I'm in Warhammer, I just want to grow mushrooms

Chapter 156 "When I was a kid, I liked to pick on the Imperial Guards" (New Year extra update!)
In Epimet, the residence of the Royal Court, Li Nuo woke up in the light of morning light.

Since the Niedlevin family was wiped out by the Imperial Army, several other star regions suspected of having the Bone Drinker Plague have received "care" from the Imperial Army.

The governor of the star zone was deposed and his family was wiped out, but the rebellion in the star zone was not quelled.

As time went on, long-simmering conflicts were exposed with the defeat of the Moff.

Ms. Shatana did a statistics and found that as of now, 112 imperial worlds have rebelled.

Half of these imperial worlds are located in the Nidlevin sector, and the rest are scattered across various sectors suspected of having Bone Drinkers.

The direct losses caused by this exceeded 30 trillion Throne Coins.

What worries the Ministry of Internal Affairs the most is that the rebellion indirectly caused the unpaid material taxes of approximately 15 trillion throne coins.

Who will pay so much material tax has become the most anxious issue for the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prime Minister.

A letter of initiative from the Imperial Ministry of the Interior thus came into the sight of the governors.

...

To the Governors of all Imperial Worlds in the Solar Segmentum:

As you all know, rebellions have recently broken out in some of the Empire's star regions, posing severe challenges to the Empire's stability and prosperity.

In the name of the Emperor, it is urgent to quell the rebellion and rebuild our homeland.

We encourage everyone to donate generously according to their own situation and provide the best possible help to the imperial people in the rebellious areas.

The rebellion in some of the Imperial worlds has subsided, but the remaining forces may still pose a threat to the reconstruction of the disaster area. At the same time, post-disaster reconstruction work also requires a large amount of manpower.

Therefore, for lords who are unable to provide material support, we hope that you can provide population resources and armed personnel to maintain public order in the disaster area.

We are fully aware that both financial and labor contributions are important contributions for all lords.

We will keep records of all donors and recognize and reward them with substantial rewards when appropriate.

The future of the empire depends on the efforts of each and every one of us.

Looking forward to your positive response!
Imperial Chancellor Malcador and Imperial Minister of the Interior Rocardi, respectfully present.

...

This astropathic notice was sent by the Astropathic Court of Terra and reached the hands of the world lords of various empires in the Solar Segmentum within a few days.

In the huge governor's office, Li Nuo, Fu Gaisi and Tido were discussing donations.

The three of them reached a consensus to donate to the best of their ability.

This was not out of pure kindness, nor was it purely because of so-called loyalty, but a judgment based on Fu Gais's early experiences.

About 150 years ago, when Fulgeth first became the governor of the hive, he encountered a similar situation.

At that time, a large-scale rebellion broke out in the Far East Star Region. A total of more than 300 imperial worlds experienced rebellion, which lasted for two and a half years before it was completely quelled.

At that time, the Imperial Chancellor and the Minister of the Interior also called on the lords of the Solar Star Region to make donations.

At that time, Fu Gaisi was young and inexperienced, so he just donated a symbolic amount.

After the rebellion was quelled, the imperial chancellor issued a list of rewards, which made Fugas regret his decision deeply.

The more you donate, the bigger the reward.

The lord who donated the most received a commission as a Rogue Trader, becoming a true high-ranking noble in one fell swoop, with a status far above that of the Governor.

Lords ranked from second to one hundredth in donations can take over the imperial world they are responsible for rebuilding.

The lords whose donations ranked from 101st to 200th received second-hand ships as rewards.

Fugais was ranked over 500th that year, and received no substantial rewards. He only received a letter of commendation signed by the Imperial Chancellor Malcador.

This incident became a knot in Fu Gaisi's heart.

Now, he finally has the chance to untie this knot in his heart.

Since his father-in-law is interested in making further progress in his career, Li Nuo will naturally contribute his own strength.

"Tiduo, how much net profit do we have left at our disposal from the starch industry this year?"

