Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 210

Three days ago, Ronan proposed expanding the civil service workforce.

Dinia didn't object, saying she'd analyze it with her secretaries. But what did she mean by "analyze"? Ronan was the head of the secretaries; she was just giving a perfunctory answer, which meant she actually disagreed.

Later, during the lunch break, Camille was in the lounge with a newspaper and exclaimed, "Mr. Ronan is still amazing; he always manages to achieve his goals by optimizing his political enemies' plans." And so, this scene unfolded.

“Well, it seems I need to give the Prime Minister a hint about the selection process,” Ronan said.

"Is there a problem with that?" Dinia countered.

“If the Prime Minister thinks there’s a problem, then there is a problem; if she thinks there isn’t, then there isn’t,” Ronan said. “But let’s talk about some big-picture issues, like those big-picture commentators in the newspapers.”

"Does the Prime Minister think a big government or a small government is better?" Ronan asked.

Dinia said, "For a country like ours, which is not small but actually not very big, where agriculture is dominant and industry is slowly developing, a large government is naturally better."

Ronan smiled. "In a sense, it can't be said to be completely wrong."

Dinia frowned.

"The kingdom has a population of 22 million, of which about 2 million are urban residents, mainly distributed along the western and southern coasts, as well as several inland cities that occupy transportation hubs. The capital is the largest of these hubs. Undoubtedly, in order to concentrate resources on major projects and achieve the greatest possible development, we should have a large government. However, this large government is more than sufficient for the urban population. Like a parent, it can manage all aspects of the city, ensuring that workers are well-fed, clothed, and able to work. It is a small burden with quick results."

"As for rural areas, to be honest, the only thing we need to ensure is that farmers have land to cultivate. Small governments are superfluous, because a small government is at least a service institution."

"The urban-rural dual system, with large governments in cities and small governments in rural areas, allows for the exploitation of rural areas to maintain low costs during economic development, and the transfer of some production capacity to rural areas during economic crises. This is the only sustainable path."

Ronan said.

“I don’t mean a comprehensive in-depth exploration of the countryside,” Dinya said. She was no longer the political novice she once was. She understood and agreed with some of Ronan’s points, but she would never agree with the rest.

Ronan chuckled. "I understand. You mean to use selected grassroots civil servants and farmers' associations to jointly manage rural areas, gradually excluding the influence of nobles and the church, with the ultimate goal of abolishing the parliament."

Dinia fell silent, because Ronan had been right.

Her ultimate goal was indeed to abolish parliament and establish a fully civil service state.

“The nobility and the church must be weakened, but they must also exist,” Ronan said. “The council is actually quite good.”

Dinia's eyes widened, wondering if she had misheard.

“Let’s talk about another question.” Ronan smiled. “Camille, tell me, who is the person least likely to disobey the king?”

"A farmer?" Camille answered tentatively.

“No, it’s the nobility, the nobility at this stage,” Ronan said. “The nobility is a very important force. It should be weak, but it cannot be absent. Moreover, if we lose the nobility, who will uphold the hereditary system?”

Dinia's lips parted slightly; she almost uttered the words that had been hidden in her heart for so long, but in the end, she didn't say them.

“And farmers need to be taught,” Ronan added.

"The government can provide laws, but laws cannot guide people's lives. However, the church can. An oppressed person needs a great banner to guide their life. Otherwise, who would willingly be oppressed? Right now, we only have religion, which has a somewhat old and musty smell. Perhaps in the future, there will be a truly great banner, but there must be one."

Ronan further explained.

Dinia paused for a moment, then said, “We can each compromise. I believe you understand that the bureaucrats are willing to expand, the more the better. If I’m determined to expand, you can’t stop me.”

"I can't stop it?" Ronan asked with a smile.

“You could, but the cost would be too high, making it no different from not being able to,” Dinia retorted. “Politics is the art of forcing others to compromise, that’s what you taught me.”

"Yes, Madam Prime Minister."

Chapter 479 Extra Hard, One Small Step, Country Girl Outfit

Nighttime, in the royal palace, on the large bed in Ambrina's bedroom.

