Chapter 274 Government Agencies and Heads
After calming the mood of the nobles, William ordered them all to step down and separately summoned seven people, including Count Adolf, Count Hubert, Count Richard, Count Rodrigo, Count Andrew, Archbishop of Normandy Hamelin, and Steward Osborne, to the next meeting of the supreme decision.
This supreme decision-making meeting evolved from the original military aircraft department, because the affairs decided by this meeting were no longer limited to military aspects, so William called it the supreme decision-making meeting.
The meeting was attended by at least the nobles, archbishops, and heads of government departments of the rank of earl and above, and they were in such a prominent position that William was trusted by William that they were also qualified to participate in this supreme decision-making meeting.
The decision-making meeting was protracted, and it was only in the middle of the night that William and his vassals and nobles had agreed on a rough framework for reform, and had reached a preliminary agreement on the creation and reorganization of government agencies, the reorganization of the army, and the transfer of personnel, all of which would require several more meetings.
In the future, the government institutions of the Norman kingdom will be under the command of the Prime Minister, and William's uncle, the former Keeper of the Seal, Earl Adolf, will be appointed by William as the Honored Prime Minister, who will act in William's place to manage the power of the government.
Under the Prime Minister, William created the War Secretary and War Office, a position that William's trusted Earl Hubert would hold and lead the newly formed War Office.
The Minister of War is the head of the War Department, the highest leadership body of the Army in the Cabinet Government, referred to as the "Land Minister", and his status is second only to the post of Prime Minister.
As Minister of War, Earl Hubert's main responsibilities are to be in charge of the government's defense policy, troop mobilization, defense budget, weapons development, military intelligence, etc., and can be played by William alongside the Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff on military and political issues, or on a separate basis.
In addition, William created the post of Chief of Staff, who was the head of the General Staff Headquarters of the future Norman Kingdom, whose main responsibility was to assist William in commanding the army and to issue combat orders on William's behalf.
This important position will be filled by Count Richard, who has experienced war experience, and who will resign from his previous position as head of the Knights of Evreux to assume this important position.
The General Staff Headquarters was divided into the General Affairs Section, the Education Section, the Operations Section, the Establishment and Mobilization Section, the Strategy and History Section, the Communications and Transportation Section, and the Military Intelligence Section, as well as the Army University, the Army Field Officer College, and the Army Armament and Engineering College, which were reorganized from the military part of the Knight College.
It can be seen from this that the power and status of this staff headquarters can be said to be incomparably prominent, only a cut below that of the War Department.
Here, William deliberately set up military intelligence agencies for both the War Department and the General Staff Headquarters, in order to balance the powers of the two and strengthen William's control over military power.
Originally, in William's vision, there should still be the position of Minister of the Navy, so that the three military institutions could become a three-legged situation, but because the navy was established for too short a time, and there was no enough noble generals and achievements in the navy, the weight of the speech was too light, so William entrusted the naval affairs to the War Department under the charge of Earl Hubert, and established a naval section under the War Department.
In the future Norman kingdom, the Ministry of Finance was the third most important department, and the power of the Minister of Finance was second only to the Minister of War, and he was honored as the 'Minister of Finance'.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer's main responsibilities is to set the annual "Budget", set spending caps for various government departments, and is responsible for the collection of taxes within the territory, and is the God of Wealth for the entire government.
Since the Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for setting spending caps for government departments, he has some influence over various departments. As for the amount of influence, it often depends on whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself is strong and powerful, whether he enjoys a certain status in the aristocratic circle, and his relationship with William and the Prime Minister.
As William's most trusted person, Osborne's butler was rightfully appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, and with his closest relationship with William and his prestige, he had power comparable to that of a prime minister.
After Chancellor of the Exchequer, William's new Foreign Secretary and Foreign Office were also very important in terms of powers and responsibilities, inheriting most of the powers of the former Keeper of the Seals, and were the highest authority in charge of foreign relations in the Norman Kingdom.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the administrative agency responsible for the foreign relations of the Norman Kingdom, including foreign policy, the dispatch of envoys, trade and navigation, and the conclusion of treaties.
This position is very important, and it carries important responsibilities that make William afraid to decide on his candidate lightly.
At this time, William's entrainment did not have many suitable diplomatic talents, and most of his noble vassals were from the military, and they were very good at military affairs, but they were bitter in diplomacy.
In the end, it was Count Adolf who recommended a candidate for William, that is, Father Giggs of Koulogne of the Countdom of Gini, a parish bishop of commoner origin.
William was not familiar with Father Giggs, but he said that he would examine him for a while and finally judge his suitability for the post of Foreign Secretary based on his grades.
Among William's government agencies, the Ministry of Justice was a very important department, and William had high hopes for it, which was the key to his strengthening of royal power.
The Ministry of Justice is an administrative agency that upholds the basic legal system, formulates laws, protects the rights of citizens, and uniformly handles lawsuits related to national interests.
The main matters in charge of the Norman Kingdom Legal Department include the judicial system, civil administration (nationality, household registration, registration, trusteeship), criminal and civil law filing, prosecution, amendment, immigration management of litigation related to national interests, public security investigations, etc.
At the central level, the Ministry of Justice has set up a secretarial section, a judicial and legal affairs section, a civil affairs section, a criminal section, an entry-exit administration section, a procuratorial section, and a legislative affairs council.
At the local level, the Ministry of Justice has established local courts, circuit courts, public security bureaus, prisons, detention centers, and other institutions to maintain local justice and ensure public order and the safety of people's lives and property.
For this position, William chose a well-educated man with an upright character. Morality. Sir Efron holds the post of Minister of Justice.
This Sir Lancelin was a judge under William, serving as Judge Efron and then Judge Rouen, and during his tenure he performed well, which William admired.
In addition, this person is also dignified, with golden curls and long beard combed exceptionally fresh, always polite when talking to others, and his words are very philosophical and convincing.
In the end, Archbishop Hamelin was rightfully appointed by William to the post of Minister of Religion, responsible for all religious affairs in the Norman kingdom.
In this way, William's initial positions and departments were the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, the Secretary of War and the War Department, the Chief of Staff and the General Staff Headquarters, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Ministry of Finance, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice and the Ministry of Justice, and the Minister of Religion and the Ministry of Religious Administration.
In William's view, these seven heads and seven important departments were enough to support William's centralized rule over the Norman kingdom, and whether to increase departmental institutions in the future depended on the situation.