Chapter 6

I didn't start with court right away, mind you. The Functionaries were only there as a welcoming committee. Actual court began the next day, after I had showered, eaten, and slept. It was considerate of the various minor Goa'uld who otherwise would no doubt demand I start solving problems so their workload could be lightened, signifying that my own minions were not quite as cruel or inconsiderate as the majority. That was likely why they had survived Lord Yu's purge. The less mustache-twirling a Goa'uld regularly did, the less likely it was they would hold a high position in most courts.

Most of the current crop of minions I had were working in junior positions before the purge, and I still had a number of other positions needing to be filled, which was why I found myself in the throne room of Taiji Palace now, after a night of rest, about to start court.

The Throne Room of the Palace of Taiji was, if anything, understated for a Goa'uld. Most Goa'uld preferred architecture that came with a whole lot of Gold and Solid Naquadah worked into the walls and whatnot. My mother had preferred bronze and lacquered wood, with just a touch of the Jade that Lord Yu used in place of Gold in his various buildings. I had to say, it was an aesthetic taste I agreed with. Instead of gilded walls and Solid Naquadah filigree, the throne room had a lot of red lacquered wood, bronze statues, and just a hint of jade in the floor tiles and on the throne.

That was something my mother very much shared with the rest of our species when it came to aesthetics. The throne was massive, placed on a raised dais above everyone else, carved entirely out of Yellow Jade, decorated with jeweled dragon statues, and flanked by Bronze Braziers that smoldered with coals that produced fragrant smoke. It was all very pompous and if I had my way, I would have swapped it out for something less ostentatious. Unfortunately, I had a few Underlords of my own who would gladly jump at the chance to supplant me if they thought I was going soft.

Speaking of which, the first of them was making her way over now, bowing obsequiously to me as she did so. Uttu was a Goa'uld who had been the Under-Secretary to my Mother's Vizier, the Goa'uld Ninshubur. Ninshubur had been one of the Goa'uld Functionaries who had fled ahead of Lord Yu's Purge to the Court of Shalim, one of the Vassals and Underlords of Ba'al. Apparently, Uttu had known nothing of the uprising that my mother had planned and that Ninshubur had supported.

My mother had gotten both Uttu and Ninshubur off of the Goa'uld Dagon, who she had helped Lord Yu invade, capturing a swathe of worlds of Dagon's before Olokun's father had invaded after Yu and Dagon had made peace and the rest of Dagon's worlds had dissolved into bickering minor territories ruled by Independent Goa'uld.

Uttu herself had taken a rather well-endowed, female, host of Persian Extraction, something that she had to have gained by trade with Ba'al, Molech, or some of the Minor Go'auld who still had populations of that sort of Human. She wore a black and purple gown of silk that was elaborately woven in shimmering patterns. Her obsequious bows and smiling eyes hid a deeper emotion that reminded me of nothing so much as a Spider waiting for prey to fall into its web. With my genetic memory filling in the gaps of Goa'uld Social conventions, I realized that she would be testing me for a bit until she decided whether or not I was worthy of her service.

"My Lord. It is good to see you have arrived whole from Longinus. We had not gotten news of how the battle turned out until you were already on your way." Began Uttu, bowing just enough to give a peek down her robe at her cleavage.

"Olokun was nothing, Our Lord Yu set me to crush his Chief Underlord during the battle and I saw to that personally. It was hardly a worthy challenge." I waved off.

"Still, for one so young to be thrust into battle so suddenly, we had feared something might happen." Pressed Uttu.

"You should show more faith in your Lord then. It was nothing I could not handle. Tell me, how are you settling into your duties as my Vizier?" I questioned.

"Ah, straight to business then?" Queried Uttu, straightening.

"Business before pleasure, Uttu. These worlds will not run themselves, and Lord Yu wishes them to be run well. He would not have given them to me if he did not." I rebuked.

