Traveling to other universes had always been Guilliman's plan.
Especially after communicating with the Dark Angels' monastery, the Stone Fortress, and the Dark Watchers left behind by the ancient civilization.
This further strengthened his idea of traveling to other universes.
If a civilization cannot maintain sufficient curiosity and continue to expand outward, it is tantamount to taking chronic poison.
The ultimate security of mankind can only come from outward expansion and colonization.
In the cruel competition among civilizations, only extroverted civilizations can survive, and conservative civilizations that live in a corner will eventually perish.
Now, Guilliman has not yet completely saved the human empire, but he must make plans and plan for the future.
Human beings must be prepared to colonize other galaxies and other universes.
Of course, summoning Cawl and forming an alien universe exploration team was just a casual move to reserve enough living space for humans as a backup strategic plan.
The Empire's current focus remains on fighting Chaos, and against traitors and enemies in the galaxy.
The Grand Magus stared in amazement at the Primarch sitting on the wide chair. Such ridiculous words were spoken in such a serious tone.
For a moment, he couldn't tell if Guilliman was joking or serious.
"Explore other universes?" Cawl said hesitantly. "Sir, please forgive my ignorance, but can you tell me accurately whether you are joking?"
The Empire of Man is the largest empire in human history.
But it only occupies 2/3 of the Milky Way.
This means that up to now, humans have not even been able to completely control the entire galaxy.
Don't even think about traveling to other galaxies.
Compared with the vast universe, the human empire is really too small and really not worth mentioning.
It is like a grain of sand in the raging waves, tiny and ignored by everyone.
Under such circumstances, Guilliman actually still wanted to go to other universes.
In this case, it would be like a village boy who doesn't even make 3,000 yuan a month and wants to visit the home of the world's richest man.
Kaur couldn't help but have a slightly disrespectful thought.
The Primarch was being too delusional.
Guilliman looked at Cawl with a playful smile.
"Does the Great Sage think that I am a joker?"
Kaul was also silent for a moment, and then he heard the sound of gears and machinery roaring at his neck.
The head covered with metal and precision gear structure shook slightly.
Come to think of it, Guilliman is indeed not someone who likes to joke.
From the time he woke up to now, the various plans that Guilliman has launched are really crazy.
But in the end, those crazy plans always come true.
Guilliman pushed forward those plans with fearsome perseverance and wisdom.
Sometimes, many plans seem useless, but they will play an amazing role one day in the future.
Everything is linked together, and once you think about it carefully, you will be terrified by his foresight.
"How can we travel to other universes? We can't even travel to other galaxies? So far, the Empire has never reached other galaxies. Maybe some people have reached other galaxies, but they have never returned. Such exploration is meaningless."
One of Kaul's mechanical arms extended with a humming sound.
A holographic projection interface popped up on the thick metal arm.
In the projection, countless stars are suspended and moving around the core of the galaxy.
It is worth mentioning that the positions of stars in the universe are not fixed, they also move.
The distance between stars in the first few hundred years is different from that in the last few hundred years.
Human beings are too small to feel the movement of the Milky Way.
It's like a person standing on the earth and cannot sense the movement of the ground beneath his feet.
The cosmic background of stars is changing every moment, and the solar system moves along with the many stars in the Milky Way.
This is one of the reasons why the Warp needs lighthouses.
Without a lighthouse as a reference, ships entering the Warp would easily be lost in the turbulent ether currents and eventually be swept into the depths of the Warp.
Once the cosmic coordinates of a star change, the ship continues to enter that area based on previous knowledge.
It is very likely that it will plunge into a star or appear in the void outside and will never reach the galaxy.
"Traveling to other universes is easier than we thought, Cawl. Do you remember the last time I went to Mordor?" Guilliman stood up, his tall figure casting a shadow on the room. He walked to the side of the bookshelf before continuing, "Mordor is a very special place. It originated from those ancient races."
"In the Stone Fortress. I talked with those Dark Watchers, and they told me that before the Eldar appeared and even their creators did not lead the galaxy, the first civilization war broke out in the universe. Some races who did not want to be involved in the war built these roads to other universes to escape the disaster. Ermodo is the entrance to such a road, which is paved along the territory of the gods and extends to other universes."
"Our current job is to explore along this road. In the early stages, our goal is to familiarize ourselves with the roads to other universes. Being able to go there and come back is the goal of the first stage. Then comes the second stage of development. We will become as familiar with the technology of making roads as possible, widen the roads, and try to allow organized armies to pass through. The third step is to master the road technology and mobilize the empire's troops to colonize other universes. In that way, even if we lose the war here, we can retreat to other universes and preserve our manpower."
"The second-stage Primaris technology has matured. I need you to sit in Mordor and conduct various tests to equip them with different capabilities to ensure that they can enter other universes and return safely."
"Such a plan is very difficult to implement." Even if Kohl had lived for ten thousand years, he had seen all kinds of big scenes.
But now, he really couldn't accept it.
The Imperial Regent has become so arrogant that he wants to interfere in other universes.
The Primarch is even more arrogant than his father.