Ambrina wore a crown adorned with diamond-encrusted floral openwork patterns, and a sensual outfit: a white lace bra, white lace-trimmed panties, and white lace-trimmed stockings.

With her hands resting on Ronan's firm pectoral muscles as he lay flat, Ambrina straddled him, rhythmically twisting her waist. "Darling, what's wrong with you today? You feel so thick, so long, and so hard."

"Perhaps it's because Dinia tricked it, and it got angry too," Ronan said with a hint of self-deprecation.

Ambrina traced her finger down along the outline of Ronan's abs. "I don't know whether to try to vent your anger or make you even angrier."

Ronan reached out and pinched Ambrina's nipple, giving it a gentle tug. "My Majesty, aren't you afraid you can't handle it?"

“One mouth isn’t enough, then three?” Ambrina said.

"Let's feed your mouth first." With that, Ronan rolled over, pinned Ambrina down, grabbed her plump ankles with both hands, lifted her legs up so her feet were pointing in the air, bent her waist so her vulva was facing upwards under her thick black hair, and then leaned down and pressed his whole body against her, starting to drive himself down.

The daily nightlife of the elderly couple begins.

The following morning, a meeting was held before the Emperor.

The main topic was the expansion of staff. There's nothing to say about the central government expanding its staff; it has several new departments, so expansion is necessary. The discussion focused on the expansion of staff at the local level.

The composition of central government officials is relatively distinct.

The highest-ranking officials, namely ministers, and the various bureau chiefs below them, are generally from lower-ranking noble families, whose families own a large amount of land in the village, or who simply have a title.

These people are relatively pure civil servants, and civil servant governments have always been happy to expand their staff and strengthen the central government's control over local areas.

Therefore, the ministers strongly supported Dinia's proposal.

Below that are the middle-level officials in the central government, namely the junior leaders in the bureaus under the ministry, a group of "department-level cadres". These people generally come from very good backgrounds, their families are genuine nobles in a certain city, rather than people with impressive titles who may not even be village chiefs in reality. They are officials on the one hand, and liaisons between the central government and local governments on the other.

If you ask them whether they support the government or not, the answer is definitely no. With so many officials, and the land already converted into shares, how can the noble lords, who can no longer directly control the people, "plead for the people"? If the noble lords cannot "plead for the people," then they are just parasites.

A nobleman is someone who can do things that money can't buy; that's what makes a nobleman.

However, this time Diniya is conducting a selection process. The "selection" is fair, just, and open, including interviews—I emphasize again, including interviews—but the "transfer" is different. The "transfer" is decided by their liaisons in the central government. Isn't that a win-win situation?

I don't know who that rough-around-the-edges guy used to say that our beautiful, kind and fair Prime Minister was an unreasonable woman. Isn't this very reasonable?

They will naturally agree with what reasonable people say.

As for the lower levels of the central government, including some "bureau-level cadres" who are still powerful even when they go to local areas.

He's just a small-town exam-taker who's come all the way through intense competition; he's not a true descendant of the French Plain White Banner. At best, he's just a high-class ox or horse.

Even a high-class ox or horse is still an ox or horse.

Do you think it's the cattle and horses' place to speak on such important decisions at the central level? Do you understand that we live in a feudalistic kingdom?

So, Ambrina yawned and approved it, and Dinia's proposal was passed. The next question was how to implement it.

In the afternoon, in the Prime Minister's Office lounge.

"We've taken that small first step successfully," Dinia remarked, sipping her coffee.

She wasn't really trying to achieve anything with this step; it was just a first shot in her journey to become prime minister. Her only requirement for this shot was that it wouldn't backfire.

When a new official takes office, the first step should be a seemingly impressive but actually weak one. This is to ensure stability and allow other subordinates to gradually adapt to your commands at a comfortable pace. After a while, these people will get used to it.

Once she gets used to it, the second step is to establish her authority. If it were ten years ago, Dinia would almost certainly have chosen someone she didn't like to take down, but now, she wouldn't use such methods.

