Chapter 786, Broken Pottery Jar
Gallardo's head was bowed, a shadow hanging over his features.
He could feel the Prime Minister's eyes moving back and forth between several important ministers, as if he wanted to nail everyone's soul to the judgement rack. When Xu Fuzhen proposed to increase taxes, he didn't even dare to raise his eyes to look at Qi Bodu - the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Taxation, who was always known for his iron fist, seemed to have his spine pulled out at this moment.
He sneered in his heart: "What the empire needs is deterrence, not bluffing documents."
Luo Xi's so-called appointment of a new chairman and condemnation were nothing but drifting dust in front of Gu Hang's psychic fleet. The merchant ships shuttling between the Alliance and Wuji Star had already welded the economic blood vessels of the Eastern Universe and the Alliance into one. The officials sent by the Empire would only become puppets to stamp their names, just like the situation faced by Yin Bashim.
It's not corruption, but the fact that the entire star field has long been melted into a sieve by the alliance's credit system, cultural infiltration, and economic solicitation.
"But you don't even have the courage to flip the table!"
Gallardo stroked the golden eagle on his cuff.
The holographic projection rotated in the center of the long table, and the wreckage of the battle of Li Guangxing was still playing in a loop: Huang Quanou's Terminator stepped on the emblem of the Sword of Li Guang, and the Blood Shark's Chain Axe split the bronze door of the Chapter Temple. Every frame was slapping the face of the empire, and Xu Fuzhen was still muttering about punitive taxes - as if Gu Hang would give in for a mere 500 billion, but ignore the fat meat he had just torn off in the Eastern Universe.
"Prime Minister Yerol, what do you think?"
The air froze at the Prime Minister's sudden call.
The Chancellor of the Ministry of Justice slowly stood up. The emblem of the Inquisition on his dark purple robe glowed coldly under the light: "According to Article 31 of the Imperial State of Emergency Law..."
His voice was like a court reading a verdict.
"The Alliance has openly interfered with the Imperial administrative system and assassinated the Chairman appointed by the Empire. It must be classified as a rebellious entity."
idiot!
Gallardo almost sneered.
Yerrol is still wielding the rusty legal stick, but what can the executioner of the Ministry of Justice do to the Alliance?
But is Yerol really a fool?
It doesn't seem so.
He just understood Qi Bodu's meaning and agreed with the Prime Minister's words.
Luo Xi and Xu Fu really didn't want to take that responsibility.
They all saw that if the Empire was not determined to go to war, they would have few means to suppress the Alliance.
So the question is, does Qi Bo have this determination?
At least not now.
If he had, he wouldn't be so frustrated and asking people for advice now.
Because of this, the opinions given by the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Taxation are just a bit bland. They are all enforceable, but the final effect is minimal in terms of the impact on the alliance, which can be described as perfunctory.
This is also the reason why Qi Bo was dissatisfied.
At this time, Yerrol appeared and dared to directly characterize the alliance as a "rebellious entity". Taking such a tough attitude, he was either a fool or a gambler.
Would one be a fool to hold a position like the Minister of Justice?
Probably not.
That's gambling.
This Yerol is also quite ambitious. He must want a high-ranking chairmanship, right? Get rid of Gu Hang and Gallardo at the same time, and two positions will be vacant. As a loyal subordinate who supports the prime minister, it seems natural for Yerol to get a high-ranking chairmanship.
What a coincidence, isn’t it? I’m familiar with this job.
Didn’t I get to the top by killing two high lords?
He sneered in his heart, but his face became serious.
Although the Prime Minister did not allow him to speak, he still said: "I agree with Prime Minister Yerol's idea to issue an ultimatum to Gu Hang. He must unconditionally accept all the demands of the Imperial Central Government, otherwise he is committing treason! At the same time, I propose to initiate a total war mobilization."
"Mobilize the fleets of the nine cosmic domains in the Central Territory. Each cosmic domain must dispatch no less than 500 warships, including 10 battleships. At the same time, the Solar Fleet must use half of its forces to organize an expeditionary fleet of more than 6,000 warships and more than 150 battleships. In addition, we also need all the cosmic domains and star regions in the entire empire to be ready to provide fleets at any time."
"We need to recruit 50 Astra Militarum A-class corps. The total mobilization force should reach more than 10 billion in the first phase. The Cadian Assault Corps will completely stop all missions in the empire and assemble. The Death Corps will assemble its entire army. All other S-class corps will need to send troops to fight."
"We need to issue a clear call to arms to one hundred Chapters, requiring at least 20,000 Space Marines, as well as a full set of Chapter Fleets and Chapter Armor."
"The Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy must jointly send more troops from the Stormtroopers and the Sisters of Battle. The total number of troops they provide must exceed 500,000. At the same time, we need Mars to send a Skitarius and at least five Titan Legions, and open up the Forbidden Weapons Depot..."
Everyone, including Zibbe, stared at Gallardo with a disturbing look.
Gallardo looked calm and finished reading his mobilization orders.
Then he added: "The hypothetical battle plan for the alliance has always been what our Military Affairs Department has been doing. As long as we push for a resolution in the Supreme Council, this document will come true and we can destroy the alliance."
At the same time, he looked around and took in the expressions of the bosses.
He thought evilly in his heart:
"Come on, let me see your capabilities."
Gallardo did not say what the cost of mobilizing such a large force would be.
However, these are all the leaders of the empire, who doesn’t know the current situation?
Everyone from the nine territories will mobilize 500+10 fleets? Do you think those cosmic presidents will listen to you? How much political price will it cost? Especially in the Ochre cosmic domain, the Waaagh energy of the orc warlords is accumulating, and the early warning report of the Inquisition is still in their drawers; in the Dujiang cosmic domain in the north, those outposts that were eaten by the swarm are revealing a huge shadow, and many hive worlds have reported intelligence of parasitic infection inside...
Similar things happen one after another. Do you want those star regions to send their main fleets over?
They are all still seeking help from the imperial center!
Come on, nod your agreement and set off some big fireworks.
Xu Fuzhen also spoke up: "Prime Minister Gallardo mentioned that the plan is very large. I cannot give an accurate answer to the specific implementation budget at the moment. I can only give a temporary estimate based on my experience as a reference."
"The initial start-up capital needs to be at least 100 trillion. The central government of the empire does not have such a large financial reserve at present. The fiscal budget for next year has been completed. We must issue war bonds."
"To maintain this scale in the future, we may need more than 30 trillion yuan each year. We cannot rule out the possibility that the war will not go smoothly and the budget will need to be expanded."
Luo Xi also spoke up: "We can arrange for the major families on Holy Terra to share about 30 trillion of the 100 trillion war bonds. A family of Yinbashim's level will have to spend about 5 trillion. I can represent the Luo family and bear 2 trillion..."
The tone of the Premier's speech was like someone bargaining in a vegetable market.
"We can also package up the agricultural planets in the Canaan space and mortgage them, and then split up and auction the equipment and personnel maintenance contracts of the army. The Ecclesiarchy and the Mechanicus should be interested, and we can also raise some funds..."
The group of people seemed to be piecing together a broken clay pot.
(End of this chapter)
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