? Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The meeting of the Standing Committee was very late. Li Yuchang went home after the meeting. After entering the door, Li Yuchang saw his wife raise her eyebrows and asked in surprise, "Is there anything good?"
"Huh?" Li Yuchang didn't expect his wife to say that. He tried to suppress his excitement for almost the entire afternoon and said in a calm tone, "How can there be so many good things?"
"Really?" Li Yuchang's wife had been married to Li Yuchang for more than 20 years, so she naturally knew him quite well. She smiled and said, "Old man, look at you smiling like a chicken. I don't believe that there's nothing good."
Li Yuchang quickly waved his hand, "It's really nothing good!"
Hearing Li Yuchang say so, his wife didn't say anything else. It wasn't that his wife believed Li Yuchang's words, but she felt that there was no need to force Li Yuchang to say anything. Anyway, she wouldn't be able to get anything out of him.
After this exchange with his wife, Li Yuchang went back to the study. The Commander-in-Chief's Residence was now unified. It was a three-story tube-shaped apartment. The houses were divided into two bedrooms and one living room and three bedrooms and one living room. Different residences could be applied for according to the population. Compared with the Prince's Residence, the Prime Minister's Residence, and the General's Residence during the Taiping Rebellion, this house seemed very shabby. What made people feel different were the gas lamps, the water and sewer system, the cold and hot water, the honeycomb coal stove, the glass windows, and the enclosed balcony. Although it wasn't luxurious, it was extremely convenient.
The mosquitoes were strong in October, so Li Yuchang's mosquito repellent incense left a pungent smell in the house. The coconut oil soap was used in the house, and there was a faint fragrance in the air. Originally, these smells made Li Yuchang feel very comfortable. Now that he was in a bad mood, the smell made Li Yuchang feel very irritated. He was restless in the study, so he simply began to walk in circles with his hands behind his back.
Li Yuchang wasn't very happy, but he was very excited. It was rare for Vézé to not give the final order because of one person's opposition. This was very rare at the Standing Committee meeting. Vézé's words carried enormous weight in the Commander-in-Chief's Office, and everyone admired Vézé's strategic foresight. Li Yuchang was a real man to be able to oppose Vézé's opinion.
The Ministry of Finance of the restored Military Governor's Office was equivalent to the traditional Ministry of Revenue, but it was very different from the traditional Ministry of Revenue. There was no poll tax in the Restored Commander-in-Chief's Office. The Ministry of Finance was only in charge of tax collection. To be more specific, it was industrial and agricultural taxes and financial expenditures. The Liberation Army did not have an advisor system. Instead, it adopted a civil servant system. After going through the "Three Appointments System", the positions, responsibilities, and personnel were fixed. In cooperation with the supervision system, the "Three Decisions" submitted by the various departments were audited and evaluated regularly. It was basically a carrot to its own hole. The salaries of civil servants, the salaries of the troops, and the investments in industries were all managed by the Ministry of Finance.
The importance of this position far surpassed that of the Manchu Qing's Ministry of Revenue. Li Yuchang had also seen some information. The Manchu Qing's finances were dry and the central government couldn't fork out the money. Therefore, the local governors could only raise the money themselves. The "Likin System" was a means that the local governors had to adopt.
As the Minister of Finance in the Liberation Army, Vézé guided the highest policy guidelines. The army opened up territory, and the Ministry of Commerce followed the army to conquer a territory. This was sufficient to guide the local cash crops into the circulation market. The maritime trade with various countries around the world was sufficient to digest these commodities. Li Yuchang, who started his career as a businessman, was now very satisfied with his power and achievements.
Sitting in the study, Li Yuchang thought about his position, what he had done, and how he had gone against Vézé this time. His excitement had not completely subsided. Vézé would never punish others for opposing opinions. This was what Li Yuchang admired most about Vézé. However, Li Yuchang was a little afraid this time.
The next day, Li Yuchang went to find Li Yifang after work. As Vézé's secretary, Li Yifang was now working in the secretariat. As Li Yifang's uncle, Li Yuchang did not dare to put on any airs. He said a little nervously, "Yifang, I had an argument with the commander-in-chief yesterday. And I told him what you said to me, but the commander-in-chief … didn't give the order immediately. "
Hearing this, Li Yifang's expression changed. "Uncle, what did you say to the commander-in-chief?"
Li Yuchang told Li Yifang about his opposition to testing the French's bottom line and making more preparations first. Li Yifang bit her lip slightly, and her beautiful eyebrows were already wrinkled. After a moment of silence, Li Yifang said seriously, "Uncle, what you said to the commander-in-chief was what you wanted to say. Don't push the blame to me! What did you mean by what I said to you? I said so many things to you. How come I don't know what I said to you? "
Hearing this blunt response, Li Yuchang was stunned at first, and then replied a little unhappily, "Yifang, I wanted to ask you about some political matters …" At this point, Li Yuchang had already understood what Li Yifang meant. He turned his head away unhappily, snorted, and then turned his head. "That was not what you said to me, it was what I wanted to say to the commander-in-chief. If the commander-in-chief blames me, I will naturally take responsibility. It's just … "
Li Yifang interrupted Li Yuchang's words unceremoniously. "Uncle, since you have decided to take responsibility, what does it have to do with me? I have followed the commander-in-chief for all these years, and I have learned a few words from the commander-in-chief like a parrot. When I was chatting with you, I showed off a little. I have said what should and shouldn't be said, so I will admit to whatever needs to be said. This matter ends here. Uncle, I'll take my leave! "
After saying that, Li Yifang got up and left the office, leaving Li Yuchang alone there. Li Yuchang also felt very embarrassed, so he got up and left resentfully.
