British civil servant

"The actor you mentioned needs to have this kind of condition and influence. Perhaps only Vivien Leigh can do it." Persick Lawrence shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Others don't have this influence."

"Why not? Isn't it right for an actor to make a little contribution to the British Empire?" Alan Wilson said sternly, "She should feel honored. This is the responsibility entrusted to her by the Empire."

Chapter 198 Ministers and Actors

According to Alan Wilson, when the British Empire needed an image spokesperson to appease the anger of the people of British India, an actor should make sacrifices. Whether it is a movie queen or something, patriotism is a basic requirement.

Is it too much for an actor to come to British India at the cost of some time for the benefit of the British Empire?Alan Wilson didn't think it was too much, because it showed that the whole of Britain had recognized Vivien Leigh's status, otherwise, why didn't someone else come?

"What you said is very reasonable. In fact, Vivien Leigh's image is of course suitable for promoting the protection of women's rights." Persick Lawrence frowned and thought for a long time, and he must admit in his heart that apart from Vivien Leigh, there is really no one There are other candidates who have both image and influence.

When he was thinking about this and hadn't made up his mind yet, Alan Wilson added fire to the side, "Vivien Leigh was born in British India. From what I know about Indians, Indians are actually very vain and happy to see some Celebrities have a relationship with India, and there will definitely be unexpected effects."

Vivien Leigh was born in Darjeeling, a small city in West Bengal, India.Due to the high altitude and the sheltered hillside, it is cool and pleasant in summer, coupled with the fragrant tea garden, it has become a summer resort.

During the period of British India, it developed as a summer resort for British residents to escape the hot summer on the plains. Many people rode horses to climb the southern foot of the Himalayas and experienced an extraordinary adventure life.

Alan Wilson is not lying. It should be said that the muqiang mentality in backward areas is common, but it is more or less a problem.Once upon a time, China also held the idea that blood is thicker than water towards overseas Chinese, but in fact, except for the Chinese ethnic group in Malaysia, overseas Chinese are generally not friendly to their fellows.

As long as you don't meet fellow villagers, stabbing them is considered a friendly gesture based on the fact that blood is thicker than water.

As for India, this situation is even more serious. Any CEO of Indian origin in a large international company can be listed in Indian newspapers, which arouses the pride of many Indians. Nothing less than that.

That is a matter of the 21st century, and India, which is still colonized by Britain, will only get more serious.

Once Vivien Leigh arrives in British India, if she casually says a few words, such as I am the daughter of India, it is estimated that hundreds of millions of Indians will welcome her. The arrival of this international actress may even lead to a wave of imitation.

Hearing that Vivien Leigh was born in British India, Persick-Lawrence was finally persuaded and decided to use the current treasure of Great Britain to serve as a bridge between the British Empire and the colonies.

"You can use some extra influence, maybe there will be unexpected effects." Persick Lawrence decided to give it a try.

"This method can be called the flexible use of soft power." Alan Wilson is already ready to send a telegram. For the stability and prosperity of British India, and for the future of the entire British Empire, this kind of thing cannot be delayed for a moment.

He also helped the Minister of Indian Affairs to propose the use of soft power. Alan Wilson was really excited just thinking about it.

On the same day, the imperial mission telegram written by Allen Wilson himself was sent to London. It also included Allen Wilson's use of soft power, saying that a good actress is even as effective as a fleet.

Soft power refers to spiritual power, including soft factors such as political power, cultural power, and diplomatic power.Facing the current British India, the British Empire must use culture, values, social systems and other factors that affect its own development potential and appeal, rather than blindly relying on the Royal Navy.

The most important thing is that the Royal Navy is now the second in the world. The navy is actually very embarrassing. As long as it is not the first, it is almost the same in the eyes of the first.

However, for a colony like British India, the Royal Navy can still play the role of hard power to set off soft power.A combination of the two might be even better.

Vivien Leigh, an international actress born in British India, is a soft power tool in the eyes of Allen Wilson. The telegram hopes that Vivien Leigh can shoulder the responsibility of the empire and do her part for the British Empire.

