Flowers, Swords and France

With the remaining depression, Charles left his home and rushed to the ministry.

Along the way, he was in a bad mood, and he couldn't help thinking of his sister running back in tears just now. Even though this was her own fault in a sense, his care for her over the years always made him worry about his sister's situation.

Although he pretended to be at ease in front of Mary, he was actually not at ease. He always felt that the two of them behaved a little strange today, and it was obvious that the cause of the matter was not as simple as it seemed.

However, even though he knew that something might be wrong, he still didn't want to investigate the cause of the quarrel between these girls.

He had done enough for Fran. If he did more... it would have crossed the moral boundary, and everything he had obtained after so much effort would face the risk of overturning.

So, in order to avoid the most terrible result, he could only choose to deal with it coldly and try not to be as close to Fran as before.

He looked at the street scenes around him in the carriage, but he didn't take anything to heart, just felt upset.

In his heart, he felt that housework made him annoyed, and he didn't want to take the initiative to get involved in it as long as he could avoid it. Compared with the annoying but helpless things at home, the challenges outside were completely trivial to him.

After marrying Charlotte, she can handle all this... He couldn't help thinking so.

But maybe that means there will be more trouble?

She hated her sister, and it has been like this for a long time. I'm afraid there will be little hope of reconciling the relationship in the future; more importantly, how will she view Matilda and Mary, and the one who hooked up with them?

When he thought of this. His heart suddenly beat wildly, and his thoughts were interrupted.

He felt that Charlotte's appearance suddenly appeared in front of him. She was staring at him with a stern, even harsh look.

However, the Charlotte in front of him looked only eleven or twelve years old, wearing a fluffy skirt, with eyes wide open, lips tightly pursed, and cheeks puffed up. Because of her young age, this puffy look not only did not destroy her beauty, but made her look more lovely.

But. Why did he suddenly think of this? He couldn't help asking himself.

After a moment, he finally remembered.

It was when they were young, Charlotte had the biggest temper in her life. That time, they played together in the countryside, but he didn't know what medicine he took that day, and he kept teasing Charlotte. In the end, because Charlotte complained, he simply ignored her while rowing. At the beginning, Charlotte kept persuading him kindly. She wanted the two of them to reconcile, and even begged him to admit her mistakes and promised not to complain again in the future - this has almost never happened to this duchess, and it will definitely not happen to other people - but Charles was still teasing her on purpose. He just ignored her.

Finally, she stopped talking and just looked at him like this.

Then... she suddenly reached out her hand. She pushed him off the boat when he was caught off guard.

Fortunately, the water was not deep enough at that time. He just choked on a few more mouthfuls of water after being frightened, and his life was not in danger.

While struggling in the water. Charlotte had been sitting on the boat, looking at him with that look, and he also remembered Charlotte's look in his heart...

Childhood memories should bring people the kind of happy feeling of knowing smiles, but Charles felt a little scared at this time.

Compared with that time, I was much more "teasing" this time, how would Charlotte treat me?

His mind seemed to be blank.

After a while, Charles forced himself to retract his thoughts. Forget it, it's better not to think about it anymore.

The feeling was more disturbing than before, so he just put it aside and would rather not think about it anymore.

Fortunately, the carriage finally stopped at this time. When he got off the carriage and walked directly to the office building of the Ministry of War, he not only did not feel the boredom of being involved in official business, but also had a sense of salvation.

Work is still good... Although only Mary among them can feel the great significance of her work.

With a calm heart, he walked through the building along the familiar road.

Along the way, employees kept giving way to him and saluted, but he just nodded calmly without even slowing down his pace.

Although there was not much respect in the eyes of these employees, there was obviously some fear - for Charles, there was not much difference between these two emotions, and either one was good for him.

Charles knew where this fear came from.

Ever since he publicly questioned the highest power organ of the country in the parliament hall, he was able to retreat unscathed under the clamor of a large number of parliamentarians and did not receive any real punishment afterwards, most people in the ministry looked at him this way.

On the one hand, he maintained the authority and power of the War Department, allowing it to continue to command all the country's ground forces, and thus the power of these officials, who must be very grateful; on the other hand, Being able to do this kind of thing and still remain unscathed means that he has power that they cannot afford to offend.

Precisely because of recommending ministers and maintaining authority within the ministry, he finally established his prestige in the ministry. The scene where he had so few responders just now no longer appeared again.

Ciel enjoyed this feeling so much that his pace unconsciously slowed down.

"Why did you come so late?"

When he came to his office, Viscount Alex de Lautrec asked dissatisfiedly, sitting at the coffee table. "I've been waiting for you for a long time, and there are still a lot of things to do!"

"As an official, isn't it your duty to wait for your superiors? What's there to complain about?" Charles put his hat and cane aside, and then responded to the other party matter-of-factly. "I don't have to care about how you feel, so you don't have to tell me how troubled you are. Thank you."

After hearing Charles' arrogant and ridiculing reply, Viscount Lautrec frowned angrily, as if he wanted to be angry. However, under the roof of others, he finally had to suppress his anger and simply looked in another direction. "Then tell me why you summoned me, M. de Treville?"

"I'm sorry, but due to time constraints, there is no black tea for you today." Charles sat down opposite Viscount Lautrec in a smart manner. "But I think the news I will tell you next should make up for the regret in your heart..."

