Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 708

Chapter 706: Firm Path

Gallardo detailed to Gu Hang the current state of opinion among the various leaders within Holy Terra regarding the Alliance.

Before Gu Hang’s “Alliance Plan” arrived, their stance was relatively unified: they acknowledged his achievements, but were extremely wary of him becoming a larger, more powerful new Iron Armor.

The overall strategy was to fragment and dismember the Alliance.

Not to mention that this would be unfair to meritorious officials, the Empire was vast, its history long, and countless heroes had emerged. Only a few achieved supreme merit, then achieved their dreams and lived a peaceful life. Those who

died on the battlefield and were honored posthumously were considered fortunate.

Too many had their achievements ignored, sacrificed in vain, misappropriated, wrongly accused, sacrificed, abandoned, or tried as traitors…

Gu Hang didn’t believe he was particularly exceptional.

The war was over, and the Alliance, a product of error to begin with, should finally come to an end.

Besides, it wasn’t entirely unfair to Gu Hang.

While the Alliance was to be dismantled, it depended on Gu Hang’s tact.

This was what Gallardo had been striving for recently.

He couldn’t prevent the Alliance’s dismantling. The situation had become such a catastrophic event that even if Gallardo tried to intervene, he would be crushed.

He could only delay it with great difficulty.

Even if he did, his heart wasn’t in it, as he didn’t want Gu Hang to maintain the Alliance.

He could simply dismantle the Alliance, express his loyalty to the dignitaries of Holy Terra, then express some grievances, then maneuver and find a way to gain access to the Central Powers… This process, in his view, was far more advantageous than being a landowner in the Eastern Frontier of the Empire.

He delayed the Alliance’s dissolution to gain more room for maneuver.

However, the “Alliance Plan” disrupted everything, dramatically shifting the dynamics of various factions on Holy Terra.

The most drastic change occurred within the Imperial Tax Department.

In the blink of an eye, over 300 billion tax coins will be in hand next year; after ten years of promises, it could reach 1.3 trillion.

This is incredibly tempting!

The Imperial Tax Department isn’t just responsible for collecting taxes; fiscal expenditures are also part of their responsibilities.

They should be called the Ministry of Finance, but tax collection is so crucial to the Empire that it overshadows other responsibilities.

The Tax Department’s two biggest headaches: insufficient tax revenue and excessive spending.

Gu Hang’s “Alliance Plan” solves both problems.

With more money, the deficit is filled; with

more money paid quickly, or at least more quickly, the Tax Department can collect taxes from all five star regions in one place, eliminating the problem of insufficient tax revenue.

Consequently, they have become the force with the greatest and fastest shift in attitude.

Of course, the Head of the Tax Department isn’t an independent political faction; it’s aligned with Prime Minister Qi Bodu. If the Prime Minister makes a clear and firm decision, even if they covet Gu Hang’s money, they must honestly vote against it.

But didn’t Qi Bodu say anything?

Before that, Prime Minister Xu Fuzhen of the Taxation Department had been actively campaigning to get the Prime Minister to side with him.

This was actually a good thing.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Luo Fei of the Executive Yuan was a staunch opponent.

The Executive Yuan’s most important power lay in personnel appointments. With the five star regions now vacant, having been given to Gu Hang, they were naturally unhappy about losing their power to interfere in the political affairs of those five regions.

Even when the Taxation Department offered more money and larger budgets, it failed to convince Prime Minister Luo Fei.

On the contrary, Luo Fei was still planning to threaten Ka Xu Fuzhen with the appointment of some of the Taxation Department’s direct officials.

Incidentally, Luo Fei was also Prime Minister Qi Bodu’s right-hand man.

A conflict had arisen within the Prime Minister’s faction over Gu Hang’s money.

Gallardo was definitely on Gu Hang’s side.

The remaining high lords had yet to make a clear statement. Although rumors had previously circulated that the Alliance should not be allowed to develop so recklessly in the Eastern Frontier, internal struggles within the Prime Minister’s faction prevented many from speaking out.

