The Systemic Lands

Chapter 445: Day 871 – An Empire Is Born

Chapter 445: Day 871 – An Empire Is Born

Water was poured in a cup for me, and I sipped it. “What’s the agenda?” I asked Clarissa. I looked at the men and a few women at the table in front of me. I recognized Doctor Katz and Commander Abdullah. Everyone else was a new face.

“The first thing we should do is have you confirm the appointments of everyone into your government,” Clarissa said. I looked around and some people shifted uneasily and looked away from me.

“Are there any objections to my title of Emperor?” I asked slowly and calmly. No one spoke up, then finally one older woman stood up.

“I have something to say,” the woman said with a slight accent. I couldn’t place it or her ethnicity.

“Who is she and what is her background to sit here at this table?” I asked and looked at Clarissa.

“That is Captain Ruiz, who is on the short list for a position as a governor. She has been handling various incursions deep into enemy lines against the Dragon Empire in the Southeast portion.”

“Very well,” I said and waved my hand slightly. I took another sip of my water.

“I have seen the terror that the Divine Empress has unleashed upon the Dragon Empire and the Systemic Lands. Taking up a similar title and structure of government will only heighten the tensions and divisions in our nation. I propose a Parliament is formed, elected by the people to manage and govern our nation,” Captain Ruiz said and remained standing. Everyone then looked towards me and was completely silent.

“No. While cities can be run differently. I am the final authority across the nation. I will not cede power. I will delegate my responsibilities as I see fit. But the nature of combat has regressed and changed, so too has the nature of power. If you wish to question my authority and position, then speak, otherwise bow and say no more,” I countered. Everyone’s heads swiveled back to look at Captain Ruiz who bowed and then sat back down without a word.

I was surprised she had been that smart. If she had done that, I would have killed her here and now without hesitation. That was something the Divine Empress was right about. Purging any and all dissent. While people would be allowed to speak up, I wanted to make my position on my rulership very clear.

Emperor Michael did not answer to the people or any kind of government. The government and the people answered to the Emperor. That was how the structure of my rule would be set up.

“Do you wish for a ceremony, Emperor Michael?” Clarissa asked me.

“A short and sweet one. Maybe an artistic crown if someone has the art skills. But the title is by way of my power and ability, not by the trappings of the office I hold,” I replied.

“I will arrange for a crown and an outfit for the ceremony we will set up for tomorrow.” I nodded at this. I was tired after fighting the monsters, but Clarissa seemed to have things well in hand, so I would leave it to her. “Now, I will go through each member here, listing their qualifications. There is some question on which city will be given to which governor.”

“Very well, let’s get on with it. I notice there are more people than there are cities,” I said.

“There will be a Vice Governor as well to ensure a smooth transition in the event of a death and a balance against the governor of the city. They will be rotated between cities, once every hundred days. That was the other piece that needs to be signed off on. The government will convene and process appointments every hundred days,” Clarissa said.

My mind immediately wanted to ask if that was a ceek. Combining a the letter ‘c’ from century in front of week. Kind of how deek, took the ‘d’ from decade, with deca meaning ten.

“That is fine. Your title will be?” I asked Clarissa.

“Supreme Governor. I considered Vice Empress, but I am not married to you, and the title indicates something separate in terms of how we are setting up the government,” Clarissa replied.

“Then as my first official edict as Emperor of the Empire of Purgatory, Supreme Governor Clarissa has my absolute trust. Her voice is my voice in all matters. She has the authority to act in my name as she sees fit. For these minor issues like the reconvening of the government, you can decide. We have already discussed the issues that are critical in my mind, and you know where I stand on them,” I said.

“Thank you, Emperor Michael, for your trust. I will not disappoint you,” Clarissa said. I wanted to cut off any power plays right away. If Clarissa died, then there would be a pile of bodies to make her pier. I also didn’t want people to think they could try and remove her politically either.

There would be turnover in the ranks of the governors. The idea Clarissa had floated by me, which I approved of, was to remove or demote a governor once every 100 days. Whoever was the worst performing of the batch or if there were problems.

Making the governor positions too static would lead to a lot of drama. Better to have the positions have some churn. While some cities would be implementing elections to put forward a candidate for governor, they had to have my approval to take office. Or Clarissa’s approval as my proxy for all matters of government.

