Chapter 127 Flame Burns Soul, Eternal Glory
The city of mystery, Fengling Moon Shadow Palace.
"I suggest that the soul of the Duke of South Carleton be placed in the holy fire burning on the altar. He must constantly recite the main oath of the oath of glory to alleviate the pain of the flames burning his soul; in the future, more sinister nobles can also do the same, and finally arrive at a faithful consensus."
Roger controlled the shadow puppet to enter the palace as Dio Brando and informed the Queen of Eternal Night that the Duke of South Carleton had been captured, and gave a personal opinion along the way.
"It sounds pretty good."
After hearing this, The Queen of Eternal Night nodded slightly. This kind of treatment is indeed more appropriate than a direct beheading, and it relieves her anger.
The Duke of South Carleton hoarded grain to hike up grain prices, conspired to instigate the aristocracy to subvert the Queen's notice, then fled voluntarily, betraying national interests.
Any one of these three is a death penalty that the empire cannot tolerate.
But he only has one dog life; a single death is too cheap for him.
Put it in the holy fire of the altar and boil it like lamp oil, and endure the burning pain of the flames day and night, so that he is worthy of what he did.
At the same time, the image of a traitor to the empire constantly reciting the glorious oath of allegiance to the empire is enough to be ridiculed!
When the time comes, no matter whether the Duke of South Carnegton wailed and recited it, or recited it numbly in pain, it should be able to serve as a warning to the nobles who took the oath, right?
After listening to the Queen's promise, Roger bowed his head and said, "The minister has retired, and someone will hand over the Duke of South Carnegton to the Secret Law Society for custody later."
The Eternal Night Empress smiled and said, "That's unnecessary. I'm going to entrust the construction of the altar to Dior Aiqing. You don't have to be stingy about spending manpower, and the lamp oil is naturally at your disposal."
Roger immediately frowned slightly. Your Majesty, is it okay for you to squeeze labor so much?
[Come on, you put a lot of effort into making shadow puppets, but one Roger is not enough, and you want to exploit one person as two? 】
[It's straightforward to calculate, capitalists, are not as good at calculating and squeezing as you are! I bother! 】
The Queen of Eternal Night heard this familiar voice, and although he was complaining about it, she was unexpectedly happy.
Great, the little guy's mental strength has finally recovered, and I can copy his homework with confidence again!
Wait, I'm not shaking, I'm not happy because I was scolded, I'm happy because I can be scolded again...
Uh, there seems to be something wrong with this!
The Queen of Eternal Night waved her hand to expel the strange thoughts in her mind.
I won't be like those strange officials in the military department, who will be full of energy when they are scolded.
She didn't wait for Luo Jie to refuse and said first, "This altar will also be used as the residence of the Night Guard. I believe it will be more comfortable if you design and construct it yourself?"
This sentence made Roger hesitate.
Although he often talks about spectacle harming the country, wouldn't it be a great honor to think that his office will be in a spectacle in the future?
It just so happens that I still have god-level architectural design ability. If you want money and people, it's not difficult to create a spectacle, right?
It just so happens that the Dark Night Guard supervises the nobles of the empire and is stationed in the place where the nobles of the empire were enshrined, which makes it very, very sensitive!
"Your Majesty has a purpose, and I should try my best." Roger finally agreed.
The Queen of Eternal Night groaned in her heart. Look, I am not the only one who is so overjoyed, right?
It seems that my imperial skills have improved again!
...
...
In January, the Night Guards traveled across the entire empire from south to north, completed a major shake-up of the noble class, and dealt with countless old cases. Wherever they went, the people of the empire lined up to welcome them, ending the suffering of countless people.
With the public trial of the nobles of the Night Guards coming to an end, Roger Charles, as the commander of the Night Guards, became the most beloved figure in the empire after the Queen of Eternal Night.
His reputation was in full swing, and he returned to the city of mystery triumphantly.
While the Night Guards were ruthlessly punishing the nobles, Angelina used peaceful means to win over the negotiations time and time again, completing the preliminary preparations for implementing the Glory Oath.
Although Angelina's tone was always gentle, her brother was holding the butcher's knife high and was trampling down the nobility and pride of the nobility in the past.
For as long as the conditions are not particularly excessive, no one would refuse.
The nobles were also afraid that if Angelina gave them a look, the blade would slash at their necks.
As we all know, the Right Prime Minister is not the kind of person who turns black and white.
But her younger brother is now looking like a murderer, running rampant through the empire. Who can guarantee that the trial will be notarized?
It only takes a few group performances to stir up the emotions of the people and send the whole family to the guillotine.
