Chapter 661: Chapter 377, Win-Win
The ultra-high profits and value of the shipbuilding industry filled Gu Hang with great ambition.
According to the construction period mentioned by Wu Jiarong, in six years, the total value of the ships launched by the Alliance Shipyard every two years would exceed three billion tax currency. Although it was still far from reaching the scale of Flying Wing Star, which launched ships worth over twenty billion every four years, one must consider that they had been developing for hundreds of years, while the Alliance had been established for only how long?
If this pace of development continued, the Alliance Shipyard would only get bigger, and in about a decade, it might reach the level of Flying Wing Star and complete its centuries of development.
However, despite the speed being extremely fast, so fast that even old sailors like Fufana would think it a pipe dream, Gu Hang still felt an urgency that time was not on his side.
He would still need a long time before he could have ships that traversed the Star Sea.
But the good news was that Gu Hang was still young and had plenty of time to wait.
…
If we were to talk about lifespan, not to mention the life-extending surgery he could definitely afford, just his spiritual energy power and his grasp on the essence of subspace would lead him to estimate that his life would not be short.
Without life-extending surgery, living a few hundred years wouldn’t be a big problem.
While he wouldn’t be immortal, it was still quite remarkable.
Not to mention, if he really reached the limit of his lifespan, Gu Hang had one last trick up his sleeve.
Humans have limits, so why remain human?
By embracing the essence of subspace, Gu Hang could achieve immortality immediately.
Of course, that step was still far off.
Gu Hang was merely using this thought to remind himself not to rush, for time was on his side.
Thinking in this way, his state of mind gradually became more tranquil.
…
For the next few months, Gu Hang was basically shuttling between Rage Owl Star, Heijian Star and Korolya.
He would listen to political reports from these planets, inspect some areas in person, and give some directives.
At this level, frankly speaking, Gu Hang could no longer manage an alliance of such scale on his own. Relying on the government and his officials was a necessity. Gu Hang’s work had to focus even more on ‘managing people’.
Essentially, it was about ensuring his will was being implemented by the officials. If it was, then reward them; if not, critique and demote; malefactors who intentionally opposed him and the corrupt were sent to court.
Gu Hang had one particularly significant advantage over most rulers in this world: he understood the human heart.
He truly understood, after all, he had the talent for thought reading spiritual energy.
Of course, he couldn’t possibly use his mental abilities to probe the minds of every subordinate. In fact, he rarely did so.
On one hand, doing so wasn’t quite right; he didn’t want to become a sorcerer tyrant who exploited and manipulated minds to rule his lands, as in doing so, he would not hear the voices of others. The wisdom of one person is far less than that of a group—provided that the group is moving in the right direction.
On the other hand, it wasn’t feasible. He could probe the thoughts of an individual, but he could not possibly take the time to clearly understand and then control the minds of each of his officials. If he really did it that way, he wouldn’t have time for anything else in his life.
However, not actively probing or changing thoughts didn’t mean that spiritual energy was ineffective. In fact, even if Gu Hang did nothing, when someone stood before him and conversed with him, any significant change in thought would produce clear mental waves that were fully exposed before his eyes.
The smiles and tension of those officials during their reports, whether they hid confidence, self-doubt, guilt, or secret intentions… Gu Hang could see them all very clearly.
Truthfully, Gu Hang did not particularly care about the trivial thoughts of his officials. He didn’t have any mental obsession with cleanliness, and he understood better than anyone that all people, even those he trusted the most like Osenia, Lambert, and Yan Fangxu, had their own thoughts. They might not fully understand Gu Hang’s thinking, might have personal desires…
That was all too normal.
Or rather, that was the true nature of humanity.
Even Gu Hang himself, at certain moments, why wouldn’t he have the desire to slack off or take a rest for a while?
As long as the overall direction was positive, that was enough. A bit of personal desire, bias, confusion, laxity, and resentment… Moderate amounts were acceptable, and Gu Hang would simply laugh them off.
Of course, for the exceptionally ridiculous cases, all he needed to do was to let the Anti-Corruption Bureau investigate, and Gu Hang didn’t mind using such methods to root out the corrupt and the negligent.
Half a year passed by in this manner.
At this moment, Gu Hang, who was on Rage Owl Star, witnessed the commissioning of the Alliance’s first genuine new ship at the Alliance Shipyard.
It was a ‘Flying Dolphin.’
Although it was just a transport ship, and although most of its core components came from the Black Box, and although the dock that built the Flying Dolphin had its foundation laid out beforehand…
Regardless, this was the Alliance’s first genuine ship—those small crafts by Travellingman didn’t count.
Its value was clearly stipulated in the Imperial Tax: twenty million tax currency.
Currently, the Alliance Shipyard could build one Flying Dolphin every six months.
And now, the one hundred and fifty million people of Rage Owl Star paid only fifteen million in Imperial Tax annually.
