Chapter 262

Afternoon.

Dawn City.

The Blue Whale Mansion's original Victory Chess Room was temporarily converted into a huge conference hall.

Natural Emperor Luosen sat side by side with Qi Ge Rui La Na, who looked exactly like Mother Nature, at the head of the conference hall.

Seated at the lower end of the hall were representatives from all the countries of the Natural Alliance.

After the morning parade, the representatives' expressions became much calmer.

Feelings of dissatisfaction, resistance, and reluctance were basically gone.

Strangely, there was a round platform in the center of the hall, covered with black cloth, but many items could be seen on the table.

After everyone was seated, the meeting host, Weilan's Arcane Minister Weige, spoke up loudly.

Next, please welcome the Emperor of the Natural Empire, the Alliance's strongest legendary mage, the husband of Mother Nature, His Majesty Luosen Saxon, to speak.

The representatives gave face, all rising to salute and addressing him as Your Majesty.

Luosen nodded in return, then began to speak.

Let me first introduce this noble lady beside me.

This is my wife in heaven, namely Her Majesty Mother Nature, who has descended to the mortal realm as an incarnation, also known as Qi Ge Rui La Na, and who will also be the Empress of the Natural Empire.

Qi Ge Rui La Na's face showed a kind, motherly smile, and her whole body seemed to emit a faint, profoundly holy radiance that left a lasting impression at a glance.

Part of this divine aura comes from her herself, and another part is crafted by Luosen using magic.

It is indeed very intimidating.

The representatives who had just sat down rose again, respectfully saluting Qi Ge Rui La Na and addressing her as Her Majesty.

Qi Ge Rui La Na raised her hand slightly, and instantly a gold-and-green light descended from the sky, falling upon everyone present.

In that light, everyone felt their magical power greatly increased and their bodies became healthier and more energetic.

This wondrous means, which mortals do not possess, instantly made the crowd feel even greater awe.

Thus, everyone rose once more to salute Qi Ge Rui La Na.

After a while, the hall gradually returned to calm.

Luosen began his formal speech.

I know many of you are worried, worried that after the alliance unifies, life will undergo drastic changes compared to before.

Here I promise that, aside from the Lion King Aaron who voluntarily abdicated, I will not make major changes to the national systems of Kao, Levinde, and the five great duchies for the time being.

Kingdoms will remain kingdoms, duchies will remain duchies, royal families will remain royal families, and nobles will remain nobles, without major changes from before.

I will also not forcibly impose the current civic system applied to Weilan and Aaron upon you.

Upon hearing this, the king and nobility were satisfied, but the commoner representatives were dissatisfied.

Levinde Prime Minister Muradi immediately rose, first saluting Luosen, then said:

Your Majesty, nearly ninety-nine percent of Levinde's commoners greatly desire to enjoy the same civic rights as Weilan, and we are prepared to fulfill our obligations to the Empire.

As soon as he finished speaking, a Levinde noble stood up.

No, Your Majesty, not all Levinde commoners think that way, nor do all of them have the ability to fulfill such obligations.

After his words fell, the meeting host Weige loudly said: "Maintain order, first listen to His Majesty finish speaking, do not interrupt His Majesty's speech!"

The two Levinde individuals immediately saluted apologetically and then sat down.

Luosen continued: "In a unified Natural Empire, I, as emperor, must accomplish three things."

Each admits no room for discussion and must be carried out thoroughly!

Luosen said this with great weight, showing an unquestionable determination, and it caused everyone present to feel a jolt, prick up their ears, and listen attentively.

Luosen confirmed that everyone was focused, then began to speak about the specific details.

First, unified military authority!

Whether it be the various kingdoms or duchies, they must surrender command of their armies to form a unified Imperial Legion.

The crowd immediately began to discuss heatedly.

Commoners originally had no military power and also resented the nobles' military power.