"Indeed. As things stand, we are still rebuilding from Lord Yu's Purge. There have been several gaps in the Bureaucracy and Jaffa Ranks that still need to be filled. General Kuo can fill you in on the Jaffa matters, but as for the Bureaucracy, we still require four directorate-level positions to be filled by Goa'uld. We are also lacking a Minister of Rites and a Minister of Appointments, the first of which is not as big a deal as the second. It is slowing the appointment of positions." Informed Uttu.

"Whose duties in the event of a lack of Ministers of Appointments fall to you, do they not?" I queried.

"Yes, My Lord, that is so, but it is so much to deal with on top of everything else." Defended Uttu.

"Well, we do not have to worry about that anymore. Send me a list of appointments that need filling and promising candidates. I want Goa'uld who are talented to fill the appointments, not those who are simply the most senior or the most loyal. I do not require subordinates who will not tell me that I am making a mistake when I am making a mistake." I commanded.

"Indeed? Your mother preferred loyalty over other qualities in her top appointments." Mused Uttu.

"And had she not done so, perhaps someone she would listen to would have told her that conspiring against Lord Yu with Cronus was folly and she would be sitting here still instead of I. I do not intend to make the same mistake she did." I huffed.

That seemed to satisfy something within Uttu because she gave a small, approving, nod before saying, "It shall be done as you command."

"Do we have a Minister of Finance and a Minister of Works still?" I asked.

"We do, My Lord. Luoshen, the previous Director of Waterways is your Minister of Works, while Chíguó Tiān served as Under-Secretary of Invenstment under the Previous Minister of Finance." Informed Uttu.

"Send them in next. You may go. Remember to have that list for me by this evening." I dismissed Uttu.

"As you command, My Lord." Bowed Uttu before leaving.

Next came a pair of Goa'uld both with Han Chinese Hosts. One took the form of a Willowy woman wearing a blue, white, and pink silk robe that was beaded with pearls. The other was a bearded man in a Green and Blue Robe with a Lute slung over his back. Luoshen and Chíguó Tiān. Both seemed sincerely relieved to be alive after Lord Yu's purge, and my Goa'uld Genetic Memory supplied that such relief often translated into loyal and diligent service, at least for a time. Once that was used up, it all depended on a combination of how they're treated along with how successful you are. Nobody wanted to revolt against someone who was a success after all, while if you were treated well, the risk of losing everything, in a revolt could outweigh the potential gains, especially if that revolt was against an Underlord or a Success.

Both Luoshen and Chíguó Tiān bowed before me and straightened as I bid them to rise. They seemed to be unsure as to who should speak first, so I cut the Gordian Knot for them and bid Luoshen to speak first, asking for a report on the state of our workshops and manufactories.

"Virtually untouched by the Purge, My Lord. Only the Director of Manufactories and Director of Armamanets lost their lives. Since then, General Kuo has promoted another Jaffa to the Position of Interim Director of Armaments after Bei Shan, your Mother's Previous Director of Armaments was found to be complicit in her plans and purged. The buildings themselves don't even require repairs." Informed Luoshen.

A Jaffa as Director of Armaments wasn't as unusual as you'd think. It, along with the position of Minister of War, which was generally filled by the Goa'uld Lord's First Prime, tended to be the two formal high-level positions that Jaffa were allowed to take. It made sense, given how few System Lords were inclined toward military command themselves outside of how it could be used to aggrandize themselves. Most Goa'uld would prefer all the boring administrative stuff get taken care of by a Jaffa Minion. Even Ra, which now that I thought about it, likely contributed to his defeat against the Asgard and would contribute to his death at the hands of the Tauri.

Of course, I also knew that the Jaffa of the Empire often organized their own, unofficial, parallel command structures. It depended on the Goa'uld whether such things were encouraged or forced underground. Lord Yu encouraged it, so long as the Jaffa were loyal, whereas people like Apophis and Heru'ur violently cracked down on such things whenever possible. Ba'al also encouraged such things, but on the whole, it tended to be a practice more encouraged by Queens like Bastet, Kali, Amaterasu, and Morrigan. Nirrti as well, I suppose, but then, she was not yet a System Lord in her own right, and currently served as Ra's Chief Scientist.

