Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Wightman
The Emperor rules absolute.
The Emperor commands fanatical obedience from the IN and IM in Marc's novel. You try work stoppage tactics and you will be replaced at the end of a plasma gun and a new noble appointed in your place.
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The Emperor commands absolute power intermittently. There is only so much he can order regularly.
Real "absolute" rulers were almost never absolute or anything close to it. Eleven thousand worlds cannot be governed absolutely.
Granted flamboyant things like sign carrying probably are not the most effective tactics. But simple obstructionism is easily enough managed.
And real life emperors seldom command "fanatical" obedience from a multicultural empire and seldom want it. It is enough to have fanatical obedience from their bodyguards and dutiful obedience from the rest of their servants. The Imperium is a stable empire with a balance that can be gamed for centuries, not something ruled by a Kwaitz Haderach.