Published at 17th of January 2026 11:04 am

Chapter 3776: New-Age Industrialists

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Rui smiled at her pledge with a hint of satisfaction. He could sense the sincerity with which she made it, it didn’t change the misgivings that she had had about his behavior in the past, but she had essentially taken a huge gamble that Rui was serious about his change in attitude towards responsibility in the hopes that she could not only protect the legacy of the Emperor of Harmony but also propagate his vision through Rui.

"I accept your pledge and am grateful you have decided to accept my offer," Rui replied. "For now, you are all I need. I need you to start setting up some meetings with the important folks of the country. I’m pretty sure they’re not the same people as those of a quarter of a century ago. At least, I hope there’s a new group that I haven’t dealt with. I’d rather not deal with the old ones."

After all, he had explicitly and intentionally scammed the old folks in the previous throne war. They had donated tremendous sums of capital to his campaign with the belief that he would ascend the throne at the time.

But he didn’t, and they had essentially squandered their investments.

"I did repay domestic stakeholders with the money they gave me, but..." he scratched his head with an awkward expression. "I can imagine they were extremely pissed off at me for the wasted time and investment."

"In that case, you don’t need to worry, Your Highness," Royal Secretary Claris informed him. "The old industrialists are all gone. The Emperor of Harmony had seized all industrial land and farmland, along with all industrial fixed capital, when the Beast Incursion commenced after declaring a national emergency and instating Martial law."

"Oh yeah," Rui’s expression slackened with recollection. "There was that whole thing. I forgot about it because I spent seven years in the manifold around that time, so it completely escaped my consciousness."

Royal Secretary Claris heaved a sigh. "If you intend to become Emperor, you can’t go that many years being this disconnected from your responsibilities as Emperor. Even with the manifold, an Emperor spending six months away from the throne and from his duties is unacceptable."

"I probably will have to change how I do things a little, yes." Rui heaved a sigh. "Oh well, I’ll just have to adaptively evolve to these new challenges. I’m sure I can figure out how to work things harmoniously and mutually beneficially. Anyway, you mentioned my father seized all industry when the Beast Incursion commenced, right?"

"Yes, back then, all the old companies and corporations quickly crumbled due to the complete decimation of the international economy, supply chains, and financial markets. In their weakened states, most of them filed for bankruptcy, and your father simply seized all of them under the justification of national security and quickly transitioned to a partial wartime economy."

"I’m guessing things changed, since we do have a private industry within the Kandrian Empire."

"Yes, your father created a merit system where those who contributed to the Kandrian Empire were rewarded with the seized land, gold, and other assets, meritocratically distributing resources only to those who had truly earned them in a time of great need. Over time, the Kandrian Empire slowly returned to its former privatized and liberalized state."

"So that means that the current set of industrialists is highly competent and special, right?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"That is so, Your Highness. They are those who have emerged out of tremendous competition during a harsh, harsh era of great tumult. They are not to be underestimated and are not the kind who will snivel and boot-lick in your presence. At the same time, they don’t harbor any misgivings about you for what you did during the throne war since they only gained power during the Era of Darkness and were not affected by anything that happened before."

"Good to know." Rui nodded. "That means I can get started on a clean slate with all of these new people. Now, I need someone to help me understand what the interests and the strategic outlook of these people are before I reach out to them. If I simply go over and ask them to support me without understanding what their interests and concerns are, then I’ll look incompetent. If I don’t make an offer and a pitch that is at least compelling, then they’ll be disillusioned. It would also affect their confidence in the Kandrian Empire and potentially drive away industry. I need to be prepared before I approach them."

"You have less than three days until the Royal Funeral, Your Highness," Royal Secretary Claris remarked. "It’s difficult to fully understand all of these matters and formulate a plan to appeal to them in less than three days, and arrange all those meetings before the Royal Funeral. It will be hasty and messy, and the probability that things won’t go as planned is high. These discussions with stakeholders take time; you will not be able to win them over in a single talk, certainly not all of them."

Rui raised an eyebrow. "Then what do you recommend?"

"I would humbly suggest focusing on the Royal Funeral for now," she replied. "Ensuring that this goes well should be your highest priority. If something goes wrong there, it will negatively affect your image and the image of the nation."

Rui nodded. "Sensible. I wanted to talk to stakeholders as soon as possible to end the throne war the moment the Royal Funeral was complete, but... even for me, that might be unrealistic unless I turn towards tyranny."

He had already resolved not to.

"I believe your bid for the throne should cripple the storm," she reassured him. "Just the fact that you wish to become Emperor will make people withdraw from the other princes. That is how much soft power you have. Frankly, you don’t need to do things like earn the support of the stakeholders. You have the power to become Emperor by yourself, without even needing a secretary like me."

"Yes," Rui reaffirmed, "But if I do that, then all people will see is a child who does not know how to read the room. It would affect the Kandrian Empire negatively if I were perceived as an immature or juvenile ruler who merely flexes his power to get things done without any care for the stakeholders of the nation. I mentioned that I want to do this harmoniously, and I have every intention of being harmonious about my ascent to the throne. I want to become Emperor in such a holistic manner that I would have won even if I weren’t a Martial Artist."

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