Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 780

Chapter 775: The Powerful Alliance Navy

due to the long construction cycle and high investment required, cannot be developed like an army. A sufficiently strong fleet must be maintained at all times. Otherwise, if it’s not built when needed, there will be no ships to use when needed.

However, if shipbuilding were to be liberalized over a period of fifteen years, allowing the Alliance fleet to expand indiscriminately, that would be impossible.

Even the Alliance’s financial situation, even if it were sky-high, could not withstand such a bottomless pit.

The Alliance’s shipbuilding industry is already highly developed. A large part of the Alliance’s massive investment in the navy is actually reflected in the expansion of shipyards.

Shipbuilding is also a key pillar of the Alliance’s economic development.

As a terminal industry, shipbuilding drives the integration of the entire manufacturing industry,

from raw material extraction to processing, from industrial infrastructure to munitions… shipbuilding is a premier industrial jewel in terms of both scale and technological sophistication.

If shipbuilding weren’t for the high technical requirements, the slow expansion of docks and shipyards, and the requirement for a comprehensive and extensive industrial base, the Alliance would be eager to establish shipyards in every region under its control.

Even if this didn’t happen, the Dragon Eagle Star Region boasted three major shipbuilding centers: Qimadi, Yunluo Center, and Jindi Center.

I won’t dwell on the former. The shipyards on Angry Owl and Flying Wing, the very center of the Alliance’s territory, have always been a priority. The latest technologies and techniques were realized at these two shipyards. Later, to maximize human resource allocation, a massive shipyard was also built in Koroja, the most populous region of the Tianma region.

As the three shipyards in the Tianma region expanded, related industries continued to flow out. Smaller, less technologically advanced vessels and civilian vessels, with relatively low-tech requirements and less demanding industrial clusters, were dismantled and towed from Angry Owl and Flying Wing to the other six sectors of the Qimadi star region.

Yunluo Center, already capable of building civilian vessels, was also a priority for the Alliance.

Jindi was the forge world of the Mingyang Sect, which has now become an alliance.

The Mechanicus’s position within the Imperium is said to be supreme, guaranteed by both political tradition and legal codification.

However, reality always matters.

How could Jindi maintain its independence amidst the powerful Alliance?

Even the even more powerful Aramita Cult (formerly the Alfonzo Cult) has completely submitted to the Alliance.

They too have done the same

, and quite willingly so.

After siding with the Alliance, their lives have become increasingly prosperous.

Originally, they were just an ordinary, small sect on the Imperial frontier, unremarkable. During the Ironclad War, they enjoyed a comfortable existence thanks to the Alliance’s war orders; and after the war, their cooperation with the Alliance has been unimpeded. While the supreme rulers on Jindi are still nominally the Sage Council and the Forge General, in reality, from the grassroots management to the core factory management, almost all are Alliance members.

And the sages of the Mingyang Cult have no problem with this.

The Alliance’s administrative officials have managed things well.

As for power?

Losing power was indeed somewhat resentful and unsettling. However, the Alliance gave them a sense of security, ensuring their status would not be lost. Furthermore, the Alliance offered them even greater benefits.

With prosperity, they would have more abundant resources to pursue their specialized research; the Alliance’s needs would drive the large-scale implementation of their technologies. Most valuable of all, the Alliance could even provide technological feedback to the Sages of the Main Sect, both for the Alliance’s own technology and for exchanges with the Aramita Cult.

Then there were the black boxes.

While the application process for a new black box was somewhat challenging, with everyone competing, the quality of the black boxes provided by the Alliance was truly exceptional and captivating.

In short, the Alliance utilized not just Jindi’s shipbuilding industry but virtually all of its industries. The Alliance also provided them with ample rewards, and over the years, Jindi’s rapid development has astonished even them.

Having these three major shipbuilding centers wasn’t enough.

There was also a large shipbuilding center in both the Menghe and Alfonzo star regions.

Shipyards in other star regions might not be as large, but they should be able to produce small and civilian vessels.

This robust production capacity is the core of the Alliance’s rapid growth in recent years.

However, even with the Alliance’s insatiable demand for ships, it’s impossible to fully absorb them, let alone

the warships they produce.

A significant portion of these ships are sold.

Half of these sales go toward Imperial taxes, reaching the Imperial central government. However, only 2% of these ships are actually paid directly through Imperial taxes.

The prices are unreasonably high, with wide variations in price. Some powerful individuals profit from this. These individuals,

either white gloves or other forces, purchase ships from the Alliance at prices higher than those set by the Ministry of Taxation, paying them with Alliance tax coins or other in-kind payments.

Nearly half of these buyers then sell the ships on Lingze Star to the Imperial Military Affairs Department and the Navy Headquarters. They purchase the ships using their budgets and pay the tax coins awarded to them by the Imperial Ministry of Taxation when the budget is approved.

These tax coins went to the Alliance, paying the Imperial tax on its behalf.

In other words, half of the ships sold by the Alliance did indeed end up in the hands of the Imperial Central Government. However, most of them had been resold elsewhere, effectively being purchased by the Empire. These prices often ranged from 30% to 150% higher than the tax department’s stated price for each type of ship.

The profits were pocketed by the Alliance and the middlemen, effectively allowing the Imperial Central Government to purchase only about 60% of the warships at the same price.

Under normal circumstances, the Imperial Central Government would never allow this kind of profiteering by middlemen,

even if it complied with regulations.

