Chapter 515: Mr. Gu gave too much
Gu Hang came here to solve the problem of slow action in the Menghe star area.
The solution is certainly not for Gu Hang to go to the battlefield himself. The problem of Menghe Star Region is not a problem of war. The alliance has sufficient power to solve every war they encounter in Menghe Star Region.
These local rebellions were not enough to overwhelm the alliance.
But the problem is, there are too many of them.
On the one hand, the alliance's advance troops were insufficient in strength, and on the other hand, it was impossible for the alliance to send precious troops to Menghe on a large scale in order to suppress the local rebellion.
That would cost a lot of money and would affect the alliance's current overall development plan in the Dragon Eagle Star Region.
Moreover, it is not economical or affordable.
To put it bluntly, the alliance's move into the Menghe Star Region was not simply to expand its territory. Gu Hang's goal was to establish a strategic buffer zone outside the Dragon Eagle Star Region. If a subsequent war began, he would try not to let the war take place on his own territory.
Secondly, it is... to put it bluntly, it is plunder.
Gu Hang wants the imperial taxes and planetary defense forces of the Menghe star region.
The former is real money, while the latter is manpower and cannon fodder.
This star field is poorer than the Dragon Eagle Star Field, but it is larger, with more than 700 worlds. Even if each world can only provide a few resources, the Alliance does not have enough resources to develop these places. The Dragon Eagle Star Field, as a "homeland", has not had enough time to develop.
However, just the income and manpower that can be provided by this scale, as well as the various benefits attached to it, are enough to make Gu Hang quite envious.
Since we have no intention and no ability to make this place our homeland, what the alliance needs is a way to rule this place cheaply. Even if it is an unstable rule, as long as we can seize local interests, that is enough.
The key word here is 'cheap cost of rule'.
The team of officials sent by the Alliance to act on each planet is very small, usually an administrative team of one or two hundred people. Their main job is not to directly manage the local planet, but to establish a cooperative government, whether it is a new one or a cooperation with existing interest groups.
After the establishment work is completed, it is time to manage and supervise the government. Specific policies, tax collection, resource supply, and manpower supply are mainly completed by local cooperative governments.
Add to that a small number of Alliance garrisons, such as one regiment per planet, and that would be about it.
At most one division.
Under such a mechanism, the low-cost rule that Gu Hang expects can be achieved.
This is exactly where the problem lies.
Low-cost rule means instability.
What are the reasons for those rebellious worlds?
Is it just because of the influence left by the Fury Legion?
I'm afraid it's not that simple.
This is certainly part of the reason and it is a very important factor.
However, the loss of control brought about by low-cost rule is also very important.
Some worlds are unhappy with being controlled by the Alliance, because the Alliance actually demands more than Imperial taxes.
The establishment of a cooperative government will more or less infringe upon the interests of the original ruling classes of these worlds.
It is normal for them to incite rebellion or even participate in it themselves.
This is reflected in the panel information that Gu Hang can see in his system. Although these worlds have been recognized by the system and entered into the [Vassal] panel, the vassal levels are basically all LV1 and LV2, and the tendency to separate and the probability of rebellion are very high.
In this regard, Gu Hang has made some requirements on the work of the Union Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The core is that the officials sent by the alliance to Menghe must respect the interests of the local ruling group when they act there, and can even use the alliance's powerful garrison troops and agents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help them solve some problems that they could not solve before. They can also be allowed or even indulged to seize benefits that were difficult for them to seize in the past.
For example... more ferocious exploitation.
That would certainly make the lives of the local residents, who were already poor, even worse.
but……
It will only make the people suffer more.
Of course, this process will have many negative effects. For example, local residents will have more resistance to the alliance's rule. They may think that the arrival of the alliance has made their lives worse. The local ruling class is also happy for the people to think so, and even actively promotes it.
But the alliance has no other choice.
At most, we can be more meticulous in our work, carry out some publicity in the local area, and put the blame on the cooperating government.
These are some of the ways the Alliance approaches the work of cooperative governments.
