If we look back at the official document system, the Ariake Dynasty was undoubtedly the culmination of this system, and the mature official document system improved administrative efficiency to a certain extent, or it can be said that it was a reasonable evolution after the abolition of the prime minister.

In the early days, it was relatively common to have a regular court, but as time passed, the regular court that used to be held once a day became less and less.

However, under the effect of the cabinet system and the perfect official document system, even Jiajing and Wanli, two emperors who were accustomed to not going to the court, could control the government, and the rule of official documents can be said to be one of the characteristics of the Ming Dynasty.

The same is true today, Zhu Shiyan has never liked to convene a group of people to discuss together, he thinks that this is very inefficient.

As a result, although the cabinet is accustomed to meeting on its own every three or five days, it is not common for the Imperial Council to hold meetings, and it may only be held three or five times a year.

However, now that the new emperor has succeeded to the throne, a pre-imperial meeting that clarifies the interests of all parties and finalizes the national policy is obviously indispensable.

It can be said that the magnates and businessmen of the entire empire are always paying attention, and how the general direction of policy changes is too important for them.

For example, in a garment factory, the owner has to do everything possible to obtain all kinds of information to clearly arrange the production plan - when will the military department place an order? During this period, do you wait in vain or take other private orders first? If you take other orders from the private sector, how much can you receive at most?

If the grasp is not in place, waiting for a few months or half a year, the whole plant will undoubtedly lose a lot if it does not start; If the construction starts, the total number of orders received will be too much, and there will be no spare strength to receive orders from the military at that time.

As for whether to recruit more workers and buy new machines temporarily, these should also not be arbitrary, workers need to pay money, and machines need to be assembled and maintained.

This is the value of information, and the powerful are often people who can grasp the first-hand information, even if they are sitting at home, there will be all kinds of people to send money, just hoping to ask for a little valid information.

Bunyuan Pavilion, which used to be used as a place to store books and cabinet affairs, has now been changed to a meeting for meetings, and it is basically a high-level meeting.

Today's Imperial Council is being held in this chamber.

"Your Majesty has arrived."

The car carrying Zhu Lingjing slowly stopped in front of Wenyuan Pavilion, and the shuttle bus that the rest of the entourage was riding also stopped.

The sergeant in the brocade guard who led the car got out of the car, reached out to open the car door and retreated to the side.

At 10:03 a.m. on September 24, the 38th year of Zhichang, because the emperor was a little late, the meeting started a little later than planned.

Zhou Changfeng and a few people followed Zhu Lingjing about three or four steps away, and he was accompanied by Fang Shujun and Su Yiyi.

In the spacious and bright hall, a group of square tables are neatly arranged, one on the left and one on the right, and the middle side is a separate place for the imperial table and the throne.

The tables and chairs here are all made of nanmu wood, carved with delicate ornamentation; There are no large ceiling fans on the ceiling, but instead there are two central air conditioning outlets at the front and rear.

The first feeling when you walk in here is that it is cool, and there is still some residual heat in Nanjing in early autumn, but under the effect of air conditioning, the indoor temperature is just controlled at 26 °C.

It is known that more than 10 bigwigs participated in the meeting, including Gao Qingkui, prime minister of the cabinet, Lin Xi, minister of national defense, Yu Shenhua, minister of foreign affairs, Li Guangyuan, minister of finance, Chen Jieli, president of the Advisory Yuan, and Ma Mingli, vice president, Wu Weihuan, the governor of the army, and Tongzhi, the governor of the army, the army, navy, and air force.

The huge hall brought together a group of people from the core of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhou Changfeng, who was accustomed to the big scenes of war, couldn't help but speed up his heartbeat - the aura that came from here was completely different from the dangerous battlefield.

More than a dozen people present stood up, turned around slightly, and then bowed together and saluted, "I've seen Your Majesty." ”

The emperor sat down, and then beckoned everyone to sit down, but the three of them had nowhere to sit, and they stood side by side a few steps behind the emperor's right.

Everyone here is busy and doesn't have any time to waste, so it's impossible to be unprepared for a meeting, or it's easy to get caught up in endless prevarication.

Prior to this, the relevant agenda had already been arranged, and the specific topics were listed on paper one by one, and it was not necessary to divert the topic during the meeting.

The first topic is the most simple and straightforward, which is about the posthumous sealing and burial of the crown prince. The crown prince died young, and the emperor insisted on posthumously making him emperor and buried him directly in the existing mausoleum.

