Chapter 546 [Walking Together]

In fact, before this, the huge territory occupied by the Northern Army included the area of several counties, and in this area, in fact, there was no so-called "local government affairs" in the sense.

Since the invasion of the Odins, the war began, and then the northern army group rose in the chaos of the war, and actually controlled a large area of the northern part of the Byzantine Empire, first calling itself the Northern Theater, and later through Char's imperial capital King Qin and his party, officially renamed the "Northern Garrison".

However, whether it was in the former Northern Theater or the garrison that was later changed, there is no such thing as "local government affairs" in this piece of land.

The territory controlled by the entire Northern Army has always been a mixed rule model similar to that of the military and the government. The group of the Northern Army is equivalent to an army-style government here, and it governs the land with a militarized rule model.

Or to put it more directly, before that, the entire area occupied by the Northern Army, who really ran local government affairs, and was in charge of local taxes, finances, and many other real powers, was actually another person: Cato, the logistics chief of the Northern Army and nicknamed "smuggler".

Yes, the logistics headquarters actually took over all the local government in the entire area controlled by the Northern Army: finances, taxes, local servitude, collection and distribution of supplies, and so on. After the original local government of the Byzantine Empire was destroyed by the Odins, after the recovery of the Northern Army, it did not re-establish the government of local administration, but simply replaced it with an army.

The dark clouds of the previous war have not yet dispersed, and the entire northern army, both inside and outside, is ruling the areas under their control in line with the idea of "everything is prepared for war, everything is for the army". Basically, local finances are directly collected by the army's logistics headquarters, and all financial revenues are directly managed and distributed by the Northern Army Command, and there is no so-called local government at all.

Fiscal taxes, all plus financial resources and resources, and all materials must be uniformly allocated by the army.

It can even be said that before this, the logistics headquarters was actually the real "government department" of the territory occupied by the Northern Army. In fact, Katona's future chief was in charge of the local government affairs and finances of several counties for a considerable part of the time. Gert was in charge of the army, and the governor of Cato was in charge of the treasury, which was the real distribution of the two major powers within the Northern Army.

As for Sophie, "the chief of staff actually played the role of a staff member.

Now, however, the situation has changed.

It can be said that this battle played the prestige and domineering of the Northern Army, making the Northern Army leap into the current number one powerful force in the entire Byzantine Empire. Under such circumstances, it seems that the clouds of war for the time being can be dissipated, and the Northern Army urgently needs a period of steady development in order to properly integrate and digest the huge territory that has been swallowed.

And at this time, it is obviously no longer appropriate to continue to use this and the "military management" model to control such a large territory with a large population.

In any case, military management is definitely not a long-term solution, and even from the perspective of the power structure, it is by no means a good choice to replace local governments with the military for a long time, mixing government affairs with military affairs.

And the development program set by Sophie for Char also proposed long ago that if the army continues to be in charge of local government affairs, and all the powers of local taxation and finance are put in charge of the army, then for a long time, I am afraid that there will still be hidden dangers! There is no doubt that the military government "is definitely not a healthy existence, and in the long run, it will raise a group with deformed rights!"

Char also fully agreed with his chief of staff's point of view, in the opinion of the turtle, it was better for the army to be pure.

Therefore, the redivision of rights has become a necessary step in the innovation of government affairs:

The establishment of a group, which was used to manage local government affairs and remove these rights from the hands of the army, was also Sufism's first program for government affairs.

The bunch of officials sent by the imperial capital also happened to give Char an excuse to reform government affairs.

Of course, the top and bottom of the Northern Army have long been accustomed to exercising the so-called "military management," and have been accustomed to having all the powers under the control of the military, such as military spending, and in the case of the Northern Army, the logistics headquarters directly collects local fiscal tax revenues, and then directly converts these financial revenues into military expenditures, and if other places want to use money, they must instead take it out of the budget of the General Logistics Headquarters.

And now the hasty and sudden division of power will inevitably make the military who are accustomed to controlling everything have some dissatisfaction, which is easy to understand, this has nothing to do with dissatisfaction and loyalty to Char, but no matter who it is, it is used to being in power, and it is used to reaching out to get money, and it suddenly becomes a bunch of procedures to be executed, and someone is stuck in the neck, and no one can stand it.

