Lu Yin quietly listened to the multiple conversations taking place on the larger spacecraft from within his collapsible spacecraft. He overheard many conversations, and some of them were even related to him. Most of the people aboard the vessel were angry at the businessmen while others hoped that Lu Yin would thoroughly investigate this matter.
He then looked up. Lu Yin realized that he knew almost nothing about the internal wars that were constantly taking place within the Great Yu Empire. No matter how large his empire grew, there would always be chaos within it.
He only knew what the top administrators of the empire told him, and they did not truly care about these small skirmishes. In fact, some of the officials might even be personally involved in some of these conflicts.
Cai Jianqiang didn’t disturb Lu Yin. Instead, the older man simply closed his eyes and silently started training.
Two days passed. Finally, a rescue team arrived at the ruined spacecraft.
Although the independent cultivators had eventually been rescued, they still were forced to go on trial as it was illegal to participate in regional conflicts. When they were inevitably found guilty, they would definitely be stuck with heavy punishments.
Lu Yin didn’t show himself and simply left in his collapsible spacecraft. There was a dark expression on his face.
At the same time, he used his gadget to announce to the top officials on Zenyu Star that a morning meeting would take place the next day and that everyone who had been contacted was required to attend the meeting.
This announcement shocked the Great Yu Empire.
Ever since Lu Yin had become the Royal Regent, there had been almost no morning meetings. Lu Yin behaved very differently from Undying Yushan; Undying Yushan had held morning meetings almost every day whereas Lu Yin rarely ever held one.
The various officials of the Great Yu Empire had become accustomed to not participating in the morning meetings. Thus, the sudden announcement caught many of them completely off guard.
Those who were doing anything illegal immediately halted all of their activities.
Some suddenly felt that the money they were holding had become extremely heavy.
Others, who had been contemplating various schemes, suddenly felt very excited.
All in all, Lu Yin’s decision to hold a meeting affected many people, which subsequently affected the entire Great Eastern Alliance.
Meanwhile, Lu Yin was still en route to Zenyu Star.
During this time, countless people on Zenyu Star were busily trying to discover why Lu Yin had suddenly decided to call a morning meeting.
Quite a number of people had gathered outside of King Zishan’s palace and even the princess’s home. In addition, many people tried to meet with Wendy Yushan to obtain more information, and even Wei Rong, En Ya, and Huan Sha were trying to find out more information.
The leaders of the other weaves even held meetings of their own to discuss Lu Yin’s unexpected announcement.
Lu Yin had never expected that this decision of his to hold a meeting would end up having such wide-spread effects.
Soon after, Lu Yin appeared outside the imperial palace on Zenyu Star. It had been quite some time since he had last visited this place.
This palace was not as simple as it appeared to be. There was a sourcebox array within the palace that had been hidden there by an elder from the Yu family.
Lu Yin didn’t know how powerful that sourcebox array was, but he was absolutely certain that it could deal with powerhouses whose power levels were in the several hundred thousands at least, and possibly even Envoys.
All thirteen captains of the Imperial Squadrons who were still on Zenyu Star were present inside the main hall of the palace with the exception of Smoker. Cai Jianqiang also joined the meeting as the newly appointed captain of the Thirteenth Squadron.
In the great hall, there were ministers from the Imperial Cabinet, the Lu Ministry of Staff, and the Lu Ministry of Defense. Wei Rong was also present, and everyone silently stood there, waiting for Lu Yin’s arrival.
Lu Yin soon arrived within the main hall.
“Greetings, Royal Regent,” everyone respectfully greeted.
Lu Yin’s gaze swept over all of them. “You may rise.
“I know that all of you want to know why I suddenly called this meeting. It’s very simple: I came across a burning spacecraft two days ago…” Lu Yin slowly shared the incident that he had come across with everyone.
The expressions of some of the ministers in the hall grew thoughtful while others looked panicked.
“Your Highness, there are countless planets within the empire, and there are too many independent cultivators for us to keep all of them under control,” a minister respectfully tried to explain.
Lu Yin calmly answered, “The Great Yu Empire has recently united Frostwave Weave, and I understand that it’s impossible for everything to be perfect. However, there are certain things that we must prioritize. The independent cultivators within the Great Yu Empire must be controlled. If any of the independent cultivators were to deliberately take destructive actions, we would suffer incredible losses. With that in mind, how long would it take for us to get all the independent cultivators under control?”
The minister hesitantly replied, “At least twenty years.”
Lu Yin frowned. “Twenty years is way too long. Many governments in other parts of the universe have their own methods to deal with this problem. Although the empire has expanded rapidly in recent times, there are many other places that have been in a similar situation. How has this not been noticed until now?”
The minister was shocked, and he immediately knelt down. “Please forgive me, Your Highness.”
Lu Yin waved a hand. “You can stand up, and I don’t blame you. It’s been a very short time since the empire united Frostwave Weave, so it’s normal that there would be some things that aren’t perfect. Still, we have to solve this quickly. Tell me how many resources you’ll need, and I’ll get them to you. However, you must solve this problem as quickly as possible.
“Yes, Your Highness.” The minister let out a breath of relief and wiped away the sweat from his brow.
“Also,” Lu Yin’s expression suddenly turned cold as he continued, saying, “Find out who abandoned those independent cultivators. What boss would be so cruel as to leave ten thousand independent cultivators to die? I’m sure that there have been many similar events that have occurred throughout the empire, so look into it. Everyone who’s done something like this will be put on trial for murder.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” the ministers all answered.
Lu Yin was satisfied with their responses. “This is the first item on the agenda for today. The second thing is that we need to stop the regional wars. I don’t care if they’re just some local wars over a single planet or interplanetary wars. As long as it takes place anywhere within the Great Yu Empire, it needs to be monitored by the empire. Whenever a war breaks out, the people who suffer are the citizens of the empire.
