Chapter 882 Edward’s Advice
"It's really touching. I believe Sir Edward will also be very grateful." Alan Wilson did not take on any concurrent posts, although he understood very well what these three important positions meant for one person.
It is understandable that the civil servant and the cabinet secretary are combined in one person. The cabinet secretary is responsible to the prime minister and the entire cabinet, so his responsibilities have always been ambiguous.
The title of the Cabinet Secretary-General has never been changed. Successive Cabinet Secretary-Generals are very clear that they are responsible for the entire cabinet. However, sometimes, this responsibility inevitably leads to regular tensions in the relationship between the Cabinet Secretary-General and the then Prime Minister.
Whether the posts of Cabinet Secretary and Civil Service Minister should be held by one person. The advantage of having the two positions held by the same person is that the Civil Service Chief can maintain daily contact with the Chief Executive, the Prime Minister, and the first one who is closest to the water gets the better. Proximity to the prime minister is key. Since World War II, the Cabinet Office has been adjacent to the Prime Minister's office and official residence.
Proximity also explains why the post of Civil Secretary is best filled by the Cabinet Secretary rather than an official who is further away from the Prime Minister, because the latter cannot maintain daily contact with the Prime Minister.
But what if he concurrently serves as the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Finance? Norman Brooke will be the nominal and de facto head of the civil service. After becoming the Permanent Undersecretary of the Treasury, he will consolidate the promotion and salary power of civil servants into one person, which is very scary.
Norman Brooke and Emperor Apocalypse have the same hobby of being a carpenter, but he is obviously more enthusiastic about power than the carpenter emperor. This will be the first time since the emergence of the Cabinet Office that such a powerful and powerful figure has appeared.
Alan Wilson has left Seventy Whitehall and is still imagining where things will go after Edward Bridges steps down?
Since God has told me that God has no objection, I believe that there will be no objection to his meeting with Sir Edward, who is about to retire.
Not long after, Alan Wilson had arrived at the Treasury and met Edward Bridges's deputy, Frank, who played an important role in Australian arms sales. The two exchanged a few words.
As the former Cabinet Secretary, Edward Bridges was taken over by Norman Brooke as Secretary of the Civil Service a few years later after resigning as Cabinet Secretary. Now that he is retiring, he will take over the position of Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.
Alan Wilson was careful not to mention this matter, but Edward Bridges was very open-minded and took out a glass of whiskey and poured it for Alan Wilson, "Norman's pursuit of power is much stronger than mine. I admit it too."
"Sir Edward, I don't know how to join the discussion." Alan Wilson took the wine glass and shook his head with a wry smile. The two big figures in Whitehall of the previous generation had little effect when talking. If they didn't speak, they seemed timid and afraid of getting into trouble.
"Don't mind, my dissatisfaction with him no longer exists since I decided to retire. I hate his personal relationship with the Prime Minister, but it is precisely because of his too close to the Prime Minister that we are today. Norman has long been very With authority, he was the Home Secretary's private secretary at the age of thirty-five, the same level as you are now. He became my deputy at the age of forty. At that time, the entire Whitehall believed that he was the next one after me. Cabinet Secretary.”
Listening to Edward Bridges' words, Alan Wilson couldn't help but sigh, "That's really amazing."
"Frequent contacts and deep personal relationships with politicians played a role in this matter. Whether it is the Conservative Party or the Labor Party, Norman can always get along with the Prime Minister and ministers. This is something I cannot do."
Edward Bridges couldn't help but sigh, "It's just that I didn't expect him to be so passionate about power."
Speaking of this, Edward Bridges looked at Alan Wilson for a moment, "Have you heard any news when you come back this time, such as about the candidate for the Secretary of the Treasury after my retirement?"
"I've heard some news, but it's not confirmed yet." Alan Wilson scratched his scalp and said sheepishly, "There is a rumor that Sir Norman will also serve as the permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance."
“This is inevitable, nothing is certain.
Edward Bridges laughed out loud when he heard this, "And I can be sure that he will hold several important positions until the day he retires." "
"Isn't that another seven or eight years? Or even ten years." Alan Wilson muttered to himself after calculating Norman Brook's age.
"Do you think that his appointment as the permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance will affect the promotion of those who come after him? You don't have to worry about that. He is the cabinet secretary. Just make some reforms. For example, because of the importance of the Ministry of Finance, two permanent undersecretaries are established. , he concurrently serves as the first permanent secretary, and Frank serves as the second permanent secretary, and the matter is resolved.”
Edward Bridges Shiran pointed out, "This is the advantage of being a Cabinet Secretary. As long as the Prime Minister does not object, he can reorganize the powerful Ministry of Finance. In fact, the Ministry of Finance also has the ability to challenge the Cabinet Secretary, so It makes sense to be on guard.”