Today's Charles siblings are extremely relied on by the Empress of Eternal Night, with the mighty force of the Night Guards, and with the banner of reforming the empire, no one dares to confront them head-on.
In the autumn of the third year of the Eternal Night Era, on a clear and sunny day, the nobles once again came to the City of Mysteries, had a pleasant exchange with the Empress Eternal Night, and jointly implemented the brand new "Imperial Charter."
The charter stipulates that the Empress of Eternal Night has absolute jurisdiction over every inch of the empire. She is the empire's supreme political, economic, and military leader. Every subject should be loyal to the Empress of Eternal Night.
But the power of the Empress of Eternal Night is not unlimited. Her legislative power was divided and belonged to the Imperial Parliament reorganized from the current parliament.
The Imperial Parliament stipulates that there are three sources of representatives: 25 representatives of nobles, 25 representatives of commoners, and 51 representatives of magicians.
All new bills must be enacted and amended without violating the "Imperial Charter" and must be voted by the Imperial Parliament, with more than half of them passing.
Even if Empress Eternal Night wants to create a new law, she must submit it to the Imperial Parliament for approval.
Unless it is a wartime system, she can serve as the supreme military leader and issue temporary decrees beyond the parliament.
However, Empress Eternal Night's rights are still unlimited, because it is very interesting that the number of magician representatives in the Imperial Parliament is higher than that of nobles and commoners combined.
With Empress Eternal Night's appeal to the magician community, any new bill can be forcibly passed if an internal consensus is reached.
Although this article is essential to reflect the importance the empire attaches to magicians, there are a series of detailed regulations for becoming a member of parliament as a magician.
But in the end, The Queen of Eternal Night still left an operable back door for herself.
In addition, the "Imperial Charter" re-divided the empire into sixty provinces.
To accelerate national integration, the brand-new division of provinces deliberately disrupted the border between Qingteng and the Seventeen Kingdoms and considered the provincial boundaries more geographically, and it was more overall and reasonable.
The province is governed by the governor appointed by The Queen of Eternal Night to govern the military administration and set up the governor's mansion and the provincial guard.
The Governor-General is elected every five years. At the end of the term, he will be evaluated by the results of his administration and judge whether he will be reassigned or promoted.
The original owner of the land, the noble class, was required to give up the fief and no longer directly govern any land. The number of vassals and private troops was also strictly limited, and an oath of glory was required to be enshrined;
Correspondingly, the empire will guarantee that they can inherit titles, enjoy subsidies not lower than the average output of the current territory, and give them priority as administrative officials under the same conditions.
In the future, officials of the empire will no longer be required to have noble blood, and civilians will have complete legal support for entering the court and becoming an official, and it will no longer be a special grace of the empress.
Of course, future administrative officials will need to pass the unified assessment before they can take office.
When Empress Eternal Night and the imperial nobles completed the signing of the "Imperial Charter", the aristocratic class made full concessions, marking that the Ivy Empire had reached a basic consensus on transitioning from enfeoffment to centralization, and everything that followed would follow suit.
This process involved bloodshed, sacrifices, and open, and secret struggles.
But after all, these struggles were limited to the upper echelons of the empire and didn't have much impact on people's livelihood.
Even because of the huge mountain that was pushed to the top of their heads, the quality of life of the people at the bottom level has improved to varying degrees in all aspects.
The ones who suffered the most were the aristocracy.
Not to mention those who escaped or were liquidated, even the nobles who finally chose to support the imperial power and sign the "Imperial Charter" also exchanged land, military power, and absolute loyalty for the qualification to inherit the master.
However, they won't be able to be emperors in the future, and not all nobles are so heartbroken that they can't breathe.
There are quite a few aristocrats with low power desires and lazy personalities, and they think this is not bad.
Because the empire promised them that they would enjoy a subsidy no lower than the current average output of the territory.
This means that they can maintain the same quality of life as they do now without managing the territory.
The average level of aristocratic governance in this era is awful and rough, but it is impossible to ignore everything.
As the territory grows, there are always messy things that need to be dealt with. If they don't handle it well, their income will drop.
Not only was there no money to spend, but also a loss of face.
Even if it's exploiting people in different ways, doesn’t one still needs to use their brains?
Now that the empire has reclaimed their land, it is equivalent to giving them a "retirement fund" directly, which guarantees their income during drought and flood. At least they can get a quite luxurious guaranteed income.
Of course, from the perspective of the empire, such a promise will not be lost.
Because nobles measure the value of land and labor by the current production, with the development of magic industrialization, the productivity of a unit of land will increase by a hundred or a thousand of times.
