Chapter 127, Long Live the Governor!
In fact, not all people in the inner city are rich.
With such poor productivity, how can we support so many rentiers?
Most people in inner cities still have to rely on their own work to support themselves and their families. They just have relatively more affluent families, better education, and better opportunities.
They are industrial workers, employees of factories and enterprises, clerks of chambers of commerce, and affairs officers under the federal government... They have a stable and even decent job, but this is the source of everything they have.
In fact, under the new system designed by Gu Hang, if these people work hard, they still have much greater opportunities than those from other cities. Their better education and richer work experience are their advantages.
But this cannot be believed simply through propaganda. Gu Hang does not need to rely on empty words to maintain stability for the time being, his army can do this in a short time.
As for the future, these inner city people will feel this through actual experience.
In fact, he already had some preliminary ideas about the entire future political and economic framework and had discussed them with Ossena.
The entire people's livelihood system will be built on forty-five job levels: the AE hierarchy, with 9 levels in each layer.
Each level will be equipped with corresponding welfare benefits, including food rations, housing benefits, medical benefits, and purchasing rights for a small number of scarce commodities.
Every regular employee will receive at least E6 treatment after entering the workplace. Below E6 are apprentices, trainees, partially assisted students, convict workers, and relief for the unemployed not due to their own reasons...
The specific level is determined by position and personal work contribution.
Although the job level is linked to the position, it is not completely consistent. For those who are at a lower level in the early stage, their job level will be upgraded year by year according to their seniority and work contribution, which means their basic benefits will be increased.
The promotion speed will slow down after reaching a higher level.
Those with outstanding performance will be promoted by skipping grades.
The treatment of soldiers in the army does not follow this line, but it will correspond. Privates and corporals have allowances similar to E-level, which vary depending on the unit. After retirement, they will try to arrange jobs of the corresponding level; NCOs, senior NCOs and some junior officers correspond to D-level; mid- and high-level officers have C-level treatment when they retire; high-level officers and generals have B or A-level treatment depending on the situation.
The salary for each rank and position will also be paid monthly, but it will no longer be in Alliance Coins. It is now in Work Points, and there may be some currency reforms in the future. You can spend Work Points or currency to buy things in the store.
Most civilian goods, unless they are scarce, will be put on the shelves normally.
Want to eat better side dishes besides regular food rations, such as cakes, ice cream, meat and dairy products? You can buy them;
Want quality appliances? You can buy them;
Want to buy a three-wheeled vehicle or even a car? You may not be able to buy it in the short term, but when the production volume increases in the future, the demand for military supplies is met, and there is extra production capacity, you can buy it. In the early stage, there may be a job-level limit, and when the production capacity is more abundant, the limit can be lifted.
When you have more supplies, you can buy personal hobbies, reading, entertainment, art...
In other words, the three major needs of housing, food and clothing, and medical care will be guaranteed as long as one enters this new system; and wages can meet higher-level, more personalized and diversified needs.
Want something better? Sure, work hard to get a promotion and a raise.
The only exception is education.
For this thing, Gu Hang plans to go with the public, free, and performance-based route.
This system will include future civil servants, industrial workers, service industries, farmers...
Of course, at present, this whole system looks beautiful and somewhat utopian, but there may be many problems when it comes to its implementation.
Ensure fairness, ensure reasonable promotions, ensure adequate supply of materials, meet individual and diverse needs, fight corruption, avoid institutional rigidity, plan material distribution and production plans... there are so many problems.
But this collective, planned system has a fundamental advantage: it makes it easier to concentrate resources to accomplish major tasks.
On the Angry Owl, there is a fundamental difference from the modern world: for a long time, there was no problem of overproduction.
The significance of market regulation is not that great.
All excess production capacity will be eliminated by the huge pressure of imperial taxation.
The only thing Gu Hang had to do was to expand the production capacity as much as possible. No matter how much he produced, it didn’t matter if he couldn’t sell it or use it. The empire’s huge system would absorb all of it.
Under this premise, what Gu Hang attaches the most importance to is how to make this system full of motivation for the people within it.
He does not allow people to lie down, eat and wait for death, or live a life of mediocrity in terms of welfare.