Meanwhile, the connections Gu Hang had cultivated during the war, and even the exchange of interests, played a minor role at this point.

The Space Marine representatives, the Cult of Mars, the Grand Inquisitor of the Tribunal, the Commander-in-Chief of the Astra Militarum… all quietly underwent subtle shifts in attitude.

Gu Hang was even secretly pushing for Su Lie to replace Organron as the Space Marine representative.

He had discussed this with Su Lie earlier.

As a founding Chapter, the Phoenix Chapter presented no political obstacles to

becoming a Space Marine representative. A seat on the Supreme Council would be a significant aid in mobilizing Imperial resources and rebuilding the Chapter, severely damaged by the war.

As for Organron, the current Grand Master of the Death Angels, he was a potential candidate.

The dynamic within the Space Marines is somewhat different from others. Due to historical reasons, they are not particularly keen on vying for positions. Most Chapters eligible for representation consider the position of Space Marine Representative a heavy burden. They prefer not to be entangled in mortal politics.

Unlike most, they are incredibly important, and many matters must be addressed by them. Therefore, a highly respected Space Marine representative is essential to the High Lords’ Council, serving as a conduit for communication.

It is the Empire that demands that the Space Marines hold proper meetings here.

Otherwise, without this restraint, the Space Marines can sometimes engage in outrageous behavior, making it difficult for the Empire to handle.

Su Lie could have a good discussion with Organgron—they are somewhat acquainted—and a change of position is possible.

The entire Space Marine community should also support the Phoenix Chapter’s expedited reconstruction. The Founding Chapter represents the very origins of the Space Marines, and their status is quite distinct.

With Su Lie’s promotion, Gu Hang’s selfish ambitions have been fulfilled.

Su Lie, are you embarrassed to vote against me on the High Council?

Gu Hang had also been in contact with Mars.

The previous Western Front expeditionary force also included Martian troops. The great sage who led the expedition was very interested in some of the technologies left behind by the Alfonzo sect, especially those related to the Zerg.

They hadn’t even left yet.

Gu Hang planned to make things easy for them, even offering the black box as a gift if necessary, in exchange for some support from Mars.

On the Inquisition’s side, although simple camaraderie wasn’t very effective, the subsequent joint efforts of the Inquisition to establish an office within the Alliance to monitor corruption within the Alliance made the Inquisition very happy; the Inquisition was also establishing some cooperative relations with the Alliance. Gu Hang planned to donate heavily and even send troops into the two major Inquisitions. If these cooperation agreements could be reached, the Inquisition might also change its attitude.

Contact with the state religion was limited, and the battle sisters of the Holy Mercy Lily were working to smooth things over, but the prospects weren’t particularly high. But similarly, they had no vested interests of their own, and their opposition wasn’t strong.

In short, Gu Hang was considering various methods: to influence the thirteen High Lords one by one.

From this perspective, retaining the alliance and securing all five star regions wasn’t impossible.

Gu Hang was even going a step further, seeking the position of Chairman of the Spider Web Universe.

The current Chairman of the Spider Web Universe could be left alone. The official imperial power of the Spider Web Universe was defeated at the outset of the war. While it was a bit far-fetched and unreasonable to blame Iron Armor’s rise on the Spider Web Universe government, someone had to take the blame, and he had no choice but to do so.

The Spider Web Universe Chairman, who was bound to step down, and the entire government, which was essentially in disarray, needed to be rebuilt.

Furthermore, the entire Spider Web region, including the central Princess Star Region, has been ravaged by the Extermination Order. The rest of the region is either trapped within the Alliance’s five designated star regions or engaged in battles on the northern and western fronts, where thousands of planets have been ravaged. Having suffered the ravages of war between the Iron Armor and the Empire, and the plague of insects, the dysfunctional star region governments have caused the problems that already existed in each region to erupt. Rebels are emerging, Chaos cults are taking advantage, and even some Eldar pirate groups have appeared…

Now, appointing a chairman for the Spider Web region is a daunting task.

Promote from the local level?

