Chapter 458: One person opens fire
"Oh, Daphne...are you sure?"
The old emperor looked at the middle-aged maid who had returned earlier, and the latter nodded slightly.
“Yes, Your Majesty, I am sure that I am not mistaken. They have indeed reached that step, and I can feel that Daphne has completely fallen into the arms of your Knight Commander. Although your Knight Commander is not so concerned about Daphne, he also accepts Daphne’s existence.
"Between them, Daphne is attached to Grand Duke Hanton, but they are indeed a couple."
"That's good."
The old emperor laughed:
"Besides being pretty and good at dancing and singing, does Daphne have any other fighting or coordination abilities? No, she is just an ordinary child. Being able to trap an ancient warrior like White Ghost is already the greatest value she can bring into play.
"Where are they now?"
"At the door, Your Majesty, there will be a simple open-air press conference as you requested to announce the arrival of the White Ghost on the Imperial Star."
"Oh, thank you for your hard work."
The old emperor pressed a button at his hand and said with a smile:
"I'm going to go greet them at the door. Also, prepare the dinner in a high standard and have my favorite chef prepare a few more dishes."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Haha, ah," the old emperor's eyes flashed with a sharp light, "This is the best news I have heard in recent days."
…
As soon as Yang Ming saw the old emperor, he received a bear hug from the emperor.
"Oh, Hanton! You finally came! How have you been these days? There are a few old people who want to suppress your arrogance. You make them feel uneasy, Hanton."
The emperor could pat him on the back hard, but he didn't dare to pat the emperor on the back hard.
If this slap caused his spine to be shattered, this White Ghost would become a regicide.
Although becoming a regicide is not a bad thing, but... it's not the right time yet.
After the old emperor let go, Yang Ming saluted like a knight, and the badge on his chest shone brightly.
He said in a gentle voice, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry to have worried you. I actually know who is targeting me. They are not afraid of my fighting ability, but my appeal to the grassroots officers and soldiers, and my influence on the people. The reason why they are afraid of me is probably because of their concept of judging others by themselves and their jealousy."
"Jealousy? Hahaha!"
The old emperor put his hands on his hips, raised his head and laughed. His exquisite nightgown kept shaking, and his old face with loose skin smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum.
"Yes, Hanton, they are just jealous of you. Come, have a cup of tea first. I have notified a few of them to come over."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Yang Ming followed with a smile, his hands behind his back.
Daphne, who had always been ignored by the emperor, watched this scene with a smile, and then walked to the corner of the hall, where there was a rest area exclusively for her in such situations.
Time was running out, so Yang Ming decided to get straight to the point.
He glanced around and whispered, "Your Majesty, the situation is very complicated now. I won't try to guess what you are thinking. I'm afraid that I might make a mistake and delay your important matter...Did you arrange the death of Earl Quigen?"
"How could that be?" The old emperor laughed. "Although I want to mess up the empire, the targets I want to mess up are the powerful nobles. How could I allow class conflict to break out in my own empire?"
"Not you?" Yang Ming nodded and asked, "Then call me over..."
"It was my uncle, Director Ino, who insisted on calling you over."
The old emperor's eyes flickered slightly, and he took Yang Ming for a walk beside the pond in the center of the hall, and said with a smile:
“You may not have known what was happening before, after all, this information was confidential and only in a very small circle.
“Sometimes, the country is not ruled by me as the emperor. You should already know this. My elders always impose restrictions on me.
"They were the ones who caused this incident. They felt that you had become a threat to the empire, so they wanted to solve this problem... In order to protect you, I wanted you to go to Domingos Planet to gain some military merit."
Yang Ming smiled and said, "Do you want me to get my hands dirty so they won't be afraid of me?"
"Hmm," the old emperor smiled with narrowed eyes.
The two seemed to be chatting about yesterday's fishing catch, and it didn't look like they were discussing anything important.
The old emperor continued:
"But I didn't expect, Hanton, that you would express resistance to this matter, refuse the order to plunder slaves, and strongly reprimand the military, forcing them to turn to anti-terrorism.
“The military also has a group of old guys. They have taken root in the soil of the military through mentoring. Some of them even hope to become part of that small circle… In short, it’s very complicated. Then, they were so angry that they held that press conference.
“Here, they are probably considering the stability of the empire. After all, the current order of the empire is set by them, and instability is bad for them.
"But they wanted to suppress you more because you revealed your identity as the Grand Duke of the Empire and reprimanded them... Tsk, this is so cool!"
The old emperor laughed and said, "You scolding them is equivalent to me scolding them."
Yang Ming suddenly realized, "I was wondering why they wanted to scare me with a dreadnought... They really thought I was scared."