Soon the Ministry of Indian Affairs sent Alan Wilson's telegram to the cabinet secretary, Sir Edward, and conveyed it to Prime Minister Attlee.

Sir Edward elaborated on the situation of British India in detail, and finally said, "Now the civil servants in the Governor's Mansion of India are trying their best to maintain the superficial stability of British India, just to extract as much wealth as possible from British India. The effect of local construction is very obvious. In the first month of this year, the expenditure of British India has dropped significantly, and the funds provided to the local area have increased compared with when it started to improve in November.”

"Judging from the current trend, the end of the rationing system in the mainland is not far away, but this must also take into account the work of the British-occupied trade committee."

At least there has been a good start, and various data have proved that the situation in the UK itself is improving, and the pressure on Prime Minister Attlee has indeed been greatly reduced.

Of course, this improvement is based on the strict rationing system in the British-occupied areas of Germany, the deprivation of surplus value, and the withdrawal of funds from British India.

Although somewhat immoral, who made British India a colony and Germany a defeated country?Seeing the improvement of the local economy, Prime Minister Attlee didn't care about the morality of doing so. It is very moral to restore Britain as soon as possible.

"Soft power?" Prime Minister Attlee smiled wryly after listening to Sir Edward's words, "This kind of influence should have some effect. When did we start relying on this kind of thing? But the mainland is still in the recovery period, and it can be used We will not reject anything as long as it works.”

As a prime minister who was ordered in a crisis, the most important thing for Attlee now is to pull Britain out of the quagmire. As for what is moral or immoral, this kind of thing can be discussed later.After all, he was the prime minister of Britain, not the chancellor of Germany or the governor-general of British India.

It is naturally impossible for Vivien Leigh's matter to appear in the discussion between the cabinet secretary and the prime minister. Sir Edward just glanced at it, and the secretary of the Ministry of the Interior took care of it.

Soon Vivien Leigh met the civil servants from the Ministry of the Interior, hoping that Vivien Leigh could contribute to the country, become a bridge between the British mainland and British India, promote the civilization of the civilized world, expand the influence of Britain in British India, and all kinds of people are tall on the excuse.

Although the narration was in a negotiating tone, it still expressed the most important hint of whether to refuse.And said that this is an opportunity to represent the image of the British Empire, and it is a great honor to be the spokesperson of the country.

"I am willing to make my own contribution to peace." When Vivien Leigh heard about the status of the country's spokesperson, she was quite aware that I would not be sleepy at once, and expressed that she was willing to turn down other jobs and go to British India to change the situation of Indian women.

Not to mention local issues, after communicating with the Congress Party and the Muslim League, the three cabinet ministers have understood that it is basically impossible, if not impossible, to bridge the conflict between the two religions.

Negotiations will of course continue, because this is a task arranged by the prime minister, but other than that, the three cabinet ministers have all started to make changes in different aspects. Complications.

The Minister of Commerce, Cripps, praised the construction of the Kolkata Industrial Zone in public, saying that once the construction is completed, it will be a day when British India will be reborn. , appeared in the eyes of the world.

Secretary of the Navy Alexander, from the perspective of the two world wars in British India, indicated that India has all the powerful elements.At the same time, he also called out for Indian soldiers in British military bases everywhere, saying that the London government has always attached great importance to the welfare of Indian soldiers, and stated that it will strictly prohibit discrimination against Indian soldiers. It is immoral for any British officer to discriminate against Indian soldiers. should be condemned.

He also stated that the Governor's Office of India has started to improve the treatment of Indian soldiers, but the number of soldiers involved is too large, so it may take several months to a year to make plans.

Of course there is such a plan. Alan Wilson cannot forget the contribution of Indian soldiers in the war. When the day of British India's independence, he will completely hand over the plan to improve the treatment of soldiers to Nehru.

