"From the beginning, when Allen came back from British India, he bluntly said that if British India became independent, it would be best to package it up and sell it. The only worry was that the country could not unify a consensus on British India."
Edward Bridges lit a cigar, took a puff and continued, "Of course this is also an old problem in our country. The ruling party and the opposition party will never reach a consensus unless something big happens."
"Maybe this is democracy." Norman Brooke laughed dryly, "I just don't know what the Prime Minister will think of it. At present, the great Prime Minister is not what people think."
"At least not entirely." Edward Bridges added timely, "Some aspects are still questionable."
"Okay, do you want to tell the whole story directly, or do you get permission and tacitly admit that Allen is testing the edges?" Norman Brooke said to himself with a look of embarrassment, "That way of handling it is more certain."
"I think you can put it bluntly." Edward Bridges thought for a moment and said, "Our Prime Minister is going crazy thinking about money."
"This is what's strange to me. In addition to the National Health Plan, there is still a large amount of money that I don't know where to go." Norman Brooke talked about this topic with a strange face. "I don't want to accuse the Prime Minister of being opaque in finance, but this amount of money is unknown."
Where did the money go?"
"Norman, don't pay attention to this matter." Edward Bridges looked at the other party and hesitated to speak, and finally warned Norman Brooke not to delve deeper.
The alloy tube project is still in top secret status, and the Prime Minister knows no more than five people, and Edward Bridges happens to be one of them. Although Norman Brooke has been regarded as the successor to the Cabinet Secretary, he is also
among the unsuspecting others.
"To be honest, if this thing is done, I think Allen can be knighted for his achievements."
In order to prevent his successor from overthinking, Edward Bridges used Alan Wilson as a shield. Knighthood is a favorite topic among civil servants, and Norman Brooke is no exception.
"If his father hadn't survived until the war, he should have been knighted long ago. But if it were placed on Allen, his age would seem very inappropriate." Norman Brook said from a completely neutral perspective, "
Of course, I am not coveting anything. If we can get out of the war quagmire as soon as possible, the credit belongs to all civil servants, which is what Allen's telegram envisaged."
"Including but not limited to you and me..." Edward Bridges said with a half-smile.
"That's right. The glory belongs to all the gentlemen of Whitehall." Norman Brooke paused at this point and said, "What on earth are we going to do!"
"Sometimes the glory can be shared with political parties. What are the preferences of the Prime Minister's political advisers? I really don't have many contacts." Edward Bridges said to himself.
Compared to the distant cabinet secretary, Norman Brooke has a very close relationship with politicians, and he even attracted criticism from many people for being too familiar with him.
Edward Bridges was not clear about this issue, but Norman Brooke knew it very well. "I have a certain understanding of him. He is a gentleman with a flexible moral bottom line."
"Very good, that's easy to handle." Edward Bridges was in a good mood. He drank the remaining whiskey in one gulp, then stood up and left under the admiring eyes of the Whitehall civil servants dining in the restaurant.
This will not delay everyone. Later, we will look at Norman Brooke again with the same reverential eyes. Whitehall civil servants must pay attention to these few points. Although the leaders have differences, they are all in order to advance the work.
The reason for the disagreement is that the leaders are in different positions and have different work priorities. Everyone should fully understand the intentions of each leader and try to put forward a plan that takes into account each leader.
If one of them is a direct leader, the opinion of the direct leader should be followed first.
Everyone can start working when one leader makes a request but other leaders have not yet made it, so there are no disagreements.
If the matter is not urgent, the implementation can be postponed until all leaders agree on the matter so that work can be carried out.
But when encountering special situations, it is necessary to show the efficient and responsible side of Whitehall and eliminate possible threats.
National affairs require the Prime Minister and ministers to make decisions, but everyone naturally has a way to make the country's decisions coincide with their own expectations.
In fact, Prime Minister Attlee's biggest problem is money. This is now a well-known thing in Whitehall. Just look at the miserable face of the Secretary of the Treasury every day.
Edward Bridges and Norman Brooke each used their own methods. Edward Bridges held a meeting of cabinet secretaries to discuss current financial issues.
Financial issues have always existed, but now they need to be discussed at a meeting.
Norman Brooke's method was to win over Prime Minister Attlee's political advisor by unclogging relationships. Although the political advisor belonged to the party and was not a civil servant, the pursuit of progress was the same. Today's political advisor may not be tomorrow's political advisor.
