Luo Zhixue at the front got on the dragon chair that was raised about one meter and sat down.

The prince did not follow, but stood under the dragon chair, in front of the left side of the rectangular table where all the cabinet ministers were.

Luo Zhixue looked around, and immediately said softly: "Give me a seat!"

At this time, the ministers still did not take their seats directly, but continued to stand. At the same time, Jiang Yuanjia, the director of the Secretariat of the Imperial Academy, brought a chair behind the prince, and the two first secretaries also brought a morning paper. Put the prepared small square table in front of the prince.

The three of them gently put down their seats, bowed slightly, and retreated to the small table beside them, ready to start the minutes of the meeting.

In such an important meeting as the imperial strategy meeting, apart from the emperor Luo Zhixue and Tai Luoji who came for the first time today, the only ministers who are eligible to attend are ministers of affairs and co-organizers related to certain affairs.

The above is the main body. The rank of the courtiers starts from the second rank, most of them are the second rank, and some of them have the title from the first rank or even the first rank.

For example, the minister of affairs, the earl, and Ji Dehua, who was in charge of industrial, commercial and economic affairs, were the only ministers among the many ministers present who were awarded the title of first-rank junior teacher.

He is also the well-deserved leader of civil servants in this generation of imperial study... Well, there is no actual statement, it is just a verbal title formed by him with the highest prestige and the highest level of Zhengyipin.

In terms of actual power, any of the ministers of counselors is actually equal, and they all have absolute real power within the scope of their respective affairs, and no one except Luo Zhixue can control them.

This is an important manifestation of the Yushufang's participation system, that is, the ministers who participate in the affairs do not distinguish between superiors and inferiors.

The title of Zhengyipin, the title of junior teacher, and the title of earl, which is the highest level compared to the title of civil servants, are Luo Zhixue's recognition of Ji Dehuazi's contribution to the development of the empire's industrial and commercial economy in the past ten years in charge of industrial and commercial economic affairs.

Although the economic development of the empire belongs to the general trend of history, Luo Zhixue's personal intervention after reaching this level, even if it is an ordinary minister of industry, commerce and economics, can make the empire's economy develop at a high speed... But Ji Dehua's achievements are still undeniable.

He was able to maintain the empire's economy at 14.00% for a long time, and in some years even achieved a high-speed growth of [-]% or even [-]%, which greatly improved infrastructure and improved people's lives. His achievements in the economic field are incredible. obliterate.

The same is true in the industrial field. During his tenure, the steel industry exploded, and ships and trains exploded.

In the national defense industry, the research and development of rifled weapons strongly supported by Ji Dehua has been bearing fruit one after another. The latest improved model of the Type [-] breech-loading rifled rifle, that is, the model that fires all-metal fixed bullets, has been officially finalized and has been widely used in the Guards and the Army. Started serving in small batches.

At the same time, the Type [-] breech-loading rifle developed by Huguang Arms Company also entered small-scale service in the army.

The breech-loading rifled artillery, which is the most urgently needed by the Army, has gradually solved some technical difficulties, especially after adopting metal fixed shells, the air leakage problem has been greatly solved. The Dangtu Artillery Factory under the Jiangnan Arms Company has already A batch of 75mm rear-loading rifled field guns was produced and provided to the Guards for trial service.

A rear-loading rifled gun with a larger caliber is also under development, and the development is relatively smooth.

Therefore, today in the 33rd year of Chengshun, although the overseas troops of the Great Chu Empire are still using capper-fired muskets, in fact, the local guards and a small number of elite troops in the army have begun to enter a comprehensive rear. It's time for rifled guns.

Even the era of front-loading rifles has passed directly...Because there is actually little difference in cost and technology between small and medium-caliber front-loading rifle guns and breech-loading rifles...As a traverser, if your industrial base can When you are working on Minie rifles, you actually don’t need to make Minie rifles, because the same industrial base is enough to produce breech-loading rifles.

The requirements for the industrial base of the two are actually not great.

This is why the Minie rifle was short-lived in history... If the technology is not enough, you can't make the Minie rifle, especially when the accuracy is uncontrollable, at most you can rub a few toys by hand... There is no way There is no way to mass-produce large-scale equipment!

And individual weapons that cannot be equipped on a large scale have no practical significance!
If the technology is enough... As a traveler, why do you still have a Mini rifle? Just make a breech-loading rifle. Wouldn’t it be more delicious to get a Mauser 1871?
After all, you have solved the problems of barrel rifling strength, corrosion resistance, and machining accuracy... I believe that even if you don't know the technical details of the machine after rotating, you have heard the term...even if you haven't, as long as you have , Knowing such a concept, you don’t have to have trouble with paper shell bullets, you can also change to brass shells, there will be no technical difficulties... So, you also have metal fixed-load ammunition.