No one’s available.

Delegate from the central government?

This hot potato position is simply too hot to handle.

Senior officials are reluctant to go. Those in lower positions might be willing to take the plunge, but the Prime Minister is wary and unwilling to appoint such a person.

The Imperial Central Government hopes for a strong political figure with the resources to clean up the Spider Web region’s mess. Could someone with limited resources and no demonstrated talent do the job? The Empire would have expended considerable resources, yet saw no significant results. That would be a problem.

What if Gu Hang was willing to take over?

He was a political strongman, his governing prowess undeniable.

He possessed sufficient resources, and with the Alliance’s five-star domain nearby, he could maintain stability in the Spider Web Universe and even provide further support for its development.

It was a good idea no matter how you looked at it.

It was the Alliance itself that was the biggest obstacle.

Without the Alliance, a thorn in the side of the masters on Holy Terra, Gu Hang’s bid for the Spider Web Universe presidency would have been unimpeded.

But then again, it was also because of the Alliance that Gu Hang was the more suitable candidate.

Both sides were in a dilemma.

But Gu Hang believed there were opportunities. Everything

depended on human effort; they just had to fight for it.

At the very least, the “Alliance Plan” had somewhat shifted the situation, which had been destined for the Imperial Center to take action against the Alliance.

This was Gu Hang’s analysis after listening to Gallardo’s account of Holy Terra’s current political situation.

So why not seize this opportunity to strive for more?

Once Gu Hang secured the position of Chairman of the Spider Web Universe, he would not only be able to further expand his influence but also secure a crucial ticket—the chance to be elected by the Universe Presidium to the Supreme Council of Holy Terra.

“You’ve chosen a path far more difficult than I anticipated,”

Gallardo commented.

But Gu Hang replied,

“But this path is the most resolute.”

…

After concluding his crucial call with Gallardo, Gu Hang returned to his current tasks.

Military missions were no longer a priority; they could simply be pushed forward, following inertia.

Diplomatic work needed to be stepped up, and all of these initiatives were based on making friends.

But the good news was that a good start had already been made.

Following this, the Alliance’s diplomats and liaisons were already hard at work. Many of the detailed matters no longer required Gu Hang’s personal attention.

Instead, his energy needed to be focused on another task that required his personal attention: post-war reconstruction.

For now, he became down-to-earth, no longer daydreaming. Before he even began to assume the role of Chairman of the Spider Web Universe, he had no intention of managing the rest of the region. He

even had a darker thought: the more chaos, the better.

Gu Hang would only become increasingly important when the empire realized that this post-war ruin, with its countless vexing threats to contend with, would not only fail to reap profits but would instead incur significant losses

. He even disregarded the development of the Proud Claw, Nepeta, and Alfonzo star regions.

He would focus on the towns, ensuring that each region could achieve stability through the traditional methods of insect control. Post-war reconstruction would be handled according to the conditions of each planet.

The most important development efforts would still be

focused on the Dragon Eagle and Menghe star regions. Those were Gu Hang’s true stronghold.

Even if the Alliance truly disintegrated in the future, the headquarters would remain his most vital core, whether it was political or economic confrontation, or even military confrontation.

Even if the Alliance Plan were approved, the high taxes would still be borne by the Alliance.

Ultimately, only a strong and wealthy alliance can afford this amount of money.

Building a base is the top priority.

He doesn’t need to worry about conventional construction methods. The alliance government has been established for decades and can operate stably. It can even be called efficient compared to the bloated system of the empire. What

Gu Hang has to do personally is to add fuel to the construction, develop the alliance, and install a few more engines.

That requires making the already huge number of gift points accumulated in the system come into play.

The last time he spent a lot of gift points was more than three years ago when he pacified the Alfonzo star field.

The real war broke out from then on, including the counterattack on the western front, the advance into the Princess star field on the southern front, and the most critical second battle of Readuches.

After a series of victories in the war, the accumulated gift points have reached an astronomical figure.

————

4k

still owes 92

sleep!

(End of this chapter)