Volume 4 Chapter 22: The Situation (Below)

  "The early empire, although its territory and population were not as large as they are now, had a relatively simple distribution of internal forces, a stable political situation, and the central government's actual control was also stronger. The various states directly under the central government need not be mentioned, due to the long-term accumulation of prestige by the two emperors, El'goroth and K'luth, the autonomous cities in the northern and dark regions were still relatively tame. The central government could directly control more than 70% of the country's population, enough to overwhelm any separatist forces."

  "But as Komir, Sambia, Amm and Tessar, these historically powerful nations became imperial autonomous regions, the entire situation was turned upside down." Ganmellir sighed, "In order to let these independent countries peacefully become part of the empire, they had to retain a considerable degree of autonomy. The imperial government, apart from being able to collect a large amount of taxes that seemed substantial but were actually insufficient, and deploying troops in these regions, had almost no ability to intervene in local affairs. On the contrary, positions had to be reserved for local dignitaries in the central government. Domestic autonomous cities also demanded an increase in autonomy, and the government couldn't favor one over the other. As a result, although the empire's territory appeared to have expanded on the map, the areas that could be completely controlled were actually less than before. The population under direct control of the central government plummeted from 70% to 30%, and local independent forces overwhelmed the central government."

  "The expansion of the territory also means the extension of the defense line. The navy originally only needed to guarantee the navigation route from the mainland to New Zealand, but now it has to maintain the commercial network of the merchant country Ammu all over the world. At the same time, more fleets need to be deployed in the central continent's Stellar Sea to defend the suddenly increased coastline. The navy is the most expensive branch of the military, and the tax revenue from the new territories according to the merger agreement is far from enough to cover the increased military expenditure. The central government cannot collect more taxes for the security of the autonomous regions. As a result, the fleet is always insufficient, and the commercial network points are falling one by one under the attack of the Elf Navy. The empire has lost its credibility after emptying the treasury, but gained nothing."

  At the same time, ethnic and religious conflicts within these countries also became internal affairs of the empire, with complex relationships that could not be ignored. Because it was no longer a foreign land that could be disregarded. The original inter-state conflicts were also brought into the empire, and various clashes did not stop for a day. From an external perspective, the empire seemed not only powerless to defeat the Spirit Kingdom, but also lacked the ability to maintain its own order. What's worse, other gods also found development space within the empire through various autonomous regions, and launched a comprehensive competition with the alliance of El'goroth, Mistral, and Ogma, causing the political situation to become chaotic overnight. The number of political parties surged, and the actual power of the government shrank; autonomous regions acted on their own, often resisting central commands; the parliament, cabinet, and senate were in intense conflict, with multiple factions emerging. The entire country presented a state of chaos.

  "The empire is in a strange situation, like a snake that has swallowed an elephant much larger than itself, and the elephant is still alive and kicking inside the snake's stomach. At this time, what the snake needs to do most is to desperately secrete gastric acid to thoroughly digest the elephant, so that it can be considered as having truly eaten it. However, the empire does not have the time to digest its new territories, because of the expansion of its borders, the empire was forced to go to the front line against the Spirit Kingdom. Frequent wars caused the country's governing ability to decline, and the central government often had to compromise with local forces in exchange for their support for the war, resulting in the imperial center not gradually controlling the new territories, but rather the original forces on the new territories extending their influence into the central government. For example, the Church of Wogin, the goddess of trade and wealth, which originally only had a large number of followers in the Anmu region, took advantage of the empire's expansion to move its headquarters to the imperial capital, and the empire's economic operation has been controlled by them to a considerable extent."

  "For the sake of peace and unity, the Empire has been too generous to the autonomous regions. Taking on more responsibilities for new territories, but unable to obtain corresponding rights and material returns from these places, it's like you using 'Karsas' incarnation to steal the position of the magic goddess, but not having the ability to do her work." Ganmellir spread his hands, concluding his explanation, "The Empire is being too kind, using its own manpower and resources to solve the security and internal order problems of the autonomous regions, resulting in a situation where it can't make ends meet, getting itself into economic difficulties, political chaos, and unpopularity, and now it's already become a deep-seated problem."

  "How could it have blown up so fiercely?" Karl Sasse still couldn't understand, "In the past few years, although the parliament was performing various farces every day, and overseas wars were losing one battle after another, but the domestic situation was generally stable. How did the country almost become paralyzed last year? Our country had achieved quite a few victories on the battlefield!"

  "Because of the severance of the New Continent Route." Gan Meirei answered very briefly, and then further explained.

  "In the past, even when we clashed fiercely with Yongju Island, both sides still exercised restraint in maritime transportation because Yongju Island couldn't do without tribute from its conquered territories and we couldn't do without grain and raw materials from the New Continent. Unrestricted destruction of long-distance trade routes would mean mutual annihilation. Therefore, whether it was us or them, we turned a blind eye to merchant ships flying third-country flags. However, this time around, our main fleet was blockaded in port by the enemy at the start of the war and more than half were burned, unable to sail out and harass for quite some time, and the distant seas..."

