Chapter 380, Senior Central Officials
Gallardo had a very clear understanding of his situation at the beginning.
If he does nothing, he's dead.
He is the war apostle of the Sun Lord and the closest confidant of the great man who held the highest power in the empire for decades during his lifetime. When necessary, the Sun Lord even likes to exercise the highest power directly through his war apostles.
This was a normal choice. In his opinion, the empire's political system was too bloated and inefficient. With his supreme prestige, he directly dispatched war apostles, or directly served as the chief executive of a large star field, or served as a tax collector to raise war supplies (Gallardo was such a role), or directly appointed war apostles as the direct person in charge of a certain war zone, integrating the Astra Militarum, the Navy, and even the armed forces such as the Space Marines, the Sisters of the State Church, the Inquisition, and the Mechanicus...
This greatly improved efficiency and integrated the empire's complex and bloated forces, but it also undoubtedly destroyed the empire's inherent system.
When the Sun Lord was alive, this was not a big problem, and the war apostles could still call the shots.
But after the death of the Sun Lord, there will inevitably be a full-scale counterattack from the entire empire's inherent system, which will push the war apostles into a desperate situation.
Now that its greatest backer is gone, will the Empire tolerate these war apostles, who rely on the prestige of the Sun Lord to wield enormous power, to continue to hold high positions and steal the authority of the Imperial government?
Obviously not.
So the question is, what will the remaining war apostles do?
Will they submit to being slaughtered?
Obviously that is impossible.
Just as Gallardo tried every possible way to find a way to survive, the other forty or so war apostles also had their own ways and means.
It has been four or five years now, and the news of the Sun Lord's death has still not been announced.
There are very few people who know the news for sure; there are many people who have guessed and felt it, but no one has evidence and no one dares to be so sure; the majority of people think that the Solar Expedition is still in full swing.
But in fact, underwater, everything has already been undercurrent.
Some war apostles have already been purged, and the forces they represent have collapsed as a result.
Some war apostles, especially those who served as generals and chief stewards in the Solaria region conquered by the Solar Expedition, quickly developed into separatist forces.
There were many dirty tricks between them. Were all the more than 40 war apostles close comrades? Obviously not. During the long solar expedition, some of these colleagues were good friends, but some also had many conflicts due to differences in ideas and personalities.
When the Sun Lord Sohkem was alive, all the contradictions were suppressed underwater; now that he was gone, these contradictions broke out.
Some war apostles hope to elect a new leader, hoping that the position of "Sun Lord" will continue to exist and continue to lead the Sun Expedition; some do not want to continue fighting and want to obey the orders of the empire; some want to secede and become a local tyrant...
But no matter how much power their subordinates have inherited, whether they are generals or politicians, whether they are loyal or have ulterior motives, in short, the Solaria universe has become a mess.
Gallardo had foreseen these situations and future trends.
And he himself was different from his former colleagues. He neither controlled the army nor became a provincial governor. He was a tax collector among the war apostles, and his greatest reliance was the authority and prestige of the Sun Lord.
He could neither establish his own regime nor had any bargaining chips to negotiate with the empire.
On the contrary, he offended countless people in the empire by collecting taxes and raising war donations. Although most of them were local officials and lords, without a backer, these local officials and powerful lords could easily kill him.
However, he also has advantages that his colleagues do not have.
Unlike other war apostles who spent all year in the Solaria space and expanded territory beyond the borders of the empire, Gallardo's 'workplace' was throughout the empire, especially in Holy Terra, where he spent a lot of time. After all, he needed to deal with various government departments, especially the Ministry of Military Affairs and the Ministry of Taxation.
He has a lot of connections.
Although, in the chaos, connections seemed insignificant compared to the real strength in one's hands, but Gallardo quickly analyzed another key point - no matter how powerful the Sun Expeditionary Force was and how much it gathered the elite of the empire, without Sohkaim himself, it would be a pile of loose sand and could not be united at all.
No matter how powerful the legacy of his colleagues was, it was still far from the truly infinite power of the empire.
He didn't know how long the turmoil in Solaria would last, how serious it would be, or even whether a civil war would break out. However, he believed that the human empire, which had stood for more than 10,000 years, would still be the winner in the end.
Therefore, the path he chose was very clear.
After running to Wuji Star, he took advantage of the fact that the Sun Lord's reputation was still there and speculation about his death had not yet spread widely, and used the power of the Sun Lord to gain some connections, and successfully established contact with Holy Terra.
During this process, he also helped Gu Hang complete the legal procedures for the "alliance".
After that, he sorted out his network of contacts, took out some chips and obtained some political guarantees, then he left Wuji Star and the Eastern Universe and came to Holy Terra.
What was the stake he paid?
There are two things:
The first is the political legacy that Sohkaim left behind on Holy Terra and throughout the Empire.
When the Sun Lord was alive, he could be considered the supreme ruler of the entire empire. In addition to the most prominent 46 war apostles, he certainly had other confidants, and they were widely distributed in various central departments of Holy Terra, as well as government departments in various universes and star regions throughout the empire.
Due to the nature of his duties, Gallardo knew who these people were better than anyone else. This list, as well as his understanding of these people, and even many collaborations... Gallardo spent a not-so-short period of time on Wuji Star, planning to target these people.
He tried his best to recruit those people whom he was familiar with and valued and to establish closer ties with them.
