Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 2077 Morton's Question

"The facilities and ships at the northeast port are still under construction. You can start by selecting soldiers. I have already given instructions to the nearby military districts and training camps, and they will cooperate with you."

"Yes!"

In their Great Zhou, naval soldiers are generally selected directly from military district units or from recruits who have already completed basic training in training camps.

They generally don't recruit or train ordinary people with no prior experience.

After all, the difference in military branches means that the training requirements for naval soldiers are often higher than those for ordinary army soldiers.

People without any prior knowledge simply can't handle it.

After leaving the palace and holding the appointment letter bestowed by the emperor, Badler quickly got to work.

Instead of heading directly to the nearest grassland military region, he turned around and went to the Ministry of Military Affairs.

Naval soldiers do need to be carefully selected, but it's impossible for him to pick them one by one.

The simplest way is to directly send a set of test programs to the surrounding military regions and training camps.

Those who wish to join the Great Zhou Navy and are able to pass the tests should be sent here.

According to Badler's idea, this stage could initially select two or three thousand people.

Of course, at this stage, the Northeast Navy doesn't even have a single ship, so they obviously don't need that many people.

The two or three thousand people who passed the basic test and were sent to him still had to undergo his formal test, at which point a large number of them would be eliminated.

In the following months of daily training, there's no guarantee that some of them will be eliminated.

Those who remained were the first true naval soldiers of the Northeast Navy of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

To complete this operation efficiently, the assistance of the Ministry of Military Affairs is needed.

The efficiency here is quite high; the relevant notices were quickly sent to the surrounding military regions and training camps.

With His Majesty having already given instructions, the surrounding military districts and training camps naturally cooperated actively.

A group of soldiers were quickly selected and sent to Badler's still-under-construction northeastern port.

At present, the conditions at the northeast port are indeed somewhat poor, and Badler and his men can only set up a simple camp for the time being.

Regardless, the training program for the Northeast Navy can be considered to have officially begun.

Meanwhile, on Zhou Xu's side...

"Speaking of which, how has Morton been performing lately?"

Judging by the timeline, it's been almost a year since the other party started working in the secretary's office.

Zhou Xuping was usually busy, so he only asked about it once at the beginning and then didn't pay attention to it anymore.

Just then, he remembered him and took advantage of Li Bowen's visit to the Hall of Diligent Governance to report on his work, so he casually asked him a question.

When questioned, Li Bowen dared not hide anything and answered truthfully...

"Your Majesty, Morton is certainly capable. In the secretary's office, his work ability is already considered outstanding. He handles his daily work with ease. However, he enjoys eating, drinking, and having fun, often getting drunk, and is not very composed."

"Okay, I understand. You can go ahead and get back to work."

After Li Bowen left, Zhou Xu turned around and had the Inspection Department send over Morton's file.

The matter of eating, drinking, and having fun can be a big deal or a small deal, depending on what you do. To put it bluntly, you can't break the law or violate regulations.

Morton clearly didn't do anything illegal or disorderly, otherwise the Inspectorate's report would have been delivered to him long ago.

But getting drunk frequently is also a problem. You see, many documents from relevant departments are confidential, and his secretary's office is an important unit. What if you get drunk outside and accidentally let something slip that leaks information?
To be honest, this was the first time Zhou Xu had ever encountered a situation like this.

Like Huo Qubing, who was frail and sickly from childhood, he always kept his distance from alcohol.

Charman, one of the aides, was originally the emperor of the Saint Laurent Empire. He was also strict with himself and conscientious. Even when he drank, he only took a sip and never overindulged.

Karl, who was also the dwarven governor, was the same.

Aside from Huo Qubing, Charman and Karl shared a common trait: they came from distinguished backgrounds and received rigorous education from a young age so that they could assume corresponding responsibilities and positions when they grew up.

This makes them instinctively avoid things that might lead them to make mistakes, and drinking is obviously one of them.

Even setting aside them, any secretary in the secretarial office knows that they should be strict with themselves after getting the job.

Any hobbies that might affect one's career should be given up if possible.

However, Morton, as an elven prince, was different. The elves didn't have this concept; as a prince, Morton only cared about being happy.

This is what led to the current situation.

As Zhou Xu flipped through the files sent by the Inspection Department, he was at a loss for words, both amused and exasperated.

According to the report, Morton is now a die-hard fan of the Blackmoon City Veterans, attending every game and often getting drunk with other members of the Brotherhood at the Veterans' Tavern afterward.

However, judging from the current situation, Morton's drinking behavior is not bad. After getting completely drunk, he just stays in one place and sleeps. He has not said anything out of line or acted crazy while drunk.

Clearly, ever since Morton started working in the secretary's office, his every move has been being watched by the Inspectorate.

Of course, this is not directed at Morton.

The audit department was simply performing its duties.

Besides training spies and gathering intelligence during foreign wars, their main job in peacetime was to keep an eye on every official within the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The Great Zhou Dynasty has been established for a hundred years. To say that not a single person has made a mistake? That's unrealistic!

These people do exist, especially after Zhou Xu annexed the Saint Laurent Empire and took over its large-scale population.

There are always some guys who like to take risks and do dirty tricks.

However, before these guys could make any big splash, they were all secretly dealt with by the Inspection Department.

The current stability within the Great Zhou Dynasty owes much to Ye Jinghong, the Director of the Inspection Department.

Leaning back in his office chair, Zhou Xu finished reviewing Morton's report and fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

According to Zhou Xu's initial plan, he intended to groom Morton as his assistant, or even as a future governor.

However, this plan has now encountered some problems.

So far, Morton hasn't let anything slip, but no one can guarantee he'll always be able to.

He can't keep relying on Morton's wines forever, can he?

In Zhou Xu's view at this moment, this problem was a fatal flaw, preventing him from promoting Morton to the Hall of Diligent Governance.

To be honest, it's a bit awkward to even have him working in the secretary's office.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Xu made a decision.

"Morton should be in his office right now, right? Call him over, I want to have a chat with him."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)