[empire]

[Wuwu Palace]

It is said that the corridor leading to the emperor's private office is the most "hard" road in the empire.

Only those who have truly walked this path know that "difficult to walk" is not only a metaphor, but also the most objective and accurate description.

In order to highlight the emperor's authority and power, the architect of the Crazy Emperor Richard specially set up a magnificent corridor in the office area of ​​Wuwu Palace.

Those who meet must walk tremblingly on the marble tiles as smooth as mirrors. Looking up, there is a towering dome like a temple; looking forward, there is a solemn corridor with no one.

The huge glass windows are bright and bright, but they make the corridor more quiet; the stone walls should be airtight, but they make people feel chilled unconsciously.

Rather than saying that the end of this gallery called "Glacier" is the emperor's private office, it is more like a road to the dragon's cave.

Considering that the imperial nobles, regardless of their status, prefer to use some kind of mouth to spit fire, produce scales, sharp teeth and claws, and extremely dangerous mythical creatures that occupy supreme wealth to refer to [Henry III], the saying that "the end of the ice river is the dragon's den" is not considered a creation out of nothing, and it can always make the audience smile at the cocktail party.

However, even in the "hard to walk" glacier, some people can make some unusual movements.

In the emperor's private office, [Count Narzia], who was helping the emperor to unpack the letter, could not help but lift the corner of his mouth as soon as he heard the dull sound of "dongdong" coming from the corridor.

"Your Majesty." Earl Narzia put down the letter knife in his hand and said with a smile: "General Arakcheev is here."

The emperor, who was sitting on the only chair in the room, nodded and gently put the quill back into the ink bottle.

Count Narzia knew and helped the emperor organize his desk with neatness, then consciously retreated aside, waiting for the arrival of the most popular figure in the imperial political arena, the War Minister Alexei Arakcheev.

...

In all senses, Alexey Alakcheev is a person who should not be found on the top of the imperial political building.

He was just the son of a poor little nobleman from the Far East province. His ancestors' property had long been squandered in the alternation of generations, leaving him with only a ridiculed aristocratic identity.

However, it was because of his "nobleness" that Arakcheyev entered the Royal Junior Military Preparation School, and then relied on his ability to be admitted to the highest military institution of the Empire in the Eternal City.

According to common sense, the best way for such aristocratic officers from other provinces without foundation is to be assigned to the Northern Army or the Eastern Army, starting from grassroots officers, accumulating merits little by little in the ice and snow and yellow sand, striving to be transferred back to the mainland province before the age of forty, and enjoy the rest of his life in a relatively wealthy foreign province, or be put into a coffin and sent back to his hometown before that.

However, the emperor promoted Alexei Alakcheyev from this fate. He asked Alexei to serve as his military officer and released the latter at a suitable time. After he obtained enough military merits, he immediately transferred him back to the center of power.

In the Eternal City, any individual who has obtained such holy favors will arouse countless criticisms and jealousy. Not to mention that Arakcheyev is a nobleman from other provinces who has no foundation and is not popular.

His image is strange and out of place in the luxurious and enjoyable city of eternal and glorious celebrations of the imperial court.

Everyone knows that Alexey Alakcheyev gets up at four o'clock every day and arrives at work at six o'clock, and requires all subordinates to arrive before he arrives. Violators are warned by one offender, fined by two offenders, and dismissed by three offenders, and even the prince cannot be exempted.

In terms of personal life, Alexey Alakcheyev's stinginess is even more famous for the eternal city.

He never went to the theater or attended dance parties, and was very cautious and stingy when eating and drinking. He only occasionally played the lowest-bet cards at home with his only few friends and comrades. If he won, he took out the wine to invite others to drink, and if he lost, he would give him a look with a slight face.

When most people meet him, they always look cold, gloomy, and sharp. If he always smiles or jokes, his situation may improve, but he rarely does this.

Many of the Eternal City nobles regarded him as their enemy. When the Emperor appointed him as the new Minister of War, those who opposed the appointment included but were not limited to the Duke of Lotel, the Earl of Finley, all the emperor's adjutants and the queen - that is, each important role with influence in the court.

However, Alexey Alakcheyev took office and started a large-scale bloody liquidation of the Southern General Army.

Earl Narzia stood solemnly with his hands down, holding his breath and listening to the dull "dongdong" sound that was getting closer and closer.

On the glacier promenade where everyone else has to do their best to not fall, Alexey Alakcheev is the only one who can make a lot of echoes every time the heel of the boot falls.

When other court nobles were trying to exert influence and tried their best to prevent Alexey Alakcheev's new appointment, Count Narzia also publicly expressed his uneasiness about the appointment.

But that was just to avoid being excluded by others. Earl Narzia knew from the beginning that Alexey Alakcheev's appointment could not be rejected.

The emperor wanted to use a decisive, selfless and unconditional role like Alexey Alakcheyev.

In other words, Arakcheyev was a thug sent by the emperor to solve problems, and was also an expert in solving problems.

For an emperor who ruled a complex empire with an extremely large, inefficient and overwhelmed bureaucracy, a figure like Alexei Arakcheev can be regarded as the most valuable asset.

For the invisible asylum network, the asylum network, which is spread all over the imperial government and the army, Alexey Alakcheev, who does not belong to any political faction and relies entirely on the appreciation and support of the monarch, it is undoubtedly a bloody blade.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content later! "Alexei who has risen to the top because of no faction." Earl Narzia thought quietly: "When will Alexei who has fallen into the abyss because of no faction?"

Although he had no intention of questioning the trust and sincerity of His Majesty the Emperor for Alexei Arakcheev, Count Narzia did not think that the Emperor was not clear about this - a "thug" who had no foundation or relationship among the upper nobles could throw it to the wolf pack without any burden if necessary.