Zhu Lingjing naturally has no opinions, and the ministers are all in favor, the crown prince's running and dedication over the years are obvious to all, and the nominal posthumous seal is reasonable and reasonable, but it is just to build an additional mausoleum.

Many times, as soon as the new emperor succeeded to the throne, the mausoleum of Zhu Shiyan started relatively late, about ten years ago before the construction was started one after another, with the help of construction machinery in more than half a year.

What is embarrassing is that it is not himself who will be buried later, but his son.

The role of this topic now seems to be to familiarize everyone? After the unanimous agreement, the Imperial Council, which had not been held for a long time, became a little lighter.

Next, Foreign Minister Yu Shenhua stood up and gave an explanation of the recent world situation.

"On August 27, the envoys of Britain, France, and Russia gathered in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss measures to coordinate the containment of Germany, the details of which are not yet known, but it is likely that they will be more focused on preparations for a military alliance."

"On the fourth day of the first month of this month, a small border war broke out between Italy and Austria, and the former returned defeated, and low-key announced more than 400 casualties, but according to the report of our legation in Vienna, the actual loss was thousands, and there were several artillery vehicles."

"On the ninth day of this month, the Russian Duma passed amendments to the Law on General Mobilization, which aim to further refine the conscription and speed up the conscription process; At the same time, they expanded their army and formed 15 new infantry divisions. ”

"On the 18th, in accordance with the presidential decree, the United States added an 8,000-ton floating dock and 10 large submarines on the basis of the second Vincennes Act that had already been implemented."

After his words fell, Chan Kai-lai, president of the Advisory Yuan, opened his mouth to ask: "Will the German side react in the past two days?" At least the day before yesterday, there was no news. ”

"There is no official external information, they have been silent." Yu Shenhua replied.

Then, Prime Minister Gao Qingkui stood up, glanced at the more than ten people present, and said:

"Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, the current situation is becoming increasingly tense, and it is not optimistic."

"On the European side, Germany, Austria and other countries and Britain, France and Russia are bound to start a big war, 20 years ago both sides were exhausted and unable to fight again, and now after recuperation, it is naturally impossible to live together for a long time."

"Here in our country, the British are plotting to send a large army to deter and restrain the pace of our army. The Dutch were with them, and they were doing their best to organize their defenses. ”

"In any case, Britain is the first priority of Europe, and the Netherlands is already in decline, and although it will be a little troublesome for the two to resist together, there is nothing to fear."

"In contrast, the United States, which seems to be on the other side of the ocean, must be wary, and after the expiration of the naval treaty, the Americans' shipbuilding program is huge."

"It is foreseeable that in a year and a half at the latest, its Pacific Fleet will not be inferior to the entire Chinese Navy."

"Once a war breaks out in Europe, it will not end in the short term, but will inevitably become protracted, extensive, and serious."

"The United States is still doing business with both sides, but it is impossible to sit idly by and watch the whole of Western Europe, that is, if the war is not in favor of Britain and France, the United States is very likely to cross the ocean to enter the war as it did in the previous European war.

"This period is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for the country to conquer the South Seas, and if the military is smooth and the diplomacy is appropriate, the British are very likely to make a wise concession."

"Correspondingly, the negotiating conditions should be to suspend the southward movement so as to ensure the safety of Australia."

"On the basis of this inference, the general strategy envisaged by the Cabinet is to step up preparations for war, and that our DPRK must complete preparations as soon as possible to cope with the most dangerous major war, and to use both hard and soft diplomatic means, and there is a slight possibility that the British side will take the initiative to retreat, which is naturally very happy."

"At the same time, if a war breaks out in Europe, after a period of time, we can consider taking the opportunity to send troops (to the South Seas)."

After finishing speaking, he turned his head to look in the direction of the emperor and arched his hand: "The above is the expectation of the ministers, please judge Your Majesty." ”

The military department didn't speak, so it's a ghost!

Zhu Lingjing, who was leaning on the back of the chair, looked very relaxed, as if she regarded this place as her home.

Well, strictly speaking, this is indeed her home. Zhou Changfeng on the side thought so.

She waved the folding fan in her hand and said unhurriedly: "The summary is very comprehensive." So, what does Wei Guogong think? ”

Wu Weihuan immediately stood up and muttered: "This analysis is indeed correct, but it is not rigorous. Wait and see what happens after the war in Europe? Contemplation? How long is it to stay quiet? This must be made clear, otherwise it is just talk. ”

This question should not be answered by Gao Qingkui, and in the face of such a concrete rhetorical question, Lin Xi, who is a minister of national defense, got up and answered.