I hope that when the finances dry up, India, which has disintegrated the Kolkata industrial zone, will have the financial resources to allow Nehru to implement the plan to improve the treatment of soldiers.

The Minister of Commerce and the Secretary of the Navy explained India's advantages from different angles, and the time left for the Minister of Indian Affairs, Persick Lawrence, is running out.

In the end, we can only start from the fields we are good at, and praise Indian women as the most attractive women in the world, and then extend it to Indian men, and use words such as hard work and bravery to show that we are optimistic about British India. .

"Why is this statement even more unreliable than my bragging about the nuclear war in ancient India?" Alan Wilson looked sour when he read the newspaper's praise of the Indian Affairs Minister Persick Lawrence to the Indians.

At least Alan Wilson believes that what he said is a lie, and no one with knowledge will believe those fabricated histories.

Compared with Alan Wilson Tuyile's falsified history, Persick Lawrence's statement is very damaging.The acting of these ministers is no less than that of professional actors.

Chapter 199 Baron's Teachings

"The minister's statement is very sloppy!" When he arrived at Sir Barron's office, Alan Wilson heard the head of the British Indian civil servants comment, "Not only is it deceptive to Indians, but if it spreads, it will be deceptive to people from other countries. Equally deceptive, it creates a wrong impression of Indians."

"Yes, Sir Barron. But things have already happened!" Alan Wilson said that he was still on Sir Barron's side, and did not agree with the hasty statement of the Minister of Indian Affairs. "We only understand Indians, not Indians." High minister."

"That's why these ministers who didn't know what to do before always jump out at critical moments to destroy the foundation of the empire. This is really annoying." Sir Barron has not yet finished criticizing the Minister of Indian Affairs, and finally sighed Said, "Find a place to wander around, drink red wine, ride a horse, isn't it good to go back to China when the time comes, just use some non-destructive words, just fool the Indians, we are professionals."

"Well, maybe the minister does not have our vocabulary, and the vocabulary we have mastered may not be so attractive to be honest. Most of the documents issued cannot be understood, and no one cares." Alan Wilson pondered for a while With a wry smile, "This may be our weakness."

"It is the biggest advantage in itself not to understand the issued documents and understand what we say. In this way, most of them will not understand how the country works. If they don't understand, they can't find fault. In reliable hands, there is no doubt that none are more reliable than those of us who have spent our lives in the service of our country."

reliable!Alan Wilson admits that there is no better compliment to the life of a public servant than this term.

"Okay, let's not talk about this, what are you here for?" Sir Baron skipped the hasty statement to the minister, and asked Alan Wilson what he wanted to do in his office?

"That's right, Sir, it's about the discharge and return of British Indian soldiers." Alan Wilson took out a document about the return resettlement plan for veterans after the war, "The full version is too cumbersome, I I won't bring it over."

"You should leave the full version to the Congress Party." Sir Barron took out his glasses and said with a smirk on his face, "What is the main plan? What are your considerations?"

"It's mainly a matter of land distribution. In principle, we are more willing that most of the soldiers, especially Hindu soldiers, can get resettlement land." Allen Wilson said solemnly, "To be honest, the land situation in North India can be said It is very tense, there are too many people in the Ganges River Basin, and there is not much land available for distribution, so the land distribution plan can be said to be very difficult."

"In principle, we should give priority to Hindu soldiers and soldiers who speak Hindi, but the land in the Ganges River Basin is tight, and if it is allocated to these soldiers, it may cause unnecessary conflicts, so I think, consider these soldiers Allotment of land outside the Ganges Valley, such as the Indus Valley, and the southern states.”

Upon hearing this, Sir Baron stopped flipping through the documents and said with a chuckle, "I said, why are you so kind all of a sudden, and you started to care about the well-being of the returning Indian soldiers. So that was the idea."

"Oh, dear Sir Barron, the war is over. In order to reduce the burden on British India, it is not a mistake to let some soldiers return to their hometown. However, the overpopulation of the hometown causes conflicts. It is not what we want to see Yes, so dispersing and demobilizing is a very good way, I am completely selfless, and I am thinking about the lives of the soldiers after they retire."

