Chapter 239: Chapter 168, Next Time For Sure_2
But the reaction of his cousin didn’t seem to show any dislike; in fact, he seemed to be listening sincerely.
This was not at all how he remembered his cousin to be.
Of course, Wang Jiarong was pleased about it.
She saw a glimmer of hope for solving the problem between her aunt and cousin.
If it were possible to mend the relationship between the two, it would be a good deed not only in terms of family relations but more importantly, the biggest issue with her aunt’s power within the Gu Family was a matter of legitimacy.
Her cousin was the most natural leader of this family force, her aunt’s control over it was legitimized first by her late husband, and second by Gu Hang.
The problem, however, was that, after all, her husband was deceased, and the longer he had been dead, the weaker the legitimacy of this splinter force from the family would be; plus, with her son Gu Hang, who not only had a strained relationship with her but also had accepted a task likely to get him killed…
But if the two could work together, this issue could be largely resolved.
As a result, Wang Jiarong became more serious in her conversation.
She pondered carefully and said, “I don’t actually understand the business behind it all that clearly, I can only share with you my understanding.”
“First, this is a losing deal, or rather, the investment cycle is too long, and the return too slow. We are in the business of trade, not a heavy-asset industry. Although the price of a spaceship is very high, fully-owned purchases are rare; most often it is a pooled investment, a joint purchase. Moreover, once a fully owned starship is bought, it can be put into operation immediately and start generating income, often paying for itself in a few years.”
“But the reconstruction of a desolate planet requires such a huge investment, far greater than even a large starship. And it demands many years, continuous input, with returns that are unknown years in the future. Pouring a large amount of capital and resources into one planet would create a very heavy burden on the family and could even affect normal operations. Moreover, behind the high investment and long cycle, there is high risk—Rage Owl Star has been struggling for so many years without success, who knows if this time will be any different?”
“High investment, high risk, long cycle… these characteristics combined make the family completely uninterested in a normal investment.”
“If it were as Mister Pei Desi said, that the Tianma Iron Triangle worked together, it would have been different with the other two families sharing the cost, but the reality is different. The Fufana Family contributed a cruiser, which they encouraged the Imperial Navy to dispatch as part of a mission, so they didn’t spend a penny themselves, and at most, the cruiser will stay at Rage Owl Star for two years.”
“Mister Pei Desi, the leader, has provided a Planetary Governor appointment letter, as well as political support. In theory, the value of this letter is incredibly high, equivalent to receiving an entire planet; unfortunately, it’s for Rage Owl Star, a place where whoever becomes governor is bound to meet their demise.”
“They gave these things but expect the Gu Family to pay almost the entire cost of reconstructing the planet.”
“No matter how others might measure the value difference between these three things, at the very least, the internal sentiment within the Gu Clan is one of dissatisfaction, feeling that it’s completely inequitable.”
After hearing all this, Gu Hang understood quite a bit better.
Certainly, if it was supposedly a joint effort by the three families, but you two contribute just that little and expect me to be the sucker—if Gu Hang were the family head, he wouldn’t be willing to agree either.
Wang Jiarong paused, then continued to reveal the second reason:
“And moreover, the Gu Clan has been recently repairing relations with the Fatches Family. They are the real power in the Tianma Star Sector, and in the eight major worlds of the sector, three of the governors are from the Fatches Family. They have a conflict with Mister Pei Desi and previously also had a bad relationship with us, but it has improved lately. To conduct business, we cannot ignore the Fatches Family’s three planets.”
“But they have significant interests on Rage Owl Star. You’ve been on this planet for a while now, I don’t know if you’ve heard of Blackbird Heavy Industries? This company on Rage Owl Star is essentially controlled by the Fatches Family. Before Rage Owl Star was reclaimed as an Empire World, it was a ‘no-man’s planet’ exempt from taxes, and the Fatches Family was interested in maintaining this status. They could operate everything on the planet through Blackbird Heavy Industries without restriction and without paying taxes.”
“Even, it’s reasonable to suspect that they have moved a lot of their own three planets’ output to Blackbird Heavy Industries, taking advantage of the special nature of Rage Owl Star to avoid taxes. Of course, this is pure speculation without evidence; otherwise, Mister Pei Desi would have used this point to finish them off a long time ago.”
“Recapturing Rage Owl Star is an action of Mister Pei Desi against the Fatches Family, a battlefield in their political struggle. The Gu Family, at a critical point in mending relations with the Fatches Family, your coming here interrupted the process, destroying the family’s long-term efforts and sending the relations back into the freezer.”
Gu Hang nodded again, indicating that he understood.
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“Approximately these two aspects,” Wang Jiarong said, “so I say, the thing you did this time, cousin, not only did aunt get very angry, everyone in the Gu Family is actually quite annoyed. Your arrival here has put even more pressure on aunt. It’s not that she really doesn’t want to help you, she has no choice, otherwise it would be hard to explain to the family internally. And… haven’t I come?”
“Thank you,” Gu Hang nodded lightly, “Your arrival was crucial. However, did my mother send you here? Or did she approve of this?”
“Umm… That’s not the case, I came on my own.” Wang Jiarong’s face turned a bit embarrassed, but she quickly made up for it, “But aunt must have tacitly agreed, otherwise she would have contacted me by now and not let me come.”
“Heh, tacitly agreed.” Gu Hang maintained a polite smile on his face and didn’t mock any further.
Wang Jiarong sighed, knowing that reconciling the relationship between mother and son was not that simple; she had also tried for many years with no effect, not to mention there was now an even greater conflict between the two.
Being his cousin/niece is too tough.
“Anyway, cousin, you might want to contact auntie when you have some time. Real-time communication is quite costly, and I don’t have the means here, but Quintet should have a way, just make a reservation in advance, then…”
“Forget it, forget it,” Gu Hang hastily interrupted, “Stop, let’s leave it at that. Lately, I don’t even know what to say to her.”
“You can’t just leave it at this, can you?”
“Next time for sure.”
…
Under his cousin’s regretful gaze, he ended the conversation.
He had other matters to attend to.
His troops under his command had suffered heavy casualties during their confrontation with the Green Skins who boarded Quintet.
Of the total twenty thousand people on the starship, more than four thousand were killed or wounded, exceeding a 20% casualty rate.
As the commander, Gu Hang had to go and visit the warriors.
It was also a way to win over people’s hearts, proving that the Planetary Governor genuinely cared about his comrades.
Anyway, it was better than doing nothing on the starship.
Additionally, he went to visit Rizzo.
That was only proper, as the starfighter had risked his life for him many times.
The Priest of Phoenix was in relatively good condition. It was tough taking three axe blows from the Beastman Overlord, but luckily none hit his vital parts directly—a blow to the shoulder, one to the breastplate, causing severe injuries, but at least the power armor reduced the damage. It’s just that his armor set was likely beyond repair.
Gu Hang also consoled the old Priest.
“This time, the trader convoy I invited brought some new power armor, which I had someone personally purchase for you. Get well soon, and don’t worry about not having power armor to wear; you’ll get a brand new set!”
After speaking, Gu Hang even turned to Matins, “Commander of the warriors, you also get a share. Among the special items purchased, not only is there regular power armor for the future members of the warrior troop, but there is also a set of Terminator Power Armor, specially prepared for you, as a token of thanks for the support the troop has provided during this time.”
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