"Wow!"
In the delegation of the locals, Bing Bing and the other young men and women who had met Li Jialing before all exclaimed in amazement, "Is that our king? Why does he look so different from the past?"
Those locals of the new generation were all fascinated by Li Jialing's, or Wuyingling's, charm.
Xu Zhicheng smiled bitterly. How should he put it? Those little guys truly lacked the will to resist. He had taught them to be independent and unyielding for such a long time, but they had already become "our king".
However, the little fellows couldn't be blamed. Even Xu Zhicheng himself was affected by such a fanatical atmosphere. His mind was swaying, and he was on the verge of losing himself.
In everybody's eyes, the new king finally stepped onto the high platform.
On the high platform, a few officials of the Ministry of Rites and the princes of the royal family had been waiting for him. They were holding the edict, the crown, and the "heirloom seal" that was said to have been passed down from the Star Ocean Imperium. There was no telling whether it was real or not.
Xu Zhicheng and the rest of them had been taught the procedures of the ceremony by the officials of rites over the past few days. They knew that after the new king took the throne, the officials of rites would write a colorful essay as well as a set of ancestral rules. In the end, the officials of rites would put the crown that represented the royal power on the new king's head, and the princes of the royal family would hand over the seal that represented the country to the new king.
But at this moment, the new king did something unexpected.
The officials of rites coughed. Before the ceremony officially began, Xu Zhicheng and the rest of them had already been prepared to listen to a long speech in drowsiness for an hour. But the new king walked quickly, grabbed the crown from the hands of the officials of rites, and put it on his head!
In response to the legend of the reincarnation of the black-star lion, the brand-new crown looked like a lion that had opened its bloody mouth, with two gold dragons hovering to its forehead. The two gold dragons were holding a glittering pearl, and at the center of the pearl was a looming black star, further accentuating the dominance of the new emperor!
For a moment, the entire royal palace fell silent. Everybody was shocked by the new king's unexpected action and lost for words for a long time.
While the officials of rites and the royal family were dumbfounded, the new king snatched the seal from the princes of the royal family and stamped it on the first decree that he was about to issue. Skipping all the unnecessary formalities, he announced his own voice to the entire Imperium!
Accompanied by the deafening, thunderous voice, a series of glittering gold words popped up in the sky and below the starships, allowing everybody in the world to see them clearly. They couldn't have been more shocked!
"This … This is … This is …"
Hearing the new king's voice and seeing the rolling gold words, Xu Zhicheng almost couldn't believe his eyes and ears.
The impact of the new Emperor was a hundred times more shocking than the first time he crawled out of the ground and saw the real sun!
"What's the meaning of this?"
Bing Bing and the other young people from the underground world did not know what the new king's aggressive attitude in the coronation ceremony meant. They were only curious about what the new king said. "Uncle Xu, we don't understand what His Majesty means exactly. Can you translate it for us? Why did everyone seem so excited when they heard that? Amnesty. Isn't it a good thing that His Majesty is going to give amnesty to everybody? Also, I'm told that all the new kings have to give amnesty to everybody. Is this time any different from the past? "
"Of course it's different."
Holding back his dizziness, Xu Zhicheng explained to the young people from the underground world patiently, "It's true that all the new emperors who ascended to the throne in the past pardoned the whole world, but those who were pardoned were mostly criminals or those who failed in the power struggle at most.
"But this time, when the new emperor ascended the throne and granted amnesty to the world, he mainly granted amnesty to three kinds of people.
"Firstly, the Cultivators within the territory of the Imperium. The new king said that those Cultivators were 'unpardonable but pardonable'. Many of them turned to the Cultivators' side because they had nowhere else to go under the exploitation of the four families. In the battle of Seven Seas and the battle in the capital, those Cultivators proved their loyalty to the Imperium. Cultivators can love their country, too! Therefore, such Cultivators can be pardoned and given the right to express their patriotism.
"Secondly, the space pirates led by Boss Bai. By the same logic, those space pirates were forced by the four families to live in the wilderness and gather in the forests because they had no place to serve. Now that the new emperor has taken over the throne and set things right, the capital is already bright and sunny. Those bandits in the forests can totally turn over a new leaf and become the most loyal warriors of the Imperium. Is there anything that they can't be pardoned?
"Thirdly, the soldiers of the ace fleets of the four families that just surrendered in the battle of the capital. According to the new king, those soldiers were deceived and forced to attack the capital under the bewilderment of the four 'fake lords'. However, with the assistance of the Black Wind King Li Yao, Marquis Liaohai Lei Chenghu, and other loyal subjects, he finally shattered the ambitions of the four families neatly without causing too much damage to the capital. So, the soldiers of the ace fleets will be given another chance to redeem themselves and counterattack the four families!"
