The first cabinet of the Kingdom of Muxi consisted of nineteen members, including seven ministries: agriculture, commerce, urban planning, taxation, law, personnel, and alien affairs. High-ranking members of the kingdom's two major knightly orders were also invited to attend each cabinet meeting as military advisors.
King Todd held a grand cabinet formation ceremony at the palace and, in the presence of hundreds of specially invited citizens, handed over the seal, ribbon, and scepter symbolizing the kingdom's administrative authority to the next prime minister, Emerson.
The ceremony was not complicated.
Emerson knelt on one knee before the king, listening as the latter said, "As your monarch, I appoint you as prime minister and to form a 'government' in my name."
Emerson bowed and replied, “I will obey Your Majesty’s will, faithfully perform my duties, and do my utmost to uphold, maintain, and defend the interests of the kingdom and you.”
The king handed three tokens of power to Emerson, thus concluding the ceremony.
The entire process was free of excessive formalities and elaborate song and dance performances, but the audience members present understood one fact.
The supreme ruler of the Muxi Kingdom became the first king in history to voluntarily relinquish part of his royal power to another king.
This marks the decline of an outdated system, but also signifies the beginning of a new era.
After the ceremony, Todd stayed at the dinner for about twenty minutes before leaving the venue early, citing feeling unwell.
Leaving the noise and jubilation behind, Todd stepped into the empty corridor and slowly walked towards his bedchamber.
Huggins followed him from behind.
Looking at Todd's expressionless face, the other person stammered, "Your Majesty..."
Todd turned his head to look at the hesitant Huggins and calmly asked, "What's wrong?"
"The people of the entire kingdom are talking about your decision to form a cabinet. They believe that you... have accomplished a remarkable feat."
“I’m afraid it’s not just that,” Todd said with a smile. “There will definitely be people who will call me crazy for sharing the king’s power with others; and there will probably be people who speculate that what’s going on is related to a power struggle.”
Huggins shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, that is not the case. In fact, many people are worried."
"Worried?"
Huggins gritted his teeth and mustered his courage to say, “Your Majesty, forgive my bluntness, but the people of Muxi City are already accustomed to your rule. They believe that you are not only the king of this world, but also the spokesperson of the gods, and that all of the Holy Son’s decisions are sacred and prescient. But now, you are going to hand over your power to a group of mortals, and the people have deep doubts about the abilities of this group.”
Todd turned to face Huggins: "Of all the people in this kingdom, you've been with me the longest. I want to hear the truth from you: do you believe I am a spokesperson for God?"
Huggins clenched his right fist and placed it on his chest, declaring resolutely, "Past, present, and future, I swear by my soul and honor, my faith in the Holy Son will never change!"
Todd smiled and waved his hand: "Relax, there's no need to be so serious."
Huggins awkwardly lowered his hand: "It's not just me, the vast majority of people in Muxi City firmly believe it."
Todd patted Huggins' arm and sighed softly: "Remember what I said: even gods cannot protect their people forever. Eventually, the world will change, and people will have to rely on themselves."
Seeing Huggins nod as if he understood, Todd turned and continued on his way, moving further and further away from the hustle and bustle, leaving behind a sentence in the empty corridor: "Go, join their feast. This is the birth of the kingdom, and you have no reason to miss this great moment."
Harkins shouted at Todd's retreating figure, "Your Majesty, where are you going?!"
"I need to rest."
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Two weeks later, after attending the Twilight City Advent Day celebration, Todd arrived at a mountainous area in the north of the kingdom and entered the griffin camp that was under construction.
The camp was built against the mountain, and the craftsmen of Muxi City used explosives and supernatural abilities to carve dozens of large caves into the mountainside.
The griffins moved into their new homes in family units, and began to furnish them with pebbles and weeds that had been prepared in advance.
Standing at the foot of the cliff, looking at the griffins flying overhead, Todd asked Hudgens, "Any progress on the plan to allow humans to make contact with griffins?"
The latter shook his head helplessly and said, "It's very difficult. These war beasts clearly don't trust humans. If our people try to get close to them, the griffins will give them loud warnings, and if they get too close, they might even be attacked."
Todd was a little disappointed: "So it still doesn't work?"
"Lord Cumberland, if we could tame griffins as mounts for knights, then the entire Sky Kingdom would be the territory of the Kingdom of Twilight." Huggins glanced at the busy craftsmen and soldiers on the ground and said, "Currently, we have come up with two ways to improve the relationship between humans and war beasts. First, Wayne's underground bloodworm breeding farm is complete, providing a steady supply of worms for the griffins every week. Knights will use this feeding opportunity to quickly build a relationship with their war beasts. Second, while adult war beasts distrust humans, their offspring are not very hostile. We are trying to use toys and food to strengthen the relationship between knights and them."
Todd listened and nodded: "In short, this matter can't be rushed. There's no precedent in history for taming war beasts, so we can only take it one step at a time for now... By the way, did you bring the things I asked you to prepare?"
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