Infinite Stream Metaverse

Chapter 723: Settle One by One
Terra, the Imperial Palace, the Emperor's Sanctuary.

Fu Qinghai followed a captain of the Imperial Guards, passed through the many security restrictions in the inner city of the Imperial Palace, and came to the entrance of the Emperor's Sanctuary. There was almost no change here, everything was exactly the same as when Fu Qinghai came last time.

However, because Fu Qinghai was trapped in the time bubble created by the subspace storm, he could not perceive the passage of time. But a thousand years had passed in the human empire outside the storm, but no traces were left in the inner city of the palace in a thousand years, as if this area was frozen in the universe, becoming an isolated island in the long river of time.

The commander of the imperial guards was already waiting at the entrance of the sanctuary.

Seeing Fu Qinghai coming, the commander of the imperial guards took off his helmet. Fu Qinghai thought he would see Ixion Hale's old face with a white beard, but unexpectedly, he saw a new unfamiliar face, which was much younger than Hale.

"Hello, Qingshan Khan."

The commander of the imperial guards spoke:
"I am the current commander of the Imperial Guards, Berus."

When was the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guards replaced?

Fu Qinghai frowned when he heard this:
"Where is Marshal Hale?"

“He’s retired.”

The commander of the imperial guards explained calmly.

Can the Imperial Guards retire? Aren't the Imperial Guards supposed to serve the emperor for life? A big question mark flashed through Fu Qinghai's mind.

As if he had seen Fu Qinghai's doubts, Berus made a gesture of invitation and said as he led the way:
"Originally, there is no need for us to explain to you any of the personnel changes in the Imperial Guards, but in view of..."

At this point Berus paused:
"In short, I completed two blood games and was successfully promoted to the commander of the imperial guards. It's that simple."

It's the same as not saying anything.

Fu Qinghai thought to himself.

He knew the blood games of the Custodes.

The Blood Games, also known as the "Blood Contest", are an exercise in which the Custodians train and strengthen their defenses. A Custodian is designated as an Invader or Assassin, and is tasked with testing their ability to breach the Imperial Palace's defenses and ultimately reach the Golden Throne or some key infrastructure on Terra. In this way, the Custodians are able to discover and strengthen the gaps in their defenses, while the Custodians who act as Invaders are also able to hone their will and resolve.

Completing the Blood Game is indeed very difficult. In history, there are only a few Imperial Guards who have been able to break through to the Golden Throne. However, completing the Blood Game does not necessarily lead to promotion to the Commander of the Imperial Guards. This is only a sufficient condition. The Blood Game proves one's ability, but whether one can be promoted still depends on various opportunities and conditions.

Although the new commander of the Imperial Guards did not reveal any key information, Fu Qinghai keenly noticed that the Imperial Guards' attitude towards him was slightly different from before.

This difference is not entirely due to his position. Although Fu Qinghai is also a high lord, he is strictly speaking a high lord who came to power through a coup, which is not particularly legitimate. The change in the attitude of the imperial guards may be due to the different personalities of the two commanders of the imperial guards, or it may be due to...

Fu Qinghai had some vague guesses in his mind.

The Imperial Guards seemed to be adhering to their oath and trapped in the palace, not caring about what was happening outside the palace, but in fact they were also secretly paying attention to what was happening outside Terra. It was impossible for them not to know about such a major event as the victory in the Beast War. Not only did they know it, but they also seemed to be very clear about who was the biggest contributor to the victory of this war.

Berus led Fu Qinghai into the Imperial Sanctuary.

In the cold, gloomy and quiet space, Fu Qinghai once again knelt on one knee in front of the golden throne. He looked up and saw the shriveled corpse still sitting on the throne. Fu Qinghai held his breath and closed his eyes slightly, preparing for the spiritual impact. He vowed to listen carefully to what the emperor said this time.

After a while.

Fu Qinghai opened his eyes in confusion.

He looked up at the golden throne.

There was no roaring echo in his mind, no language of fire and light, no shock and trance that brought a splitting headache... he heard no sound.

Fu Qinghai closed his eyes again.

