The Empire and Brittany had always been the focus of comparison between the two great human kingdoms of the old world.
Human history had always been moving forward on a spiral trajectory. Both sides had their advantages and disadvantages, but it had to be admitted that most of the time, the Empire had the upper hand. Laing had always believed that Emperor Karl-franz was a mighty ruler. Other than his weak one-on-one ability, he was impeccable.
The Brittany only had the upper hand in terms of national power and government after the third Knight King, the White Reaper, Guillaume, went to the Tower of Dore. After that, with the great Holy War and Ludwig's reforms, the Empire's bureaucratic reforms and military aristocrats had crushed the Brittany's feudal system.
This was not something that Laing could catch up with after a dozen years of rule. To put it simply, the Knight King had the upper hand in terms of sacred values over the Empire. This advantage was reflected in the national religion of the Lake Goddess, the Eight Virtues of the Knight, and the Holy Grail system. When the Empire was still arguing over Charlemagne and Yurik, and when the Empire was still arguing over whether barbarism was strength and civilization was the advantage, the Brittany had already achieved a unity in terms of sacred values.
Under Laing's leadership, the sacred values had been further improved. Laing himself had controlled the Goddess and the Lake Goddess through some special means and had become the sacred values themselves. This was why Karl-franz often complained about Laing's authority and the large number of Chaos believers and vampires lurking in the upper echelons of the Empire.
The grass-roots governance was actually the same. The Empire's village farmers and village elders were self-governing, and the Brittany was not far off.
However, Brittania had a fatal flaw compared to the Empire in terms of its middle-level organization, namely its civil and military talents, as well as its driving force for development. This point had been discussed many times before, so I won't repeat it here. What I wanted to emphasize was that no matter how annoying the bureaucratic system was, it was still the best system that humans had come up with after thousands or even tens of thousands of years of exploration. There was no other system that could compare to it.
In Macado's memory, humans had tried to replace the bureaucratic system with artificial AI and Ironmen during the Golden Age. The result was straightforward — Chaos could corrupt the source code of the artificial intelligence and Ironmen (Tzeentch claimed responsibility for this), causing humans to almost perish.
What was the outcome of the lack of a middle-level organization?
The two major uprisings in Laing's previous life, the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, had major structural flaws. The result of the serious lack of a middle-level organization was needless to say. No matter how brave these people were, the result was already predetermined.
In the early stages of the two uprisings, as the main force of the bureaucratic system, the aristocrats and landlords were actually just watching the show (a small number of them were even secretly helping). Many of the elite bureaucrats were actually deeply affected by the decline and decay of the dynasty. A typical person like Zuo Zongtang even went to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
However, with this contact, a fatal flaw was exposed. These literati and officials immediately discovered that they could not play this system of jumping gods, which mixed religion and politics together, and there was no room for them to survive. Moreover, the internal corruption of the leadership was not the least bit worse, and they were determined to destroy the Confucian religion (Taiping Dao). Only then did the landlords and officials make up their minds to work together to put down the uprising.
This group of people included all the elites of the society at that time (the most powerful, the most capable, and the most influential), and was the key to their success.
In comparison, there was a similar situation with Zhu Yuanzhang, Huang Taiji, Dorgon, and a person whose name must not be mentioned. That person was the true master of the battle strategy. After the Qing army entered the pass, Li Zicheng was still looking for people who could be of use among the aristocrats. Dorgon directly gave an order, "Those who surrender will be given a higher title, and the former Ming officials will be reinstated." This directly caused the collapse of Da Shun.
First, unite. Deal with these people? He would arrange them one by one later.
Let's not talk too much. What Laing wanted to say was that as an Emperor, it was necessary to recruit and recruit the elites. This was also the path that Macado and the Emperor took to unify Tara. Laing also did the same for the knights and nobles. He attacked those who were corrupt and backward, recruited and promoted those who were outstanding, and recruited those who were relatively mediocre.
However, there was also a problem with letting the elites monopolize the middle-level organization. Thus, Laing had a second method, "Military Conversion."
This method was naturally Kirliman's policy. The Empire's Regent and Brother 13's future blueprint was an important piece of the puzzle. After the end of the war or after retirement, the Extreme Warriors under his command would be transferred to the local government and enter the civil service system.
Of course, other than Kirliman, most of the dynasties in Laing's previous life also did this. For example, the Qin, Tang, Ming, and the founding of the current dynasty all used this method. Through a large-scale military conversion, they immediately sent out a large number of officials to quickly control the local government.
Of course, military conversion had its own problems. Firstly, this method could only be used once every few decades. Secondly, the military system was different from the civil service system. The military had the habit of "taking over after the death of the father" and "taking over after the death of the brother". There was also the natural problem of having a leader in the military. This was determined by nature. If it was done in the military system, it would slowly become a warlord. However, in the civil service system, it would become a powerful family.
The former was a few warlord towns and the An Lushan Rebellion. As for the latter? It was a one-sided affair.
At this point, it was easy to understand why Macado and the Imperial Emperor disagreed with or even rejected Kirliman's idea of transferring the Black Star Troopers.
Take a guess?
However, Laing didn't have such worries. What time was it now? The retired soldiers went underground in waves. The local militia and military training standards were immediately improved. The mid-level officers retired and entered the palace. Naturally, they formed a very executive bureaucratic group. Their loyalty to Laing was unquestionable.
"Everything is to prepare for the upcoming national military control and wartime cabinet," Laing said seriously.
"Wartime … cabinet?"
… I am Kirliman, long live the boundless, Imperial Emperor's relatively healthy dividing line …
Laing and Suria entered the Fontainebleau Palace to cultivate in seclusion. This news spread throughout the kingdom and then gradually spread to the Old World.
The major forces of the Old World had different reactions to it. I won't go into detail here.