The revenue from just one Flying Dolphin built every six months was more than enough to cover the tax.
Even more so considering that Gu Hang’s next Imperial Tax didn’t even need to be paid.
Not to mention the tax-exempt Korolya, the current fixed Imperial Tax for the Alliance was still fifty million tax currency per year, payable biennially for a total of only one hundred million.
However, on the Korolya battlefield, Gu Hang had already paid a great deal.
First was the replenishment and expansion of the Rage Bear Legion’s forces and the consumption of various types of supplies, ammunition, and provisions. Over the past two years, the Alliance has spent a total of thirty million. Originally, the majority of the Rage Bear Legion’s personnel were replenished from Korolya, but now that Korolya belonged to Gu Hang and was tax-exempt, this part also had to be paid for by the Military Affairs Department.
But the Military Affairs Department actually hadn’t paid a penny; it was all done on credit, which could be used to offset taxes in the next tax season.
This was supported by documents from the Imperial Military Department.
Meanwhile, the Dragonhawk Legion received a replenishment of more than three million Korolya personnel, of which over a million were incorporated as a fully-staffed Army Group. Furthermore, post-war, the armaments, ammunition consumption, and logistical supplies for the Third Group Army of the Dragonhawk Legion were all supplied by the Alliance, cutting off any ties with Fatches—regardless of whether Fatches or the Dragonhawk Legion were willing participants, the command came from the Empire.
In the last few months, the Alliance spent more than eighty million for this.
Just these two legions together amount to one hundred and ten million in tax currency.
When tax season arrives, the Empire still owes me over ten million.
And in the future, even if the fighting isn’t as intense, the annual maintenance costs for the Dragonhawk and Rage Bear Legions will be about eighty million tax currency.
There’s no need to worry about Imperial Tax at all.
At least, there’s no need to worry for these few tax-exempt years in Korolya.
As for the Blimp right now, Gu Hang ‘sold’ it to the Gu Commercial Firm at a bargain price.
This was to appease the Gu Commercial Firm.
For a long time, the Gu Commercial Firm had done a lot of unpaid work for Gu Hang. Initially, during the Korolya war, the Military Affairs Department was paying to help transport materials and evacuate personnel, which were considered orders that the Empire gave to the Gu Commercial Firm.
But after the war ended, as the Alliance itself still lacked the capability for large-scale transportation in the Star Realm, the Gu Commercial Firm dedicated an entire merchant fleet, practically forgoing all other orders, to exclusively transport for the Alliance at extremely low prices.
Merchants would be dissatisfied with this.
Gu Hang is the Family Head, and his mother is the actual helmswoman—this is true. But the Gu Commercial Firm isn’t their private property; it is a legitimate member of the Empire Commerce Guild, subject to performance pressures. Furthermore, the nature of its franchise membership remains strong to this day.
The merchant fleet serving the Alliance, with its various transportation orders at low prices, is bearable, considering these are short hauls; but being unable to accept other high-profit orders is causing quite a bit of discontent.
Miss Wang Qi might be willing to support her son without earning money, but she can’t expect the same from everyone below her.
The Blimp is a good means of payment.
For a merchant ship fleet, the most important wealth is the vessels.
This Blimp, sold at a bargain price of ten million to the Gu Commercial Firm, is enough to suppress a lot of dissatisfaction.
With one more ship, there will be one more captain, many more positions open, and some people can get promoted and receive raises. With a bit more profit, the whole merchant fleet can earn somewhat more.
The main point is the significant savings.
For Gu Hang as well, it’s not a loss.
Firstly, even with a selling price of ten million, it might seem like a half-price sale, but the Alliance Shipyard still makes a considerable profit.
Of course, cost can’t be calculated this way, since Black Box production doesn’t cost Gu Hang anything, but it’s still wealth.
But most importantly, the Blimp, upon delivery to the fleet working for the Alliance, is in the end still working for the Alliance, right?
Shifting from the left hand to the right, the fleet is appeased, shipbuilding profits are earned, and the fleet’s transport capacity increases… Multiple wins!
…
After meeting with the person in charge of the merchant fleet, his cousin Wang Jiarong, for a meal, Gu Hang received a message.
There were visitors.
It was a group from the Star Domain Government, which included representatives from the Star Domain Government, the Military Affairs Department, and the Star Realm Army. The latter two even had two sets of representatives, from both the Dragonhawk Star Domain and the Eastern Cosmos Domain.
The arrival of the Star Domain personnel was expected, as the current Minister of Internal Affairs, Lois, could be considered to have a good relationship with Gu Hang.
But why was a team from the Space Domain Government also present?
What were they here for?
Gu Hang didn’t personally receive them; their status wasn’t high enough, so the Diplomatic Department handled it.
But soon enough, an official from the Diplomatic Department came to report, requesting the Governor’s appearance.
This group had come to bestow an honor upon Gu Hang.
————
Extra release!
3k words!
Still owe 13k