novelraw #146 - Section 146
#146 - Section 146
With just a few extras, they could stir up the emotions of the populace and send their entire family to the guillotine.
Now, the Charles siblings are highly valued by the Eternal Night Empress, possessing the formidable power of the Dark Night Guard and holding the banner of reforming the empire. Truly, no one dares to confront them directly.
In the autumn of the third year of the Eternal Night Calendar, on a clear and refreshing day, the nobles once again arrived in the Arcane Capital and engaged in pleasant exchanges with the Eternal Night Empress, jointly promoting the new 'Imperial Charter'.
The charter stipulated the absolute jurisdiction of the Eternal Night Empress over every inch of the empire's land, making her the supreme leader of the empire's politics, economy, and military. Every subject should pledge allegiance to the Eternal Night Empress.
However, the Eternal Night Empress's power was not unlimited. Her legislative power was separated and vested in the Imperial Parliament, which was reorganized from the existing parliament.
The Imperial Parliament stipulated that the sources of parliamentarians were threefold: twenty-five noble representatives, twenty-five commoner representatives, and fifty-one mage representatives.
The formulation and modification of all new laws must be based on not violating the 'Imperial Charter' and be voted on by the Imperial Parliament, requiring more than half of the votes to pass.
Even if the Eternal Night Empress wanted to create a new law, she had to submit it to the Imperial Parliament for a vote to pass.
Only during wartime could she, as the supreme military leader, bypass the parliament and issue temporary decrees.
However, the Eternal Night Empress's power was still infinitely great, because a very interesting point was that the number of mage representatives in the Imperial Parliament was higher than the sum of the noble and commoner classes.
With the Eternal Night Empress's appeal among the mage community, if internal consensus was reached, any new law could be forcibly passed.
Although this was essentially to reflect the empire's emphasis on mages, there were a series of detailed regulations for becoming a parliamentarian as a mage.
But in the end, the Eternal Night Empress still left herself an operational loophole.
In addition, the 'Imperial Charter' reorganized the empire's territory into sixty provinces.
For the purpose of accelerating national integration, the new provincial divisions intentionally disrupted the borderlines between Green Vine and the Seventeen Kingdoms, considering provincial boundaries more from a geographical perspective, making them more comprehensive and rational.
The provinces were governed by governors appointed by the Eternal Night Empress, who were in charge of military and political affairs, establishing governor's offices and provincial guard armies.
Governors served a five-year term, and their governance achievements would be assessed upon expiration, determining whether they would be transferred or promoted.
The original owners of the land—the noble class—were required to give up their fiefdoms, no longer directly governing any land. The number of vassals and private armies was also strictly limited, and a vow of honor was required when bestowing titles.
Correspondingly, the empire would guarantee that they could inherit their titles, enjoy subsidies no less than the average output of their current territories, and have priority in serving as administrative officials under the same conditions.
In the future, imperial officials would no longer be required to have noble blood, and commoners entering the court as officials would have complete legal support, no longer being a special grace from the Empress.
Of course, future administrative officials would need to pass a unified assessment before taking office.
When the Eternal Night Empress and the empire's nobles completed the signing of the 'Imperial Charter', with the noble class making comprehensive concessions, it marked that the Green Vine Empire had a basic consensus on transitioning from a feudal system to a centralized system. Next, all work could proceed smoothly.
This process involved bloodshed, sacrifice, and both overt and covert struggles.
But ultimately, these struggles were limited to the upper echelons of the empire, not causing too much impact on people's livelihoods.
Even because a large mountain was removed from above their heads, the quality of life for the lower classes in various aspects improved to varying degrees.
The biggest loss was the noble class.
Not to mention those who fled or were purged, even the nobles who ultimately chose to support the imperial power and signed the 'Imperial Charter' used land, military power, and absolute loyalty to exchange for the continued qualification to be above others.
However, not being able to be a local emperor in the future didn't make all nobles' hearts ache to the point of being unable to breathe.
Many nobles had relatively low desires for power and were lazy in nature, feeling that this was not bad.
Because the empire's promise to them was to enjoy subsidies no less than the average output of their current territories.
This meant that they didn't have to govern their territories and could still maintain the same quality of life as now.
The average level of noble governance of territories in this era was very poor and crude, but it was impossible to really not care about anything.
When the territory was large, there were always all sorts of messy things that needed them to handle and decide. If not handled well, income would decline.
Not only would they have no money to spend, but they would also lose face.
Even if they exploited the people in various ways, they still needed to use their brains, didn't they?
Now that the empire had recovered their land, it was equivalent to directly issuing them a 'retirement pension', guaranteeing income regardless of drought or flood, at least being able to obtain a fairly luxurious guaranteed income.