"The positions that require filling will be filled shortly. This is good news, however, as it means that we can expand instead of wasting time and resources repairing facilities." I nodded.

"What sort of expansion did you have in mind, My Lord?" Questioned Chíguó Tiān.

"I will likely be ordering a shipyard built that can handle vessels that are one and a half times the size of an Al'kesh." I informed.

"There is no Goa'uld Warship of that size that I know of." Frowned Chíguó Tiān.

"Not yet there isn't. I am an engineer and designing one is on the list of improvements I will be making. Can the treasury handle such an expansion?" I queried.

"It should be able to, though building such a shipyard will take months. Perhaps even more than a year of local time." Cautioned Chíguó Tiān.

"My office will see it done, however, if Chíguó Tiān's Office can provide the funds." Added Luoshen.

"It will be worth it. See it is done. In the meantime, I have some revisions to the Ma'tok Staff and Zat'nic'tel Process. They will be sent to your office this evening." I commanded.

"Ah, I had heard of the famed Tianyan Staff Rifle and discussed it with Kuai Xing, the Director of Education. He estimates that the workforce, using the flash training devices we have, will achieve the required literacy and numeracy within the month. I had not heard of a Zat'nic'tel design, however." Nodded Luoshen.

"It is new. A complementary design to the Tianyan. I have dubbed it the Diàn Jiàn Model Zat'nic'tel. There is one more thing, however. I wish for work to begin on expanding electricity and running water to the servant populations alongside the Jaffa and Goa'uld ones." I ordered.

"That will be expensive. Are you certain it is worth it?" Frowned Chíguó Tiān.

"The people need a benevolent ruler who invests in them. It will motivate their productivity to new heights and earn their loyalty in a way that my mother never did." I insisted.

"Some would say that giving them a basic education beyond what is necessary for their trades would be more than enough for that and that expanding such privileges as running water and electricity to the Servant Population would do nothing but make them lazy and ill-mannered toward their betters." Pointed out Luoshen.

"Those people are fools. There are two ways for a Goa'uld to rule, to be feared or to be loved. Most of our people take the prior approach. It is easier and more expedient. However, when the servants have nothing left to lose, they lash out at their rulers like cornered animals. Have we not seen multiple, large-scale, revolts by the Goa'uld and servant populations over the millennia? One would think that a race of Gods would realize the cause and effect. Lord Yu has. He understands the Servants cannot be treated with such a heavy hand as a matter of course that they feel revolt is the only alternative. I wish to try something different than the vast majority of our people." I explained.

"And if it doesn't work and indeed only leads to insolence and rebellion?" Demanded Chíguó Tiān.

"Then I will crush the rebellion and sleep soundly afterward. I do not believe that will be the outcome, however." I intoned.

"Some might call that a different sort of madness than your mother, but madness all the same." Warned Chíguó Tiān.

"Let them talk. We will see who is right in the end. Until I am proven wrong or ordered to stop by our Lord, however, I wish this to be done." I ordered.

"Then it will be done. Can I at least lobby for a slow, phased, expansion of such things?" Asked Luoshen.

"You have two years. In that time, I want the territories I have been given to rule by our Lord fully electrified and irrigated." I nodded.

Chíguó Tiān and Luoshen breathed out a sigh of relief at that. I knew they were thinking that at least I wasn't completely mad. I understood their concerns, from the point of view of the sort of feudal dictators that the Goa'uld were, giving the human population a basic education, running water, and electricity could be seen as encouraging them to revolt in pursuit of further luxuries. Of course, they didn't have the knowledge that you could be a dictator and still give the people those things that living on twenty-first-century earth gave you. If anything, that sort of thing could inspire people to back you more. Mussolini made the trains run on time, after all.

Not that I was aiming for a fascist dictatorship, mind you. I was planning to convert over to a constitutional monarchy at some point after the Tauri became the dominant Milky Way Power. Luoshen and Chíguó Tiān didn't need to know that, though. In fact, if I did tell them that right now, they'd probably start planning my assassination. It was too close to what the Tok'ra had wanted to do and likely still did want to do to some extent.