Establishing authority by kicking out one or a group of people who are at odds with you is like declaring that you are going to wage a fight of either you or them. It's like giving the other party a few days' notice before killing them. Isn't that just asking for trouble?

The specific plan is that in a few days, she will bring up the matter of establishing a bank within the farmers' association.

Unsurprisingly, some officials will say it's unnecessary.

There's really no need for that, because the farmers' association is still in an exploratory stage, with only a dozen or so cities piloting it, and it hasn't been implemented nationwide. Otherwise, how could Elena's promotion from secretary of the security bureau to chief supervisor of the general farmers' association be considered an exile? It's more like a promotion.

For some pilot programs, there is certainly no need to set up a bank internally, but what if we want to extend it nationwide?

Then it will be a drama of who's in favor and who's opposed.

That night, at Elena's house.

Elena was dressed as a country girl, with a large braid, a gray-white linen long-sleeved shirt underneath, and a dark brown maternity dress in a pastoral style over it. Underneath the long dress, she wore light brown knee-high cotton socks and round-toed leather shoes with a single buckle.

She was described as a country girl, but in reality, this was the attire of a daughter from a minor aristocratic family in the countryside. She wore this kind of clothing when she went to the countryside for inspections, with a rough-made but very warm wool coat imported from Wieland on top.

Ronan was at that moment embracing Elena from behind, engaging in foreplay.

"Sir, are you really not going to help her in this matter?" Elena asked, referring naturally to Dinia.

“I need to remain relatively neutral, acting as a bridge and buffer between Didi and the bureaucrats, and between Didi and Anri, in order to maintain a relatively peaceful situation. If I lean too much towards her, I will no longer be able to play my special role,” Ronan said, inserting three fingers into Elena’s warm acupoint. “I am first and foremost the King’s consort, then a civil servant, and finally the Prime Minister’s secretary. This serves as a model for those who come after me.”

Elena knelt down by the bed, lifted her skirt, and stick out her broad, white buttocks. She spread her already wet area with both hands; she was getting impatient.

Ronan penetrated her, and Elena let out a long, satisfied moan as he went deeper, only stopping when he reached the very end.

Ronan is very busy with his daily work, so he doesn't have time for this every day, and he also has to wait in line, so it often only happens once every ten days or so.

"Push harder, faster!" Elena shouted.

Ronan pinched Elena's chubby cheek hard. "Keep your voice down, Lily's sleeping upstairs."

“She’s asleep like a dead person, it’s fine.” Elena said, deliberately swaying her hips so that Ronan’s thick, long penis could scrape against every fold of her vaginal walls.

Ronan placed his hands on Elena's waist. "Then I'm going to speed up."

"Come here." Elena lowered her waist and raised her hips.

Chapter 480 Spring is here? Winter is coming, slow down!

February was cold, but the hearts of the central government officials were not cold at all; in fact, they were quite warm. After becoming prime minister, former interior minister Dinia seemed to have become a different person, no longer as cold as before.

In March, temperatures rise, seemingly signaling the arrival of spring, yet winter is indeed on its way.

The Prime Minister has raised the issue of establishing a bank within the farmers' association.

The conclusion of the discussion was, of course, that it was unnecessary. The reason was simple: although the organizational structure of the farmers' association was very complete, in reality, there was only one or two farmers' associations in each state, so there was no need to establish a bank within them.

Dinia agreed, and then said that the pilot programs of farmers' associations in various places have been running for several years without any major problems, and the agricultural development has been quite good. It's time to promote it nationwide.

Regarding the nationwide implementation of farmers' associations, one part of the bureaucratic group vehemently supported it, while another part strongly opposed it.

First, we must start with the farmers' association itself. The farmers' association is a semi-official organization established with the government's leadership and subject to government supervision. However, from the very beginning, it strictly enforces the rule that two-thirds of the decision-making level of the local farmers' association must be commoners who are actually engaged in agricultural operations. They cannot be nobles or have any direct relatives who are officials or members of parliament.

