Start with Planetary Governor

Chapter 591 Please call me Your Excellency the High Lord

Ou Juren's face turned very ugly.

"What are you talking about? You have no right to speak here! Guards! Get him out!"

There were loyal secret guards in the meeting room. According to the rules, he should obey the orders of the High Lord. The Prime Minister of Justice, Ou Juren, was a High Lord. If he ordered to expel a non-High Lord, even if the other party was the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs, he should obey.

But... there was more than just one high lord present.

The guards looked at each other, and no one moved first.

They were quite embarrassed and looked towards the seats of the high lords.

This was not the first time that Ou Juren wanted to drive Gallardo away. He had let Gallardo go before, but didn’t the Prime Minister ask him to stay?
Perhaps this is what the Prime Minister meant?

As small guards, we'd better not get involved in the fights between the high lords.

Let’s wait until the bosses above have a clear statement before we start to drive them away.

As for who will be kicked out, it depends on the order at that time. After so many years of being guards, they deeply understand one thing: in the hall of the highest power in the empire, any changes in the situation are normal. Don't jump to conclusions until the last moment.

At least, these little soldiers can’t understand it, so they just need to wait for the news.

Now, only Ou Juren spoke, and the guards hesitated for ten seconds.

If no one speaks up, they will assume that everyone agrees with Prime Minister Ou Juren's statement and then take action.

Ou Juren also knew all the ins and outs of it. He was breathing heavily and waiting.

Gallardo is not polite.

Ten seconds is enough to say a lot.

It doesn't really make sense to say that Ou Juren was "breaking the law and discipline". The high lords don't care about this.

Those "evidences" of "breaking laws and disciplines" will be the public evidence of Ou Juren's guilt when he steps down in the future, but they will not be the reason.

If he had to say something, he had to say something truly explosive, something that would affect the interests of all, or at least the majority of, the high lords; and he had to demonstrate enough of his own value, to let the high lords know that to bring down Ou Juren, they only needed to express their stance, and Gallardo would get the job done without them having to put in any effort.

Of course, there have to be benefits.

Gallardo coughed lightly and said, "My colleagues in the Ministry of Military Affairs and I have reached a consensus and have given suggestions on the battle on the Western Front. A solar fleet and a Martian fleet should have set out, but the order from Prime Minister Ojuren prevented the fleet from setting out..."

As he spoke, Gallardo heard footsteps behind him.

The guards were approaching.

At this time, Prime Minister Qi Bodu spoke up: "Let him finish. Lord High should be able to withstand all doubts."

The guard paused.

The high lord who spoke now was tied at 1-1, and the one who refused to let Gallardo be dragged away was the Prime Minister.

Then we can't act rashly.

The guards also breathed a sigh of relief and now just had to wait for the argument to come to a conclusion.

Gallardo felt much more relieved.

His words may seem simple, but they actually point out a problem: I have already integrated the Military Affairs Department. I am no longer the puppet I was when I was pushed up a few years ago.

We must thank Gu Hang for his victory, otherwise it would be difficult for him to establish his prestige.

In contrast, Ou Juren's face became very ugly.

At this point, he was basically certain that Gallardo did not suddenly turn against him and intend to overthrow him in this meeting, but that Prime Minister Zibodo was behind this.

Qi Bo Du wants me to fall?
Why? Do we have a grudge against each other?
Or did Gallardo make some promise and then follow the Prime Minister?

The Prime Minister wanted to centralize power to a greater extent, and let the Supreme Council only have his voice? If Gallardo followed him and replaced himself as the High Lord as the Prime Minister of the Military Affairs Department, then with the seats of the two Prime Ministers of the Taxation Department and the Administration Department, plus Qi Bodu's own, that would make four seats. Clement, the Grand Master of the Assassin Court, was able to take the position a few years ago because of his own efforts and the Prime Minister's efforts. If he is counted, it would be five seats.

Occupying five seats among the thirteen high lords, that is undoubtedly the greatest strength.

What do the other High Lords think?
They won't agree, right? Who can win them over?

In a flash, many thoughts flashed through Ou Juren's mind.