Regardless, I dismissed Chíguó Tiān and Luoshen and brought in General Kuo. The unofficial head of the Jaffa Planning Staff still officially answered to Chen as my first Prime and Minister of War. Chen, however, had only just come here with me and didn't know the situation as of yet. General Kuo was accompanied by Generals Di, Tsao, and Yan, three other Jaffa Elders who together made up the quartet of the Jaffa Planning Staff. Together with Chen, they made up my own version of the Five Tiger Generals.

"What is the status of my forces, Generals?" I questioned as soon as they rose from their bows.

"Well, My Lord, the Jaffa are ready to serve you, but as you know Lord Yu had to cull a significant fraction of them due to treachery and disarm the rest for the duration." Began General Kuo.

"Indeed. We lost roughly eight-hundred-sixty-two-thousand-five-hundred Jaffa to your mother's foolishness, roughly a quarter of our forces." Scoffed General Yan.

"Of the rest, roughly one-million-three-hundred-thousand are currently fully equipped and fit for duty." Continued General Tsao.

"Which means we have one-million-two-hundred-eighty-seven-thousand-five-hundred Jaffa training with In'tar, blades, quarterstaves, and training armor." Finished General Di.

"Concerning. Do these Jaffa have Primta?" I queried.

"They do. They simply had only just passed their initial trials when your mother's foolishness caused Lord Yu to begin a purge. He also took much of the stored equipment your mother had produced to attempt to forestall any further such idiocy until he could straighten the situation out." Huffed General Yan.

"He hasn't returned it, so I can only imagine he has equipped forces of his own with them." Shrugged General Tsao.

"Of course, the situation with fighters is the same. Of the five hundred squadrons of Ptah-class Fighters we fielded before the abortive revolt, roughly one-hundred-fifty were purged and their fighters seized." Informed General Di.

"We also lost the equipment of a further fifty squadrons as more suppression methods. We have been forced to pull Udajeet out of storage to make up the shortfall." Finished General Kuo.

"Are we not Producing Ptah-class Fighters?" I asked.

"We are." Nodded General Tsao.

"You can blame the lack of them being given to our forces on the fifty other squadrons that were stripped of their fighters and only recently rearmed." Huffed General Di.

"Foolishness is expensive in more than simple lives." Grunted General Yan.

"Your new First Prime and Minister of War has been surveying the state of our space forces since you arrived. I will save you the trouble of having to go through his report. You likely saw the single Ha'tak currently being repaired as you came in, but we also suffered Al'kesh losses. Of the twelve Al'kesh we had before the purge, six were destroyed, three are currently being repaired, and the last three are on patrol. Until you arrived with your two Ha'taks, they were our only operational ships." Continued General Kuo.

"Unfortunate. How soon will it take to repair our damaged ships?" I questioned.

"Two weeks for the Al'kesh, at least twice that for the Ha'tak. Give it a month of local time for us to have our remaining ships repaired." Answered General Kuo.

"That's still less than we had at the start of all this idiocy." Groused General Yan.

"The Ha'taks are also missing their Ptah-class Fighter Complements." Added General Tsao.

"Our next batch of produced fighters is slated for the Ha'tak, Chuāncì Jiàn to replace its lost complement." Finished General Di.

"I have some good news, then. I have been gifted an Ensi-class Deployable Shipyard, and we will be producing better equipment for the Jaffa within the month. The Tianyan Staff Rifle and a new type of Zat'nic'tel I am calling the Diàn Jiàn Model Zat'nic'tel. Also, I have instructions for the repair crews working on the Chuāncì Jiàn. Modifications that will allow the Ha'tak to hit harder, target more precisely and take more damage on its shields. My own two Ha'taks already carry these modifications and they were crucial to our victory over Olokun." I informed.

"That is good news." Remarked General Tsao.