During the day, Vézé continued to hold meetings, but this time, the chief of staff, Ju Junfeng, attended the meeting. Ju Junfeng was obviously there to express his hawkish views. This time, Li Yuchang did not have the same drive as yesterday. He just brought out the same set of words from yesterday, and did not argue tit-for-tat on various aspects of the issues.
Vézé frowned. He did not really want Li Yuchang to suffer a crushing defeat. In Vézé's opinion, it was a good thing to have a conservative and stable minister of finance at this stage. Vézé led a group of people to cause trouble everywhere, and the minister of finance was more conservative and able to calculate carefully, so that the military would understand the difficulties of finance. As the old saying goes, "Those who forget war will be in danger, and those who love war will die!" A warlike country would only lead to its own destruction. In the 21st century, the powerful United States was also dragged into Afghanistan and had no choice but to retreat. Countries that thought that military was the best way to solve problems would not have a good ending.
With this thought in mind, Vézé let Ju Junfeng appear. Unexpectedly, after one night, Li Yuchang actually became listless. This caught Vézé off guard. The tentative strategy proposed by Ju Junfeng was actually going to be easily passed. Looking at Ju Junfeng's high-spirited appearance, Vézé said calmly, "Adjourn for now!"
When Li Yuchang went to the toilet, Vézé also went. Vézé asked, "Minister Li, what's wrong?"
Li Yuchang quickly said, "Commander-in-chief, I went home and thought about it. Maybe my thinking was too pessimistic …"
Vézé frowned. "So what you said yesterday was impulsive?"
"This …" Li Yuchang was speechless. He could see that Vézé was very disappointed, which made Li Yuchang feel even more awkward. If he lost Vézé's trust, it would not end well. Vézé had said many times at the National Representative Conference, at the Standing Committee, and at the enlarged meeting of the Standing Committee that right and wrong could be discussed. However, the most important quality of a person was determination. If one could only fall with the wind, one could not expect this person to do great things. There was no need to discuss this kind of person.
However, Li Yuchang was a man in his forties after all. He immediately made his own decision. Li Yuchang raised his head and said, "Commander-in-chief, I will insist on my own opinion. You can rest assured about this. I just thought about it a lot when I went back yesterday. I feel that it is necessary to test it from the perspective of the Commander-in-Chief or the General Staff. "
Seeing that Li Yuchang had regained his spirit, Vézé warned, "You are the Minister of Finance, so you should speak from the perspective of the Minister of Finance. When you are appointed as the Chief of the General Staff, you can speak from the perspective of the Chief of the General Staff! "
After that, Vézé took a piss and left.
Li Yuchang had finally dealt with Vézé's matter, but he also felt a little scared. In fact, standing firmly in the position of the Minister of Finance, the things that the Minister of Finance considered were things that Li Yuchang and Li Yifang had put forward when they were talking. Li Yuchang had also read some books. The definition of a loyal minister in the books was loyalty to national affairs. Combined with Li Yifang's words, Li Yuchang felt a little enlightened. It turned out that as long as one was loyal to national affairs, one could become a loyal minister. Moreover, Li Yifang believed that Vézé was leading everyone to do things. As long as it was proper business, Vézé would not be really angry with the opposition of his subordinates. Li Yuchang finally found his position in the Commander-in-Chief's Office. Although it had been very tiring and there had been many disputes along the way, he had still been very stable in his work until now.
Now he knew that Vézé was not angry about being opposed by Li Yuchang, but that Li Yuchang had not been able to stick to his position. While he was deeply impressed by Li Yifang's profound knowledge, he also regretted accidentally offending his niece.
However, everything had to be prioritized, and now was not the time to deal with Li Yifang first. After taking a piss, Li Yuchang did not leave immediately. Instead, he first sorted out his thoughts again. In particular, he carefully reflected on the knowledge that most of it came from Li Yifang yesterday. Only then did he return to the conference room.
Everyone was already waiting for Li Yuchang. Ju Junfeng was in a good mood and was waiting to quickly finalize the final opinion. Because he had also waited for a long time, when he saw Li Yuchang come in, Ju Junfeng smiled and said, "Minister Li, if you hadn't come back, we were going to fish you out."
After thinking it through, Li Yuchang laughed and said, "Haha! There's no need to fish, I can come out myself! "
This answer made everyone laugh. In the relaxed atmosphere, Li Yuchang sat in his seat. He was the first to speak. "Chief of Staff Ju, you said that you are not afraid of a military conflict with the French, and I also believe that we can win in the end. But the way to win is to seize it. I don't know military affairs, and I don't know how to fight in the end. I won't be very clear even if you tell me. I just want you to tell me what you think the biggest expenditure will be and what the smallest expenditure will be. "
Ju Junfeng did not expect Li Yuchang to come back after staying in the toilet for so long and ask a question that he had to answer. The smallest expenditure was that the French did not dare to really have a conflict with the Liberation Army. But the General Staff had not actually concluded what the biggest battle would be, let alone calculated the specific cost. Being asked such a very numerical question, Ju Junfeng was so tongue-tied that he could not answer.
Vézé still tried his best to look at the discussion in the meeting with a blank expression, but he was very satisfied in his heart. This was what a meeting should look like when a major issue was decided.
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