In the abandoned city of the Demon Rats, a great meeting was about to begin.
That was the meeting of the Skaven Rat Men.
The Horned Rat Council of 13 was in a meeting. This legendary meeting hall and the greatest building of the Skaven Rat Men had once welcomed the arrival of the Horned Rat. It was also the only place where the Rat Men's prophets, warlords, and leaders did not dare to act rashly.
The Horned Rat wants us to be united. Yes, yes! At least in this room, we will be united … on the surface.
The room was dark, very dark. Only the Flames of Entropy and the green light from the Dimension Stone shrouded all the rats. The rats were either scratching their heads, pretending to be deep in thought, or getting restless. But everyone was waiting, waiting for the Grayclaw High Priest Kristrick, the symbol of the Horned Rat's will, to speak. It sat on the first seat.
There were 13 seats. Other than the 13th seat, which was reserved for the Horned Rat, the rest were all occupied by rats.
The 10th seat belonged to the Pestillon Clan, which was the leader of the Plague Clan. Negary was sitting on it, spitting out poisonous gas.
The 4th seat was filled with excitement. It was waiting for the Horned Rat to give the order to start the Great Holy War of the Skaven Rats.
The 6th seat belonged to the Moss Clan's leader, Gnoll. This leader was still heartbroken over the death of Headhunter Quake under the Eight Peaks Mountain. He swore to avenge Quake.
The 3rd seat was the leader of the Isin Clan, Snick. This Night King would never refuse any request as long as there were enough Dimension Stones.
The seventh seat was the warlord, Wesker. He had the lowest position in the Council of 13.
All the rats remained silent. They were waiting for the Horned Rat to speak. It represented the Horned Rat's will.
After some time, the High Priest of Grayclaw, Kristrick, finally spoke. He slammed his tiny body on the table and raised the Rat God's Staff, which symbolized his identity as the Horned Rat. "I'm very angry, and the consequences are severe!"
"This rat has repeatedly ordered that no one is allowed to sell weapons to any clan that does not respect this rat. Skri Clan, Moskita, I demand an explanation!" Critslick screamed. Its shrill voice was scattered by the whirling of the machines and the smell of plague in the room.
Gnoll was a little uneasy, but Moskita said righteously, "Yes, yes, your excellency. You, you did say that, but, but the Moss Clan is willing to pay a very, very satisfactory price. What does the matter between you and Moss have to do with me?"
“yes~yes！” The Mord Clan's leader, Womenkin, nodded in agreement. There were all kinds of strange modifications all over his body. The rats wondered whether he was more of a ratman or an ogre now.
"Yes, yes, the price is the most important." The Plague Clan's leader, Negary, quickly nodded. It could not help but feel ecstatic. Yes, that's right. The four great clans had been preparing for this for a long time!
"No rat, no rat will refuse." The Isin Clan's leader, Snick, nodded.
The Graymouth Clan's Klatch Destroyer Claw slammed the table. "Your excellency, your excellency!"
"You, you, you damned rats, how dare you go against the will of the Horned Rat!" The Grayclaw High Priest Critslick's eyes flashed with disbelief. He raised his staff and screamed, "In the name of the Horned Rat, I declare that all of you, all of you, must die!"
With that, the Grayclaw High Priest Critslick immediately prepared to cast a spell. All the members of the council also prepared themselves and began to plan how to divide more food, resources, and power if they won.
However, just as the Grayclaw High Priest Critslick was about to summon the Horned Rat God, he was suddenly enveloped by a pure green light. What came out of his open mouth was not a spell, but a painful scream. His body expanded like a balloon and continued to expand. From his orifices and many other parts of his body, black fog spewed out. Lightning and flames enveloped the Grayclaw High Priest Critslick. Then, under the shocked gazes of the rats, the Grayclaw High Priest Critslick exploded.
The leaders of the four great clans who had planned to subdue the Horned Rat were all stunned.
There was no such thing in the script?!
Crack ~
A bolt of green lightning shot out from the black mist and struck out with five consecutive whips. All the members of the council were too careless. They couldn't dodge in time and were all knocked down on the spot. Then, in the black mist, a supreme existence stared straight at his own blood descendants from the void like a lighthouse.
The Horned Rat, King's Descent!
The remaining eleven council members all knelt down and listened to the Rat God's orders.
The Horned Rat's white skull, eight giant horns, and green eyes were faintly discernible in the black fog. He let out a roar, like the sound of victory when millions of rats swallowed the world. It was also like the sound of pain when the whole world was struggling in the plague. The Horned Rat stretched out his claws, which were engraved with the Skaven language, and gently pressed them on the table.
"Trash, you don't need to live." The Rat God's voice was like the sound of nature. All the council members present were ecstatic. The Rat God obviously had no intention of holding them accountable. Soon, a new Gray Prophet would be chosen to become the new Grayclaw High Priest!
"The time has come, my children!" The Horned Rat's holy prophecy made all the rats ecstatic.
"Let the Skaven take over the whole world!"
“yesyes！！！”*
On this day, the entire Skaven Magic City was filled with the sound of a bell. The giant bell rang thirteen times. The sound was so loud that even Tobalo and Milagreno, who were near the Withered Swamp, could hear it clearly.
The Southern Kingdom was still content with the status quo. No one knew what had happened.
However, the road to the surface had been opened. Hundreds of thousands of Skaven Rat Men were dispatched from the Demon Rat Waste.
One of the two armies was led by the Skaven Rat Army's marshal, Pascritt, to attack the capital of Tyrell, Milagreno.
The other army was led by the chief war engineer of the Skuri family, Moskita's right claw, Iktor Talon, to attack Estalia!
The bell rang thirteen times!
The Holy War that belonged to the Skaven had begun!
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