Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 774

Chapter 769: Just right for bullying

Chapter 769, “

The relationship between the Empire and the Alliance is a prime subject of research for many experts and scholars.”

Related reports and predictions are flying everywhere.

But aside from some sensationalists who insist on shocking the world, legitimate research generally agrees on one thing: the Empire cannot afford the consequences of war with the Alliance.

It’s not that it can’t win, nor that the Alliance can directly attack Holy Terra and overthrow the central government of the Empire.

Rather, it would be a loss.

A huge loss, a massive loss. Even with such a massive loss, the Empire would likely collapse after the Alliance was destroyed.

The Ironclad War, which began thirty-three years ago, was the most recent large-scale rebellion the Empire had experienced, and it offers valuable lessons.

That war cost the Empire directly and indirectly over one hundred trillion, placing a massive financial burden on its shoulders. Even with the Alliance’s annual financial input of two trillion, and even with much of the military expenditure spread over a decade or more, alleviating the pressure, carrying such a heavy burden was still painful.

Those in the Central Taxation Department felt this particularly deeply.

And how does the current Alliance military strength compare to the Ironclad?

Stronger, never weaker!

But there’s more to it than that.

That’s merely a comparison of military might; war potential is an order of magnitude different.

Look at the strength of the Alliance’s economy!

Lingze Star alone earns them nearly a trillion a year. What about the Alliance’s internal economic production?

Yang Shiwei doesn’t have exact figures, but with the Imperial Central Government’s growing curiosity about the Alliance’s current situation, there’s been a lot of overt and covert investigation.

Officially, there’s a “supervision team” dispatched to the Alliance under the framework of the “Alliance Plan.” They’re guests of honor, but they’re just “guests,” not hosts, and can’t really play any supervisory role. At best, they’re inside the Alliance, gaining firsthand information.

Behind the scenes, there are numerous spies, both from Holy Terra and from interested local forces.

Based on this patchwork of information, it’s generally believed that the Alliance’s annual fiscal surplus could exceed four trillion.

This isn’t just their GDP; it also includes the revenue earned by Lingze Star, trade between the northern route and the Devouring Star Realm, the Infinite Realm, and trade between the southern route and the Eastern Realm.

After deducting the 2.1 trillion in imperial taxes, the Alliance still has 2 trillion in annual revenue.

The Alliance is truly wealthy!

With such a robust economy, how many armies could they afford once they no longer have to pay imperial taxes?

If the Alliance desired, they could easily expand their military might significantly in a short period of time!

Furthermore, it’s important to point out that there are at least two explanations for this 4 trillion in revenue:

First, the surveyed Alliance revenue may be skewed from the actual figure, and the Alliance’s revenue could be even higher!

Second, in addition to this fiscal surplus, the Alliance still has substantial resources invested in economic development. Once the Alliance’s focus shifts from economic development to a full-scale war, it’s hard to imagine how much production capacity the Alliance could unleash.

In this context, we can draw a parallel with the Iron Armor War.

During the Iron Armor War, the rebels had no way to survive without expansion, so they could only madly expand their front lines, fighting to sustain the war. Otherwise, if the Iron Rage Stone, along with its traitors, had stubbornly defended the Princess Star Region, they would have been captured long ago.

But the Alliance, unlike them, was not afraid of a war of attrition.

Even if trade was cut off, the Alliance’s annual revenue loss of a trillion or two wouldn’t matter. They

would even pay less tax to the Empire.

The Empire was undoubtedly much larger, but it absolutely couldn’t muster its full might against the Alliance.

By the standards of the Iron Armor War, if the Alliance were to attack the Alliance simultaneously from the south, north, and west, the Alliance might actually be capable of engaging in a protracted military confrontation with the Empire.

In that scenario, not only would the Empire lose its annual revenue of two trillion, but it would also have to shoulder costs of at least ten trillion to contain the Alliance. To destroy the Alliance would require an annual expenditure of fifteen to twenty trillion, and this would last for at least twenty years.

The Imperial central government simply didn’t have the financial resources to spend that much.

Even if it forced the expenditures, rebellions elsewhere would likely flare up one after another, leaving little room for manpower to suppress them. If there

were another Orc invasion, Zerg invasion, or cult rebellion in various regions…

the nation would be doomed!

If the Alliance ever turned against them, rebelled, and became traitors, then there would be no choice but to fight. What else could be done?

