Warhammer: In the Name of Nirvana

[Okay, I will continue to tell you about my crude plan, Father, but before that, I have one more thing to ask of you. 】

[Can you tell me what you originally planned to do: In your initial plan, what kind of imperial administrative system did you plan to establish to coordinate between Terra and the Legion when you left the Great Crusade? A conflict between the body and mortals? 】

[In addition to setting up a warmaster, what other efforts have you made: Maybe I can refer to your wisdom to improve my crude plan. 】

+...+

【……】

【You...you...have made efforts...】

【Right? 】

+...+

【……】

+ Let’s talk about your plan first: haven’t you already thought of a draft? +

【……】

[Yes, Father. 】

——————

+ So, let's get started. +

The voice of the Lord of Mankind was like a scepter knocking on a heavy door, opening up this noontime conversation hidden in a private garden with only the Emperor and the Primarch participating: the fate of a million worlds , because of this tea party between father and daughter, a complete turnaround occurred.

+Where to start first: from small to large or from large to small? +

[From big to small, politics is a pyramid. We must always build the grassroots level well, and the grassroots level is always the largest. 】

+ Let’s start with the Milky Way. +

The emperor whispered, and he picked up the only object on the stone table, which was the fruit plate: countless rare fruits gathered in a metal base similar to a wide-mouthed cocktail glass, piled up like a dragon's treasure mountain.

The Lord of Mankind held the stem of the cup and raised it upwards. These valuable alien crops were thrown into the air, and just before they were captured by gravity, a faint golden light flashed in the emperor's pupils. of arc. The solid metal wine glass in his hand obediently turned into a long, shiny snake, flowing like mercury onto the table, expanding unbridled along the subtle textures.

In the blink of an eye, there are stars scattered all over, shining brightly, and tens of millions of blank flashes of light jumping on it, as if a starry sky is trapped: the thick silver center, the pale yellow silver core, and the silver plate as thin as a lens. Appearing one after another, even the silver halo like an atmosphere of dust drifted under Morgan's breath without even realizing it.

Until then, the fruits that were stagnant in mid-air fell one after another, rolling into this square inch of the Milky Way, taking over their positions: the largest and strongest one came to the west of the center, Impressively, it represents the sun and Terra, and the other smaller ones also have their own duties. Some symbolize the home planet of the Legion, such as Caliban, Baal and Chemos, while others symbolize those important The world is like Reza, Triple Fal and Betangamo.

In this galaxy filled with fruity fragrance, there are only two blank spaces that make people feel a little grudge, and that is the eastern place that symbolizes the Five Hundred Worlds and Avalon. For this, the Emperor is like magic, from Two new fruits came out from his fingertips.

One is a mango: the Lord of Mankind just pinched it gently and shaped it into neat little squares. It was tired to the corner of the table and turned into countless bright stars, as the prosperity of the Great Ultramar Sector. prosperity.

+ Do you know what mangoes generally represent? my daughter.

The emperor's voice sounded, and Morgan responded with a tacit smile.

[Single-mindedness: Although it often refers to the description of love, at this point in time, using this word to describe Guilliman is indeed an appropriate usage: he is indeed passionate about Ultramar. 】

+ But for other things, he is not like this: I gave Guilliman a brain that can think in multiple threads and in many aspects. If he focuses this brain too much on one thing or one mission, it will be doomed. It would be a sad waste. +

[You might be able to remind him. 】

+ Such things can only be understood by oneself, through regret, pain, loss, or the dark time of regret. No matter how sincere and sincere other people's words are, they cannot penetrate into the heart of a person like him. . +

+Growth is destined to be a long and painful thing, but each of them needs to grow, and no one can help them in this regard. +

+You are the same, so am I. +

The emperor's voice was a little hoarse. He stared at the bright light that symbolized the five hundred worlds and seemed to have some insights. But at the next moment, he picked up the only fruit left in his hand: it was a bright red fruit. The beauty undoubtedly symbolizes Morgan's Far Eastern frontier.

+ Do you know what the pomegranate symbolizes? +

An unpleasant smile appeared on the face of the Lord of Humanity, but Morgan could only frown and shook his head: this was indeed beyond the scope of her knowledge.

[I don’t know, I haven’t eaten it either. 】

+ Then give it a try. +

The Emperor threw one of them to his daughter, and then scattered the rest on the stone table, letting these lights, slightly dimmer than those of the Five Hundred Worlds, symbolize the ascendant Far Eastern realm of the Empire.