The Emperor only created the Webway, but he was crazy enough to build a cross-universe road.
"We will go ahead even if there are no difficulties. We will go ahead even more if there are difficulties." Guilliman spread his hands. "I will leave this matter to you for the full responsibility in the early stage. After I solve some problems in the empire, I will personally lead this project."
Seeing Guilliman's firm attitude, Cawl could only nod and accept the appointment.
After talking about traveling to other universes, Guilliman sat back in his chair and pointed to a holographic projection that covered the entire room, showing a picture of the Milky Way.
Billions of light spots appeared in the room, forming a white light fog.
The light fog is composed of densely packed light spots, numerous in number, and every spot is glowing.
Exuding a faint silver glow.
Guilliman waved his hands and magnified the local scene.
The tiny particles all turned into shining stars.
The two of them seemed to be in the Milky Way.
"This is a display of all the stars in the entire galaxy." Guilliman said as he zoomed in until he could see every point of light clearly.
The sea of stars composed of hundreds of billions of stars gave their bodies a faint silver edge.
Carl keenly noticed that there was an area mixed with golden light in the holographic projection.
The light spots composed of gold and silver light only occupy about one twentieth of the entire picture.
When this image of the starry sky is not magnified, it is difficult to notice this detail.
The light spots composed of gold and silver glow radiated out thin tentacles in the surroundings. These countless tentacles formed intricate links between them, forming an infinitely dense network structure.
"It seems that you have noticed this place." Guilliman said, "This is the area covered by the Lighthouse Project. Those tentacles are a dense shipping network formed by lighthouse nodes. They can effectively reduce the impact of the warp storm and maintain the normal operation of the empire without relying on Terra's Astronomican."
Kaul looked at it for a moment, feeling a little disturbed.
For thousands of years since its founding, the Imperium has relied on the guidance provided by the Emperor's Astronomican.
The Ecclesiarchy and the Council of High Lords have always upheld the Astronomican sanctity, viewing it as strong evidence of Terra's rule over other regions and representing the Emperor's legitimacy.
Some people have also questioned whether the human empire is too dependent on the Astronomican. If there is a problem, humanity is likely to be in trouble.
Unfortunately, for anyone who dares to question, the final result is not very good.
In front of the state church and the high lords, this kind of questioning was unbearable for them.
To question the Astronomican is to question the Emperor, to question the Emperor is to question Terra, and to question Terra is to question the legitimacy of their rule.
If they dare to question the legitimacy now, I'm afraid they will rebel in a few days.
Only someone as bold as the Imperial Regent could say that he could break the intricate chain of interests between the high lords and the vested interests within the state religion and promote this kind of lighthouse node.
Decades ago, who would have dared to promote such things? If you said it today, the state religion and the inquisition would come to your door the next day, and on the third day, even the ashes would be gone.
"Once everything is formed and mixed with the golden light, it means the success of the Lighthouse Project, and humans will no longer be so passive in the face of the Warp." Guilliman introduced, "The Warp is very dangerous to humans, but also very important. If we lose the Warp, I am afraid that the human empire will fall apart in a few years. For this reason, we must tame the Warp and make it our helper rather than our doomsday."
"When you are in charge of Mordor, you also need to pay attention to this matter and ensure the perfect implementation of the Lighthouse Project. This is the most important step in laying the foundation for mankind's glory."
Guilliman explained to Cawl the importance of the Beacon Project.
Once completed, humanity will be freed from the Terran Astronomican, get rid of inefficient communications, and strengthen the Empire's control over various worlds.
In the past, star language communications were shockingly inefficient.
An urgent astropathic message asking for help would most likely drift in the warp for decades before being received by Terra.
It would be decades before Terra would react and send its military to the area to deal with it.
Under such circumstances, the empire's ability to deal with various crises is simply unbearable to watch.
It can be expressed by the word garbage.
This is also the main reason why Guilliman allowed each planet to have democratic autonomy.
Terra really has no way to control every colony and can only let them choose someone who can represent their interests and then let that person fight for their interests.
Moreover, absolute dictatorship and keeping the tentacles firmly in hand are not worth it for the empire at all, as the costs and benefits are not equal.
That is a sign of lack of confidence, a fear of having one's power eroded and eventually losing everything.
Absolute dictatorship will cause officials of all classes to care more about the interests of their superiors than the people they rule.
When an official can be rewarded without having to take into account the interests of the civilians they rule, then there is no need for this official to safeguard the interests of the residents.
There is no way to solve the root problem of human selfishness and greed.
Any force that claims to be able to use ideals and beliefs to eliminate human selfishness and greed is, without exception, just talking nonsense.
If an official wants to achieve a certain position, and if it depends on the opinions of the residents in his jurisdiction, then he will definitely serve the residents of the area and fight for their interests in order to gain support.
Whether an official can be promoted depends on his leader.
Then he just needs to serve his boss well and please him.
If, in this process, he is also willing to fight for the interests of local residents, then he is truly a rare good person and good official, and his ideology, morality and awareness are worthy of a saint.