Such an assembly... Lo and behold, Mauser 1871 appeared.

However, in the field of large-caliber artillery, limited by the weight of the ammunition, there is no way to use metal fixed ammunition. The barrel itself must be used to solve the problem of air leakage. The rear-loading artillery technology is much higher.

This is why after all these years, the Navy still has not been able to obtain large-caliber rear-mounted rifled guns, so the Navy can only use front-mounted large-caliber artillery.

Ji Dehua has made great achievements in the development of this series of industrial, commercial, economic and national defense industries, and Luo Zhixue also noticed it. For this reason, in the 32nd year of Chengshun, he was officially given the title of Zhengyipin Shaoshi.

This is already the highest title that current officials can obtain. As for the higher-level grand master, even if Ji Dehua has enough achievements, he can only be awarded after his death. granted.

Ji Dehua, with the title of Junior Master on his head, as the No.1 civil official among the many courtiers present, naturally stood at the front left of the rectangular table, and the other courtiers stood in their respective positions according to their rank and status.

As for Jiang Yuanjia, the director of the secretariat, and the four first-class secretaries, they were not actually participants in the meeting and had no right to speak at the meeting. They just came to act as meeting minutes and serve tea and water by the way.

And other people are not qualified to appear on this occasion at all.

This is why the position of the Imperial Academy Secretariat, especially the position of the first secretary, is regarded as the most noble and core position by young middle-level officials.

As for the director of the secretariat... he is not a middle-level official, but a serious official of the third rank. He is often transferred from the directors of various ministries or local political envoys. Later, he will be transferred from the second rank's assistant minister or governor. .

However, the official of the third grade, in today's situation, really can only serve tea and pour water, and take some meeting records by the way... Although he does not need to write the whole process himself, but four first-class secretaries do it Records, but he himself also needs to record some key points of the meeting, and form official imperial documents on some decisions made by Luo Zhixue in the meeting.

Jiang Yuanjia stood respectfully, and after seeing the prince Luo Jian sitting in front of him, many courtiers in the rectangular table sat down one after another.

At this time, Jiang Yuanjia was sitting behind his small square table with four first-class secretaries, and each picked up a pen to record the meeting.

It was enough for Jiang Yuanjia to record the key points, and the other four first-class secretaries recorded the entire speech records of His Majesty, the Crown Prince, and the cabinet ministers, without missing a single word.

After all, for this level of imperial strategic meeting, the minutes of the meeting should be archived and finally saved for future reference at any time.

After everyone was seated one after another, Luo Zhixue spoke first: "Before today's meeting starts, let me say something first!"

"My dear friends have also seen it. The crown prince has also come over today. From today on, the prince will enter the imperial study to observe politics and study. You are young and inexperienced. All dear friends, please be considerate in the future. Teach him a lot too."

After Luo Zhi learned his words, he glanced at the prince, and the prince Luo Ji got up immediately and said, "Your servant obeys the order!"

Then he turned his head and said to a group of cabinet ministers: "I will ask you a lot of elders in the future!"

Although there is no official title for the ministers of the imperial study of the Great Chu Empire, although they are not officially called elders, the outside world basically regards them as ministers, and they are often called elders in colloquial terms.

When the prince said that, he somewhat exalted everyone.

Immediately, Ji Dehua, the head of the civil servants, got up and said: "The crown prince speaks seriously. It is the duty of ministers and ministers to speak for your majesty and for the prince. From now on, you must speak freely and do not lose your majesty's expectations!"

Ji Dehua didn't teach Luo Zhixue, and the prince's advice meant that the minister was not qualified and absolutely not allowed... because it was the words of the emperor... To put it bluntly, how can the emperor share the tasks with you? Your reason for delaying.

The task is assigned to you, whether you like it or not, whether you are sincere or not, you have to follow it.

Of course, this also has something to do with Luo Zhixue's character and long-term behavior habits... When it comes to formal affairs, Luo Zhixue especially hates courtiers playing modesty with him, so delaying is not the same thing!
When Luo Zhixue assigns tasks, no matter how good his tone is, he is ordering and assigning tasks. As a subordinate, when he receives a task, if there is any difficulty, just say so, and obediently continue if there is nothing to do.

If you play modesty with Luo Zhixue, it’s not the same thing to play delay. If you provoke Luo Zhixue, he can kick you to Java Island with a backhand... Don’t expect to be able to return to Gyeonggi to work in this life.

