Flowers, Swords and France

In order to rush for time, Charles kept urging his coachman, and finally returned to the War Department before the planned time. , because time was tight, and he didn't care about a moment's delay, he walked directly to the conference room of the ministry.

When he opened the door of the conference room, he found that there were already several people sitting inside, and the most important attendee of this meeting - General Saint-Arnault, Minister of War, was already there. After seeing Charles, he smiled He said hello to Charles.

He nodded to the minister slightly awkwardly, and then walked to his seat.

Then, he turned his attention to the others present.

This was a group of officers in military uniforms. They all looked young, in their twenties and thirties. Under Charles' gaze, they all had tense faces, as if they were very nervous.

The only person with a slightly relaxed expression was Viscount Alex de Lautrec, who was sitting opposite Charles. After Charles sat down, he nodded to Charles.

These people were silent, making the atmosphere in the conference room particularly tense, and the well-fitting uniforms made them more rigid. Even the somewhat elegant Viscount Lautrec seemed to be a little colder at this time. .

Charles and the Minister looked at each other, and then the general nodded, expressing that he was very satisfied with the people Charles selected.

These are the people Charles plans to recruit to the Ministry of War to participate in the newly established Secretariat after many recommendations and inspections, and Viscount Lautrec is the future actual person in charge of this department.

After receiving Charles's recommendation, Viscount Lautrec, who was overwhelmed by the huge temptation, immediately set out to find suitable candidates from Charles and others to fill his department. And Charles also followed the principle of quickness and quickness and quickly selected a group of people from the army. After several rounds of screening, the final candidate was finally determined.

When making personnel decisions. Then when their opinions were solicited, the vast majority readily accepted the appointment - for any aspiring young officer, is there anything more tempting than participating in confidential work?

So, driven by great ambition, Charles, Viscount Lautrec and others made all preparations efficiently, and today they finally called everyone together to receive the minister's final confirmation and lecture.

The meeting should have started long ago, but because Ciel never came, everyone had to wait for a while - before he came. Even the minister had no intention of starting this confidential meeting first. From this, we can see Ciel's current influence.

After calming down, Charles glanced at the people around him, then smiled sheepishly, "I'm sorry that I'm late, everyone. I hope I didn't delay everyone's schedule..."

"It doesn't matter, you always have so many things to be busy with, Charles, I just came here just now." General Saint-Arnaud smiled indifferently. Then he turned around and looked at these young officers, "Now that everyone is here, let's get started!"

Although his voice is not loud. But the officers present immediately cheered up and sat up straighter. For a while, the conference room became even more silent.

General Saint-Arnaud nodded. Very satisfied with this serious military atmosphere, he looked at these energetic and energetic young people one by one.

After watching for a while. He felt increasingly satisfied.

From these young officers with short hair, medals, and eyes full of energy and desire, he felt a little of the grace of his youth. At that time, I was so ambitious and waiting to do something big.

"Everyone, I think you should understand the significance of your being brought here." After a long silence, General Saint-Arnault finally spoke slowly, "Yes, you have been recognized as the most outstanding members of the army. Yes, you are undoubtedly the elite candidates.”

Nothing could inspire this group of people more than these words from His Excellency the Minister. Although they were still sitting still, they seemed to be a little more excited and excited.

"However, it is not enough to have expectations. What we need are tangible results!" The minister suddenly strengthened his voice, "Since you think you are worthy of the title of elite, I hope you will use your work performance to prove it in the future." Prove this... If anyone is proven to be in an embarrassing position, then I'm sorry, I will withdraw all my praise and expectations and directly Throw him to the ends of the earth! If any of you don't have enough confidence in yourself, you can tell me now. I guarantee that he can return to his original army without any hindrance, and his future promotion will not be affected. Impact... If you think you can endure everything and complete the most difficult tasks, then please look at me and show determination with your eyes!"

He was deliberately silent for a moment, but no one took the initiative to say that they were embarrassing themselves - and it was impossible for anyone to say that.

Looking at the gazes full of passion and determination, General Saint-Arnault nodded, and he became a little excited. "Very good, what we want is this kind of energy! As long as a man is ambitious and capable, why should he be afraid of not being able to do anything? I can also assure you here that as long as you complete the task and prove that you are enough Bear all the burdens, and what the country will leave you will be the brightest future. Today’s step is just the starting point!”

As the minister shouted loudly, Charles was the first to applaud, and then the young officers who came to their senses finally merged into a roar.

After all, the general returned from the front line and became the Minister of the Army. This kind of encouragement is many times more pleasant than the original way of speaking in a formal and official manner and talking about "country". At least it can touch the hearts of these arrogant young people more.

"Only when I stay with you can I feel the vitality..." After the applause slowly subsided, General Saint-Arnault looked at these young people with a smile on his face, "You finally brought some life to this lifeless place. , I hope you can maintain this style in the future and don't let yourself become a cautious and obedient yes man, do you understand?"

"Understood!" These young officers who had been mobilized shouted in response at the same time.

"Okay, let your immediate superior tell you the specific situation." After boosting morale, the minister pointed his finger at Charles, "Next, let Mr. Treville tell you Specific reasons.”

After the eyes were focused on him again, Charles nodded, and then said calmly, "Gentlemen, I think you all know the general situation. Yes, our plan here is to set up a person who can assist the minister. And I will handle the confidential department of Army affairs. However, I will also. The additional point is that, as the Minister said, we do not need to be cautious and submissive. In some cases, you also need some initiative. I hope you can think more and preferably make suggestions for our affairs. Something inspiring and original.”

Amid everyone's confused gazes, Charles continued to explain, "I think you can already see that although this department is called the Secretariat, it already has the authority to handle official business on its own, so in many cases, You can handle the affairs of the Army on your own... you are not only the counselors, you are also the leaders. Yes, although it will never be made public, you will be the nerve center of the entire Army! I ask you to imagine this for yourself! What a huge responsibility?"

The breathing in Ciel's ears became rapid.

Yes, it's a temptation you can't refuse. In the minds of these young people, the fantasy of hundreds of thousands of troops across the country bowing to their orders is more drowsy than any anesthetic.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

After the excitement of these people calmed down a little, Charles continued to speak, "Because your authority is so important, I hope you can understand one thing, the most important thing... that is, what you are engaged in is no longer It is a purely military position, but it is inevitably political. Do you understand?

There was another moment of silence.

Since we have allowed you to rise to great heights and wield great power that you have never dreamed of, then you will follow us to do great things - this is the deal that Ciel almost explicitly proposed.

"Do you understand?" Ciel increased his volume and shouted again.

"Understood!" Almost at the same time, these young officers shouted out at the same time.

The silence only lasted for a moment. Since these officers had already come here, they were naturally mentally prepared to do certain things in order to get ahead.

From this excitement, Ciel finally felt the atmosphere he wanted.

"Very good... I'm glad that you all have enough political consciousness," Charles nodded with satisfaction, and then smiled, "Under the leadership of His Excellency the President, I sincerely hope that you can help us manage the entire army so that It is able to respond to all kinds of challenges, whether they come from external or internal sources. When we are in our positions, it is our obligation to maintain the entire leadership structure of the Army, and we will never allow anyone to dare to challenge the President. The authority!”

"Yes!" was another enthusiastic response.

Seeing how everything went so smoothly, Ciel and the minister couldn't help but look at each other again.

It seems that with the help of these people, it is just around the corner to eliminate all possible opposition and establish an entire army leadership system with Louis Bonaparte as the core and the War Department as the central axis.

"Okay, then I will talk about the arrangements for you..." (To be continued...)