These are ideas that should be put on the street lights, but they are what Gu Hang must do.
Promotion in job title, salary increase, and vigorous promotion of values are all positive incentives.
Performance appraisal, competitive promotion quotas, demotion penalty system...
This kind of relatively encouraging competition means is also indispensable.
How can Guhang become prosperous if the people don’t work hard?
If you work hard, the Governor will be able to buy a sports car next year.
Of course, this was a joke. What Gu Hang wanted was not those low-level interests.
Expanding the army, developing industries, building starships, raising one or more warbands...his ambitions are huge.
As for the current reality, once these inner city people enter his new system, due to their own educational advantages, professional skills advantages, and previous professional experience, they will naturally be better at everything than those poor people in the outer city who may not even recognize all the words. They will easily strive for a higher starting level and a faster upgrade speed.
As long as they support the Governor, they will feel the benefits.
It is not difficult to restore the past living standards, and it is even inevitable as productivity increases. And better class mobility will allow them to have opportunities that were impossible in the past.
The better days are yet to come!
…
Gu Hang's divergent thoughts came to a conclusion with the death of the last batch of people executed.
Next, comes another big event: the awarding ceremony and the military parade.
These two things go together.
In fact, there are only about ten thousand people standing in the huge square now, and the open space is used for the upcoming military parade.
Each unit will set out from the preparation area outside, one by one, accompanied by bugles and majestic music, and will march across the main road outside the Parliament Square and along the path vacated by the spectators to arrive at the rostrum.
The commander of the unit will go on stage to receive medals and military ranks, and more importantly, accept the unit number and flag on behalf of the entire unit.
The military music has already sounded. Four military bands are making quite a lot of noise in the four directions of the square. The loudspeakers arranged in different positions further amplify the music.
Then, a column slowly came.
Four "Climber V" infantry fighting vehicles led the way. Behind them were tanks captured from the former Alliance Corps that had not yet been repainted, and then a team of Iron Bull trucks, accompanied by Ranger motorcycles. Some of these trucks were fully loaded with soldiers and used as troop transports, while others were towing huge 155 howitzers.
This was the 3rd Battalion of the former Governor's Infantry Regiment. In the officer's car at the front sat Perbov from the 2nd Battalion and the commander of the 3rd Battalion.
In fact, it should be the 2nd Battalion that should be reviewed first, and Perbov, as the commander of the 2nd Battalion, was indeed the first one. Unfortunately, he was a bit of a loner, and the main force of his troops was still recruiting and preparing in Weixing City, so he could only take a look at the 3rd Battalion's square formation.
The entire square formation arrived under the rostrum, and whether the soldiers were in vehicles or on foot, they all shouted slogans loudly!
First, the officer in front shouted "For the Emperor!", and all the soldiers behind followed suit.
Then came another "For the Governor!"
Gu Hang stood at the front of the viewing platform, watching his troops pass by. He had a blank expression on his face, and just nodded slightly.
The soldiers followed the instructions and entered the open space reserved for them in the square and stood there. Perbov and the commander of the 3rd Battalion went on stage together.
Gu Hang personally put on the epaulettes symbolizing the rank of major for them; then he put on medals for them.
Gu Hang personally designed two styles of medals.
At this moment, they all wore the 'Renaissance Medal'.
The medal is roughly circular in shape, depicting a hammer being held tightly and raised upwards, surrounded by ears of wheat.
Gu Hang intended to issue the Renaissance Medal as a basic medal, mainly to soldiers and officers who participated in a series of battles in Renaissance City and performed well.
Half of the recipients were either killed or wounded in battle. Needless to say, the former were retired after receiving the medal.
These medals were not recognized throughout the Empire, unlike military ranks. The ranks of the Planetary Defense Force were recognized by the Imperial Military—although the value was very different.
But Gu Hang still needs to establish this system.
Soldiers who fight for themselves deserve honor.
Moreover, in addition to honor, medals also have tangible benefits. The "Renaissance Medal" itself is equivalent to an E5-level allowance. Although it may not seem like much, it is an additional allowance on top of the original soldier's allowance. Moreover, this allowance will continue until retirement. Even if there is disability or death, the pension will be higher.
