"As everyone says, a state-run railway industry needs a healthy manufacturing system. An important responsibility given to us by the state is to establish and maintain a manufacturing system, and only by doing this can we be considered to have fulfilled our responsibilities......"

In the conference room of the Ministry of Railways, Secretary of State Charles de Treville spoke the opening words of the meeting in a lifeless tone.

Although it was only autumn, the wind outside was already a little cool, so the doors and windows in the conference room were closed, which made people feel a little depressed, so they couldn't help but become more depressed when they spoke.

To be honest, in this environment, everyone is a little listless, but because it is the responsibility, they have to reluctantly brace themselves to deal with it. The clerks listened silently to the Secretary of State's speech, and the room was eerily quiet, except for the sound of the stenographer's quick notes on the paper, which was slightly echoed, indicating that it was not empty.

"Although His Excellency the Minister is not here today for some reason, you should have already understood what he meant, yes, he just wants to focus on supporting a few factories to be responsible for the manufacture of rails and locomotives." With his usual calm, Charles continued, "Gentlemen, if you have any opinions, you may say them. ”

Then, with a slight gesture, Charles' secretary Clement Leczynski hurriedly handed the officials a copy of the document that had already been copied in neat handwriting by the junior clerks, and they immediately flipped through it. Except for the occasional few words with the people next to them, they kept a decent silence.

Aside from the lack of modern printing equipment, Yiqiē is very similar to government meetings in the 21st century. It seems that governments have been the same throughout the ages...... Charles, a former little civil servant, thought with a wry smile in his heart.

Of course, he quickly threw aside this meaningless reverie.

The main purpose of today's meeting is to sort out the issue of the government's layout in the railway-related manufacturing industry -- of course, such an important issue will not be decided by a single meeting, and must be finally decided after a long period of discussion, discussion, and distribution.

This is a very important question.

It is different from ordinary workshops or small factories. Heavy industry, which manufactures railroad tracks and large machinery, naturally carries the attributes of high investment and high thresholds, which is enough to discourage ordinary investors. Appropriate government support is therefore necessary. Moreover, because it is very important to the national economy and the people's livelihood, it is inevitable that the government will properly manage these enterprises -- although a certain degree of competition is conducive to improving efficiency, the government will not be happy to see the evil consequences of blind production and quality decline of enterprises brought about by vicious competition.

Of course. These benefits are public. Minister, Charles. Even the other officials in this room will think more about personal aspects. Because of this, their arguments will not be at the strategic level, but will remain at the tactical level - that is, the officials are in harmony on the general policy, but when it comes to implementation, they will have different ideas because of their own interests, so a lot of coordination and compromise will be required.

Charles did not speak again, but waited quietly for feedback from the other officials.

He didn't have to wait long. The officials discussed in whispers for a while, then slowly stopped talking. Then he focused his eyes on Mr. Jean Calvert, the permanent secretary general who was sitting opposite Charles, and Jean Calvert, who was wearing a pair of monocles, coughed deeply before speaking to Charles.

"Mr. de Treville, there is no doubt that I am very much in agreement with His Excellency the Minister, and I am very impressed by his foresight, and that such a detailed plan has obviously wasted a lot of effort on his Excellency," said Mr. Jean-Calvert, whose tone was also characteristic of the reserved indifference of officials, and it was impossible to hear his admiration for the Minister, "Our natural duty as subordinates is to help realize his ideas, but ...... If Your Excellency the Minister had come up with such a plan without consulting us beforehand, it would have been a bit difficult for us to implement it...... I just got the plan, and I don't know how to improve it, and I think we need to talk about it in detail. ”

"So how much longer do we need to discuss?" Charles asked directly, "The minister has always been very concerned about this plan, if there is no progress, I'm afraid he will be angry, right?" ”

"Important things always need to be discussed, and that's always the case with the government, sir." Jean-Calvert frowned slightly, but quickly suppressed his disgust for this impudent young man, "Now that His Excellency the Minister himself is not here, how can we give our opinion?" ”

To be honest, he's very angry right now. It's not that the young man in front of him doesn't know how to be polite, but because the minister and the secretary of state have the audacity to discuss such an important matter without discussing it with these officials, which is simply too much! Where are you still putting him in your eyes?

