Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 833

Chapter 828: The Alliance Will Also Cut Leeks

During the Dark Side Expedition, Gu Hang also had to maneuver within the Alliance, naturally aiming to maintain stability and strong growth.

Only with internal stability and rapid economic growth even in wartime—especially rapid growth in the military industry—could the Alliance sustain itself during the unknown length of the Dark Side Expedition.

Meanwhile, the Alliance government was diligently digesting the newly conquered territories, especially the eastern portion of the Magre Space Domain captured by the Alliance in the early stages of the Dark Side Expedition.

So far, it had been quite successful.

The Alliance’s fundamental character remained unchanged: a formidable force that had grown from a single planet to its current size in less than a hundred years.

Throughout its short lifespan, the one thing they knew best was expansion!

With the experience of thousands of expansions and planetary conquests, the Alliance fully understood the necessary steps to ensure the swift absorption of a planet.

First, they promoted their righteous cause and established their legitimacy.

Leveraging the Alliance’s formidable military might, during a brief period of martial law, the Alliance will incorporate the planet’s armed forces and rebuild a defense system under the Alliance’s command.

They will provide security and survival guarantees to the middle and lower classes, wooing them into their own ranks.

They will demand the full integration of the old elite into the Alliance system, offering them favorable integration benefits. However, the Alliance will own the means of production, allowing them to profit at best. Opposition and resistance will be met with harsh repression.

With legitimacy, the means of production, a local army under the Alliance’s command, and a supportive population, the foundation will be in place.

Once the Alliance is institutionalized and industrial production is normalized, it will be able to provide a financial boost to the Alliance’s expeditions.

Of course, the Alliance will also collect taxes, but it disdains the Empire’s standard imperial tax model. A crude 10% tax on gross output would not only be unsightly, but would also generate little profit and create public outrage.

The Alliance’s tax revenue is quite low. For civilian enterprises, there are some low-rate value-added taxes and corporate income taxes; for the general public, there are some consumption taxes, but direct income taxes are relatively low.

The Alliance’s primary source of revenue comes from the production value of the state-owned enterprises it has built, after directly controlling the vast majority of the means of production. In other words, the Alliance officials directly own these enterprises, and all profits naturally belong to the Alliance.

However, implementing this is not easy. The Alliance must invest substantial resources to rebuild the planet’s construction system. Furthermore, within the Alliance system, there must be sufficient management personnel to run this system.

During this phase, the Alliance will introduce market factors. The output value and profits of state-owned enterprises will not be directly reaped by the Alliance, but will be placed in the hands of the enterprises themselves. The Alliance’s method of profiting from these profits is to make adjustments based on the standard pricing based on the specific conditions of each region.

For industries that are just starting out or recovering, the Alliance will increase the standard pricing for orders, sometimes even by up to 100%, in order to promote rapid development.

Combined with the Alliance’s initial investment in planet reconstruction, the Alliance’s official-led integration of existing industries, and the focus on developing key industries based on local conditions, the surrounding trade environment, and the Alliance’s overall needs,

these policies essentially comprise the Alliance’s overall support policy for newly recovered planets.

With these three measures, a world previously plagued by significant problems can often quickly get back on track.

At least there’s a minimum of social order; productivity is recovering; and the people can see hope for a better future.

However, this support typically doesn’t last long—six months, a year, or at most two years.

At that point, Alliance investment will decrease, and orders from businesses will return to standard pricing.

At this point, the Alliance still hasn’t made a profit. Purchasing goods at standard pricing certainly wouldn’t make any money. At best, it would earn a small amount from value-added tax, corporate income tax, and personal consumption tax, all of which would essentially go toward purchasing the planet’s output, with the Alliance center even having to contribute some money.

But once this point is achieved, it can generally be said that the planet is no longer a burden to the Alliance and is on the right track.

Of course, there are also cases where a planet fails to meet the standard after undergoing support policies. The Alliance government will then initiate accountability procedures to determine the reasons for this failure.

Often, the planet’s governor will be penalized.

Whether it’s inadequate management, production recovery falling short of expectations; insufficient public support; resurgence of local elites, resistance to Alliance rule; ongoing unrest on the planet, a lack of stability, or military threats…

In short, no matter the problem, the Archons are responsible. Then, for specific issues, they’ll bring the civil affairs, finance, production, and military departments to task.

Unless the overall environment outside the planet has objectively changed, causing the shortfall, responsibility is unavoidable.

In this way, the Alliance’s planetary governors are somewhat similar to the Empire’s planetary governors: both hold immense power and complete responsibility. The difference is that in the Empire, paying taxes is all that matters. But in the Alliance, assessments are far more meticulous. Any flaws are uncovered, and accountability is truly demanded.

Being an Alliance politician is no easy feat. While the internal power struggles aren’t as raw, brutal, or intense as those in Imperial politics, the pressure of “business” is far greater.

Everything else is superficial; the essence of the job is whether it’s done well. Without “performance” as the foundation, any other means will be useless, and you will be directly rejected when you are promoted – if you don’t, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will not be a pushover when they come to investigate.

And when a world can last for three to five years under normal circumstances, it will enter the next stage: the alliance will start to reap the benefits.

For the planet’s products, the purchase price will begin to drop based on the standard price. It ranges from 1% to 60%.

All the profits cut out in the middle are profits. Adding in the taxes collected, the resources that the alliance can collect from a planet in better condition are often much more than the 10% imperial tax.

To achieve this situation, the local industries of the planet will be forced to do everything they can to improve their level. Develop advantageous industries well so that the alliance’s purchase price can still make a certain profit on the basis of the price reduction.

(End of this chapter)