In fact, awarding medals to disabled retired and deceased soldiers is also to provide more compensation to the soldiers who died bravely in battle and send it to their loved ones.
As for those who have no relatives, the army’s political department will arrange for an orphan - there are too many in the wasteland - to inherit them, but the prerequisite is that the orphan needs to inherit the hero’s surname.
They will be raised in special institutions for war orphans and receive the necessary education.
After Gu Hang awarded the two battalion commanders with military ranks and medals, the ceremony of awarding them ranks and medals came to an end. The 4th Battalion's formation was already coming from behind.
The two battalion commanders and several soldiers they brought to the rostrum each took a large box and many rolled-up flags from the governor's entourage, and hurried off the stage to make way for the brothers from the 4th Battalion behind them.
The box contained several Renaissance Medals, which the battalion commanders would give to the soldiers in their own battalions. The rolled-up flags were the red flags of the battalion headquarters and the company, on which the team numbers would be clearly written.
These numbered flags were distributed and immediately raised by the flag bearers.
Soon, when the next batch of officers came on stage to be awarded titles and medals, red flags were flying in the first formation.
Among them, there are two special numbers - the 1st Waste Hole Company and the 4th 'Cowdy' Company.
The two flags belonged to the 1st Combined Battalion of the 1st Combined Brigade of Perbov. Although he did not bring anyone with him, friendly forces sent people to help as flag bearers and raised the flags.
The former was to commend Gu Hang for establishing the first company composed of native people from the Angry Owl Star, and its outstanding performance in many battles; the latter was to commend the great achievements of the sacrificed Coady, and was given to the company of which he served as the political commissar. This company was incorporated into the 1st Combined Battalion and became the fourth company.
This is the entire process of awarding titles and honors.
To be honest, the level of the military music playing in a loop was quite average; the square formation of soldiers and vehicles did not march particularly neatly either.
From Gu Hang's perspective, especially compared to the military parade he had seen on TV before traveling through time, it was still a little lacking.
But there is a completely different point here: this is truly his army.
With his order, the guns and cannons in the phalanxes will fire at any enemy for him; the soldiers in the phalanxes will die for him.
Looking at them from the high platform, Gu Hang felt an infinite sense of pride in his heart.
The people in the inner city who were watching the ceremony were completely silent.
In fact, among the soldiers who came in a square formation, many of them were familiar to them. Many of them were indeed soldiers from the original Union Army Corps. A considerable number of them were absorbed into the 1st Combined Brigade; the rest would be filled into the 2nd Infantry Division as the skeleton.
However, the people in the inner city felt that these familiar soldiers looked very strange at the moment.
There had never been any military parades in Fuxing City. Normally, they could only see these soldiers when they were on duty or on missions. The people in the inner city generally had an indifferent attitude towards the army.
But now, the entire army seems to be different from what they imagined.
The whole spirit is different.
Led by the men in red hats, the soldiers straightened their chests and looked heroic and vigorous.
When have the residents of the inner city ever seen their own army with such a spirit?
Oh, no, it's the Governor's army now... Huh? No, it seems we are also the Governor's people, this is still our army...
A bit confusing.
The people felt mixed emotions as they watched these familiar yet unfamiliar soldiers walk past them and then stand in neat rows on the other side of the square.
The people in the outer city did not have such complicated feelings.
Fuxing City does not have the ability to broadcast live footage, so it is not easy to let everyone see the ceremony.
But at least the technology to broadcast via radio existed.
Lambert's earlier verdict sentencing various people to death was also broadcast live on the radio.
Compared to the quietness of the inner city, the outer city was quite lively. While people were working, they heard various important people being executed. They didn't know who everyone was, but they always heard that someone they knew and who made them hate was shot.
As a result, cheers could be heard from time to time on the construction site.
In the subsequent award ceremony, the broadcasting host will also read out the awards received by each unit and their merits according to the script.
This also made the poor people in the outer city understand that there was such a reliable army that fought to protect Fuxing City from being destroyed by the evil cult conspiracy.
…
After all the troops had passed, the last two people to come on stage were Yan Fangxu and Thadius.