Tiduo reported a string of numbers without hesitation:
"Isabel will have 500 to 1500 million tons of synthetic starch at their disposal every month. The closer we get to the end of the year, the more starch they'll have at their disposal. Isabel has three times as much. Between the two of us, we'll have 2000 to 6000 million tons of synthetic starch at our disposal every month."

Tido paused and added:

"Based on the calculation that each person consumes 5 kilograms of starch per month, the number of people we can support each month is between 40 billion and 120 billion. Similarly, the closer we get to the end of the year, the more starch production capacity will be released, and the more people we can support."

Li Nuo thought about it and said:

"In this way, we should be able to fund a small hive city or an imperial world with a population of no more than 120 billion. What do you think, Dad?"

Fu Gesi held the pipe in his hand and clicked on the keyboard.

The holographic device activated, projecting a planet onto the table between the three people.

"I think we can apply to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for permission to rebuild this planet." Vogues took a puff of his pipe, exhaled smoke towards the holographic image in mid-air, and said in a steady tone:

"This is a mining world located in the Hovendi sector east of the central Hazy Segmentum. Its main mineral resources are solid promethium, iron, copper, nickel, and precious metals.

"According to the Mechanicum's exploration report from six months ago, the planet's mineral resources have been mined for less than 15%. This means that 85% of the mineral resources underground can still be mined, with an estimated total value of 15 trillion Throne Coins. Before the rebellion, its total population was 7 million, but now it is estimated to be only 3 million."

The name of the planet is Granite 5, and it is the fifth planet in the Granite star system.

The serial number of a planet is determined by its distance from the star. The closer it is to the star, the earlier the serial number.

Granite 5 was a mining world in its own right. The planetary governor was confirmed dead and his planetary defense force was completely destroyed.

The planet is now controlled by a rebel group composed of local miners and criminals.

According to conservative estimates, the number of armed rebels is around 30 million, and the rest of the population on the planet are ordinary people without weapons or equipment.

The experiences of these ordinary people are extremely miserable.

The mining world only produces mineral resources, not food.

The rebels are human beings and cannot eat stones and iron, so there is no need to explain their food source. Those who understand will understand.

Li Nuo knew that Fugais chose Mining World as the funding target for himself.

Because according to its own plan, in the future, Epimet will embark on a path where the starch industry and the promethium industry will go hand in hand.

Promethium ore is essential on this path.

If Granit 5 were assigned to his side by Macador, then Epimet's future path would be smooth.

Tiduo understood her father's intention and said worriedly:
"But, Dad, there are still many rebels on the planet. I'm afraid that just using starch to support them won't be enough to take over this planet."

"Yes, kid, I know that." Fugais took a deep breath, "So, I plan to lead Epimet's planetary defense forces to suppress the rebellion and take control of this planet as soon as possible."

"This is too dangerous." Tido pursed her lips and frowned worriedly.

Fu Gais smiled kindly:
"Don't worry, kid. I'll bring Delton with me and he'll command the battle. I won't be going anywhere except staying at the base."

If Delton were to be brought along, who would be in charge of the agent's affairs? ... Li Nuo secretly pondered the candidate.

Fu Gaisi noticed the change in Li Nuo's expression and said with a smile:
"Lino, Delton has praised your talent as an agent in front of me more than once. The measures you took to prevent the Bone Drinkers from infiltrating the Hive City were effective, practical, and easy to implement. Moreover, you are a former agent. I think you can perfectly take on the responsibility of commanding agents."

Li Nuo checked his schedule in his mind and nodded in response:
"Okay, Dad. When are you planning on leaving?"

Gathering manpower, mobilizing ships, and shipping supplies, these three tasks cannot be completed in ten days or half a month.

In addition, the Planetary Defense Force needs to obtain approval and authorization from the Military Affairs Department before leaving its territory.

The personnel and weapons and equipment must be registered first before they can be submitted to the Ministry of Military Affairs for review.