This is the habit that Luo Zhixue has developed in his long-term handling of government affairs: time is precious, talk about things if you have something to say, speak up when you have difficulties, and shut up if you have nothing to do.

As for the lofty literati, face, etc... Everyone present, including the four seemingly young, transparent first-class secretaries in the imperial political arena, which one is not a veteran in the political arena... They can tear off the face thing and throw it away by themselves. Step on the ground with two feet, and have to pee again!
After all, if they don't have extraordinary abilities and methods, how can they stand out from the vast number of middle-level officials in the empire and become first-class secretaries of the secretariat, accompanying them every day?

In short, everyone is a thousand-year-old fox, why pretend to be innocent!
After finishing talking about studying politics in the Imperial Study Room, Luo Zhixue spoke again: "Today's meeting is nothing but to talk about the situation in the Nanyang Peninsula. The Governor of Malacca and the Governor of Bangladesh jointly signed a letter. , please increase the immigration and development of the Nanyang Peninsula area, I think you all know about it."

"Today, I'm discussing this matter to see whether it is feasible to increase immigration development, if it is to be done, to what extent, how to do it, and what the cost is!"

"Old rules, you can speak freely!"

After finishing speaking, Luo Zhixue stopped talking, and even slightly closed his eyes, as if he had begun to cultivate his body and close his eyes...

This is also an old tradition in most imperial meetings... Luo Zhixue only started, and left the rest to the courtiers to discuss on their own.

When the discussions among the courtiers are almost finished, and the result of the discussion is approved by Luo Zhixue, then it means that a new strategic decision that can affect the empire has been formed.

If the courtiers can't come up with a consistent result, then it will be postponed. After the meeting, the courtiers will discuss on their own, exchange interests, etc... wait until the second meeting to reach a unified consensus.

If it doesn't work... then it won't work... Luo Zhixue usually doesn't interfere too much with the discussions and final results of the courtiers.

The premise is that he is satisfied with the result.

If you are not satisfied...negotiate again!
To put it bluntly, the strategic meeting before the imperial court was a discussion among the courtiers themselves, and finally reached a satisfactory result for Luo Zhixue.

Luo Zhixue stopped talking, but the courtiers did not speak immediately, but looked at the prince.

The crown prince still had a humble and studious look and said: "I came here alone today, just to watch and study, you elders don't need to look at me..."

He said this with a slightly joking tone!

After listening to the prince's words, the cabinet ministers spoke one after another, and entered the normal rhythm of the imperial strategy meeting!
What rhythm?
Fight!
Wasn't the Great Chu Empire's pre-imperial strategic meeting arguing and quarreling!
Any strategic decision of the empire is often of great importance and involves many departments, agencies and regions. There is a lot of interest space for these cabinet ministers to compete for.

For example, when it comes to the large-scale development of the Nanyang Peninsula this time, the military is the first to state that there is no problem in the military, the only problem is military spending...

This time it is the overall strategic decision of the empire. If military action is to be taken, the cabinet must use money to cover military expenses. Don't expect the military to pay for the war out of their own pockets!
Don't even think about it!

The civil servants in the cabinet naturally disagreed. Nie Fengyu, who was in charge of official affairs, as the newly promoted minister of affairs, naturally had to perform in front of other veteran ministers of civil affairs, at least to let other ministers of civil affairs know his stand firm.

what position?It is at odds with the military!
So I very bluntly refuted the military's proposal to ask for military expenses: "The more than 1 million military expenses are spent every year, isn't it just for today's things, if there is no war, what are you doing? More reliable than you, at least let the dog bite people without throwing an extra meaty bone to it."

Then the generals of the military went berserk... They slapped the table and were about to rush out to fight, but fortunately they were stopped by the imperial guards outside, and a brawl in front of the imperial court was organized.

When a group of courtiers quarreled and slapped the table to fight, Luo Zhixue closed his eyes and meditated. Even the crown prince, who came to the imperial study for the first time to attend a meeting, was indifferent to the situation in front of him, looking like he was too far away...

It is an old tradition in the political arena of the Great Chu Empire that the emperor closes his eyes and rests his mind while his subjects quarrel and even fight.

Even if the prince hadn't experienced it before, he had heard about it many times, and was even reminded by Luo Zhixue beforehand that he had already made sufficient psychological preparations for today's situation in advance.

I will definitely not participate in this time personally, let alone laugh out loud on the spot.

But Jiang Wenming, one of the fourth and first secretaries, who had just become a first secretary for a few months, was a little dumbfounded seeing this scene.

Nima, this imperial meeting is even more exaggerated than the rumors!

(End of this chapter)