Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Two

  In the 489th year of the Imperial Calendar, the situation in the Empire was turned upside down within a single year. The entire Empire was divided into at least over ten pieces, embroiled in a chaotic struggle. Relatively speaking, the one with the most productive potential was the new Emperor of the Empire, Reinhard von Lohengramm, and secondly, the one who possessed the largest territory and slightly inferior productive power was the old Imperial Count Rudolf von Fafnir Marshal. Between them were a group of medium and small nobles, who verbally pledged allegiance to either the old or new Empire, but in reality, they were all in cahoots with each other.

  Fahnler and Reinhard clashed twice in battle, successfully whittling down Reinhard's forces and splitting his army. However, even Fahnler did not have the power to take down the entire Empire with his current military strength. Reinhard was also in a similar situation, having finally decided to negotiate with his opponent under the advice of the young lady from the Marldorf Count family whom he had recently taken in.

  Both sides made secret contact in the Westphalia system.

  "Request Your Majesty to abdicate? This is absolutely impossible!"

  "Are you asking us to surrender all control of the galaxy?! Do you want to fight again?!"

  Both sides' negotiators tried to get what they wanted at the negotiating table, but as one saying goes, "What you can't get on the battlefield, you won't get at the negotiating table."

  Fafnir and Reinhardt were negotiating at the same time, while Reinhardt also began to use force against the small noble separatists under the proposal of the Countess, using military strength and logistical advantages to crush these small-time adventurers. Fafnir was doing similar things, but unlike Reinhardt, he did not brutally crush this group of people, instead secretly or openly encouraging them to unite.

  "It's easier to deal with a bunch of idiots all at once." Fafnir muttered.

  "But won't those bastards bite back even once?" Schuttk?mer said.

  "Haha, their combined number isn't even more than mine, and... can they really unite without any grudges?"

  "Alright, whatever. By the way, this is the logistics report from Dallus Middemia for this period of time. This fat guy's corruption skills are really impressive. Should we execute him?"

  "Never mind, as long as he still remembers the rules. If we must shoot him, let's wait until this kid gets a bit fatter first."

  Negotiations between Reinhardt and Fafnir are still ongoing.

  The alliance has also entered its most severe stage.

  No matter whether it was the new government faction or the old government faction, the final result of their mutual mudslinging was to benefit the independence - self-determination faction. The independence faction grew in strength, and various allied star systems successively declared independence and union, resulting in the alliance being divided into twenty-five countries within a short year... They were busy bickering with each other and preparing for war, but because there was still a great enemy outside called the Galactic Empire, and it was clear that the civil war within the Galactic Empire would eventually come to an end, so the internal war of the alliance never broke out. More than twenty countries had no choice but to sit down and start negotiating.

  Year 490 of the Imperial Calendar, Year 799 of the Cosmic Calendar. After intermittent negotiations, Fafnir and Reinhard finally reached a partial understanding - mainly thanks to Miss Marlene now being an empress...

  "Recognition of the extinction of the Gao Dengbam dynasty confirmed the legitimacy of the Luo Yanke Ram dynasty. Since the second emperor of the Luo Yanke Ram dynasty, the next emperor must be elected by the Electors. The list of Electors is separately listed, and the Emperor cannot add or remove names from the list. Each Elector has armed forces, but they are unified under the leadership of the three Chiefs of Staff of the Imperial Armed Forces. Domestic affairs within the Empire are managed by the Prime Minister as the highest official. The Emperor is the nominal Supreme Military Commander of the Empire, and once elected, becomes the inviolable Emperor of the Silver River Empire; any questioning is considered treason."

  "Establish the Imperial House of Nobles and the Commoner's House. The House of Nobles shall consist of hereditary nobles, while the Commoner's House shall be elected by the population of each star system in the Empire, with the number of representatives to be determined. The Commoner's House shall have legislative power and the right to nominate cabinet officials, who must be approved by both the Commoner's House and the House of Nobles before being appointed by the Emperor. High-ranking military officers of the Empire must be approved by the House of Nobles and submitted to the Emperor for signature before taking office. The Emperor has the right to refuse approval, but when the House of Nobles resubmits, no imperial approval is required for appointment. Supervision of the Imperial Cabinet shall be held jointly by the Commoner's House and the House of Nobles."

  The empire was divided into several large areas, and Favner and Reinhardt accelerated the move to eliminate medium and small forces.

  In April 490 GD, Fafnir launched an attack on the combined lesser nobles of the Marlborough system.

  "Advance! Do not spare the firepower! Fire at full force!" Fafnir ordered his subordinates to launch an attack on the noble army, ordering the artillery to focus on certain nobles. The noble armies, each with their own agendas, immediately collapsed under the differentiated attacks. Fafnir mercilessly slaughtered all the surrendered and captured nobles' families, his cruel methods living up to his nickname "Draken". Fafnir pursued the united nobles, finally annihilating them, piling up their heads into small mountains, killing over a million nobles and their relatives...

  Reinhardt was no exception, and even several military commanders with some power who were independent of their respective camps also carried out massacres against the independently-minded nobles and outlaws within their controlled territories.

  In the 490th year of the Galactic Empire, December, Westphalia Star System. Several negotiators each took a treaty back to their leader for signature and confirmation, and the "Second Treaty of Westphalia" was finally signed, marking the end of the Galactic Empire's civil war.

  The civil war marked the downfall of one dynasty and the birth of another. The four margraves, namely Mainz Margrave Oscar von Roenthal, Cologne Margrave Wolfang von Mittelmeier, Trier Margrave Gustav von Rundstedt, and Baden Margrave Ralph von Staufden, although electors, were almost certainly unrelated to the imperial throne, with their territories being small and weak. The Brandenburg Grand Duchy was the fief of the current Galactic Emperor Reinhard von Lohengramm, while the Valhalla Sector (including several heavy industrial star systems in the north and numerous star systems in the south, covering over 80% of the empire's territory and over 90% of its industry) were directly under the emperor's control, with actual governance by the Imperial Cabinet and Ministry of War. The Bohemia Grand Duchy was ruled by Rudolf von Fafnir; the Saxony Duchy was ruled by Siegfried von Gilfiess; and the Bavaria Duchy was ruled by Gustav von Schuttkau. These four dukes were the true electors, with the last being the Hanover Margraviate, whose first ruler was Margravine Annerose Gryuward. This margrave was similar to the previous four margraves...

  Jung, Heinrich von Yang, Dark and others, along with Reinhart's subordinates and nominal subordinates Mura, Kamp, Bitenfeld, Meklingen, Aizenah, Rutz, etc. obtained hereditary noble titles and marshal ranks, and also entered the House of Lords.

  In 491 GD, the Galactic Empire regained nominal unity and began licking its wounds from the civil war.

  After 800 years, the chaotic alliance finally came to an end. The countries signed a treaty on the planet of Maastricht and formed the New Free Planetary Alliance. The alliance had a unified currency and twenty-five independent central banks. The highest authority of the alliance was the Alliance Parliament, which was elected by members of parliament from each member state. The supreme leader was called the Chancellor, who was elected by all citizens of the alliance and held the highest executive power, with a term of 5 years and could be re-elected for up to three terms. They had a unified military force, but each member country still had its own independent military fleet, so they reduced the old alliance's fleet from the beginning. The reduction was limited to only twelve fleets, while the fleets of each country swelled instead...

  Yang Weili received treatment from the direct fleet, and logistics finally began to recover normally. However, he was also incorporated into the military forces of the Balat Republic at the same time.