In the Menghe Star Region, Gu Hang couldn't really use the authorization he had just obtained, the Land Occupation Act, on a large scale. After all, the Land Occupation Act only granted Gu Hang the right to bring the area under the rule of the Alliance when the enemies of the Empire were defeated. But the situation in the Menghe Star Region was obviously not enough to call the planets in the region "enemies of the Empire."
It's not impossible to say this reluctantly, but it's a bit too much and will damage your reputation.
Anyway, they can't and don't intend to rule directly. If they use the colonial-style "cooperative government" to turn these places into vassals and rule indirectly, then there is no need to use the Landlord Act.
…
After establishing the policies and strategies for the planetary level, the remaining work is up to Gu Hang.
Hostile forces from the Princess Star Region, this requires the joint efforts of military and intelligence agents to solve;
Rebellious forces from local planets are resolved by optimizing cooperative government strategies;
In addition to these two, there is resistance in the third direction that cannot be ignored.
That is the pressure from the Menghe government.
This was a problem that even Gu Hang hadn't thought of at first.
After becoming the commander-in-chief of the Southern Theater and nominally in charge of military and political power, Gu Hang certainly did not have the right to manage the entire Eastern Universe - this request was rejected by Holy Terra - but at least Holy Terra gave clear orders to the Eastern Universe, requiring the entire universe government to cooperate with Gu Hang's actions and help Gu Hang prepare for war.
As one of "his own people" and a member of Gallardo's political faction, Zuo Zhaofeng would certainly not create any obstacles for Gu Hang.
Although it was not enough to bankrupt him, after all, there were still many other threats to be dealt with within the universe. But at least, within a reasonable range, he had done a lot of work.
For example, some imperial taxes could be given to the alliance.
For example, troops, especially a considerable part of naval forces, were mobilized from some relatively peaceful areas within the universe and brought to the alliance to help the alliance fight and strengthen the alliance's naval strength.
This is a great support.
Converted into money, the total value would probably be around tens of billions.
Not to mention, this kind of support will continue to be provided for many years to come.
That's a lot of money.
Not counting the alliance's current expenditures, the imperial taxes and fiscal revenue it receives from the Dragon Eagle Star Region only total about 200 billion.
The Eastern Universe can provide 50 billion ships, supplies, money, and troops a year...which is already quite good, equivalent to about 20% to 25% of the alliance's total income.
Up to this point, Zuo Zhaofeng was very kind.
The universe domain needs money, and the various star domains under the universe domain also need money. He can raise so much money in a year. Who can say that Zuo Zhaofeng is not one of them?
From his perspective, he also gave clear instructions to the government of the Menghe star field, asking them to cooperate with the alliance's actions.
However, the situation in the Menghe star field is different after all.
As for other star regions, they just need to listen to the demands of the Universe Government and contribute money and manpower. The Alliance will not come to their territory.
The Menghe star field was seriously invaded by the alliance.
As the master, or at least the self-proclaimed master, the Menghe Star Region Government was quite unhappy about this.
This is the superficial factor. At least, that's what Zhai Guangshan, the head of the Menghe Star Region, said when he expressed his dissatisfaction to the alliance.
He believed that the alliance's actions were an aggression and had filed complaints against the alliance several times.
Complaining to the Cosmic Government was not going to be of much use, so he filed a complaint with Holy Terra.
That's also not very helpful.
But it is a bit disgusting. Every day there is a star domain leader shouting about what the alliance did to him. It is really annoying.
The possible loss of reputation is already a problem in itself, not to mention that under the instigation of the star region government, rebellions are breaking out one after another in various places.
The intelligence department of the alliance has already obtained some information, from which they can infer that many of the more violent places have the shadow of star domain governments or star district governments behind them.
In addition to infringing on a certain degree of interests, the alliance intelligence department also believes that there are some unclear connections between the Menghe Star Region government and Tienushi.
Although the intelligence currently held by the alliance is not critical and not solid evidence, and cannot directly kill Zhai Guangshan, if it is just a suspicion, there is no need for complete solid evidence.
What's more, if Gu Hang wanted to use force to solve this problem, he didn't necessarily need solid evidence.
What evidence is needed to suppress a rebellion?
