Chapter 639: 625 Greedy
Chancellor's beloved daughter, Bai Siying, stomped her feet in anger, "Those freeloading nobles who even add their own subplots, daring to distort my dad's reform efforts and inciting those brainless people against the new reforms, they truly deserve to die!"
The Bai family of three (or is it four?) had settled down in Qiming Manor, which was originally a vacation manor for the prime ministers. In terms of facilities, it was even more superior to the No Cliff Palace that Bai Zhongqi had once controlled for its luxury. Whether it's in terms of usable area or the service teams that came with it, Qiming Manor might not match the ancient Forbidden City, but it was not inferior compared to the palaces of old, like Buckingham Palace.
The residence in Lanxue City on Sumer Star, where the family used to live, was now simply one of Bai Zhongqi's vacant properties. In theory, it was the only property in Bai Zhongqi's name on Sumer Star.
Bai Zhongqi looked at his daughter's furious demeanor and felt that this young lady of the Chancellor's family was even more invested in the role than himself. Having already regarded the United Empire of Iridium Star as her inheritance, and believing herself to be rightfully a Princess, she naturally couldn't bear to see her family's "servants" turn against their masters.
Han Jiaxue also looked at her daughter's state and smiled slightly, saying to Bai Zhongqi, "Some nobles really aren't the brightest, using such means to go against the Chancellor's will. I wonder what our Chancellor plans to do about them?"
Before Bai Zhongqi could speak, his daughter had already jumped in front of him, shouting loudly, "Dad, we absolutely can't tolerate and indulge these parasites! The Empire's assets aren't theirs; they're too accustomed to treating the Empire's things as their own. It's time to show them some color!"
Ling objectively analyzed, "Since Iridians have always been quite worried about bionic humans and AI turning into a major disaster, along with labor usage issues, a large amount of human labor is still involved from production to logistics. Iridians don't strive for the ultimate efficiency in this aspect, which is why we have this situation. On some planets, delays in the logistics chain have resulted in many residents not getting their daily rations. In fact, the solution to these problems is very simple: a one-time program update for all logistics units, setting up automatic distribution, could bypass this issue."
Han Jiaxue shook her head and said, "Some shameless nobles have cut off the supply of rations right at the source. Even if logistics were smooth, the robots wouldn't find anything to transport."
At that moment, Bai Zhongqi said, "Since it has already turned into large-scale rioting incidents, the Empire Army should now take the stage."
Han Jiaxue looked at him, "Directly deploy the Empire Army?"
Bai Zhongqi nodded, "The local police force might be too entangled with local nobles and fail to be effective, but the Empire Army is a place the nobility would find hard to thoroughly infiltrate. By conducting certain cross-district maneuvers and launching surprise attacks on the planets with distribution issues, we can directly capture these managing nobles, distribute all the rations meant for the people, and expose their conspiracies."
Since all Atomic Substance Construction equipment was now managed by the Welfare Department of the cabinet government, and all production plans were already arranged well in advance, the managing nobles of the production plants found it difficult to shut these devices down and were even less likely to destroy them. All they could do was hold up the supply of produced goods and falsely claim that the goods produced by the Chancellor's reforms were useless and that production was delayed.
Ling asked with a smile, "To what extent does Your Majesty plan to go?"
"A complete cleanup," Bai Zhongqi said resolutely, "in this incident, those who deliberately sabotage and distort the truth, not only the main suspects should be arrested but also other family members and related personnel."
Bai Siying clutched her dad's arm and shook it, "Dad, you are wise! That's right, we should arrest them all and finish them off."
Bai Zhongqi chuckled, "Killing them is out of the question, but stripping them of everything and then casting them onto underdeveloped planets to break new ground is indeed a good choice."
——Dividing line——
On Chunshe Star, the petitioning activities had already lasted a day. Many residents, who do not keep a stockpile of goods at home, found themselves without food.
Ordinary Iridians nearly revered the Chancellor as a deity; they did not dare to be too demanding, but clearly, the situation was moving towards something that everyone found unacceptable, so they still stood up to express their views.
Not far from the petitioning activities, Mi Daojian, the main instigator behind everything, watched with satisfaction.
"Not just on Chunshe Star, but similar situations have arisen on more than forty planets. The nobility brothers are quite unified at times like this," Mi Daojian said proudly.
However, his son was far from as relaxed, Mi Gengxi said with a shrunken neck, "Father, we not only stopped distributing supplies but even shut down the warehouses and stores of our family flag. This left many people hungry, breeding significant resentment."
Mi Daojian laughed loudly, "Good, let their resentment build. They will vent it on the Chancellor's reforms, telling the Chancellor that his actions are nonsense, coaxing him to return to the correct path."
Mi Gengxi still looked worried, "But even the might of the Xiao Family was uprooted by the Chancellor. Our small family, if it comes under his scrutiny..."
Mi Daojian laughed, "We're not 'intentionally' doing this. The reforms caused a lot of chaos in our work, and the laborers are quite agitated. Moreover, it's not us showing the emotions, but the local residents, and when the Chancellor decides to handle them, he will deal with these people. What's more, now it's the same on over forty planets, with hundreds of noble families involved. After all, there is safety in numbers. It's debatable whether the Chancellor has the guts to deal with all of us."
Mi Gengxi was still full of concerns, "Some families have completely abandoned their control over Atomic Substance Construction and have turned to other industries. Should we consider following suit?"
Mi Daojian glared at his son, scolding, "You good-for-nothing, what we are striving for is rightfully ours. If you don't even have that bit of courage, what great things can you achieve?"
He looked at the crowd of petitioners with woeful faces and said, "The United Empire of Iridium Star has always been ruled by the nobility. The Chancellor might be the greatest among the nobility, but he must negotiate with us to manage this civilization. If he thinks he can do as he pleases without us, he's deluding himself."
Full of confidence, Mi Daojian believed that even Chancellor Bai Zhongqi could not oppose the great tide. In the end, Bai Zhongqi would capitulate under the union of the numerous nobility, and then Iridium Star would still belong to them.