"Now they are coming to beg you again," the old emperor smiled with narrowed eyes, "Wait a minute, my six uncles will bring some officials from the Council of Elders, the Military, the Foreign Affairs Bureau, and the Government Affairs Department. They still want to put pressure on you. By the way, Ino is here too, he should be able to say a few words for you."
Yang Ming smiled and said, "That's what I want to ask you, Your Majesty... I will work hard to make things develop in the direction you want them to develop in ."
"Oh," the old emperor raised his hand and patted Yang Ming's arm, "You are still considerate, Hanton. To be honest, letting the people down there make some noise and chaos can help us discover many problems and avoid bigger problems. It has no impact on me as the emperor. I just need to stand up at the critical moment and make a speech to the whole country, and that's enough."
"I understand," Yang Ming nodded, "the power they hold is indeed too great."
The old emperor smiled but said nothing.
Yang Ming said: "Your Majesty, I have a small request."
"Just you say it."
"I want a report on the investigation of slavery in the empire. The more detailed the better. Give me some time to read it."
"Okay, I'll have them deliver it right away," the old emperor said gently, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself, and don't push yourself too hard."
"But your majesty," Yang Ming pursed his lips slightly, with a hint of anger in his eyes, "The history books I studied said that the new calendar reform bound the imperial power to the imperial star, but I didn't expect that the chains that bound the imperial power were actually the ones that oppressed the people."
The old emperor's eyes lit up: "Your description is very appropriate."
"As your Knight Commander, I will unwaveringly support you," Yang Ming whispered, "You have a heart for the people."
"It's inevitable."
The old emperor opened his arms and said, "Come, hug Hanton, my son-in-law."
Yang Ming rolled his eyes in his heart, but still hugged the emperor seriously.
"Just go for it."
The old emperor encouraged him.
…
Yang Ming sat upright on a sofa in the corner of a palace hall used for meetings.
The old men came over much slower than he expected.
He held the most official data of the empire in his hand, and pondered in his mind what path to take next.
Politics is much more complicated than he originally thought.
Even if one knew what the empire's weaknesses were - the irreconcilable contradictions between the aristocracy and the common people, and the empire's brutal exploitation of slaves - it would still not be easy to find an opportunity to bring down the empire.
First of all, this is a galactic empire with a population of hundreds of billions. Its size determines that it has extremely strong inertia.
Looking at the commotion outside now, in fact, this is the gathering of almost all the anti-imperial forces both inside and outside the empire. Under the catalysis of the death of the Earl who is suspected to be Li Yi, the current chaotic situation has occurred.
But it is far from enough to rely on this wave to trigger a nationwide revolutionary uprising.
People are dependent on their current lives.
No one would take risks if they could still make a living.
No one is willing to sacrifice their own interests for a political slogan when the future is full of hope.
Of course, we cannot be so absolute. After all, there are many people who have been fooled by politicians.
For example, if the common people in the empire had an anger bar above their heads, the bar is only 10% full now. As this incident continues to ferment, it can only reach 20% to 25% at most.
The lower-class members of the aristocracy who are now causing trouble crazily simply feel that their interests have been damaged.
All the empire needs to do next is to let the great nobles hold the necks of these small nobles, apologize to the people, and then enact a law to threaten the people and give some compensation and rewards, and this crisis and riots will soon subside.
At this moment, Yang Ming must think about how to lay the shadow of the next riot in this unrest.
He had a plan, but plans don't always work out.
The situation is treacherous and changeable, with various forces intertwined.
It is like, at this moment, he must use the old emperor as a chess piece to protect himself, and by the way, find an opportunity to provoke the relationship between the old emperor and the Sherman family.
Well, it's complicated.
Boss Yang felt that he was not cut out for such conspiracy.
However, the Dark Star-Luofeng system he created cannot be made public by either side now, especially the Dark Star. If it is exaggerated by these powerful countries, it may become the enemy of all mankind and the light of the third disaster.
"Forget it. I don't have many years left to do this."
Yang Ming sighed quietly in his heart and stretched slightly.
There were hurried footsteps outside the hall door.
Yang Ming originally thought that a group of big shots would be present in person, but unexpectedly, only the old men from the military and the Council of Elders came. Those from the Sherman family still did not show up in person, but used projection robots.
The old emperor is not here.
He now needs to act as if he doesn't care about anything, and wait for his uncles, aunts, grandparents to ask him to do something.
But presumably, the old emperor is now in the hall next door, wearing a loose nightgown, leaning in the girl's arms, enjoying the girl's gentle service, while staring at the projection screen, admiring the discussion that is about to begin next door.
"Grand Duke of Hamton."
A middle-aged maid stepped forward, bowed slightly to Yang Ming, and said softly: "All the adults have arrived."
"Yeah?"
Yang Ming turned his head and looked at the center of the hall. The oval conference table was already full of people, with only seats left at the two ends of the long table.
