Chapter 134: Chapter 126, Long Live the Governor!_5
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This part was somewhat difficult for many people to understand. Terms like “Chaos Traitor” and “demons” didn’t seem familiar, and they were even more perplexed by “psychic energy fields” and “spiritual energy tunnels.”
But it didn’t prevent them from grasping the gist: our world had been betrayed by a traitor and destroyed by the Chaos Traitor.
Those abominable things were the culprits responsible for destroying the good life we should have had.
It inevitably reminded them of the Primordial Wrath Owl Sect, that damn cult that almost brought Revival City to ruin!
Gu Hang’s speech continued:
“After a dark century with no light of day, an Imperial Officer named Huo Haibin stumbled upon Rage Owl Star and was startled to discover that tens of millions of people were still alive. He helped the locals and applied layer by layer through the Star Sector Government. Finally, he obtained permission to rebuild Rage Owl Star, reintegrating it back into the Empire’s bosom. He also became the first Governor of the Rage Owl Star Wasteland era.”
“Governor Huo was a man worthy of everyone’s respect. He toiled hard on Rage Owl Star for 17 years. Leveraging the first 15 years of tax exemption, he worked tirelessly to restore the population, established a united alliance, brought together various forces across the planet, ended the constant conflicts over scarce resources on the wasteland, and rebuilt the preliminary productivity.”
“But it still wasn’t enough. In his 17th year as Governor, Rage Owl Star had to pay taxes to the Empire for the first time, standard Imperial Taxes. But Rage Owl Star hadn’t recovered sufficiently to even meet the lowest tax bracket. He was executed by the Department of Taxation, and the Alliance Government underwent a major reshuffle.”
“Then came the era of Niel Farches as Governor, an era that filled countless members of the Alliance with dread at the mere thought. He learned from Governor Huo’s failure, utilized the power of the Alliance Government, and implemented many policies a lesser man would prefer death over. He plundered the planet far and wide, solely focusing on paying the full taxes to the Empire, which resulted in a complete halt to all production and recovery efforts.”
“He managed two terms of tax collections but at the cost of squandering over a decade’s worth of Governor Huo’s efforts. Numerous families were torn apart, and innocent people were taken as tax payments; countless grains that should have fed the people, numerous essential industrial goods, were seized and handed over to the Empire.”
“Rage Owl Star faced a disaster, and his unsustainable actions incited rebellion. He held his position for six years, with the Alliance on the brink of collapse. Many people left the Alliance, many practiced deception, many violently resisted, many were utterly annihilated… The population of the planet suffered immensely, and seventeen years of recovery were nearly ruined in an instant. His deeds brought him to the guillotine in his third term.”
“Afterwards, for three successive generations, each Governor lasted only two years before being executed for their inability to pay taxes. The remaining forces conspired to control the Governor’s actions, manipulating his orders and deceiving both above and below. They used the Governor, along with officials of the temporary Governor’s Government elected to serve for two years, as scapegoats every two years.”
“During this entire process, Rage Owl Star endured another six years. These six years of division and chaos did not improve from the time of the second Governor; still many people died, and the planet saw no glimmer of hope for revival. The name Revival City became a mockery, both laughable and tragic.”
Gu Hang gave a lengthy speech detailing the history of Rage Owl Star over the past several decades.
And this period was very familiar to the people. From the first to the fifth Governor, spanning twenty-nine years, many of the younger generation had grown up during these times; the older ones had lived through those years in full.
They knew that what Mr. Gu spoke of contained no falsehoods; it was their lived experience.
However, before this, few amongst them had given deep thought to why all of this had happened.
But after Gu Hang shed light on these issues, they naturally began to ponder them.
Was it because of the Empire?
No, before the Empire retook Rage Owl Star, during that six months of dark post-war times, Rage Owl Star was on the verge of collapse. It was the first Governor who established a semblance of order, using the Empire’s aid and interstellar trade to support the structure of the Alliance and revitalize many local industries.
The screw-up was the second Governor and the subsequent powerless Governors.
The brutal yet incompetent reign of the second Governor brought huge disasters;
The following three Governors were powerless, without troops or supporters, subjected to deception and manipulation. Almost every one of them believed they could meet the tax demands, hearing only the news that things were steadily improving, only to find the warehouses insufficiently stocked come tax time, and the population centers meant to serve as tax payment deserted.
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The three governors could only sit in Revival City like wax figures, blindfolded and deaf, totally unaware that the Alliance was so loose it was on the verge of disintegration. The various powers would not heed commands or proclamations; under this loose and autonomous system, the planets’ strength could not be integrated, let alone developed.
So, it seems the answer is on the verge of emerging: the problem is not entirely with the Empire, the main issue is that there isn’t a governor with enough power, enough daring, or enough capability.
Of course, there are many people who can’t see this at all. The hardships they had personally experienced were, when spoken of from a broader, more macro perspective, almost like a script from heaven. Their thoughts could only passively follow the governor’s narrative.
But what Gu Hang was about to say was for those not so clever, yet the most important and solid group of people:
“Until I arrived.”
“Over two months ago, I came to this world and saw it was full of scars.”
“At that time, I leveraged the Alliance’s communication system to announce my arrival and my philosophy to the entire planet. I said I would rebuild the entire Wasteland World so that every Rage Owl Star person could live a good life through their own efforts. I did not come purely to collect taxes, nor would I collect taxes regardless of the people’s well-being.”
“When I realized that the Alliance’s officials could not assist but were instead an obstruction, I left Revival City.”
“Now, I have returned. My declaration has never changed, and those who obstructed me from bringing you a rebuilt, revitalized, and better life are all dead. From now on, no one will prevent us from jointly building our city, our world!”
“I will establish a welfare system to ensure that everyone who works hard can have enough to eat and clothes to wear!”
“I will establish schools to ensure every child can learn and grow in a bright classroom instead of scraping a living through thievery, begging, or working in sweatshops as a child laborer!”
“I will establish factories to produce more goods and create more jobs, allowing you to live a better life!”
“I will establish hospitals so that every injured or sick person can be cared for.”
“I will establish a more fair and efficient government to maintain order and security.”
“I will establish a more excellent and honorable military to fight for the protection of everything we have created!”
“These are my responsibilities, my mission, the mission of the new Alliance Government, and the mission of every Rage Owl person.”
“Hand in hand, we will surely triumph!”
What Mr. Gu, the governor, had finally said was something that everyone could understand.
The people cheered and jumped for joy, they were extremely excited!
“Long live the governor!”
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