Chapter 575: Chapter 336: The Empire’s Sustainability Pill
About the matter of Korolya III, Gu Hang didn’t even dare to continue the conversation.
Lois seemed to be observing Gu Hang’s expression; she smiled and said, “Don’t misunderstand, I was just speaking off the cuff, venting a bit…”
After that, she started to complain about her work situation as if she were chatting with an old friend.
In essence, her complaints were mainly about the difficulties in tax collection and the Star Domain Government’s concerns about Korolya’s future situation.
The former really surprised Gu Hang.
“When Imperial tax officers collect taxes, can it be unsuccessful? If the taxes can’t be paid, wouldn’t executing the Planetary Governor solve the issue?”
“Is that all you think about the Imperial Taxation Department?”
“Uh…” Gu Hang realized he might have carelessly spoken his true thoughts, and now he felt a bit awkward.
But he didn’t think it was his fault; wasn’t this the impression everyone had of tax officers?
“If only it were that simple,” Lois sighed, “For Planetary Governors who cannot pay the Imperial Tax on time and in full, I can execute them. But take note, it’s only ‘can,’ and in particularly severe documents, it’s at most ‘suggested,’ never ‘mandatory.’”
“The situation is always complicated. Take your Rage Owl Star as an example; several of the former Governors were executed by my decree, with the Legal Department’s agents doing the deed. Why did I take such actions against the former Rage Owl Star? Because I knew, whether I gave them the chance or not, they could never collect the full amount of the Imperial Tax; not just this time, but the next as well. So, by executing them and getting a new one, I could at least forcibly uphold the dignity of Imperial Tax and prompt the next Governor to do their job properly.”
Gu Hang understood.
In fact, it was simply because the tax quota for Rage Owl Star was too low, just five million a year. Since it couldn’t be met anyway, execution was the consequence, upholding the dignity of the Imperial Tax. Using the death of Rage Owl Star’s Governor as a warning to all the Governors in the empire to do their jobs well, which might be more important than the small amount of tax from Rage Owl Star.
But the situation in Korolya was obviously different.
“Every time I come to Korolya III, I have to collect eight billion Tax Currency. Flying Wing Star will also provide eight billion Tax Currency. These two planets are not only the most important tax bases in the Tianma Star Sector but also in several surrounding Star Sectors. Those next to us, like Foxear Starfield, Dragonrock Starfield, Flying Vessel Starfield, and so on, all together almost have fifty planets, and they can only pay a total of a little over a hundred billion Tax Currency every year. From this comparison, you can see how crucial these two pearls of your Tianma Star Sector really are.”
“Korolya is the most important human resource production site in the entire Star Domain; Flying Wing Star is one of the important shipyards.”
“Both of these places are extremely important assets for the Star Domain. The current situation in Korolya has caused great dissatisfaction within the Star Domain Government.”
“But we can’t act rashly. Ivan Fatches said that the taxes cannot be paid on time and in full this time. He said, if we really want it, we can have it; after all, there are plenty of people on Korolya III. Designate a Nest Capital, with its ten billion people, we can take them all, and let our Tax Fleet go down and haul people ourselves.”
“What kind of attitude is that?”
“But… I really have no choice.”
“Can I actually execute him? Things are never that simple.”
“To dismiss a Planetary Governor, following the full procedure is a hassle. It’s not quite appropriate for just the Star Domain Government and the Space Domain Government to agree; the documents have to be sent directly to the Central Empire. Back and forth, who knows how long it would take. To deal with a Planetary Governor who fails to pay taxes, we usually opt for a fast-track procedure, where someone like me, the Chief Tax Officer, submits with a signature, the Chief Legal Officer signs to confirm, and the agents take care of the rest. That’s the convenient procedure. But as for the full legal procedure, it actually needs to be completed afterwards. However, if it’s a case where the Legal Department’s agents can’t handle it, what use is there to judge that governor as a traitor? You can’t kill him. In the end, you either compromise or declare him an Imperial traitor. Generally speaking, it ends in compromise.”
“To declare as an Imperial traitor… it sounds easy, but how do you suppress the rebellion? Mobilize the Star Realm Army, the Navy, the Interstellar Warrior Battle Group to deal with it? Let me ask you, if your alliance were to rebel now…”
Gu Hang quickly waved his hands: “No, no, please don’t use that as an example. I am extremely loyal!”
“It’s just a hypothetical,” Lois said with a smile. “If your alliance were declared Imperial traitors, what would be done next? Given the current chaotic state of Tianma Star Sector, where would I mobilize forces to suppress the rebellion? At most, the Navy could blockade the two planets, but for ground suppression, the entire Star Sector couldn’t spare the manpower to handle it.”
“This is still when the two planets combined have less than five hundred million people. To proclaim Ivan Fatches a traitor, and if the Legal Department fails to deal with that Governor, if the assassination doesn’t succeed, and he doesn’t willingly die like Akuna or Pei Desi, does that mean we will have to declare the entire Fatches Family traitors too? With four worlds, adding up to five hundred billion people, how do you suppress such a behemoth?”
“It’s not realistic.”
“Ivan Fatches isn’t completely avoiding taxes. He is applying for ‘war zone treatment.’ If Korolya III were to be included in a war zone, the taxes owed would not lessen, but they could be entirely allocated to suppressing the rebellion on Korolya III itself. Furthermore, the Star Domain would have to support with supplies and troops to aid in their suppression.”