For the former, Gu Hang awarded him the rank of colonel.
Accepting this military rank basically meant that he bid farewell to the Imperial Navy and joined the planetary defense force of the Wrath of the Owl.
The relevant formal procedures are already being processed, and Gu Hang even greeted Brigadier General Ye Lisia specifically for his matter.
In that case, Gu Hang spent 10 points of grace to activate Yan Fangxu.
In the system's evaluation, his rarity is N, which is ordinary level. He is a level 2 military commander. His highest attribute point is commander, which reaches 12 points. He only has one attribute of [Excellent Military Commander], which is nothing special.
In addition to being awarded the rank of colonel, Yan Fangxu also received a "Renaissance Medal".
Next to him, Thaddeus was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel, in addition to a 'Wind-Quening Medal'.
The medal is an irregular cone shape that looks like an abstract tornado.
This is the second medal designed by Gu Hang. Only one was awarded this time, and that was to Thadius.
There is no doubt that in the entire military medal system, the 'Quiet Wind Medal' is a hundred times more precious than the Revival Medal.
After their personal titles and honors were awarded, each of them received a flag.
They saluted Gu Hang, wore military ranks on their shoulders, medals on their chests, and walked away holding flags in their hands.
Then, they each went to the front of the two large square formations and handed the flags to the flag bearers who had been prepared.
The flag-bearer squad raised the red flag, and two flags were erected at the forefront of the two armies.
There was nothing special about the flag that Thadius brought down. After it was unfolded, it turned out to be the flag of the [2nd Infantry Division].
The flag that Yan Fangxu brought down has some meaning.
After unfolding it, it read: [1st Wind-extinguishing Brigade].
There is no doubt that this is also an honorary number, given to the entire brigade to commend the officers and soldiers of the brigade, including those former Alliance Legion soldiers who were absorbed into the brigade, for their outstanding performance in Operation Extinguishing Wind, including the company that Thadius had previously led as the political commissar.
After the ceremony of conferring honors and titles, the broadcast signal switched to the microphone in front of Gu Hang. His voice, along with the loudspeaker, resounded throughout the square and then throughout the city.
People quieted down and began to listen carefully to the governor's words, hoping to find some reliable support for their future lives.
"Greetings, residents of Fuxing City, my most loyal warriors. I am your governor, Gu Hang."
"Just now, I have awarded the warriors who fought bravely to defend this city the honors they deserve."
"I have issued one hundred Renaissance Medals. Every recipient is a well-deserved hero. They have made outstanding contributions to the defense of Renaissance City, and even sacrificed their lives."
"I present the Wind-Quening Medal, the highest honor, to Comrade Thaddeus."
"Many people still remember the storm ten days ago. With the help of the Phoenix Regiment and the Holy Lily Sisters, we defeated the cultists' conspiracy, extinguished the storm, and saved the entire city. Comrade Thadius was undoubtedly the most outstanding one among them. At the most critical moment, he performed the most heroic feat with the most fearless attitude. He delivered the final blow to extinguish the storm."
“Extinguish the Storm. This is the origin of the Extinguish the Storm Medal and the honorary number of the Extinguish the Storm Brigade. All the soldiers who fought bravely, all those who maintained order and saved the city in the disaster, are heroes.”
At the beginning of his speech, Gu Hang started with the origin of the Extinguishing Wind Medal and the honorary title of the Extinguishing Wind Brigade.
The people in the inner city were silent, as they did not feel deeply about this; but the people in the outer city recalled the figures of those soldiers.
In the food transport war, they fought right under their noses against cultists who tried to destroy the food carts and leave them hungry.
In the storm that intensified and finally came to an abrupt end, they may not have known what happened in the several wind farms, but they clearly saw a large number of soldiers maintaining order, distributing food and supplies in the wind and rain, and arranging for people to evacuate the city.
This army does seem to be different.
During the disaster, they did not use their weapons to smash, loot and oppress the poor. Instead, they stood with the people and withstood the storm.
They had witnessed all of this with their own eyes, and the Governor's concluding words of praise had reinforced the impression in their minds.
This is Gu Hang’s purpose.
He wanted to honor the army.
Honor allows the army to maintain discipline, and honor makes the people love the army.