The Director positions under Clarissa would be static positions for the most part along with the Federal or Imperial Government as it were. This was to create a layer between us and any drama that might happen. To push any failures off onto a governor. If they retired from their position without a fuss, they would get to live. If they caused trouble, then they would die.

There needed to be upward mobility along with punishments in order to motivate people to not be corrupt and run things efficiently. The carrot and the stick approach. One by one the various people were introduced, and their qualifications listed. Clarissa listed off what position they were nominated for. After that the candidates were allowed to address me and to pledge their loyalty directly to me, now and forever.

“I swear to follow the commands of Emperor Michael. Now until the end of the Systemic Lands. To protect the interests of the Emperor, the Empire of Purgatory, and then the people in that order. To never side with outside forces. On my life I make this pledge and vow.”

Even Governor Candidate Ruiz swore the oath and bowed. I did not object to her nomination. I accepted her pledge along with all the others. The Protector hadn’t arrived yet, but Clarissa had told me that a messenger team had been sent. They would have to cross some level 3 zones, which meant it would take time. The Free City of Hong Kong and the Protector would need to be handled with some care.

Long term he wouldn’t be in charge of the city, but that was something that would have to be discussed. He would have some demands, but I had made clear to Clarissa, that he was not allowed to build up a power base. The best option was him going off to grind level 4 monsters. That was his punishment for not helping me against the Divine Empress. If you don’t contribute, don’t expect to get rewarded.

What we had spoken about in the past was wind. Treaties and terms were all about power and what could be enforced upon others. I had learned that several times. A treaty wasn’t worth the paper to wipe my rear with if the stronger party didn’t adhere to it. He would have to suck it up, or he would be killed off. There was no way for him to play off two nations against each other like he had done before.

Also, a delegation from the Fifth Caliphate was invited as well to work out terms for the border between our nations. The boarders would be fairly harsh, and I planned to ignore them when I began clearing more towers.

What was the Avatar going to do? Say no? Her nation couldn’t afford war and she was back on speaking terms with me now. I wouldn’t trust her, and I was trying to let go of my hate for her. There was still a lot of it but trying to kill her and making more enemies sounded exhausting. I needed less enemies not more.

That was a mistake the Divine Empress had made. She created too many problems for herself, and didn’t try to smooth them over. That didn’t mean one had to be a wimp. She just went too far in the other direction in terms of running her evil empire.

Even if a governor did use up a lot of crystals to get more powerful, they would be constrained by the tax rate, while I got a clear-cut ten percent without exception. There would be no dipping into my percentage for other expenses. It all went to me, and I had the final say on how the points were spent.

Clarissa got ten percent per city to play around with and the authority to auction off or appoint clearing the various dungeons. We had spoken a lot on this issue and there would be two types of sales for the dungeons. A full upgrade set of 10 dungeons with less useful skills in level 2 zones for upgrades and then individual dungeons with useful skills.

Spreading skills out too much wasn’t useful for getting people up to the level they needed to be to clear level 4 zones. The only loans would be from the central government if they got a skill upgraded and advanced to the next level.

There would be base requirements like a minimum number of stats, good combat history, and then a pledge to give up half their income after taxes to pay back the loan. Loans would be set at zero percent interest rate, but the base rate of the loan was a bit complicated to assess.

A person would need multiple skills upgraded to level 4 to fight level 4 monsters easily. While they could beat bosses in level 3 dungeons, it wasn’t enough to grind at level 4. Ten thousand total points was the base requirement to get a loan for a full set of upgrades.

That was where the real money was for tax revenue, people grinding level 4 monsters. With the number of level 4 zones, it would take a long time to get enough people to grind them all, but each person who could kill 100 level 4 monsters each day would bring in 360,000 points. That meant an additional 36,000 points per day for me.

In 100 days, which would be 3.6 million points. While not a huge amount, it was a lot compared to lower-level monsters. Get enough people and that number would go up. The key thing was to get people who weren’t idiots and invest in them, to make sure they understood the risks of level 4 combat and survived their first fight.

Once we had a couple of successes, it would be easier to move people into safe fights at the start like the Bulwark Shield I had grinded for points quite a while. That would be a good starting point for people. Also, there were discussions on doing two sets of upgrades at once, so a person could pick cost the first two times, so they could use their skills more easily later on.

Regardless of the final decisions, the goal was to set up a development pipeline for people who had proven themselves.