Several powerful ministries, the Finance, Foreign and Interior ministries, have always been potential challengers.
Among them, the Ministry of Finance is the strongest, otherwise Edward Bridges would not have chosen the Ministry of Finance as his last stop.
As he approaches retirement, Edward Bridges no longer maintains a highly tense mental state. He is now able to laugh off the friction with Norman Brooke, and proactively asks, "Alan, just keep going like this. Are you satisfied with being the administrator of the colony? Sir Ismay is approaching his age. He was once Churchill's military adviser. We are contemporaries. Once the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs becomes vacant, this will be a good opportunity."
What Edward Bridges meant was simple. Alan Wilson was the deputy secretary-general of the Overseas Assets Management Committee. He usually dealt with colonial affairs and had no shortage of diplomatic experience.
Who doesn't know that the Commonwealth Department, the Colonial Department, the original Indian Affairs Department and the Foreign Office do the same thing, but they face different places, and the four departments are all in the same headquarters building.
Now that the colonies are gradually decreasing, several departments that are doing the same thing tend to merge. If the permanent under-secretary of the Foreign Office retires and Alan Wilson can take over, it will almost take an important step towards the core position of Whitehall. step.
"Dear Sir, of course I also hope to seize this opportunity. After the hidden dangers in the colony are eliminated, I will definitely come back." Alan Wilson also did not hide his desire to make progress, and mentioned several hidden dangers by the way, but No solution was mentioned.
After all, if Indonesia is forced into the socialist camp, no matter how good the personal relationship is, one cannot tell the truth.
Edward Bridges asked curiously, "There are a lot of Chinese in the colonies you manage. Are you so confident that there won't be an anti-British wave?"
"The Chinese are a culturally disadvantaged group, but of course they don't think so. In British India, Hindus also thought they were strong, but the fact is that before we landed, Hindus had been ruled by peaceful believers for hundreds of years. .”
Alan Wilson wasn't trying to cover up a mistake at work, he really believed it that way and believed it.
The cultural influence of various dynasties does not have much influence on Southeast Asia under the nose. The only influence is Vietnam.
Looking at other Southeast Asian countries, isn’t Indonesia the religion of peace that dominates? Even at home, they can't compete with the Peace Sect from the Middle East. The so-called culture is so attractive, just listen to it.
If it weren't for modern times, Europe and the United States had smashed the powerful countries in the Peace Cult region. Now the remaining countries are limited by population and land area and would not be able to develop as easily as the Ottoman Empire and the Arab Empire in the agricultural era. If a powerful Peace Cult country existed, They are much better than India.
If it has influence on the energy resources of the Middle East, even if it cannot come close to the Soviet Union in the Cold War, China in the 21st century will be enough to give the Christian world a headache.
This is why he must have more Chinese than Malays in the Malayan colonies. If a group of Chinese with old social ideas do not have a numerical advantage, they may not be able to compete with the Malays who believe in peace religion.
What is gratifying is that the Chinese in the Malayan colonies have feudal ideas and are no less conservative than the Malays. Otherwise, it may end up happening in Germany in later generations, where men join the Peace Sect in order to fight against the white left.
"I hope your judgment is correct. Of course, I don't know the situation. It's just that if something happens to Malaya, as the current High Commissioner, your colleagues in Whitehall may question your reliability. I don't want your hard work to be paid." It would be a shame if it goes to the east."
Edward Bridges was optimistic about Alan Wilson and did not want some twists and turns to cause unpredictable obstacles on the smooth road, so he reminded him of this.
Alan Wilson was of course grateful, and he originally wanted to talk about the revolving door issue, but this was the Treasury after all. Although Edward Bridges had been relatively free during this last period, it was still inappropriate to talk about this matter.
"The cabinet secretary said that there will be a cocktail party, and I will attend then. Pamela also has some things she wants to talk to Sir about continuing to benefit society."
This was not the occasion for a detailed discussion, so Alan Wilson still let out a little hint, waiting for the other party's reaction.
"Well, that's really exciting." Edward Bridges raised his eyebrows, then nodded reservedly.
He knew that a revolving door had opened in front of him. Although he was curious in his heart, the composure he once had as a cabinet secretary was still there, and he just nodded tacitly.
After leaving the Ministry of Finance headquarters building, Alan Wilson began to figure out what to do next, "By the way, the headquarters of De Havilland Company, have the armed helicopters produced any results?"
This time I came back on an impromptu basis, and the lessons learned in terms of logistical support are issues that need to be avoided in daily work in the future.
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