For lower-ranking nobles and even officials of commoner origin, the widespread promotion of agricultural associations not only reduced their burden and lowered government administrative costs, but also increased their power. This was because the widespread promotion of agricultural associations meant the full commercialization of agricultural products, which were first and foremost commodities, and only secondarily essential supplies for survival.

Goods need to flow into the market, and the market is in the city, which is currently controlled by the government.

However, for officials from noble families, the widespread promotion of agricultural associations was very disadvantageous.

Although their land was exchanged for shares and the original lords became free citizens, they still have industries in the countryside, and quite a few of them. They also have a voice, which is definitely not insignificant. This is a remnant of the feudal manor economy of hundreds of years, and it is not something that can be eliminated overnight.

To put it simply, if something happens in a village, or if a problem arises, wouldn't they have to ask the former patriarch or his henchmen to help them go to the city hall or city council? Do you think a group of farmers would go to the city hall to plead their case? The city hall and city council are places where farmers can go.

However, once the peasant associations are established, the peasants will have their own organization and their own representatives, which will seriously dilute the influence of the nobility at the grassroots level.

Don't say that nobles look down on peasants the most, but when peasants really disobey them, they get more anxious than anyone else.

When two strongly opposing groups emerge within the bureaucratic ranks, a struggle becomes inevitable.

But the struggle is brutal.

Over the past six or seven years, although the country has changed dramatically, many things have not really been about struggle, because Ronan and Prime Minister Alexander have been trading and compromising with each other. Even when killing people, they have basically only punished the "chief culprits".

But a real struggle cannot just punish the ringleaders. When a high-ranking official falls, in addition to his cronies, everyone he promoted or favored in every position he held will be on the list of those to be purged.

This is something that an autocratic civil service government would inevitably do, and it has nothing to do with cultural customs or ideologies.

How can such a situation not be described as winter approaching?

At night, in Isabel's little house, on her simple little bed.

Isabelle was giving Ronan a footjob. She was wearing champagne-colored satin pantyhose. In the dim light of the yellow lamp, her straight, slender legs with just the right amount of flesh were incredibly alluring. The pantyhose clung to her legs, and with the movement of her legs and feet, the soft, watery sheen of the silk shimmered.

"Isa, can you concentrate? Is this foot fetish? This is practically kicking my balls. I'm about to go limp," Ronan complained.

"Ha, it's as hard as iron." Isabel replied dismissively. "Also, I'm thinking about something, so be quiet. If you don't think it's working, then grab my foot and do it yourself."

Ronan laughed in exasperation, sighed, got up, grabbed Isabel's feet, and pressed her stockinged soles together, using them as a vaginal opening to fuck her.

While working, he asked, "What are you thinking about?"

“I plan to establish the Security Bureau’s petition office on top of the farmers’ association’s branch,” Isabel said.

"A petition? You're serious? Where did you get so many people?" Ronan asked in surprise.

Often, the problem isn't that we can't think of something, but rather that even if we can, we can't find anyone to carry it out. Take Ronan, for example; deep down, he longed to be a privileged leader like the Soviets, but he lacked the necessary qualifications.

“You don’t think the Security Bureau has only developed some informants among small business owners and skilled workers in the city over the past five or six years, do you? I also have people in the countryside,” Isabel said.

In Isabelle's base of support during her struggle for the throne, there was one element that even Ronan overlooked.

That is to connect small intermediaries between rural and urban areas.

These people are farmers themselves, but they mainly operate in small town markets, buying agricultural products from farmers, sorting and identifying them, and then transporting them to the city to sell to large merchants, earning a small profit margin.

Many of the small middlemen that Isabel took care of back then later grew into big businessmen. Through these people, along with the power of the Ministry of the Interior's Security Bureau, Isabel developed many small urban and rural middlemen in other regions into informants. She didn't need to do anything; she just had to write letters in real time to report local agricultural product price fluctuations and other minor things that they knew.

“Well, you dared to develop your own people behind my back? I’m going to teach you a lesson today.” Ronan said, flipping Isabel over so her buttocks were facing up. “Lift your buttocks up.”

"I won't lift it." Isabel didn't budge an inch.