It is indeed not uncommon for the Qing Dynasty to fight with the coalition forces of European countries, and they have fought in Tianjin and South Africa, but the situation in the northwest is different this time, it can be said that the offensive and defensive transposition, the northwest is the home of the Northwest Army, and the European coalition forces are assisting the Northwest Army in defense this time.

To tell the truth, Su Shun is still very worried about the upcoming outbreak of the Northwest War, although the Northwest Army is not famous in the Yuanqi New Army, but it is also well-equipped and strong, and it has been training in actual combat to recruit and suppress horse bandits all year round, which is really not to be underestimated, at least in the northwest is famous, and there are European countries to support and send troops to help, he is really not optimistic.

However, seeing that the other party was full of confidence, he only suppressed his worries, and said tentatively: "The preparations for the Security Committee have been basically completed, and Xingzhi is now an associate minister, so it is better for Xingzhi to serve as the chairman........" ”

Yi Zhicontent said undoubtedly: "According to the regulations, the chairman of the National Security Committee should be the prime minister of the cabinet, and the prime minister does not need to shirk the blame, but should serve as a deputy in the capacity of an assistant minister, and the distinction between priority and priority cannot be confused." ”

Hearing this, Su Shun couldn't help but smile bitterly, even if he served as the chairman of the Security Committee, he would be in name only, but he also thought about it, it is better to have a name than not to have a name.

"The Security Committee was established to unify military power, not just in name." Yi Zhishu continued: "China's territory is vast, from south to north, from east to west, spanning tens of thousands of miles, the biggest security danger is not outside, but inside, we must strictly prevent the formation of factions in the army due to the region, the formation of warlords and the formation of warlords, the principle of serving in different places and stationing in other places must be resolutely implemented. ”

Is this to be impatient to transfer the Eight Banners New Army and the Beiyang Naval Division out of the Beijing Division and the Northeast? Su Shun hurriedly took the initiative to say: "Can we use the northwest to start a war and gradually complete the transfer of defense?" Also...... can the Janissaries stay still? ”

Yi Zhishu nodded, "After the establishment of the Security Committee, you will meet and make decisions on your own, and I am more inclined to use moderate means to achieve the goal." ”

On the same day, the Shanghai Daily and the Beijing Daily published an article detailing the civil service system in England, and this move immediately aroused strong interest in the civil service system in England from both the government and the opposition, and some people with a keen political sense immediately realized that this was a signal to promote the reform of the civil service system.

The provincial newspapers that responded quickly were not only issued in the numbers, but also reprinted the next day if they were slow to respond, and the government and the opposition immediately set off a heated discussion on the reform of the civil service system.

With the vigorous promotion of Yuanqi and the support of huge funds, the Qing Dynasty has gradually attached importance to education since the late Daoguang period, and at present, the Qing Dynasty's emphasis on education can be said to have reached an unprecedented level, the new style of school has spread to the township level, free education has also been popularized in most provinces, and the wind of studying abroad in the West is also very popular.

The most immediate impact of this move was that the literacy rate of the Qing Dynasty increased dramatically, from less than 5% to more than 30% in just 40 years, even compared with Western countries. Another striking phenomenon is the rapid expansion of the number of scholars, or intellectuals.

In the past 40 years, the whole Qing Dynasty has been in a stage of rapid development, under the guidance of the rapid development of finance, industry, science and technology, transportation and communications, the whole Qing Dynasty has undergone earth-shaking changes, the rapid development of society is naturally to stimulate the demand for talents, and the annual college graduates and returned students can not meet the needs of the society.

In order to show respect for knowledge and talent, in order to cooperate with the gradual abolition of the privileges of the gentry, and of course to promote the development of new-style education, the Qing Dynasty treated intellectuals very generously, and the monthly salary of ordinary intellectuals, such as primary and secondary school teachers and factory technicians, was at least three times that of ordinary workers, as high as 18 to 25 yuan, and as for high-level intellectuals, such as university professors, lecturers, engineers, and researchers, the monthly salary was generally 50 or 60 yuan, and the monthly salary of more than 100 yuan was not much, but it was not less.

Despite the generous salary, many intellectuals still have a strong interest in becoming officials, learning to become literary and martial arts, and goods to the emperor's family. Since ancient times, scholars have followed the mindset of reading as an official.

Over the years, although the imperial examination system has not been explicitly abolished, in fact, there has been no opening of the imperial examination system, and the Qing Dynasty lacks everything, except that there is no shortage of alternate officials, and the officials waiting to fill the vacancies are like carp crossing the river, which leads to a large number of intellectuals who have no way to enter the ranks.

If the Qing Dynasty imitates the civil service system of England and carries out reforms, it will be equivalent to opening the door to all intellectuals.

Another more important thing is that the civil servants in England do not participate in political disputes, and once hired, they can serve for life without legal reasons or resignation, which is equivalent to minimizing the risk of being an official.

Of course, some people are happy and some people are worried, for the current officials, especially some middle and lower-level officials, this is definitely not good news, and you can imagine it with your toes, once the Qing Dynasty implements the reform of the civil service system, at least some officials will lose their posts and be dismissed.

Although many people are worried about this, no one is stupid enough to openly oppose it, their arms can't reach their thighs, it is clear that Yuan Qi and the imperial court have joined forces to implement reforms, who dares to do a war at this time, the horse neighing, will become the chicken that kills the chicken and makes an example of the monkey, even the prince of the iron hat said to kill it, not to mention these petty officials, all they can do is to find ways to remedy it.

In winter, it gets dark early, less than seven o'clock, the sky is already dark, when the lights are on, a four-wheeled carriage slowly enters the side door of the Zhennan Palace, and in the carriage, the German minister in the Qing Dynasty Mu Mo is silently smoking a cigarette.

The carriage stopped outside the courtyard of the Changle Book House, a secretary came forward, and after a simple greeting and greeting, he led the other party into the courtyard, and Mu Mo, who had a gloomy face, barely squeezed out a smile when he entered the room and saw Yi Zhicontent, who got up to greet him, and after seeing the salute and sat down, he said straightforwardly: "I just received a telegram from China, under the lobbying of Britain and Russia, Austria-Hungary and Italy have agreed to send troops to Central Asia. ”

Listening to the translation, Yi Zhizhi raised his eyebrows, for him, this news is really a bit of a surprise, France is just involved, and it is actually Austria-Hungary and Italy that are also involved, this is Britain and Russia deliberately guarding against Germany?

However, for the Qing Dynasty, this is obviously good news, anyway, the banquet is set down, and two more guests are just two more pairs of dishes and chopsticks, of course, you can also receive two more gifts by the way, which is a rare good thing.

With a slight groan, he said indifferently: "Thank you, Your Excellency, for reminding me in time." ”

Seeing that his reaction was indifferent, Mu Mo had no choice but to take the initiative to say: "Your Highness should know that in this situation, our country's situation is very dangerous. ”

Yi Zhishu nodded slightly, "My country fully respects your country's choice. ”