Still, Char made up her mind to innovate.

Just because of Sophie's words.

"If you don't mind turning the Northern Army into a warlord group, then you might as well keep it as it is. ”

※※※

In order to alleviate the military's dissatisfaction with the loss of power, Char has already given some compensation to the sub-military in advance.

For example, this time, in order to deal with those officials sent by the imperial capital, the military has already scavenged all the financial and tax warehouses in various and local places in advance with the connivance of Char, and all the materials, money, and taxes have been transported to the hands of the logistics headquarters. This is equivalent to Char's little sweetness and compensation to the military.

Then, he would begin to build a new governing team, led by Sophie, to take charge of the affairs of various parts of his territory:

In the future, government affairs and military affairs must be strictly separated!

However, it is not so simple and easy to let the party in power suddenly cede the power in its hands:

Sophie's question happens to be the most sensitive topic at the moment!

What if the military still meddles in local government affairs according to its habit?

As a rising northern powerhouse, it seems that a military leader like Char can rise in the north, and the army is the foundation of all his careers and his capital.

If the military continues to habitually meddle in local military affairs, or if it causes some internal contradictions, Sophie is not sure who Char, the supreme leader, will prefer! I am afraid that when the time comes, in order to calm the morale of the army, Char may make some compromises or tolerate the army.

This is not Sophie's unfounded speculation.

In the process of gradually implementing the separation of government these days, Sophie, who was implementing this plan, only found some signs of danger.

In some places, the army seems to be accustomed to being in charge of everything, collecting local taxes according to the military orders of the logistics headquarters, and then directly attributed the financial resources to military expenses, or even to what construction is to be carried out at the local level, or all other places that need money, but it is difficult to get money out of the army's right hand.

In some places, when the people sent by Sophi to liquidate the local treasury, they met the refusal of the military people, and in the eyes of these military leaders, the military and political power are now grasped by one hand, and there is no difference between local finance and military expenditure in their hearts, in their opinion, everything belongs to the army, and the local financial taxes should all belong to the army. Jokes!

These signs of danger were suppressed by Char's stern military orders. But it's hard to guarantee that something like this won't happen again:

If, when they are then integrating local government affairs, the army sends people to collect taxes or collect materials, then will the people listen to the local government affairs or the army?

Looking at Sophie and Gemo, their faces were different, especially Green, their faces seemed to be slightly ugly, and the mood of the old mad dog was very complicated.

On the one hand, he recognized Suf's view that continuing to use the army to control all power would sooner or later degenerate this group of the Northern Army into a warlord group.

But on the other hand, as the second commander of the Northern Army and the number one painter who has always been in charge of military affairs under Char's command, he must also take into account the will within the army. The sudden loss of power will inevitably cause dissatisfaction, and how to balance all aspects of the relationship will especially give him a headache:

However, it is not easy for him to express his opinion casually on this matter: if he is biased towards the military, it will inevitably arouse suspicion that he is deliberately currying favor with the army, and even suspected of bribing the morale of the army.

If he favors Sophie's New Deal, then many people in the army will feel cold, thinking that he is ignoring the interests of the army.

And Sophie obviously understood Green's concerns, and did not force the military steward to take a stand. "The strategy remains the same. Char finally gave the answer Sophie wanted: "Military affairs and government affairs must be separated, and they must not be delayed!"

As he spoke, he looked at Green, then sighed softly, and said slowly: "Green, in fact, I have also thought about it these days, our Northern Army, life is really happy." It can be said that the entire Byzantine Empire is only afraid that no army has a better life than our northern army: in other places, whether it is the central government of the imperial capital or those big warlords, the army's military expenses and ordnance materials must be approved by the government, and then the budget of the financial department will be allocated to the army. And we are good here, the army directly threw off all the others, and directly expropriated what they needed, and all local construction was given to the army. Such a day is naturally cool, but it is too dangerous.