According to the operating efficiency of the Human Empire, the approval process may be delayed by about half a month.

Based on the schedule, Fu Gais estimated that it would take at least a month before he could set off for Granit 5.

This month was just enough time for Li Nuo to get familiar with the job of a secret agent. In addition, Fu Gaisi was currently in charge of the Fu Gaisi family's business.

The total amount of material taxes contributed by the Fugais family accounts for one-third of the total material taxes in the hive city.

This part of the work will be undertaken by Tido, which will undoubtedly be a test for her.

She may not have time to go to Li Nuo's for dinner in the future, let alone chat and rest with Li Nuo after dinner.

It will become the norm to open your eyes every morning and be busy until one or two in the morning.

Tido looked miserable, but for the future of the hive city, she had to shoulder this heavy burden.

Li Nuo is optimistic about this.

He has a way to help Tido reduce her burden, and reduce a lot of it, so that she can feel more relaxed than she is now.

Before traveling through time, Li Nuo often heard that the Governor-General, the Chief of the Imperial Department, the High Lord of Terra and others died of exhaustion at their posts.

After traveling through time, Li Nuo knew what was going on.

Four-fifths of the daily workload is highly repetitive work, which cannot be replaced by intelligent devices. It would be strange if I wasn't exhausted.

Take the daily work of the synthetic starch industry—calculating the daily production and sales—as an example.

In the information society before time travel, by entering the collected production and sales data into an Excel spreadsheet, the daily production and sales situation can be automatically calculated using the formulas in the spreadsheet.

Calculation results below the threshold are marked in red, and calculation results above the threshold are marked in blue, so that you can intuitively see whether the daily production and sales situation is in line with the plan.

You can't do that in the damn world of Warhammer.

Calculate data, yes.

Logically speaking, no.

The Oil Man believes that when machines have the power of both calculation and logical judgment, the tragedy of the Iron Man Rebellion may be repeated.

Therefore, all work involving logical judgment must be completed by the Thinkers or the logic pipelines produced by the Mechanicus.

The Thinker's logical judgment speed is relatively slow, similar to the computers in the 1970s and 1980s before the time travel.

Also, don’t forget to appease the machine spirits, otherwise our lovely machines will go on strike.

Li Nuo's comment on this is:

The oil guy deserves it.

Since he couldn't control the machine he built, he blamed it on the machine spirit.

In contrast, Collier Jersey, the high-ranking mechanical priest, shares the same interests with Li Nuo.

Jersey does not believe that the Emperor is the incarnation of the Messiah of Om, and denies the existence of Machine Souls.

The mechanical devices she made all worked well without the need to appease the so-called machine spirits.

Not only her, the mechanical devices made by her students do not need to sing hymns or apply holy oil, but still work honestly.

Those mechanical priests who believe in machine souls are simply looking for excuses for their own carelessness.

They would rather take advantage of the "faith is existence" characteristic of the subspace, allow the machine soul to be born through the act of faith, and then let the machine soul adjust the mechanism itself, rather than carefully tighten each screw.

This misguided attempt to replace diligent self-cultivation with faith is the crux of the Mechanicus's problems. (Note 1)

Anyway, every machine in Li Nuo's own laboratory was maintained and serviced by him personally. He never had any mechanical priests or mechanical servants to help him, and there has been no problem so far.

This is enough to show that the so-called machine soul does not need to exist at all.

After Fu Gaisi left, Li Nuo asked Tido to come to his office to use the calculator to handle official business.

This thing has extremely strong logical computing capabilities, and its performance is almost as good as the logical pipeline of the Mechanicus Sage.

From now on, Tido would finish a day's work in one hour, and spend the rest of the time reading, recharging herself, and exercising to keep fit, allowing her to fully experience what automated office work is.

In a blink of an eye, most of the day was spent discussing funding matters.

Later that day, the three of them preliminarily finalized a plan, and would subsequently implement it while making adjustments based on actual conditions.