In a few years, the nobles will find that the empire has taken away a large piece of land they own, and then only need to send them one percent or one-thousandth of the above output, even if the promise has been fulfilled.
Even the purchasing power of this pension will decline over time.
The guarantee given to them in the "Imperial Charter" is the value determined at the time of signing, without calculating inflation.
This can be regarded as a trap left by Angelina. She doesn't want the empire to waste its national power to support idlers.
Allowing well-behaved nobles to live a good life for a few years is a reward for their past contributions and cooperation.
But they won't raise them for a lifetime, let alone raise their offspring forever.
If you want to live a good life, please serve the empire. Whether you are in politics or the army, the empire has countless opportunities.
Under the witness of many representatives, Empress Eternal Night personally printed the "Imperial Charter" on an alloy plate mainly made of fine gold with magic rubbing.
This alloy plate is harder than most of the materials that exist in nature, and it is wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant. It is also equipped with various protective magic, which implies eternity.
All the people present dripped their blood on the alloy, swore to fight to protect the "Imperial Charter", and then exiled it to the empty star realm.
Maybe one day the empire will not be there, but the changes and explorations made by the people of the empire will last forever in this multiverse in this way.
...
...
After lunch, The Queen of Eternal Night led a group of nobles to the magnificent building carved and excavated from the entire mountain - Star Hall, 40 miles west of the imperial capital.
This is a spectacle-level altar designed by Roger, with the labor of the Secret Law Association and millions of people, countless money, and precious materials. It took more than a month to complete.
It is also the only place where the nobles can confer titles and complete the oath of glory in the future.
It was originally an extinct volcano with an altitude of more than 2,000 meters. It was transformed by the power of magic and separated from the surrounding mountains. It became an isolated conical peak that protruded from the mountains and stood sideways on the imperial post road.
On the front mountain, there are relief sculptures of successive kings of the Ivy Empire, each of which is a hundred meters high.
And the relief of The Queen of Eternal Night's relief is even a thousand meters high and can be seen from a very far distance.
The quality of the carving is also finer than that of the other kings, and it is located in the very center and the most prominent position.
Although she is young, she has changed from a queen to an empress. She is one level older, and she is indeed qualified to be one size older than her father and grandfather.
Probably, anyway, she asked for it herself, there is no need for Roger to stop small details...
On the left side of the conical mountain peak are engraved with well-known military generals of the empire, and on the right side are the able ministers of the empire.
The Hall of Stars is some extent the Lingyan Pavilion of the empire.
The top of the cone-shaped mountain is the crater where the lava is re-drawn. A stone bridge was built on it. After walking through ninety-nine transparent steps, it arrived at a suspended island above the peak.
This is the altar of glory at the core of the Hall of Stars.
A complex magic circle is carved on the altar, while golden flames are burning, directly driven by lava, providing energy for the magic ceremony of the oath of glory.
The soul of the Duke of South Carleton has been sealed in the Eternal burning golden flame, suffering from burning pain day and night.
Only when someone prays, he solemnly recites the "Oath of Glory", the oath of allegiance to the empire, can he temporarily escape from this pain.
Standing on the altar, you will be affected by the magic circle, and you will be in a hall with a star sea as the roof, with tumbling magma under your feet, and the wailing of criminals in your ears.
Of course, there is not a single star in the black velvet sky at this moment, because no nobleman has yet fulfilled the oath of glory.
For every nobleman who fulfills the oath of glory, part of his soul will remain in the Hall of Stars and will have a star above his head. If he dies accidentally, he will have a chance to be resurrected.
At the same time, life extension and some passive buffs all rely on the magic power of the Star Hall itself.
Can be called a spectacle, and in addition to being big, of course, it will also have relatively unique functions.
In addition, the interior of the mountain is hollowed out, and the headquarters of the Night Guard is located here, and at the same time, it performs the task of protecting the Hall of Stars.
The Queen of Eternal Night led a group of nobles up the transparent steps. Many people felt fear and dizziness because of the transparent and suspended structure, and they helped each other before they came to the altar.
The nobles stood still in front of the altar, and the holy flame jumped ten meters high. Amidst the wailing, many people felt a familiar voice, "You are willing to offer Eternal loyalty to the empire and regard it as a lifetime of glory ?"
"My honor."
All nobles should be touching their chests.
The light of magic is shrouded, and enormous energy is also focused on the bodies of these nobles.
The Queen of Eternal Night raised her head, squinted her eyes, and watched thousands of stars gradually light up in the sky, she couldn't help showing a smile.
From now on, the development of the empire will enter a new page.
