A revolution without a standard running procedure is just an unscheduled riot.
By the second dawn following the collapse of Lord Lei Qian, the Ministry of Thunder was surrounded by two hundred golden war barques belonging to the Imperial Board of Works and the Grand Clerk hall. Ten thousand high immortal arbiters hovered in the upper stratosphere. He waited for the signal to storm the lower basins and re-establish royal control.
The high lords didn’t care about justice. They cared that the rainfall schedules were delayed by eighteen hours. The mortal grain harvest in the Eastern Province was three days behind quota.
If the turbines didn’t turn today, Heaven would deploy the Sovereign Total ruin Legions to flatten Foundry Nine into black glass.
In the shattered Central Monolith Plaza, around a massive half-round table assembled from salvaged dark wood crates and iron rails, sat the negotiating parties.
On one side sat Inspector Cui Heng and three Grand Arbiters of the Supreme Clerk hall. He was wrapped in nine-colored jade regalia.
On the other side sat Lin Ke, Scribe Bai Song, Zhao Wuji, and Elder Wu DeZheng.
“The Throne can’t permit an unregulated worker commune to control the cosmic lightning,” Grand Arbiter Yan intoned. His long white beard shook with high-born offense. “The Ministry of Thunder is a Royal Organ. A new Minister must be appointed from the noble bloodlines to restore sovereign order.”