A minute later, he opened his eyes again.

Still nothing happened.

What do you mean, Lao Deng? I won a great victory, but you didn't even say "thank you"? You have nothing to say to me?
Fu Qinghai thought to himself as he looked at the rotten corpse on the throne.

The Golden Throne was so quiet, and everything around it was exactly the same as it was a thousand years ago, which even gave Fu Qinghai an illusion: Could it be that the Emperor couldn't speak at all? Was the conversation with the Emperor just an illusion from the beginning to the end?
After all, the two familiar faces who had witnessed Qingshan Khan entering the Emperor's Sanctuary, the Grand Master of the Inquisition Sid Nora and the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards Ixion Hale, one has passed away and the other is missing.

Fu Qinghai shook his head slightly and stood up.

Dispel the doubts in my heart.

I did have a conversation with the Emperor.

Fu Qinghai spoke to himself firmly.

……

Fu Qinghai finally left the Imperial Sanctuary.

Although he gained nothing, he was not discouraged.

He already had a complete plan in his mind about what the empire should do after the war, and he had even thought of this plan before launching the coup.

Strictly speaking, entering the Imperial Sanctuary to meet the Emperor was just a formality, to see if Lao Deng could use telepathy to speak again. He did not expect any instructions from the throne, and even if the Emperor did not give any guidance, Fu Qinghai knew very well what he should do next.

With the power of victory in the expedition to Ullanor and the mysteriousness of the Emperor he had just met, Qingshan Khan was about to announce the specific arrangements for after the end of the Beast War.

Vera quietly told Fu Qinghai that there have been undercurrents in Holy Terra during this period, and many interest groups and powerful people have been watching secretly, wanting to see how Qingshan Khan will arrange post-war affairs and how they should respond.

Fu Qinghai was also well aware of this.

Battleship HMS Rectification, captain's room.

Here Qingshan Khan will receive the first Imperial official he will formally meet since the end of the Beast War.

This seems to send some signals worth interpreting.

In fact, many people have no idea about the size of the Terra Palace. The Terra Palace is very large. The inner city and the outer city of the palace occupy a large area of ​​the Himalayas and even the entire northern hemisphere. The headquarters of most of the administrative departments of the entire human empire are included in the outer city of the palace. This is the capital of a huge interstellar empire, and each department headquarters has millions of civil servants.

The huge area, coupled with the wars in history, has led to a large number of vacant or even completely abandoned areas or buildings inside the palace. If Qingshan Khan wants to find a vacant palace in the palace as his office, there will be no problem - for example, Wangoliqi likes an attic called "Brain Chamber" as his secret base. It is said that this building used to be Malcador's meditation room.

Even so, Qingshan Khan still chose his flagship as his office location. This move was interpreted as Qingshan Khan having no intention of moving into the palace, no intention of controlling Terra's political arena for a long time, and that he would "return power to the people" soon after the war.

This signal made the powerful and wealthy people excited.

No civilian government likes military dictatorship.

However, although they liked the meeting place chosen by Qingshan Khan very much, they did not like the person chosen by Qingshan Khan to meet - Drakan Wangorichi.

That’s right, the first imperial official Qingshan Khan met after his audience with the emperor was the Grand Mentor of the Assassin’s Court.

This is a very cold signal.

……

The connecting passage between the airport and the warship.

Fu Qinghai personally welcomed the arrival of the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court.

"Qingshan, I am a little flattered by you."

Wangerich laughed and walked up the aisle.

"Come in, Grand Master."

Fu Qinghai smiled faintly and raised his hand to signal.

……

As the saying goes, those who are involved are the most confused. Many people do not have the detached perspective of a reincarnated person, and it is difficult for them to see the situation clearly when they are in the situation.

Who is Terra's real boss?

Some people would think it was Udo, the leader of the twelve high lords, some would think it was Lanson, who was in the limelight with a large army, and some would think it was Veritus, who successfully usurped power from within... However, those who have read the original novel know that after Wangorichi was completely disappointed, he killed all the high lords in almost one day. Therefore, the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court is the real boss hidden deepest in Terra, and the other high lords are just paper tigers with only appearances and bluffs.

