Chapter 516: The Grandeur of History and the Helplessness of Reality

"Sorry John, I was distracted for a moment."

It was only then that Sir Humphrey realized that he had been standing at the gate in a daze for nearly 10 minutes.

Feeling a little embarrassed, he thanked the police officer who had kindly reminded him.

Then he turned and walked into the building in front of him. The process of walking from the main entrance into the Cabinet Office was like a journey through the corridor of history and power.

As you step into the door of 10 Downing Street, the first thing that catches your eye is the solemn and classical entrance hall.

An exquisite crystal chandelier hangs from the towering ceiling, and light shines through the carved glass windows, adding a sense of mystery and solemnity to the entire space.

Portraits of successive prime ministers are hung on the walls; their gazes seem to travel through time and space, examining every visitor.

After passing through the foyer, there is a spacious corridor.

Various precious works of art and antiques are displayed on both sides of the corridor, each of which tells the long history and culture of Britain.

The floor is covered with red carpet embroidered with intricate patterns, and you can feel the heavy sense of history with every step you take.

Continuing forward, we arrived at the Cabinet Meeting Room, the core decision-making place of the British government and a symbol of supreme political power.

The interior decoration of the conference room is luxurious yet solemn. Exquisite stationery and documents are placed on the long conference table, and there is a circle of comfortable leather chairs around it.

There are huge paintings on the walls, depicting important moments in British history, which makes people feel awe.

Standing in the cabinet meeting room, you can seem to hear the echoes of history and feel the majesty and power of the major decisions that have been made here.

This is not only a physical space, but also a spiritual temple full of symbolic meaning.

It represents the supreme political power of the British Empire and is the pride and glory in the hearts of every British person.

Along the way, in addition to greeting his colleagues, Sir Humphrey was also in his heart.

I described the scene I saw before my eyes as a top student in the Department of Literature at Oxford University.

The short essay he wrote in his mind could be published directly in the Times as a model for describing 10 Downing Street.

But unfortunately, this is nothing more than a beautiful literary imagination. Apart from the roughly similar descriptions of the scenes, there are some historical echoes and the like.

This is complete bullshit. As an elite civil servant, he has worked in this house for more than 10 years.

I have never heard any speeches full of historical sense, but only constant calculations, sarcastic sarcasm, and irony.

For example, in the Cabinet meeting room right now, the Minister of Industry is desperately trying to mock the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who seems to be in high spirits.

This middle-aged man, who was as strong as a steel worker, was probably one of the few ministers who could be considered professionally qualified.

The other party used to be a senior executive in British Steel Company, and then worked for a long time in the Norwegian Petroleum Group, as well as Germany's Rheinmetall and Volkswagen.

He has a high level of professionalism in the industrial field, and he was the first to propose the plan to build a wafer factory.

Use British government investment, combined with European fund investment and financing from individual private companies to revitalize the declining British industry.

He totally ignored the advice of his department secretary and went it alone with the Industrial Research Institute at Cambridge University.

Together with several industrial research institutions in Europe, we directly produced a professional and detailed project report.

It is explained in detail that if a new wafer factory is built in Wales, it will drive the revitalization of the entire old industrial area.

It will lay a solid foundation for the future development of industrial industries and bring at least 4 new industrial jobs.

As well as at least 10 future service industry jobs, this measure will not only achieve the revitalization of British industry, but also completely solve the employment problems in eight marginal constituencies.

Allow the Prime Minister's party to realize its desire to remain in power for a long time to come.

It was this detailed plan and the generous political rewards that touched the heart of Prime Minister Jim Hack.

This led to the leak scandal at 10 Downing Street, and at today's meeting, the Secretary of State for Industry had already learned the result.

It was obvious that he completely disregarded etiquette for the next meeting and directly fired at the high-spirited Chancellor of the Exchequer.

"You financial parasites are disgusting. Don't you know how high the land prices around the City of London are?"

"To establish a new industrial estate here would not only quickly drain our investment funds but, more importantly, waste this opportunity to revitalise British industry."

"Do you have even a shred of conscience in your hearts to take responsibility for this country?"

Faced with such accusations, the Chancellor of the Exchequer would certainly not agree, this tall and thin man who looked like he had kidney deficiency.

He retorted with a forced smile.

"Dear Mr. Rick, can we be a little fair? You keep emphasizing the disadvantages of our plan."

"But they never emphasize the advantage of our plan, that London is the heart of the British Empire."

"It has the most complete infrastructure and the strongest scientific and technological support, such as this high-tech industrial park."

"It should have been built here. If we really follow your plan, we will build it in that godforsaken place."

"I'm afraid that by the end of this government's term, we may not see even the slightest sign of success."

"The fact that you have completed the highway leading to the industrial park is a testament to the extraordinary efficiency of your industrial sector."

"Remember the highway to Scotland? It's been eight years, and less than 8 kilometers have been built."

"Not to mention the national rail scheme and the severe inefficiency and high absenteeism of British workers."

"If I were the industry secretary, I would probably be more concerned with these issues rather than asking you to think about how the investment funds we have in the Treasury should be spent."

"Perfect." Hearing this, Sir Humphrey pretended to flip through the report in front of him while giving a compliment to his colleague in his heart.

The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance gave a perfect evaluation. It seems that the other party has tamed his ministers very well.

The main contradiction has been fully grasped, allowing the other party to break away from the desire for votes and keenly realize that this plan infringes on the department's power.

This is one of the methods commonly used by these permanent secretaries to change the ministers' way of thinking from childish vote politics.

It gradually escalated into a real political power struggle, and they often called this behavior "wet nurse".

They are like a group of old nannies, painstakingly educating these ministers on how to live correctly in political life.

“The Prime Minister has arrived!!!”