+By the way: Pomegranates are generally considered to be a symbol of fertility and prosperity. +

+ Eat more and work hard. +

【……】

It was obviously just a pomegranate seed that was not even the size of one of her eyelashes, but Morgan still felt as if he had choked just now.

But with the joint efforts of almost perfect mental control and facial correction control, Morgan still raised the tip of his tongue and threw the pomegranate seeds deep into his throat. Then, he focused all his eyes and attention on the table. On the desk is this aerial view of the starry Milky Way.

At this moment, it seemed as if the entire human empire was nothing more than a handful of sand in the palms of her and the Emperor's hands, to be rubbed and played with at their will.

It has to be said that this feeling is really addictive for anyone.

So.

Where to start…

Morgan licked the corners of his mouth.

——————

Pomegranate is really delicious.

——————

[Now, let us define our new system to achieve several general goals: Limit the time to the moment you leave the Great Crusade, until you complete your dream Webway project and return to the galaxy. 】

[During this period, we must prioritize ensuring the following points. 】

[First of all, the Great Crusade must maintain its efficiency and cannot be disrupted by your departure: this means that the Primarchs will continue to control huge legions and fleets, and their military power will even continue to expand, because only the genetic The body can complete the huge military task of the Great Expedition, which is powerless for mortals. 】

[Based on this, we must give each legion the respect of force and take care of the psychology of each primarch: they are already sad because of your departure, and they are destined to be unable to bear any more stimulation, and they have left you. care...]

【how to say……】

[From what you just said: Growth is a long process, and the Great Expedition...]

[It’s still too short. 】

+...Indeed. +

The Emperor nodded.

[Secondly, the power structure of the Imperium will change after you leave, and mortals will take over the power that originally belonged to the Primarchs: in the eyes of most Primarchs. This means that not only will they lose your company, they will also lose their original position in the empire and be abandoned on the wild edge of the galaxy. 】

+This is not the case. +

The Emperor frowned, but his daughter just spread her hands innocently.

[You have to understand, father, they are Primarchs, and they are qualified to define what is the fact they want: it does not matter what the truth is, the subjectivity of my brothers has always been able to force objective existence to distort it. 】

+I won't let them do that. +

[But you are no longer here. 】

Morgan raised one hand and made a gentle farewell gesture in mid-air, fluttering its wings like an innocent bird.

[Leave like this, thousands of miles away, without any news, leaving only sorrow. 】

+...+

[Remote control command always has to pay a price, father, as the old saying goes: Those who know the government and lose it are in the grasslands, not in the temples. The original bodies must also think so. They only believe in themselves. s eyes. 】

+...+

The Emperor made no further reply.

Seeing this scene, Morgan grinned and showed a petite smile. Her fingers slowly swept across the Milky Way, and her eyes became slightly serious: Compared with the first two little fights, the next one This is the highlight of everything.

[Well, the progress of the Great Crusade can be delayed slightly, the wave of mortals taking power is not so urgent, and the dignity of the original body and the honor of the legion can also be appeased by each other: there are solutions to these, but this last point , you will never compromise. 】

The Lord of Avalon's eyes darkened.

【tax. 】

[Tax issues have always been an eternal dead end for the country, whether it is a dynasty or aboriginal, whether it is an empire or a republic, until now, it is the same, isn't it: any issue can be discussed, but taxation cannot. 】

Morgan's words were a bit frivolous. She threw the lazy rhetorical question at her father, but she only received a serious and cold look from the Emperor: Obviously, the Emperor's persistence in this regard was stronger than Morgan expected. 's tougher.

Therefore, the Lord of Avalon could only sigh, tap out ripples on the map of the Milky Way with his fingers, and continue talking.

[In general, the current financial expenditures of the empire are mainly divided into three categories: first, naturally, it is to maintain the current Great Expedition; second, it is the expenses required for the daily operation of various agencies and governments of the empire, and others, It's all miscellaneous items, big and small, such as infrastructure, disaster relief and subsidies, historical inspections and recycling, or special funds for the Mechanicus. 】

[The third item has the largest number, but is also the most insignificant. 】

[In other words, we can describe it this way. Part of the empire's taxation is used to stabilize our existing ruled areas, and the other part is used to conquer more areas: on this basis, we barely maintain our income and expenditure. equilibrium state, but the savings rate is pitifully low, and we will not see any signs of economic growth in the short term. 】

[However, although our expenditure share looks like those of the ancient feudal dynasties, due to problems of size and production relations, the empire will not have any ridiculous things like economic crisis. 】

[Originally, although this financial system could not be called a work of art, it operated smoothly until the end of the Great Expedition, and could even develop based on its size and inertia: only now, you have to add an additional tax. 】

[Network. 】

Morgan blinked.

