Chapter 461: Sister Li’s Call
The launching ceremony was not cumbersome.
The archbishop made some symbolic prayers and then thrust the scepter in her hand into the gap in front of the statue.
This reminded Yang Ming of the old second-hand car that could be started with a mechanical key in his hometown on Earth.
Then came the azure light effect, the patterns on the ground were lit up, the entire hall was shaking, a mechanical humming sound came from deep within the modular imperial star, and several stereo projectors in front of the statue started working at the same time.
Streams of light gathered from all directions.
The roof of the temple turned into a starry sky, and the murals seemed to begin to move. An image of a beautiful woman began to gather in front of him, and finally condensed into a figure that was exactly the same as the statue.
Yang Ming: This special effect is much more refined than Lu’s appearance animation.
Insufficient computing power, increase budget.
The simulated image of Li was completely solidified, and Yang Ming heard the calm, unfamiliar, yet mature female voice:
“No empire crisis detected, no powerful enemy approach detected, no large-scale rebels detected, no powerful enemy country detected.
“Specific instructions need to be followed.
"If no specific instructions are executed, it will return to sleep in ten seconds."
"Emperor Guard! I am your emperor!"
The old emperor shouted with full force : "Look at me!"
"Insufficient target permissions."
"Imperial Guard," said the old emperor, "I am the descendant of Levi Sherman, and I am the holder of the highest power in this country!"
"Insufficient target permissions."
"Emperor Guard!"
call out!
Li's figure flashed gently and disappeared directly in front of the old emperor.
Yang Ming felt the anger that the old emperor was trying hard to suppress at this moment, and the figures around him had already fallen to their knees.
"look."
The old emperor said with a smile, then calmly took two steps forward, holding the backrest of the floating sofa, and said slowly: "The Imperial Guard System said that I don't have enough authority... Am I still the emperor of this country, Hanton?"
Yang Ming lowered his head and said nothing, but he was delighted in his heart.
Thanks to Sister Li for understanding and not putting any obstacles in his way.
As for the old emperor being turned away... Yang Ming had seriously suspected that this was intentional.
He had always felt that there might be a big chess game going on. Now, this feeling had become so strong that he could almost make it come true.
"Hanton," the old emperor turned around and looked at Yang Ming, "Do you think the Imperial Guard system is important to the empire?"
"Your Majesty," Yang Ming said solemnly, "This is certainly important, but Labdo, also known as the Imperial Guard System 2.0, is also an excellent war support system."
"You've already said that Labdo is just a war auxiliary system... Come with me, let's get some fresh air. I feel a little stuffy here."
The old emperor left the palace gate .
Yang Ming glanced at the archbishop crawling on the ground, shook his head slightly, and followed him.
etc.
Yang Ming suddenly had a guess.
The old emperor had said before that he wanted to make some changes, and he kept taking back the power of the Council of Elders, the military, the Foreign Affairs Bureau, the Military Intelligence Bureau, and the government departments, constantly strengthening the centralization of imperial power... Could it be that he thought that by doing this he could gain the authority to control the imperial guards...
"Hanton, what do you think is the problem?"
The old emperor frowned and said:
"If I don't have the authority to control the Imperial Guard System, then who does it belong to?"
Yang Ming groaned for a few seconds and said, "Your Majesty, I have not studied these. I have only had simple exchanges with the Imperial Guard System during several wars."
"I have suspected before that it might be due to bloodline, or genetics."
The old emperor held the railing and looked at the simulated scenery in the distance.
He said in a deep voice:
"I ordered people to secretly compare the genes of the previous dozen generations of emperors with my own, and they can conclude that we are direct relatives.
"Then, I ordered people to carefully screen the history of the empire. There is an absolutely objective history book in the palace that records various major events in the daily operation of the empire. I found that the last time the Emperor personally ordered the Imperial Guard System to take the initiative to accept an order was during an imperial expedition 826 years ago.
"That is to say, after the new calendar reform, the emperor lost the authority to command the Imperial Guard system."
Yang Ming nodded as he listened.
He could even give a more reliable answer - because according to the Imperial Guard system, the current emperor of the empire had lost the genes that represented Levi Sherman's specificity, and was no longer recognized by the Imperial Guard system as the master of the empire.
The old emperor sighed and continued:
“I think that within the current empire, there must be a person, or a small group, who is capable of commanding the Imperial Guard system.
“This group can only be at that round table.
"Hanton, can you understand this feeling?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Yang Ming pursed his lips, "This is the first time I feel the pressure you are carrying."
"Oh," the old emperor shook his head, "They don't understand me. I tried everything I could. Now, more and more generals in the imperial military are directly influenced by me. The Council of Elders is completely under my control. The Military Intelligence Bureau now has Atro, and you are on my side. But this is not enough."
