Chapter 258: They Started It First
What does Gu Hang think about Black Arrow Star?
Of course there is a lot of it.
Originally, he sent Perbov to lead the expeditionary force here just to protect his mother's safety and ensure a smooth transition of power in the Gu family.
But now that an accident had occurred, he had to personally lead an army and also deployed Space Marines to come to support, and the cost was very high.
It's not just the military cost, there are also huge economic and political costs.
The Gu family suffered heavy losses after this battle. In the past few days, not only was the war on the ground fierce, but in the space of Black Arrow Star, the two merchant fleets that originally belonged to the same family were almost fighting each other.
However, there is a bit of a fight between them.
The main reason is that neither side is a proper navy. At most, they are just armed merchant ships, which are said to be frigate-level and destroyer-level, but in fact they are only similar in size and their firepower is not comparable, let alone other aspects.
In addition, at the beginning of the battle, among the nearly 100 ships of the eight fleets controlled by Wang Qi, apart from the various transport starships that had no combat capability, some internal strife broke out to a greater or lesser extent on the remaining armed merchant ships.
At the beginning, the fighting between the two sides was not very intense.
It was not until Wang Jiarong reorganized the fleet and launched an all-out attack that the battle between the two sides became truly intense.
But the other side used the planet's orbital firepower to try to maneuver. Although they had fewer ships, their losses were less than Wang Jiarong's.
However, Wang Jiarong ordered the fleet to attack regardless of the losses.
In just a few days, more than a dozen ships on both sides were destroyed, and the intensity of the war was still escalating.
Wang Jiarong was also getting anxious.
Not only did she have a deep relationship with her aunt, but even from a personal point of view, she was an outsider of the Gu family, and she got to a high position by following her aunt, and she was her aunt's close confidant. If something happened to Ms. Wang Qi, she would be the second person to be liquidated.
Although this naval battle was more like a fight between two weaklings, the fight was still very fierce.
The brutal battle only came to an end when the Sharp Blade Tiger, under the naval flag, forced both sides to cease fire.
And at this time, more than twenty ships had exploded.
Gu Hang's heart was bleeding.
These are all the family's property. If nothing unexpected happens, he will become the patriarch of the Gu family in the future, and these will be the resources he can use.
Now, it's all gone.
And these are only the obvious losses. The two sides have such a big conflict that it has even reached the point of resorting to violence. Wang Qi will probably encounter many difficulties in the process of cleaning up the situation and reintegrating the family resources. Many of the family's past business routes, relationships, and resources will be greatly affected.
According to my mother, the family's assets will shrink by a conservative 40 percent after this war.
As for the political cost, it was mainly the things that Gu Hang promised to Chief Pei Desi on his way to rescue his mother.
After this battle, the Gu family's original plan to get rid of the so-called Tianma Star Region Iron Triangle's political stance and become more neutral, which would facilitate further cross-star region development, was basically impossible to implement. The three-star branch of the Fache family, which had spent a lot of effort to ease the relationship and even could purchase goods on a large scale and turn it into an important place of origin and consumption, might also lose the market in the future.
After all, it was to carry out some blockade actions taken by Chief Pedes against the Fats family.
Of course, these difficulties are mainly faced by Gu Hang's mother.
Although the two cannot be considered as one yet, at least after many incidents, Gu Hang can probably regard the forces controlled by Wang Qi as a firm ally of Angry Owl Star. This alliance is maintained by unbreakable blood ties and is very reliable.
Gu’s loss is my loss.
Then it shouldn't be too much to collect some compensation from Black Arrow Star to make up for the losses, right?
"So what exactly do you want?" Wang Qi asked this question.
"I want the Luman Kingdom." Gu Hang told his mother his asking price very directly. "The Luman Kingdom is the third largest country on the Black Arrow Star, with a population of 40 million and 4.8 million square kilometers of land. I want all of these things. The Luman Kingdom itself can exist, but the Luman family should no longer exist."
