"Consul, allow me to introduce myself. I am Jacob Arvis, Imperial Special Envoy."
The envoy in deep red formal wear spoke. The Imperial Aquilla embroidered in gold thread on his chest shone brilliantly under the lights of the council chamber.
Konnor stood and shook his hand solemnly. When they sat down again, the negotiations officially began.
"Please allow me to use a more familiar address, Jacob."
"By all means, Consul Konnor."
"I wish to know why you have come."
"For peaceful unification."
Gallan said, "You have come for the Primarch."
"These two things are not contradictory, Consul Gallan."
"The Imperium has tens of thousands of expeditionary fleets campaigning across the galaxy. There are only twenty Primarchs. The Legion Astartes yearn to welcome back their gene-fathers. The Imperium also craves the Primarchs' leadership."
"But as Imperial diplomats, our mission has always been to facilitate the peaceful integration of human worlds."
"The Emperor has strictly forbidden any expeditionary fleet from launching a crusade solely for the purpose of finding a Primarch, to prevent the Legions from focusing on the wrong goal."
Gallan was stunned speechless. "Tens of thousands of expeditionary fleets, each as powerful as yours?"
"A combined fleet personally commanded by a Primarch. Such a large fleet gathering is rare even in the Imperium."
Just rare, not unheard of.
This was also an implication of the Imperium's military capabilities.
They had more than one such fleet!
And with tens of thousands of expeditionary fleets, even if each fleet had only one ship, that would be tens of thousands of ships.
Small pocket empires simply couldn't withstand that.
Konnor asked, "You wish for us to join the Imperium of Man?"
Jacob nodded, "We sincerely hope that all human worlds will unite under the Imperium's banner."
"What do we gain if we choose to join?"
"You retain full autonomy. The Imperium will not interfere with Macragge's political system."
"You will also receive the Imperium's military protection. Any hostile act against Macragge will be considered a declaration of war against the Imperium."
"Macragge will join the Imperium's trade network, engaging in free trade with tens of thousands of worlds."
"The Imperium will also provide Astropaths and Navigators for interstellar communication and Warp travel."
Konnor remained calm. "What price do we have to pay?"
"No price at all."
"Because of the Primarch?"
"Yes. The homeworld of every Primarch has special significance for the Imperium. As long as you abide by Imperial law, you need pay nothing."
Gallan's eyes grew alert. "What laws?"
Jacob explained, "All Imperial worlds must establish a Order of Iterators. The missionaries of the Order are only responsible for promoting the Imperial Truth. The Imperium tolerates no form of religious belief."
Gallan didn't speak. Macraggians didn't believe in gods anyway. This wouldn't affect them.
Konnor asked, "If we didn't have a Primarch, what price would we have to pay?"
"Without a Primarch, besides the Order of Iterators, the Imperium would also need to establish an Imperial Administration and an Adeptus Arbites departments on Macragge to levy the Tithe."
The Imperial Administration would assess and calculate local resource output, and the Adeptus Arbites would oversee the payment of the Tithe.
If a world dared refuse to pay the Tithe, they would first face the iron fist of the Adeptus Arbites.
Only when the Arbites failed to suppress the rebellion would the Imperium mobilize the Imperial Auxilia or even Legion Astartes to crush it.
Maintaining Imperial unity wasn't a price; it was a basic obligation of joining the Imperium.
Konnor asked, "What is the Tithe rate?"
"10% of resource output."
Konnor and Gallan exchanged a glance. A 10% tax rate seemed not too high.
But this 10% had to be remitted to the Imperium. Planetary governors would have to add 10% on top of the taxes needed to maintain their rule.
Even if a governor was honest and the normal macro tax burden was only 10%-20%,
With the Tithe, the tax rate would only be 20%-30%.
But if the governor embezzled and the bureaucracy was corrupt, pushing the tax rate to 89%,
Plus the 10% Tithe, the tax rate could be as high as 99%.
For the lower-class populace already struggling near the subsistence line, this would be the last straw.
The planetary governor wouldn't pay a penny from his own coffers to cover the shortfall; he would intensify exploitation of the commoners.
Raising prices, cutting welfare, reducing wages, all the burden would be shifted to the civilians.