[I am still a little curious, Father: How can you build the webway that you have been thinking about so much that it consumes such a huge amount of materials, even if it is not inferior to the entire Great Expedition: Moreover, this is only your very beginning. The plan does not even include possible additional investment later. 】

+You don’t need to care about these things, and I won’t tell you about them. +

【Why? 】

+ Because I don’t trust you yet. +

The emperor said this with a calm expression. He looked at his daughter and made Morgan retreat in a split second.

[…Okay, let’s continue the topic. 】

Morgan's brows raised.

[Although I am really worried about the future financial situation of the empire, you have been emphasizing to me just now that after calculations by you and Your Majesty the Master, the construction cost of the Webway project will not exceed the ultimate affordability of the empire: it only takes a bite Just clenching the teeth is enough, but it is not to the point of killing the donkey, so our inference can continue. 】

[But first, please let me remind you, father. 】

Morgan clicked on the thick halo at the center of the galaxy, and a brief moment of courage ignited in her heart, and she looked at the Lord of Humanity.

[All our current discussions are based on your guarantee: You guarantee that your network plan will be successful, you guarantee that the material consumption of network channel construction will not bring down the human empire, and you guarantee that you will be in the network channel After the plan is successful, you will return to the real universe to solve the mess you left behind. 】

[On this basis, my plan can be implemented and completed. 】

+You don’t need to worry about this. +

Different from the seriousness of his biological daughter, the Lord of Humanity had a different kind of calmness and stability. He sat on his stone chair with a peaceful look on his face.

+Whether I will break my promise has nothing to do with your system: if I fail, what we need to worry about is not a small problem such as system collapse. +

[...What will happen then? 】

+I don’t know. +

+Maybe then, Luo Jia will be very happy: Anyway, I always have a backup plan. +

【...It's best that way. 】

Morgan sighed.

[Let’s start with taxes. 】

The Lord of Avalon clicked on Holy Terra.

[There is one fact that we must admit, father, that is, the Council of Terra led by the Master of the Seal may be in line with your dream of mortals ruling, but at this stage, they are unable to complete the entire galaxy. The work of raising taxes and levying taxes. 】

[Indeed, Terra has cultivated hundreds of millions of qualified clerks in the past few decades, but the vast majority of them are used to maintain the daily operations of this empire and can truly be spread to one million imperial worlds In China, the number of qualified people to carry out tax collection work is still far insufficient compared with the actual demand. 】

[What's more, since you want to tax, it will inevitably trigger a series of serious subsequent impacts. The repercussions may even be so severe that your tax collector is forced to bring an entire fleet to persuade those loyal to the empire to pay their taxes. 】

[And the cost of this trip may even exceed the tax itself. 】

[In addition, there are countless reasons that I have no time to mention: In short, I think it is unwise to leave the power of taxation to the mortal parliament alone. 】

+Then what do you want to do? +

Although the conclusion of the Lord of Avalon has more or less touched the red thread in the Emperor's heart, the Lord of Humanity is indeed maintaining a perfect listening state at this moment. He has no sadness or joy, but only weighs it carefully in his heart. Hanging on Morgan's every word.

【separate. 】

Morgan stretched out his finger and drew a crooked, oval-shaped coil between the shining inner stars and the dim outer halo of the Milky Way.

[Divide the regions of the empire, separate the tax power, and divide it into two sections. 】

[I think you must still remember that in the ancient times of Terra, there was an empire called Rome. They have a similar management organization for the vast lands under their command. 】

[For those rich areas in the interior of the empire that have been conquered by the empire for a long time and have little resistance, they are handed over to the Senate of the empire. The main function of these areas is to pay various taxes to the empire. The vast majority of taxes provide troops and war supplies for the frontline legions. 】

[For those remote, relatively barren provinces that are on the front lines of enemy countries or barbarian battles, they are left to the generals appointed by the emperor to take care of them: although these provinces also have tax collection requirements, because of their barrenness Due to the turbulent nature, the tax requirements will not be too accurate, and the large number of local legions stationed in the area can do part-time tax collection work. 】

+... Let the legion collect taxes? +

[The sword of the legion itself is a necessary condition for collecting taxes in these turbulent areas, and the soldiers of the legion must have a better understanding of the lands they conquered with their own hands, and there will be less corruption and inefficiency: as for the specifics For the execution manpower, every legion commander must have many elite mortals under his command, and they are also capable of the job. 】

+...Not every legion is suitable for this kind of work, Morgan.