Such a comfortable life, if it goes on like this, I'm afraid that some people don't know who they are. "With this man's words, I am much more relieved. Sophie sighed deliberately and said with a slow smile: "After the separation of government affairs, military spending is no longer directly controlled by the army, but is changed to a normalized budget system and appropriation system. In addition, there is always so much fiscal revenue, and even if our fiscal revenue will gradually and slowly increase, after the implementation of the new policy, the localities need to build and develop, so a considerable part of the fiscal revenue will have to be set aside for local use, and the part that can be left for the military budget will naturally be much smaller than before, and when the time comes, the ...... "" The high command will naturally worry about this problem. Char waved his hand, but a flash of determination flashed in his eyes: "In any case, the army must no longer interfere in government affairs, and military expenses must be budgeted by the logistics headquarters and then submitted to the high command for review and then allocated from the financial revenue." You must not just reach out and take as much as you want like before. In the future, we have to make an appearance, well...... "Green is going to take a timetable, and everything must be canceled within a month, military control!"

Grimm responded with a straight face. "Alright. Char smiled again on his face and said slowly: "Since everything has been discussed and left, it is up to the two of you to carry it out." As for me, I'm going back to the imperial capital this time......"

Char only told the two that he was going to the emperor to have important things, and he naturally didn't dare to say that he was going to the holy city of Babylon. You must know that the Holy City is in the Territory of Chaos, the road is far away, and there are thousands of mountains and rivers: and to go to the Holy City from the Byzantine Empire, you must pass through the hinterland of the Chaos Lord, the Territory of Chaos, where various races are entrenched, and there are countless demonic beasts in the huge forest and ocean, as well as elves, dwarves, giants and other legendary races, and these races have one characteristic, that is, their attitude towards humans is not very friendly.

All, to the holy city of Babylon, in the opinion of the people, is a long walk and even comes with considerable risk.

Char's going out of the house has already caused Green's dissatisfaction, if he tells the old mad dog that he is going to such a distant and dangerous place, how can the old mad dog agree to take the risk himself?

,...... "I will return to the imperial capital this time, and the time will be as little as one month, and as much as three months. When Char said this, he noticed that there seemed to be a faint hint of mockery in Sophie's eyes, as if this extremely smart girl had already seen through her nonsense, and couldn't help but feel a void in her heart, and sped up and said: "The affairs of the family, the military affairs of Green will be decided by one person, and the government affairs of Sophie will be decided! If there is any major matter, the two of you will handle it together." "I have one more request. Sophie spoke suddenly. "Huh?" "You are the leader of the Northern Army, your Excellency is not here, if something major happens, if Grimm and I disagree, and the two of us insist on each other, and we can't discuss it, wouldn't it be bad?" Sophie shook her head and said: "So, I ask your Excellency to leave an arbiter, if I disagree with Lord Green, who will listen to it, it will be taken by the arbiter." "Arbiter, who's going to play that role?"

Green also nodded: "It's a good idea, if I have a dispute with the chief of staff, there really needs to be an arbitration, as for the candidate..." ”

Sophie shook her head: "Lord Cato is not suitable, Cato is shrewd and capable, but he is a person in the army, and the military position is under Lord Green, if he is the arbiter, I am afraid that he will not dare to reject Lord Green's decision, hehe, one by one"

Green snorted, "Okay, then let Reinhardt take on this role." Reinhardt is upright and decisive, principled in his work, and always fair, and will never favor me because he is my subordinate. "Neither can Reinhardt. Sophie shook her head again and said lightly: "He is also from the military." No matter how impartial Reinhardt is, it is inevitable that he will subconsciously do things more from the position of the army. "Ha, Cato can't do it, and Reinhardt can't do it, so who are you going to?" Green was a little dissatisfied, and said coldly: "Just find someone from your Sophie-sama's side, and then they will help you talk for everything." ”

Sophie was not annoyed, and smiled lightly: "Since I said something like that, naturally I won't find someone to favor me." It's just that this candidate, whether it's someone from the military or someone from me, will be unfair. I have a wonderful candidate, and this person is neither from the military nor from the government. And the identity of this person can be convincing and convincing, as the arbiter, no one will object, and he is really the best candidate. "Who?" Green glanced at Sophie.

