As the morning sun rises, everything is revived in spring, as if a huge green carpet envelops every town, and in this seemingly endless field, the roads and railroad tracks are laid out, like silk threads woven on the green carpet. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

And on these black tracks, the train rolls forward with thick smoke, giving the seemingly frozen time a little more color from the modern era.

As black trains roared and departed, smuggling passengers from all sides, the otherwise sparsely populated Giverny station suddenly became bustling in a matter of days. People from all over the world gather at this small station, which brings a rare hustle and bustle to the town.

However, these were not tourists or artists who came to enjoy the spring scenery, they were all railway officials specially gathered by the Charles, some of whom were the heads of the various regions divided by the Empire's railway network, as well as the heads of important departments in the ministry.

It was because of the coordinated or occasionally intriguing day-to-day work of these men that the Empire's railroad business flourished, developed at an astonishing rate, and continued to run smoothly.

Because of the convenience of their duties, after receiving a notice from His Excellency the Minister by telegram, these officials adjusted their itinerary as quickly as possible, and arrived at Giverny early by the railroad operated by their own service, lest they should be left behind. They arrived in the town before the scheduled time indicated by the telegram from His Excellency the Chancellor.

Fortunately, although this is a remote town, His Excellency the Minister has taken into account everyone's difficulties, so he booked the best hotel in this town early for these officials who have come from afar.

They were amazed at the fact that they had nothing to expect from the inn, but as soon as they moved in, they were amazed to find that the furnishings and furnishings were very elegant, the service was very good, and the comfort of living was no less than that of the good hotels in other big cities.

However, even if they didn't know this, these adults still had a rough estimate of the Trevill family's wealth and Xuanhe. When the trains came to Giverny from all directions, they would pass through a large factory area, and some of the smoky factories were dedicated to the production of rails and locomotives for the Empire's railways, and they used their painstaking products to supply the Empire's railroad business in the past and still are.

And they have swallowed up a large number of orders from the Ministry, as well as the untold budget and wealth of the empire - and these factories, although no one has ever said it explicitly, but everyone knows in their hearts that they are the property of the Tréville family, and it is precisely because of this tacit understanding that few people have been able to compete with Giverny's factories for orders, and others can only compete outside of Giverny's orders.

It was close to evening, but the officials did not rest as they had done the previous two days, and they walked out of the hotel and came to the Giverny station, where they awaited the arrival of His Excellency the Chancellor.

When the sun in the sky turned red and yellow, the train carrying His Excellency the Minister slowly stopped in front of the platform with the roar of a steam train.

The people who were still chatting hurriedly held their breath and walked to the front of the exit of the train to wait for His Excellency the Minister.

After the stop, the passengers inside began to stream out, but they were not tourists from all directions, they were the same officials in the ministry, when they saw the colleagues and officials waiting outside, they all smiled and nodded in greeting, and some of them even walked up to the colleagues they knew and friended, and whispered a few words of greeting.

They were in a good mood, because in normal times they would not have had the opportunity to leave Paris on a special train, but today it can be said that they have been stained with the light of His Excellency the Minister, and they all feel honored.

On the surface, the Shire did not have a special train - only His Majesty the Emperor and the Empress, and a few royal princes, but the reality was that at the slightest word he could send a train to several railway stations in Paris, and to any station on the railway network. After all, he is the minister in charge of the Empire's railroad business, and his subordinates will definitely do their best to consider him.

The officials deployed in the capital always seem to be superior, even if the petty officials are often arrogant in front of the officials in the field, but the officials outside are also extraordinary, they are all local heads, and the leading director is at the same level as the director of the ministry, and he may return to the ministry as their boss at any time, so they don't dare to put on a show, and the two groups of people talk very happily and immediately stand together harmoniously.

After a few moments, His Excellency and his retinue appeared at the door, and when he appeared, the well-dressed officials ceased to greet each other, and then stood respectfully at the same time, and then took off their hats and saluted the Charles as if they were courtiers of the monarch.

"Good afternoon, Your Excellency!"

"Guys, it's a nice day." Compared to their seriousness, Charles was light-hearted, he waved his hand at the crowd, and then looked up at the sunset and clouds, "Sure enough, this kind of weather is suitable for everyone to get together." ”

The officials laughed in unison, echoing his words.

