Victory builds an empire; defeat leaves nothing. —History of the Fourth Empire, Chapter 11, Section 5.
Southwest Territory of the galaxy, Outer Rim.
Endor system, Satellite 2 of the Endor gas giant, Dawn Star Planet.
"Governor, this is the complete ceremonial procedure. Please review it." The master of ceremonies, Yarno, respectfully presented Tang Xiao with a PAD. Once opened, it projected a screen filled with clauses.
Yarno had once overseen Tang Xiao and Adele-Ulan's wedding. Tang Xiao had been fairly satisfied with her performance on Rendili Planet, so he retained her as his master of ceremonies.
Now that Tang Xiao's power was steadily growing, he had to maintain his dignity at all times and keep his distance from his subordinates.
He was a king, a leader—not a buddy or a friend. Leaders who constantly mingled with their subordinates might seem approachable, but in truth, they could only be described in two words—lacking decorum.
A king or leader who lacked decorum would not make people feel he was easy to get along with. Instead, they would only think, I could do that too. Since ancient times, that had been the road to chaos.
Those emperors who displayed qualities such as being "down-to-earth" and "approachable" had first established their authority. Only then would they occasionally lower themselves to the common level.
And etiquette was a necessary means of displaying a leader's authority. That was why masters of ceremony were necessary. Those seemingly cumbersome formalities were, in the end, safeguards for imperial dignity.
This had been true throughout every dynasty, whether in the feudal age, the information age, or the interstellar age.
At least for Tang Xiao now, none of this was difficult to accept...
He had no friends, no family, no beloved, no confidant.
Perhaps he had once had them, but as