  "The end of the Elf Navy's reign. The Elf Kingdom has no more worries, a new era has been cut off."

  The imperial homeland has been unable to feed itself since 200 years ago, and recently, nearly 40% of its grain and roughly the same proportion of iron, copper, high-grade timber and textiles come from New Elysium's thirteen states. This is also the empire's last trump card in controlling various vassal states - their food supply also relies on New Elysium's thirteen states, so although the imperial court is in chaos, it has not yet reached a point of no return.

  "But now this lifeline has been completely cut off, and the sudden outbreak of large-scale famine has further weakened the local food production capacity. Coupled with the destruction caused by the Harpist Alliance, the empire's domestic grain harvest last year was only equivalent to 20% of a normal year! And the domestic reserves are far from sufficient to cope with such a huge crisis, let alone that there are people hoarding grain to drive up prices and seek exorbitant profits, and their backers are even beyond my control."

  "The consequences are predictable: famine, unrest, and the collapse of social order. Normally, such a situation should be restrained by strict military control. But the government can't even do that! The representatives of the autonomous regions only know how to ask for tax exemptions and relief, but they refuse to give up any autonomy rights, even temporarily!" Gannemere said with hatred, he was just elected as the Prime Minister last year, and encountered such a difficult situation as soon as he took office. "Even eliminating the Harp Hand Alliance is extremely difficult, these terrorists usually set up their strongholds in the border areas of various autonomous regions, and local forces are more afraid of imperial intervention than the destruction caused by the Harp Hand, when we finally coordinate and start to send troops to crack down, the Harp Hand has already escaped to other places after getting wind of it. Some places even openly support these terrorist organizations, and are entangled with the Elven Kingdom, such as your home autonomous region of Komanso." Gannemere's tone turned again, pointing at Irlminster the Great Sage.

  "This... " Ilmester's old face turned red, he also knew that the elder sprites of Komanso Forest were not quite clean-handed. "Although it does not rule out that there are some guys who tend to be terrorists, the autonomous government has consistently adhered to the policy of loyalty to the empire and has made every effort to fight against those rebels and harp-hand alliances..."

  "Struggle with all one's might? Wear a pair of pants! " Gan Meili coldly snorted, "Teacher, you always speak well of those elf friends of yours. But how do they repay you? Even your home was burned down!"

  "That's two different things..."

  "It's all the same!" Ganelle interrupted the teacher, "The Harpist Alliance has been active there for some time now, and the Empire has always expected that the Comanso Autonomous Region could resolve its own rebellion problems. Even in the midst of war and disaster, it continued to provide Comanso with weapons, food, and financial aid. But what was the result?"

  He stood under the street lamp, waving his arms vigorously and venting his grievances since taking office. "The imperial aid's magic weapon appeared in the hands of terrorists who attacked the capital within less than half a month! The Comanso earth spirits always cry to the central government for help, but on the other hand, they are sending money and weapons to the terrorists while eating the central government's relief food! I have repeatedly asked for the deployment of central troops to garrison Comanso in order to eliminate the Piano Hand, but those spirit elders have cited the Autonomy Territory Rights Act, requiring the central government not to interfere with internal affairs! If Comanso were not within the empire's territory, the empire could blockade the border or even launch a war to destroy the Piano Hand's forces. But since Comanso is already part of the empire, taking drastic action against it would only lead to all the autonomous territories opposing together, and the empire, which is already beset by external worries and internal troubles, really can't afford to be tossed about anymore."

  As soon as the words were spoken, all three fell silent. Eirakstrom's face changed color, seemingly engaged in a fierce psychological struggle. Ganmery didn't disturb the teacher's thoughts and turned to talk to Karsus about the school's food problems.

  "Professor Kalsa, currently the imperial capital's food reserves are not enough to last a month. Without unanimous consent from the cabinet, even I would find it difficult to allocate some. However, Her Majesty Kyuro has just brought back some moss-like crops grown by the subterranean people from the Dark Territory. The taste is terrible, but at least it's edible. They haven't been inventoried yet, so I can take charge and allocate 5000 units to you. He pulled out paper and pen, scribbled down a note, and stamped his magical seal on it. "The storage location is in the garrison command post right across from your academy. It's best to hurry and go pick some up. After all, the amount of moss-like crops is limited, and I'm afraid other members of the cabinet are also busy writing notes and doing favors, so if you're late, they might be gone."

  "It's better to have something than nothing, I suppose. Alas, it seems that from now on we won't even have carrots and potatoes to eat." Karl Sasse took the note and put it in his own pocket, "But how are we going to solve the problem of Erlminster? Even if we empty the imperial granary, there won't be enough."

  "As for your request for food relief, Mr. Ilminster," Ganmely replied, turning to him, "such a large quantity of food is absolutely not something that I alone, or even this cabinet can approve. However, I will do my best. If you want to get a satisfactory answer, you can attend tomorrow's monthly parliamentary meeting, where I will propose the best solution to solve the current famine, and at that time, I'm afraid we will need your support." He bowed his head, "Please."