Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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The work is not finished after these steps are completed; it can only be said that the organization is temporarily perfected. There are still two things to do next.

First, we need to establish the organization's guiding principles, addressing questions such as what kind of organization we are, how the organization is structured, and what the organization's purpose is.

The second is something more specific. In short, where should we attack next?

Although Ronan had already planned and even made arrangements for all of this, as the saying goes, the organization needs to discuss things together. Even the chairman cannot make a decision on a matter with just a word. Otherwise, wouldn't he be like an emperor?

Ronan never intended to support an emperor.

Chapter 1006 Seeing Through the Center of Power: Ronan, Always Killing Two Birds with One Stone

Foshan Farmers' Association Bank.

"Guo, is something on your mind?" Elena asked Guo Hanlu, who was working overtime with her.

Guo Hanlu shook her head. "No."

Elena put down her pen. "You really don't need to worry about your daughter. She likes your daughter very much, and she has experience in taking care of children."

The "she" in this context refers to Ambrina.

"Mm," Guo Hanlu replied.

She already knew that Ronan's wife, Ambrina, liked her daughter very much, and she even knew why: her daughter's abilities and personality were very similar to Ambrina's third sister.

At first, she was a little worried, thinking that Ambrina was a bit silly, a big child who had always been pampered. Even though she had been a queen, she was a woman who did nothing but play. Could such a person take care of a child?

Later, her worries turned into fear, because Elena told her that in the eyes of the French, Ambrina was a harsh and cruel monarch who would kill officials without batting an eye, no matter how many years they had served or what merits they had made. Nobles could expect any dignity, and the people who caused trouble were all suppressed with iron and blood, regardless of whether they were right or wrong.

But later, after Elena talked about Ambrina and Ronan's love story and life pursuits, Guo Hanlu's opinion changed. How could someone who dared to pursue her own love and hoped to live an idyllic pastoral life not be a good person?

It can only be said that Elena had long seen through Guo Hanlu. She was a woman who, despite having a child several years old, still possessed the mind of a young girl, and could be easily fooled. However, Elena quite liked this kind of person.

"Sigh, you really don't need to worry. She's very good to the people and things she likes," Elena added, repeating something she'd said many times before.

“I’m really not worried about that,” Guo Hanlu explained. “I’m thinking about work.”

"You don't really want to go to that prosecutor's office that hasn't even been officially opened yet, do you? Let me tell you, you'd better stay away from that guy," Elena said. One of the few things she and Alice could agree on was that Alice's sister, Grand, was really no good.

In Seris's words, she was a pure cruel official; after being tormented by her, even a mouse would have to admit it was a cat.

A few days ago, Gelan came over and invited Guo Hanlu to her place.

The reason is simple: in Guangdong these days, homicide cases or other criminal offenses are not particularly difficult to handle, as Golan has enough people skilled at arresting people. However, economic crimes are much more difficult to handle because Golan has almost no talent in this area.

“No, it’s not that. My father wants me to go to the secretariat,” Guo Hanlu said.

The Secretariat has not yet expanded its powers and been reorganized into a secretariat, but it is already a very promising department.

As the saying goes, the closer you are to the center of power, the more opportunities you have.

“Okay, but you’ll have to control your temper when you get there,” Elena said.

Guo Hanlu has a bad temper. Despite her thin appearance and her face which is both heroic and charming, she has a terrible temper and gets along very poorly with her colleagues, unlike Elena, who appears carefree and likes to criticize others, but is actually very good at getting along with people.

Back in France, why was Hélène able to become Ronan's trusted lieutenant? It wasn't because of her abilities, but because she knew how to cultivate relationships. Even when entering an unfamiliar field, she wasn't ostracized, and over time, she became proficient. If someone else hadn't been good at networking, they could never have been guided by those seasoned veterans.

"I'll just go to work as usual." Guo Hanlu didn't argue. She knew she had a bad temper, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten a divorce.

Elena got up to make tea, saying, "Let me give you a sneak peek. The Secretariat is going to be reorganized into the Secretariat, which will include a group of young people, and among these young people, there is a rather special group."

"What's so special about it?" Guo Hanlu asked curiously.

Elena leaned against the table, waiting for the tea to be brewed. "There were rebellions in various parts of Guangdong before, but they have now been quelled. Some of the 'bad guys' have been executed, and others will be brought out for trial. But regardless of the former or the latter, we will not implicate anyone. Not only will we not implicate anyone, but to show the magnanimity of our committee and the breadth of Chairman Zhao's mind, we will also select some young talents from the descendants of these people and include them in the Secretariat."

"This..." Guo Hanlu couldn't understand what this operation was all about. Not only did they not implicate others, but they also dragged people to the center of power.

"This group of people has a few characteristics. First, they are basically the same as your former best friends, all talk and no action, and good-for-nothings."

Guo Hanlu was completely unable to refute Elena's statement.

Most female superhumans in Seris follow a similar path: marry into a powerful family, then use their connections and a bit of exam-taking ability to secure a government job with a government salary, and then enjoy life in peace. Whether it's their superhuman powers or the books they've read, it's all for this purpose.