Now that all military authority has been handed over to His Majesty the Emperor, they feel it's quite good, while some also take pleasure in others' misfortune.

The nobles, however, are greatly alarmed.

Because military power is their most important right, once surrendered they would truly become lambs to the slaughter.

Under normal circumstances, these nobles would have long stood up, cursed, and then left after patting their backsides.

But now they cannot, nor dare they.

Because the true goddess Mother Nature sits there, and the Imperial Army has just displayed terrifying force, they can only remain seated, venting their displeasure through expression and posture.

Luosen observed everything and continued: "Second, unified civic rights. All members of the Alliance, from the eldest white-haired elders to newborn infants, shall possess civic rights."

Now the commoners are even happier, while the nobles are even more dissatisfied.

Those with bad tempers have already turned livid, almost ready to curse.

Luosen's expression remained unchanged as he proceeded to the third point.

Third, unified script, unified language, unified measurement standards, and unified currency.

This point is accepted by both commoners and nobles, so most people have nothing to say about it.

But this does not mean there will be no disputes.

Deciding which nation's language and script will become the common language involves national self-esteem.

Determining whose metrology and currency will serve as the standard also directly concerns interests.

Therefore, when handling specifics, there will certainly be arguments.

Luosen then said: "The above three matters are basic principles, cannot be changed, not open to question."

"If you don't like hearing me speak with my mouth, then listen to me speak with my sword."

The atmosphere on the field suddenly came to a standstill, and the nobles' barely contained anger also dimmed.

The emperor's sword is extremely sharp, his prestige extremely lofty, and kings and nobles feel they cannot bear it.

Thus anger turned into resentment.

Luosen timely offered a small sweet date: "On this basis, everything else will remain unchanged for now."

"Kao continues to be administered by the Xieger royal court, and officials at all prefectural and county levels remain unchanged."

"The administrators of Levinde remain Queen Molly and the cabinet, and the heads of major cities likewise remain unchanged."

"The same applies to other duchies." As soon as this was said, the atmosphere eased considerably.

"All right, you now have half an hour to speak freely; after half an hour, I will begin answering questions."

The conference hall instantly burst into noise, with everyone expressing their opinions.

Half an hour quickly passed, and the conference host Weige spoke loudly:

"Now begin the questions. Those with questions, please raise your hand; when called, stand up to answer."

The crowd immediately presented a sea of raised arms.

Weige pointed to Levinde's Marquis Nobodun.

This white-haired marquis stood and said, "Your Majesty, I must say, without the army's help we truly cannot govern the country."

Luosen calmly said, "It's not that we cannot govern; the situations of Weilan and Aaron have already proven that it is entirely possible to govern."

"I also ask you: if you have an army, and civilians possess citizens' protected rights, when you use the army to force civilians to work, how are those protected rights manifested?"

Marquis Nobodun twitched his mouth, having nothing to say.

Luosen loudly said, "Governance can be achieved, but the simple, rough governance of the past cannot be realized."

"In the Natural Empire, we demand care for every citizen's basic human dignity, thus we demand a gentler, limited approach to governance."

"How to better manage the populace and the state is a great challenge for all administrators."

"All right, the next question."

The next to stand up was Kao's civilian representative: "Your Majesty, why not restrain the kings and nobles? Let Kao fully realize a civilian system like Aaron and Weilan."

"Because nobles are also citizens and also have citizens' rights."

"At the same time, because the nobles chose not to oppose the empire but to submit willingly."

"This wise move spared countless civilians from the ravages of war, a great contribution to the empire."

"Of course, the reward for such contribution is certainly not eternal."

The third person to stand up was a poor noble from a duchy: "Your Majesty, if I choose to withdraw from my territory like the northern nobles of Weilan, can I receive the same compensation as they do?"

"Yes, the choice of Weilan's northern nobles has been proven an excellent method; I will promote it throughout the empire. Of course, I will not force it."

Afterward, many more people stood up and asked many questions.

