In order to solve the illegal immigration problem in the southwest region, and also to completely solve the problem in the Nanyang Peninsula, the entire Nanyang Peninsula was annexed, making the entire Nanyang Peninsula the back garden of the Chu Empire.
The senior officials of the Dachu Empire held an imperial strategy meeting in October of the 33rd year of Chengshun.
What was different from previous imperial meetings was that in addition to a vote of ministers and Luo Zhixue, there was one other person present at this imperial meeting.
That is Luo Jian, the crown prince of the Da Chu Empire.
Although many years ago, Luo Zhixue actually arranged for Prince Luo Jian to observe politics and learn how to deal with various affairs, but he has always been working at the grassroots level in various departments.
Over the years, Luo Zhixue basically arranges for the prince to go to a department to observe and study politics every once in a while. In addition to observing and learning, he will also be responsible for handling some affairs through remote control from behind, but he will not stand at the front desk.
Over the years, the prince has basically rotated through all the departments in Gyeonggi Province. Even the Palace Affairs Office, an agency that is responsible for the internal affairs of the royal family, allows the prince to observe and study politics, so that he can understand how the royal family operates internally.
At the same time, he was also asked to study at the Yin Yamen of Yingtian Mansion to understand how local governance was carried out.
After so many years of training, Luo Zhixue estimated that the prince should also have a basic understanding of how the empire, a huge machine, operates, so he began to cultivate the prince's higher-level overall view and transaction processing capabilities.
That's why Prince Luo Li appeared in the imperial study today.
Luo Zhixue was preparing to officially announce that the prince would be allowed to enter the imperial study room to observe politics and study.
The ministers were slightly surprised at first, but as they were all mature old politicians, they quickly calmed down their expressions. Many of them even had slightly strange eyes, but their facial expressions did not change!
As for this matter, they could actually understand with just a little thought that this was Luo Zhixue's next arrangement for the prince.
Luo Zhixue's training of the prince was not secretive or secretive.
In fact, his training of the prince was public. The middle and low-level officials and the people may not know it, but the senior officials of the empire basically knew it.
The prince's experience of studying politics over the years also gave the high-ranking officials of the empire a basic understanding of the prince.
However, this kind of understanding is relatively superficial... After all, when the prince is in the outside world, most of the time he just listens but does not speak. When he handles various affairs remotely, there is actually an entire East Palace staff team behind him to make suggestions.
At most, the ministers can understand the prince's policy tendencies through the way he handles some things, but it is more difficult to know anything about the prince's character.
As the prince of the empire, Luo Li had little direct contact with these ministers, and it is difficult to accurately judge a person's character if you only listen to what others say.
This is especially the case for Prince Luo Li, who has been trained as a prince since he was a child. He knows how to hide his emotions even as a child and is familiar with the operation of the political arena as a teenager.
You think he is just a young man in his twenties, but in fact the prince has been exposed to various government affairs since he was a teenager, learning and practicing various political operations at the same time!
Speaking of the experience of working in the top political circles of the empire, many cabinet ministers who have been in the cabinet for a short time are not as experienced as the prince.
The prince trained in this way is truly a top elite... He is not a prince from a traditional dynasty who doesn't understand anything. He either has a perverted personality, or only cares about benevolence, justice, and morality, or he doesn't eat minced meat.
In fact, it is difficult for you to get a deep understanding of what kind of person he is through superficial contact with such a prince.
How should I put it, the current prince is still a bit mysterious to outside ministers. Even the top ministers of the empire do not have a deep understanding of the prince Luo Li.
Just having a basic understanding is enough.
At least in the past, when the prince was observing and studying politics in various ministries, his overall performance was modest and eager to learn, and he showed no negative signs such as domineering or stubbornness.
Well, I don’t know privately, but on the surface this has never happened.
Everyone in the empire, including high-level and even middle- and lower-level officials, and even ordinary people, still have a very good impression of the imperial prince Luo Li.
But then again, the senior officials present all know that the image of the prince in the outside world is nothing more than a personality created through various means. What his true character is, it is estimated that only some people close to the prince know. .
Even His Majesty Luo Zhixue may not necessarily know what kind of character his son is.
There is nothing wrong with setting up middle and low-level officials like this, but if you want these cabinet ministers to think that Prince Luo Li is just humble and studious... what are you dreaming about in broad daylight?
A group of ministers looked at the prince who followed Luo Zhixue into the royal study. Most of them were just a little stunned inwardly, but on the surface they did not show any surprise.
After bowing to Luo Zhixue, he bowed to the prince to welcome him.
The prince, with a slightly formal smile, nodded slightly towards the courtiers, then raised his right hand slightly and said: "You don't need to be polite, please get up quickly!"
