Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“Furthermore,” Confucian Meaning said, “the Sage Monarch Empire currently has amazing destiny, and will likely end up ruling the god world. On the other hand, we have no way of knowing whether the three dynasties will combine into an empire.

“Besides, the High Priestess isn’t truly in control. Based on the information I got, her apprentice suggested combining the three dynasties, but was fiercely rejected. There are even some old-timers from the dynasties who want to have her killed. There’s simply no way that the High Priestess can control such a wide range of factors.”

The God-Lords present all quickly agreed. “Well, that’s a given. The empires that make up that alliance are all extremely famous, and they’ve been building their reputations for billions of years. How could they possibly give that up? And how could their emperors possibly agree to become government officials? The High Priestess wants to steal the fruit of other people’s labor. Meanwhile, neither the Invincible Dugu nor Proud Central have made a move yet.”

“She won’t succeed in her plan. However, she’s been recruiting old-timers from out in primal-chaos to join the alliance, all for the purpose of sowing chaos and gathering power. Sadly, the situation is hopeless, and her efforts aren’t going to do any good.”

“That’s right. If the High Priestess wants the destiny of the three dynasties, she’ll have to completely take them over by force. Unfortunately, that’s not a viable option. She’s skilled at demagoguery, but no good when it comes to ruling. Even if she did become the empress, there are too many interest groups at play. She can’t just kill everyone, nor can she completely replace the officialdom. And she doesn't have the God Legion Seal, so she can't control their thinking. She also doesn't have the sage monarch magistrates, who are cautious and conscientious in their governing. Whatever empire she formed would be as disunited as a dish of loose sand.”

All of the confucian God-Lords could see how difficult the matter of ruling was; not even the Sovereign Lord had been able to keep his empire united.

Good governments didn’t result from the application of raw power alone. Other assets were required, such as wisdom, technique, skill, and adaptability.

Truth be told, the confucians were shocked by Yang Qi’s governing techniques, not his strength. And it came down to how he could use the God Legion Seal to subjugate the top government officials, and control their thinking, then use his sage monarch magistrates to run everything smoothly.

The God Legion Seal and the sage monarch magistrates were his most deadly tools.

“The key to this will be negating the God Legion Seal and the sage monarch magistrates,” Confucian Vicissitude said. “That's how we’ll bring the Sage Monarch Empire under control. We’ve been watching things since ancient times, and we know that the God Legion Seal was the Sovereign Lord’s attempt to rule his empire and control the competing interest groups. But the Sovereign Lord had the wrong idea. He tried to focus all of the glory on himself, and as a result, he perished. Yang Qi used the God Legion Seal as the basis to create his sage monarch magistrates, but unlike the Sovereign Lord, he uses the faith of the people to bolster the people themselves. That way, they accept the karma, not him. A very smart move, and very impressive.”

“I wonder what rewards we’ll get for surrendering. Let’s not ask for positions as nobility or officials. But we definitely have to be allowed to open colleges and establish confucian ideals. Then, as we slowly gain more disciples, we can get more influence. Once people start having confidence in our confucian way of thinking, we can change their hearts and get rid of the sage monarch magistrates.”

“That's right. Changing the way of thinking of the masses is the key to transforming everything. The bureaucracy of the Sage Monarch Empire is too mechanical. In contrast, our way of thinking is people-oriented. We need to spread word that we care about people, and that they’re the foundation of everything. If we can convince everyone that the government officials should be human, then we confucians can take control easily.”

“But if we set up a bunch of schools and try to change the minds of the people, will Yang Qi interfere?”

“It’s possible. He's definitely very clever and ruthless. He might see through our plan.”

“It doesn’t matter. The sage monarch magistrates are lacking in human qualities, while we offer a more mainstream approach. Besides, when people lose their freedom and independence, how can the empire get stronger?”

“Let’s first get a feel for things, especially regarding the current leaders.”

Although the confucians present at the meeting had different ideas and goals, all of them wanted to get into the Sage Monarch Empire and establish colleges and schools there. They thought that if they could influence the thinking of the populace as a whole, they could overthrow the sage monarch magistrates and establish a confucian officialdom.

With an officialdom powerful enough, not even an emperor could deal with it.

Throughout history, there had been many civilizations in which the confucians grew so powerful the emperor couldn’t do anything about them. In fact, there were some situations in which the scholar-officials would make the decisions about which prince would end up inheriting the throne. In places like that, the scholar-officials ran everything, while the emperor was a figurehead who simply enjoyed a life of luxury in the palace.

In the end, they sometimes seized complete control and got rid of the emperor.

As the meeting was reaching an end, a voice rang into their ears. “Our dear confucian friends, we leaders of the Sage Monarch Empire would like to invite you to a chat.”

RUMBLE!

An enormous bridge had appeared outside, provoking expressions of praise from many of the students in the college. All of a sudden, everyone in the college felt immense pressure coming from outside, something strong enough to crush them all. They were five quadrillion strong, and the plan was for them to enter this new empire, become teachers, spread schools, and influence the masses.

But in the end, a population of five quadrillion just wasn’t very large.

“Come, let’s go offer formal greetings!”

The confucian God-Lords rushed out to see the leaders of the empire, who were of course Yang Susu, Jadefall, and the others. These leaders were backed by destiny so immense that the confucians would be damned by myriad tribulations if they opposed it.

The High Priestess didn’t dare to cross the Sage Monarch Empire, so how could a few quadrillion confucian scholars do so?

“You confucians have come to join the Sage Monarch Empire, correct?” Yang Susu said. “Impressed by our power, I suppose? Well, congratulations, you've made the right decision.”

She was obviously seizing control of the situation with her words.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the Sage Monarch Empire,” Confucian Vicissitude said, “it’s true that we’ve come here to surrender. However, we have some conditions. Surely you wish to treat the virtuous men courteously and the scholars with respect. Therefore, please allow us to—”

“There’s no need for that. Since you’ve come to surrender, of course we’ll treat the virtuous men courteously and the scholars with respect. You want to open colleges in our empire, correct? That's simple. We’ll support you, and even allow you to spread the ideals of confucian civilization. Hopefully, you can turn out plenty of talented people. Furthermore, we’re even willing to ordain you all as nobility, although that’ll have to wait until the emperor himself returns. He's the one that does such ordaining. However many of you there are, we’ll keep a record and reward you for it. His Majesty Yang Qi is currently in the Halls of Heaven, breaking through to the half-Annulled level. He should be back soon.”

“Men. Bring out the gifts we've prepared from the Sovereign Lord’s Halls of Heaven. There are plenty of items our confucian friends will love to have.”

Even as the words left her mouth, piles of ancient records and other things were brought forward as gifts.

“What? These are confucian records from the Halls of Heaven?” The confucians’ faces were fairly glowing with anticipation. They had never forgotten how the Sovereign Lord persecuted them long ago, and killed so many of them. Many of their top figures in the past had been just on the verge of reaching the half-Annulled level when the Sovereign Lord executed them. It had been nothing short of a disaster.

And of course, numerous ancient records had been lost in that time.

The confucians had long dreamed of somehow getting those records back. But now, the Sage Monarch Empire was giving them out as a gift. It seemed like a gift from heaven itself. All of a sudden, many of them felt gratitude for the empire welling up in their hearts.

“Praise heaven!” many of their God-Lords said, dropping to their knees, their eyes filling with tears.

Yang Susu and the others smiled as they saw that their plan was working. The confucians had planned to worm their way into the hearts of the people, but Yang Qi’s people were planning to do the same to them. And this was only the first step.

Once the confucians were part of the empire, the next parts of the plan would be accomplished easily.