Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 773

Chapter 768, Fifteen Years Later

Imperial Calendar, Year 10262.

Yang Shiwei sat by the ship’s porthole, admiring everything before him.

Lingze Planet’s starport system was truly well-constructed, even to Yang Shiwei’s inexperienced eyes. It

certainly couldn’t compare to Holy Terra, and how many other places in the world could compare?

However, compared to many other places in the Empire known for their well-developed starports, Lingze Planet stood out.

Even more remarkable was that all of this was built in just fifteen years.

Yang Shiwei had witnessed the planet’s rise to its current prosperity.

Regardless, he applauded the Alliance.

In the early days, Lingze Planet served as the Imperial tax collection point, and its already impressive starport infrastructure proved insufficient given the inevitable increase in the scale of tax collection. After negotiations with the Alliance, the Empire agreed to contribute a certain amount to the development of Lingze Star, at least to ensure that the planet’s infrastructure met the requirements for paying Imperial taxes.

Yang Shiwei understood that most local forces would be satisfied at this point: they were receiving free Imperial central government funding to develop their own territories, so what was wrong with that?

Some local forces would capitalize on this funding, seizing the opportunity and investing it entirely in construction, reaping long-term benefits.

Others, more short-sighted, would exploit the funds through various means to profit from them. In these cases, the Empire generally turned a blind eye. Granted, some funding would be redundant, allowing for some shoddy work and some profit-making. As long as the project met minimal standards and didn’t detract from the real

work, it was acceptable. The worst case scenario was over-utilization, resulting in superficial projects that simply didn’t meet actual needs, ultimately impacting the transfer of Imperial taxes.

Yang Shiwei led an entire audit team, comprised not only of clerical staff from the Taxation and Administration Departments, but also from the Legal Department and even anti-corruption personnel seconded from the Tribunal. This entire team was dedicated to preventing the final scenario. However

, after fifteen years of investigation, no evidence of illegal activity had been found on Lingze Star, nor on the local officials of the Tangu Star Region, to which Lingze belonged.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t considered the funds; on the contrary, they had done quite a bit. But contrary to expectations, they weren’t profiting from them; instead, they were actively seeking ways to increase investment.

The Empire’s massive investment was more than enough to build Lingze Star to support an annual exchange of over two trillion tax coins. However, the Alliance, clearly unsatisfied, had invested a comparable amount in the Tangu Star Region over the past fifteen years to fund the massive expansion of Lingze Star’s starport system and various on-planet infrastructure.

Not only the Alliance government, but also the Tangu Star Region government and the Alliance official themselves were diligently seeking funding. While the resources raised by a single star region certainly weren’t as substantial as the funds provided by the Imperial and Alliance Centers, it was still a significant sum for them.

The team led by Yang Shiwei realized they had nothing to audit. The Alliance’s investment in Lingze Star far exceeded their initial estimates, so much so that, with so many

resources poured in, the achievements of Lingze Star’s development were quite impressive.

Completing the Imperial Tax payment?

No, no, no, that’s just the bare minimum.

Whether it’s the Alliance government or the Tangu Star Region, their goal is to capitalize on the enormous business opportunities presented by the massive exchange of goods when the Imperial Tax is paid.

The Imperial and Alliance personnel who deliver goods need food, drink, and entertainment, all of which are available in the space city.

Numerous ships sail in and out of Lingze Star, providing services like ship maintenance, resupply, and fuel processing.

All of this is profitable.

Not to mention, the Tangu government also built a trade center here, facilitating the arrival of caravans from the central empire’s territory. They could join the Imperial tax fleet and travel to Lingze Star to trade with the Alliance.

As the trade center grew in size, a series of financial mechanisms were established.

The Alliance paid in kind, denominated in tax coins, with no problem regarding the amount. The Empire accepted everything, as long as it fell within the tax department’s prescribed list.

However, the prices of items on the Imperial tax list were fixed and generally lower than their true market value.

