Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 504

Chapter 502: Even Busier After Peace

At the meeting, the Alliance’s many senior officials were still bickering.

But Gu Hang’s mind was already wandering.

The war within the Dragon Eagle Sector was, by all accounts, largely over.

There might still be remnants of the Greenskins on various planets; outside, there were the hastily retreating Furies, the possibility of retaliation from their allies, and in the Spider Web Sector, just north of the Eastern Sector, the Iron Rage Stones might spark a major war…

The shadow of war still loomed.

But regardless of the shadows and Greenskin remnants, overall, peace could be considered largely achieved.

Don’t expect a regime spanning four hundred worlds to be free of internal conflict; that’s unrealistic.

As long as there aren’t crises affecting multiple worlds simultaneously, then peace can be considered achieved.

And after peace arrived, Gu Hang found that he and the entire Alliance had more to worry about and were even busier.

In Gu Hang’s view, the current situation of the Alliance, where profits were entirely generated by two centers, while the remaining worlds were suffering losses, was essentially due to the Alliance’s administrative capacity failing to keep pace with the expansion of the regime.

Yunluo is a more developed place than Feiyi, and unlike Feiyi, it’s not designated as Level 5, but Level 4.

It’s richer, yet pays less tax. This is clearly the product of the previous star region government.

With years of accumulation and the three star regions serving as a strong rear base, resources are plentiful. Its size shouldn’t be much larger than that of Qimadi, which has only been developing for a few years or even a decade.

In fact, while Yunluo Center’s output is much higher, its fiscal contribution is insufficient.

Similarly, while those loss-making worlds have many objective reasons for their losses, if the Alliance’s administrative capacity is up to par, the cost of establishing and maintaining rule shouldn’t be so high.

Of course, this isn’t the Alliance’s fault alone. Gu Hang had previously praised the Alliance government’s performance, so it’s unlikely they’d turn against it now and criticize its performance as lame.

This problem is widespread throughout the entire human empire.

The scope of its rule is simply too vast.

Forgetting the Empire for now, even establishing a unified, centralized government across the Alliance’s four hundred worlds would be incredibly challenging, and the cost of maintaining it would skyrocket.

What if, one day, the Alliance’s control expanded to encompass four or five thousand worlds across the entire Eastern Universe?

Then, perhaps money wouldn’t be the only issue.

From this perspective, Gu Hang could understand why the Empire had fallen into such a mess.

Holy Terra probably still hasn’t figured out exactly how many worlds are currently under its rule within the Empire’s borders. This number fluctuates daily, with new worlds added, lost, rebellions resolved, and rebellions resolved…

And these changes aren’t limited to the frontiers. Due to the unique nature of astral tunnels, a system previously located in the heart of the region can suddenly become a frontier due to the discovery of a new astral tunnel.

Even the exact number of worlds in the Empire isn’t known; it’s only known to be in the millions.

The same goes for the military. The Empire might have a rough idea of the number of Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy units, but these are only on paper; the actual numbers are completely unknown. The number of departments, agencies, and powerful individuals with the power to create new Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy units is so vast that it’s impossible to keep track.

If they can’t even grasp these, how can they even begin to understand the population and industrial situation of individual worlds?

Without even basic information, how can they rule? Rule, what’s the point?

Given these circumstances, the Empire’s current top-down, five-tiered structure—Holy Terra, Space Domain, Star Region, Sector, and Planet—plus strong local autonomy, is a dead end.

Within this structure, the most independent position is held by the Planetary Governor, who can do virtually anything he pleases on his planet. The only thing preventing them from doing so is the lack of power within a single planet.

Sector Governors are mere shams, so we’ll skip this for a moment;

Region Sovereigns are heavyweights.

Of the three intermediate tiers, the most important is the Region Government. They enjoy a high degree of independence, retaining Imperial taxes, controlling appointments within their respective sectors, and deploying the interstellar army and navy within their sectors.

Each sector government resembles a powerful local vassal.

The cosmic government, higher up, acts like a vassal leader.