And the governor would lightly shift the blame to the Imperium. The angry populace would only target distant Terra.
The Imperium would take only 10% of the money but bear 100% of the blame.
They would never know that the ones truly draining their blood were precisely those sanctimonious nobles and bureaucrats.
Of course, this was only for the Imperium of Man.
This was an inherent flaw of the tax-farming system. The planetary governors were the tax farmers.
The Imperium could certainly see how problematic the tax-farming system was, but it was too busy.
The Great Crusade was in full swing. The front lines had extended to tens of thousands of worlds across the galaxy. Limited resources had to be prioritized for allocation to the war zones.
The Imperium simply didn't have the capacity for in-depth governance.
Because essentially, the Imperium of Man ruled tens of thousands of worlds from Holy Terra.
The Imperium had too few personnel.
But if the Imperium insisted on overthrowing local rulers and implementing more efficient governance, it would have to invest massive resources upfront.
But the Imperium had neither the resources nor the time.
Only autonomy and the tax-farming system allowed other worlds to integrate quickly.
This was also a necessary compromise.
The Imperium was facing the onslaught of a storm.
The priority was to get everyone into a tent that could shield them from the wind and rain, to do its utmost to preserve the flame of human civilization.
Specific distribution and governance would have to wait until the storm subsided.
The Imperium's current system was only a temporary wartime expedient.
Without the basic policies of autonomy and tax-farming, the Imperium could never have integrated two million worlds in just two hundred years of the Great Crusade.
Even on the most backward feudal worlds, the kings holding power would not easily give up their crowns.
Even knowing that opposing the Imperium was like throwing a stone against a speeding car, they would use every means to resist to the end.
The Imperium could certainly crush rebellions easily, but there were too many such worlds, and they were too scattered.
The Imperium's tax-farming system certainly planted many ticking time bombs. If it ran for ten millennia, it might even cause the Imperium's fall.
But as long as the Imperial Truth was successfully promoted, even if some worlds rebelled, it would be a civil war among humans.
The Emperor didn't care.
For local rulers, they just had to make the people suffer a bit more and let the Imperium bear the blame.
So why risk being overthrown and making an enemy of the Imperium?
Unless they had already fallen to Chaos or were colluding with xenos, making them unacceptable to the Imperium.
Macragge was even more special.
They didn't even have to pay taxes.
Just by nominally accepting Imperial rule, they would receive a constant stream of resources from the Imperium.
All because the Primarch was on Macragge.
Konnor said, "Macragge is willing to join the Imperium of Man."
Gallan frantically signaled him with his eyes, but Konnor just shook his head slightly at him.
According to convention, such a major decision would first require a vote of the Senate.
Would the Senate agree? Of course they would.
The Imperial fleet was at the gates. Would they dare refuse?
If any senator refused, Konnor wouldn't even need to get involved; the angry senators would jointly strip the refuser of his seat.
But Konnor was tired of it. He was laying his cards on the table.
His son was a Primarch. The Imperial fleet had arrived.
Why should he continue to play with the Senate?
"Welcome to the Imperium of Man, Consul Konnor."
Jacob shook his hand. "Your decision will bring honor to Macragge."
Konnor smiled slightly. "No, Jacob. The honor arrived long ago."
When the Primarch landed on Macragge, when he adopted Robert.
As Konnor sat down, Gallan lowered his voice. "Konnor, we need to talk!"
"Excuse me."
Konnor didn't look down at Gallan. He rose and left the table again.
Gallan hurried after him. He didn't even give an excuse. He didn't pretend.
Gallan caught up to him in the corridor, his voice dropping. "Konnor, making a deal with the Imperium without a Senate vote, what exactly are you doing?"
Konnor shook his head. "Gallan, I have no intention of becoming a dictator, nor do I intend to abolish the Senate."
"As long as you and I live, Macragge will always have two consuls."
"Then why are you doing this?" Gallan's expression eased slightly.
Konnor said, "But Macragge must reform. Slavery must be abolished!"
Gallan frowned. "You're still fixated on that?"
Of Macragge's five hundred senators, all five hundred were beneficiaries of slavery. Konnor himself was no exception.