Wang Qi frowned. "What's the value of this? This is just an agricultural country. Their annual output value is only more than 20 million tax coins, but they have to pay 4 million imperial taxes. After paying taxes, the fiscal surplus may be less than 2 million. Most of this 2 million will be used to pay for the maintenance of the army, and then add some administrative expenses and royal expenses... After a year, it's good if the fiscal deficit is not exceeded. What can you get from taking over a place like this?"
Gu Hang shook his head and said, "Mother, this is the difference between a businessman's mindset and a builder's mindset. You only see the present of an asset, but not its future."
Wang Qi's temper has improved a lot after this incident. In the past, if her son talked to her like this, how could she bear it?
Now, she can tolerate it. She is just a little dissatisfied: "It's not that I don't understand the meaning of potential. However, the premise of development is to invest the necessary capital. Forty million people and more than four million square kilometers of land with a relatively good environment are all positive assets. However, the education level, industrialization level, and infrastructure level of the residents of the Luman Kingdom are extremely poor. How much resources do you need to invest to realize the future you envision? And how many years will it take to get your investment back?"
After a pause, Wang Qi continued, "Besides, this is just a simple economic account. Other things have not been calculated yet. This is Black Arrow Star. It has an owner and a King's Council. If you occupy the Kingdom of Luman, what will the other six kingdoms and a large number of small countries think? How will you establish a reasonable rule? If the contradictions intensify, is it possible that a war will break out? How many resources will you have to invest to deal with these wars?"
Obviously, Wang Qi was skeptical about this. In the end, she gave her own advice: "Why not exchange the results of this battle for some tangible benefits."
“Population and land are tangible benefits.”
“I mean something more short-term and immediate.”
Gu Hang sighed.
Herein lay the greatest disagreement between him and her mother.
Businessmen consider benefits, investment returns, and risks...
But Gu Hang never defined himself as a businessman. Pure profit was never his primary consideration when making decisions.
The same principle applies to coming to the Angry Owl Star to serve as the governor.
At this point, Gu Hang said, "Did I invest anything when I rebuilt Angry Owl Star?"
Just this rhetorical question stumped Wang Qi.
Yes, the situation on the Angry Owl Star is much worse than that on the Black Arrow Star. According to Wang Qi, isn’t the Angry Owl Star an even more negative asset?
But what is the result?
Given the current development situation of Angry Owl Star, even she cannot lie with her eyes open.
And all of this is based on the premise that Gu Hang started from scratch.
She knew better than anyone that Gu Hang had not received a single cent of investment from his family in the past two years.
But even so, the Angry Owl Star is already thriving.
She didn't know how her son did it, and she tried to ask indirectly, but never got a positive answer.
But if the corresponding model is copied to the Black Arrow Star, how much potential will be unleashed by the 40 million people of the Luman Kingdom?
She couldn't help but think.
Gu Hang continued, "Of course, I will not treat this place as my homeland or as a core area for development. My energy and resources are limited, so I will give priority to the Angry Owl Star. Also, as you said, there will be all kinds of obstacles and troubles for me to control the Luman Kingdom. For now, I will only treat this place as a colony."
"But I will still invest a small amount of development resources. After all, given the current situation of the Luman Kingdom, no matter what we do, it will be useless. We can only squeeze out a little oil. Improving productivity in an all-round way and making the pie bigger is the right way. I have calculated the investment, it doesn't need to be too high, and I will liberate the people. Their current production relations are too primitive and backward."
Wang Qi said worriedly: "If you do this, you will definitely offend the other six feudal kingdoms, and there will be big problems in diplomacy."
Gu Hang's mind flashed through some of the history of his past life. It was indeed true. What would it be like if a foreign, centralized country emerged among a large number of feudal monarchies?
"You are correct. However, there will be a major window of opportunity soon that will allow for a period of peace."
Wang Qi immediately frowned.
She thought about it and understood what Gu Hang was talking about: "Imperial tax?"
