Star Odyssey

There were a total of five ministers in the Imperial Cabinet, and two of them had been dismissed during the morning meeting. The other three didn’t even dare to speak up.

This was the effect that Lu Yin wanted to have on them. He could accept advice, but it depended on when it was given. If they dared to oppose him even after he made up his mind, then that was no longer advice. Instead, that was rebelling against him. Compared to an Enlighter, these ministers were nothing more than ants, and Lu Yin could not be bothered to entertain the resistance of ants.

Currently, if Wendy Yushan was included in the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons, then there were currently only eight captains remaining in the empire. The other five squadrons did not have any captains, and Lu Yin had assumed the position of captain of the First Squadron. There were four other squadrons without captains, so he gave orders to start publicly recruiting captains.

“Your subject, Garope, greets Your Highness.” After the court meeting, in the back garden of the palace, which was where Undying Yushan had frequently summoned Lu Yin back then, was where Lu Yin now received Garope.

“You may rise. Please sit.” Lu Yin looked at him warmly, as this old fogey had not openly opposed him in court, which meant he was not foolish and could be utilized. Also, he had not been overly scared of Karthika previously.

Garope did not sit. He only bent at his waist and respectfully replied, “Your Highness, I beg you to reconsider.”

Lu Yin sipped his tea. “You mean my decisions to restructure the government?”

“Yes. Studies have shown that every time the governing administration is restructured, it will cause the empire to be affected and lead to unpredictable outcomes,” Garope said gravely.

Lu Yin looked straight at him. “I’m no politician, and I don’t intend to be one. This restructuring may be for the better or worse, but I don’t care. I only care about whether or not my words carry any weight.”

Garope’s body trembled as he looked at Lu Yin. “Your Highness, your word is the same as the emperor’s word, and it is definitely effective. I plead that Your Highness reconsider ordering a restructuring of the administration.”

“Then, tell me, what are the disadvantages in establishing these four ministries?”

Garope solemnly answered, “These powerful ministries are easily formed, but they were all personally established by Your Highness. As such, everyone within them will hold great authority, and once they develop selfish motives, it will lead to extremely grave consequences.”

Lu Yin knew what Garope was referencing. Many dynasties’ emperors had created departments that were only loyal to the ruler themselves, and they treated the departments as their personal source of knowledge as well as their weapons. Of course, such departments were just as likely to also be the source of the empire’s ultimate collapse.

Lu Yin looked at the minister. “Lord Garope must be mistaken. I have no intention of abolishing the Imperial Cabinet. The Lu Ministry of Staff, Lu Ministry of Defense, and the Imperial Cabinet are all powerful agencies of the empire, and they will mutually regulate each other. Among these departments, the Imperial Cabinet’s authority will remain as the highest. Not only can it make political decisions, but it can also supervise military affairs.”

“But, Your Highness-”

Before Garope could finish speaking, Lu Yin raised his hand and looked at the minister with a scorching, critical stare. “Lord Garope, have you considered that, if the authority of the Imperial Cabinet is too high, it could lead to chaos?”

Garope’s heart skipped a beat, and his face went pale as he hurriedly bowed. “Your Highness, you are very perceptive. This subject definitely has no thoughts of using my position for personal gain.”

Lu Yin smiled and helped the older man up. “This, I believe. But Lord Garope has no way to guarantee that the others are the same. Otherwise, the court would not have allowed those two lords to be dismissed, correct?”

Garope was stumped, and he nodded. Indeed, he disapproved of those two ministers’ actions.

Lu Yin looked up at the sky. “Of the five ministers in the Imperial Cabinet, I value you and Hill Auna the most. The other three aren’t acceptable, and there are also two vacant positions right now. Who would Lord Garope recommend?”

Garope was about to speak, but then he suddenly thought of something. “Your subject has no one to recommend. Your Highness should use his own judgement.”

Lu Yin glanced at the man and nodded. “I understand. Lord Garope, you may leave.”

“This subject will take his leave.” Garope then turned to leave.

Lu Yin sat down in the back garden and tapped his finger on the table as he descended deep into thought.