Honestly, the Empire was the most powerful. Regardless of whether or not you complied with the regulations, if you all profited while I lost, wouldn’t my fists have grown so big for nothing?

However, the so-called “Empire” wasn’t a living entity. What if the people who dictated the Imperial Central Government’s will were the same as the tycoons behind the profit-making middlemen?

Then…

Prime Minister Qi Bodu, Prime Minister Xu Fuzhen, Prime Minister Luo Fei, the state religion, the Imperial Chamber of Commerce, and the powerful families hidden beneath the political arena on Holy Terra…

Who doesn’t have a share?

Even for Qi Bodu, there were rules governing how the empire’s central government’s earnings should be spent. Even he couldn’t make arbitrary decisions; they had to be decided in meetings.

But when it came to his own money, it was different.

He could spend it however he pleased.

Moreover, at this point, even if Qi Bodu wanted to stop the Lingze trade, which was severely damaging to the Empire’s interests, he was powerless.

He was undoubtedly the most powerful minister, but power requires trust. Those who rallied around him, believing they could gain greater and more significant benefits, would continue to follow him. The powerful individuals profiting from this business were the very foundation of his rule.

He could strike himself in the face if he felt ruthless, but he couldn’t bring himself to undermine the foundation of his own rule. The chain reaction he would unleash would be something he would likely not be able to withstand.

Who didn’t realize this would only nourish the Alliance?

The discerning individuals on Holy Terra (primarily those who hadn’t profited from this) lambasted the Lingze trade.

Yet, it continued unabated, and it looked as if it would continue to do so for a long time to come.

There was no point in arguing with them.

However, regardless of what others said, the Alliance was in it, earning a fortune from the shipbuilding industry.

Besides reinvesting in economic development, a significant portion of the profits went into naval upgrades.

While the fleet of over 2,000 warships remained unchanged, the number of larger vessels increased significantly.

Currently, the Alliance Navy possesses three Emperor-class battleships, six

Retribution-class battleships, six

Zhuge-class aircraft carriers, and 22

Serpent-class and Grail-class battlecruisers.

In total, these massive vessels alone total 37.

This is already more than the Ironclad Wars had at the start of the Ironclad Wars.

The accompanying cruisers, destroyers, and frigates are somewhat insufficient, making the smaller vessels somewhat shabby when forming a fleet.

However, the production of small and medium-sized warships is incredibly fast, unlike the time-consuming nature of these massive vessels.

Furthermore, if needed, the Alliance can directly deliver the next batch of warships to the navy without paying taxes or trading them. Within two years, the total number of massive ships in the navy could double, reaching over 70, without sacrificing cost.

Moreover, that doesn’t even include another wave of naval power.

That’s the Alliance’s Six Great Chapters, the Chapter Fleets of the Space Marines.

Strike Cruisers aren’t even counted; the Alliance has already produced four Battle Barges.

None of them were sold, with one given to Phoenix, one to Yellow Spring Gull, one to Blood Shark, and one to Dragon King’s Spear.

Notably, both the Emperor-class Battleship and the Battle Barge are Apocalypse-class technologies.

Gu Hang had drawn them over the past fifteen years.

Despite the absence of major wars and sudden fortunes, Gu Hang had accumulated 550 million Grace Points through monthly bonus points, supplemented by some minor wars.

Of this, 260 million were used for technology draws. Twenty-six draws from the 10 million Grace tier yielded two Apocalypse-class technologies: the Emperor-class Battleship and the Battle Barge.

The remaining 290 million Grace Points were spent on various Alliance development projects over the past 15 years, so I won’t go into detail.

The emergence of the two Apocalypse-class shipbuilding technologies has significantly advanced the Alliance’s shipbuilding industry.

Furthermore, the Alliance possesses a highly secretive weapon, rarely entering Alliance ports, and whenever it does, its presence is strictly censored.

The Glorious Queen-class battleship has finally been completed.

Gu Hang named it the Orient.

The Alliance’s naming conventions for ships are quite clear: cruisers and below are unremarkable, with names generally chosen as imposing or suggestive, aside from their naval designations.

However, battlecruisers and above are named after planets within the Alliance. These are often chosen from important planets, a form of propaganda aimed at those locations.

Above this, while star regions and star regions should have been named, these were never used, with the name jumping directly to space domains. This

seems a bit counterintuitive, but given the limited number of Glorious Queens in the entire Empire, it makes perfect sense.

The specific name “Orient” is quite intriguing.

Although the Alliance was founded in the Eastern Universe, only two of its 14 star regions are in the Eastern Universe, with the majority in the Spider Web Universe. Gu Hang’s most prestigious official title is High Lord, elected by the Chairman of the Spider Web Universe.

Logically, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to name the ship “Spider Web” the Glorious Queen?

No, Gu Hang wanted to use the name “Eastern” to name the Alliance’s first Glorious Queen.

This undoubtedly demonstrates Gu Hang’s ambition.

This was also the Alliance’s next goal, as he discussed it in a small-scale meeting after expressing his opinions on naval development .

The entire Eastern Universe .

This is a major event, and we need to wait for some time.

The Alliance’s current situation has already aroused great vigilance. The Imperial Center will not allow the Alliance to continue expanding.

There needs to be some variables.

But the Alliance is not going to wait foolishly.

Part of the variables has already been deployed to Holy Terra. All we have to do

is wait for it to happen.

(End of this chapter)