There were too many thoughts and too many things to analyze. Ou Juren's mind was a little confused for a moment, so he couldn't speak. He couldn't speak casually. At this moment, saying something wrong would be fatal.

But Gallardo wouldn't shut up.

On the contrary, he seemed to be encouraged and continued to speak at a fast speed:
"This is a document signed by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Second Minister of Justice, the Deputy Prime Minister, the First Minister of Military Affairs, the Second Minister of Taxation..." He read out several positions in a row and took out a long scroll, "...a document signed by many people. It records in detail what happened this time."

"The Military Affairs Department is working hard to reorganize and promote the troops by contacting various parties. This is also to implement the resolution of the Supreme Council and prepare to strengthen the war on the Western Front. According to our estimates, the Sun Fleet can allocate at least three Retribution-class battleships; Mars is also preparing more than ten Dragon Snake-class battlecruisers. This force can also cooperate with a fleet of the Ministry of Justice to reinforce the Western Front battlefield."

"If it goes ahead and the Western Front is reinforced with elite troops, Captain Su Lie will most likely not lose this decisive battle."

"However, due to Prime Minister Ou Juren's delay, the fleet has not been able to set off yet."

"If anyone in Holy Terra is responsible for this failure, it must be Ou Juren!"

"That's a farce!" Ou Juren growled. He knew he had to speak up. He had to defend himself. "The fleet's preparation is not as simple as you think! The Navy, Mars, and the Law Department are three completely independent forces, and there is a lot of work to be done! Is it enough to just need a fleet to go on the expedition? The troops accompanying the ship are also very important. The negotiations with the Star Army have not been completed, and the Law Department has no way to gather too many troops accompanying the ship. What's more, up to now, the commander of the joint fleet has not been determined..."

Having defended himself to this point, he suddenly stopped talking.

Cold sweat streamed down his forehead.

Is he defending himself?
of course.

Supporting the fleet and strengthening the Western Front were decisions discussed in the Supreme Council. Who could refuse to do it?

It's just that the troops need to be assembled, and the subordinate relationship between them, who will contribute more, who will be the commander of this fleet... Aren't these problems? There are many different sources of troops, and if they want to be combined together, as Ou Juren himself said, there are all kinds of problems that need to be solved. These are not his fault.

Or at least it wasn't just his fault.

However, this defense is inappropriate at this moment.

There are three other members of the Supreme Council here: two Supreme Marshals of the Imperial Navy and Astra Militarum, and a representative from Mars.

It is normal for conflicts to occur when the three fleets join forces and the Astra Militarum Army sends accompanying troops.

To be fair, the troops were slow to form and slow to set out, and despite Su Lie's urgent and continuous requests for help, they were still unable to arrive at the battlefield in time. The biggest responsibility should be placed on the imperial system; secondly, the Navy, the Ministry of Justice, Mars, and the Star Army were all dragging their feet, and everyone's responsibilities are almost the same.

Moreover, if we really want to talk about it, as the Ministry of Military Affairs is responsible for integrating the three forces, doesn’t it have any responsibility?

All.

However, is this the right time to say these words?
It may be okay to shift the blame at this moment, but it would be a huge problem to shift the blame to the two opponents.

If the Prime Minister wants to kill him, then he has to count on other high lords who are not on the same page with the Prime Minister to speak for him. What he should do is to arouse everyone's fear of the Prime Minister, rather than throwing dirty water on the other two families in order to whitewash himself.

But what should I do now that the words have been spoken?
He braked suddenly and was about to say something else, but one of the high lords who rarely spoke spoke at this moment.

He was a messenger from the Angels of Death, representing the Chapter Master, Grand Master Organgelon, exercising the duties of a High Lord. He was also a Chapter Champion of the Angels of Death, and his name was Jean Rousseau.

"Grandmaster Organgron is very concerned about the war on the Western Front. The whereabouts of Chapter Master Sulie and the fate of the Phoenix will be of great concern to every Chapter, no matter where their bloodline is. The slow response of the Imperial Center prevented the support that should have arrived quickly from arriving, resulting in the defeat of the Phoenix Lord. This is unacceptable to every Chapter. Someone must be held accountable for this!"

Gallardo's smile widened.

