The Egyptian nobles' calls to expel Alaric ultimately failed to gain approval from Nitocris.
On the contrary, perhaps out of a rebellious streak, or perhaps to prove that Alaric's abilities were beyond question, Nitocris simply abandoned the idea of making him her consort and instead granted him a high official position.
In the past, Egypt's highest officials were the viziers. As prime ministers, viziers were responsible for managing half of Egypt's territory, with one each for Upper and Lower Egypt.
But now, above the viziers, Nitocris had created a new position out of thin air: the Grand Sage-Regent.
Ranked above all officials and answerable only to the Pharaoh, this role held the authority to supervise all officials, with its usual duty being to offer counsel to the Pharaoh.
In short, it was a position with immense power, but relatively little responsibility, one that didn't even require handling day-to-day administrative affairs.
Then, she publicly announced a new joint decree with her "Grand Sage-Regent", a policy regarding the establishment of official examinations, the creation of schools for training officials, and the promotion of related educational texts.
Thus, an Egyptian version of the imperial examination system was born.
Most nobles were unwilling to accept this decree. In the past, officials were largely selected from among them; even the most talented commoners could at best become scribes.
But now, not only could common-born individuals serve alongside them in court, they would also have to pass examinations to become officials.
How could they tolerate that?
They attempted to stir opposition, trying to rally everyone to resist this new policy.
However, they failed.
After the "Great Judgment" and the unification wars, both central and regional nobles had been weakened in succession.
Their power had now reached a historic low. In contrast, after the "Great Judgment," more and more officials from commoner backgrounds had been appointed, and during the unification wars, soldiers of common origin had earned distinguished merits.
As a result, the faction of common-born officials in court had grown significantly stronger.
At this point, these officials had only held high positions for four or five years and had not yet been corrupted or assimilated by the nobility.
Naturally, they wished to create more pathways for commoners to rise in status.
With their support, the new decree was passed under the Pharaoh's firm command.
Unlike the officials, the Egyptian populace strongly supported this decree, leaving the noble faction even more speechless.
Alaric's status was also firmly established through this matter.
Moreover, as the works he co-authored with Nitocris, used to educate officials, spread throughout Egypt, the name of Thoth came to be praised by many officials, scholars, and even merchants.
Nitocris, too, was revered as a "Wise King."
Although knowledge in mathematics, agriculture, geography, organizational logistics, and other fields had long been widely known in Egypt, this was the first time such knowledge had been systematically compiled, summarized, and published as texts for public study.
In the past, such knowledge had either been confined within noble families or circulated among priests. Ordinary people rarely had access to it.
Monopolizing knowledge had always been one of the means by which nobles and priests maintained their status.
But now, these "dragon-slaying arts" (at least in terms of governance) had been spread far and wide.
Countless people regarded them as guiding principles, and naturally, the authors of these works were elevated to great heights.
In the past, when the nobility dominated the court, any policy that weakened their power or harmed their interests would face unanimous opposition.
And when all nobles opposed a policy, it naturally could not be implemented.
During the reign of Pharaoh Pepi, noble officials had gradually seized control of the government step by step in exactly this manner, hollowing out the Pharaoh's authority.
But now, Nitocris had fostered another force outside the nobility.
Combined with the power of the military, the three factions formed a balance, preventing the nobles from acting arbitrarily.
As for the immensely powerful position of "Grand Sage-Regent," the commoner faction of officials, and in the future, perhaps also those who gained office through examinations, naturally welcomed it.
In their eyes, Alaric stood on their side and spoke for their interests; many of them even referred to him as "Teacher."
The noble faction, however, expressed concern, believing that the Grand Sage-Regent held too much power. If he deliberately suppressed them, the future of the nobility would be grim.
Yet reality proved their concerns unfounded.
Although Alaric held great authority, he remained remarkably detached. While he played a key role in shaping Nitocris's reforms, he never involved himself in practical administration.
In short, as all resistance and efforts proved futile, and as Alaric "expressed" his "goodwill" toward the nobles, their opposition to him gradually subsided.
At the same time, following Alaric's advice, the new Pharaoh's Royal Guard was successfully formed with the heroes of the unification war as its core.
The remaining members of the former Royal Guard were reassigned across Egypt as officers in regional garrisons.
As for Egypt's political sphere, once it became clear that the commoner faction had become the dominant force, the nobles abandoned any intention of confronting them directly.
Meanwhile, after intense power struggles, the remaining local nobles and newly arrived external nobles reached a compromise.
The various factions continued to check and oppose one another, and the bureaucratic system was effectively established.
Oh, and besides the commoner bureaucrats, noble bureaucrats, the military, and the priests, a new force had recently risen among Egypt's upper echelons, the magi.
In the eyes of others, these spellcasters who wielded supernatural power were the least to be provoked.
Meanwhile, the priests, who also possessed supernatural abilities, were deeply at odds with them.
The priests believed that the magi's power desecrated the gods, while the magi saw the priests as nothing more than rigid, outdated traditionalists.
However, in terms of power, although the magi were strong, they remained detached. Under Alaric's guidance, most of them gradually followed a path similar to other magi, pursuing truth and knowledge.
As such, they rarely interfered in political affairs, which naturally satisfied both the officials and the military.
At the same time, however, they were fervent supporters of the Pharaoh.
Their loyalty to their teacher Alaric and to the powerful mage-queen Nitocris far exceeded that of other factions, making them a formidable force in maintaining the Pharaoh's rule.
In short, Egypt's court had now shed its past dysfunction and transformed into a state of multi-faction competition, a situation most favorable to the Pharaoh's authority.
With Alaric's guidance, Nitocris skillfully leveraged the conflicts among these factions to firmly grasp control over Egypt.
Coupled with her prestige from restoring order and revitalizing the nation, in terms of power, she had likely reached the peak of all Pharaohs in history.
And Nitocris seized this opportunity to begin sweeping, decisive reforms across Egypt.