After saying this, Gu Hang paused for a moment and continued his speech:
"Hundreds of years ago, before the war, Wrathful Owl was a civilized world, the pearl of the entire Pegasus region. With the help of advanced industrial technology and unique psychic gas fields for energy mining, Wrathful Owl's imperial tax payment ranked among the top three in the Pegasus region, second only to the region's capital, Winged Star, and the hive world, Koroja III. The living standards of its residents ranked second, only slightly worse than the garden world, Winged Star."
"At that time, the Angry Owl people lived in cities, and many of them had decent jobs. Food and clothing were never a problem for most people. They enjoyed the sunshine, the nightlife, the diverse food production, and the developed cultural industry..."
"Such a prosperous world cannot be found on many planets in the empire. At that time, the people of Angry Owl were the envy of most residents of the empire."
Gu Hang's words made many people feel complicated.
No one had seen what it looked like before the war, but they had heard about it from their ancestors, and even from their ancestors before them, from generation to generation; this was also proven by some of the things occasionally excavated from the pre-war ruins.
In the past, the Angry Owl Star was indeed developed and prosperous.
Then why do we, the descendants, live such a miserable life?
The Governor responded:
"The hateful traitor betrayed us. The best energy output on the Wrathful Owl Star: the psychic gas field, was used as the source by the Chaos traitor to open the psychic tunnel. This tunnel connects to a world corrupted by Chaos; under the cover of evil magic, even the demons in Hell were summoned."
"A brutal war broke out with the Wrathful Owl Star as the battlefield."
"The people of Wrathful Owl and the soldiers of the Empire, with endless sacrifices, defeated the Chaos traitors, closed the psychic tunnels, and blew up the psychic gas fields... But at the same time, this war that lasted for decades turned Wrathful Owl into ruins, turning this once prosperous world with nearly 10 billion people into a wasteland. The collapsed ecosystem gave rise to terrible waste energy storms and mutated monsters, and a large amount of land is no longer suitable for survival."
"From then on, the Wrathful Owl Star changed from the star zone's former pearl to a wasteland planet. It was abandoned by the Empire and removed from the star zone planning."
Many people did not understand this part. Chaos traitors and demons seemed to be something they had never seen before. Enriched psychic gas fields and psychic tunnels were even more confusing.
But that didn't stop them from distilling the key point: our world was betrayed by traitors and destroyed by Chaos traitors.
Those ghost things are the culprits that destroyed the wonderful life we should have.
This reminded them of the original Angry Owl Sect, which was also a cult and almost destroyed Renaissance City!
Gu Hang's words continued:
"After a hundred years of darkness, an imperial official named Huo Haibin was surprised to find that there were still tens of millions of people living on Angry Owl Star when he passed by it. He helped the people here and applied to the higher authorities through the star district government. He finally got permission to rebuild Angry Owl Star, allowing it to return to the embrace of the empire. He also became the first governor of Angry Owl Star in the wasteland era."
"Governor Huo is a respectable man. He worked hard on the Wrathful Owl for 17 years. Relying on the tax-free period of the first 15 years, he worked hard to restore the population of the Wrathful Owl, established a unified alliance, united all forces on the entire planet, ended the frequent conflicts over limited resources on the wasteland, and rebuilt the initial productivity."
"But he didn't do enough. In his seventeenth year as governor, Wrathful Owl had to pay taxes to the Empire for the first time. He had to pay standard Imperial taxes. But Wrathful Owl hadn't recovered yet and couldn't even pay the lowest tax. He was executed by the Taxation Department, and the Alliance government at the time went through a major reshuffle."
"Then, it was the time when Neil Fachs served as the governor-general. It was also the time when countless Alliance people would be terrified when they thought of the second generation of the governor-general. He learned from the failure of Governor Huo and, with the help of the Alliance government, implemented many policies that Governor Huo would rather die than implement, and imposed heavy taxes on the entire planet. Everything was done in order to pay taxes to the Empire, and all production and recovery work came to a standstill."
"He completed two tax collection tasks, but in doing so, he emptied out Governor Huo's accumulation of more than ten years. Countless families were torn apart, and innocent people were charged with taxes. Countless food that should have filled the stomachs of the people and countless necessary industrial products were collected and handed over to the empire."