Establishing the four departments would not be enough to help him completely manage all of the empire’s administrative affairs and military affairs. The biggest advantage to this move was that these departments would act solely in Lu Yin’s own interests, but he would not tell anyone that. Restructuring the government and creating four new departments would naturally create many new positions of authority. These positions were not meant for those from the Great Yu Empire. Rather, they had been prepared beforehand for people from the other weaves that the empire would soon conquer.

For instance, once Grandtop Weave was completely under Lu Yin’s control, the administration of the empire would require the people managing Grandtop Weave to be natives of that weave; otherwise, the filaments would suffer from discrimination due to their overseers being from other regions. The people of Grandtop Weave would also resist it if they did not have anyone in the government who represented them. A large weave might have as many as ten Lu Offices of Civil Affairs and Lu Offices of Defense, which would create a large number of high positions. Lu Yin also had to reserve two seats in the Lu Ministry of Staff and the Lu Ministry of Defense for people from Grandtop Weave so that he could exchange them for benefits.

Offering positions of power in exchange for approval for the Great Yu Empire from the people of a conquered weave would be far more effective than suppressing the citizens with military might.

Garope had realized this as well, and so, he had not offered any recommendations to fill the Imperial Cabinet’s empty positions. Not only would such recommendations reflect his personal ambitions, but it would also lead to fewer positions being available in the Imperial Cabinet.

But from Lu Yin’s perspective, the older man had thought too deeply. At the moment, Lu Yin had no plans of allowing anyone from another weave to enter the Imperial Cabinet. At least, not until Grandtop Weave was thoroughly subdued. Only after defeating them through military strength would it be time to rope them in with incentives.

There was a purple plant that grew in the back garden that possessed the offensive capability of an Explorer. This plant was very special, as it would completely conceal itself in the presence of powerhouses.

Undying Yushan had been the one to share this information with Lu Yin. He had also told Lu Yin that this plant had been found on a planet where it was the sole life form and that the old emperor had brought this plant back to his garden on Zenyu Star after finding it. Because of its unique aspects, the plant would change its aggressive behavior depending on the environment.

When Lu Yin had come into contact with the plant before, it had been under Undying Yushan’s supervision. Now, there was no one else around. Lu Yin raised his hand and touched the plant and found that it was very soft and comfortable to the touch. It showed no desire to attack Lu Yin since it could sense Lu Yin’s power and would naturally bow before the strong.

If even a plant would bow, then there was no need to mention humans.

Lu Yin had experienced threats too many times, and he had been suppressed on numerous occasions as well. Once, he had even been left to die as white meat. At the present moment, the Innerverse being cut off from the Outerverse had provided him with a golden opportunity. He would not allow himself to be stepped upon again, and he wanted to become the person at the top. Only he should be able to threaten others; he would not allow others to intimidate him.

At this moment, Bronsen arrived and bowed respectfully. “Your Highness, as you predicted, that person has visited the princess’s residence. However, Princess Wendy did not meet with him.”

Lu Yin nodded. “Send out my orders and just dismiss him.”

“Yes,” Bronsen left.

The third minister to be dismissed from the Imperial Cabinet had appeared. Lu Yin had long since predicted that someone would try to push Wendy Yushan to appear and reign him back. As expected, to prevent the government from being restructured, people had indeed become bold. Still, it wasn’t a problem. Disregarding whether or not Wendy would move to stop Lu Yin, even if she did make a move, would she be able to do anything?

The Great Yu Empire was no longer what it used to be. Things had developed to the extent where Wendy Yushan was now only a princess in name, and there was no longer any possibility of her interfering in the empire’s governing.

Why did those people still not understand the current situation? Even Wendy Yushan, who was someone who did not know anything about politics, understood this point.

Lu Yin’s gadget beeped with a notification, and he glanced at it before sighing. It was from Hai Qiqi. The brat still had not given up. She had personally traveled to the Astral River in order to search for a path to return to the Innerverse.

Lu Yin was not worried about her safety as he had once observed her after filling his eyes with star energy. The amount of rune lines on her was terrifying and was in no way inferior to a Hunter. The girl still had a hidden trump, so it was alright to let her explore on her own. It was at least better than huddling up next to an ocean shore.

