Starting from the Planetary Governor

This is no small amount.

First of all, even before this, Gu Hang had applied for the expansion of the Rage Bear Legion.

It wasn't that Gu Hang did this just to offset taxes; the performance of the Alliance troops at Korolya III was there for all to see. It was the people from the Fatches Family and the commander of the Dragonhawk Third Legion who hoped that the Rage Bear Legion could expand its roster to better support the military campaign on Korolya III.

Instead, Gu Hang sharply reduced the number of troops they asked for in the expansion.

If they expanded too much, they would have to send troops from Alliance's mainland, and that was unsustainable.

He merely incorporated the six divisions and brigades of the Central Group Army, originally dispatched to Korolya, into the Rage Bear Legion. Although five of them were of the lowest garrison division level, there were also elite units such as the 59th Armored Brigade.

The total value of these six divisions and brigades was over one million Tax Currency.

At the same time, part of the Rage Bear Legion's forces had previously been engaged in combat on Heijian Star.

When the Alliance launched the Heijian Star campaign, it was to put down a rebellion and had applied for support from the Star Realm Army, receiving a response from the Rage Bear Legion.

All of this was done through legal procedures.

Factoring in the battles on Heijian Star and Korolya III, after two years of warfare, the Rage Bear Legion, with a total of 180,000 personnel, had nearly 40,000 casualties, all of which were replenished by the Alliance.

In addition, including the replenishment of tanks, armored vehicles, other technological equipment losses, ammunition, and logistical supplies...

Adding up the costs, the total was four million Tax Currency.

The expenses on the Rage Bear Legion alone offset five million.

In reality, the Alliance only needed to pay five million.

Compared to a fiscal surplus of forty million, it was just a trifle.

However, although the situation on Rage Owl Star was flourishing, Heijian Star was a big problem.

The tax amount expected from Heijian Star over two years was eighty million Tax Currency.

If one wanted to do a good job of tax collection from a planet, preparations couldn't just be started when the taxes were due, as it would be too late. In reality, Heijian Star was almost always engaged in tax collection, with the biennial deadlines simply marking the handover of quotas when the Imperial Tax Fleet arrived.

During the past two years, war had been continuous on Heijian Star. A vast amount of resources were consumed, and it was only recently that the Alliance Government had fully recaptured the planet. Moreover, setting up a unified and effective government was still not complete, so how could taxes be collected?

The Alliance was left with only half a year.

Countries that wrapped up wars quickly, or didn't fight at all, had stable tax amounts, solving about thirty-five million or so; war spoils gleaned by the military, the complete purging of some recalcitrant nobility, and the looting of national treasuries of defeated nations like Panbos could account for another twenty million Tax Currency.

Then, it came down to collecting a head tax.

During his rule over the Alliance, Gu Hang repeatedly emphasized a principle to the senior officials of the government: collecting a head tax was not a viable option.

This would not only impact the government's credibility and stability, but it was also very cost-ineffective. A person was worth five Tax Currency, but in Gu Hang's view, the lifetime value of a person far exceeded that figure.

If the people of a world could not earn back these five Tax Currency, then the governor of the planet was doing an abysmally poor job.

However, the situation on Heijian Star could be viewed with some leniency.

Some of the head taxes were not about Gu Hang needing to collect and hand over people, but rather that the planet itself already had a group of "die-hards" and unresolved prisoner-of-war issues from before.

It was better to just hand them over and settle the matter once and for all.

Previously, when Heijian Star failed to pay enough taxes, they had also resorted to compensating with people.

All of this added up, and Heijian Star itself could manage about sixty million Tax Currency.

That left a shortfall of twenty million.

Rage Owl Star would have to fill that gap.

From this perspective, up until now, the Alliance's conquest of Heijian Star was at a loss.

The military spent money to fight, investments were made, and taxes had to be subsidized for the shortfall on Heijian Star...

However, Prime Minister Osenia had already assured Gu Hang that by the next tax payment, which would be in two years, Heijian Star would achieve self-sufficiency.

This was also a pledge she had made to Gu Hang, the ruler of the Alliance, in her capacity as the head of government.

...

Six months flew by in the blink of an eye.

The chief tax officer of the Dragonhawk Star Domain, Nell Lavis, on his tax collection tour of the Tianma Star Sector, once again arrived.

Based on the importance of tax revenue in the entire Star Sector, generally speaking, Lavis would personally visit only Korolya and Flying Wing Star. Each of these two planets was expected to pay about four billion Tax Currency. By focusing on the situation of these two planets, the tax collection work for the entire Tianma Star Sector was almost complete.

At most, he would glance at the three worlds of the Fatches Star System; the rest were just trifles.

Gu Hang, the highly esteemed Governor who had earned considerable fame in the Star Sector in recent years, paid a mere five million per year.

Trivially small.

Worlds like this, Lavis usually had no energy to pay personal attention to. The last time he came to the Tianma Star Sector and visited Rage Owl Star was simply because of a requirement by the War Apostle.

But this time, without the War Apostle, Lavis still came on his own initiative.

The tax officer came, of course, for collecting taxes.

But it wasn't just about collecting taxes.

Actually, his main purpose for coming here was to see Gu Hang.

Rage Owl Star, ten million Tax Currency in two years; Heijian Star, eighty million Tax Currency in two years – combined, less than one billion, which for the Tax Fleet was a drop in the bucket.

Moreover, he didn't believe that Gu Hang would fail to pay the taxes.

"You think too highly of me," Gu Hang said upon hearing the praise, repeatedly expressing that he was unworthy, "Heijian Star has just joined the Alliance and has many necessities to address. With a population of over four hundred million, the pressure to pay eighty million in taxes this round is indeed quite heavy for me."

Lavis said with a smile, "The pressure is only for this year, and in the end, haven't you paid up? I heard it took you only half a year to get control of the situation on Heijian Star? Seeing the results of your work, getting to this point in just half a year is quite impressive. By the time the next tax season comes around, you'll surely have no pressure at all."

Gu Hang laughed heartily, his expression very cheerful.

Although he intended to be modest, denying such obvious facts seemed pointless.

Indeed, Heijian Star had developed quite well since falling under Alliance control half a year ago, and this was undeniable.

Half a year ago, when the dust of battle on Heijian Star had just settled, two prominent figures from within the Alliance government – Osenia and Lambert – descended upon Heijian Star.

Gu Hang himself had also spent most of his time on Heijian Star during this period.

The Alliance had introduced a series of political and economic reform plans and had begun implementing them.

While the effects still required more time to manifest, at least part of the taxes could be covered with Heijian Star's own contributions, complemented by some support from Rage Owl Star.

Moreover, Rage Owl Star was rapidly developing, and Heijian Star was also undergoing a comprehensive positive transformation.

Having made it through this year, which was supposed to be the difficulty's peak, the subsequent ones could only get easier.

This was precisely why, after personally witnessing the changes on Heijian Star, Lavis sincerely commended Gu Hang.

Over the years as a tax officer, Lavis had traveled continuously among hundreds of worlds within the Dragonhawk Star Domain. In her eyes, the vast majority of these worlds were stagnant ponds; unchanged from one visit to the next.

Two years ago, when she came to Rage Owl Star, she saw its tremendous change; today, the transformation on Rage Owl Star was even more extensive, and Gu Hang had led the Alliance into the interstellar community, bringing this tremendous change to Heijian Star.

Lavis was full of admiration for this young Governor. Stay updated with My Virtual Library Empire

In casual conversation, she couldn't help saying, "I really wish you could be governor of Korolya III, then my job would not be so difficult."

On hearing these words, Gu Hang's heart skipped a beat.

Was the dagger finally revealed?