These two factors alone created ample opportunities for arbitrage.

Most directly, caravans from the Alliance, external parties, and even from Holy Terra would arrive on Lingze Star with large quantities of tax coins to conduct business. Before the Alliance and the Imperial Tax Department settled their taxes, they would “plunder” the Alliance’s warehouses. The tax coins, as tokens, could be used to offset Imperial taxes, allowing them to purchase Alliance goods directly. As long as the bid was slightly higher than the tax price, the Alliance not only paid the tax but also earned additional revenue.

Initially, their bids were only slightly higher than the Imperial tax price, since these were bulk commodities. Later, as more competing merchants emerged, they had to pay more, until a relative equilibrium was reached.

For the Imperial Tax Department, this was no problem. They collected enough tax revenue, and even if the revenue was tax coins themselves, it meant that other businesses could offset the tax burden, so they didn’t lose money. In fact, many businesses were simply initiated by the Tax Department.

Everyone profited, right?

And it wasn’t just them. Every merchant guild and caravan that came to Holy Terra had connections. They all wanted to make money!

The profit from the price difference alone was enough to make them filthy rich!

And that was just because the tax price was lower than the market price.

Imperial pricing was fixed, but the market was dynamic, which meant that the prices of some scarce goods were not reflected. For example, food isn’t valuable, but many Hive Worlds experiencing famine, with dense populations and insufficient agricultural production, need to import large quantities of it. Even if food prices are calculated at market prices, these import-demanding regions still enjoy significant value.

For regions at war, the Alliance’s munitions offer excellent value at competitive prices. The

same applies to ships, consumer goods, and other industrial products.

Furthermore, within these two direct arbitrage environments, more advanced financial methods have evolved, such as futures trading, which deviates from the real economy and shifts towards the virtual economy. The Alliance is regulating this area.

The Alliance itself utilizes Lingze Star for extensive trade, with two of the most important strategic imports being population and raw materials.

Later, trade with the Alliance and the Imperial Center remained a separate issue. Various cosmic regions and star systems in the Eastern, Northern, and Central Territories of the Empire, taking advantage of the situation, gradually flocked to Lingze Star, specifically to conduct business.

Merchants arrived on Lingze Star, bearing vast sums of tax coins and goods.

They traded not only with the Alliance but also among themselves.

The Alliance’s trade center managed all of this, collecting only a negligible management fee.

A place with such comprehensive infrastructure and such a large-scale trade is rare. The Alliance’s transparent, transparent, efficient, and transparent management services are equally rare in the entire universe.

The greater the prosperity, the greater the economies of scale.

These factors combined have made Lingze Star the newly emerged and most prosperous trade center in the entire Eastern Territory.

The Alliance has profited an untold amount from this.

In any case, according to Yang Shiwei’s team, who were too busy auditing to do anything, they had enough time to try and calculate the amount of money Lingze Star earned for the Alliance, from direct trade profits, trade commissions, and service revenue, it is likely close to a trillion. It’s

truly astonishing.

And the benefits might not be limited to that.

Such a massive trade volume and profits wouldn’t just benefit Lingze Star; many other regions in the Tangu Star Region would also see significant gains.

By now, Yang Shiwei couldn’t help but understand why the Alliance, not only didn’t covet a single cent of the Empire’s money for Lingze Star’s construction fifteen years ago, but instead gritted their teeth and invested two or three times as much, determined to build Lingze.

The returns were simply exorbitant!

Could this be replicated elsewhere?

Probably not.

Other regions were still suffering from massive tax losses, struggling to collect taxes. How could they possibly establish a multi-trillion-dollar trading center?

Furthermore, the Empire had invested 500 billion tax coins in Lingze Star’s infrastructure over the past fifteen years, not to mention the Alliance’s central government’s investment of over 1.5 trillion yuan. The Tangu Star Region itself had also allocated over 1 trillion yuan.

With 3 trillion yuan on the table, which of the other ordinary regions could afford to build it?