His attempts to abolish slavery had faced an uphill battle and had been impossible to implement in the Senate.
Because no one would support him.
"It's not just slavery. I have many reforms to implement, all of which will affect the senators' interests."
"If I were alone, I would have to wait another ten years to implement my reforms. Some senators might even resort to assassinating me."
"But now, with the Imperium's support, why should I hold back? The reforms must be carried out. That is my reason!"
A trace of envy appeared in Gallan's eyes. "He is your adopted son. Of course you have reason."
The Primarch was the Emperor's son. Caelan had told them that on the day he landed on Macragge.
But Gallan and the others hadn't believed it. Only Konnor had.
Now the Imperial fleet had arrived at Macragge, awing everyone with its military might.
No matter how unwilling, the senators had to grit their teeth and accept it.
Konnor said, "Julius's future achievements will not be limited to Macragge. Do you want him to be trapped in Macragge like you and me?"
Gallan fell silent.
Konnor was constrained by the Senate, and so was he.
Gallan lowered his head dejectedly. "Perhaps you're right. I believe you will win."
With the Imperium's support, how could Konnor lose?
Konnor shook his head, "It's not that I will win, it's that we will win. We are both consuls. This is our Macragge."
Gallan looked up sharply, a flicker of shock in his eyes.
He was silent for a moment, then finally nodded slowly. "Yes, this is our Macragge."
In that moment, he seemed to recapture the passionate fervor of his youth.
As young men, he and Konnor had been determined to bring change to Macragge.
But when he became a beneficiary of the system, he had gradually forgotten his original intentions.
Gallan let it go.
So it wasn't that he was inferior to Consul Konnor.
He had simply always been inferior to Konnor.
…...
"You're still young. Five hundred worlds aren't enough. Five thousand, then you'll be set for life."
In the garden, Caelan casually dropped a bombshell.
Five hundred worlds of Ultramar were too few for one Primarch, and too crowded for two.
Guilliman was momentarily stunned, then gave a helpless smile. "Father, at its height, the Imperium only had two million worlds. If each of us took five thousand, wouldn't that be half the Imperium?"
"So what if you did? If these worlds aren't given to you, they'll be lost sooner or later anyway."
"Even if your other father finds out, he won't complain. He might even thank us for sharing the burden."
"I'm leaving him half, aren't I?"
The Emperor was just the Primarchs' biological father. He had struggled all his life.
If this vast empire wasn't inherited by the Primarchs, who else could he give it to?
If not half to the Primarchs, then half to Erda? Or half to Chaos?
He and Erda were divorced. Splitting assets would be legal.
But giving half to the Primarchs was also reasonable.
Anyway, since it was all getting divided anyway, why not transfer the assets... gift them to his sons early?
Angro nodded in agreement, "Father is right. Two million worlds aren't the Imperium's limit, not even the Great Crusade's limit. It's the limit of the Great Heresy."
"If the Great Heresy hadn't happened, two million worlds would have been just the beginning."
"The Imperium could have ushered in an even more glorious Golden Age, greater than the previous one."
"Angron is right."
The galaxy has hundreds of billions of star systems. These were all Imperial territory!
The Aeldari had ruled the galaxy for sixty million years. Let me ask you, why did you rule my galaxy for sixty million years?
And the Necrons, why are you hibernating in my galaxy?
Xenos, get out of the galaxy!
Guilliman's gaze moved between the two. Their back-and-forth made him seem like the outsider.
Guilliman said, "Five thousand worlds, at least hundreds of sectors, spanning thousands of light-years. The difficulty of governance would far exceed expectations."
Caelan raised his hand. Guilliman squatted down, allowing Caelan to pat his broad shoulder.
"Precisely because of that, you are needed to rule!"
"Ruling brings not only power but also responsibility."
"If mortals ruled the Imperium, they would only serve their own interests, struggle for power for personal gain, sacrificing entire sectors for factional benefit."
"But you are different. The Imperium is yours. All mortals are your subjects!"
Guilliman's eyes were firm. "And we will protect them!"
That was the meaning of their existence.
Not imposed on them by anyone, not the Emperor's command, not Caelan's expectation.
But their own decision to protect mortals, stemming from their own will.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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