[Yes, some legions are too benevolent, some legions are too violent, and some legions simply disdain such tedious behavior: in the end, there may only be five or six or more legions that can establish a stable Tax District: But isn’t that what you expected? Father? 】

Morgan blinked and looked at her genetic father with a smile.

[The legion's tax collection is a temporary measure, an act of dividing the empire that you deeply hate: but if there are only four or five countries within a country like this, then for those who control the rich land The human empire is generally not uncontrollable. 】

[Even if you want to take it back, the operation will be simple and convenient. 】

+...+

The Lord of Humanity did not speak. He stared at his daughter closely, but only received a calm look from Morgan.

[What's more, father: Rather than the future crisis of the empire's division, aren't you more concerned about how much tax you can collect now? 】

[Although this tax package system puts the Legion at risk of losing control, it does allow you to obtain the most tax dollars in the shortest time and with the highest efficiency: the Terran Council can concentrate their limited manpower within those wealthy empires areas, and those turbulent outer areas will also be divided into small pieces, so that each legion can collect enough taxes as much as possible to replenish the bottomless pit of the Webway. 】

[And from another perspective, the material supplies that each legion needs during the Great Crusade can be raised through this kind of self-taxation. Terra only needs to be responsible for a small number of special supplies that cannot be replenished by itself: It’s also a nice boost logistically. 】

[Not to mention, when the areas conquered by the Legion gradually become stable, the Council of Terra, which has been expanding its manpower, can take over the area and turn these settled external areas into the internal areas of the empire, and the Legion It is necessary to continue to expand outward and establish new military provinces in distant frontiers. 】

[Tax collection and expansion are not mutually exclusive. Moreover, even in the end, if these countries within a country cannot be lost, they will only be in the most remote frontier areas of the galaxy, and will not delay the essence of your great human empire: It was controlled by the Council of Terra. 】

[If it is executed well, then everything will indeed be like this. 】

+...+

The Lord of Mankind did not respond to Morgan, but instead frowned in a rare way. He fell into long contemplation, considering every detail of this simple plan.

Morgan's plan is actually not complicated. Every step in it can be found in corresponding or even identical steps in human history, and its advantages and disadvantages are clearly revealed.

The advantage is naturally that it can squeeze out the wealth of the galaxy to the maximum extent and invest it in the Webway project that the Emperor dreams of.

As for the disadvantages: when the power of tax collection, personnel appointment and military power are all gathered in one hand, there is only a thin red line between these genetic primitives and independent kings.

However, if the Emperor can make good use of the generous taxes brought by this system, complete his projects, and return to the throne, then it does not seem to be a difficult problem to separate the original body of one side.

What's more, there wouldn't be a few Primarchs who would have the ambition to separate themselves.

From this point of view, this seems to be a perfect plan.

+...+

The Emperor caressed his cheek, but in the end he did not make any comments.

There was no approval or scolding, but he continued to look at his daughter and slowly asked the next sentence.

+And then: What else would you like to add to your plan? +

[Suppose it is implemented? 】

+ May be partially implemented. +

【--All right. 】

Morgan closed her lips and grinned, revealing a wide arc: compared to her daily smile, this civil servant-like fake smile was really scary.

[So, now that this tax system has been established and the progress of the Great Expedition will be guaranteed by it, there are only two problems we need to solve next: one is to ensure the establishment and operation of the Terran Parliament, and the other is Ensure the stability of the system itself. 】

[And stability requires compromise. 】

+Your compromise method is to give each of your brothers an official position? +

【Yes, that's it. 】

The Lord of Avalon nodded.

[This is not only to ensure the self-esteem of the Primarchs, but also has some deeper meanings: I can give you a hypothesis, father, a hypothetical story. 】

Morgan's hands slowly drew circles in mid-air.

[If that day comes, you want to leave the Great Crusade and appoint Horus as Warmaster, then in my plan, you'd better prepare a bunch of noble-looking things as I said before. Positions that may or may not actually have power: no one cares whether they are real, as long as they sound like they are at the top of the empire. 】

[Then, you appointed Horus as the Warmaster, and then led all the Primarchs into a private room with only you and us, and asked us to line up one by one, and put these powers into our hands one by one. : You'd better hand over my position to me at this time, father. I don't want me to look conspicuous, like Horus. 】

[After ensuring that every Primarch present will be a high-ranking official of the empire, you will bring us to a table large enough to sit all of us: square table or round table, as you like, you will Let Horus sit at the head. 】