Yang Shiwei could only exclaim, “Amazing!”

The Alliance was able to create this opportunity, seize it, and possess sufficient resources to carry out construction… one cannot help but admire it.

It’s been eighteen years since the Battle of Reyaduches, marking the end of both the Iron War and the Zerg War, and fifteen years since the signing of the Alliance Plan.

During these fifteen years, Yang Shiwei has been stationed on Lingze Star, serving as the location for tax transactions between the Imperial Central Government and the Alliance.

As a head steward of the Imperial Taxation Department, he is a close confidant of Prime Minister Xu Fuzhen.

Fifteen years ago, he was specifically assigned to oversee tax transactions with the Alliance.

To others, the daily travel to the local areas for a central government official—a trip from Holy Terra to Lingze Star that takes ten months—is incredibly arduous, and the long absence from the Imperial political arena, the center of power, is certainly not a good thing.

But Yang Shiwei knew this was his path to advancement.

Prime Minister Xu Fuzhen valued this money very highly. Working diligently to ensure the stable delivery of this money would be a significant accomplishment.

And indeed, this was indeed the case.

For the next fifteen years, he worked diligently, largely thanks to the excellent cooperation of the Alliance, which was incredibly worry-free, ensuring seamless tax settlements.

He himself, naturally, was promoted a few years ago from Head Steward to Senior Head Steward.

This position was already quite prestigious, placing him in the top 100 of the entire Taxation Department.

And it wasn’t the end of the road.

He recently traveled back and forth between Holy Terra and Lingze Star, and upon his return, Prime Minister Xu Fuzhen summoned him for a personal meeting.

First, Xu Fuzhen praised his work over the past fifteen years and offered him a further promise: in two years, he could be promoted to Deputy Minister of the Imperial Taxation Department.

This would mean he would be ranked in the top ten within the department.

However, Xu Fuzhen also gave him a task: to negotiate a tax increase with the Alliance before the fifteen-year deadline.

Upon hearing this request, Yang Shiwei was paralyzed.

Could a tax increase just be imposed?

The Alliance Plan clearly states it in black and white: 2.1 trillion.

This is a ‘tax package,’ a fixed amount.

Oh, now that you see the Alliance flourishing, not only strong internally, but also earning a trillion a year from Lingze alone, you think the tax was too low back then.

What were you doing?

Back then, before Yang Shiwei arrived, I heard a lot of arguments on Holy Terra.

The gist was, after raising the Alliance tax rate to this point, how could the Alliance rebel?

I’ve already collected 100% in taxes, how can they afford to support the rebels?

Now, realizing things aren’t working out that way, they want to change the rules and drastically increase taxes.

Does that make sense?

Of course, whether it’s reasonable or not doesn’t really matter.

The Imperial Central Government has been unreasonable countless times, and this one isn’t the worst.

However, whether or not to be reasonable depends on at least two key factors, besides reputation and bottom lines—things that can be discarded at any time: strength and the pros and cons.

Raising taxes would certainly benefit the Imperial Central Government, but would the Alliance agree?

Obviously, they wouldn’t.

Do we have to fight against it?

Yang Shiwei is a senior official of the taxation department, and he is also in charge of the alliance’s money. He knows clearly that fifteen years have passed, and the money given by the alliance every year accounts for 6-11% of the total tax revenue collected by the central government of the empire from the local areas.

This is a huge number.

Various expenditures of a large number of imperial departments depend on this money.

Can the empire afford to quarrel with the alliance to the point of overturning the table?

There is no need for war, as long as the two sides are decoupled, it will be fatal.

In terms of taxation, with a loss of 6%-11% of income, many projects of many departments will be shut down.

Without the business of Lingze Star, many bigwigs in the central government of the empire who are making a lot of money there will lose money.

Can the central government of the empire afford these two things alone?

Then, even if it is a hard decoupling, what can the empire do to the alliance?

Go to war?

There is no way to start a war at all.

(End of this chapter)