Qingshan Khan was able to successfully launch a coup and overthrow Terra's political arena and establish a military dictatorship within half a day. Many imperial officials later concluded that it was because of his swift and resolute planning, but they overlooked a key fact:
Qingshan Khan secretly met with the Grand Master of the Assassin Court on the eve of the coup. It was precisely because he had reached a consensus with Wangorichi in advance and united him into one front that Fu Qinghai was able to launch the coup with confidence. During the entire coup process, Wangorichi seemed to be standing by and doing nothing, but it was precisely because he did nothing that the coup was successful - strictly speaking, the Grand Master of the Assassin Court's greatest role in the coup process was to acquiesce to the occurrence of this coup.

Because Wangorichi is the only person in the entire Throne World who has the ability to prevent this coup from happening.

Now that the war is over, Qingshan Khan wants to reorganize the Empire's political situation and reshape Terra's political arena according to his own wishes, and he also needs the help of the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court.

……

Battleship HMS Rectification, captain's room.

Fu Qinghai and the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court sat opposite each other.

Wangolichi watched Qingshan Khan use hot water to brew a shriveled and curled plant leaf, and then he served the resulting yellow liquid to himself as a drink with both hands.

"Tea."

Fu Qinghai explained calmly:
“A traditional drink from Choglis.”

Wangerich took the teacup and took a sip:
"Hmm, very interesting flavor, I taste polyphenols and polysaccharides, and some caffeine."

Wangorichi is indeed an assassin from the Temple of Poison Master, his tongue is like a combination of a mass spectrometer and a chromatograph.

"A clean, complete and unquestionable victory!"

Wangoliqi put down his teacup and looked at Fu Qinghai:

"Perhaps you have heard similar praises hundreds of times in the past period of time, but I still want to say, Qingshan, this is a great victory. You won more easily than I thought... Forgive my gaffe, I don't mean to belittle the efforts of the soldiers on the front line, I mean to say that the victory is more reasonable. The actual casualties are far lower than we expected. This is a remarkable and great achievement."

"Thank you, Grand Master. This victory is also inseparable from your help. This is our common victory."

Fu Qinghai raised his teacup and drank tea instead of wine:

“Salute to victory.”

After Wangorichi clinked glasses with him, he drank it all in one gulp, put down the cup in his hand, raised his head to look at the ceramic steel giant in front of him with gorgeous armor and a calm face, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Finally, he asked tentatively:
"Recently, my agents have heard some gossip that some low-level imperial officials are discussing the possibility of you being crowned as the imperial regent."

Fu Qinghai raised his lips when he heard this:
"The trial court heard similar news."

"Then what do you mean?"

Wangerich stopped trying.

So he just asked directly.

"I will not be crowned Regent of the Empire."

Fu Qinghai said in a firm tone.

"why?"

Wangerich asked in confusion:

"You want to be crowned as the regent of the empire now. No one can stop you. You are qualified to do so."

"I am a Space Marine, Grand Master."

Fu Qinghai shook his head and said seriously.

"It is my duty to destroy our enemies and defend our country. It is what I should do. Yes, the Beast War was a terrible disaster, and the six beasts were a group of powerful enemies. But if I am crowned as the Regent of the Empire just because I won this war, what will I do when the Empire encounters a more terrible disaster and a more powerful enemy? What should the winner be crowned as?"

Fu Qinghai looked at Wangorichi and asked back.

The Grand Master of the Assassin's Court was suddenly speechless.

In the original novel, after the war, because Wangoric made the greatest contribution from beginning to end, Sean awarded Wangoric the title of "Protector of the Realm" and ordered the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court to manage the entire High Lords' Council and the Imperial Senate, while he led the human coalition to continue the expedition to wipe out the remaining orcs.

"Lord Protector" or "Lord Protector" is a term in the European official system. The Lord Protector is different from the Regent. Although both have great power, the Regent represents the royal family, while the Lord Protector represents the Parliament. The nature is completely different. The most famous Lord Protector in history should be Cromwell, who executed the King of England.

