Don’t raise unruly people in extreme cold weather

Chapter 805

Even though the separatists and rebels were defeated in one round with the help of Steam Knights and Floating Cities, it did not mean the end of things for Perfect.

She stood in the command room of the floating city, looking down through the thick glass windows at the city below that had just experienced war, but there was no joy of victory in her heart.

She knew that this victory was only superficial and the real crisis still lurked in every corner of the empire.

The reason why she did not take military action at the beginning was because she clearly understood that a war could not solve the problem, but would instead intensify the conflict.

War brings only temporary submission, not true surrender.

On the surface, those suppressed cities have returned to peace, but the undercurrent of rebellious sentiment is like the magma underground, which may erupt at any time.

Perfect knew very well that once the people's hearts were lost, it would be like a broken mirror that could never be restored to its original state no matter how hard you tried to piece it together.

Those people who once had loyalty to the empire are now only indifferent and hostile.

They may have succumbed to the Empire's military might temporarily, but the resentment in their hearts grew like weeds, waiting for the right time to erupt again.

Because Perfecto abandoned his native policy, the people in the empire became alienated from the imperial center.

People on the streets no longer talk about the glory of the empire. Instead, they are confused about the future and question the empire's rule.

The flag of the empire still flies at the highest point of the city, but the people under the flag have long stopped looking up at it.

Although the Empire did not abandon them in name, the act of abandoning the Empire's homeland and moving the Empire's center to the north was equivalent to abandoning them in fact.

This decision may have been a helpless move to deal with doomsday at the time, but in the eyes of the people in the empire, it was undoubtedly a betrayal.

They once believed that the empire would protect them in times of crisis, but the reality made them feel abandoned and betrayed.

This also led many people in the empire to think that the empire had abandoned them at a critical moment, and now they still wanted them to be loyal to the empire? Dream on!

This sentiment spread rapidly among the people and even penetrated into the grassroots officials of the empire.

Although they still carried out the orders of the empire, their inner loyalty had long been shaken.

Perfect was well aware that the foundations of the empire were rapidly crumbling.

She understands the anger and disappointment of the people, and even at certain moments she wavers in her position.

But she couldn't, because her identity and responsibilities didn't allow her to do so.

For being able to drag it out until now, Perfectot had to praise the fact that the empire's authority was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and that the empire's grassroots officials were loyal enough to the empire.

But even so, she knew that loyalty was fading fast.

The authority of the empire is no longer as indestructible as it once was, and the loyalty of grassroots officials is being eroded by the cruelty of reality.

Her current identity represents the empire, and her position must be from the perspective of maintaining the unity of the empire.

She could not allow the empire to fall apart, especially at this moment of doom.

She must do everything she can to bring the empire back together, even if it means turning against her people.

And the most crucial point is that just like when she chose to abandon the empire's homeland and focus on building the northern border, this is the way to save more people.

After all, the empire is short of local resources. If there is no strong enough leader to unite them, and each city relies on its own governance, they will soon destroy themselves.

Perfect was certain of this, for she had witnessed the chaos and disorder in those cities and knew that without a strong central government, these cities would soon fall into internal strife and collapse.

Therefore, although she knew that her decision would make the people in the empire more divided, she had no choice.

She could only move on and use an iron-fisted approach to maintain the unity of the empire, even if it meant she had to bear more infamy and resentment.

But now, Perfect will not blindly adopt a high-pressure policy.

She formulated a conciliatory policy, planning to gradually promote various technologies that had been widely used in the North throughout the empire.

Due to many reasons such as insufficient technology dissemination and industrial capacity, the new technology has not been applied in other places in the empire except for the city of Langton and several surrounding cities that have close ties with Langton.

This also made life in many cities in the empire extremely difficult, with people struggling to survive on the line between life and death.

By applying new technologies and improving the living standards of these people, it can also be regarded as winning back the hearts of the people of the empire.

After all, for ordinary people, no matter how dissatisfied they are with the empire, as long as they can still live, they will choose to endure.

Ordinary people may not understand the overall situation, but their universal values ​​will still tell them what to do to survive.

It might be harder to live in the empire, but you can still survive, with a job to make a living, food to fill your stomach, and a warm home to shelter your family from the wind and rain.

As for rebelling against the Empire? The Steam Knights will level your city, tear down your house, and impale your entire family on stakes.

Perfect didn't like doing this, but the facts told her that she had no choice but to do it.

She knew very well that the promotion of technology was not only to improve people's lives, but also to consolidate the empire's ruling foundation.

By providing better living conditions, she hopes to regain the trust and support of the people.

However, she also understood that this would not happen overnight.

The spread of technology takes time, and gaining public trust requires long-term efforts and accumulation.

She must wait patiently while constantly adjusting and optimizing policies to ensure that every step is steady and powerful.

However, the road is not smooth.

Every policy adjustment and optimization will encounter various resistances and challenges.

Some people think her policies are too mild to effectively suppress the resistance; others think her policies are too radical and may cause greater unrest.

Faced with these doubts and criticisms, Perfect could of course ignore them and suppress them with her authority, but this kind of autocratic rule could only last for a while, and she would need to stay in the empire for a long time to maintain the authority of her rule.

Once she leaves, those officials with ulterior motives will quickly return to their old ways and various problems will break out again.

So this time, Perfect chose compromise as much as possible instead of iron-bloodedness and authoritarianism.

Ruling cannot be done by sheer toughness. If she could stay in the empire, being tough wouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, with enough military force to suppress it, she can sort out all the problems and get the empire back on track.

But this time her purpose was to tour all the colonies of the empire, and she couldn't waste too much time in the empire itself.

(End of this chapter)