Although Charles had been away for a while, several years of superior-subordinate relations had developed a solid interpersonal relationship between them, and most of these officials had been promoted under the young minister, and had been carrying out his plans and obeying his orders, so that they had formed a habit of obeying him, taking His Excellency's admonitions as a matter of course, and no one thought that His Excellency might no longer lead them.

In their greetings, Charles walked to the platform, and then walked down the long passage to the outside of the station, where the officials gathered around him, tacitly determining the distance from the Chancellor according to their rank and authority, while the retinue followed the group with suitcases.

Among these entourages, several people were wearing military uniforms, but these officials ignored them intentionally or unintentionally, did not interact with them in any way, and they also had serious expressions, did not smile, and did not greet others.

When the Ministry of Communications was still the Ministry of Railways, Charles decided to let the army send an executive agency to be stationed in the Ministry of Railways, as the representative of the army, responsible for the communication between the two ministries, and at the same time supervise the normal operation of the railway system when necessary.

Because of the difference in status, and more importantly, to avoid suspicion, these stationed officers rarely interacted with the officials of the Ministry of Railways, and rarely interacted in public, so even if the atmosphere was so warm when greeting the minister, these officers were still left out in the cold, and they did not care.

Surrounded by the officials, His Excellency sat in the carriage that had been prepared, and then the group rode in the carriage to the hotel where they were staying.

It was very quiet as the whole inn had been chartered, and the ministers and the officials came to the dining room to prepare for dinner, as the chamberlain had been entertained.

"It's been a long time since I took office last year and it's been a good thing to have the opportunity to get together today." In the interval before the meal, Charles sat down and said to the officials next to him with a smile, "Whether you are in the capital or in the place, the work is very hard, of course I can understand, so take this opportunity for everyone to take a good rest, Giverny is a small city, and there are few residents, resting here will not cause anyone to be surprised, I think you will soon be able to sweep away the fatigue accumulated by the long hours of hard work, recover as much energy as possible, and continue to serve the empire and your majesty......"

"Thank you, Your Excellency!" Charles's confession surprised and delighted the officials.

Of course, they could tell that Charles meant that they could relax in this little town without any disturbance.

"However, it is not enough to gather everyone here just for fun, and I think it is better for us to get things done while resting reasonably." After mobilizing everyone's emotions, Charles's words changed, "After all, as public servants, we have to work first before we can talk about enjoyment." ”

"Your Excellency is right, we must put the cause first, after all, Your Majesty has entrusted us with such a heavy responsibility, and we should not be neglected in the slightest." A middle-aged official sitting next to Charles immediately replied, echoing Charles's words as if to admonish his colleagues, "We must serve the country first, and then talk about personal enjoyment." ”

In order to develop the railway industry and facilitate the management of railway traffic in various places, Charles decided to set up several railway bureaus, which were responsible for the operation of the future railway system in the north, Nantes in the west, Metz in the east, Valence in the south, and Toulouse in the southwest. Although there are several new railway bureaus set up in the back, these bureaus have become the veterans and important ministers of the ministry because they were established first, and their status is slightly higher than that of their colleagues at the same level.

And this second to His Excellency is none other than the director of the Nantes railway bureau Angers-Menech, who served in the government in his early years, and participated in the management of the first railways in France, and has been promoted for decades, holding many important positions, so he is also an old official in the ministry, and he has always regarded himself as an "old qualification", and often likes to give instructions in front of his colleagues.

Of course, his attitude was not accepted by other colleagues, some chose to be silent in a sneer, while some people who thought that their qualifications and power were no worse than him could not sit still.

"Your Excellency, please tell us what exactly you need us to do? We will definitely complete your order without hesitation. A middle-aged official with a beard snatched the conversation from Menek and asked Charles directly, "We never do what you tell us to do. ”

The person who said this is called Victor LeCamus, he is also the head of a railway bureau, before in Valence, he is less qualified than Menek, but he is very energetic, and has always been very serious about carrying out the orders of his superiors, so he is very resolute, so he is also very trusted and reused by Charles, and finally became the head of a local bureau after all the way up.