But if the Alliance was forced to rebel by the Imperial Central Government, whoever did it would be condemned to eternal damnation.

Under these circumstances, would Yang Shiwei be asked to negotiate with the Alliance about tax increases?

Yang Shiwei himself wasn’t sure!

His understanding of the Alliance made him believe that the tax increase was completely off the table.

The Imperial Central Government had no leverage, so how could they negotiate?

As for adopting a tough stance… he didn’t dare.

He didn’t want to be the “eternal damnation.”

But if he didn’t resort to a tough approach and simply negotiated normally, how could he possibly achieve something he knew was impossible to achieve on the battlefield?

He couldn’t just accept the mission without any hesitation. He couldn’t bear the

blame for forcing the Alliance to rebel; it would be fatal. If he

couldn’t reach an agreement on the tax increase, he might not die, but his future would be uncertain.

However, what finally made him feel relieved was that Xu Fuzhen didn’t simply want him to be the scapegoat.

Prime Minister Xu understood that this matter was difficult to handle, but he didn’t make it difficult for him. If the negotiation failed, then the negotiation failed. Although it would not be considered his achievement and would make people a little disappointed, he would not be held responsible after all.

Of course, the premise is not to anger the Alliance.

What Yang Shiwei knew, of course Holy Terra also knew.

Of course, the masters on Holy Terra had also read all the reports.

Although there were indeed opinions advocating a tough stance against the Alliance, at least the person who held this opinion would not be Xu Fuzhen.

The reason was also very simple.

Those hardliners who were always sarcastic, who was the one who made the decision back then to develop the Alliance into such an impossible-to-handle state?

The primary target was Gallardo. This Prime Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs was in cahoots with Gu Hang, and everyone knew it.

The next target of criticism was Xu Fuzhen. She was responsible for having coveted that little bit of money back then, raising such an insurmountable monster.

Could Xu Fuzhen admit it?

Of course not.

Regardless of her inner thoughts, politically, at this point, she couldn’t move. Even as the Minister of Taxation and one of the High Lords, she couldn’t bear such responsibility.

On Holy Terra, she and Gallardo had fiercely advocated for the Alliance’s loyalty, arguing that its current state was far from a risk.

Raising taxes was her plan.

By getting the Alliance to raise taxes, thereby increasing revenue for the Imperial Center, it was a clear way to demonstrate the Alliance’s loyalty. This would effectively counter the hardliners in the Imperial Center’s political arena.

Yang Shiwei agreed.

He planned to have a frank discussion with the Alliance on this point, hoping to get them to contribute a little more, just as a token of appreciation.

However, when he learned who was representing the Alliance, he had a new idea.

“Gu Jing? That eldest son of Gu Hang, right?”

“How old is he? Twenty-three?”

“Still a child… Can I scare him?”

These thoughts raced through Yang Shiwei’s mind.

He didn’t dare offend the Alliance, but he still had the nerve to bully a child.

In his opinion, Gu Jing was indeed a child. He was

only twenty-three years old. Among the powerful and wealthy in the Empire, it was normal to be two or three hundred years old.

Those old ghosts, each of them either born into aristocratic families or having climbed up from the bottom through untold hardships, had experienced a lot of things and were difficult to fool.

But at twenty-three, with so little experience, it was different.

With an idea in mind, Yang Shiwei quickly reviewed the information on Gu Jing’s biography and determined his strategy.

Gu Jing’s twenty-three-year life history was very simple. Until the age of eighteen, he had been Gu Hang’s constant companion, raised by his father and mother, receiving a private, elite education. Only then did he leave his parents’ side and attend university at the highest institution on Feiyi Star, the educational center of the Dragon Eagle Star Region.

After completing four years of ordinary university, he joined the Alliance government, first working in a local government for six months. After that, he was transferred to the Alliance Finance Department, where he had been for about six months.

Then, he took on a major assignment: to travel to Lingze Star to settle the current period’s imperial taxes.

Yang Shiwei was amused and confused.

Was this uncharacteristically young man, uninitiated and unseasoned, here to polish his resume?

He could fully understand this arrangement.