"What's going on?" Viscount Lautrec looked at Charles suspiciously.

"A good thing, a very good thing." Ciel shrugged.

"Come on, I have never encountered anything good since I met you!" Viscount Lautrec replied with a sneer.

"It's too much for you to say that. After all, we are in the same party, aren't we?" Looking at the other party's unhappy look, Charles couldn't help but smile, "You will know soon that you have surrendered to the president. With us. What a right choice..."

Perhaps because Charles had whetted his appetite, Viscount Lautrec raised his head and looked at him. His handsome and fair face was full of curiosity, and he said, "Then why do you care so much? Hurry up and speak quickly." Say it!" expression.

"Have you not heard the rumors that a new department will be established in the ministry?" Charles suddenly asked.

"I've heard about it...but no one knows the specific division of powers yet." Viscount Lautrec nodded first, and then seemed to think of something. "You mean...?"

"I'd better make it clear to you directly." Charles waved his hand and interrupted the other party's words. "This department is just as you thought. It was arranged by me. The purpose is to streamline the department's paperwork, reduce the occurrence of buck-passing in various departments, and improve our work efficiency..."

Read the original article in Liu#9@书/吧!

"By the way, take all your strength into your hands?" Alex added slightly mockingly.

"Well, yes, you can think so." Charles nodded very honestly, "According to my vision, this department will be an organization responsible for coordinating all affairs within the ministry and processing ministerial documents. Yes, that is A secretariat, let’s call it the Secretariat.”

"It's equivalent to an auxiliary agency to serve you?" Because they were talking about business, Alex also became serious.

"There are some reasons, but not all." Ciel patiently explained, "In addition to my powers, it also has to take over some other powers in order to better serve the Minister."

As Secretary of State in the War Department, he has the power to decide which official documents can be passed on to the Minister. Under normal circumstances, although they have this kind of power, few people would dare to simply review the minister's official documents and then make a decision. However, Charles was completely different. He took over him honestly and unceremoniously. With his power, he expanded the scope of official documents he handles to all official documents accepted by the minister - anyway, the minister is his ally and will not be unhappy about this.

However, getting it over is one thing, but how to do it well is another.

No one is born knowing this. Since he has never served in the army, Charles does not dare to conclude that he knows everything about army affairs, and it is even less possible for him to make decisions on purely military affairs on his own - this kind of thing is too important, and if anything happens Mistakes will not only have a bad impact, but will even harm your career.

Therefore, it is logical that Charles wants to establish a secretarial organization to assist him in handling these matters.

However, his vision went far beyond that.

"Yes, in order to prevent the minister from being able to deal with all important matters, I hope that this new department can also assume the power to arrange the schedule for the minister."

Arranging the minister's schedule was originally the responsibility of the minister's secretary, but after Charles convinced the minister, General Saint-Arnaud, he also handed over this responsibility to this newly established department.

After listening to Charles's implicit narration, Viscount Lautrec's eyes widened slightly.

He has always been smart and fully understands the practical significance of this decision.

"You plan to give this department leadership responsibilities?"

"Yes, that's right." Charles nodded, feeling gratified by his sharpness.

This new department will then have the right to submit and select the minister's official documents. It can decide which official documents will not be handed over to the minister "because they are not important" and will be handled privately by the department; it can also arrange the minister's schedule so that the minister's day seems full but is completely out of touch with actual affairs.

In other words, this department can completely decide the affairs of the department privately and perform the duties of the minister. And weaker ministers may even become pure rubber stamps, responsible only for signing and sealing.

Although the name is the Secretariat, after mastering this power, it will inevitably become the shadow leadership of the army.

"Is it necessary to create such a powerful institution?" Alex was a little confused, "Do you doubt the minister?"

"No, no, no, I don't doubt our minister, in fact, we get along very well." Charles waved his hand and laughed, "But, although General Saint-Arnaud and I are very reliable, the future minister may not be a very reliable person... So, we must find a way to keep everything as regular as possible."

In the hands of Charles and General Saint-Arnaud, of course, this new institution can only choose to cooperate, but in the hands of others, the situation may not be the case.

"And you...you want me to enter this department?" Viscount Toulouse-Lautrec's breathing was a little hurried.

That's right, who would be completely unmoved in the face of such temptation?

"Yes, I not only intend to let you in, but I also hope that you can take on important responsibilities." Charles smiled and nodded again, "I intend to let an old man be the director, but it doesn't matter, he is very mediocre, and he is also very sensible, and will never get in anyone's way. And you... you will be promoted to deputy director."

"Deputy director?" Alex's face was slightly red, and even his tone was trembling.

In the face of such a high reward, this feeling is of course understandable.

"Yes, that's right. The commission will be issued in two days, but you can start preparing now to avoid being caught off guard." Charles still smiled and stretched out his hand, "Congratulations, Mr. de Lautrec. From the day after tomorrow, you will be one of the youngest deputy directors in the ministry and even the entire government... Isn't this worth celebrating? Or do you not want to take on the responsibility for the country?"

"Of course... Of course... I mean..." After a few confused responses, Viscount de Lautrec looked up at Charles and slowly stretched out his hand. "Damn it! Thank you! Sir. I am willing to serve the country!" (To be continued...)