"Naturally, we have to wait for the battle situation to be clear." Lin Xi smiled bitterly and continued: "Although this is vague, I think you should be able to understand it. ”

God knows what a war will look like! We don't have the power of prophets.

The fearful French built a long and strong Maginot Line on the border, and the French army was claimed to be the strongest in Europe.

After the outbreak of war, where did the Germans go? None of this is known.

If the Germans were stuck in the line, they would have to make a brutal and slow attack, thus tug-of-war back and forth near the border. Then at least for the British, the scale of such a war is manageable and can be dealt with calmly.

As a result, they will have time to look at the Far East.

This is not difficult to understand, everyone present naturally understands, but Zhu Lingjing is not very satisfied with Lin Xi's words.

"Such vague words, Qing and the others know it, but maybe I didn't understand?" She said nonchalantly.

Usually, in order to communicate efficiently, Lin Xi definitely has no spare time to explain in detail, figuratively speaking, it is the classic word used by the leaders - first this, then that.

"Uh...... Minister......"

"I don't have to explain this, let's move on."

Lin Xi, who was quite embarrassed, was speechless for a while, and was about to explain in detail, but Zhu Lingjing directly waved her hand and ordered to skip this episode.

Tut! The woman spoke as usual...... It's uncomfortable.

Zhou Changfeng, who was standing behind her right, only felt a little awkward, and couldn't help but recall the conversation he had with her in the past.

"I've thought about it carefully," Wu Weihuan ignored the awkward atmosphere at the scene, and said bluntly: "In the case of uncertain how the war will develop, there is no need to wait and see, the best time is precisely the beginning." ”

His words immediately attracted everyone's attention, except for a few other military personnel, the Governor Tongzhi of the Army, Navy and Air of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion was still calm.

Wu Weihuan avoided the eyes of the others and turned his head directly to look at the emperor.

"We can't predict, will the British have a way? As soon as the war began and it was still unclear, they immediately intervened, and it was expected that they would not dare to divide their forces to support, so they could only respond with a conservative attitude. ”

"After that, no matter how the war in Europe changes, the time will be enough for our army to march forward."

"Besides, we are not optimistic about the defense of the French side, and the Metropolitan Governor's Office has made several deductions, and the French army often shows its decline in three or four months. Contemptible people agree with this result. ”

The highest level of war is to "command" the enemy, and the second is to predict the enemy's prediction.

Compared with the conservative ideas of the cabinet, the plan of the military department is undoubtedly much bolder.

Just take advantage of the start of the fight in front of the British's house, and make trouble in the backyard, so that the British can only pinch their noses and admit it, otherwise they will lose sight of one or the other.

"But you're not taking that into account the U.S. variable." Lin Xi frowned and said: "We have long been informed that the secret agreement between Britain and the United States is being negotiated, whether it is a mutual defense agreement or not, if so, how can our army deal with the two navies at the same time?" ”

"Does your assumption fit with what your cabinet has said before?" Wu Weihuan was a little annoyed, and he asked rhetorically: "If Britain and the United States jointly defend the South Seas, what difference does it make if they wait and see the war in Europe before sending troops?" ”

"If the war in Europe becomes tighter, the U.S. side may not fulfill the agreement......"

"It's ridiculously childish, it's ridiculous! I don't have the guts at all. ”

Zhou Changfeng wandered for a moment, thinking about the time required for the transfer of the US Pacific Fleet, but when he came back to his senses, he found that the atmosphere at the scene was not good.

Belch... How can the traditional customs of civil and military opposition still be seen today?

Although there is no contradiction between the army and the navy, there is a civil-military confrontation with Chinese characteristics, right?

As for the analysis just stated by the two sides, purely objectively, Zhou Changfeng even more agrees with the concept of the military department.

It's not that it's bad to strike later, but it's obviously better to take the initiative in this situation now.

As for the Anglo-American Mutual Defense Agreement, he has the impression that it seems that it was only settled after 40 years in history, and before that Britain and the United States could be said to be playing their own games.

What's more, although the Americans are also preparing for war, but not to a high degree. Especially in the army, the number is small and the equipment is poor, and the M2A2 light tank can be called a tin can.

When the war started on the European side, the Germans indirectly helped to share most of the attention, what is there to be afraid of in this situation? Just do it and you're done!

Zhu Lingjing, who looked as usual, chuckled, then knocked on the imperial case, and said calmly: "This is not a place for quarrels. ”

(End of chapter)