In the Warhammer 40K universe, the Regent is the representative of the Emperor of Mankind, while the Protector is only the representative of the High Lords Council and the Imperial Senate. The power and status of the two are completely different. Sion can make an exception and appoint Wangorich as the Protector, but no one will easily crown himself as the Regent.

Wangoliqi stroked the teacup in his hand.

I don’t know what I’m thinking.

"Udo is full of lies, but he is right about one thing - the Emperor does not want Space Marines to be the administrators and rulers of the Empire, and the ruling class of mankind. I will never be crowned as the Regent of the Empire, but I am still the Supreme Commander of the Empire, at least for now. Do you remember what you said to me at the dinner that day, Grand Master? You said that you could see from my expression that I was not satisfied with the Terra in front of me."

Fu Qinghai stared at Wangerich with burning eyes:

"The war was going on at that time. For the sake of unity, victory, and killing that damn beast... we had to gather those idlers around us and pretend not to see their stupidity and filth. Now that the war is over, I think it's time for us to make some efforts to change the Terra in front of us and prevent the disaster from happening again in the future. What do you think?"

The Grand Master of the Assassin's Court narrowed his eyes in thought.

……

"Supreme Lord Admiral Lanson and Imperial Guard Commander Williot are a greedy but cowardly fool and an opportunist who seeks power by taking advantage of others. Replace them both. Admiral Price and Marshal Dulles will serve as representatives of the navy and the guard in the High Lords' Council."

Fu Qinghai gave the order in a calm tone.

"Ok."

Wangorichi nodded and wrote it down.

Fu Qinghai said "replace", but when the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court took action, it was obvious how to replace it.

Lansong had long been obsessed with playing his political game of forming cliques on Terra, and neglected to lead the naval operations. In addition, there was evidence of his fear of fighting. Fu Qinghai had long wanted to get rid of him, but for the sake of the expedition, he was worried about the instability of the imperial navy's morale, so he did not take action for the time being.

Williot was the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard after Hess's death. Fu Qinghai's biggest impression of him was that he was always circling around Udo at the dinner party, a flatterer. But in the original book, he was also a high lord who was forced by Wangorich to go on an expedition, so killing him was not unfair.

As for the replacements, Admiral Price and Marshal Dulles, they were Fu Qinghai's subordinates during the expedition to Ullanor. Fu Qinghai was relatively familiar with them and recognized their command level on the battlefield. In addition, it was said that there was some personal grudge between Price and Lansong, which was also a point that could be used.

"Pope Meslin, former Imperial Commander-in-Chief Udo, and Merchant Fleet Spokesperson Yuskina, these three are responsible for the millions of Peasant Crusaders who died on the Battle Moon. Furthermore, their intelligence level is not high enough to serve as a member of the highest authority of the Human Empire. Replace them all."

Fu Qinghai continued in a cold tone.

"Ok."

Wangerich wrote it down immediately.

In the original novel, the performance of the Pope of the State Religion was even worse. The failure of the second expedition to Ullanor, coupled with the long-term torture of Wangorich with poison, caused Meslin to completely collapse mentally. He madly insulted the Emperor's statue in his luxurious residence, accusing the Emperor of being indifferent and powerless to the current situation. He believed that the reason why the Orks were unstoppable was that the beasts were far stronger than the Emperor. He wanted to lead the Empire's State Religion to change to believe in beasts...

Such an outrageous act was quickly suppressed. Sean led his troops to behead the Pope. Meslin was the only high lord who died before the post-Wangorich War settlement.

“Who will replace them afterwards?”

Wangerich suddenly thought of a question.

"Let's talk about this later. I have other plans."

Fu Qinghai waved his hand and said.

"Ok."

Wangorichi nodded without asking any more questions.

"Minister of Justice Zeke, Minister of the Interior Axe, Ambassador Navigator Gibran, Abbot of the Court of Star Whispers Anwa, and Abbot of the Court of Star Torch Sack, they are all mediocre and ineffective, and are unable to take on the responsibility in a critical moment. Replace them all with people you can control or more capable people. But don't let them be the Callidus assassins."

