Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 1320 - 751:
Chapter 1320: Chapter 751:
Having their support ensures true peace of mind.
In general, the previous meeting about the Star Devouring Cosmos discussed how to ensure that the Star Devouring Cosmos itself could pass through this turmoil relatively smoothly. If war can be avoided, then avoid it; if issues can be dealt with on a small scale, then handle them on a small scale; if political means can be used, avoid violent measures.
Yet at the same time, preparations must be made for the worst-case scenarios where situations become uncontrollable. The deployment of elite envoys, the Imperial Guards, and the war preparedness notifications sent to surrounding Cosmos Domains… all are preparatory measures for this.
This pertains to official duty.
The second meeting, however, discussed…
Matters even more pertinent!
Within the Star Devouring Cosmos, even under the lightest circumstantial consideration, many positions need to be cleared from top to bottom.
And those vacant positions, aren’t they what the bigwigs are vying to share?
It’s not merely a political faction struggle. Take Zebert as an example; currently, he leads the largest faction, but within his faction, various smaller power centers also have their own vested interests and all want a share.
Though under Zebert’s mandates, his faction exhibits a decent cohesion to present a unified front externally. Privately, however, any hidden collusions are hard to discern.
Even Zebert himself, despite perhaps subtly sensing such dealings, sometimes chooses to turn a blind eye.
He is the leader of the faction, the head, and sometimes unity must be prioritized.
Among these positions, the most tantalizing are the two left by Yasida — the Devouring Stars Sector President and Highlord Chairmanship roles.
These two positions can be separated, and everyone’s coveting them.
Of course, other political factions should expect that they won’t obtain them. These positions were originally leaked from Zebert’s hands, and with this centralized prime minister’s prowess, how could he let them go to others?
Regardless, not obtaining them doesn’t matter; it doesn’t hinder their use of these tools to continually harass Zebert, overtly rejecting candidates proposed by Zebert citing various unsuitable conditions, while covertly, it’s demanding other benefits from Zebert; if he doesn’t satisfy those demands, they’ll keep causing trouble over this issue.
Unless Zebert uses his ultimate authority to directly implement a vote in the High Lord Council when consensus can’t be reached. As long as he secures over half the votes, he can forcefully advance any regulation. In his hands, he holds seven seats, more than an absolute majority, capable of pushing anything through.
Yet this is a nuclear option, a table-flipping tactic, and cannot be casually used.
Nominally holding these seven votes, anything is possible; but in reality, it isn’t so.
Voting isn’t power; power brings voting. These seven votes represent the force Zebert can muster, surpassing half of the Empire’s total strength, so when Zebert pulls out this ace, everyone weighs it and grudgingly accepts it.
But if the proposal is too excessive, even exceeding half won’t help.
Take, for instance, if Zebert suddenly decides to dissolve the aspect he dislikes most, the National Church, demanding a prohibition on all its special political powers throughout the Empire. Relying on seven votes, it passes in the Supreme Council, but can it really be accomplished?
Impossible.
At the very least, the National Church might completely disregard him, directly refusing to recognize Zebert’s orders and then declaring a holy war across the Empire, accusing Zebert of betraying the Divine Emperor.
What then? Engage in a civil war across the Empire?
Would the Tribunal, Mars, Assassin Court, and those High Lords allow Zebert to act this way? On whose side would they stand?
If things reached such heights, Zebert’s seven seats would swing instantly; no matter how aligned the Grand Marshals of the Star Realm Army and Navy are with Zebert’s faction, if he goes berserk, will they genuinely continue with unwavering loyalty and follow Zebert in the empire-wide purge of the National Church?
That’s impossible.
The only outcome of Zebert’s madness would be his self-destruction, his seven seats would disintegrate.
When applied to this matter, if he forcibly executes a vote, pushing through with seven votes, while its impact may not drive others mad, they probably wouldn’t grudgingly accept it either.