"Huh …"
Bing Bing and the other young people from the underground world were confused, but all in all, it sounded impressive.
"Not just that. The pardon order is already shocking enough, but what is even more shocking is the abolition order!"
Xu Zhicheng lowered his voice and said, "You should know that the slavery system is still maintained in many Sectors of the Imperium. Those unfortunate enough to be slaves are as miserable as us in the past. However, the new king has announced that all the slaves under the control of the four families and their vassal families will be free subjects with his permission! Furthermore, if those people rise up against their former masters, they will even be given part of their master's property and become citizens of the Imperium! "
"Ah!"
Overjoyed, Bing Bing and the other young people from the underground world waved their hands and said, "That … That's great. As a result, the slaves under the control of the four families will certainly join our side and help His Majesty beat their masters!"
Xu Zhicheng nodded and couldn't help but smile bitterly again.
The slavery system had lasted for a thousand years in some worlds of the Imperium. How could a simple abolition order be enough to abolish it?
The subtlety of the matter was that not only did the four families keep tremendous slaves, but even the Immortal Cultivators of the reformists who claimed to be progressive often had a few slaves in their homes.
It was especially so for the warlords at the border who joined the reformists in the later years. Which of them did not keep thousands of slaves in their homes?
If all the slaves under the control of the four Kurfürst families could be freed, what would happen to the slaves under the control of the reformists?
It was a very important matter. The foundation of the reformists would be shaken if it was not handled properly.
Therefore, even when Wuying Qi possessed Li Linghai and grasped the power of the reformists, he never thought to strike the four families with the abolition of slaves, because it was a strategy that would only hurt himself.
In the "Abolition Order" that the new emperor released, it was rather ambiguous about how to deal with the slaves beyond the territory of the four families. Although all the Immortal Cultivators were not forced to free their slaves, it did propose that the state would offer very generous compensation if somebody freed their slaves "voluntarily". Also, the sooner they were freed, the greater the compensation would be.
Basically, the compensation offered by the state was slightly more than the value of a slave in ten years. The conditions were quite generous. However, there was one minor problem, which was that the compensation could not be settled on the spot and could only be issued in the form of bonds, which could not be cashed until the four families were completely settled.
It was obvious that the new emperor meant to fill the national treasury with the oily bodies of the four families so that he could push forward the reform policies including abolition of slaves.
Therefore, after the "Amnesty Order" and the "Abolition Order", it was followed by the astounding "Mobilization Order to Punish Rebels"!
After the coronation ceremony, with the Astounding Thunder Fleet and the Arsonist Fleet as the core, the ace fleets of the original four families and the Deep Sea Fleet as the backbone, and the Imperial Guards and the expedition army as the flesh and blood, the magnificent, invincible army of the emperor would march to the territory of the four families unstoppably, demolish the "false emperor" and the "false emperor", and completely restore the glory of the Imperium!
"This is truly … unexpected!"
Looking at the glamorous image of the new emperor in midair, Xu Zhicheng had a lot of mixed feelings. He never thought that the young man who had fought side by side with him below the ground more than half a year ago would reach such a point today.
Whether the "Amnesty Order", the "Abolition Order", and the "Mobilization Order" were the young man's own ideas or the ideas of Li Yao, Lei Chenghu, and the other powerful officials behind the young man, at the very least, the new emperor and the new powerful officials had brought an unprecedented view!
The only question was, were they really strong enough to carry out the new view to the end?
It was not just a question for Xu Zhicheng alone but also for the thousands of Immortal Cultivators who participated in the coronation ceremony.
The shock that the new emperor brought to them was more intense than any emperor in the past.
The "Amnesty Order", the "Abolition Order", and the "Mobilization Order" would bring about drastic changes that would touch the deepest part of their flesh and even their soul, causing the most painful changes for them.
Countless Immortal Cultivators were hesitating, hesitating, and considering how they should make the next move.
Some of them were even shouting in their heart, Is the little emperor crazy? He is just a puppet. Does he really think that he is an emperor who always keeps his word? Reconciling with the Cultivators, abolishing the slaves, and attacking the territory of the four families impatiently? Why?
No wonder so many Immortal Cultivators were questioning him.
After all, the new emperor was basically a nobody before. Other than the pamphlets that Li Yao and Long Yangjun made up with their pens, nobody knew the background of the new emperor at all.
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