The large round room lacked the elaborate details found in most rooms of the imperial palace. There were no artistic works hung on the walls, no tapestries of great battles and glorious victories of the past, no, there were no intricate decorations within this room at all. To describe it bluntly it was plain.

The furnishings were simple, in the back of the room was a large chestnut colored desk with a high back red padded chair where the emperor would be seated while looking down at the semicircular table capable of seating up to 12 people.

This was the room the Emperor designed for meetings with his most trusted advisors, ministers, and generals. It was a plain room with one purpose in mind, efficiency. For someone as busy as the Emperor, it was important to make use of every bit of time he had and he felt that sitting in a room filled with exquisite works of arts would be a distraction.

Today the emperor was meeting with his ministers of finance, rail, and war. To the ever-expanding empire, these three men were exceptionally important and held a huge amount of power. After the emperor, they were perhaps the three most powerful men in the Empire.

“On the topic of the war-balloons, Mr. Corrington what is our status?”

“Yes your majesty. Currently, testing of the war-balloons is on schedule. We believe within a month we will have a completed prototype that will be ready for production.”

“It says in your report that the top speed tested is 7 miles per hour and a fire mage of the 6th rank is able to power the balloon at a height of 500 feet for 5 hours. Why is the speed so slow? This only gives us an effective range of 35 miles at top speed if two mages are used to control the balloon.”

Sensing the emperor was displeased with their results thus far, the minister of war, Spencer Corrington squirmed uncomfortably and felt his body heat up. Thankfully they had already been working to solve the current limitations of the war balloons and had begun working on a newer design that made use of new technology.

“Our limiting factor right now is the fabric used to make the balloon. We are in the process of developing sturdier fabrics of similar weight that will allow us to travel at twice the speed. A second prototype is making use of collapsible frames and a newly designed propeller system that uses wind mages which will allow the balloons to travel at 3 to 4 times the current speed. This will drive the cost up a little more and require more human resources, but it is still within the allotted budget.”

“Focus your resources on the propeller-driven balloons. The project is meant to create a weapon capable of traveling large distances in a relatively short period of time that can attack and deliver supplies from our depots to ongoing battles. The range and speed of the other prototype is worthless to us.”

“Understood your majesty.”

Relieved there would be no punishments Mr. Corrington sat back down and began writing notes on a pad he had brought with him. His orders were simple but Mr. Corrington was an extremely busy man due to the wars on many fronts. He could not afford to forget a message from the emperor because he became too busy.

“Then Mr. Chandler summarize your report on the expansion of the rail into Acora.”

Emmitt Chandler, an orphan of war educated in the imperial school system, his talents were recognized early on and over many years of dedicated work he finally caught the eye of the emperor and was granted the position of Minister of Rail.

The Empire’s rail system was extensive and was growing even more so with each passing day. Many would attribute the rails ability to travel rapidly with an enormous amount of supplies and soldiers as one of the most important reasons for the Empire’s success. Given the position of Minister of Rail was a major honor, but it was an honor with tremendous pressure to be successful.

“Your majesty, our current expansion into Acora is ahead of schedule. With the increase in funding we were able to hire additional workers capable of clearing a path through the Camn Forest and the rail to Lido is nearly complete. We are certain in less than one month it will be operational.”

“Good, have you found a suitable pass through the Kundar Mountains yet?”

“Our cartographers have identified a possible pass. It will require the work of many earth mages, but we hope to have it fully mapped out before winter. If it is indeed possible we plan to begin construction of the rail system in the coming spring depending on funding.”

“Hmm… about that, Mr. Harmon you were tasked with the liquidation of the Candor holdings. What is your progress and how much has it netted so far?”

Jacob Harmon, son of a very successful and wealthy merchant had handled large amounts of money from the time he was young. The Harmon’s, using their vast wealth would often loan money to many influential nobles and members of the government. If the noble was unable to pay then they would owe the Harmon’s a favor.