Because of this favor, he has always regarded himself as a confidant of His Excellency, and thinks that he is the most suitable person in the ministry to be promoted to assist His Excellency, and of course he is not accustomed to Menek's attitude.

"I'm very satisfied that you have such a positive attitude." After these people expressed their attitudes, Charles nodded, fed himself a sip of wine with a spring breeze on his face, and then continued, "As long as you continue to work with the same attitude as before, then I believe that the important task entrusted to us by His Majesty will be completed." ”

He had noticed the intrigues and contempt of his subordinates in private, but he was not disgusted with that. The more the subordinates dislike each other, the more they will come up with all their efforts to achieve the boss's orders, because they are afraid that they will be stabbed in front of the boss by their colleagues, and if the subordinates are ironclad, the boss's work will be very troublesome.

Of course, this mutual jealousy must be controlled to a certain extent, and it must not be allowed to turn into open struggles and quarrels, otherwise normal work will not be able to continue.

Then, under the watchful eyes of the people, Charles said the intention of summoning them, "I'm sorry, although I sent an urgent telegram to summon you here, but I have never told you my intentions, so I wasted your time for no reason, but I think you will forgive me, because it is confidential, I can't tell you too much in the telegram." ”

As soon as they heard that "the matter was confidential," these officials could not sit still, and they all sat upright, lest they be reprimanded by His Excellency the Minister.

"Now, it's all my own, and it's all word of mouth, so I'm not going to hide anything, and I'll be honest with you—" Charles slowly lowered his glass, then looked at them solemnly. "Before, you assisted me in running the Empire's railroad system well, and the results were very good, and you also received the reward you deserved; But...... Before, you achieved this in peacetime, but now the situation is different, because the situation of the empire has put new demands on us, and your majesty needs us to run the empire's railroads in an urgent state of war, or, it can even be said, we want us to use the empire's railways to assist him in a better war! ”

"War?" The word immediately swept away the good atmosphere of the officials, and some even turned pale, apparently unprepared for it. "This ...... Is this true? ”

"Of course it's true, but don't worry, this is not a war against our border country, so you don't run the risk of being attacked by enemy forces." Charles looked much more relaxed, still smiling.

Officials in the east and south breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Charles say this, and they were indeed afraid of fighting on the border.

However, Charles immediately changed his words, "But, gentlemen, this also means that we have to face greater difficulties!" Because we have to cooperate with an expedition, we need to plan all the railroad operations well, and at the same time communicate closely with the army to meet all their transportation needs, and only then can we complete Your Majesty's task, and I think you should understand how important and difficult this task is. ”

At this time, the officials who came to their senses immediately looked at the officers in military uniforms who were present in the corner, and they understood why His Excellency had brought these officers to attend the internal meeting of the Ministry.

Sensing their gaze, the officers smiled and nodded to the officer, all of them looking full of ambition, apparently looking forward to the future of war.

These officers were specially selected from the Army, and they had always prided themselves on being elite, but since they were stationed at the Ministry of Railways, they have been caught up in the daily paperwork that is difficult to get rid of, and they have worn out their passion in these jobs, and they have become anxious and even suspect that they have come to the wrong place when they see their colleagues promoted in the local regiments or War Departments.

Now that they have finally shown their importance, it means that the opportunity for promotion has come – provided that they perform well enough to satisfy the Army's top brass, of course.

In the midst of their silence, Charles's speech continued.

"It is a pity that I cannot tell you much about the war here, but I can tell you that it will be an expedition of unprecedented proportions, and that this will give us insurmountable difficulties, which must be very great, and will be continuous, and will make each one of us sad! What is even more regrettable is that no matter how hard we try, we will not be praised, and the soldiers on the front line and the public in the rear will blame us for not doing everything well! Because, in the eyes of everyone, we should do well, and it is unforgivable to do a little bit of what we don't do well......"

He looked around at the officials, "But, even so, we still have to fulfill our obligations to the Empire and Your Majesty, and fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to us by the Empire!" I said that in the future, if there is anyone who dissatisfies me or affects the war, then no matter how much you have liked me before, he will be doomed! Do you understand? ”

"Got it!" At Charles's questioning, the officials all shook their heads and stood up at the same time to answer.