Yang Ming pondered in silence.
The old emperor said: "I have always supported letting Labdo replace the Imperial Guard. In fact, it is just a test. I want to see who will resist Labdo... The Imperial Guard system directly controls the Levi Fleet and the Imperial Star Mecha. This is the ultimate force of the empire and the true core of the imperial power. In other words, whoever owns the Imperial Guard system can say that he is the master of this country."
Yang Ming asked: "Your Majesty, why don't you go and ask Director Ino directly?"
"Will they tell me the truth? They coaxed me, lied to me, and used me as a mascot, an actor, in front of the imperial public."
The old emperor's expression became increasingly gloomy.
“I dare to conclude that there is only one way for me to become the true emperor and take back control of the Imperial Guard.
“That’s the disintegration of that round table.
"I know, it sounds crazy, but those are my elders, and they are also a terrifying force that controls almost all the resources of the empire. There is only one way to defeat them, Hanton, just like you said, destroy them... destroy them from a practical point of view.
"Answer me, Hamton, how did you know where the old man's body was?"
Yang Ming said: "The Faya people gave me a batch of data...about two months ago."
"What? Faiya?"
The old emperor was surprised.
Yang Ming spread his hands:
"Your Majesty, haven't you noticed yet? The Fayans are very dissatisfied with the current situation of the Sherman Empire. Otherwise, when the Empire went on an expedition to the New Federation last time, the Fayans would not have directly ordered the Free United States and the Guel Alliance to directly attack the Empire's expeditionary force.
“The possibility of an empire is too low.
"That's how I understand it."
The old emperor frowned in thought, he put his hands behind his back and began to pace back and forth.
Yang Ming waited quietly by the side, his thoughts becoming more and more active.
The Emperor - the Sherman family - the Senate, the military and other departments of the empire: this is the core power system of the empire.
The emperor is mostly just a symbol, symbolizing that the country is a monarchy, not the camp of the people and freedom. This makes the people living here passively increase their tolerance for exploitation and also improves the operating efficiency of this political system to a certain extent.
The main conflicting forces within the empire have always been between the aristocracy and the common people, a powder keg that has been accumulating energy for a long time.
The unrest within the empire this time can be said to be a "pre-war accumulation , and Li personally added fuel to the fire.
At this moment, the Empire is putting out fires everywhere, which will increase people's distrust of the Empire and make people feel pressure on security.
If you want to take this route and cause civil unrest in the empire, you must constantly stimulate the imperial nobles and the people and make the two completely opposed to each other. This full-scale riot is just a foundation.
That's part of the Challenger program.
But now, Yang Ming, maneuvering in the center of imperial power, found a shortcut.
The shortcut came from a gap - the rift between the Emperor and the Sherman family.
However, Yang Ming also understood that the emperor was unreliable. This old man was essentially just a mediocre prince. It was only because he now held a certain amount of power that his inner desires were expanding wildly.
This is not a capable player, nor will he be a good teammate.
Yang Ming could only use the emperor, but could not put too many chips and bets on the emperor.
"Hanton, have you told these things to anyone else?"
“No, Your Majesty,” Yang Ming put his hands behind his back, and the flag of the Faya civilization seemed to be raised above his head. “I think this is not good news for the empire. And my understanding is that the Faya people gave me this information so that I can protect myself. They also look down on some corrupt individuals in a low-dimensional human civilization.”
"This is a great opportunity to deny their legitimacy."
The old emperor muttered to himself, then looked at Yang Ming and said with a smile:
"Okay, let's not think about this problem for now. It's hard to explain in a short time. Let's take a look around here. The scenery here is pretty good."
Yang Ming nodded with a smile.
This old emperor obviously thinks too slowly and can't think of any good solution.
Don't be in a hurry, wait slowly, he has enough patience now.
…
Yang Ming and Daphne's residence was arranged in Daphne's former bedroom in the palace module.
When Yang Ming returned here, it was already late at night on the Emperor's Star. The bedroom was quiet, with only maids walking around, arranging furniture and decorations.
Daphne did not rest.
She was wearing a thin, sexy, fitted fishtail skirt, and her long hair, which seemed casually draped, was carefully combed, exuding an alluring fragrance.
When Yang Ming arrived at the bedroom, she was just coming out of the bathroom. A gentle smile appeared on her lips and she bowed slightly to Yang Ming.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Yang Ming smiled and said, "Well, do you Sherman family have so many etiquettes?"
"No, I just think it looks very gentle."
Daphne walked forward, took off Yang Ming's dress, and then took off his military boots for him and handed them to the maid beside him.
Yang Ming enjoyed the service of the imperial princess, feeling a little strange in his heart.
