“`
Nes Luman can handle this matter.
Besides the matters of the Heijian Star and the colony, there is another issue that Gu Hang is certain to be very concerned about.
The affairs of the Gu Family.
Nes Luman came to surrender, infact bound Gu Ming.
Gu Hang had no intention whatsoever of conversing with this uncle of his, and directly handed him over to his mother.
As for how Miss Wang Qi would treat Gu Ming subsequently, and how she would re-integrate the family’s power, Gu Hang was no longer concerned.
He had full confidence in his mother’s methods in this regard; after all, she had been toiling over this matter for many, many years, was familiar with the situation, and had sufficient tact. The recent slip-up was nothing more than a misstep in the game.
Consolidating the family’s influence, handling the family business, these were all Miss Wang Qi’s strong suits, she was definitely capable of doing it well.
Most importantly, apart from his mother, he couldn’t think of anyone else who had both the trust and the capability to unify this segment.
Not to mention, he himself had no foundation whatsoever within the Gu Family, and was completely clueless about the internal business affairs. If he were to take over now, the recently divided Gu Commercial Firm could possibly face an imminent crisis of disintegration.
Gu Hang had complete trust in Miss Wang Qi’s actions going forward.
He only had one requirement: the Family Head of the Gu Family, had to be him.
In response, his mother scolded him, “Do I need you to say that? What else would your mother have been working so hard for these past twenty-something years?”
…
Speaking of Wang Qi, Gu Hang had been very busy this week, but his mother was actually even busier.
Several times, when Gu Hang had some free time and went to visit, he saw Miss Wang Qi constantly on calls, or discussing matters with staffers who had just arrived from starships in the sky.
Most of her calls were interstellar communications, made to the leaders of the Chamber of Commerce Fleet, to various business lines within the Chamber, to friends on the Flying Wing Star…
And, it was even enough to include quite a few calls to those who had ‘rebelled’ alongside Gu Ming.
She promised one thing after another, made one deal after another, and decided the fate of person after person.
In this way, the situation gradually stabilized.
She even left Heijian Star earlier than Gu Hang.
Before parting, mother and son had a long talk.
During the conversation, Gu Hang learned from his mother about some of the things that would happen within the Gu Family in the future.
The eight fleets that originally supported Wang Qi naturally didn’t need much discussion; they were the victors. However, these eight fleets would probably still cause a lot of trouble later.
Among the leaders of the eight fleets, seven were in this city during the Pincer incident.
At the time, Wang Qi’s escape was entirely thanks to the full protection of Soldier King Lacroix, who faced an extremely perilous journey; the others weren’t so lucky to receive such treatment.
Four of them died, and three were captured.
For those captured, now that they have been rescued, it will generally be alright. Wang Qi will take good care of them, rewarding them, and they will continue to lead their own Chamber of Commerce Fleets, perhaps even more closely aligned with Wang Qi.
For the four fleets that lost their leaders, there was trouble. Wang Qi had to quickly find suitable successors who not only had sufficient prestige to command respect within the fleet but also had unswerving loyalty.
Moreover, it wasn’t just a simple matter of choosing someone. She had to prop someone up and do so without causing trouble.
But overall, the issues concerning the eight fleets that had originally been on her side were easier to handle.
The two other fleets that had remained neutral from the start were also negotiable.
They were essentially the ‘franchisees’ of the Gu Family, and after the family’s infighting, they were among the most perplexed, but their attitude was the simplest: they were just waiting to see who would win.
From now on, whoever the Family Head was, and whoever held the power, they would listen to that person. As long as they could ensure that continuing their franchise was profitable, there wouldn’t be any problems.
The troublesome ones were those four fleets that followed Gu Ming in rebellion.
During her conversations with her son, Wang Qi also made her intentions clear.
If she could, she would have wished to kill all those rebels.
But that wasn’t possible.
She couldn’t bear the loss of those nearly twenty ships, constituting the four fleets.
That was a lot of money.
“`
No matter what happened in the future, she had to do her best to keep the people, only then could she keep the ships.
And now, this matter had also reached a conclusion.
Two of the fleets, realizing that Gu Ming had fallen into Wang Qi’s hands and that the situation was beyond salvaging, chose to surrender.
During the communication, these two showed different attitudes. One cried bitterly, claiming to have been used and beguiled, begging for mercy; the other, however, was a bit tougher, bargaining for a safe outcome.
Wang Qi comforted them effectively.
No matter what she thought in her heart, or how she planned to settle accounts in the autumn, at least for now, after a brief haggle, she accepted these people.
The rest would be discussed later.
However, the other two fleets didn’t trust Wang Qi’s promises.
They ran away.
The fleeing ships, a total of seven, were all armed merchant vessels.
In reality, these two fleets had not only these seven ships, but should have included an equal number of ‘giant belly transports.’
It’s just that the giants moved too slowly and were unarmed with no capacity to resist, so when it came to fleeing, they certainly couldn’t take them along.
Wang Qi knew what these two fleets were planning.
They simply believed that after committing such actions, Wang Qi would never let them go. Even if she didn’t cause trouble for the time being, they were bound to be reckoned with afterward.
Thus, they were determined to break away. They wanted to inherit and connect with some of Gu Ming’s past networks in hopes of becoming an independent chamber of commerce.
With seven armed merchant vessels, they already had the credentials for it.
But how could Wang Qi possibly let them go?
Her network had also been fully mobilized.
These seven escaping ships would subsequently be designated as armed rebels, traitors of the Empire. Wang Qi would do her utmost to prevent them from having the chance to become independent, and they had no hope of obtaining a license for an independent merchant fleet.
Even more, they would be pursued as interstellar pirates.
This was Wang Qi’s punishment for the traitors, and she also needed the destruction of these two rebellious fleets to demonstrate her authority.
And when she left the planet’s surface, ascending to the heavens, the Gu Clan Fleet soon departed.
Afterwards, she had lots of matters to attend to.
And Gu Hang also left shortly after.
Leading his troops, upon boarding the Blade Tiger, Gu Hang met with Yelisia.
“You’ve made quite a haul this time,” Yelisia teased him upon meeting, “When will we see another governor in the Tianma Star Sector who holds sway over two planets?”
Gu Hang smiled and waved his hand.
He had indeed been considering exactly what Yelisia had mentioned.
But he wasn’t at all embarrassed about it.
This was his plan, and he said so openly, “I will strive for it, and of course, it will not be possible without the help of the Fufana Family, without the help of the leader.”
Having Nes Luman as this puppet was, of course, just an interim solution. In the future, the best outcome would naturally be for Gu Hang himself to come forward and receive clear dual appointments.
There was precedent for this in the Tianma Star Sector: the Fatches Family.
The Fatches Family controlled three planets in the Tianma Star Sector, and the governors were from that family. Furthermore, the governor role for two of the planets was held by the same person, with another deferentially following his lead.
But achieving this was difficult.
The reason the Fatches could do this was that they had made special contributions to the Empire and had certain historical issues carry over.
Now, that historical opportunity had passed, and for Gu Hang to replicate their path was extremely difficult.
Yelisia also thought this way.
With a sigh, she said, “You don’t hold back in front of me. However… your idea, the leader is unlikely to support you. Not only will he not support, but he’s probably already regretting helping you.”
Gu Hang had anticipated this.
But all he said was, “The leader will understand in time.”