Typically, a cosmic government occupies the most developed sector, inherently the wealthiest and most powerful vassal. With administrative power, each sector government must obey its orders to a certain extent, resembling a vassal leader. However, a cosmic government struggles to directly control every sector or sector.

The entire structure resembles a feudal system, yet differs significantly from it. Officials are appointed by the Holy Terra government, and there’s no inherited power.

Gu Hang, of course, dislikes this. His alliance has always maintained a high degree of centralization. As the central government, the alliance government maintains a strong degree of control over the areas it directly controls.

But now, under the pressure of reality, it seems forced to compromise to some extent.

As Gu Hang pondered, some vague ideas began to take shape in his mind.

Just then, someone called him to the meeting.

Gu Hang came back to his senses.

Although he’d been distracted earlier, he’d actually been listening to the heated discussion at the meeting.

At this point, people were calling him, which naturally meant the discussion had reached a dead end, and he, as the leader, was needed to make the final call.

After all, everyone’s opinions had been clearly expressed during the previous debate.

Gu Hang didn’t hesitate any longer and directly expressed his opinion:

“I roughly understand what everyone means: increase investment in loss-making worlds, build these worlds as soon as possible, and turn them into profits as soon as possible, exchanging large short-term losses for rapid development, so that they can be self-reliant in the future, get rid of long-term losses, and even make profits.”

“The other extreme is to completely abandon these worlds, maintain the empire’s conventional ruling methods, appoint planetary governors, and forcibly demand a 10% imperial tax. Other resources will not be interfered with. Unless the situation reaches the point of destroying the entire planet, the Alliance will not interfere with the local situation, but the local governor will handle it.”

“I also fully understand everyone’s ideas, but I think that these two directions are not completely contradictory. We can implement them at the same time.”

“I agree with Jason Morgan’s opinion. We need to analyze the situation in detail, region by region and planet by planet, and then decide how to implement it specifically.”

“Let’s talk about several regions separately…”

Gu Hang launched into a lengthy speech.

As he spoke, the others remained largely silent, attentively listening to the Alliance’s supreme commander. Only when Gu Hang raised questions did the designated individuals speak.

Gu Hang first defined the development goals for the Seven Horselands.

The entire Seven Horselands were designated as the Alliance’s core region.

Not only the Pegasus region, but also the remaining six regions warranted development.

These seven regions encompassed a total of 88 worlds and a population of 187 billion, making them currently a profitable region. While the primary source of income came from the Pegasus region, the Alliance’s founding, there would inevitably be a ceiling on the region’s development.

Of course, this ceiling didn’t mean there was no further development after reaching a certain level. It was a soft ceiling; after reaching a certain point, the rate of development would inevitably decline. Furthermore, because advanced industries consumed a significant portion of manpower and production, the planetary environment would reach a limit on the population it could support. Gu Hang didn’t want to create a world like Holy Terra; that would be too daunting. Even after reaching

this soft ceiling, the region would of course continue to develop, particularly in advanced and high-tech industries. However, some outdated production capacity will inevitably be eliminated.

Qimadi is the perfect location to take over.

Furthermore, since these 88 worlds were already under the Alliance’s control during the previous war, the Seven Madi and Economic Community frameworks have been fully implemented across these worlds. Now, the time is ripe for a complete transition to the Alliance system.

These 88 worlds are also where the Alliance will invest heavily.

Upon Gu Hang’s inquiry, Alliance Prime Minister Ms. Ossena Chenko, after consulting with her staff and several senior officials from various Alliance departments for several minutes, gave Gu Hang a firm answer: Over the next five years, the industrial and economic development of Qimadi can maintain a 10% annual growth rate.

Five years later, the total output value of Qimadi should reach over 300 billion.

…

The second area mentioned is Yunluo Center.

This will be the focus of establishing Alliance rule.

These over 40 worlds have large populations and developed economies, so losses are unlikely. However, Gu Hang refused to accept the result of simply making money in these places.

Gu Hang wanted these 54 worlds, with a population of 250 billion and a production value of 630 billion, to be fully institutionalized as part of the alliance, just as they had been in the Seven Horses.