“I remember that one of the empire’s funds was set up to prevent interplanetary wars. Aren’t we using that?”
Lu Yin’s eyes became icy. “Or did somebody use it for something else?”
This question shocked Gavin. “Your Highness, the empire has expanded too quickly while the budget for that particular fund is still being determined by old calculations. It is difficult to find the money to make up for what is needed. I hope that Your Highness can allow me some more time.”
“How long do you need?” Lu Yin asked.
Gavin considered the question. “I can guarantee that I’ll be able to raise the necessary funds within a year.”
“Fine. You have a year,” Lu Yin said.
“Yes, Your Highness.” Gavin was relieved.
“Alright, moving on to the third item: I want to ensure fairness regarding the allocation of resources within the empire,” Lu Yin continued.
Lu Yin ended up being the person who spoke the most during this meeting. He said a lot, and most of it was related to cultivation. Although the strategies that he proposed were not complicated political plans, they would still be very effective as cultivation was the foundation of the universe.
Had Lu Yin gained all this power just for himself? He had deeply considered much over the previous two days. What did the regular citizens of the Great Yu Empire want? Many people just wanted to stay alive. Thus, if the independent cultivators were not controlled, then who would protect the regular citizens? Most regional wars broke out due to conflicts concerning profit, but only a small minority stood to gain anything from those wars. Meanwhile, the commoners were always the ones to suffer.
The empire’s control over its territory was not sufficient, and Lu Yin had to set up proper paths for people to progress so that the independent cultivators could focus their efforts on cultivation.
In the beginning, Lu Yin had no choice but to rely on the leaders of powerful political factions in order to run the empire smoothly. This was why he had given such people many government positions. But now, he now needed to recruit more independent cultivators in order to avoid certain factions monopolizing power.
People wished for fairness in their lives, but that was something that was almost impossible to achieve. Therefore, Lu Yin hoped to at least be able to create a relatively fair environment.
Once they had a goal, cultivators would have no need to participate in small-scale skirmishes that were against the empire’s laws.
He had only realized the problems that a ruler faced after becoming a ruler himself.
However, he could not implement everything simultaneously. Thus, he decided to take things slowly.
Lu Yin rubbed his temples within King Zishan’s palace.
Zhao Ran served him a cup of the thick tea. It still had a scary appearance of that thick, green liquid.
Lu Yin took a sip; the taste of the tea was not bad despite its lack of visual appeal.
Zhao Ran was very happy that her tea was a success. There were times when Lu Yin even envied her, as she had no worries. Even if she did, she would very quickly forget them.
“Your Highness, someone is asking to meet with you,” Kayze said.
Lu Yin gave a tired answer, “Let her in.”
Ah Ya entered. “Greetings, Royal Regent.”
Lu Yin motioned for the girl to sit.
Ah Ya had an uneasy expression as she sat down. She had heard about the government meeting, and she had a feeling that the Great Yu Empire was about to experience some massive changes. Some people were about to be completely out of luck.
“I have a question for you.” Lu Yin looked at Ah Ya and calmly asked, “Is the news affected by money?”
Ah Ya was stunned. She shot up to her feet. “Your Highness, this-”
Lu Yin waved again. “Sit down. I’m just curious.”
Ah Ya became nervous, and she slowly replied, “No, no. It’s not affected by money.”
Lu Yin laughed. “Really? Then why haven’t you guys ever reported any of the regional wars? Don’t tell me that the empire is so peaceful that there are never any internal wars. In fact, your hometown should be at war at this very moment, and an interplanetary war at that.”
Ah Ya did not answer.
Lu Yin continued, saying, “I understand that the media has to earn money too. Money is very powerful.”
Ah Ya gritted her teeth. “I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
“You don’t have to apologize. Not only are you controlled by money, but also by power. What if I provided you with both money and power? Would you dare to accept it?” Lu Yin focused on Ah Ya as he said these words.
Ah Ya was shocked, but she had no idea what Lu Yin wanted.
Actually, Lu Yin was not entirely sure what he was doing either. The existence of those constant, small skirmishes had angered him, as he felt like he had been lied to. However, he was also unable to blame anyone for this. It was impossible for every minor matter to be reported to him.
Even the intelligence organizations had not seen the need to report these minor incidents to Lu Yin. Thus, he could only rely on the media.
Once exposed by the media, certain matters could be easily controlled.
Ah Ya accepted Lu Yin’s proposal. And with her acceptance, the media company that she worked for would be financially supported by the Great Yu Empire, and Lu Yin even made her a member of the Second Imperial Squadron, which gave her a direct line to Smoker. “With this position, even the ministers of the Imperial Cabinet won’t dare to make any trouble for you. The Second Imperial Squadron will also send someone to protect you, so you can freely do whatever you want.”
Ah Ya answered respectfully, “Don’t worry, Your Highness. I understand.”
“It’s good that you understand. However, you also need to know that you can’t abuse this authority to make things difficult for other people. Then, I would have to have other people make things very difficult for you,” Lu Yin warned.
Ah Ya instantly agreed.
Lu Yin fell deep into thought as he watched Ah Ya leave. He did not know if he had made the right choice, as there was a possibility that his decisions would lead to more chaos. However, this was also the only way he could fix this problem.
It felt like there was a thin membrane separating the Great Yu Empire’s top and bottom layers, and it was blocking Lu Yin from accessing the bottom layer. This barrier was the source of the chaos, and Lu Yin had to pierce through this membrane if he wanted to truly unite the entire Great Yu Empire.
