Chapter 216 04.0215: "The Difficult Cooperation between the Administrative Affairs Department and the Navy Special Warfare Department"

"Okay, what about this one?! This is finally OK!
This is the third PR plan we have rewritten. God-Emperor, our work efficiency has fallen to this level, which is a disgrace to the reputation of the Holy Navy.

The first deputy next door has already found clues to the case, and we are still here arguing and not producing any results."

Captain Lord Sterling stood up with a look of collapse, holding a glass full of wine, untied his bow tie, and walked to the balcony, hoping that the sunshine and fresh air would make him feel better.

However, looking at the brightly shining Shangchao metropolitan area, he was exhausted both physically and mentally and could only feel dizzy. He had to put down the wine glass, hold onto the marble railing, and breathe heavily.

Every time he confidently came up with a plan, Sir Humphrey would point out many flaws in it that left him speechless, and in the end he had to have the plan sent back and redrafted from scratch again.

This made the atmosphere in the office very anxious, awkward and stiff.

Bernard next door, after dealing with the tasks assigned to him by Horatio, quietly returned to where he was supposed to be.

His bright and humble eyes moved back and forth between Captain Stirling and his superior Sir Humphrey, and he could carefully sense and ponder the strange atmosphere.

He glanced furtively at Home Secretary Hank again.

The minister was holding the handle of the porcelain cup with his index finger and thumb. On the surface, he was drinking tea, but in fact he was hinting with his eyes that he should find a way to ease the rigid atmosphere.

If this continues, I'm afraid that either someone in this office will collapse from a blood-qi attack, or someone will fall to the ground after being shot multiple times.

"That's not quite accurate, Captain," Bernard said cautiously, holding the manuscript.

"Accurate!? Mr. Bernard, I can count, this is the third draft."

"I mean, actually, it was drafted once, then revised once. And then redrafted once, so this is actually the second ..."

"Please don't be so picky, Mr Bernard.

What we need now is to come up with a plan that can be presented." The captain, who was so angry that he laughed, sat back in his seat, rubbed his temple, and took a deep breath.

"We would be happy to draft a third one," said Sir Humphrey, with his usual smile.

"And then? A fourth time? A fifth time? Oh, there must be a sixth time, God-Emperor. I want to see what constructive suggestions your department can come up with, instead of just picking on me here.

I just want to say what I want to say. If it is up to me, I will say it as I want, and then I will promise the people that I will find out the truth and make everything known to the world. That's it!" The captain said in agony.

"We want it to say exactly what we want it to say," Sir Humphrey corrected carefully.

"Uh... Of course, Captain, our department certainly doesn't want you to say anything you don't want to say." Seeing that the two were about to start again, Bernard quickly interjected to ease the atmosphere.

"That's enough! Stop beating around the bush. I'll just do what I'm told."

The captain's plan actually made the three people from the Ministry of the Interior feel uneasy.

Between the lines, from beginning to end, from inside to outside, it reveals the integrity and competence of a soldier, as well as the complacency of some idealistic bureaucrats. Of course, this is the Ministry of the Interior's habitual euphemism.

From another perspective, the captain's proposal is full of reckless and imprudent speech, which cannot withstand excessive interpretation and is very easy to give people a chance to criticize.

Pre-set positions and promises will only raise public expectations, leaving little room for investigation and image restoration.

Certain arbitrary remarks will cause disgust and resistance from multiple departments, which is completely contrary to the public relations purpose of winning over allies...

The captain was very sincere about his plan, but it was obvious that the people, especially the unruly ones there, and the bureaucrats from other brother departments would not buy into it.

"My dear Lord Captain, if you insist that I speak clearly, I can only say that, given the current situation, looking at the overall situation, looking at the past and present, and considering the average administrative level of our units and departments, after summarizing and analyzing, perhaps we can think that in summary, you may find that, although it may not be pleasant to hear, in any case, the actual implementation of this public relations plan may have a delicate prospect, and the final effect will only bring greater trouble to your department."

Jazz spoke like a tongue twister, uttering his signature, extremely long, yet very euphemistic long sentences.

And in the end, it comes to an abrupt end at the perfect moment, perfectly achieving the effect of 'I've reminded you, but in order not to draw trouble, and also to perform the function of co-organizer only, the rest is for you to figure out on your own.'

"But if the navy gets into trouble this time, we will be in big trouble too." The second public relations plan was worked out by the minister and the captain together, and it was he who injected the part full of "idealistic" bureaucratic flavor into it.

