Minister Liu Aili left the Elysee Palace with a smile of relief after a narrow escape; this trip to the Elysee Palace was nothing short of torturous for a man in his sixties.
If he had to go through it a few more times, he would definitely submit his resignation to the President.
Returning to the Ministry of War, Liu Aili did not forget the task entrusted by Jerome Bonaparte; he quickly summoned the Director of Personnel to relay the President’s instructions.
However, Liu Aili did not mention that the task was given by the President.
"Minister, are you saying under 40? And they must have combat experience in Algeria?" The Personnel Director inquired again, unable to grasp Liu Aili’s intentions due to missing key information.
"That’s right!" Liu Aili nodded and responded, "Go!"
"I’ll go right away!" The Director saluted Minister Liulei and left.
Although he did not know what Minister Liulei intended, his instinct, having been promoted by Liu Aili, was to obey orders.
Just as he was about to leave the Minister’s office, the Director suddenly realized an issue: the Minister had not specified how many people were needed. He quickly turned to ask, "Minister, how many people do you need?"
The inquiry made Liu Aili realize that he hadn’t asked the President about the number needed. He could only vaguely reply, "Let’s go with 60-70 people!"
It’s likely Liu Aili didn’t realize that his vague response perfectly met Jerome Bonaparte’s initial staffing needs for the Staff Department.
Back at the Personnel Directorate, the Director swiftly mobilized all departments to search for officers who met the criteria.
After nearly two weeks of overtime day and night, the Personnel Directorate finally compiled a list.
The Director handed the list to the Minister of War, saying, "Minister, this is the list of members who meet your requirements!"
Looking at the densely packed French names on the list, Liu Aili nodded with satisfaction and said, "Contact them according to the list!"
The Director looked at Minister Liu Aili in surprise; there were a total of sixty-eight names on the list.
[Among them, 20 people were from departments under the Ministry of War, and the remaining 48 were from Algeria.]
Although they were all low-ranking officers, as the Director understood, it seemed the Ministry of War had no positions to accommodate them.
"Minister, if I may speak frankly!" The Director, to protect his own power from being diluted, summoned the courage to say to Liu Aili, "The Ministry of War cannot accommodate so many people! If they were to all pour into the Ministry of War, it would likely cause the entire department to become bloated!"
"Bloated?" Liu Aili looked up, his sharp eyes seemed to pierce into the Director’s soul as he sneered, "Isn’t the Ministry of War bloated enough already?"
Do not be fooled by Liu Aili’s helplessness in front of Jerome Bonaparte; that was only because of the President’s overwhelming authority.
When facing someone of a lower rank like the Director, Liu Aili was not so easy to deal with.
"I... I mean... we really don’t need to hire more people!" The Director, upon realizing he had offended his leader, could only brace himself to continue speaking.
For his own and the Ministry of War’s interests, he had no choice but to act in this way!
It’s all for the Minister’s good!
Internally, the Director silently rationalized his actions to himself.
"Don’t worry, Count Lendel, these people won’t stay in the Ministry of War!" Liu Aili said to his materialistic subordinate sarcastically.
"Then they..." Count Lendel instinctively asked, suddenly recalling that a few days ago, the Prince-President seemed to have established a military secretariat [officially announced], and they might be transferred there.
Damn, I should have thought of this sooner!
Approaching fifty, Count Lendel deeply regretted not having the foresight to include his son, who had just graduated last year, on the list; he believed the Minister wouldn’t have exposed his son’s posting with the Nantes garrison.
Now it’s too late for everything.
Count Lendel’s regret was entirely noticed by Liu Aili, who couldn’t help but internally disdain his subordinate.
Though regretful, Count Lendel quickly regained his composure after realizing his error.
"Go and contact them! I have a meeting to attend!" Having reviewed all the names on the list, Liu Aili gave Count Lendel a dismissal order.
Unwillingly, Count Lendel had to follow up on contacting the list members and looked at the names on it.
Count Lendel had every reason to believe.
If the President could succeed, everyone on the list would attain success and glory.
Perhaps I should pledge allegiance to the President?
A thought emerged in Lendel’s mind; born of traditional nobility, he should have been one of Napoleon’s greatest opponents, but now he found himself considering serving him.
It’s all Napoleon’s fault! He disrupted everything!
Sitting in the study of the Elysee Palace, Jerome Bonaparte was unaware of the happenings at the Ministry of War; at this moment, he was conversing with Commander Renio, who was about to embark on the expedition to Rome.
"General Renio, I must congratulate you in advance on becoming the Commander of the Roman Expeditionary Army!" Jerome Bonaparte exclaimed with exaggerated enthusiasm, his face full of smiles at the general in front of him, who also shared the trait of baldness, "It’s not an easy job!"
Just promoted from Brigadier General to Major General, General Renio looked at Jerome Bonaparte with excitement in his eyes full of gratitude. To command an independent army in battle was every general’s dream; for someone like him who had just been promoted to Major General, it would have been impossible to land such a good position without someone’s help.
"Your Majesty, I... I..." General Renio was so excited he could barely speak.
"General, you were expelled from the army because of the Bonaparte family! During the July Monarchy, you were denied a promotion for seven years because of my cousin. We owe you compensation!" Jerome Bonaparte said sincerely.
Having learned from Colonel Dumur about Renio’s "connection" to the Bonaparte Clan, Jerome felt all the more justified in heavily utilizing this loyal general; the war for Rome was his reward to General Renio.
"I vow to serve Your Majesty loyally, to serve the Bonaparte family!" General Renio declared loudly to Jerome Bonaparte.
"General Renio, you won’t regret today’s choice! I believe you will become a Marshal!" Jerome Bonaparte promised Renio, then shifted his tone, saying, "I need you to seize this opportunity to find a group of our supporters in the army, and I will use them to purge the Ministry of War!"
Jerome Bonaparte believed that the army had never been a compliant group; there were always ambitious individuals within. As long as those ambitious individuals believed that following him would achieve their desires, they would unite under his banner.
Delight surpassed the initial shock as Renio decisively became the bridge between Bonaparte and the military.
It wouldn’t be long before a wave of Bonapartists would emerge within the Roman expeditionary forces.