Only then would Gu Hang be able to bring various high-end technologies and industries to these regions for future production. This would further boost the production value of these regions. Furthermore, the Alliance reasoned, considering these worlds’ high production values and relatively low Imperial taxes, why was the annual fiscal contribution so meager?

With the alliance system in place, Gu Hang hoped to ensure: no large-scale unrest, no widespread decline in the living standards of the vast majority of Imperial citizens, and at least no decline in the industrial economy. On these foundations, the Alliance’s control over these regions would be significantly enhanced, and their contribution to fiscal revenue would clearly increase.

Ossena was troubled by

this. Many of these considerations conflicted.

Allianceization and the prevention of unrest were in conflict. Allianceization would inevitably lead to losses for the middle class, despite Alliance policy allowing these business owners and former local officials to achieve higher ranks if they cooperated with the institutionalization process. While the Alliance’s high-ranking officials certainly offer an incredibly comfortable life for ordinary citizens, compared to the past, when they held the power of life and death and owned all the property, it’s a completely different proposition.

Without eliminating these rentiers, how can fiscal revenue be significantly increased without increasing output and declining living standards?

The knife will be cast upon these individuals.

Resistance could lead to unrest. Even if they don’t openly resist, adopting nonviolent non-cooperation tactics, the Alliance’s work will become increasingly difficult without the cooperation of local officials.

This is far more radical than the previous Alliance personnel replacement scheme.

But Governor Gu appears to have made up his mind.

Gu Hang offered his reasons: “No matter how the future develops, Qimadi and Yunluo Center are the core areas we rely on most. In the foreseeable future, our northern neighbors will make significant moves. Whether we like it or not, we must confront them. While there’s still time, we must resolve the issues in our backyard. I don’t want the rearguard to fail while the front lines are under immense pressure.”

Ossena expressed her understanding.

This time, her discussions with the Alliance government team took longer.

Ultimately, their response to Gu Hang, or rather, their own “KPI,” was to increase the fiscal revenue contribution of the four Yunluo districts by 30% over the next five years, while maintaining all other economic and livelihood indicators and minimizing unrest.

Gu Hang believed Yunluo Center had even greater potential, but he reluctantly expressed satisfaction with this figure.

Next, it was time to consider the loss-making star regions.

The situation varied from region to region.

In the eastern sector, the Alliance-controlled areas—Gold Pass, Bronze Pass, and Prideful Hand—totally comprised eight star regions and 94 worlds, but with a population of only approximately 88 billion. These star regions shared a common characteristic: before the Irontooth Orc Green Tide erupted, they were worlds surrounding the occupied zone, forming part of the former “Irontooth Line of Defense,” perennially subject to war.

During the Green Tide, they were either completely or partially overrun.

After the Green Tide, during the standoff between the Alliance and Fury, they came under Alliance control.

The production infrastructure and social order of these worlds have all collapsed to varying degrees due to the Greenskin Wars, resulting in massive population losses and government dysfunction.

The Alliance initially passed the “Economic Community Act” in these areas, and later directly dispatched Alliance officials to govern them, essentially securing a firm grip on these worlds.

These worlds lack any resistance. On the contrary, they are deeply grateful to the Alliance for saving them from the flames of war, and thanks to the efforts of the Alliance Propaganda Department, the overall social atmosphere has shifted towards the Alliance.

The costs of governing these worlds are minimal, and the main reason for their losses is the war, which has resulted in countless deaths and the disruption of all forms of production, leading to extreme poverty.

The problems of these worlds are relatively easy to solve. Just throw money at them, and they’ll have results.

Gu Hang’s point is that these worlds can be funded.

The Alliance estimates that spending around 20 to 30 billion per year on these 94 worlds will yield significant results.

In fact, since peace arrived, these 94 worlds have experienced a baby boom, and a rapid population recovery is foreseeable.

Ossena was most confident in the work plan for this region. She even dared to guarantee that in five years, the total output value of these eight star regions would increase from 67 billion to over 100 billion, and the population would increase from 88 billion to 95 billion.

The remaining areas are the ones that really need to be tackled.

(End of this chapter)