Chapter 756
Chapter 756 - 742: The Standard of Civilization’s Strength
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11 min read
The war is over, but the aftermath of the war has just begun.
The Aus people have left this planet, and the new masters are naturally the Eastern Country... To be precise, they are the alliance of four cities including the Ancient City.
In a sense, this is a colony with a new master, and how to handle it, and what kind of new system to promote, should be determined by the new master.
"... First of all, set a basic tone, as the official of the Eastern Country, we can’t possibly give up... an entire world."
The tone was calm, but the declaration was ruthless.
Who was speaking? It wasn’t Lu Ping’an, not Wang Xier, not even Captain Qian from the military, but a middle-aged man whom no one had ever seen.
"... I am Fang Yunyun, the Director of the Third Office of the Exotic Development Department’s Information Inquiry Bureau under Changping State Government. I originally come from the Ancient City, and once worked in An Chun, and also worked in two other cities...."
Well, he’s piling on his credentials, and the moment he started speaking, everyone understood.
The official host of the Four City Alliance in name is Wang Xier, but she is actually a "foreigner"....Even though she has invested a huge amount of resources and funds in this development, she is still an "outsider".
For this exotic opening, the four cities of Changping State have invested heavily, how could they genuinely entrust this responsibility to an "outsider".
She was more like a star player, a figurehead put forward for fame, prestige, and attention.
"Look, our cooperation with the Saphire people is so pleasant, we already have common interests, and the princess of the Saphire people has become one of our top executives, the new Development Zone will be a model of fusion between the two races."
Many people have some extra and beautiful fantasies about the princess, and in political activities, these can be exploited as "tailwinds".
Originally, this was to give her some shine, make a round on stage, and then elevate her to the position of Director of the Development Zone, becoming a live sign of cooperation between the two races.
If she has the capability, then she should work diligently, and if not, being a vase isn’t a bad deal.
This is a "trade" that both sides are well aware of, and it’s also Wang Xier’s biggest chance. She needs to prove that she is not just a vase.
But this "exotic development" directly affects the future of the four cities. They have sent out a large number of core backbones and semi-official combat forces. If they fail, they may have to hunker down and work for the Changping State Government.
Under these circumstances, there must be real "official agents" present. They may not need to do anything and are unable to do anything in most cases because this is primarily a free exploration led by civilians. His main task is to bring the intelligence back, to facilitate the official policy decision-making.
But sometimes, when the official needs to stand out, he must come out to hold the fort.
"... First of all, I declare, our Eastern Country is not as overbearing and barbaric as the Aus people. This kind of colonial land-grabbing is reversing the progress of the era..."
Once he opens his mouth, it smells of an official spokesman.
But will the officials let this place go, let go of this "treasure" that Aus people have already laid the foundation for?
"...to avoid repeating the same mistakes, I suggest setting up a Special Development Zone here in the name of the four cities under Changping State, and building a regular office representative, with an independent regiment under the military as a security force..."
Now, everyone understood.
The territories conquered by the Aus people were taken over directly by the officials, and then dedicated personnel were sent for coordination and management... In fact, there was no fundamental difference before this, the Eastern Country people were planning to establish an office here, but I’m afraid the number and level of people will be raised a notch.
But after all, the Eastern Country people are not the Aus people, they do not intend to continue the policy of "trespassers will be killed".
"Everyone should develop peacefully and rely on their own capabilities, who’s afraid of whom." This is the confidence of the Eastern Country people, but many times, the harsh environment will never give you the time and opportunity to grow peacefully.
This "Director Fang", Wang Xier and Lu Ping’an had mentioned him before, so he also knew of this man’s existence.
But in a time of war, the presence of such pure civil servants and bureaucrats is meaningless. If you drag him out as a flag, you are either harming him or sabotaging everyone else.
Now, it’s time for peaceful development, and a civil servant system that can permanently reside in this world, in this region, is necessary.
The meaning of Director Fang is simple, taking advantage of the new ship not arriving yet, he intends to completely take over this half-developed area, take over all the fragmented bases and mining areas of the Aus people, and then discard those that should be discarded, and develop those that should be developed.
At the same time, they naturally want to utterly annihilate the Aus people... everyone has their own thoughts in this regard, there’s no need to dwell on it further in the meeting.
"Isn’t it a big loss if we lost the headquarters?"
"Actually, it’s okay. The R&D isn’t in their headquarters, and the core institutions are very scattered, there is still some gain. The most important thing is, their Director of the Research Department is still alive..."
After Director Fang put forward the "official" demand, the venue suddenly fell silent.
Most of the people present were masters from the four cities, but they were basically civilians employed by the official, inclined towards the official. It makes sense to support their hometown become stronger, but emotionally, they nearly died here...
