After talking with the prime minister and reaching a tacit understanding in secret, the two of them tacitly left the sensitive topics just now and re-talked about the previous irrelevant historical topics. Charles had been listening to Count Oppur talk about his war experiences, and occasionally he relayed his grandfather's memories of the war.

The conversation between the two men did not last long, and when the clock pointed to two o'clock in the afternoon, the door to the office opened, and a secretary walked in, and then saluted His Excellency the Prime Minister.

"Good luck with you, Charles." Perhaps because of the pleasant conversation they had just had, Count Opple changed his name to a more affectionate name, and then made a gesture towards Charles.

"Thank you, goodbye, Your Excellency."

Charles smiled and stood up, saluted, and followed the secretary out of the room.

The leader walked down the hallway and stairs for a while before stopping in front of a conference room door.

"This is it, sir, they are all waiting for you here, and you can go in directly." The secretary whispered to Charles, "I'll be waiting for you here, and I'll take you to your office when you're done with the meeting, where everything is already packed." ”

"Very good, thank you for your help." Charles thanked the other gently, not showing any arrogance at all.

Seeing that Charles was ready, the secretary didn't say anything more, and directly reached for the doorknob, and then pulled the door open.

Then, he became the center of attention, and he was in a moment. I made it clear to everyone here.

As he had already experienced many times, there was a large group of officials sitting in the conference room, with the same expressions as their colleagues in the Ministry of Railways. Strict and cold.

If anything, there is a difference among the people in this room, who are basically in military uniforms - although there must be many of them who have never seen a battlefield.

Undoubtedly, many of the oncoming eyes were not filled with kindness, but mixed with suspicion, defensiveness, and even jealousy. But it's nothing, it's all expected.

Led by his secretary, he walked over to an empty seat in the center of the conference table. And then. He looked at the officials present with no expression.

These officials, the highest-ranking officials of the 6th Military Department, are in charge of extremely important deployments. In charge of personnel, ordnance. Logistical. Finance, and even the officers of the military doctor or veterans' affairs, are all sitting in the conference room at the moment, and they are also looking at themselves intently.

The more times like this, the more you can't be stage frightened.

"Hello gentlemen, I am Charles de Treville, the new Secretary of State appointed by the President to the Headquarters."

He was silent. The officials stood up in unison and saluted Charles.

Ugh. This is a little different from those officials of the Ministry of Railways, after all, it is a military agency.

"Oh, please be seated." Charles smiled and waved his hand, and then sat down first. "As you all know, I haven't been in the military, so maybe I don't want to be too nervous, and since you're all older than me, if you are too strict with me, it will make me unhappy! Please don't be nervous, don't be nervous......"

Under Charles's smiling explanation, the originally tense atmosphere in the conference room slowly relaxed, but some officials couldn't help but look at Charles more contemptuously, as if they were speculating how long he would be working before leaving.

Charr didn't care how they felt, though, because he hadn't put his hopes in these people in the first place - they were all too old.

"You may no doubt be a little surprised that I was suddenly appointed to this position...... To be honest, a few months ago, I myself did not expect such an appointment. Even after Mr. President told me about his plans, I still trepided my concerns with him......" Charles still smiled, "but Mr. President's next words made me feel relieved and realized my mission." ”

Charles succeeded in whetting the appetite of the officials, who were all slightly curious.

"I came to use this position to win over more officers of the 6th Army, so that they could help Monsieur Bonaparte usurp the country and become emperor." - Of course he wouldn't say that.

"As you must have known for a long time, I used to serve in the Ministry of Railways, and with the support of Mr. President and all walks of life, I have made some achievements to a greater or lesser extent. To put it bluntly, the current planning and construction of railways in my country is basically carried out in accordance with my previous plan. After a moment's pause, Charles went straight to the point, "It is precisely because of this that Mr. President has deliberately prepared for me to come here to coordinate the development and use of the railroad with the needs of the army......

Many nodded to themselves, and it seemed that this was a good reason.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Charles also breathed a sigh of relief.

"In this day and age, the rapid development of the railway network is greatly reshaping every aspect of society, and as part of a civilized society, the military aspect is certainly not immune. As experienced people, it is only natural that you can see that the railroad has revolutionized the movement of troops and logistical transportation.