Although he was an official, he had no practical experience in governance, but he was very good at talking.

"Secondly, they no longer have a strong background, and instead have conflicts with many people on the committee, so they can only align themselves with our chairman."

"Third, although they lack ability, they are very skilled at excluding others and forming cliques."

"These useless people are unwilling to let the real talents get close to that chairman. Even if other people come to join us in the future, it will be the same. The real talents can only gradually move closer to Ronan."

This was also part of Ronan's plan.

Even if Zhao Jun saw through it, he would have to accept it reluctantly, otherwise he would be attacked for being narrow-minded and lacking the ability to judge people.

Moreover, it's hard for him to see through them. After all, these good-for-nothings are packaged quite well, and their boastful talk and penchant for underhanded tricks are exactly what Zhao Jun, this young man, finds appealing.

“If you join the secretariat, these people will definitely point fingers at you. You must control your temper to avoid getting yourself into trouble.”

Elena's warning was actually an admonition against her going.

Guo Hanlu fell silent until the tea was ready. After she drank two cups of tea intermittently, she finally let out a long sigh.

Actually, her reputation was already ruined. She was divorced and single, yet she was hanging out with Ronan's women. How could anyone say anything good about her?

But so what? General Lu and Ronan still have that kind of relationship.

"Have you decided?" Elena asked, holding a teacup in one hand.

“I still want to go to the Secretariat,” Guo Hanlu said.

“Alright, I'll leave the rest of the statistics to you. You can submit it later and tell Ronan about it too.” Elena finished speaking and yawned. “I have to go back to sleep.”

"Don't I need to hand over my work?" Guo Hanlu asked worriedly.

"Ha, your little problem is none of your business. Go on," Elena said, leaving without looking back.

Guo Hanlu was in a daze for a while, then threw herself into her work with great enthusiasm. She herself didn't understand where she got the enthusiasm from, as she used to just coast along when she was on a government job.

Chapter 1007 One Emperor, Two Powerful Ministers: How to Deal with Guangdong

Night, the capital city, the imperial palace, the emperor's bedroom.

Right after the New Year, the reign title changed to the strange "Zhi Xin".

Originally, someone suggested calling it "Reform," intending to express that the court also wanted to reform, rather than believing that the ancestral laws were immutable. They hoped to win over some moderates, at least to keep them in a wait-and-see attitude, and not let them all join the rebellion.

If several major rebel forces unite, the imperial court will undoubtedly be defeated. In fact, even now, it is already under great pressure to fight against the Jiangnan region alone.

At this moment, Zhao Quanlin, the former King of Jiaodong and now the Emperor, is reading memorials and a thick stack of documents attached to them.

This was all written by Guo Mingli, that "traitor".

However, Ronan knew about this. Not only did he know, but he also knew that the thick stack of documents about Guangdong, covering various reform measures in politics, economy, people's livelihood, and military affairs, was written by Ronan himself. Guo Mingli had only copied it once.

There was nothing else to it but to clearly tell the imperial court how Guangdong was carrying out comprehensive reforms, and to repeatedly emphasize the importance of agriculture as the most fundamental aspect, so that the imperial court could make its own judgment on what path Guangdong was taking.

"Impressive. No wonder they were able to defeat the entire Annam Kingdom with only two provinces."

Emperor Zhao Quanlin couldn't help but admire it.

If we only consider elite military forces, the Guangxi Army Corps and the Guangdong Navy combined would not be much weaker than Annam.

However, the war, which lasted for half a year and was mostly a stalemate, was no longer a contest of who could fight better, but rather a contest of who could drag it out longer.

In fact, the imperial court initially thought that Guangdong would likely not be able to hold out and would have to ask the court for help. Once Guangdong asked for help, the rest would be much easier to handle.

Unexpectedly, it was Annam, whose population and grain production far exceeded those of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, that succumbed to the pressure first.

Of course, for Annam, it wasn't a complete failure. They managed to remove the thorn in the side of the military headquarters. As for the idea that southern Vietnam had become independent as the Champa Kingdom, well, they could just slowly dismember and devour it.

But the central government was very unhappy.

"Sigh, in the end, they've completely rebelled."

Zhao Quanlin sighed again.

The Guangdong committee could claim to be loyal subjects, and the court could accept it without question. The committee could also be reorganized, but if it were to expand and include other provinces, it could only be called a rebellion.

But unfortunately, the imperial court couldn't do anything about them, or rather, it was simply too busy to deal with them at the moment.

"Never mind, this is not something I can worry about."

Zhao Quanlin sighed again.

He was not even as good as his predecessor. The former emperor's decrees were mostly confined to the capital, while his decrees simply did not extend beyond the palace.

Currently, the government is completely controlled by the two chief ministers, Zhang Yuanyi and Yang Xiuzhi.

Zhang Yuanyi was a representative of the Southern School, which refers to the Jiangnan region, while Yang Xiuzhi was a representative of the Northern School, which was limited to the Central Plains region.