"The planet of Wrathful Owl was hit by a disaster, and his unsustainable behavior sparked a rebellion. He sat in this position for six years, and the alliance was close to collapse. Many people left the alliance, many people secretly disobeyed, many people violently rebelled, and many people were exterminated... The planet suffered huge population losses, and seventeen years of recovery were almost destroyed. What he did, in his third term, sent him to the guillotine."
"Later, three generations of governors-general each served for only two years before being executed when they were unable to pay taxes. The remaining forces conspired to control the governors' actions, tampered with their orders, and deceived their superiors and subordinates. Every two years, the governors and officials of the governor's government who were temporarily selected to serve for two years were used as scapegoats."
"During the whole process, Wrathful Owl Star spent another six years. These six years of division and chaos were no better than the period of the second governor. Many people still died, and the entire planet still had no hope of revival. The name of Renaissance City seemed ridiculous and pathetic."
Gu Hang used a large part of his speech to recount the history of the Angry Owl Star over the past few decades.
People are very familiar with this period of time. From the first governor to the fifth governor, a total of 29 years, many younger people grew up during this period; older people have experienced these years completely.
They knew that what Governor Gu said was not false; it was their own personal experience.
However, before this, few of them thought deeply about why all this happened.
After Gu Hang pointed these out, they would naturally think about these questions.
Because of the Empire?
No, before the Empire recaptured Angry Owl Star, during the six months of darkness after the war, Angry Owl Star was in a state of collapse. It was a generation of governors who established the most basic order, supported the alliance structure through Imperial aid and interstellar trade, and supported many local industries.
The ones who are screwed are the second generation governor and the subsequent governors who have no real power.
The brutal and incompetent rule of the second governor brought great disaster;
The three subsequent governors had no real power, no soldiers, and were deceived. Almost every one of them thought they could pay taxes, and the news they heard was stable and improving. As a result, when it came time to pay taxes, the goods in the warehouses did not meet the standards, and the population camps that were supposed to be paid as taxes were also empty.
The three governors could only sit in Renaissance City like wax figures, blindfolded and unaware that the alliance was so loose that it was about to disintegrate. The various forces did not listen to the instructions or the announcements. Under the loose and independent system, the power of the planet could not be integrated, let alone developed.
Then, it seems that the answer is obvious: the problem is not entirely with the empire; the main problem is that there is no governor who is powerful, decisive, and capable enough.
Of course, there are many people who cannot think of this level. The suffering they have personally experienced in the past, when told from a larger and more macro level, is like listening to a foreign language. Their thoughts can only passively follow the governor's narration.
But what Gu Hang said next was for those who are not smart enough, but are the most important and the most hardcore people:
"Until I came."
"More than two months ago, I came into this world and saw devastation everywhere."
"At that time, I used the alliance's communication to announce my arrival and my ideals to the entire planet. I said that I wanted to rebuild the entire wasteland world so that every Angry Owl Star person could live a good life through their own efforts. I didn't come here just to collect taxes, and I would not ignore the lives of the people for the sake of collecting taxes."
"When I found out that the officials of the alliance were not only unable to help but were actually obstacles, I left Renaissance City."
"Now, I'm back. My declaration has never changed. Those who hindered me from bringing you reconstruction, revitalization, and a better life are all dead. From now on, no one will prevent us from building our city and our world together!"
"I will establish a welfare system so that every hard-working person can have enough food and clothing!"
"I will build schools so that every child can learn and grow in a bright classroom, instead of stealing, begging on the streets, or working as a child laborer in a black factory!"
"I will build factories, produce more goods, create more jobs, and let you live a better life!"
“I will build hospitals so that everyone who is injured and sick can be cared for.”
"I will establish a fairer and more efficient government that will maintain order and security."
"I will build a better, more honorable army, and fight to defend everything we have created!"
"These are my duties, my mission, the mission of the new Union Government, and the mission of every Angry Owl man."
"Together, we will win!"
What Governor Gu said at the end was something that everyone could understand.
People cheered and were very excited!
"Long live the Governor!"
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