"Yes." Gu Hang said, "If nothing unexpected happens, the fleet of the Imperial Taxation Department will arrive in the Tianma Star Region in two or three months at most."
Wang Qi followed Gu Hang's words and thought further: "And now, the 'Governor' of Black Arrow Star is the King of the Luman Kingdom. This is authorized by the King's Council and registered with the Imperial Administration Department. This means that the imperial taxes of the entire planet must be submitted through Ness Luman... In theory, he still owns the entire planet..."
"Yes." Gu Hang said, "After I kill Gu Ming and Ness Luman, you go and clean up the family's mess, and I will take care of the Black Arrow Star matter. I will reconvene the King's Council to confirm the amount of the Gu family's claim against the Luman Kingdom, which is the ownership of the entire Luman Kingdom; I will take advantage of the fact that the Luman Kingdom still has two years of governor authority and hold it in my hands during this period when the imperial tax is about to be paid. The other six countries must agree. They have already sent the imperial tax materials for this period to the Luman Kingdom one after another. They must compromise on this matter."
"The risk is still too high." Wang Qi said, "You are right. At least before the imperial tax is paid, no matter what you do, the other six countries will not make any big moves. But three months later, when the imperial tax is paid, they will not let you take over the power of the planetary governor. They will definitely reopen the King's Council and re-elect the governor, and you will not be elected."
"Who agreed that they should reopen the King's Parliament?" Gu Hang said.
"This is the tradition of Black Arrow Star."
"What does their tradition have to do with me?" Gu Hang asked, "Does the Empire recognize the traditions of Black Arrow Star?"
"Admit it...that's not right." Wang Qi reacted.
Does the Empire recognize the tradition of the so-called King’s Council of Black Arrow Star?
It depends on which aspect you look at it from.
The Black Arrow Star has a new governor every four years. This governor is nominated by the King's Council and is a king from one of the seven major countries. He reports to the empire, which accepts it. Then, the empire will ask this governor for the two tax collections in these four years.
From this perspective, the Empire certainly recognizes it. The Imperial Administration will respect the local traditions of the planet to a certain extent, and if you want to change the governor, then you can change it.
However, from another perspective, this is not contrary to the Empire's policy. The Empire collects taxes from the Governors, and the Governors are the ones to be looked after; similarly, the Empire's ruling policies are also oriented towards the registered Governors. Military aid and interstellar trade are all based on the Governors.
Essentially, the process of changing the governor of Black Arrow, from the Empire's perspective, is that the incumbent governor resigns and nominates a new governor, who is then reviewed and approved by the sector government, then reviewed and approved by the star domain government, and then approved by the Imperial Executive Department.
It’s just because of the special circumstances of Black Arrow that the whole process will be smooth.
So what happens if the incumbent governor does not resign during the process?
What would happen if Gu Hang used the governor's authority obtained from Nestor Luhman to usurp the throne?
In the Empire, there is no term limit for the Governor. As long as you pay enough taxes every two years, you are recognized as the Governor by the Empire. The Empire doesn't care about anything else.
This kind of thing has happened more than once in the history of Black Arrow Star.
If the country that holds the governor's position is particularly strong at a certain time, then other countries will have to endure it with a pinch of their noses. If they don't endure it, they will be beaten, and in the end they will have to obey it honestly.
If they are not strong enough, then war will break out. The powerful country that dominates the governor position will beat up those who are disobedient, subvert the royal power, support puppets, plunder the territory, etc., to confirm its hegemony.
This is clearly written in the history of Black Arrow Star.
However, this kind of hegemony usually cannot be maintained for too long. In the past one or two hundred years, the international situation on Black Arrow Star has been relatively stable. The King's Council has played an important role. Everyone is obedient and there are few hegemony wars for the position of Governor.
Wang Qi sighed: "You want to turn Black Arrow Star upside down."
Gu Hang spread his hands innocently: "They were the first to do it."
(End of this chapter)
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