"For known mining areas and other resource points, I personally suggest we establish a ’Development Limited Company’, the government holds 10% of the shares and is responsible for daily operations and management. The remaining shares will be issued according to contributions to the warriors who participated in this war. Without their hard efforts, a weakling like me would probably be dead by now."
With this statement, the situation changed immediately.
"That works, there’s no second thought about fighting for our hometown."
"I think it’s good, very good. I can’t stay here permanently, if the government manages it, people will feel more at ease."
Once this profit sharing mechanism comes out, naturally, everything is excellent.
These "resource points" will continuously generate wealth, and ordinary professionals can’t stay here to run the business. It’s better to let the government manage, and then everyone waits for dividends.
10% of the dividends might not even cover operation costs. The government’s generosity satisfies most of the people, especially after Director Fang agreed to pay medical and consolation fees in advance.
The government won’t lose... Do they really care about this existing income? Is it necessary to care about these mines and small resource points in such a big world? They can find supplements in future development.
More importantly, they don’t need to compete with civilians for profit. Currently, it’s time to encourage these professionals to develop on a larger scale. City governments can plan a decade or thirty years ahead, there’s no need to quibble over minor profits.
Moreover, there were heavy losses this time, it’s necessary to provide the "pioneers" with a substantial return and benefits, encouraging more explorers to emerge.
The emergence of one or two billionaires wouldn’t change anything, but hundreds or thousands of millionaires could change an area’s career choices and development direction.
Making concessions is always the most convincing reason.
The government is willing to make a concession, then with the full support of Lu Ping’an, Wang Xier, and Military Officer Qian, who were meritorious in the war, some matters were settled at once.
Afterward, officials from the Four Cities would take over this world. The participants in this war will receive regular dividends from the mining areas and resource factories in addition to the ordinary spoils of war. These dividends will be sent back to their homeland, and they can withdraw them directly after deducting taxes.
After this matter was resolved, the atmosphere greatly improved... The alive ones will certainly amass a fortune, and the injured and deceased will surely get medical costs and consolation fees.
With the government leading, this world naturally became Eastern Country’s new main world.
𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
"Pressure from Hod Company? Politically, this is actually a great achievement. It’s a great feat. We from Eastern Country aren’t a small country, we can strike back." When someone asked about the follow-up, Director Fang looked indifferent.
A great feat? In the "official" internal meeting, Lu Ping’an had received some higher-level intelligence in advance.
"...Although this world is primitive, it’s of extraordinary significance. Do you probably not know the ’world’ competition among the larger worlds and countries at present?"
How would Lu Ping’an know about this?
Originally, in the multi-universe and among the stars, there’s a common concept to measure the strength of a "civilization".
Excluding your mother star, how many "worlds" can you obtain resources from, including but not limited to population, specialties, technology... When you become the "controller" of that world in a real sense, you declare to other civilizations that you "own" that world.
"The number of worlds (control) has become an indicator for interstellar civilizations to show off and intimidate each other... Everyone knows it’s not reliable, but it indeed is the most intuitive and convincing figure."
"In this regard, we started too late and suffered quite a loss. Some interstellar and cross-world civilizations look down on us, even though they are not as strong as us..."
Sometimes, this is very frustrating and real, but if an insignificant "figure" can avoid many foreign disputes, then naturally, the figure should be inflated.
"Given our civilization’s scale, controlling one or two thousand worlds is normal (including resource planets), but now I’m afraid we don’t have more than three hundred worlds."
"Therefore, every country is actually striving for their ’world’ total. Currently, Huaqi ranks first, owning thirty-seven worlds... They obviously cheated. They’ve been secretly managing this for a long time. We, Eastern Country, only have seven, which is slightly embarrassing internationally. People don’t listen to your explanation, they simply ask for a number."
The development paths of civilizations are varied, but if a civilization can influence or even fundamentally control enough worlds, it naturally is extremely powerful... This is a simplistic jungle-like way of thinking that, despite being difficult to evaluate, is correct most of the time.
Now, Lu Ping’an understands thoroughly.
Even if this "world" is unprofitable, it’s a super-big achievement politically.
Four Cities reports this great achievement to the central government and proceeds independently, naturally they’d feel more confident and could receive more policy support.
Then, maybe an independent city or XX Alliance’s administration categorization would fall into place, which are what ancient cities and other cities want most at this moment.
Glory its ancestors? Well, it might be counted. There will surely be extensive reports after they return, and at least a medal is indispensable.
These matters would not be discussed with the "big-headed soldiers" who only see money in their eyes... Perhaps there are many gains that are more valuable than money.
Only Lu Ping’an and others, probably really touched the core of the incident, knowing what these warriors’ blood receipts obtained for themselves and for their hometown.
"Honor, profit, and development opportunities..."
— End of Chapter 756 —