Why
In an absolute dictatorship, fighting for the interests of local residents is completely useless or has very little benefit.
The boss will not praise that person for this, nor will he promote that person's position for this.
The local residents had no way to benefit that person.
Just giving without any reward, isn't that still being a saint
This is the reason why Guilliman only concentrated Terra's power in star sectors, sub-star sectors, and even galaxies, but not in the realm of planets.
Once these officials appointed to the planet give up fighting for the interests of local residents and choose to please their superiors, their reforms will lose all meaning.
The superiors give a task, and the subordinates perform better in order to increase their political capital.
Just exploit the residents of the planet and force them to complete the tasks. So what if the residents of the planet can't survive
The locals died, so did they. But you couldn't disobey your boss's orders. If you did, you would lose your hat.
Anyone who dares to rebel will be killed, and then the news will be concealed after they are all killed.
As long as the boss doesn't say anything, you will still get a promotion and a raise even if half the planet's people die for the mission.
Terra is tens of thousands of light years away, and no one knows what happened. The most we can see is that person getting promoted.
It is even more impossible for Guilliman to visit every planet to check whether the officials appointed by Terra are doing their job and are good officials who speak up for the people.
Human nature can only be guided, not blocked.
Even if the Inquisition had the time and energy to launch repeated purges each year to eliminate all those officials who were greedy for profit and disregarded the people of the empire, more officials would go down this path.
If one corrupt official falls, thousands of corrupt officials will stand up.
To curry favor with high-ranking officials, commit murder and arson, suppress violently, and get promotion and salary increase.
Speak for the people, be fair and honest, be friendly and close to the people, and be a scoundrel all your life
Saints are always a minority, and people in the world are profit-driven.
The right way is to guide them with interests.
If interests are directed towards bad people, then society will inevitably move towards moral decline.
If interests are directed towards good people, then society will be fair and honest, and doors will be opened at night.
Taking the planet as a unit, it is crucial to allow the grassroots to fight for their own interests and make their own voices heard.
With opposition, those people dare not act recklessly.
Officials in high positions will focus more on formulating reasonable plans rather than abusing power.
Only by balancing the interests of all parties can the planetary governor be allowed to carry out the task.
Otherwise, if the other party directly throws the plan back to you, you will only appear incompetent and become a laughing stock.
The planetary governors will not oppress the local residents too much just for the sake of their superiors' preferences.
Even if you stand in the position of planetary governor and try to please the higher-ups, you won't get promoted.
If he makes those people below him angry, he will have to step down in disgrace without gaining any benefits.
Absolute dictatorship is unacceptable.
Absolute democracy is even more undesirable, as the economy will easily become decoupled and become a behind-the-scenes force manipulating politics, and the country will become a business-oriented country.
To this end, the military and economy must be separated from politics and incorporated into the imperial control system, providing the empire with military support and a sufficiently large flow of funds to maintain technology and various military equipment.
Otherwise, the entire empire would easily fall into a vicious cycle of being controlled by large political and economic groups.
Once a country becomes a commercial country, the situation will be as bad as falling into absolute dictatorship, or even worse.
After all, an emperor has to protect his regime and benefit the people.
Businessmen only know how to suck blood, but they won’t spend money to improve people’s livelihood.
They will only continue to squeeze profits until all conflicts become unmanageable.
The Lighthouse Project, combined with Guilliman's reforms, can be said to be the best system suitable for the Empire today.
It can effectively reduce the possibility of the local planetary governor doing evil in the case of poor communication, and prevent people from falling into ignorance and living a life worse than death again.
Absolute freedom and democracy will make human beings become little lambs in the mouth of the evil god. The power will be dispersed, and various forces will fight for their own interests until their brains fly out.
Absolute dictatorship will turn the empire into another hell, people will lose their free thinking, and civilization will regress.
It is best to keep a balance between the two.
"I understand." Kaul bowed slightly to show that he was clear about his mission.
The two talked for a while and made a judgment on the current situation of the empire, as well as added some details of the next plan.
Guilliman then sent Cawl out to do his own thing.
He stayed in the strategy room and continued to handle the empire's affairs.
As long as he returns to Terra and solves some problems, Guilliman will set sail on another expedition.
Leave Terra's affairs to the bureaucrats headed by Penny.
As the de facto ruler of the Empire and the new Lord of Mankind, Guilliman will not interfere too much in the operation of the Empire.
His role is by no means that of an ancient emperor.
But the savior of mankind.
There is a fundamental difference between the two. Those emperors chose dictatorship for their own interests.
Guilliman chose dictatorship for the overall benefit of humanity.
His duty is to save the empire and lead mankind out of this dark universe.
Dictatorship and dictatorship are only means, not the ultimate goal.
Sitting in the magnificent palace of Terra, it cannot be saved.
He must lead the way on the battlefield to inspire the soldiers of the empire.
The casualties of any grand narrative are always those at the bottom who hold true faith.
Guilliman must make them know that the interests of the Imperial rulers and theirs are one and the same.
The next phase of the Indomitable Crusade must begin.