The Martial Unity

"To all the stakeholders of Kandria, if the harmony of the Kandrian Empire is in your heart, then I beseech you," Rui called. "Lend me your power. Lend me your support. Allow me to maintain the peace and harmony that my father has maintained."

Rui's strategy was simply to appeal to the stakeholders of Kandria, which weren't appealed to by either of the seven royals and did not possess a strong affinity for any of them.

He knew that there were plenty of such stakeholders in Kandria. Powerful, rich, and authoritative people who weren't strongly inclined in the direction of any of the seven royals.

These were people who were put off by the radical extremism in the visions that each of the seven had presented. There were undoubtedly a lot of conservatives in the nation who were silent because they had no avenue to channel their power in.

Only a royal could ascend the throne.

No matter how rich, powerful, and authoritative, this could not be changed. Thus, the only way to impact the future was to support a royal.

However, previously, there had been not a single competent royal who sought to maintain the harmony that Emperor Rael had worked hard to create and preserve over his lifetime. Thus, the people who desired the status quo to remain had no avenue to channel their power to maintain it.

That was why Rui had framed the rhetoric of his campaign in the manner that he had chosen to.

He was appealing to this interest group of the Kandrian Empire. These were conservatives from an older era, having prolonged their life with potions, who had personally witnessed the astounding, unprecedented growth that Emperor Rael had brought about in three centuries.

That was who he was talking to at the moment, even if he was looking at reporters.

He knew he would not be able to pull away the hardcore supporters from each of the seven royals, barring Prince Raijun. There was no way the Kandrian Seafare Association and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs would defect from Princess Ranea after she had filled their heads with her nonsensical visions of the Age of Sailors.

"I know that many of you watched in silence."

Rui's tone grew soft.

"I know many of you have watched with defeat."

It grew sympathetic.

"I know many of you have watched with fear."

His tone grew stronger.

"Fear at what will become of the Kandrian Empire should my fools of siblings ascend the throne."

"Well…" His eyes sharpened. "…Fear not. For I, Rui Quarrier Kandria, heir to the Emperor of Harmony, reject them."

His tone grew stronger.

"I reject their vision."

It grew fierce.

"I reject their ambitions.

His tone quivered with power.

"I REJECT THEIR DISHARMONY!" He bellowed.

The reporters shook, stunned where they stood as a blast of emotion accompanied his bold declaration.

"…Yet, I cannot reject them with my power alone."

His voice was reduced to a whisper.

"I cannot protect harmony with my power alone."

A fierce whisper.

"I cannot do it by myself."

His voice escalated.

"Lend me your power," his eyes narrowed. "Lend me your power, and I will endeavor to protect and elevate harmony—a harmony that permeates through each and every element of this nation, binding us together for eons to come."

He closed his eyes. "Glory to the Kandrian Empire."

The reporters double-took as Rui indicated the end of his speech.

That was incredibly short for a conference as large as this.

Usually, speeches for conferences with so many news distribution companies and services were much longer, lasting at least ten minutes.

"I now open this conference to questions," Rui calmly declared.

A multitude of hands flew up.

"Go ahead," Rui nodded at the first one to do so.

"Thank you for the opportunity, Your Highness," The reporter began. "Your Highness' speech was emotionally powerful but seemed to be entirely devoid of any practical and grounded explanations for the manner that you would be ruling this nation in, should you one day ascend the throne. Can you be clearer and more precise as to what, if any, specific commitments you will be making?"

It was a pertinent question that was framed in a manner that inquired about a clear shortcoming in his speech without antagonizing him.

"Of course I can," Rui replied calmly. "Let me begin by saying that the shortcoming is intentional. The most important part of politics, a process of taking the world from how it is to how we want it to be, is conveying the core of my vision that drives my policies and politics. Simply rambling about my economic and political doctrines without illuminating the core vision that underlies all of it is foolish."

He paused for a moment. "To answer your question, any changes in policy I make will be reactive to economic and national stimuli; I do not have any active changes, for I do not wish to disrupt the status quo of our nation. My fiscal policy will almost entirely overlap with that of the Emperor's, barring a few small changes in policy that I'm sure His Majesty would agree to due to changing times. But otherwise, the distribution and division of the fiscal budget will remain largely the same. I will maintain the Emperor's policy of relying on governmental intervention only when there are negative externalities that cannot be accounted for by the free-market economy that we have in place. Taxes, of course, will remain unchanged, and expenditure will be maintained proportionally. I also intend to continue the Emperor's policy of minimizing the rate of change in expenditure allocations to no more than three percent a year to avoid any drastic shocks to the harmony of the Emperor."

When it was time, Rui immediately altered the nature of his message from oratory to technical, growing remarkably specific about exactly what the Kandrian Empire would look like under his rule.

The shift was rather jarring, catching everybody, including the one who asked the question, off-guard.

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