Using this to skirt the edges of bribery laws Harmon’s power and a number of connections continued to grow. Despite this, the emperor still decided to make Jacob Harmon his minister of finance. Though it was true his character was somewhat questionable, no one could deny his talents, and his family’s coercion had proven very valuable on a number of occasions.

“Your majesty, the main Candor estate has been subdivided into 8 parcels and sold separately. As most of the land was undeveloped the majority of the 237 million crescents came from the 2 properties with houses on them. There are 7 other properties that are currently being sold expected to total an additional 200 million crescents and bank holdings totaled 142 million crescents. We are still calculating the sum total of their business holdings but they are roughly estimated at 400 million crescents bringing the total to just under 1 billion crescents.”

“The Candor’s were quite wealthy, well that is to be expected. And what of the survivors?”

“Most of the main house members have already faced execution, with the rest being imprisoned or sold. The minor branch families have been dissolved and their assets seized, we are uncertain at this time of their value though, when I have more details I will provide them, your majesty. There are some that fled, however, generous bounties have already been placed on them making it exceedingly difficult for them to travel.”

“Mr. Corrington you look like you wish to say something, go ahead speak.”

“Your majesty, I’m just worried about retaliation from the other families. They’re sure to feel threatened now that one of their fellow nobles has been purged.”

This was a very real possibility and one the emperor had weighed carefully before his decision. There were many powerful individuals and families that were loyal to the nobles. Currying favor with a noble could lead to great financial gain. The Empire could not afford a civil war with the nobles, but the emperor was certain that the Empire needed to change and he had come too far to let a few families stop his plans.

“This nation cannot progress when 6 families hold onto nearly 50 percent of the wealth. Candor was the most powerful of the families; this was meant as a message to the others. Expansion is expensive; the nobles wish to reap the benefits but are not willing to invest their own capital. The war bonds were a failure because of this, so we were left with no choice. If the other families continue to hoard their resources they will meet a similar fate, that is all. The time of noble rule is coming to an end.”

“I understand your majesty; I’m simply worried the other families may revolt.”

“That is why we have passed legislation banning private militaries greater than 200 and made it mandatory for mages to serve in the military. Mr. Harmon is working on a new set of regulations concerning investments and forced expenditures to drain their financial resources is that correct?”

“Yes your majesty, you will receive the draft from my office by the end of this week.”

“Good, though the possibility of revolt exists we will continue to chip away at the nobles power to prevent it. Then, Mr. Harmon, I want you to take a portion of the funds we received from the Candor house and allot them to Mr. Chandler to be used towards the development of a Kundar pass rail system. The Northern Territories are an untapped well which we look to exploit as soon as possible.”

“Understood your majesty, we will plan a budget together.”

“Very well, if that is all I have a meeting with General Maddock regarding the rebels in Alegan in 30 minutes. You are dismissed.”

After bowing to the emperor and exiting the room each man let out a sigh of relief. No one wanted to disappoint the emperor in fear of losing their own heads. This emperor was different from emperors of the past.

While the previous emperor saw the rail system as a convenient mode of transport that would help in trade and travel, the current emperor saw it as a tool to be used for complete Eldorran dominance of the Southern Kingdoms and beyond.

During his rule, he continued to pass decrees that were designed to limit the power of anyone who could possibly oppose him. No emperor in the history of the Empire had ever held as much power. But while the nobles despised him, the people loved him.

There were many policies under the emperor that guaranteed equality between social classes and provided a chance for the downtrodden to rise up. The education system which had once only accepted the wealthiest of citizens was now available to everyone, including compulsory education that taught citizens how to read and write as well as the basics of mathematics.

The nobles were vehemently against such policies that elevated the status of low born citizens. But the emperor believed there was much to be gained by educating the population and he had been greatly rewarded with an influx of new ideas and technologies.

The emperor would make use of any talented individual no matter their background or family history to accomplish his dreams. Closing in at 60 years of age, the emperor would not accept any delays. But as years passed he realized uniting the entire continent before he died would most likely be impossible. Thankfully his eldest son shared the same dreams as him.