Luosen answered each of them seriously.

It was clear that most answers satisfied people, but a minority left them dissatisfied.

This is unavoidable; in a huge nation of nearly six hundred million, it's impossible to please everyone.

After the conference hall gradually quieted, Luosen then said: "In the coming Natural Empire, I will also vigorously promote a plan."

"I call it the Imperial Unity Plan, or more specifically, empire-wide communication unity, ocean unity, land unity, and sky unity!"

As he spoke, Weige lightly used magic to pull back the curtain covering the round platform.

Beneath the curtain lay many items.

Luosen pointed to one of them, and it floated up, hovering in the air.

"This is the latest model of the Lightning Messenger, which lets you hear the other party's voice directly, eliminating the hassle of encoding and thus greatly lowering the usage threshold."

"Next, I will invest heavily to build numerous lightning communication lines across the empire, connecting every city, every town, and even every village, so that anyone anywhere, no matter how far apart, can pick up a Lightning Messenger and talk in real time with the other party."

This sounds almost mythical.

But many people present have already used Lightning Messengers, so they know this is achievable, it just requires a lot of money.

But we must also say that if this truly can be achieved, the world will definitely undergo earth-shaking changes.

Luosen then pointed to a model of a Black Stone cargo ship.

"This is the largest deep-sea cargo vessel Weilan can currently build, with a cargo capacity of 30,000 tons and a steady speed of 40 kilometers per hour."

"I will develop many deep-sea routes, using the Golden Ocean to unite the ports of all nations, achieving maximum efficiency in maritime transport."

"Preliminary estimates suggest transport costs will drop by eighty percent, while efficiency will triple."

As soon as this was said, everyone present felt unusually excited.

The Natural Alliance places great importance on maritime trade, because maritime trade brings immense wealth.

Now, when Luosen said this, everyone's hearts filled with wild joy.

Immediately afterward, Luosen pointed to an elongated land transport vehicle.

"This is a tracked Black Stone vehicle, powered by a large Black Stone rune steam engine, with steel tracks guiding direction; after connecting many carriages, it can possess astonishing and very swift land transport capacity."

"I will build tracks between every city in the empire, allowing many tracked Black Stone vehicles to run between cities, swiftly transporting all kinds of goods between cities."

Everyone was both astonished and amazed, also stunned by the emperor's grand gesture.

If this truly comes to pass, the empire's land transport capacity could see an order-of-magnitude increase.

Transport means communication, and communication means all kinds of business opportunities.

Luosen finally said: "Finally, sky unity."

"Look, this is a large civilian transport aircraft, capable of carrying people or cargo."

"For now, this thing is still somewhat expensive, hard to promote, but the more we make, the cheaper it will become."

"Using it, one can cross 4,000 kilometers within 12 hours, transporting persons or goods from the southernmost end of Levinde to the northernmost end of Weilan."

This is truly unbelievably swift; everyone present has already heard enough to start dreaming.

It feels that if these things truly come to pass, the Natural Alliance will surely undergo earth‑shaking, even unbelievable changes.

Everyone present, whether commoner or noble, couldn't help but feel a deep yearning for the future world.

Just then, His Majesty the Emperor's voice sounded again.

I believe that when the Imperial Unification Plan is truly realized, our Natural Empire's wealth will surely erupt explosively, easily making the Radiant Empire look up to us!

Our Natural Empire's strength will also increase to a height that no one can imagine, but absolutely unbelievable.

A height that makes the whole world tremble, where even mentioning its name makes one bow and use honorifics!

Rattle—

The venue erupted with storm‑like, fervent applause.

Luosen's depicted future is truly too concrete, too wonderful, almost like a Divine Kingdom.

Just thinking that the Divine Kingdom might be realized in the mortal realm, the representatives actually forgot all their present dissatisfactions.

At this moment, everyone had a similar thought in their hearts.

Let this husband of the True God lead us forward.

(End of chapter)