Fu Qinghai's calm tone revealed cruelty, and he arranged the fate of all the remaining high lords in one breath.

Hearing the last sentence "but not the Callidus assassin", Wangorichi's eyebrows slightly raised. He was surprised that Qingshan seemed to be able to see through his inner thoughts. What surprised him even more was Qingshan's coldness and decisiveness - almost no one of the twelve members of the High Lords' Council was spared.

As mentioned before, a coup is different from an election. It is not a peaceful transfer of power, but a complete break. Not every one of the twelve high lords had a direct conflict with Fu Qinghai, but whose power did Fu Qinghai usurp by launching a military coup to establish a dictatorship? It was the power of these twelve people!

A coup is not a dinner party.

A coup is a life-and-death struggle.

Fu Qinghai has made sure that he will not stay in the throne world for a long time. Even if they dare not do anything small due to Qingshan Khan's current reputation, as long as they still stay in that position, there is no guarantee that they will not use the power in their hands to do some tricks and create some obstacles in the future, targeting Fu Qinghai himself or the Iron Pagoda Corps.

Yes, some of these twelve people were mediocre but not guilty of capital crimes, and they also showed a positive attitude of being willing to cooperate with Qingshan Khan. However, Fu Qinghai still decided to eradicate them completely.

There is no other reason, this is called politics.

"Then the High Lords Council will only be left with..."

Wangoric took stock of the people to be “replaced”.

"Only the Inquisition representative remains, Veritus."

Fu Qinghai finished what he wanted to say:

"And the Mars Forge Commander, Kubik."

"Don't touch him, Veritus."

Fu Qinghai first made one point clear.

"As for the Lord of Mars..."

Fu Qinghai paused here, staring at Wangoliqi in front of him, and asked word by word:
"Are you sure you can replace him, Grand Master?"

Wangerich was silent for a few seconds after hearing this. A barely perceptible sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth. He raised his head and said:
"That is not your concern, Chapter Master."

"Very good, then I'm relieved."

Fu Qinghai leaned back in his chair and smiled with satisfaction.

The Grand Master of the Assassin's Court was not sure.

Fu Qinghai once again made drastic changes to the plot.

This time, the plot was changed not for myself.

But it was for the scarred middle-aged man in front of him.

In the original novel, Sean handed the Empire over to Wangorich, and then led the Imperial Army to continue the expedition to eliminate the remaining orcs. Ullanor was originally planned to be executed by the extermination order, but was secretly teleported away by Mars, who was responsible for executing the extermination order. This situation was discovered by the last Callidus assassin hiding on Mars, and immediately reported to Wangorich.

Wangorich had completely lost his patience and trust in the High Lords and began his bloody and cruel purge. Not only did he kill almost all the High Lords, he also sent his own assassin, Callidus, to replace them. Except for the special positions for psychics, such as the Navigator Ambassador, the Abbot of the Astronomical Court, and the Abbot of the Astronomical Court, he arranged some obedient people to take office, and all other positions were held by him alone.

Take advantage of this assassination and replacement mode.

The Grand Master of the Assassins begins his dictatorship.

Objectively speaking, in the early days of Wangorichi's dictatorship, the empire's political situation was unprecedentedly clear, administrative efficiency was unprecedentedly high, and it achieved rapid development for a period of time. However, as time went on, Wangorichi had to take on the responsibilities of at least eight high lords, and he was soon overwhelmed by the heavy and complicated affairs, and his nerves collapsed and he fell into madness.

To be fair, Wangoric was an extraordinary assassin and an extremely good politician.

But he is still a mortal after all.

It is impossible for a mortal to rule a vast interstellar empire with territories spanning five major star regions, more than two million planets and countless populations.

One hundred years later, after Sion had wiped out the remaining orcs, he returned to Terra and found that the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court had completely lost his mind and began to poison everyone around him indiscriminately. Realizing that he had made a big mistake, Sion decided to make amends himself and led the Space Marines to break into the Assassin's Temple and fight a group of potion-mad warriors, Iverson Assassins. After paying the price of almost annihilation, he finally killed Wangorich with difficulty and luck.