Of course, he couldn't win over everyone, and even the supporters he could find were at most the tip of the iceberg of the former Sun Lord supporters. Otherwise, if he could make all these people obey him, he could at least seek a seat on the Supreme Council.
Those who could not be conquered by him would not be wasted, and he would sell them all to the imperial central government.
He did sell the list, as well as his knowledge of these people, for a good price.
The second is his colleagues on Solaria.
He knew the other war apostles very well, and knew what each of them thought, who could be won over, who was forced into a desperate situation, and who was truly ambitious. Moreover, he had very good relationships with many of them. After all, during the Sun Expedition, he, who was making money for the expedition, would certainly be welcomed by his colleagues.
His existence, knowing them and even having a good relationship with them, provided Holy Terra with a means to divide and resolve the chaos in Solaria after the death of the Sun Lord.
To be frank, he had persuaded a war apostle who was a marshal to return to the empire with his troops - of course, he had originally intended to do so.
These two things reflect Gallardo's extraordinary role. After he clearly showed a cooperative attitude, mobilized his connections, and got on the big brother, not only was his life safe, but he also rose rapidly.
During this period, he also obtained the title of Imperial Lieutenant General and the Order of Glory for Gu Hang as a benefit.
"I originally wanted to strive for the rank of general and the Holy Medal for you, but unfortunately, I failed. I have tried my best to strive for the rank of lieutenant general and the Medal of Glory. What happened in the Dragon Eagle Star Region is still too far away from Holy Terra. Many officials on Holy Terra have never heard of things like the Wrathful Owl Star, Koroja, and the Pegasus Star Region."
"But you don't have to worry. I've been working hard on Holy Terra to help you publicize your achievements. A regiment was redeemed under Governor Gu's rule; the savior of 40 billion people; an outstanding and pragmatic politician; a wise ruler... I found some newspapers and radio stations and spent a lot of money to publicize your reputation. Some of your deeds, such as beating up the cult and saving the world, have also been accepted by an opera house. They are compiling new plays and will be released soon."
"To be honest, it's not easy to do these things. People on Terra have heard stories of heroes from all over the universe. After every hero has done something, they all want to come to Terra to become famous. In order to get space and drama schedules for you, I suppressed several so-called heroic deeds."
"I also asked the most outstanding playwright to make some reasonable adaptations to your deeds. Please understand that if you want to impress people in Terra, you need some twists and turns, bizarre stories, and of course a little bit of love as a seasoning and sensory stimulation."
"When you become famous, I can use these things to fight for a higher military rank and medals for you, and then I can seek real benefits. By the way, what do you want? The head of the Dragon Eagle Star Region? Or even the chairman of the Eastern Universe? Or to make further progress in the Star Army and strive to become a marshal? Or to make further progress in the Psychic Order? You choose a path, and I will help you to work hard to improve on this path. I look forward to meeting you again in Holy Terra in a few decades, and then we will work together!"
…
After ending the communication with Gallardo, Gu Hang sat in his chair in a daze.
This guy is indeed very capable.
Not everyone can think of a way to survive when they are in a desperate situation.
Gallardo's reaction was fast enough, his decision was decisive enough, and his action was strong enough. From the result, he was able to not only save his life in that situation, but also find his own way to advancement. That was of course a manifestation of his ability.
And it was expected that this guy would be so friendly to him.
At first, he had manipulated Gallardo's soul. By "saving his life" and implanting a hint in his soul, he made Gallardo regard him as his closest friend.
But Gu Hang also knew that doing so was very risky. Gallardo's identity meant that he would constantly and repeatedly undergo relevant psychic checks to ensure that his mind had not been polluted. For this reason, when he was tampering with Gallardo's mind, Gu Hang was very careful and his movements were very small.
He didn't dare to change any of his memories, personality, or cognition. All he could do was plant a seed and let it take root and sprout. The seed dissipated on its own after a while, and what was left was some thoughts that grew out of Gallardo's soul.
But even so, after hearing that Gallardo went to Holy Terra, Gu Hang was still a little worried. He was afraid that in the heart of the empire, there were many talented people, and now Gallardo was in a high position, he would definitely conduct uninterrupted inspections voluntarily or forcedly. If someone could find something strange in Gallardo's soul, it would be normal.
Gu Hang called him with the intention of testing the waters.
However, for now, Gallardo is still stable. The psykers of Holy Terra did not find anything.
Gallardo was still the one who considered him his own brother.
It's just... a little too enthusiastic.
My deeds were published in newspapers and on the radio, and I had to write a play about love, hate, and vengeance. In order to expand the influence, I had to make a 'reasonable' adaptation and add some twists and turns...
Gu Hang covered his face, deeply worried about his reputation.
Wouldn't that be something weird?
Gu Hang sighed deeply.
never mind
Anyway, he was far away in Holy Terra, where even making a phone call was so difficult, and he couldn't interfere in anything.
I just hope that Gallardo can be more reliable.
He quickly asked himself not to think about those trivial things and to focus on the present.
The representatives from the star domain and the universe domain have not left yet, but the Angry Owl Star will soon welcome the second wave of guests.
These people did not come from far away. They were a working group of the star district government that set out from the Winged Star. Their mission was to determine the tax amount for the Angry Owl Star and even the entire alliance in the next ten years.
(End of this chapter)
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