The Imperial Tax delivery is a major event for the Alliance, and leading such an effort is clearly a prestigious accomplishment. However, Imperial Tax delivery only occurs every two years. Due to the Alliance’s unique circumstances and the sheer volume of supplies, ships arrive in batches, are counted, and passed through the trading center one by one before the tax is delivered. There’s no strict timeframe for this. Goods are shipped as they arrive, and officials from the Imperial Tax Department and the Alliance’s Imperial Tax Working Group jointly sign off on the shipment.

Every two years, a review is conducted to determine if the total tax amount meets the required standards.

The process, having been in place for fifteen years, has become highly sophisticated and virtually error-free. Essentially, the main work is handled by the individuals doing the actual work. “Responsible delivery” simply means bringing in an audit team for verification and signoff.

Generally

, there aren’t any issues. Any problems would have been exposed earlier.

Furthermore, this isn’t a major biennial audit, but rather an annual audit, making it even less important.

If it weren’t for the obvious purpose of brushing up his resume, what’s the point?

Just bullying!

…

“The alliance has reached a critical moment of survival!”

Yang Shiwei spoke with emotion, a sincere attitude, and a worried look.

The young man in front of him frowned slightly: “How do I start?”

While speaking, Yang Shiwei’s eyes had already looked Gu Jing up and down. He was wearing

a white shirt, white pants, and a blue outer robe with gold embroidery. He was a little thin. With black hair, black eyes, and fair skin, he looked handsome, like a beautiful young man.

If he were a girl, she would easily be attracted to him.

But unfortunately, the younger this young man was, the more he was like what Yang Shiwei imagined.

He continued, “Tax evasion in the alliance has been really serious over the years. I’ve been constantly mediating, but now it’s no longer sustainable.”

Gu Jing leaned forward, a look of surprise clearly on his face: “How is it possible? The taxes of our alliance have always been clear…”

Yang Shiwei interrupted Gu Jing forcefully and said, “I am the senior deacon specially appointed by the Imperial Taxation Department. Does anyone know the tax situation better than me?”

Gu Jing seemed stunned.

Yang Shiwei continued, “The Empire has always levied taxes at a rate of one-tenth. When has the Alliance ever paid the full amount? The Alliance’s annual output is far higher than that!”

“But the Alliance Plan stipulates a specific tax amount…”

“I participated in the signing of the Alliance Plan. The tax amount is not a fixed number. The Alliance deceived Holy Terra through fraudulent means. Now, many people on Terra have solid evidence. A huge storm is about to break out. Once it breaks out, your father will probably go from being an Imperial hero to a traitor!”

“Deacon Yang, you’re talking about something so profound. I can’t understand it right now.”

Yang Shiwei pretended to be dissatisfied and said, “I don’t understand why you were sent for such a big thing. Your experience is still too shallow.”

After he finished speaking, Yang Shiwei saw the young man’s brows slightly frowned.

The young man couldn’t stand the provocation.

He changed the subject and said, “Take a look at these.”

He unfolded a sheaf of documents in front of Gu Jing. “This is a memorandum, a detailed investigation of the alliance’s output value and tax payable.”

Gu Jing flipped through the thick document, clearly unable to comprehend it.

And rightly so.

This document wasn’t meant for public viewing. Over two thousand pages in total, filled with countless details, charts, and one-sided conclusions taken out of context… Without a team spending two or three months reviewing it, it wouldn’t be thorough. And

even then, there’s no point unless we conduct an on-site inspection and compare it to reams of original documents.

The tax department is expert at data crunching.

Seeing Gu Jing’s headache, Yang Shiwei chuckled to himself.

He deliberately waited a moment, then, seeing Gu Jing’s confusion, sighed deeply. “If you don’t understand, take it back and have your staff take a good look… and take a look at this document as well.”

He pulled out another section, a relatively simple one, only eleven pages, clearly laid out.

This section Gu Jing could understand.

“This is a memorandum. I have cooperated with the Alliance for many years. Prime Minister Xu Fuzhen and Prime Minister Gallardo also maintain a very good friendship with Governor Gu Hang. We will not let the Alliance suffer too much. We can destroy the original investigation record, and everything can be reported to the Imperial Center according to the situation in the memorandum. Please sign it and act as your father’s agent.”

“Alas, I shouldn’t have asked you to sign this, but what can I do? Things are too urgent.”

“There’s little room for maneuver. The window of time is short. I have to report to Holy Terra in an hour. If the memorandum doesn’t have your signature, I’ll have to report based on the raw data.”

(End of this chapter)