Chapter 167: Gu Hang’s Past
Compared to the two ladies, Gu Hang was able to obtain relatively fewer resources.
But he was content with that.
The Ironjaw Clan's raiding fleet was originally targeting Fury Owl Planet.
By drawing on the power of the merchants and the Navy, they effectively solved an enormous problem he couldn't have handled alone.
This was already his greatest gain.
The thousands of Grace Points, on the other hand, were more of an incidental bonus.
However, Gu Hang would still strive to secure more benefits for himself.
Eliminating the ground vanguard, providing crucial intelligence, and participating in the star battle to take down the Ork Warlord...
With the Planetary Defense Forces of Fury Owl Planet making such significant contributions and suffering such heavy losses in this war, shouldn't the Ministry of War consider equipping me with more advanced equipment to prepare for any potential future conflicts?
In fact, Gu Hang even contemplated a more ambitious idea.
Now, there was confirmed intelligence that a massive entity like the Ironjaw Clan might launch a large-scale offensive against the Pegasus Sector.
They had, in fact, already deployed an advance fleet.
In that case, wouldn’t the Empire need to bolster its defenses on Fury Owl Planet?
Stationing a starship here, along with an army detachment and an actual Starfleet legion, would be quite reasonable, wouldn't it?
Oh, is Starfleet strapped for manpower? Can't temporarily spare enough forces?
No problem at all! I, Gu Hang, the Empire's Planetary Governor and the God Emperor’s most loyal servant, naturally would step forward to share the Empire's burdens.
This matter could be handled by Fury Owl Planet.
As the Planetary Governor, Gu Hang would fully support the development of Starfleet.
With just ten million tax coins, Fury Owl Planet could raise a group army of hundreds of thousands equipped with all sorts of heavy weaponry.
Both personnel and equipment would be sourced directly from the planet.
And due to his outstanding performance in the last war, Governor Gu Hang could even serve as this Starfleet legion's commander.
But making this happen would be exceptionally challenging.
It wasn't unheard of for a Planetary Governor to serve as a Starfleet legion commander, but it was extremely rare.
If this wasn't feasible, Gu Hang could settle for pushing Tadius into that position.
And since a new regiment would be created, it was natural for the Empire to provide funding.
Ten million tax coins — wasn't that just about right?
In a year and a half, Fury Owl Planet was already due to remit a sum in Imperial taxes.
Fury Owl Planet's Imperial tax rate was the lowest bracket.
The planet was rated by the Imperial Tax Bureau as having a population of 50 million, with an annual tax obligation of five million tax coins, to be paid every two years as a ten million coin sum.
For the first tax collection, they only had to pay a quarter, a concession granted by the sector government.
Of course, the Imperial Tax Bureau didn’t recognize this concession, and the remaining 7.5 million in taxes was essentially covered by the sector government on Fury Owl Planet's behalf.
So why not avoid paying that 7.5 million in tax to the Imperial Tax Bureau and redirect it to me instead?
Add to that the 2.5 million Fury Owl Planet itself was already required to pay, and the total would be ten million, just enough to establish a group army on Fury Owl Planet of over 500,000 with full heavy weaponry.
At that point, Gu Hang would pour all his troops into this new force.
Since developing the army was already necessary and a major expense, using Imperial taxes to offset the cost would benefit everyone.
The soldiers would be his people, the officers his people, the supreme commander his person, and with the force stationed on the planet, who else would control it but him?
It would simply be a change of name.
Of course, it wasn't entirely without drawbacks.
Starfleet differed from the Planetary Defense Forces.
The latter was fully subordinate to the Governor and only responsible for internal planetary affairs.
Starfleet, however, answered to the Ministry of War.
Today, the order might be to station the force on Fury Owl Planet, allowing Gu Hang to retain full control, but tomorrow, an order might just arrive to send them to some front line and be sacrificed.
Would he have the option to refuse?
But the probability of such a thing was low.
Even if they didn't formally become part of Starfleet, the Ministry of War could invoke emergency provisions to summon the Planetary Defense Forces into Starfleet as necessary — a common enough occurrence that Gu Hang wouldn't be able to block.
In that case, it would be better to simply transition to Starfleet.
If they had to be taken away, so be it — after all, the funding and personnel to create the force would come from Imperial tax grants.
He could just consider it paying taxes as usual. Would he really lose out?
It was certainly better than seeing the Planetary Defense Forces conscripted without any compensation.
Of course, all of this was still just an idea in Gu Hang’s mind.
Turning it into reality would require overcoming many hurdles.