The main seat is naturally reserved for His Majesty the Emperor.
Yang Ming picked up a fruit that he liked from the fruit plate, stood up leisurely, nibbled on the apple-like thing, and walked towards the conference table with the middle-aged maid.
He looked relaxed, as if he had already grasped the weaknesses of these old people.
The crunching sound of the fruit was a little louder, causing several elderly people who were attending the meeting via stereo projection to look a little unhappy.
When Yang Ming sat down at the end of the conference table, the maid said:
"My Lords, His Majesty is ill and will not attend this meeting. Today's meeting will be chaired by Director Ino.
“The main topic of today’s discussion is how to resolve a series of conflicts that have arisen within the empire, with the focus on how to suppress the conflict between the aristocracy and the common people.
"New violent conflicts are emerging every moment now. I hope you can come up with a solution as soon as possible."
After saying this, the maid bowed and then stood calmly behind Yang Ming.
Her position is interesting.
This means that the old emperor now supports the White Ghost, and the White Ghost represents the emperor's will at this moment.
Yang Ming glanced around and found that except for Director Ino, most people avoided Yang Ming's sight intentionally or unintentionally.
"Since no one has spoken," Director Ino said, "I'll start the conversation first...Hanton, the White Ghost, the center of the previous turmoil, is now sitting here to discuss with us how to solve the current troubles. You should all know how serious the situation is."
The director placed a medal-sized projector in front of him, and suddenly dozens of projection screens facing various directions appeared on the conference table, showing scenes of fierce conflicts.
These scenes often have some similarities: chaotic streets with hundreds or thousands of people crowded together, pushing and shoving in a certain direction. At the front of the team, there will be a human wall composed of local security personnel, or a defense line formed by mechanical guards.
This is the mildest conflict.
In more pictures, burning and explosive objects have appeared.
In the conflict with the heaviest casualties, someone attacked the local security team from a distance with precision weapons. The local security team immediately fought back. In the middle of the battlefield where the two sides were fighting, there was a parade of thousands of people...
Large numbers of people fell in the hail of bullets, and the ion beams falling from the sky directly burned through the buildings where the attackers were.
“It’s just a small snippet.”
Director Ino said:
“Many of these conflicts are caused by agents of foreign forces, but the people who take to the streets cannot tell where the people who support them come from.
“The nature of the demonstration has completely changed. This incident has nothing to do with the suppression of the White Ghost by the military. Now the people’s demands are to abolish the aristocracy and class equality.
"The area with the most serious conflict is inside the Imperial Star Circle. This is something I didn't expect. Can anyone explain to me why the area inside the Imperial Star Circle is the place with the most serious conflict? Shouldn't this be the richest area?"
An old man whispered, "Because they have money, the minds of the people here are the most corrupted."
“Once they have money, they will definitely want more,” a general sneered. “Deep down, these people think that the government cannot override their personal interests.”
Many people spoke up, all saying similar things.
"that……"
Yang Ming frowned and asked, "Don't we have a corresponding expert advisory group for this meeting?"
Director Ino asked, "Are you talking about the think tank? Think tanks are mainly distributed in various departments. This meeting is of the highest level, so ordinary think tanks do not have the authority to participate."
Yang Ming nodded and said seriously, "Director Ino, I just want to draw your attention to a phenomenon. You see, most of the people marching in the Imperial Star Circle are young, and many of them are homeless people wearing tattered clothes."
A group of people nodded.
Yang Ming said:
“If you don’t have a deep understanding of society, you can go out more often. It’s true that the Imperial Star Circle is wealthy, but the wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people.
“Young people without local household registration face enormous pressure in life.
“Those middle-aged people who are wandering the streets have lost the possibility of turning their lives around, and they see no hope of survival.
“The average wealth index here is indeed very high, and it seems to be the richest, but even in the wealthy cities, there are a large number of young outsiders who need to be helped out of poverty. Their median income is far below the average. This is the problem of the Imperial Star Circle.
“On various planets, many groups that come into conflict with local sheriffs are united by surnames, and local clan forces have always existed.
“Of course, part of it is still my fandom of White Ghost.
"The first thing you should discuss now is how to resolve the conflicts within the Imperial Star Circle, that is, how to appease these young people who have been exploited and almost crushed. They are the productive force of the empire."
Director Ino nodded slowly.
An old man at the side frowned and said, "Grand Duke of Hanton, isn't the sarcasm in your tone a little too strong?"
"Is there anything wrong with being sarcastic to you guys?"
Yang Ming leaned forward slightly, folded his hands and pressed them on the table. Without distinguishing who was talking to whom, he directly pointed at the other person and started to fire:
"Is it possible for someone to come up with the idea of using images of me fighting terrorists to suppress me? Do I expect him to understand what the people are demanding right now?"