As the dull footsteps disappeared, the door of the office opened and the servant asked outside the door for instructions: "Your Majesty, General Arakcheev is here."

Count Narzia made a gesture in a small way.

The door closed silently, and after a moment of silence, it was completely opened.

Alexey Alakcheyev, who had a tall figure with round shoulders and a long neck, walked into the office with a hat in his arms. The floor was still shaking after a few short steps.

Arakcheyev stood in front of the desk, closed his boot heels, and bowed deeply to salute.

Looking at the war minister's sunken cheeks and sparse head with compassion, Count Narzia couldn't help but wonder: "Does this sword, who serves the emperor with 's own loyalty and self-supporting', also know that one day he might be thrown to the wolves without any burden?"

...

The distribution of power is like burning a fire around the fire. The position is everything. The closer you are to the flame, the warmer the body will be.

Therefore, being able to enter and exit the emperor's private office is not only an honor, but also a great power - Alexey Alakcheev is very clear about this.

But even so, Arakcheev did not abuse this privilege.

Unlike Count Narzia, who "wanted to squat beside the emperor for twenty-four hours", Alakcheev only met once a week at a fixed time.

And today's audience is not on his schedule.

After the regular work report, Arakcheev learned the reason why the emperor summoned him alone:

An unprecedented new institution will appear at the heart of the imperial political ecology, and its name is [State Conference].

The emperor offered his sword the choice: either remain as the Minister of War or serve as the Chairman of the Military Commission under the newly established State Council.

According to the interpretation of Count Narzia, the function of the State Council would be to debate all legislative and budgetary matters, provide advice to the emperor, and shoulder certain supervisory functions.

Arakcheev is no stranger to all kinds of "committees". In fact, the core of the imperial governance system is based on a series of large and small staff groups, councils, and committees.

The emperor set up multiple councils for different scopes of responsibility and ruling areas.

Members of the Council shall review and discuss all letters, reports and memorandums of their respective responsibilities, annotate them and submit them to the Emperor, providing advice on the actions the Emperor should take.

This system was established by the grandfather of the current emperor. At that time, the power of the imperial emperor was far from today. The imperial power lived in the cracks of the nobles, and the area where the emperor truly ruled was like an isolated island in the principality.

The council system significantly improved the efficiency of the imperial bureaucracy, allowing the emperor to extract more power from limited territory and continue to win in internal struggles.

However, as the imperial power expanded and the imperial government became more refined, the council was no longer enough to deal with the massive report from within and outside the empire.

Therefore, on the basis of the council system, Crazy Emperor Richard IV established a series of permanent institutions to deal with matters within a specific scope of responsibility - the concept of "government department", thus entering imperial politics.

However, the reallocation of power will inevitably trigger a counterattack from vested interests. Richard IV's reform measures to establish a "permanent department" naturally aroused strong dissatisfaction among the "raised nobles".

In order to obtain sufficient support for the implementation of reform, Richard IV placed the permanent department under the parliamentary board in a compromise.

From then on, letters, reports and memorandums from all corners of the empire were first processed by various government departments, and each department submitted the contents needed to make decisions to the relevant councils, and then discussed by the relevant councils and attached suggestions, and handed over to the emperor for ruling.

Although this design has caused a series of problems such as overlapping powers, unclear responsibilities, and inefficiency in communication, the administrative system is operating quite well at present.

Over the past thirty years, a series of brilliant victories in the empire's foreign war are proof of this.

So, what does the "State Council" that sounds very much like a Southern rebellious party style do?

Since the current emperor ascended the throne, although the drastic reforms carried out by his grandfather and father have never happened, small-scale flexible reforms have never stopped.

The structure and responsibilities of various councils, committees, and government departments are constantly changing, so Alexei Alakcheev is not sure which agency will the real power fall into the hands of?

But compared to the court jesters who were trying hard to guess the holy will, Alexey Alakcheev had a very simple way to get the answer.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being stupid." Alakcheev frowned and asked the emperor in a straightforward manner: "Isn't this so-called 'State Conference' overlapping with most of the existing councils? Are you trying to establish a committee of all councils?"

Count Narzia, who was standing in the corner with his eyes, his nose, his mouth, and his mouth, his heart, like a sculpture, stood in the corner without any breath, but his ears stood high.

"It's worthy of you." Earl Narzia's heart was pounding, and he couldn't help but think: "It's worthy of you."

The question that Arakcheev could easily ask, Count Narzia would never be able to ask.

The emperor stared at Arakcheyev in peace, and behind him, the Crazy Emperor Richard was also watching Arakcheyev.

"It is the committee that replaces all councils." said the emperor.

Committees that replace all councils?

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content later! Replace all committees of the council!

A sentence that is as light as a feather falls into the right ears, but it weighs more than a thousand pounds.

The office was silent, and Count Narzia subconsciously swallowed. He felt sincere regret, and he regretted staying here and listened to the emperor's conversation with Alexey Alakcheev.

From this moment on, he had to pray that Arakcheyev could keep his mouth shut until the emperor announced his intentions to the imperial subjects.

Before this, Count Narzia was no longer afraid to think about what would happen if a fourth person said the words "replace the committees of all councils."

On the other side, Arakcheyev's heel touched hard.

He answered bluntly: "I understand, then I will go to the State Council. Instead of being supervised, I will supervise others."

The emperor nodded gently.

Arakcheev asked again: "Your Majesty, who will take over my position?"

"Barclay de Tory."

Arakcheev frowned, a Castile who had a lower qualification than he had when he was appointed as the Minister of War.
To be continued...