It’s just that Gu Hang doesn’t want to fight.
At least there will be no large-scale war.
Since they don't want to go to war, Gu Hang came here in person this time to solve the problem through diplomatic and political means.
This cannot be accomplished simply by sitting on the Dragon Eagle.
After entering the Menghe star field, his goal was clear: it was a planet called "Gran Ya".
Granya's position in the Menghe star field is somewhat similar to that of Feiyi Star in the Longying star field.
Maybe even more important.
Although it is not the capital of the star field, the shipbuilding industry in this world is well developed and, relying on the shipbuilding industry, it has a strong economic radiation effect.
In comparison, Mengyang Star, the capital of Menghe Star Region, is even worse off than Granya in terms of economic development.
The Alliance's advance fleet has entered Granya.
Granya itself is also one of Gu Hang’s strategic goals. He really wants the shipbuilding capabilities of this planet.
Although it was not even as good as the original Wing Star, not to mention that the shipbuilding industry has reached a higher level under the control of the Alliance. However, Granya is also one of the few places that can build large ships. Although the original technology can't even build a Moon-class cruiser, the cruiser that can be built is a castrated version of the "Zhenhe-class", but it is still a cruiser!
Moreover, if Granya is mastered by the Alliance, then the Alliance's technology can be used on this planet. The original technical bottleneck is broken, and Granya's hardware facilities - large docks and large star ports, as well as the production capacity of various ship parts on the planet will be greatly liberated.
Even the original dock on it that was used to manufacture giant-belly-class transport ships could be modified to build battlecruisers.
The sooner we get Granya, the sooner we can start building ships, and the faster we can accumulate strength for the Alliance Navy.
But here they were stopped.
The Menghe Fleet blocked the Alliance's advance fleet and prevented it from approaching. At the same time, a large number of troops were also deployed on the planet, including starports and shipyards in orbit, ready for battle.
The alliance's forces were stuck.
On the one hand, the force of the advance fleet alone may not be enough to defeat the Menghe Fleet, and the size of the army forces on board is not enough to quickly conquer the entire planet.
On the other hand, it wouldn't be right to actually set up a battle formation.
Then, Gu Hang arrived.
He also went to the meeting alone.
The alliance attaches so much importance to Granya, so of course there are arrangements in place. Multiple intelligence organizations of the alliance have planted people in it. On behalf of Gu Hang, he sent an invitation to a meeting with the power holders on the planet, the board of directors of the Granya Shipping Group.
They also agreed to meet.
Afterwards, the star district government, knowing this situation, still tried to stop it. However, when they started to act, it was too late. Gu Hang himself had already taken a small boat to the star port of Granya and met with the leaders of the shipping group.
They just blocked Gu Hang outside the conference room, as he had just finished a meeting with the directors of the Shipbuilding Group.
Gu Hang had only two followers around him, and he was the only one there.
The leader of the Yayun Star Region led the team personally. He looked at Gu Hang with a bad face and sneered, but he hadn't thought of what to say yet. In the end, he could only watch Gu Hang leave the star port.
Afterwards, the Menghe Fleet made way, and the Alliance's army entered the star port and the surface.
The irritable sector chief was "politely escorted" out of the star port.
…
"What did Gu Hang say to you that made you give up resistance?" Zhai Guangshan asked this question to Jerry Fisher with a dark face.
When Zhai Guangshan, the head of the Menghe Star Region, learned that Gu Hang was coming to Granya, he also hurried over.
But when he arrived, it was too late.
Granya is already owned by the Alliance.
Reluctantly, he prepared to leave, but received an invitation from Gu Hang who had not left yet.
After thinking about it, he decided to accept the invitation and talk to Gu Hang in person.
The conversation took place at the Granya starport.
Fisher, the chairman of the shipping group, was there, waiting for Gu Hang's arrival with Zhai Guangshan.
While waiting, Zhai Guangshan couldn't help himself and asked the same question as before.
Fisher just smiled embarrassedly: "Mr. Yuan, there is nothing I can do..."
"I didn't want to do that at first. I was planning to stand with you."
"But... Mr. Gu gave too much."
(End of this chapter)
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