At this moment, all the cabinet ministers stood up straight and returned to the front of their respective positions. However, they did not take their seats, but waited beside the chairs.
Luo Zhixue, who was in the front, first got on the dragon chair that was raised about one meter and sat down.
The prince did not follow him up, but stood under the dragon chair and in front of the left side of the rectangular table where the cabinet ministers were.
Luo Zhixue looked around and immediately said softly: "Give me a seat!"
At this time, the ministers still did not take their seats directly, but continued to stand. At the same time, Jiang Yuanjia, director of the Secretariat of the Hanlin Academy, moved a chair behind the prince, and two first-class secretaries also moved a morning table. The small square table that was prepared was placed in front of the prince.
The three of them gently put down their seats, bowed slightly, and retreated behind the small table aside, ready to start recording the meeting.
In an important meeting such as the imperial strategic meeting, apart from Emperor Luo Zhixue and Tai Luohu, who came for the first time today, the only ministers who are eligible to attend are the ministers of counselors and the co-organizing ministers related to some affairs.
The above is the main body. The ministers' grades start from the second rank, most of them are the second rank, and some of them have the title of first rank or even the first rank.
For example, Ji Dehua, the Minister of Counselor, Count, and in charge of industrial, commercial and economic affairs, was the only minister among the many ministers present who was awarded the title of First Grade Young Master.
He is also the well-deserved civil servant leader of this generation in the imperial study room... Well, there is no practical explanation, it is just a verbal title formed by the fact that he has the highest prestige and the highest level of Zhengyipin.
In terms of actual power, all ministers are actually equal. They all have absolute real power within the scope of their respective affairs. No one except Luo Zhixue can control them.
This is an important manifestation of the imperial study room's participation system, that is, there is no distinction between ministers.
The title of Junior Master of Zhengyipin and the title of earl, which is the highest level compared to the civilian knighthood, are Luo Zhixue's commendation to Ji Dehuazi for his contribution to the industrial and commercial economic development of the empire in the past ten years.
Although the economic development of the empire is a historical trend, with Luo Zhixue's personal intervention at this level, even if he were replaced by an ordinary Minister of Industry, Commerce and Economics, the empire's economy could develop rapidly... But Ji Dehua's achievements are still undeniable.
He was able to maintain the empire's economy at 10% for a long time, and in some years it could even reach a high-speed growth rate of 14 or 15%, greatly improving infrastructure and improving people's lives. In the economic field, he Achievements cannot be erased.
The same is true in the industrial field. During his tenure, the steel industry exploded, and it was also a period of explosive development of ships and trains.
In the national defense industry, the research and development of rifled weapons that Ji Dehua strongly supported has begun to bear fruit. The latest improved model of the Type 18 breech-loading rifled rifle, which is a model that fires all-metal fixed bullets, has been officially finalized and is used in the Guards and the Army. Start serving in small batches.
At the same time, the Type 19 breech-loading rifle developed by Huguang Arms Company also began small-scale service in the army.
The breech-loading rifled artillery that is most urgently needed by the Army has gradually solved some technical difficulties. Especially after the use of metal custom-mounted artillery shells, the air leakage problem has been greatly solved. The Dangtu Artillery Factory, a subsidiary of Jiangnan Weapon Company, has A batch of 75mm breech-loading rifled field guns were produced and provided to the Guards for trial service.
A breech-loaded rifled gun with a larger caliber is also under development, and the development is relatively smooth.
Therefore, today in the thirty-third year of Chengshun, although the overseas armies of the Da Chu Empire still use flash cap fired muskets, in fact, the local Guards and a small number of elite troops of the army have begun to enter a comprehensive The era of breech-loading rifles.
Even the front-loading rifled era has passed directly... Because there is not much difference in cost and technology between small and medium-caliber front-loading rifled guns and breech-loading rifled guns... As a time traveler, if your industrial base can When making a Minie rifle, you actually don’t need to make a Minie rifle, because the same industrial base is enough to make a breech-loading rifle.
The requirements for both of them on the industrial base are actually not large.
This is also the reason why Mini rifles were short-lived in history... If you don't have enough technology, you can't make a Mini rifle, especially when the accuracy is uncontrollable. At most, you can make a few by hand and use it as a toy for the rich... There is no way There is no way to mass-produce equipment on a large scale!
And individual weapons that cannot be equipped on a large scale have no practical significance!
If you have enough technology... As a time traveler, what else can you do with a Mini rifle? Instead of just getting a breech-loading rifle, wouldn't it be better to get a Mauser 1871?