He told the two ladies, "The essence of this is transforming a military victory into a concrete political triumph, which can then be converted into economic benefits."
"Since everyone agrees with my proposal, the only remaining task is to resolve a few minor issues."
Alicia nodded in agreement and further elaborated, "The general facts are correct, but there are two critical points here."
"First, we need to confirm the intercepted intelligence report I obtained, and second, Alicia's enlistment of the Beautiful Maiden Merchant Fleet under the Empire's Navy command needs proper documentation."
Wu Jiarong added, "The second issue is relatively easy to resolve. Sister Alicia, you could issue a conscription order, a written one, stating it was signed retroactively."
"We should also create a communication record showing that at the start of the battle, I received the Imperial Navy's conscription order, and that my maneuvers from the warp point were intended to lure the Greenskin fleet to the designated combat location."
Gu Hang agreed, saying, "I will handle the intelligence intercept matter on the ground."
They began discussing ways to fill in these gaps, ensuring the details would withstand scrutiny.
In reality, all this might end up unnecessary.
As long as the fundamental facts were sound, the Ministry of War was unlikely to investigate the minor details.
If they sent inspection teams to verify every battle, the countless wars happening throughout the galaxy would overwhelm them.
Sometimes, the Ministry of War would even turn a blind eye to certain minor irregularities.
As long as no one exaggerated their achievements or fabricated significant facts, it was acceptable.
As for what would happen after the commendations were awarded, none of the three brought it up.
How Wu Jiarong might work to recoup losses or even make a large profit was her business and that of her Gu family backing.
For Alicia and the Fofana Family backing her, the matter of turning her into a rising star in the Imperial Navy was theirs.
And for Gu Hang himself, transforming his vision into reality was something he would have to handle.
These were matters they didn’t need to discuss further. With the overall achievements confirmed, how each would secure political gains would be a matter of personal ability.
…
Gu Hang continued his conversation with the two ladies for a considerable time.
Although it was only minor details that needed filling in, each one had to be executed flawlessly.
There was a slim chance the Ministry of War would investigate, and even if they did, it was unlikely they would examine it closely.
Once they confirmed that a group of Greenskins had indeed been eliminated on the ground, twelve Greenskin ships had been destroyed at the warp point, and the severed head belonged to an Ork Warlord, that would be sufficient.
But just to be on the safe side, they would polish the details, minimizing the risk of any mishaps.
After settling the plan, each of them went off to execute their parts.
Once Alicia left, only Gu Hang and his cousin Wu Jiarong remained in the small lounge.
The two were silent for a while.
By now, Wu Jiarong no longer felt as bitter about her losses.
Though the merchant fleet was in her name, it was, in essence, an asset of the Gu Trading Company.
She was only a director, a shareholder, and the leader of the operation.
While she had suffered significant losses, it was due to pirates, a force she couldn't counter, so she wouldn’t be heavily blamed.
Her position in the trading company might weaken, and her investment would take a hit, but it wasn't enough to bring her down entirely.
With her cousin's new strategy, she could even turn a profit, which would make up for everything.
In any case, she couldn’t place all the blame on her cousin.
Several factors had converged, and given they were practically raised together, her anger toward her cousin had mostly dissipated.
Nonetheless, she couldn’t appear too close to him.
That was because of another matter.
She sighed and said, “Cousin, actually… Aunt still misses you a lot.”
“Oh,” Gu Hang replied flatly.
He didn’t mean anything by it. From the memories of his predecessor, he could see a beautiful woman's silhouette.
Yet, there was a complex mix of love and resentment buried deep within his predecessor’s feelings toward his mother.
Love, certainly, but also a touch of resentment.
To be honest, he didn't feel inclined to deal with his predecessor's domestic entanglements.
What he could recall from memory felt like watching a movie — the story was clear, emotions and insights were there, but it never felt like it had actually happened to him.
Of course, he couldn’t sever these ties either.
These memories were in his mind, impossible to discard.
Moreover, he owed his position as Planetary Governor to his family background and could not abandon his identity in the future.
This
detachment, combined with his inability to sever the ties, resulted in a cool “Oh.”
Wu Jiarong seemed to misinterpret this response.
She sighed again, "Cousin, you can’t blame Aunt."
“She… sigh, in the end, this was your mistake."
“When Head Pides appointed you as Governor of Fury Owl Planet, you shouldn't have accepted."
"This will place the Gu family in an incredibly vulnerable position.”
Gu Hang’s interest was piqued.
Was there more to it?