Yang Ming turned over and lay on the bed, and asked, "What happened during the time I was with His Majesty?"
"Which aspects exactly?"
Daphne sat beside the bed, looking at Yang Ming tenderly.
“Riots everywhere.”
"At present, the riots have been suppressed. It took less than a few galactic hours for the riots in the empire to be temporarily quelled."
Daphne has obviously been paying attention to these things, and the information is very comprehensive.
“But this suppression was carried out by force. The people’s discontent has not disappeared, and the contradictions have only been suppressed, not resolved.
"In the simplest case, this is just adding more pressure to a tank that is in danger of exploding.
"The most difficult problem now is how to stabilize the people's hearts in the empire. I just noticed that many political commentators and scholars said that if you can stand up, the pressure on the empire's public opinion field will be reduced by half."
Yang Ming laughed and said, "Every time they say I can stand up, I can stand up, but have they ever thought about what I can say to the people when I stand up? Do they want me to stand up and say, you should stop hating your exploiters, because they took away your wealth and your rights just to keep you alive... Is that right?"
Daphne shook her head gently.
She whispered, “Hanton, no one will think this is right, but in the Empire, the Empire now urgently needs to convince the people that there will be changes in the future.”
"Alas," Yang Ming said, "I thought so at first. I always believed that the empire was suppressing the power of the nobles, until I learned that there were a group of real nobles hiding behind His Majesty."
Daphne could only smile bitterly.
She looked aside and waved her hand gently, and the maids bowed and left quietly.
She swam into Yang Ming's arms like a fish and hid in his arms.
"Hanton, I'm a little worried about you now."
"Why are you worried about me?"
"You were used by Great Uncle Ino. He has always been dissatisfied with those old men. Those old men are not the real elites. They are just the ones in power."
Daphne said worriedly:
"They might really deal with you, even if it means forcing you to the opposite side of the Empire, and then using the Empire's powerful fleet..."
"Don't worry, Daphne," Yang Ming said, "We still have your father."
"My father can only issue orders that do not violate the overall interests of the family," Daphne said. "If those people don't agree, my father won't be able to do anything he wants to do. He also understands this, so he always does things that satisfy himself within the scope of those people's permission to comfort himself."
Yang Ming: …
It's a bit impolite to see your old father so clearly.
Yang Ming said: "Your Majesty gave me some encouragement today."
"Do you want to fight against those old men?"
"Yes," Yang Ming laughed. "Now I can only rely on Your Majesty, and Your Majesty can only rely on me. But I haven't figured out how to target these guys. Should I expose them directly to the public? That won't have any real impact on them. Their rule over the empire is from top to bottom. It's a big question to dismantle their ruling foundation and return power to the local and imperial powers."
"My dear, I think you should take a rest and stop thinking about such complicated issues for the time being. You have been running around for a long time."
Daphne rubbed Yang Ming's chest gently.
Yang Ming said: "Okay, you take a rest first, I will study the current situation first."
Daphne kissed Yang Ming on the forehead, then turned aside, turned her back to Yang Ming and prepared to go to sleep.
Boss Yang sat up, raised his hand and made a grabbing gesture, causing the cup in the corner to fly over by itself.
Then he opened the Internet access terminal and browsed the latest news.
He planned to wait until Daphne fell asleep and then have a brief conversation with Lu.
Lu should have seen some information in the murals at the Development Cult headquarters. Yang Ming didn’t know what the specific use of this information was.
The hottest news right now is:
[Strongly quelling the riots, the imperial military is resolute and swift];
[The only way out for the empire in the future is to reduce the privileges of the aristocracy];
【Prayer for Peace】;
[There really is a group of high-ranking agents stirring up trouble];
[More than 120 interstellar regimes, including the New Federation and the Free United States, expressed concern about the unrest within the Empire];
[The dreadnought outside Sakaar, the Empire did not regard White Ghost as a hero at all];
[Captain Catherine becomes the first president of the Resistance Federation];
[Quigan's Death: A Murder Case Destined to Be Recorded in the History of the Empire];
And so on and so forth.
Public opinion is cooling down, and the crisis of the empire has been seemingly overcome.
Yang Ming got what he wanted, and the Challenger Program was advanced to more than 30%. The death of Count Quigen was indeed of great significance.
Daphne should have fallen asleep beside him. Yang Ming felt that her body had become very smooth and gentle.
He was about to touch his watch...
Ding ding!
Yang Ming subconsciously covered the projection hole of the network terminal and looked at Daphne guiltily.
She was not affected.
Yang Ming looked at the lower left corner of the projection screen, where there was a small envelope. This was obviously not a message from Lu...
With the touch of a finger, the envelope unfolded.
【Come out and chat.】
The signature is...Li.
