Starting from the Planetary Governor

Chapter 1329: Chapter 756: Eyeing the Pot While Eating from the Bowl

According to the calculations, within ten years, the Central Empire not only will not receive taxes from the Alliance but will instead have to pay 3.3 trillion to the Alliance?

That is absolutely impossible.

Whether the Empire is willing to pay or not is beside the point; they simply cannot come up with that amount of money.

On the contrary, the Department of Taxation, as well as various Imperial departments that require funding from the Department of Taxation, are all eagerly awaiting the substantial taxes paid by the Alliance to fill their financial holes.

The Central Empire’s total annual tax revenue is roughly between fifteen to twenty trillion – this is after deducting what is left for various regions and taking 40% of the total taxes collected from all regions, minus substantial taxation costs, resulting in net income.

This is quite a large figure, but the Empire is simply too vast, with too many expenditures. No matter how much revenue, there’s never enough. There are holes to patch everywhere, wars to fight everywhere.

They cannot afford to pay the Alliance, and they can’t even do without the Alliance’s money.

However, this war expenditure that should be paid to the Alliance is clearly laid out there, and it can’t be dismissed just because they choose not to acknowledge it.

This issue was also a crucial point repeatedly negotiated by Alliance officials on Holy Terra with the Central Empire before signing the “Alliance Plan.”

Initially, the price calculated by the Alliance differed from that calculated by the Imperial Military Department.

The Alliance calculated roughly 29 trillion, emphasizing bonuses for the Alliance’s military achievements and combat results, along with full battle allowances. The Military Department did not acknowledge this amount.

The first version calculated by the Military Department was only 21 trillion.

After much haggling, Galaraldo even personally approached Gu Hang, smiling bitterly, asking Gu Hang not to push too hard, as 29 trillion was simply impossible.

No matter how much he sided with the Alliance, that figure was too exaggerated to agree to.

If he dared to nod in agreement, he would immediately end his tenure as the Premier of the Military Affairs Department.

But even so, Galaraldo was urgently called by Prime Minister Qi Bodu and was scolded, being told that 21 trillion was also unacceptable, as it was a price the Empire couldn’t afford.

A crestfallen Galaraldo could only return to negotiate with Gu Hang.

Gu Hang then told Galaraldo something, which sent Galaraldo back:

“Let’s not discuss this issue directly between us. You should understand that I cannot abandon the Alliance’s earned interests, nor do I want to make it difficult for you to be caught in the middle, and I certainly don’t want this issue to affect our relationship. Since the Prime Minister insists on having you negotiate, then discuss it with the Alliance’s officials.”

Galaraldo accepted this reasoning and, from then on, did not approach Gu Hang again. Even if he did, it wasn’t to discuss this issue but to talk about other matters.

After the Military Department’s officials racked their brains calculating algorithms, with Prime Minister Qi Bodu personally paying attention, the finally agreed amount reached the figure of 16 trillion.

Honestly, the Empire did not want to pay this amount either.

But they had no choice but to pay.

The political conventions stood there; defaulting on this payment to the Alliance would be simple, but what about other domains and star domains? In the future, when the Empire recruits armies from other places to cross domains for warfare, those local armies will have to weigh things carefully.

If they fight too well or the sacrifices are too great, would the Central Empire renege on paying?

In comparison, this loss of reputation is substantial, potentially directly affecting the Central Empire’s legitimacy.

In the end, the arranged result was that in the first term, i.e., the first two years, the Imperial Tax from the Alliance was to be handed over as usual.

In the second term, i.e., the third and fourth years, out of the total 1.7 trillion in taxes, only one trillion needed to be paid.

After that, the Alliance would need only to remit one trillion in tax currency every two years as the Imperial Tax. The remaining portion would be deducted as war expenses paid by the Central Empire.

Until the 16 trillion in war expenses was fully deducted, the Alliance would resume normal Imperial Tax levels.

All in all, this deduction would take about 15 years!

This means, for roughly 15 years, the Alliance would only need to pay five hundred billion in tax currency annually.

Such help to the Alliance is certainly not as high as directly giving these 16 trillion to the Alliance, allowing them to pay taxes normally.

After all, if they had the 16 trillion in cash directly on hand, the Alliance could do a great many things. Leaving some for taxes, the bulk could be invested. In that way, the Alliance’s development speed would significantly increase.

Yet achieving such a result was already quite good.

After all, toward the end, even Prime Minister Qi Bodu personally intervened, repeatedly summoning Gu Hang and applying pressure, even resorting to the brink of a fallout.

Gu Hang had no choice but to agree.

As a whole, during the fifteen years before the 16 trillion in war expenses were fully deducted, the Alliance’s tax pressure would be greatly reduced.

As the Alliance Premier, Osenia, upon hearing this news, found her hair had grown a few more strands.

She breathed a huge sigh of relief.

…

After inspecting Lingze Star, confirming the smooth progress of the Alliance’s first-term tax work, and verifying that Lingze Star’s key project, which is the construction of the Tax Port, was advancing as expected and could be completed on time and with quality, Gu Hang did not stay long on Lingze Star and continued his journey.

His ultimate goal was to return to the Dragonhawk Star Domain, the place where he started.

The Alliance’s capital remains Rage Owl Star, with the Dragonhawk Star Domain still being the most core area of the Alliance.

Previously, someone had suggested whether the Alliance’s ruling center should be moved a bit north?

After all, the Alliance’s ruling area now covers the entire Spiderweb Domain. The highest position Gu Hang held was granted by the Spiderweb Domain Chair as High Lordship.

It was indeed somewhat inappropriate to keep the Alliance Central Government in the Dragonhawk Star Domain. Among the fourteen star domains under the Alliance’s control, the Dragonhawk Star Domain is at the southernmost end. It is a bit far from the Spiderweb Domain, especially the northern parts of the domain, making governance difficult.

However, Gu Hang still rejected such notions.

Firstly, the Dragonhawk Star Domain has been the Alliance’s headquarters for decades, with Gu Hang having invested heavily in construction resources, whether in funds or gift points, largely concentrating there. The productivity of just the Dragonhawk Star Domain is nearly comparable to the other thirteen combined.

Of course, this would change in years to come as the Spiderweb Domain gradually recovers.

Moving isn’t quite suitable.

Moreover, who says the Dragonhawk Cosmos isn’t suitable as the core?

Gu Hang’s vision is always directed outward.

The Spiderweb Domain in the bowl isn’t fully consumed; he is already eyeing what’s in the pot.

And in that pot, fragrant and enticing, is the Eastern Cosmos Domain.