Prime Minister, you must know that the current Prime Minister Attlee also once served as the personal political secretary of the former Prime Minister.
The precedent has been to live safely at No. 10 Downing Street. Shouldn’t those who come after us be allowed to follow suit?
Furthermore, the risks borne by political consultants in this matter are far from comparable to those in Whitehall. If it fails, nothing will be lost. If it succeeds, the Labor Party may gain momentum. Why not do it?
At this time, Norman Brooke's long-standing close relationship with the ruling party became the key to opening the door of convenience. It didn't take much effort to get the other party to agree to help.
Doing real things is always harder than wiping the butt. If Alan Wilson had stabbed Lou, Edward Bridges could have simply forged a report on the Prime Minister's letter and archived it so that no one could find it.
In a telegram sent back to New Delhi, Cabinet Secretary Edward Bridges responded, "The train is also independent, but as long as you lay the track, it can only follow the established track."
This sentence is very philosophical. Alan Wilson read it several times. It probably means that the political party is the train, but the civil servants are the rails. Only the cooperation of the two can ensure smooth progress. If they really fall out, the result will be a car crash and death.
.
"Why can't we close the curtains, sway our bodies, and pretend the train is still moving?" Alan Wilson thought of a famous Soviet joke. It was just for fun to make fun of oneself, but if we really worked hard, we would have to make fun of the Soviets.
Of course, confidentiality was also mentioned in the telegram, and it was believed that the current British Commissioner for India, Sir Barron, did not need to know about this matter for the time being and left it to Alan Wilson to handle it independently.
When they have a clue, the cabinet will take the initiative to notify Sir Barron, and he will naturally share the credit.
Alan Wilson was in a good mood, and even Joan Crawford felt it. After all, the two of them had few friends in British India and always wanted someone to chat with, so they got along well with this young assistant commissioner.
If this relatively isolated environment lasts for a few months, the two of them may fall in love with this man, and love will last for a long time. The apartment they live in is familiar to Alan Wilson.
"It seems that I feel much better after get off work today. What happened to make you so happy?" Hedy Lamarr was the first to ask, and Joan Crawford on the side also looked curious.
Naturally, domestic matters cannot be discussed with the two Americans. Alan Wilson teased the two female stars and said, "I had a dream yesterday, and I dreamed that I was ruling the world."
"There's everything in dreams." Joan Crawford couldn't help but laugh out loud, and spoke mercilessly.
"This sentence was said by your country's President Truman, I forgot to tell you." Before Hedy Lamarr joined in, Alan Wilson responded calmly, "I attended the Potsdam Conference, and what happened at that time
A lot of interesting things happened.”
"Oh, right!" Hedy Lamarr and Joan Crawford's eyes lit up at the same time. American politicians may not be as impressive as the top monopoly capitalists, but for these two female stars, they are still worth looking up to.
people.
"Oh, you still like to inquire about this kind of thing?" Alan Wilson turned his head and looked at the flower garden not far away.
The gardener was plowing the soil for a new flower bed, which was close to the pigeon cage next to the gate. He was a mentally retarded and extremely stupid young Indian. He lived a silent life and his tongue was too big to even fit in his mouth.
He covered his face with his hands and gave a deep salute to Alan Wilson. Then he raised the shovel again and shoveled hard and awkwardly into the dry soil, making his delicate muscles tremble.
Although there are no Indians living in New Delhi, there must be Indians working. We cannot let the gentlemen and ladies of the British Empire do menial work, right?
After two female celebrities, Alan Wilson started to tell some interesting stories about the Big Three at the Potsdam Conference. At the moment, the beauty was about how Prime Minister Churchill became Mr. Churchill and continued to stay at the Potsdam Conference as an advisor, which also became his closer
and tools for two.
Hedy Lamarr and Joan Crawford were laughing so hard. At this moment, Bette Davis, full of complaints, appeared around the corner and happened to see this scene.
"Betty, come sit here." Hedy Lamarr took the initiative to say hello and invited Bette Davis, who had been rarely seen these days, to come over.
When Bette Davis saw that Joan Crawford was there, she shook her head slightly and walked towards her apartment.
"What's wrong with her?" Hedy Lamarr was a little confused, but then she remembered that Joan Crawford was here, and of course she wouldn't come over.
Feeling Hedy Lamarr's gaze, Joan Crawford snorted softly, "It has nothing to do with me, maybe she was dumped."