"However, the advantage is that this can weaken the military power of a large part of Indians. During the war, India absolutely expanded to 270 million. Now that the war is over, it is indeed worrying." Sir Barron put down the document, but he still had some doubts asked, "Will Tubang agree?"

"Most of the states are just bigger landowners who have no ability to resist. As for the lords like the state of Hyderabad, I am going to talk to them once. This plan has taken into account the issue of belief. My thoughts are as follows Yes, soldiers from the Peace Church go to Hyderabad and Junagadh. Hindu soldiers need to identify their ethnicity. For example, Hindi-speaking soldiers can be sent to Tamils. They are all Hindus. It's okay to get along."

This is definitely not Alan Wilson's weakening of the Indian army, but considering that these soldiers fought bloody for the British Empire during the war, and he could not let these soldiers fall into poverty after retiring from the army.

However, North India, especially the Ganges River Basin, has a lot of people and little land. There is not so much land for distribution, so difficulties exist objectively.Therefore, considering the objective difficulties, these soldiers were sent to the south of the Deccan Plateau, which is relatively sparsely populated.

These are all deliberate considerations, and the land should be allocated to each soldier to the greatest extent.

Of course, as a very diverse subcontinent, some ethnic-based troops should be retained, such as the Sikh Legion, and the home-based army. In fact, these troops are very easy to distinguish. Just recall the military parades of later generations in India The troops who wear all kinds of colorful and strange hats and make themselves gaudy all over their bodies are generally exclusive troops based on ethnic groups and hometowns in various places.

The names of these exclusive troops often have the characteristics of their own nationality or hometown.If you switch to Chinese, you will understand that the Hunan Army and the Sichuan Army are almost the same concept.

Changed to the Indian title, Rajaput United; Punjab United; Sikh United; Maratha Light Infantry United; Kumaang United; Gurkha United and so on.

In order to facilitate the management of the British Indian troops, the units below the battalion were uniformly reorganized according to their ethnicity and hometown.

For the sake of diversification and giving priority to Hindi-speaking soldiers, these units will be retained and will be arranged in the second round, that is, after India's independence.

This kind of careful thinking can't be hidden from Sir Barron's eyes. He looked at Alan Wilson and asked, "How much do you want to reduce the Hindu soldiers? It can't be too obvious. My suggestion is that the ethnic and Choose one religion, don't take both at the same time, reduce the number of Hindi soldiers, and at the same time ensure that the Hindu soldiers are not weakened. Nehru and those people are not stupid, once you move too much, it is easy to be seen. "

"Yes, I still need Sir Barron's teaching." Alan Wilson asked with his head lowered, "How to do it more appropriately?"

"En!" Sir Barron nodded, tapping his fingers on the table, "Keep the ethnic troops south of the Deccan Plateau, reduce the size of the Hindustanis by an appropriate amount, select the Hindustanis individually, and use the total number of soldiers of the Peace Corps to The amount is used as a reference, and it is reduced to a ratio of one to one. The entire Peace Church soldiers are regardless of ethnicity. The total number is the same as the total number of Hindustan soldiers after reduction. It is still necessary to far surpass the soldiers of the Peace Cult, otherwise it will be seen."

"According to this ratio, the work of organizing the return to the hometown will be carried out, and the size of the soldiers of the Peace Church will also be reduced, and the reduction will be reduced simultaneously according to the ratio."

"According to, in proportion, in sync..." When Sir Barron focused on Alan Wilson, he saw Alan Wilson taking notes, muttering while writing.

Sir Barron, who wanted to laugh in his heart, wanted to maintain the unpredictable character design, and said with a sullen face, "Disarmament can only be done and not publicized, so it's better to have other things as a cover. What about your New Culture Movement? Is it because the three cabinet ministers are here, so you want to suspend the implementation?"