They’ll see it as Zebert flipping the table, violating political consensus. The Tribunal may focus on Zebert’s people, identifying them as heretics, traitors, and corrupt officials daily; the National Church might aggressively cause trouble incessantly; the Sect of Mechanics might protest by rejecting orders from Zebert’s underlings; the Assassin Court might begin accepting assassination assignments they previously avoided…
Everyone has their means.
Politics is not child’s play, nor can it be forcefully pursued; it is the art of interest distribution that demands wisdom.
Zebert is well-versed in this art.
He first concealed the issues exposed by the National Church, remaining silent. As the Pope’s representative attacked the Prime Minister in the first meeting, claiming Yasida was pushed by Zebert and thus making Zebert bear associated responsibility, using this as ammunition against Zebert, Zebert restrained himself.
Once he obtained interrogation information endorsed by the Imperial Guards, which completely matched the information given by Gu Hang, after the situation became indisputable, during the start of the second meeting, he immediately presented it, smashing it onto the National Church’s face.
The National Church colluded with Yasida, instructing him to issue vile and shameless assassination orders targeting Gu Hang, who was then already a war hero and imperial commander.
This issue was previously discussed. When Gu Hang was assassinated, it was blown up by Galaraldo in the Supreme Council, already classified as: this directive wasn’t discussed by the Supreme Council; the target was sensitive; the person behind the directive had to bear responsibility and apologize.
It’s just that no one had identified the culprit.
Bringing this up now, the National Church became immediately passive.
Then, the unclear issues under Zebert also turned into dirty water, splashing onto the National Church. Did the National Church tolerate, or even for collusion gains with Yasida, allow, or even cause Yasida’s corruption?
This reasoning is somewhat far-fetched, but at least it counteracts the claim that Yasida was Zebert’s man, necessitating Zebert’s responsibility.
Well now, Yasida becomes doubly affiliated with both the Prime Minister and the Pope, thus they must bear the burden together.
Furthermore, pursuing the assassination of Gu Hang, doesn’t it lead to further accountability from the National Church?
The interrogation results given by the Imperial Guards even showed the National Church’s directive to assassinate Gu Hang had a purpose: aware of a low success probability, yet intending to use this unsuccessful assassination directive to sow discord between Gu Hang and the Central Empire.
According to Zebert, the nature of this act is ’gravely heinous,’ an appalling conspiracy that disregards the Empire’s overarching unity.
The National Church, rather embarrassed, was unable to withstand the verbal assaults and retorts.
On this matter, other factional forces were unlikely to speak up for the National Church.
With this maneuver, Zebert cast down the National Church, and during this distribution of benefits, the National Church shouldn’t merely expect to get nothing, but should also cough up a bit.
Ultimately, the National Church surrendered a red-clothed cardinal as a concession. It was claimed that this individual issued the orders unbeknownst to the Pope; the red-clothed cardinal acted on his own initiative, possibly corrupted.
The Tribunal handled it.
The new red-clothed cardinal might even be appointed by the Tribunal, not necessarily decided by the National Church.
The Tribunal, having a favorable relationship with the National Church, was barely acceptable; the Tribunal acquired such benefits and relatively took less, potentially none, from the interests of the Star Devouring Cosmos.
A cardinal is not inferior to establishing a Star Domain Head in the Star Devouring Cosmos.
In a mix of offensive and persuasive maneuvers, Zebert secured settlements with the Tribunal and National Church.
In theory, what remained should be easier.
Allocate more funds for the Assassin Court, symbolically relax some espionage political privileges; arrange orders for Mars; approve all of Su Lie’s series of proposals on the budget for reconstructing the Phoenix Legion, including those previously stuck, and simultaneously expand several battle groups, adding more Phoenix Subgroups, since the Phoenix lineage suffered significant losses in the Iron Armor War…
Following such procedures, it normally should suffice.
The majority of interests of the Star Devouring Cosmos were reclaimed, including the two highest positions.
As for the factional interests within his own faction, internally they can be redistributed, making it much more manageable.
Zebert even began pondering internally how to distribute in a way to better unite his faction, or attract more forces into his faction.
However, unexpectedly, during this second meeting, a new incident occurred.
Initially ordinary