Throughout the entire "Beast Wars" series of novels, Wangerich is the second male protagonist after Kurland. Other high lords have their own selfishness and calculations, either stupid and arrogant or selfish and greedy, but Wangerich is the only one whose responsibility and love for the empire are pure and even paranoid. He tried everything to save the disaster of the Beast War, but ended up with a villain-like ending.

Fu Qinghai doesn't think Wangoliqi is a villain.

He is a tragic character with a Hammer-like dark ending.

Looking at the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court who was unaware in front of him.

There was a hint of pity in Fu Qinghai's complicated eyes.

No matter how Wangoric killed innocent people and committed atrocities after he lost his mind in the later period, Fu Qinghai believed that the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court deserved a better ending just because he was willing to sacrifice his own life in the early period to rectify and revitalize the human empire.

So he changed the plot drastically.

The High Lords still had to be killed, the only difference was that the people who replaced them were not the Callidus Assassins, but a group of new politicians. Wangerlich was still the Grand Master of the Assassins, not the dictator of the Empire. This ensured that this guy would not be crushed by the burden of managing the entire empire, and also prevented him from being crushed and falling into madness and further harming the empire with his various wrong actions.

"Wait until the Imperial Parliament completes its blood transfusion."

Fu Qinghai looked at Wangoliqi and said calmly:
“I have some major executive orders coming out.”

This move can be regarded as informing the Grand Master of the Assassin's Court in advance.

"What order?"

Wangorich looked up and asked.

"First, I will reorganize the High Lords' Council. I will abolish the meaningless position of 'Imperial Commander-in-Chief' and remove the seat of the Imperial Church in the High Lords' Council. The number of seats in the High Lords' Council will remain at twelve, and the two vacant seats will be taken by the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards and the Grand Master of the Assassins' Court."

Fu Qinghai told him about his arrangements.

Simply put, two go down and two come up.

The position of "Imperial Commander-in-Chief" was completely abolished.

The seat of the Ecclesiarchate was transferred to the Assassin's Court.

The extra seat was given to the Imperial Guards.

After the coup is successful, not only should we eat green garlic, but also some loyal oranges. Who on Terra supported Fu Qinghai in launching the coup? It was the Grand Master of the Assassin Court, Wangorich, and the Commander of the Imperial Guard, Ixion Hale. After the success, it was only natural to give each of the two forces a Supreme Leader position. The position of Lord Guilliman, the Supreme Commander of the Empire, was somewhat redundant. As for the state religion, Fu Qinghai simply did not like any religion.

Wangerich is still trying to digest this information.

Fu Qinghai then continued:

"Secondly, I want to cancel the restriction on the actions of the Ten Thousand Guards. After I issue the decree, the Imperial Guards can appear anywhere in the universe and no longer be limited to the Imperial Palace area."

"Ah this..."

Wangerich's eyes widened when he heard this.

The Imperial Guards, the most powerful branch of the human empire, were confined to a small corner of the Terran Palace because of some bullshit agreement with the High Lords. This was a huge waste. According to official history, the restrictions on the Imperial Guards were not lifted until Robert Guilliman returned to serve as the Imperial Regent in the 41st century. Fu Qinghai didn't care about that. He wanted to release the Ten Thousands of Men and let them walk around every corner of the empire.

"Third, I want to rebuild the Sisters of Silence. However, considering the influence of the Untouchables on mortal souls, except for the number of Sisters of Silence who are necessary to maintain the operation of the Black Ship Fleet, the rest of the Sisters of Silence will be transferred to a more remote place - the Kuitun Savage World in the Marques King Star Region."

Fu Qinghai announced a new decree.

This did not surprise Wangolichi.

Free the Emperor's Left Hand.

Rebuilding the Emperor's Right Hand.

After speaking of the above-mentioned executive orders.

Fu Qinghai paused briefly for a few seconds.

Issued his last major order:
"Fourth, I will initiate four army building campaigns!"

…………

(End of this chapter)