After all, you have solved the problems of barrel rifling strength, corrosion resistance, and processing accuracy... I believe that even if you don't know the technical details of the rotating rear cocking machine, you have heard of this term... Even if you have never heard of it, as long as you have heard of it , knowing this concept, you don’t have to deal with paper-cased bullets, right? You can also change it to a brass cartridge case. There won’t be any technical difficulties... So, you also have metal fixed-loading bullets.
Such an assembly... Lo and behold, Mauser 1871 appears.
However, in the field of large-caliber artillery, due to the weight of the ammunition, there is no way to use metal fixed ammunition. The barrel itself must be used to solve the air leakage problem. Therefore, the technology required for large-caliber breech-loading artillery is higher than that of small- and medium-caliber artillery. The technology of breech-loading artillery is much higher.
This is why after all these years, the Navy still has not been able to obtain large-caliber breech-loading rifled guns. As a result, the Navy can still only use front-loading large-caliber artillery.
Ji Dehua has made great achievements in the development of this series of industrial, commercial, economic and defense industries. Luo Zhixue also noticed it. For this reason, in the 32nd year of Chengshun, he was officially given the title of Zhengyipin Shaoshi.
This is already the highest title that a current official can obtain. As for the higher-level Grand Master, even if Ji Dehua has enough achievements, he will have to wait until he dies before he can be awarded posthumously. A further step is to give him the title before his death. Granted.
Ji Dehua, who holds the title of Young Master, as the first civil servant among the ministers present, naturally stood at the front left of the rectangular table. The other cabinet ministers stood in their respective positions according to their rank and status.
As for the director of the secretariat, Jiang Yuanjia, and the four first-class secretaries, they were not actually participants and did not have any right to speak at the meeting. They were just here to record the meeting and serve tea and water.
Others are simply not qualified to appear on such an occasion.
This is also the reason why the positions in the Hanlin Academy Secretariat, especially the first-class secretary level, are regarded by young middle-level officials as the most noble and core positions.
As for the director of the Secretariat... he is not a mid-level official, but a serious third-rank official. He is often transferred from the heads of ministries and local chief envoys. Subsequent transfers are from the second-rank minister or governor. .
However, a third-grade official, on an occasion like today, can really only serve tea and pour water, and take some meeting minutes... Although he does not need to write the entire record himself, but four first-class secretaries. records, but he also needs to record some key points of the meeting and form a formal edict document for some of the decisions made by Luo Zhixue during the meeting.
Jiang Yuanjia stood respectfully. After seeing Prince Luo Jian sitting in front of him, many cabinet ministers at the rectangular table sat down one after another.
At this time, Jiang Yuanjia and four first-class secretaries sat behind his small square table, each picking up a pen to record the meeting.
Jiang Yuanjia just recorded the key points, while the other four first-class secretaries recorded the entire speeches of His Majesty, the Crown Prince and the cabinet ministers, without leaving a single word behind.
After all, the minutes of a royal strategic meeting of this level must be archived and saved for subsequent reference at any time.
After everyone sat down one after another, Luo Zhixue spoke first: "Before the meeting starts today, let me say something first!"
"My dear friends, I have also seen that the prince has also come today. From today on, the prince will enter the royal study room to observe politics and study. He is young and inexperienced. My dear friends, please be more considerate in the future. And teach him much.”
After Luo Zhi learned what he said, he glanced at the prince. Prince Luo Jian immediately stood up and said: "My son, I obey the order!"
Then he turned to a group of ministers and said, "I will ask you more for advice from now on!"
Although the ministers and counselors in the imperial study room of the Great Chu Empire did not have any formal titles, the outside world basically regarded them as cabinet ministers, and they were often called "ge elders" in colloquial terms.
When the prince said this, he somewhat elevated everyone.
Immediately Ji Dehua, the head of the civil service, stood up and said: "The prince's words are serious. It is the duty of ministers to serve your majesty and advise the prince. I will definitely speak freely in the future without losing your majesty's expectations!"
Ji Dehua did not respond to Luo Zhixue's instructions. The prince's request for advice meant that the minister was not qualified and could never be used... because these were the words of the emperor... To put it bluntly, the emperor is assigning tasks to you, how could that be? Reason for your delay.
The task is assigned to you, and whether you like it or not, whether you are sincere or not, you have to do it.
Of course, this also has something to do with Luo Zhixue's character and long-term behavior habits... When it comes to formal affairs, Luo Zhixue especially hates his ministers playing modesty with him, so he won't do that if he postpones it!
When Luo Zhixue assigns tasks, no matter how nice his tone is, he is giving an order and assigning tasks. As a subordinate, when you receive a task, if you have any difficulties, just say it. If nothing happens, just follow it.
If you play modesty and delay with Luo Zhixue, if you offend Luo Zhixue, he will kick you to Java Island with his backhand... You can't expect to be able to return to Gyeonggi and take up a post in this life.