Of course, from the empire's perspective, such a promise would not be a loss either.
Because the nobles were measuring the value of land and labor based on current productivity, with the development of magical industrialization, the productivity of unit land would increase a hundredfold or a thousandfold.
In a few years, the nobles would discover that the empire had taken away their large tracts of land, and then only needed to distribute one percent or one-thousandth of the output on it to them to complete the promise...
Even the purchasing power of this retirement pension would decline over time.
The guarantee given to them in the 'Imperial Charter' was the value determined at the time of signing, and did not take inflation into account.
This could also be considered a pitfall left by Angelina. She didn't want the empire to waste national power on supporting idlers.
Letting the obedient nobles live a few good years was a reward for their past contributions and cooperation.
But she wouldn't support them for a lifetime, let alone support their descendants forever.
If they wanted to live well, please serve the empire, whether from politics or the military, the empire had countless opportunities.
Under the witness of multiple representatives, the Eternal Night Empress personally used magic to imprint the 'Imperial Charter' on an alloy plate mainly made of mithril.
This alloy plate was harder and more wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant than most materials existing in nature, and it was also supplemented with various protective magics, with the meaning of eternity.
Everyone present dripped blood on the alloy and swore to fight to protect the 'Imperial Charter', and then exiled it to the void star realm.
Perhaps one day the empire would be gone, but the changes and explorations made by the empire's people would be eternally preserved in this multiverse in this way.
……
……
After lunch, the Eternal Night Empress led a group of nobles to the magnificent building carved and excavated from an entire mountain, forty miles west of the Imperial Capital—the Stellar Hall.
This was a spectacle-level altar designed by Roger, with the Mystical Society and millions of laborers, investing countless money and precious materials, and taking more than a month to complete.
It was also the only place for nobles to be granted titles and complete their vows of honor in the future.
It was originally a dormant volcano with an altitude of over 2,000 meters, transformed by the power of magic, separated from the surrounding mountains, and turned into an isolated conical peak protruding from the mountains, standing on the side of the imperial post road.
On the front of the mountain, reliefs of the Green Vine Empire's past kings were carved, each hundreds of meters high.
The Eternal Night Empress's own relief was even thousands of meters high, visible from a great distance.
The carving quality was also more refined than the other kings, and it was located in the center, most prominent position.
Although she was of a younger generation, she had become an empress from a queen, and she was indeed qualified to be bigger than her father and grandfather.
Probably, anyway, she herself requested it, a small detail, Roger didn't need to stop it...
On the left side of the conical peak were carved the empire's famous military generals, and on the right side were the empire's capable ministers of governance.
The Stellar Hall was, to some extent, the empire's Hall of Worthies.
At the top of the conical peak was the crater where the lava was re-introduced. A stone bridge was built on it, and after stepping over ninety-nine transparent steps, one arrived at a suspended island higher than the peak.
This was the core altar of honor of the Stellar Hall.
The altar was carved with complex magic arrays, and at the same time, golden flames were burning, directly driven by lava, providing energy for the magic rituals of the vow of honor.
Duke Nakanidon's soul had been sealed in the eternally burning golden flames, enduring the pain of burning day and night.
Only when someone prayed, solemnly reciting the main oath of the 'Vow of Honor' to pledge allegiance to the empire, could he briefly escape this pain.
Standing on the altar, one's perception would be affected by the magic array, being in a hall with the starry sky as the top, with rolling magma underfoot, and the wailing of the guilty ministers in one's ears.
Of course, at this moment, there were no stars in the black velvet-like sky, because no nobles had completed the vow of honor yet.
Every noble who completed the vow of honor would have a part of their soul left in the Stellar Hall, becoming a star above their head, and would have a chance to be resurrected once in case of accidental death.
At the same time, extending life and some passive buffs were all operated based on the Stellar Hall's own magical power.
To be called a spectacle, in addition to being large, it would of course have more unique functions.
In addition, the interior of the mountain was hollowed out, and the Dark Night Guard headquarters was located here, while also performing the task of protecting the Stellar Hall.
The Eternal Night Empress led a group of nobles up the transparent steps. Many people felt fear and dizziness due to the transparent and suspended structure, and supported each other before arriving at the altar.
The nobles stood in front of the altar, and the sacred fire suddenly rose ten meters high. Amidst the wailing, many people felt a familiar voice ringing: 'Are you willing to offer eternal loyalty to the empire and regard it as a lifelong honor?'
'It is my honor.'
All the nobles put their hands on their chests in response.