"Yes, Sir Barron." Alan Wilson picked up his notes, looked at Sir Barron and said, "I have also discussed with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and I think it is better to wait until the ministers leave."

"Clark!" Sir Barron sighed, and then said, "You can implement the harmless part first, for example, as a person, it is wrong to be hygienic and clean, no matter what, even Hinduism has the Ganges River as a holy place." River, the idea of ​​washing away all sins in the world, first pick out the harmless parts of the New Culture Movement, name it randomly, for example, the Clean India Movement, and let the media under it use Hindu classics as an introduction to advocate cleanliness and sanitation. Come one by one, wait until the ministers leave, and follow the trend to the next step."

Seeing that the notes that had just been picked up tended to be taken out again, Sir Barron hurriedly said, "By the way, our Great Britain Treasure, Miss Vivien Leigh, has agreed to the Ministry of the Interior's proposal and is going to come to India to build momentum." It depends on you, let every Indian, regardless of religion, take Vivien Leigh's dress and image as an example, thinking that this is the common situation in the UK."

"I want to find out if there is a film of Gone with the Wind." Sure enough, Alan Wilson no longer took out his notes, but was going to ask if there were any Vivien Leigh movies in British India, which would be shown for free in theaters in various cities.

There should be some, after all, such a large colony, it is impossible to have a film of a famous movie.

Alan Wilson was not completely dazzled by the beauty, he left the Governor's Mansion and went to the Supreme Court to discuss with Chief Justice Clark.

Thousands of miles away, Vivien Leigh, who is determined to become the spokesperson of the image of the British Empire and establish a civilized and prosperous image of the British Empire, has already set off against her husband's opposition. As she said before, "I can also talk, and I can also be patriotic."

Chapter 200 Who doesn't love money?

Since the three cabinet ministers arrived in British India, most of Alan Wilson's daily work was thinking about how to arrange the itinerary of the three cabinet ministers while satisfying the Indians.

Ever since he started worrying about the treatment of veterans in India, Alan Wilson suddenly discovered a lot of itineraries that could delay time, such as rewarding the grassroots troops who participated in the war during the war.

On the outskirts of New Delhi, the factory is separated by tall walls. Compared with ordinary factories, this factory is very tidy, and the sound of roaring machines reaches Alan Wilson's ears.

It is conceivable that the operation of this factory must be good at present. Alan Wilson followed two officers into the factory building, and saw that the production line in the factory building is in a busy state. As for the products that are about to be put on the market from the production line, It is banknotes, simply Indian rupees.

"I believe in the technology of Delaru Company. If nothing else, I believe that no one will dislike the products produced." Alan Wilson stopped for a moment beside the banknote printing machine production line, and sighed with a smile , "Especially Indians, definitely like it."

In the impression of ordinary people, the banknote printing company should be a state-owned enterprise, but Delaru banknote printing company is a private company.

In fact, in addition to countries that only print money domestically, many countries will give part of their money printing business to overseas money printing companies. Quite a lot of experience.

Alan Wilson remembers feeling ashamed after India's independence that his banknotes were controlled by De La Rue.In the end, administrative intervention was used to nationalize the right to print money, and it became one of the few countries in the world that print their own money.

It was the first time in two lifetimes that Alan Wilson saw the production line of a money printing machine, and he was inevitably a little excited. Printing money was the childhood dream of all boys, a masterpiece of daydreams.

"Mr. Allen, our De La Rue Company has served the British Empire for a long time. The banknotes provided are exquisite and pleasing, and there is no problem with the professionalism." Andrew, the person in charge of the factory, saw Alan Wilson's His eyes were reluctant to leave for a long time, and he introduced the production process of the factory.

"I personally think that the main reason why you like your products is that your products are banknotes. No one doesn't like banknotes." Alan Wilson showed an expression that everyone understood, and then restrained his greed and said sternly, " I believe that in the next one to two years, Delaru's business will definitely be very good."

De La Rue, a British banknote manufacturer, has been printing banknotes for the Bank of England since 1960.Not surprisingly, the banknote printing of British India, the most valuable colony of the British Empire, also fell into the hands of De La Rue.

