Novel Full Chapter 257, They Struck First
What does Gu Hang think about Heijian Star?
Of course, he has big plans for it.
Initially, he sent Perbov to lead the Expeditionary Force here simply to protect his mother’s safety and ensure a smooth transition of power within the Gu Family.
But now, an unexpected situation has arisen; he led an army in person and even committed interstellar warriors to come to the rescue, and the cost was very high. Discover stories at empire
It was not just a military cost but also a significant economic and political cost.
The Gu Family suffered heavy losses after this battle. Over the past few days, not only was the ground warfare fierce, but within the space of Heijian Star, the two originally family-affiliated Chamber of Commerce Fleets were almost at each other’s throats.
However, their conflict seemed a bit like a melee of incompetents.
The main issue was that neither side comprised a proper navy; at best, they were armed merchant ships, described as Escort Ship or Destroyer class, but in reality, they were about the same size and had inferior firepower, not to mention other aspects.
Furthermore, during the early stages of the battle, nearly a hundred ships under the control of Wang Qi erupted in minor mutinies, aside from the various transport starships that were devoid of fighting capability.
At first, the fight between the two sides wasn’t very intense.
It wasn’t until Wang Jiarong regrouped the fleet and launched a full-on attack that their battle really heated up.
The opposition, with the help of planetary orbital firepower, was tenacious in defense. Even though they had fewer ships, they suffered fewer losses than Wang Jiarong’s side.
Wang Jiarong, however, ordered her fleet to attack ferociously, regardless of losses.
In just a few days, the two sides had destroyed more than a dozen ships, and the intensity of the war was still escalating.
Wang Jiarong was also in a state of desperation.
Not only did she have a deep emotional connection with her aunt, but even from a self-interested perspective, as an outsider to the Gu Family who rose to a high position by following her aunt and being her aunt’s trusted confidante, Miss Wang Qi would be the second one to be purged if anything happened to her aunt.
Although the naval battle seemed a bit like a fight among the weak, it was still fought with desperation.
The brutal conflict only ceased when the Blade Tiger, flying the navy’s flag, forcefully ordered a ceasefire between the two sides.
And by that time, the number of destroyed ships had already surpassed twenty.
Gu Hang’s heart bled at this.
These were all family assets that, if things had gone according to plan, would be resources available to him when he became the Gu Clan Leader in the future.
Now, all of it was gone.
And these were just the visible losses. Given the extent of the conflict and the extremity of resorting to armed force, Wang Qi would likely face many difficulties in cleaning up the aftermath and reintegrating the family’s resources. Many of the family’s past trade routes, relationships, and resources would suffer significantly.
According to his mother, the family’s assets would shrink by a conservative estimate of forty percent after this battle.
As for the political cost, that mainly comprised the promises Gu Hang made to the Pei Desi leadership on his way to rescue his mother.
Following this ordeal, the Gu Family’s original plan to detach from the so-called Tianma Star Sector Iron Triangle and adopt a more neutral and cross-Sector expansion was basically unachievable. After all the effort to ease relations and even begin large-scale purchases to make the three stars of the Fatches Family a significant source of raw materials and market, that market would likely be lost.
This was, after all, due to the execution of the Pei Desi leadership’s blockade actions against the Fatches Family.
Of course, these challenges were primarily for Gu Hang’s mother to face.
But although the two parties couldn’t yet be considered one, Gu Hang had come to regard the forces under Wang Qi’s control as firm allies of Rage Owl Star through their unwavering blood ties after multiple incidents. This alliance was highly reliable.
The losses of the Gu Clan were his father’s losses.
So, taking some compensation from Heijian Star to make up for the losses, that wouldn’t be too much to ask for, right?
“So, what exactly do you want?” Wang Qi posed this question.
“I want the Luman Kingdom,” Gu Hang said bluntly to his mother, “The Luman Kingdom is the third-largest country on Heijian Star, with a population of four million and a land area of 4.8 million square kilometers. I want it all. The Luman Kingdom itself can exist; the Luman family should no longer exist.”
Wang Qi frowned, “What’s the value in that? It’s just an agricultural country. Their annual output is only over twenty million Tax Currency, yet they need to pay four million in Imperial Tax. After taxes, the amount left in the treasury barely exceeds two million. Of these two million, most of it must be spent on maintaining the army, plus some administrative expenses, royal household expenditures…
It would be fortunate if the annual budget doesn’t end up in deficit. What kind of profit can you gain from taking over such a place?”
Gu Hang shook his head and said, “My mother, this is the difference between the thinking of a merchant and that of a builder. You only see the present value of an asset, yet you fail to see its future.”
Wang Qi, after the ordeal of this event, had improved her temper considerably. In the past, if her son spoke to her like this, how could she have tolerated it?
But now, she could endure it, showing only a slight dissatisfaction, “I’m not blind to the potential. But the premise of development is the investment of the necessary capital. Forty million population, over four million square kilometers of decent land, these are positive assets.
However, the education level of Luman Kingdom’s citizens, the level of industrialization, the standard of infrastructure are all extremely poor. How much resources will you need to invest to achieve the future you envision? And how many years before it pays off?”