To be honest, if it is in other departments, this kind of thing is mainly the responsibility of the officials themselves, after all, what can those ministers and secretaries who change every year or two be able to manage? In the end, isn't it up to the permanent officials to be responsible for formulating and implementing the plan, and by the way, to reap the myriad benefits from it?

But because it is a newly established relationship, the pattern within the Ministry of Railways has not yet been completely finalized, because the minister is the first relationship, and many rules in the ministry are really only he can have the final say, plus Minister Dilier and Secretary of State Tréville are both difficult characters, and it is difficult to be confused by the old habits of officials, so these officials really can't do anything about the two of them for the time being.

Therefore, Jean-Calvert could only barely suppress his anger, intending to continue to drag on until later.

His Excellency the Minister was busy with the funeral because of the sudden death of his father, but the work of the Ministry could not be stopped, so most of the meetings were now presided over by Charles and carried out by Mr. Jean-Calvert and others. Of course, this kind of system is fine for dealing with day-to-day affairs, but you can't do such a heavy thing.

But Charles was reluctant to give him such a chance.

"Although His Excellency has unfortunately suffered the loss of his father, he has always taken state affairs to heart." He smiled slowly, "So he's instructed me to hurry up and execute his plan without any delay." I think we'd better follow his advice, and it's not good to keep the minister angry, don't you? Mr? ”

Jean-Calvert couldn't help frowning slightly, he wanted to say something, but he still endured it, and then he glanced at the officials next to him, only to find that no one stood up to show their support - the others found that the two big heads were arguing again, and His Excellency the Minister was involved, so they were too late to be silent, where did they dare to interject and say a word?

No way, theoretically, the ministers and secretaries of state are indeed higher in rank than these officials, so if the two of them are not afraid of making trouble, these officials can only keep their voices down and dare not speak against them, even Jean Calvert himself.

"Since you say so, let's talk about it now." After a few seconds of silence, Jean-Calvert regained his composure, and then, turning to one of the pages, he pointed to a few lines and began to speak.

"According to the minister's plan, he is going to set up several railway bureaus separately, and then sub-regions will be responsible for the operation of the future railway system, and then Paris in the north, Nantes in the west, Metz in the east, Valence in the south, and Toulouse in the southwest, and the sub-regional management, right?"

"Yes, that's it." Charles nodded, then began to explain. "In the future, the railway system will only become more complex, and we will have tens of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of railways to manage. There is no doubt that by that time we will not be able to manage everything in Paris, so I think that it is necessary to have a sub-regional management of the railway system, as with the army. We'll be in charge of the above regions, and then they'll be in charge of the railroads in each province, so that we'll have enough energy to deal with the affairs of each province. What are your thoughts on this? ”

To be honest, most of this plan was drawn up by him, and the minister was only responsible for endorsing and signing it.

"I have no opinion on the idea, sir. But some details are debatable. Jean-Calvert nodded slightly, "Why should the regional administration of the South be placed in Valence and not in Lyon?" It is a more important transport hub than Valence and has a much more developed economy. ”

Jean Calvert is a native of Lyonnais, and of course he wants to fight for more for the people of his hometown.

"Valence is closer to the south, which makes it easier to manage when the time comes, and it is planned that Valence will also become a railway junction." Charles replied softly, but he knew that this reason was certainly not enough to convince the public, so he continued, "Moreover, because Lyon is too developed, we cannot leave the responsibility of managing the region to Lyon, otherwise they will probably feel that they are qualified to compete with Paris."

Gentlemen, though it has not been explicitly stated, it is necessary to distinguish the fact that Paris must be the center of the country, and must be the only pivot of the whole railway system, and I do not want anyone to influence our plans when the time comes, yes, whether it is now or in the future, everything concerning railway affairs should be decided by us alone! ”

His words made all the officials nod their heads in a rare way—what official would want someone to influence his power? Even Jean Calvert secretly agreed with him.

"Okay, that's okay if you're thinking so, but I have another question......" (to be continued......