Guilliman remained silent, simply sitting in his seat, scrutinizing them.
The conversation had reached its limit; either they agreed to join, or they would be excluded from his plans.
This reform, for the current Imperium, was undoubtedly a massive storm. It was imperative to select loyal and obedient individuals to carry it out, ensuring as much as possible that his will would not be distorted, and even more so, not exploited by Chaos.
Resistance to reform was inevitable; there was no doubt about that. No one liked the feeling of losing power.
When Terra was still called Earth, ambitious individuals waged countless wars for tiny kingdoms of a few million square kilometers, all to gain that supreme power, to look down upon all living beings.
Among the stars, there would be even more such ambitious individuals. They yearned for power, for the kind of power that could easily determine the fate of a planet, a sector.
After a moment of thought, Ziller was the first to stand up, bowing slightly. "The Hitler family is willing to serve you, esteemed Regent. Please accept my humble loyalty. The Hitler House hereby vows that its loyalty to you will forever burn as brightly as Terra's sun."
With one taking the lead, the other planetary governors also stood up, bowing one after another.
"The Valens family is also willing to serve you."
"The Atreides family is also willing to serve you."
.
They knelt before Guilliman, letting their bionic or flesh limbs rest on the cold ground, expressing their loyalty.
Seeing this, the rogue traders exchanged glances, hesitated for a moment, and then all knelt down.
"The William Merchant Guild will resolutely implement your will."
"The Morgan Merchant Guild will resolutely implement your will."
Sporadically, about half of the people chose to submit and kneel.
The remaining half had fluctuating expressions, their eyes becoming serious. Some even gripped the gun holsters at their waists, their gazes intently scanning the hall.
They were terrified that a group of Ultramarines in blue power armor, wielding power axes, would suddenly rush out and chop them down. This was no laughing matter.
Guilliman's words had crossed a line. Clearly, he was trying to undermine Terra and the Sol System's control over the Imperium.
From Terra's perspective, this was undoubtedly an act of betrayal.
Guilliman smiled, looking at those who had not submitted to him and were nervous.
"Don't worry, I have no such intentions as you might suspect. For me, the most important thing is how to save this dying Imperium, not to be caught up in power struggles.
For ten thousand years, the Imperium has strayed too far from the path my father set.
I must quickly bring it back on track."
"Those who have not knelt, please step out for now. Please leave some time and space for me and my followers to discuss future reforms.
You also don't need to worry about any retaliation from me; I am not someone who would do terrible things for power."
Guilliman kindly asked those people to leave, leaving only himself and those who had knelt.
"Please all stand up. I'm glad you could stay."
Guilliman told them to stand up and find a seat.
The Human Imperium was vast, spanning tens of thousands of light-years, far exceeding any empire humanity had ever conceived.
With inefficient travel and communication, reform was undoubtedly an extremely complex and cautious undertaking.
Guilliman planned that the reforms, along with the new technologies from Cawl, would slowly spread, subtly changing the entire Imperium over one or two centuries.
Every policy change would be handled as carefully as possible, minimizing negative effects.
The positions and roles of the officials and merchant guilds who did not follow him would not be immediately replaced, but rather gradually hollowed out, like boiling a frog slowly.
Once everyone was seated, Guilliman smiled, ensuring he could better engage in the conversation.
"I'm glad you could stay and help me implement this seemingly rebellious plan. But everything we do is for the continued survival of our race in this dark universe and to uphold the Imperium my father created with his own hands, so that it does not turn to dust and collapse in the tide of Chaos."
"We have no disrespectful thoughts."
"Regent, you need not worry; we have no such thoughts."
"Regardless of what you think, your staying is a good thing.
In the ten thousand years I slept, the development of many planets broke my heart.
The Imperium completely abandoned them, letting them struggle in ignorance and destitution, offering the only things they could.
It ignored that every life was equally important to my father. I am not saying this is a betrayal; war and selfish desires can disfigure things.
Some people have everything—fresh food, water, even a beautiful private garden and a retinue of servants—while others can only search for food to survive in toxic waste. This is very tragic."
"People only fight for what they deem worth protecting. If they have nothing and live in hell, what reason do they have to refuse the hell that Chaos creates for them?"
Guilliman did not hide his inner anger at the current state of the Imperium. If anyone else had said such words, they would likely have been assassinated quickly or declared a traitor.
Humans were born to obey the Imperium and worship the Emperor; this was a core tenet constantly preached by the Ecclesiarchy.
If anyone else had made such remarks as Guilliman, they would probably have said it today and their body would be unfindable tomorrow.
Ziller and the others who remained shifted uneasily in their seats.
They wondered if, after the meeting, the Inquisition would directly pay them a visit.
For the sake of their own lives, they did not offer any opinions, only listened.
"I will sign orders for you. A new wealth distribution system will be implemented in Ultramar, and then gradually expanded throughout the Imperium.
At the same time, I will raise funds to establish specialized educational institutions, promoting compulsory education in every backward and ignorant world, striving to ensure all children go to school for enlightenment, learning new Imperial thought, and fundamentally destroying any organization involved with Chaos."
"Imperial law will also apply a unified standard, abolishing those damned feudal nobles and dictators. We do not need their existence. We must reduce the likelihood of people rebelling and joining Chaos."
Guilliman articulated his reform ideas one by one, having everyone record them to serve as the foundation for future reform plans.
During the Great Crusade ten thousand years ago, the Emperor, to speed things up, allowed planetary administrators to maintain their original systems as long as they were willing to promote Imperial Truth and pay their tithes.
The Imperium was very deformed: some planets were socialist, some dictatorial, and even some were slave-owning, varying greatly.
The Emperor was gravely wounded and placed on the Golden Throne, and the Primarchs subsequently departed during the wars. The remaining High Lords of Terra did not have the courage to carry out such reforms; as long as taxes were paid on time, they allowed those twisted systems to persist.
The High Lords of Terra, who were once useful, were now utterly useless.
Every meeting was a clash of interests among various factions, and everything proceeded slowly, even somewhat erratically.
The great noble families went to great lengths to infiltrate Terra, striving to have their people become officials in Terra, the Administratum, and the Departmento Munitorum, to maintain their interests.
Guilliman did not want to play power games with these people while fighting the Chaos Gods, fearing being stabbed in the back. He wanted absolute control.
After several hours of lengthy discussion and formulating a relatively complete reform plan, Guilliman finally adjourned the meeting, authorizing these individuals to form a new, council-like organization to serve him and refine this reform plan.
After the many rogue traders and planetary governors left, Guilliman rubbed his eyes, looking slightly weary.
Since his awakening, he had barely rested.
First, he repelled the Chaos forces, then summoned everyone to hear about the Imperium's current state, and now, he had met with representatives from various factions one after another, placating them and making appropriate arrangements.
He stretched his fingers and calmly took a long breath.
A soft electronic voice sounded, and the voice of Sicarius, captain of the Second Company of the Ultramarines Chapter, came from a nearby communicator.
"My Lord, the other Chapters who heard of your reawakening and have arrived wish to be granted an audience with you."