The next day, Fu Gaisi held a meeting at the executive level, asking the heads of various important departments to work closely with Li Nuo and Tido.

After receiving the news, Delton invited Li Nuo to the agent base.

He provided Li Nuo with a key card which contained the protocol data of the agent base.

Only by using the key card together with Li Nuo's own genetic code, pupil, voiceprint, biometric identification code and other identity information can the use of the base's thinker array be unlocked.

While Li Nuo was getting familiar with the new permissions on the Thinker Array, Delton suddenly said:
"I'll leave Amy to you while I'm gone."

Li Nuo was stunned, turned his head sideways, and blinked in confusion:
"Amy should still be in school, right?"

"Yes, she's still in school." Delton revealed a rare hint of melancholy.
"You must know that I am not actually Maltz himself. The other members of the Maltz family are not related to me by blood. Only Amy is my own flesh and blood."

Every head of the Maltz family is the chief agent of Epimet, with the exception of Delton.

The Governor's database records that the previous head of the Maltz family died in an assassination before leaving behind any offspring.

Fuges sensed undercurrents in the hive and asked for support from the Terra Academy.

The person assigned by Zhongsi Academy to serve as the chief agent was Delton, a retired officer who once served as a commander in a certain legion.

In order to conceal Delton's true identity, Delton appeared as the illegitimate son of the previous head of the Maltz family, became the head of the Maltz family, and succeeded the position of chief agent.

Li Nuo thought for a moment and replied:

"I've used my authority as the Governor to review your information. I know Amy wasn't born naturally. She originated from the Mechanicus's amniotic fluid chamber, modified using your genetic template and bloodline. She has no mother, only you as her family. Don't worry, I will take good care of her."

"With your words, I have nothing to worry about." Delton smiled with relief, as if he was completely confident in Li Nuo.

Li Nuo didn't take it seriously and asked casually:
"Do you think Amy is capable of the job of agent chief?"

Delton restrained his smile, thought seriously, and gave an answer after a long time:
"If you want her to be your future agent chief, I think she can do the job and be as good as I am."

Li Nuo asked:
"Is it because she inherited your genetic template? Using your template as a benchmark for comparison, what's her approximate genetic purity?"

"At least 97%."

"So tall? Doesn't that mean that you and your daughter are very similar except for your gender and age?"

"Yes, you can think so." Delton's eyes shone with memories:
"To be honest, I'm kind of looking forward to the scene where Amy fights to become the head of the secret service. I used to be very naughty and loved to play tricks on my father's guards..."

"Imperial Guards?" Li Nuo felt strange and subconsciously thought of the emperor's imperial guards.

"My true identity is the son of a lord of a city on Terra. The lords of Terra worship the Emperor, so they privately call their guards the Custodians. You should understand the meaning of this practice."

"Oh, I understand. I understand."

Lino and Delton smiled at each other.

Delton continued:
"I always felt that my father's guards weren't protecting him perfectly, so I often played the role of an assassin, infiltrating my father's palace and searching for loopholes in the guards. I would teach any guards who were careless a lesson. At first, my father thought I was playing a trick on the guards, but he gradually came to accept my approach and gave me the responsibility of managing the guards and defending the palace. That was my childhood."

"That sounds interesting." As Cloud Hammer, Li Nuo didn't think there was anything wrong with Delton's story.
"I'm also looking forward to seeing Amy fight for the position of head agent. She might teach those slacking agents a lesson, just like you did."

"She will." Delton tapped his chin.

Li Nuo raised his index finger:

"Then I'll give her some authority and an identity, so she can help me keep an eye on the agents while I'm busy."

Delton's eyes showed anticipation, as if he could see what his daughter would look like in the future:
"No problem. Just give her some time to let the instincts in her genetic template come into play. She will definitely become the best agent."

"It's a word."

Li Nuo stretched out his right hand and shook hands with Delton.

(End of this chapter)