Queen Mary's resolve

Queen Mary hurriedly picked up the document in front of her, but then realized she had forgotten which document she was referring to, so she glanced at Joseph beside her for help.

Seeing her son nod slightly, she immediately adopted an authoritative posture and nodded, saying, "I agree to the proposal. Please have Archbishop Brienne prepare the relevant decrees."

Brienne bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Joseph breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed his Salami Slicing tactic had worked.

Although the impact on officials in water conservancy and road administration is negligible, once this decree is signed, it will be tantamount to setting a precedent for officials to be "tested and appointed"!

The definition of a position that "requires a high level of professional knowledge" is open to interpretation and can be quite subjective.

Do you think Finance requires specialized knowledge? Do industrial management require specialized knowledge? What about agriculture? Trade? The Judiciary?

In the future, like boiling a frog in lukewarm water, more and more government positions will be included in the scope of "professional examinations," eventually encompassing all positions. This will mark the completion of the most important step in the reform of Officialdom.

At that time, the professional training of officials can also be opened up to universities such as the University of Paris and the University of Toulouse, and the Administrative Management University can only be responsible for the assessment.

By then, it will have become the complete version of the "Officialdom examination," and the reform of the bureaucracy will have come to a complete end.

Most importantly, this process is gradual and will not provoke strong opposition from the existing bureaucracy.

Of course, there will be people dissatisfied with this system, after all, some useless sons and grandsons of Nobility can no longer become high-ranking officials simply because of their connections. But they will also recall the grand occasion of this Police Force review, and thus turn their dissatisfaction into complaints, which will only be lip service.

In reality, even with such a civil service examination system, the Nobility still had a significant advantage.

First of all, university tuition fees in this era were extremely high, making it unaffordable for ordinary families.

Secondly, the children of Nobility families are more familiar with the examination content of Administrative Management University —their fathers were among the first to study there. It's not like the internet age now, where past civil service exam questions are readily available. Even if commoners have no problem with their academic subjects, they may not necessarily outperform Nobility in the civil service exam.

This made the Nobility even less resistant to taking the civil service exam, since the Noble Class still controlled most of the government positions.

Joseph did not pursue absolute equality; at least in the 18th century, the role of the Nobility was irreplaceable.

Brienne then continued, "The next proposal. His Crown Prince suggests establishing a ' Auxiliary Administrative Agency ' as a supplement to the main administrative departments, capable of immediately taking over management should unforeseen circumstances arise."

Seeing that the others didn't quite understand, Joseph explained, "I came up with this question because of this embezzlement case."

"As you all know, there are currently more than 40 officials on trial in court, and most of them will be convicted. The work they are responsible for will face a standstill in the short term, which is a risk that must be considered."

"Therefore, I believe that an ' Auxiliary Administrative Agency ' can be established, with job positions set up with reference to existing government departments, but it will not be granted actual power in normal times."

"If an existing official encounters an unexpected situation, a suitable official can be drawn from the ' Auxiliary Agency ' to take over."

Baron de Breteuil, the Minister of Justice, immediately frowned and said, "Your Highness, this would increase the expenditure on officials' salaries significantly. And according to you, these people in the ' Auxiliary Agency ' are mostly useless..."

Joseph smiled and said, "Your concerns are very reasonable, which is why the salaries of officials in the ' Auxiliary Agency ' are set relatively low. They can also be assigned tasks within their capabilities, such as organizing documents and copying data."

"But this is still..."

Mirabeau observed the Crown Prince's expression, then stood up and said, "Baron de Breteuil, do you know how long the administrative disruption in various regions has lasted due to the large number of officials imprisoned? It may have been more than a month."

"The losses incurred during this period are enough to pay the salaries of officials across the country for almost half a year."

"I think Your Highness's suggestion is excellent. It will not only stabilize administration but also allow those idle Nobility to take on additional positions and contribute to the country."

Joseph immediately gave him an approving look. Mirabeau managed to make something out of nothing by having Nobility contribute to the country.

Joseph simply wanted to create a bunch of "empty positions" to accommodate those who bought their way into office. After all, they had paid real money and signed agreements with the government; it wouldn't be appropriate to dismiss them directly unless they committed some serious offense.

Therefore, he referenced the Nanjing Garrison of the Ming Dynasty and created this "Auxiliary Administrative Agency." The titles of the officials are exactly the same as before, but once transferred from the Beijing court to Nanjing, they would lose all power and only have to wait to retire.

As professional assessments for officials become more widespread, all those who hold positions without performing their duties and only think about making money will definitely be blocked by the assessments. In that case, you will only have the option of accumulating experience in "auxiliary positions".

As for supporting an additional group of bureaucrats, Joseph didn't think it was a waste of money.

Conversely, replacing those who rose through the ranks by selling official positions with people who can actually get things done would bring positive impetus to the country and generate benefits far exceeding their meager salaries.

Not to mention that "auxiliary positions" can at least do things like organizing documents, which means we can hire fewer ordinary clerks, and in the end, it won't cost much more.

Upon hearing this, Baron de Breteuil assumed that the Crown Prince wanted to create more official positions so that he could collect more fees for buying those positions, so he said no more and sat down silently.

Queen Mary was not distracted this time. Seeing that none of the ministers objected, she signed the document handed to her by Brienne —this small-scale administrative adjustment did not even require the King's signature.

After discussing some routine matters, the seemingly unremarkable but actually far- France Cabinet Meeting came to an end.

Queen Mary watched Brienne's retreating figure, recalling the scene from the meeting earlier that day, and suddenly called out to him.

Brienne turned back and bowed slightly to her. "Your Majesty, is there anything else you require?"

Queen Mary hesitated for a moment before asking, "Archbishop Brienne, do you think the Crown Prince can lead the ministers to handle state affairs properly if I do not attend Cabinet Meeting?"

Brienne: "Yes, of course, His Highness the Crown Prince has long been holding France on the back. In fact, the meeting might be even more efficient if you weren't there."

However, he still feigned extreme surprise and exclaimed, "You are the soul of France! If you do not preside over the Cabinet, it will be a disaster for the country!"