However, neither of them were radicals in their respective factions, neither verbally nor in practice.

After all, they are bureaucrats, not party leaders in the Western-style democratic government of Ronan's original timeline. They don't need to, and cannot, be the "most radical" one.

Originally, the factional struggles in the imperial court were not so much a matter of life and death, and they hadn't even reached the point of resorting to any means to oust the other side.

They have basically maintained a state of struggle without breaking apart.

That's why the former emperor felt that these two were both treacherous officials, putting on a show and not giving him, the emperor, any chance to divide and conquer. He had to take strong measures to eliminate these two and the officials who were attached to them.

Of course, the end result was that he himself died.

Now, Zhang Yuanyi and Yang Xiuzhi have simply become centrists within their respective factions. To this end, they did not hesitate to take the opportunity to purge the radicals within their respective factions during the previous selection of a new emperor.

It should be noted that these radicals were originally the two men's right-hand men, cannon fodder, but also outstanding young people on whom they placed high hopes.

But there's no other way. The only place the imperial court can control now is the Central Plains. The most important thing is to unite all forces into one, rather than engaging in internal strife.

To achieve this goal, both men had to flexibly adjust their positions and become centrists. On the one hand, they advocated reforms to prevent some of the existing officials from the southern factions from leaving the court, and also to attract some moderate reformists from the Jiangnan rebel group. On the other hand, they promised to safeguard the interests of the northern Central Plains to avoid shaking the foundation of their rule.

On the same night, in an inconspicuous house in the southern part of the capital.

"Xiuzhi, what is your opinion on Guangdong?" The person asking the question was none other than the Grand Secretary Zhang Yuanyi, and the person being asked was Yang Xiuzhi.

Who would have thought that the two, who were usually at odds and had argued for nearly two months about who should be emperor, would now be sharing a room together?

"If we can't suppress them, then we can only appease them, right?" Yang Xiuzhi retorted.

Zhang Yuanyi fell silent.

"No matter what, the various taxes that Guangdong and Guangxi are still willing to pay to the imperial court amount to nearly ten million taels. Even if they are only willing to pay half of that, we must appease them."

Yang Xiuzhi said.

His view was simple: after losing Jiangnan as the most important source of tax revenue, the imperial court's finances were in dire straits. As long as Guangdong was still willing to pay taxes, he didn't care what they did.

At this moment, Zhang Yuanyi spoke up, "Judging from their series of actions, they seem to be the most moderate of the three rebel forces and have the least impact on the old system. In fact, it is the opposite. Once they succeed, the changes they will bring will be the greatest."

Yang Xiuzhi smiled and said, "Do you think that only a Jiangnan native like you understands economics, while I, a roughneck from Hebei, don't? But we can't even get through today, so why think about tomorrow?"

He still maintains the same idea: concentrate resources on dealing with Jiangnan.

Zhang Yuanyi sighed softly and took a sip of hot wine. "Their next step is either to conquer Fujian or to head north into Hunan. They won't stay put."

"Instead of thinking about Guangdong, let's think about those military thugs in the Northwest first," Yang Xiuzhi quickly changed the subject.

“A bunch of rabble carrying scrap metal, nothing to worry about.” Zhang Yuanyi didn’t take the Northwest group seriously at all.

“In that case, Brother Yuanyi, why don’t you take charge of dealing with the Northwest, and I’ll take charge of quelling the rebellion in Jiangnan?” Yang Xiuzhi suggested. As the representative of the Northern faction, it was reasonable for him to take charge of dealing with Jiangnan, while Zhang Yuanyi, the representative of the Southern faction, would go west to deal with the Northwest people. Temporarily separating himself from the central government would also reassure the people in the Central Plains.

Zhang Yuanyi smiled slightly; he knew that the topic of Guangdong was just a pretext, and this was what Yang Xiuzhi really wanted to say.

Yang Xiuzhi kept his gaze fixed on Zhang Yuanyi, waiting for his reply.

"Alright," Zhang Yuanyi finally agreed.

"I'm sorry to have troubled Brother Yuanyi," Yang Xiuzhi added as a polite remark.

“National affairs come first,” Zhang Yuanyi said, then changed the subject, “However, once I set off, I will not be subject to any restrictions.”

Yang Xiuzhi readily agreed, "Of course, tomorrow the emperor will give you a few titles to make things easier."

Chapter 1008 Guo Hanlu, wearing white silk, a common ailment of the Seres.

It was the 18th day of the first lunar month, two days before the reorganization meeting.

In the afternoon, at the Yingmu Hall, the mansion where Ronan's family lived.

Ronan, Alice, and Zhao Yingqi were working, not doing anything strenuous, just organizing and checking the documents and materials needed for the meeting.

A few documents are still missing, one of which is information about the pilot program for farmers' associations and farmers' association banks.

Not long after, Guo Hanlu arrived with the documents.

Alice and Zhao Yingqi got up and left with the materials they had just compiled, preparing to take them for printing.

A large portion of them had already been printed; they only had a small portion in their hands.