[You will push us down one by one, just like the members of the Terran Parliament meeting around the round table, and then you will say to us. 】

[From now on, all matters of the Great Crusade will be discussed by you, the Primarchs: Horus will be my agent. He will guide you, but he will never rule you. You must unite and maintain unity. As the great cause of the Great Expedition is going on, you don't need to worry about Terra's affairs. Someone will handle it accordingly. The Terran Council will not interfere in your affairs. 】

[At this point, my system has been completely established. Then, you can let the Terran Council consolidate its power: but I want to remind you that when you give the Terran Council the official positions of mortal lords, it is best to be in harmony with the genes. There should be no overlap in the Primarch's positions. You can give the real positions, such as Advocate, Fleet or Navigation, to the mortal lords, but the positions given to the Primarchs should also look equally noble. . 】

+...+

+What is this? +

The Emperor frowned.

+Another parliament? Independent from the Terran Council? Great Crusade Council? A council belonging to the Primarch? +

[I never said that this is a parliament, father, and you will not admit it: you just let us discuss it. 】

The Lord of Avalon spread her hands, and she looked as flawless as the legendary Virgin.

[You can call it a super large family gathering, or a Primarch Society: I heard that the Luna Wolves like to use this term. It will definitely not be an officially recognized, political organization, the Empire The only supreme leadership body is the Council of Terra under the Throne. 】

[The parliament of the Primarchs does not exist, but after you leave, the Primarchs like to discuss matters together to decide the matters of the Great Far Army. 】

[They are another palace under the throne, and the Warmaster is the talker in this palace. They may have conflicts with the distant Terran Parliament, but at least in a few decades, this kind of The conflict will not be too obvious: the two parties will ignore each other because their functional scope basically does not overlap, except for some small interactions on tax payment issues. 】

+...+

+ But they cannot be outside the true system of the empire. +

[Of course it’s impossible: there is a solid communication bridge between this Primarch Society and the Terran Council: isn’t that bridge itself sitting in front of you now? 】

Morgan laughed.

[As the Warmaster's auxiliary officer, I will humbly accept this position and ensure that there will be no misunderstandings or entanglements between Terra and the Primarch. 】

+...You are trying to whitewash the situation, Morgan. +

+ In a few decades at most, this system will still fall apart. As the Great Crusade progresses, the conflict between the Primarch and Terra will become increasingly irreconcilable. +

[What we want is this kind of whitewash, father: after all, we can't solve the core of the conflict at all, can we: unless you don't know how to set up a Warmaster and return to Terra. 】

[Once you stay on the front line of the Great Crusade, this contradiction will naturally cease to exist, but you have to leave. 】

[So, I can only become a paper-pamper who whitewashes the peace, trying hard to maintain a barbell-like system, maintaining a tacit understanding with the master, and looking forward to the smooth completion of the Webway plan that you said will be all right. 】

[Like I said, father, all of this is based on the success of your webway plan. What I can guarantee is that when you return to the galaxy, things will not exceed your expectations. 】

+...+

+What if I can’t return? +

The Emperor was not angry. He seemed to be quite interested in this possibility. Morgan had no more hesitation about this issue. She stretched out her hand and took out the pomegranates that symbolized Avalon. The seeds adsorbed on the palm of his hand, and then slipped into his mouth, chewing slowly, and gave some inarticulate answers.

[Okay, one thing, we actually all know. 】

The Lord of Avalon spread out a hand and placed it on her chest. Then she slowly clasped the green-white fingers tightly. The terrifying veins spread between her palms, turning from soft and harmless to It became a symbol of strength, just like the bright sun falling from the sky, like the majestic empire collapsing in the flames of war.

[In the final analysis, the current human empire is actually an Alexander-style empire. All its greatness and prosperity come from the existence of its founder, the Great Emperor himself. 】

[For the human empire, this great emperor is you. No one can take your place, and no one dares to imagine what will happen after you fall. 】

[So, no matter how perfect a system I have planned for you, once something unexpected happens to the core and final valve of this system, that is, you, then all the stories will eventually reach the same end point. 】

[What will happen: I think you must remember what Alexander the Great said when he died, right? 】

[After all, those were your last words. 】

Morgan laughed, her blue eyes flashing with cold light, reflecting the serious gaze of the Lord of Humanity. Her voice was colder than the snow-capped mountains, piercing the Milky Way under her palms.

[When the great emperor falls, then all the crowns and honors he conquered, then the countless territories and people under his rule, then his empire, his dreams, everything about him...]

【Just let...】

——————

[The strongest will get it. 】