In 1960, [-], the United Kingdom allowed any person or group to form a joint-stock bank, and private banks in the United Kingdom emerged like bamboo shoots after a rain, and the demand for printing money skyrocketed.

The Drucker company seized the opportunity to start printing banknotes, and expanded its business globally with the help of the empire on which the sun never sets.

Now that the war is over, many countries with damaged economies will choose a method, which is to abolish the old banknotes and use new banknotes to maintain economic stability. The business of Delaru will definitely increase in the future.

Because the banknote printing process is complicated, firstly, it needs top-level printing equipment and continuous updating of printing technology; secondly, it needs to continuously develop a new generation of anti-counterfeiting technology; thirdly, currency manufacturing is an industry with large-scale equipment costs. Advantage.

However, what Allen Wilson mentioned was nothing else but the matter of the neighboring country in the north. It is believed that Delaru will receive orders for printing gold round coupons in the next few years.

Moreover, Alan Wilson is also preparing to expand the circulation of the Indian rupee, such as the award of honors to grassroots officers this time.

In fact, Alan Wilson came here this time to talk about this matter. As the factory supervisor Andrew entered the office of the other party, as a banknote printing factory, the security of this factory is absolutely in place, and it is far from the British barracks in New Delhi. It's not far away, so don't worry about any danger.

"You also know that in the current British India, the currency circulation is very poor. And there are many activities, and many activities cost money, and it costs a lot of money." Alan Wilson frowned as soon as he sat down Dao said, "Take the awarding of honors to low-level officers that will start soon. There is always a little bonus. It is easy to promote the rank, but how about awarding medals? Well, everyone knows that the demand for precious metals is booming after the war. It’s better to issue paper money directly.”

Allen Wilson's miser was exposed. He didn't want to give too expensive medals to the Indian military officers who received the honors. He just got some silver or copper to deal with it. Other benefits were converted by banknotes.

Moreover, there are only more than 300 officers who are awarded honors, and printing a little more money will not cause inflation.As long as Alan Wilson doesn't say this kind of thing, how can other people know?

Under the various hints from the assistant of the British Indian Commissioner, the director of Delaru Company understood and asked tentatively, "How much money do you want to provide?"

"That's not much, but we still need to pay attention to the degree of market acceptance, so you print 1000 million first, and I will track the circulation in Delhi. This is all for the purpose of studying economic laws, and there is no other purpose."

Alan Wilson made some calculations and issued 300 million to the honored officers, leaving 700 million for market trials, which was just enough.

From the perspective of economic laws, the consequences of printing money have a certain lag. Therefore, in the future, the financial security of British India, and now it is understandable to test the consequences of excessive currency issuance. It is just an experiment. This is to study the laws of economic operation. .

"How long will it take to get ready? Don't want large banknotes, but small banknotes with the best circulation rate in the market." Alan Wilson looked at Andrew who was thinking and asked, "No problem."

"It can be ready in one day. Mr. Allen can come and pick it up." Andrew thought for a while, and gave a suitable time. A banknote printing machine can print 14 billion banknotes a year, based on the New Delhi factory. In terms of production capacity, 1000 million cash is really not a lot of work.

Allen Wilson nodded in satisfaction, saying that before the award ceremony, someone would be sent to pick it up, "I believe in the strength of Delaru Banknote Printing Company, and I will definitely not let a few cabinet ministers wait. This is a political task."

Mentioning the importance of printing money this time, Alan Wilson left. Maybe he will come here often in the next two years. Don’t get too clear about the money printing factory now, and leave a little sense of mystery to explore later.

As for the rewards for grassroots officers during the Indian War this time, in simple terms, the military ranks must be significantly improved, and generally they must be promoted to a higher level. The money cannot be given less. As for the gold medals, there are no gold medals. Some of the less valuable ones can be awarded. .

After all, supporting the homeland is the most important thing, and the life of British India will be a little bit harder.