The light of magic enveloped them, and vast energy also focused on these nobles' bodies.
The Eternal Night Empress raised her head, squinting at the thousands of stars gradually lighting up in the sky, and couldn't help but reveal a smile.
From this moment on, the empire's development would enter a new page.
Chapter 128: Our Goal is to Capture Dio
Arcane Capital, port area.
It had been the forty-third day since the merman prince Shark left the sea. He missed it, missed it, missed it.
He really felt that he had lost his mind, become crippled, and disabled to have thought of taking advantage of Tianming Gou Sheng.
In the end, his IQ was crushed, and he was trapped in the preparations for capturing Roger.
Although the port area was very close to the Rose River, it was well known that sea fish could not be raised in rivers.
Shark was unfortunately an ocean merman. Entering fresh water would not directly kill him due to osmotic pressure, but it would not be more comfortable than on land.
So he was really helpless, so helpless that he didn't even have the strength to urge Xia Di to act sooner.
He felt that this woman was probably waiting for Roger Charles to die and then continue writing it into a tomb raiding novel.
Bored, Shark could only experience life in Aodu, lingering in small taverns listening to true or false news, and playing Tekun cards popularized by the mage community with the sailors.
Don't say, this thing was really good, it could make him temporarily forget the sea.
Or rather, in this month or so, the things that happened in the Green Vine Empire were really wonderful, even greater than the changes in the Sea Kingdom in hundreds of years.
First, the nobles collectively resisted the Eternal Night Empress, but were slapped in the face by the Eternal Night Empress with a 'Dark Night Guard', and immediately scattered like birds and beasts.
Then came the 'Imperial Charter', and the noble class was directly abolished.
A spectacle-level Stellar Hall was also newly built outside the city.
The magical strength and mobilization ability of this vast empire, and the creativity that the entire human race burst out with, far exceeded the limits of the merman's imagination.
Interspersed in between were small events such as the orc princess escaping from prison, the unfortunate capture of the fleeing duke, the rapid fall of Fergus Castle, and the publication of 'Arcane Talks', each with countless topics for discussion.
This also killed a lot of Shark's time.
Although the feeling of waiting was helpless, the life of the Sea Kingdom prince was not much more exciting than on the ground, and he finally endured it.
Shark was even a little envious of the Eternal Night Empress.
After this round of reforms, although there was still an Imperial Parliament interfering, her control over the empire's 400 million subjects could be said to have greatly increased.
And the Sea Kingdom to which he belonged, although its territory was wider than the land, was essentially still a feudal country.
The various races in the sea were only nominally loyal to the merman royal family.
If his father really wanted to launch a large-scale sea-land war, he would have to beg his grandfathers and grandmothers and coordinate the interests of various families before it would be possible.
What's more, the Sea Kingdom also had the newly rising strong enemy, the Naga Empire, constantly vying with them for underwater territory, seizing warm active volcanic areas, warm current areas, and seizing vassal races...
To be honest, the merman, the traditional king of the ocean, had been at a disadvantage against the Naga Empire, which had stronger magical power, for nearly a hundred years, only barely maintaining the dignity of an old-fashioned power.
In contrast, the rise of the Green Vine Empire and the Eternal Night Empress's strong control of power naturally made Shark extremely envious.
Of course, whether weakening the nobles and raising the status of commoners would affect the empire's combat power and lead to a shortage of talent still needed to be observed.
There would have to be a war to verify the changes in the Green Vine Empire before someone might follow and imitate.
While Shark was coldly watching everything that was happening in the Green Vine Empire with the mentality of a melon-eating crowd, things were getting more and more difficult for Xia Di.
One piece of intelligence after another came, and the empire's situation changed every day.
That Roger was also exceptionally active, his strength was always being updated, and the combat power of the Dark Night Guard in his hands was also skyrocketing.
It seemed... it was getting harder and harder to deal with him?
And at the same time, Dio Brando, the target she had once speculated to be Roger's fake identity, was also reactivated on the Aodu political stage.
He constantly attended cabinet meetings, undertook the construction of the Stellar Hall, and even a precious picture of Dio and Roger appearing in the same frame appeared...
This made Xia Di even more confused.
From detailed analysis, Roger and Dio's behavior habits, detailed small movements, and even their knowledge and ideas, and the tacit cooperation during the construction of the Dark Night Guard headquarters, all made her feel that this was simply a dual identity of one person.
But their appearance at the same time and place was also the strongest evidence, suggesting that these were actually two people.
"Contradictory conclusions mean that at least one of them must be wrong." Xia Di analyzed the information before her, feeling as though she had grasped a fleeting inspiration amidst the heavy fog.