37: Chapter 37 My noble status is beyond your reach.

[Rise at dawn, for ten thousand matters await attention.]

[Present your petitions if you have any; otherwise, the court is dismissed.]

This morning, Cheng Yu arrived at court fifteen minutes later than usual, and his back was not as straight as it normally was.

[Your Majesty, the punitive coalition forces have reached the borders of the star system. Currently, they are hesitating to advance, seemingly waiting for us to send representatives for negotiations.]

Minister Drake said, [Whether to fight or make peace, please make your decision, Your Majesty.]

[Minister Drake's words are absurd. Since our Emperor founded the empire, when has he ever spoken the word 'peace'? I believe Lord Drake is simply afraid of battle.]

Aria spoke in a sarcastic tone from the side... Why hadn't she returned to her fief yet?

[Countess Dukaria, those who are good at talking about war are not necessarily good at fighting.]

Minister Drake was a scholar after all, [If the gains from war cannot offset its losses, then this war should not be fought!]

[Your Majesty, Drake is a treacherous official!] Aria suddenly began to act crazy, [He must have secretly taken bribes from the coalition!]

[Dukaria, do not push your luck. Compared to your own sordid affairs, the label of 'treacherous official' can hardly be pinned on this old man's head!]

Minister Drake was also getting annoyed. He couldn't understand what kind of fit this Eldar was throwing today, or when he had ever offended her.

Besides, he was merely asking for the Emperor's instructions; he hadn't even said he leaned toward making peace.

[You old fossil, what did you say? Make it clear—what sordid affairs of mine?!]

Aria lunged out of the ranks and immediately began to brawl with Drake. Although Drake had been a brave general in his youth, he was, after all, old now.

In a fight, youth holds the upper hand. The two pulled each other's hair and kicked each other's ankles, surprisingly ending up in a deadlocked struggle.

None of the surrounding ministers stepped in to break up the fight.

[Fight, fight, it'd be best if one of you dies.] Minister Ivankov muttered to himself in a low voice.

[Tell them to stop!]

As soon as Cheng Yu spoke, the warrior clones outside the hall rushed in and pinned the two down.

[You are both my trusted ministers. Together, you are over two hundred years old! If you have something to say, say it. Why must you fight and pull hair? Do you think my Xuanzheng Hall is a vegetable market?!]

[May Your Majesty appease your anger. We deserve ten thousand deaths.]

[Save your hypocritical words and focus on doing your duties diligently,] Cheng Yu said. [Drake, I order you to station your troops at the border to defend against the coalition. However, you are only permitted to defend; no attacking is allowed.]

[Aria, I order you to return to your fief overnight to defend it. Patrol carefully and prevent the coalition from flanking us from behind.]

[Your ministers obey your decree!]

It wasn't that Cheng Yu didn't want to fight, but as Drake had said, the last war had been a net loss overall.

Although they had plundered some population, they hadn't seized many good resources; what they got was all damaged junk.

If they fought a few more wars like this, his future clones would have to go to battle holding nothing but wooden clubs and stones.

[Your Majesty, your humble servant has a petition to present.]

The one who stepped forward this time was von Gottfried, the impoverished noble who had previously passed the imperial examinations.

[What advice does my beloved minister have for me?] Cheng Yu smiled. He was currently very pleased to see this young blood—they had clean backgrounds and fewer bad habits.

Wait... Why did it feel like he had forgotten something? Oh well, it wasn't important.

[Your humble servant believes it is time to mint our dynasty's standard currency.]

Gottfried hadn't made this move blindly; he had come prepared. He had long since conceptualized a new monetary policy and written it down in a thick booklet.

[The reason the Corpse Emperor Empire is in utter chaos lies in three failures: first, infighting among the upper echelons and political discord; second, the loss of moral order and superstitious worship of evil gods; third, economic collapse and the lack of a universal equivalent.]

Gottfried was not working in a vacuum. He had very seriously studied the Imperial Truth promulgated by Cheng Yu, combining it with the current actual situation to form his own methodology.

[Your humble servant believes that our dynasty's currency should be backed by starch and coarse salt as its standard of value. We can control inflation and deflation of the currency's value by adjusting the ratio of the two.]

[This is not only convenient but also avoids occupying additional social resources.]

[Hmm... ] Cheng Yu flipped through the submitted booklet. To be honest, he had once had this idea himself, but had later dismissed it.

[My beloved minister, I have heard that although the Corpse Emperor's domain is impoverished, its technological level is not low. For resources as basic as starch and coarse salt, will a currency backed by them... truly be attractive to the common people?]

[Would it not be better to have it backed by precious metals?]

Gottfried knew he could not convince the Emperor on his own, so he cast an appealing look toward Ivankov.

[To report to Your Majesty, in my early years, your humble servant traveled far and wide and visited countless worlds. I know well that the economic status of most worlds is extremely primitive, and bartering remains the mainstream method of trade.]

[Any currency, even banknotes backed by precious metals, cannot be successfully promoted in those worlds. The reason is simple: the commoners have absolutely no opportunity to leave those backward planets. Even if you gave them a Throne Coin, they would have no channel to use it to buy cybernetic implants.]

[Therefore, if we want to promote our dynasty's currency, the key lies not in how high the value of the currency itself is, but in how to ensure our currency can smoothly flow back into our own hands.]

Cheng Yu nodded with satisfaction. [Listening to my beloved minister speak is truly like drinking fine wine; it intoxicates me. So, according to what you say, we must establish stable port trade with those backward worlds.]

[Your Majesty is truly naturally intelligent, wise, and far-sighted!]

Just then, Vera Istvan entered the hall with a yawn.

Completely ignoring everyone else, she walked straight up to the Throne of Thorns, sat in Cheng Yu's lap, and continued to doze. The Emperor showed no reaction whatsoever.

All the officials were shocked; Ivankov even forgot what his next line was supposed to be.

[Continue, Minister Ivankov. Why have you stopped?] Cheng Yu gently caressed Vera's smooth, long hair, his tone much softer than usual.

[Uh... as for the specific operational details, your humble servant will write a memorial to present to Your Majesty later, so as not to babble during the court assembly.]

[Good, good.] Cheng Yu was very pleased. The policy of recruiting and treating talents well that he had established at the very beginning was indeed correct.

If he had to figure out all these things by himself, it would be exhausting on one hand; on the other hand, if he made a mistake, he wouldn't even have anyone to take the blame.

Until all the matters, big and small, of the court assembly were fully discussed, Vera remained hung around Cheng Yu's neck like a koala, not saying a single word.

However, her eyes had swept over everyone present in the entire court.

She wasn't interested in most of them, but she repeatedly looked at Aria several times.

At this moment, Aria had just fought with Drake. Her face was bruised and her parotid glands were swollen, yet it still could not conceal the exceptionally high beauty inherent to the Eldar.

[Hmph, no matter how beautiful someone is, they are nothing compared to me!] Vera thought indignantly.