"When can we expect the Ensi-Class Deployable Shipyard to arrive?" Queried General Kuo.

"Within three standard days." I answered.

"That might actually speed the repairs of our Al'kesh." Mused General Di.

"Thank you, My Lord, at least someone is doing something correct." Huffed General Yan.

"In terms of the new equipment, that means we can shift the Ma'toks and old-style Zat'nic'tels to our current crop of in-training youngbloods." Intoned General Tsao.

"Live fire training is always a lot more efficient, especially with those who have only passed their first trials." Agreed General Kuo.

"I will summon you again in three days. For now, that was all I required. The modifications to the Ha'tak will be sent over to our new Director of Armaments, you can ask him for the details." I dismissed.

The four Elder Jaffa saluted, bowed, then as one, turned on their heels and marched out of the throne room. The rest of court was mostly about settling disputes. I had two Goa'uld, one who was in charge of mining operations on Shǎnshuo, the Moon of Zhaoze, where the Marsh World's largest Trinium Deposit was located blaming another Goa'uld who was in charge of the factories of the Nandao Region of Chejian for late equipment deliveries and that Goa'uld insisting that the late deliveries were unavoidable owing to freak storms grounding the freighters for two days.

It was all very tedious and largely boiled down to a loss of face on the part of the mining operations director for a lackluster month of Trinium exports last month. It honestly wasn't as big a deal as he seemed to believe, since we had more than enough Trinium to continue our rearming and even begin work on my expansion plans. In the end, I wound up splitting the difference and offering the pair a choice. I could fine them both or they could agree to drop the insipid argument over a loss of face. Knowing the psychology of most Goa'uld, they wouldn't agree to the fines, since it meant that they got fined as well as their opponent, and anything that blew back on them personally would be unacceptable.

I was right on the money there, both agreed to drop the argument. It was a sad fact of life that most Goa'uld refused to sacrifice anything personally if they could help it, even if doing so would get them what they wanted in the end. The ones that would willingly sacrifice things tended to get snapped up by Ra for Ashrak Duty, they didn't manage large mining or factory operations.

With that done, the remainder of my administration for the day was, sadly, paperwork. Uttu had forwarded me her lists, along with brief dossiers on the Goa'uld she was considering for promotion and I spent the remainder of the day reading through them and making decisions. Fortunately, by the end of the day, I would have a fully staffed bureaucracy again. Once that was done, I sent off the various technical reports I had promised and then I could relax.

I spent the evening tinkering, doing preliminary work on a design for a sort of rotary staff cannon that would effectively use the principles of rotary cannons to increase the rate of fire of smaller ships like the Al'kesh, while still being capable of being mounted on a superstructure that was smaller than a full-sized Ha'tak. It would wind up being a big project for my tinkering for the next month, after which, I would be redesigning the Al'kesh to take advantage of it.

For now, though, I had barely gotten started on it before I was forced to eat something and head to bed. I had more administration to do tomorrow, after all. I couldn't spend the whole night tinkering and coming up with new technology designs. I, unfortunately, had responsibilities now. Reluctantly, I broke away from my computer and the design work and calculations I was doing on it to have a meal that reminded me suspiciously of Peking Duck, though I'd have to tell the palace kitchens to go easier on the sauce next time. Then, once I was finished, I headed off to sleep.

Tomorrow I would wake up and do all the administration over again, hopefully this time with more help. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, here we see the first court session of Erlang Shen as he gets to the business of administrating his new territories. Along with that, we get a bit of interaction with some of his new minions. Uttu is calculating but will serve a Lord she thinks is worthy, meanwhile, Luoshen and Chíguó Tiān are loyal but somewhat conservative and orthodox. Of the five Jaffa generals, they range a bit in personality. General Kuo is all business whereas General Yan is a sardonic asshole sometimes. The other two fall in between those two.

At any rate, the next chapter will be a bit of a timeskippy one, going over the events of the next two months of admin. It's a lot of building up to the next arc, so I want to cover it in a timeskippy chapter.

Stay tuned. . .