Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste-Chapter 760 - 713: Domestic Policy Reform

In the meeting room of the cabinet, although Perfikot had attended meetings here before, sitting in the most central position like this was her first.

Now serving as the Regent of the Empire, Perfikot was seated in what should have been Prime Minister Wellington's position, while Prime Minister Wellington sat beside her on one side, with Duke of Gloucester on the other side.

As for the others, they sat on both sides, awaiting Perfikot to speak.

Perfikot looked at everyone calmly; it was her first time scrutinizing these people in this way.

Among the crowd, some were full of expectation for her, seemingly hoping she would bring different changes to the country after taking this position.

There were also those who looked at her with suspicion, appearing worried whether she could lead the country.

Of course, some showed resistance to her, but why they were like that was something Perfikot didn't want to delve into.

This coup initiated by the Royalist Party involved too many people and caused too many deaths and killings; it's normal for someone to resist her ascension.

Compared to these, Perfikot noticed that Eldest Princess Annie was not present.

Though she should now be called the Empress and indeed was not suitable to come to the cabinet, her absence still made Perfikot frown slightly.

She asked the Duke of Gloucester, "Where has our new Empress gone? Why isn't she here? Today was supposed to discuss matters about her succession ceremony."

"Empress Annie said she was not feeling well, so she is absent from today's meeting," the Duke of Gloucester hurriedly explained.

Although it was obvious to those with discerning eyes that this was an excuse, for everyone to maintain their dignity, the Duke of Gloucester could only pray that Perfikot would believe this reason and not dwell on it.

Perfikot looked at the Duke of Gloucester meaningfully but didn't say much.

She just turned to the Minister of Finance and asked, "How is the treasury surplus now? Can it support the expenses of a succession ceremony?"

"The Ministry of Finance just audited the treasury before, and the current financial condition of the Empire is functioning normally; supporting a succession ceremony is not a problem," the Minister of Finance hastened to reply.

When Perfikot proposed a five-year economic development plan earlier, the financial situation of the Empire could actually achieve a balance of payments, even with a slight surplus.

The treasury had also relieved from the predicament of being completely depleted due to dealing with the doomsday crisis, to the point that the Empress had to subsidize with royal family assets, and now had a little surplus, which was enough to support Eldest Princess Annie's succession ceremony.

Moreover, such issues, even if there were problems, could not possibly be brought up at this time and occasion.

Not to mention anything else, just Perfikot's new appointment was enough for the Minister of Finance to claim the Empire's finances had no issues, even if he had to fund it himself.

After all, he didn't want Perfikot to target the Ministry of Finance with the first major overhaul upon her appointment.

Hearing the Minister of Finance's answer, Perfikot nodded slightly, then said, "In that case, make a budget based on the late Empress... no, I should say the former Her Majesty the Empress's succession ceremony, and if there are no issues, set the time and process for the succession ceremony as soon as possible!"

Upon saying this, Perfikot turned to glance at the Duke of Gloucester sitting by the side: "Your Grace, I'll trouble you to oversee this matter; I wish to have these things completed promptly."

"Yes, Regent," the Duke of Gloucester wisely changed the form of address.

Though Perfikot paid it no mind, the Duke of Gloucester's proactive change of address still caused some unrest among others.

"Regent, how should we handle the remains of the former Her Majesty? Should we transport them back to the royal cemetery in Langton for burial?" At this moment, a cabinet member suddenly asked this slightly sensitive question.

Perfikot showed no emotions at this question. The former Her Majesty indeed needed to be buried, and according to the Victor Empire's traditions, royal family members must be buried in the royal cemetery in Langton.

However, considering Langton's current situation... Perfikot hesitated for a moment before saying, "Contact Langton and verify the current situation there. If conditions allow, transport Her Majesty's remains back to Langton."

"Yes, Regent." This cabinet member said no more, simply nodding to acknowledge.

After these two spoke, others seemed to find Perfikot approachable, so they presented or reported various governmental issues, and Perfikot responded and handled them one by one.

When everyone had finished speaking, and a large amount of accumulated governmental affairs had been appropriately dealt with, with everyone thinking that's how it ended, Perfikot suddenly spoke: "Now that everyone has finished speaking, please listen to me next!"

Perfikot's words made everyone tense up, with a sense of impending crisis.

Sure enough, after giving them a few seconds to adjust their emotions, Perfikot then said, "I am very dissatisfied with the current state of work in the cabinet."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone suddenly became nervous.

Their initial thought was that after Perfikot purged and ascended to the position of Regent, it was the end of the matter.

Now it seems that matters are just beginning.

"The reason I originally suggested establishing the cabinet was to reduce your encumbrances when handling critical government affairs, thereby improving administrative efficiency. After all, if everything needed parliamentary decision-making, it would only delay things." When Perfikot said this, a look of helplessness mixed with intense dissatisfaction emerged on her face: "But what about you now? Without my supervision, you couldn't even execute a floating warship plan smoothly!

Not only is the progress far below expectations, there are also numerous errors and wasted resources!

This makes me suspect that the Empire has appointed a bunch of fools to form the cabinet! Otherwise, how could you mess up things like this?"

Perfikot slammed the table forcefully, startling everyone, fearing that the next moment she would order them to be dragged out to the guillotine.

This was not impossible, after all, Perfikot had a nickname known as the "Bloody Count."

And generally speaking, there's only a wrong name, no wrong nickname.

However, Perfikot did not intend to cleanse the cabinet; she merely looked at everyone and said coldly, "In view of your disappointing work, I have decided to reform the empire's internal affairs system to improve administrative efficiency. The specific reform measures are as follows..."