This plan was already very good in the eyes of outsiders, but in the eyes of Sir Humphrey, who was slick and proficient in clerical work, the final product of the two people's joint efforts could only be said to be slightly better than the first final draft, but there were still too many loopholes. This white little sampan was simply unable to cope with the public opinion field full of turbulent waves and strong winds.

In fact, Sir Humphrey was not deliberately making things difficult in this matter. He also wanted to resolve the matter as soon as possible so that he could give an explanation to his superiors.

But public relations cannot be rushed. The more anxious you are, the easier it is to make mistakes, causing things to rush in an irreversible downward direction.

Moreover, he is the permanent under-secretary, the highest-ranking secretary.

Whether in terms of authority, responsibilities, or the risk of taking responsibility, he can only do his job as a secretary to the best of his ability.

That is to give advice and remind.

During his long career at the Ministry of the Interior, he had seen too many colleagues who, as secretaries, had to do the decision-making work of the chief officers, and as a result, when things went wrong, they were unable to clean up the mess and ultimately lost their lives.

Second.

His and the Administrative Affairs Department's mission was just to assist, and the primary and secondary relationships must be clearly distinguished. That is, the primary one is the Imperial Navy Department under the Imperial Fleet, and the secondary one is the Administrative Affairs Department.

According to this dark officialdom where one careless step can result in everyone losing their heads physically, every step must be taken with caution and must not be crossed.

Otherwise, if something really goes wrong, others will investigate and ask: why are you, the co-organizer, doing the work of the organizer?

The Administrative Affairs Department has no choice but to wait for the guillotine to chop off its head.

So it is out of protection for their own department, career and life safety.

Sir Humphrey carefully and tactfully pointed out those aspects of the plan that would only have negative effects, but he remained silent on how they should be resolved.

Maybe he hasn't figured out how to solve it.

Perhaps as a deputy minister rather than a chief official, he could not bear the burden and consequences of "decision-making".

Suddenly, the door was pushed open.

"Good afternoon, sir, and the leaders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I am the first lieutenant of the Special Warfare Division, Horatio Cochrane, acting lieutenant."

Horatio pushed open the door and walked in with great energy. He saluted everyone in the office neatly. Every move he made reflected the youthful vigor.

This is in stark contrast to the lieutenant who is exhausted by public relations paperwork.

Under his arm he had a newspaper folded into four.

"Today's operation has made some progress. First, I think you may want to take a look at this."

He distributed the newspapers.

The first person to get the newspaper was Minister Hank, who crossed his legs, as curious as a child getting a new toy.

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Horatio. I heard that you have made a breakthrough. Congratulations."

"Thank you for your congratulations, Your Excellency," Horatio responded politely.

But he knew that the minister would soon stop laughing, so he kept silent and did not ruin the minister's mood in advance.

When Minister Hank took a sip of tea, he looked carefully at the contents of the newspaper and the words on it.

puff!
He sprayed a mouthful of tea on the cheap newspaper. The pungent smell of the cheap ink slowly dissipated under the influence of warm water, and the air began to be filled with the pungent smell.

The minister's hand holding the teacup was shaking as if he had Parkinson's disease, and he put the cup back on the saucer with stumbling movements.

Seeing the minister's reaction, Sir Humphrey realized something was wrong. He walked forward and greeted him with a smile.

That smiling face was the one he had spent decades creating, a mask of officialdom that he used to keep calm and hide his emotions. Of course, if Horatio were to comment, it would be that Sir Humphrey made him look like a fox.

He maintained his businesslike smile and respectfully asked for one from Horatio.

The moment this experienced civil servant came across the newspaper, he read and recognized the words he saw with the amazing speed unique to senior civil servants.

Then his eyes suddenly widened, and the business smile on his face disappeared in an instant.

He could only decipher two words from the lines of the newspaper: 'It's over!'

"Thank you, sir." Bernard took the newspaper from Horatio respectfully, but he froze in place after seeing the first line of big words on it.

The last newspaper was handed to the captain.

Wow!

The captain was so angry that he threw the goblet to the ground. With a ping, crystal fragments mixed with red wine hit the wooden board and splashed everywhere.

"What the hell is this? How dare they? How dare they write such a thing? They are spreading rumors about our Imperial Navy, right?"

His blood rushed to his head, his face quickly turned red, his eyes widened with anger, veins popped out on his hands, as if he was going to tear the newspaper in front of him into pieces as if it were a Void Pirate.

The person who falls to the ground due to blood and qi attack is about to appear!

Minister Hank took out his handkerchief and wiped his shirt, looking at the captain and thinking.

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(End of this chapter)