This is the habit Luo Zhixue has developed during his long-term handling of government affairs: time is precious, speak up if you have something to do, speak up if you have difficulties, and shut up if nothing happens.
As for the loftiness of intellectuals, face and so on... Everyone present, including the four seemingly young and transparent first secretaries in the imperial political arena, who is not a political veteran... They can tear off the face thing themselves and throw it away. I stepped on the ground twice and had to pee again!
After all, if they didn't have extraordinary abilities and means, how could they stand out from the vast number of middle-level officials in the empire and become first-class secretaries of the Secretariat, accompanying them every day?
In short, everyone is a thousand-year-old fox, why are we pretending to be innocent?
After talking about studying politics in the royal study room, Luo Zhixue spoke again: "Today's meeting is for nothing else but to talk about the situation in the South Pacific Peninsula. Not long ago, the governor of Malacca and the governor of Bangladesh jointly submitted a letter , I am petitioning to increase the immigration development in the Nanyang Peninsula, I believe you all know about it."
"Today, we are discussing this matter to see if it is feasible to increase immigration and development, and if it is to be done, to what extent, how to do it specifically, what is the cost, etc."
"Old rules, you gentlemen can speak freely!"
After saying that, Luo Zhixue stopped talking, and even half-closed his eyes slightly, as if he had begun to recuperate and close his eyes...
This is also an old tradition in most imperial meetings... Luo Zhixue only started, and left the rest to the ministers to discuss on their own.
When the ministers have reached the end of their discussion and Luo Zhixue agrees with the results of the discussion, it means that a new strategic decision that can affect the empire will be formed.
If the ministers cannot reach a unanimous result through discussion, then it will be postponed. After the meeting, the ministers will discuss on their own, exchange interests, etc... and wait until the second meeting to reach a unified consensus.
If it doesn't work... then it doesn't work... Luo Zhixue generally doesn't interfere too much in the discussions and final results of the ministers.
The premise is that he is satisfied with the result.
If you are not satisfied...discuss again!
To put it bluntly, the imperial strategy meeting was for the ministers to discuss among themselves and finally reach a result that Luo Zhixue was satisfied with.
Luo Zhixue stopped talking, but the ministers did not speak immediately, but looked at the prince.
The prince still looked humble and studious and said: "I am here today just to watch and learn. You elders don't need to look at me..."
He said this with a bit of a joking tone!
After listening to the prince's words, the cabinet ministers began to speak one after another and entered the normal rhythm of the imperial strategy meeting!
What rhythm?
Let’s quarrel!
Wasn’t the imperial strategy meeting in the Chu Empire full of quarrels?
Any imperial strategic decision is often of great importance and involves many departments, agencies and regions at the same time. There is a lot of interest space for these cabinet ministers to compete for.
For example, regarding the increased large-scale development of the Nanyang Peninsula this time, the military first stated that there is no military problem, the only problem is military expenditure...
This time is the overall strategic decision of the empire. If military action is to be taken, the cabinet will have to use money as military expenses. Don't expect the military to pay for the war out of its own pocket!
Don’t even think about it!
Naturally, the civil servants in the cabinet disagreed. Nie Fengyu, who was in charge of civil affairs, as the new minister of staff, naturally had to behave in front of other senior civil ministers, at least to let other civil ministers know about his Stand your ground.
What position? The army and the army are at odds with each other!
So he rudely refuted the military's request for military expenditures: "Isn't it that more than 100 million military expenditures are spent every year just for things like today? If there is no war, what will I do to raise you? It's not enough to raise a bunch of dogs." It’s more reliable than you, at least you can let the dog bite someone without throwing an extra bone to it.”
Then the military generals got mad...slapping the table and about to rush out to fight. Fortunately, the imperial guards outside ran over and stopped them, and then a fight in front of the imperial court was organized.
When a group of courtiers were quarreling and banging the table to fight, Luo Zhixue closed his eyes and meditated. Even the prince, who came to the royal study for the first time to attend a meeting, was indifferent to the situation in front of him, looking like he was in a state of wandering...
The king closed his eyes to rest while his ministers quarreled or even fought. This was an old tradition in the political circles of the Chu Empire.
Even if the prince has never experienced it before, he has heard about it many times and was even reminded by Luo Zhixue in advance, so he has made sufficient mental preparations for today's situation in advance.
I will definitely not participate in person at this time, let alone laugh out loud on the spot.
On the other hand, Jiang Wenming, one of the four first-class secretaries who had just become a first-class secretary a few months ago, was a little stunned when he saw this scene.
Damn it, this royal meeting is even more exaggerated than the rumors!