Therefore, Mr. President has transferred me, who had previously served as state secretary of the Ministry of Railways, to the headquarters in the hope that I will promote cooperation between the military and the railway department. I can assure you here that not only me, but also my former colleagues who worked in the Ministry of Railways are also very patriotic people, and they will be happy to provide the 6th Army with the help they deserve......"

Then, Charles glanced around the officials present, "Since I have just arrived, I am not very familiar with my work, so there are many places where I need to ask you for advice, and I ask you to cooperate when the time comes—of course, I will not interfere too much with your work." As for me, as long as there is something that needs help, just tell me, and I will definitely do my best to help. All right...... You're all very busy, so I won't talk about the time-wasting clichés, and I've already introduced the background, thank you. ”

After he finished speaking, a round of applause, though not sincere, but polite enough, rang out, as if to praise Charles's concise style.

Next, under Charles's instructions, the officials present also introduced themselves one by one, so that Charles had a preliminary impression of his colleagues.

Unlike when he was in the Ministry of Railways, the officials here are much more reserved and cold, but it is no wonder, after all, this is an old yamen with intertwined forces, and of course he will not take a flow official like Xia Er who doesn't know whether he can be a year or two seriously.

Because of this, Charles knew that he could not mess around as soon as he came, so he only talked to the officials in a friendly manner, and then announced the dismissal of the meeting, allowing the officials to go back to their work.

However, because of his work, he kept Baron de Milo, the head of the Logistics Division, and Baron de Gerlo, the head of the Military Affairs Department.

Baron de Milo was a balding, obese middle-aged man, who didn't match the uniform he wore at all, but although he looked fat and clumsy, his eyes were very smart, and he was obviously a clever and cunning man. It looks like he was supposed to be a quartermaster.

Baron de Gelllo, on the other hand, was a general on active duty, as quiet and aloof as anyone else who had been rigorously trained.

"Mr. de Gelllo, I would like to ask you a question." After everyone else had left, Charles spoke directly.

Baron Gerlo did not reply, but only glanced at Charles with an inquiring look.

"I hope to be able to organize a military exercise in a short time, can you prepare a force for deployment at that time?" Because the other party definitely doesn't like to go around in circles, Charles's words are also very direct, "In a week or so, the railway line from Paris to Le Mans will be fully opened, and I hope to take this opportunity to practice the rapid movement of troops." Since the President sent me here to coordinate the work, I thought we should start as soon as possible. ”

Baron Gerlo pondered for a moment before replying.

"At what scale do you want it to be? If it's at the regimental level, I think there's no problem. ”

"That's enough." Charles nodded in satisfaction.

Then, he turned to look at Baron de Milo.

"Mr. de Milo, I hope you will be able to prepare the supplies you need by then."

"That's not much of a problem...... Baron de Milo agreed, as if he was feeling a little uneasy about Charles' dominating topic, "but it would be quite expensive to conduct an exercise of this magnitude." ”

"That's okay......" Charles replied with a smile. As for the cost, I think the 6th Army has enough budget to cover it, and I'll talk to someone from the audit department later. No other questions, right? ”

"No, sir." The two men looked at each other for a moment, then replied.

"So, let's get to work on it when you two go back, and I hope we can have a concrete plan in the next few days." Charles nodded, indicating that he had finished saying what he wanted to say, "I'll be on the sidelines, ready to assist you." ”

"Yes, sir." Seeing that Charles had already made up his mind, the two officials didn't say anything more, stood up, and left the conference room.

It seems that these high-ranking officials have made up their minds -- they can cooperate with official affairs, but they will not get involved in politics.

Therefore, they lacked the enthusiasm and enthusiasm to cooperate - from the beginning to the end, no one said a word to them about anything other than official business, not even a word of hint.

Looking at the backs of the two officials leaving, Charles thought to himself.

It seems that the only way to start is with the young officials. (To be continued!)

Tips: The new domain name "biquge.info" has been launched by Biquge, and the original domain name is about to be discontinued. Please tell each other, thank you!