Jean Rousseau's words seemed to be just an attempt to fully hold the blame accountable, vent his dissatisfaction as a representative of the Space Marines, and express his sympathy for Phoenix's plight, but in fact they were a great assist.

Someone has to be responsible, so who?
Navy? Astra Militarum? Mars?
That's definitely not possible. The three high lords are not willing to take the blame. The dissatisfaction of all the Space Marines may be a bit exaggerated, but the death of the rabbit is inevitable. The Phoenix is ​​a newly founded chapter with a great reputation! They are in such a miserable state, and it is because of the delay of reinforcements. Wouldn't that make the Space Marines who know about this matter dissatisfied?

No one wants to be blamed by the Space Marines.

What a coincidence, isn’t there a ready-made Prime Minister of the Ministry of Justice and High Lord who is being fired upon?

The Prime Minister wanted to get rid of him; his own faction also had big problems. Not only was there a traitor named Gallardo, but also many people's names were signed on Gallardo's document, and many of them had originally followed Ou Juren.

There is a big enemy in front, a fire in the backyard, the Space Marines are the ones who are blamed for their dissatisfaction, and the Navy, the Astra Militarum, and Mars are the ones who blame...

With all these factors added together, Ou Juren's situation suddenly became very bad.

The quarrel at the meeting would not end easily. However, after the three high lords from the Navy, the Star Army, and the Martian representatives said, "The slow integration of reinforcements is not our problem, but there are other reasons," the number of votes that Ou Juren could win was in jeopardy.

He had to go into battle himself and confront Gallardo.

Prime Minister Zibodu, and the tax and administrative ministers who followed him, did not speak. But Gallardo was their mouthpiece, and it was precisely because of Zibodu's support that Gallardo was able to speak aggressively, like a fighting cock.

Both of them have good verbal skills. Gallardo can speak correctly, and Ou Juren is not bad either.

But the verbal battle was evenly matched, which essentially meant that Ou Juren was completely defeated - for a high lord to argue with someone who was not yet a high lord in the parliament hall was already quite disgraceful, and it also showed his decline.

In the end, the meeting came to the voting stage.

The topic was raised by Space Marine representative Jean Rousseau: "Who should be held responsible for the poor support this time?"

It doesn't say to what extent the responsibility should be taken, but the meaning is very clear.

Gallardo had no right to vote or even to watch, and he was asked to leave the scene.

When he walked out of the scene, he looked like a victorious rooster.

……

"Do you know what the final result is?"

"You definitely won." Gu Hang gave his judgment directly.

"Hahaha!" Gallardo laughed, "That's right! I won! Now, you should call me 'Your Excellency the High Lord'!"

"Hail to High Lord Mr. Gallardo!" Gu Hang satisfied his good friend.

At this moment, it is already the thirteenth day of the meeting.

The result was already determined at that time. The Supreme Council voted 7 in favor, 3 abstentions, and 3 against, confirming that Ou Juren was responsible for the slow attack of the combined fleet and the lack of support. It was because of him, the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who delayed, fought for power, and had selfish motives when dispatching the fleet and troops of the Ministry of Justice that the combined fleet could not be put together.

There was no direct resolution on the spot, but the subsequent series of results were already determined, and it was nothing more than a matter of following the process.

A series of scandals during Ou Juren's administration were dug up and used to accuse him of crimes. Ou Juren tried to resist but was quickly subdued.

After a series of exchanges of interests, Ou Juren admitted defeat and decided to be more decent.

The Supreme Council voted for the second time, with 9 votes in favor, 4 abstentions and 0 votes against, confirming the deprivation of Ou Juren's Supreme Council seat and his position as Prime Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Ou Juren himself also participated in the vote and abstained.

Then, the third vote was held, with 6 votes in favor, 3 abstentions and 3 votes against, and the result was barely passed that Gallardo would become the High Lord as the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs.

At this point, the political faction in the central government of the empire represented by Ou Juren came to an end.

Half of the dismantled political power was inherited by Gallardo and placed under the command of Prime Minister Zibodo; the other half was divided among various parties.

After the appointment was approved, Gallardo, in a very good mood, immediately communicated with his best friend Gu Hang via telepathy and told him the good news.

------

Still owe 108
sleep!

(End of this chapter)