With the dismissal of three Imperial Cabinet ministers, news gradually spread across Zenyu Star that the Great Yu Empire would soon be renamed the Great Yin Empire. It was said that the Royal Regent wanted to take the throne and that Princess Wendy was under house arrest. Countless rumors spread, not only on Zenyu Star, but also gradually permeating throughout the rest of the Great Yu Empire.

These rumors incited many discussions. Many people believed that the rumors were true, and this caused the groups loyal to the Yushan family to become disgruntled. After a few days, nearly a hundred individuals sought audiences with Wendy Yushan, desiring to settle all this hearsay.

Wendy Yushan made an appearance, but she only met with these people for a moment before taking her leave.

News of Wendy Yushan being imprisoned were thus discredited, but other rumors soon arose that claimed that the Royal Regent had threatened Princess Wendy. This led to another group of people heading to the princess’s residence.

Lu Yin learned of all these events, and he ordered the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons to search for the source of the gossip. This led to many people being massacred in order to limit the spread of these fabrications.

This action treated the symptoms, but not the root cause. As Lu Yin’s power continued to increase, more rumors would definitely appear in the future. There would constantly be conflicts between his supporters and the Yushan bloodline loyalists.

And there was some participation from those who were loyal to the Zishan bloodline as well. They naturally supported Lu Yin, which only led to the conflict growing larger.

Lu Yin was impatient to quickly fill out the positions of his four new departments, but it wasn’t easy to find qualified people.

There were only two ministers left in the Imperial Cabinet, so it was no longer able to operate normally. Lu Yin had to make an exception and promote Gavin to the cabinet. The current finance minister was not as conniving as Sicar had been, and neither was he as useless as Perry. He just barely qualified to enter the Imperial Cabinet.

Thus, the three-membered cabinet was able to function.

Lu Yin invited Xueshan Auna to meet with him and was able to convince the old man to join the Lu Ministry of Defense. With the addition of Xueshan Auna, Lu Yin had gained the influence of the Auna family. At present, the Great Yu Empire had suffered from frequent wars against outside powers. Not only had the empire managed to unify and stabilize Frostwave Weave, but it had also suppressed Grandtop Weave. The Lu Ministry of Defense urgently needed more talent to boost its numbers.

But just Xueshan Auna and En Ya were not enough for the department. Lu Yin still did not have a firm enough grasp of the Great Yu Empire’s military might, and he was actually not even familiar with the commander who was leading the troops that were suppressing Grandtop Weave. Were it not for the fact that Lu Yin had killed an Enlighter, he suspected that some of the commanders would have taken independent actions to attempt to establish themselves as kings.

Given the lack of qualified individuals, as well as an insufficient control of the military, Lu Yin had no choice but to send the Eighth, Ninth, and Thirteenth Squadrons to Grandtop Weave in order to supervise the military there. However, the squadrons were not allowed to intervene in any military decisions.

As for Frostwave Weave, Lu Yin ordered the Sixth and Eleventh Squadrons to supervise the troops spread throughout the weave.

Five of the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons were quickly deployed, leaving only the Second, Third, and Twelfth Squadrons on Zenyu Star, as well as Lu Yin’s own First Squadron.

The emperor had direct control over the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons, and with these squadrons overseeing matters, Lu Yin was able to momentarily relax and turn his attention towards the creation of his four departments.

Undying Yushan hadn’t only had control of the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons, as he had also established a secret group of guards to protect him. Unfortunately, the members of the guards had died alongside Undying Yushan at the hands of the Neohuman Alliance.

When Lu Yin thought about the Neohuman Alliance, he remembered a certain person: Sigmund Mathers. When the Genma Space Station Master had defected from the empire and colluded with the Neohuman Alliance, Sigmund Mathers had been wrongly sent to prison for the crime of betraying the human race. Even Undying Yushan hadn’t been able to save him. If not for Lu Yin pushing the contribution of finding the Corpse King onto the man, then Sigmund Mathers would have been executed long ago.

With the Innerverse and Outerverse being isolated from each other at the present time, no one had bothered to check to see if the man was still imprisoned. Thus, Lu Yin directly released him and had Sigmund Mathers join the Lu Office of Defense in Grandtop Weave with the task of supervising the weave.