Sophie blinked deliberately and said with a smile: "Didn't my lord get married in Guazhou? Then, Adeline is our Duchess, and now she is the identity of the master mother of our entire Northern Army! ”

Green was stunned for this candidate, but after thinking about it, he also felt that what Sophie said made sense. Adeline is now Char's wife, that is the rightful mother, she came forward to be the arbiter, and she is indeed a candidate who can convince both the top and the bottom. "Adeline didn't deal with any of these things. Char shook her head. "Madame doesn't have any of these experiences, but don't forget Madame Yuria. Lady Yulia is intelligent and capable, and has also dealt with financial matters. Sophie seemed to bite the bullet and asked Char to push his wife to the front desk: "When necessary, ask Mrs. Yulia to be the counselor of the staff, as for the master mother, you only need to be a symbolic arbiter, after all, if you are not at home, except for the master mother, there is really no second person who can convince everyone in all aspects." ”

Seeing that Sophie insisted, and Green agreed, Char had to nod.

When the three of them had finished their discussions, it was already dark.

At last night's wedding banquet, most of the guests were drunk, and most of them were still hungover in bed the next day.

In the morning, many streets inside and outside Denzel are still wafting with the smell of wine after drinking all night, and drunk staggering passers-by can be seen on the streets.

Only the patrol of the city defense still patrolled in strict accordance with the military order.

At noon, Char personally received many guests who came to congratulate him, and after thanking them one by one, he sent someone to send everyone away, and took the time to meet with the representatives of several officials who came from the imperial capital.

Immediately, he secretly summoned several important subordinates, Cato, Sharpa, and Reinhardt. That's what you can do with everything

But the most difficult thing is to face his new wife.

On the first day of the wedding, he had to leave home, and no matter who he was afraid of, he didn't have a mother in his heart.

Adeline is naturally reluctant to give up, after all, she is only a young woman, she married the man she loves the most, and she has not really enjoyed the sweetness of the newlywed, and her husband is about to go away, so she is naturally depressed.

Char's kind words comforted her, but she exhausted all her means, and finally coaxed Adeline to show her face slightly, but of course she didn't dare to tell her wife where she really went, only said that she was going outside to inspect the army's defenses, and then talked about the days when she was not at home, and asked Adeline to play the role of the housewife and arbiter.

That night, Char naturally hugged his new wife and kept it warm, and the next morning, he got up early, and his men brought horses and everything he needed to go out, and then left with a few attendants and servants.

No one in the city knew about the commander's quiet departure, and no one even knew the true whereabouts of Lord Char.

Although Char brought some guards and servants with him, these people only followed him from Danjing City, rode horses along the way to Xincheng, and were assigned a so-called "secret mission" by him, "sending all the people around him", while Char quietly left Xincheng alone and went east.

It's just that Char went out of the new city to the east, and he didn't walk more than a few miles, and he saw the fork in the road in front of him, one in the direction of the south is the main road to the imperial capital, and the other direction is to the east to the Corsica region.

And at this fork in the road, there was another person, who stood at the fork in the road early, quietly waiting for Char's arrival:

In the distance, as soon as Char saw the figure dressed in black and the dazzling three-edged war spear, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. "Hmph, swallow slowly, I waited for you here for two days, I thought you should have arrived the day before yesterday, but I didn't expect you to be so slow. ”

Hasting's voice was cold, with a few dissatisfactions: "Why are you here?" Char turned over and dismounted, looked at Hasting, frowned, and said, "Yi, it looks like you are also going to go far away?" "Nonsense, you are going to Babylon" Hmph, have you beaten Saint Laurent Garros?" Hasting sneered. "I can't beat it, can you beat it?" Char snorted, and then said with a straight face: "You really want to go to the Holy City with me?" "I naturally have my reasons. Hasting's expression was indifferent. "Hah!" Char couldn't help but say, "I know, you heard that woman say that there is some kind of poison that can solve the elf clan on your body, right?"

Hastings stopped talking this time, just looked at Char coldly. "Well, you guy is cold and boring to talk about, how do you think I'll agree to go on the road with you?" Char glanced at the scab.

Hastings laughed, and this time, he made Char completely shut up with one word.

"Char, do you know the way to the Holy City?"