The giant corporations that started from Night City

Chapter 446: What will the Human Empire become...
Ever since the Empire issued the order to ban passage and blockade the star field, departments in various regions have declined at the first opportunity, but these officials did not really consider the problem of shortage of supplies.

It is because the blockade policy infringes on their respective interests.

During the transportation of supplies by the empire, there were many cases of local governors engaging in reselling. Once the passage was blocked and passage was prohibited, many troubles would arise and their income would drop significantly.

Some governors had just sold out their own supplies and were waiting for new supplies to arrive, while others had a pile of food that was about to expire and were waiting to be sold. If they didn't sell it, it would all be stuck in their hands.

So even at this critical juncture, there are still some fools who are short-sighted and want to take risks, such as Hector, the Governor of Fenris.

"I will reiterate to you one last time that I will never blockade the star region of the Fenris system. If you have the guts, find Horus and discuss this with our Primarch!"

Hector shouted at Qiansihu fearlessly, which made Qiansihu quite annoyed. If the Universal Corporation had not yet completely taken over the Human Empire, he really wanted to shoot this stinky bureaucrat.

"Governor, as far as I know, you have made a lot of contributions to Fenris during your tenure, such as salvaging marine resources, smelting metals, popularizing education in the empire, and transporting resources..."

At this time, Qiansihu changed the subject and stopped arguing with the other party about the blockade of the star field, but instead praised Hector's political achievements.

Hector raised his eyebrows, wondering why Qiansihu suddenly brought this up.

In fact, it is not too difficult for him to achieve some political achievements on Fenris.

After all, Hector was the governor of a local tribe in Fenris and had some connections with the local people. In addition, Fenris was rich in products and metal resources.

As long as you are not a moron, you can basically do it pretty well.

But weren't they discussing the blockade of the star field? Why were they talking about something completely unrelated?

Hector sneered. Even if it was a world behemoth, so what? Fenris was the territory of the Space Wolves, and behind it were the Emperor and Primarch Russ.

Even if the person in charge of the new waterway project comes, he has to listen to me!
Want to stop yourself from getting rich? No way!

"I heard that the Governor deliberately squeezed a batch of supplies, waiting to resell them to the dying colonies at a high price in exchange for a huge reward."

"You Fenris are extremely wealthy, but the people in other sectors are starving and cannibalizing each other. How come your help is only making them poorer? What's going on?"

Qiansihu spoke slowly. On the way here, he had sent agents from the Intelligence Department to investigate Hector's background. Over the years, this guy had often extorted other colonies under the guise of aid.

They deliberately delayed time and gave food and supplies to black market vendors, forcing local people to buy high-priced food and daily necessities. After emptying these people's wallets, they would deliver the support resources.

While reaping the money of the local people, he also put the imperial subsidies into his own pocket.

Hector had always used this double-edged sword and it worked well for him. He soon accumulated a large amount of money and resources for himself and Fenris.

Regarding this, Primarch Russ pretended not to know and just turned a blind eye to it. After all, which Primarch didn't have his own small business?

Hector was stunned when he heard Qiansihu say this, but he quickly reacted and slammed the table and scolded: "What do you mean? Are you trying to frame me for corruption?"

"I have done so many good things for the people of Fenris. Fenris is becoming richer day by day, and the people here are becoming stronger day by day. It is the best recruiting point for the empire."

"Everyone has witnessed my efforts for the human empire!"

Hector did not lie, he did develop the bitter cold land of Fenris into a fertile area of ​​the empire. The warriors here had extremely high physical fitness, and it was the birthplace of the best Astartes.

But he only told half the truth. The prosperity of Fenris was entirely based on sucking blood and plundering other colonies.

"I didn't say you were corrupt. I was just curious about why the star regions that Fenris helped were becoming increasingly poor and the people's living conditions were becoming increasingly difficult."

Qiansi Fox did not back down and continued to attack the areas that Hector did not want to talk about. He was followed by officials from Terra, and if Hector wanted to refuse to answer, they could immediately impeach him.

Seeing that Qiansi Fox came prepared, Hector froze immediately. Although Fenris was a very cold place, sweat began to seep out of his forehead involuntarily.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Hector tried his best to suppress his inner tension and retorted shamelessly: "The lives of the imperial citizens in other star regions are difficult. What does that have to do with me? It's not my fault."

"You should question those stupid governors. It is because of the incompetence of those good-for-nothings that people are starving to death and suffering from poverty."

As Hector spoke, he seemed to believe it himself, so he said to Qiansihu calmly: "You don't go to those incompetent people to punish them, but instead come here to scare me, a meritorious official."

"Don't you think it's funny?"

Seeing that Hector still denied what he had done, Qiansihu was so angry that he laughed. It was the first time he had seen such a shameless bureaucrat.

If this happened in a giant corporation, he would have been caught and used as a bio-generator. When his physical body died, he would have been turned into feed, and his shattered consciousness would have been sent to the matrix to squeeze out all the remaining energy.

Through the confessions of other star zone governors and the evidence they provided, Qiansihu was basically able to confirm that Hector was corrupt and had his cake and eat it too.

Under Hector's micro-management, although there was no large-scale famine or plague in the nearby star regions, the food eaten by the vast majority of the imperial people was basically the same as that eaten by animals.

With a big vampire like Hector around, the star regions around Fenris and the imperial colonies are all as thin as sticks, and the people there are too far away from heaven and too close to Fenris.

These things seem incredible, but the reality is so magical. The corrupt bureaucrats that Horus hates are often hidden within themselves.

After all, Primarchs like Horus are rentiers themselves and the beneficiaries of the overall circulation system.

As the territory of Primarch Russ, Fenris has extremely high political autonomy, and many troublesome matters can be easily resolved with just a simple word from Russ.

Simply put, as long as Fenris doesn't play with messy psychic powers and doesn't have any connection with the Warp, this little corruption is a small matter and the Empire doesn't bother to care.

Russ himself was not interested in political affairs at all. As long as Hector could get more resources for the Space Wolves, he would be a good minister to the country.

With the Imperial policy not opposing him and the Primarch Russ backing him up, Hector dared to do whatever he wanted to make money.

But this matter was shameful black material after all, and Hector knew very well that this matter could be used as a means to attack himself.

If Qian Sihu really wanted to make trouble and really wanted to speak up for the people of the empire, he, the governor, would definitely not be able to escape the blame.

"Governor Hector, I will stop here. I will give you half an hour to think about it. I hope that by then we can receive a notification from you to assist the giant enterprise in blocking the Fenris star field."

The intention of Qiansihu's words couldn't be more obvious.

You don't want your corruption to be reported to Horus, right? At this time, Horus has chopped off many corrupt officials' heads in order to establish his own authority.

Once the truth comes out, Horus will definitely kill people.

Primarch Russ is his brother and must not be killed, so the only way to settle the matter is to use Hector's head!
As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Sihu and his men left in a leisurely manner, leaving Hector with a sinister look, staring at Qian Sihu's departing back with great anger.

For a moment, Hector wanted to send someone to kill Qiansi Fox, but he soon realized that if he really did so, it would only make him die faster.

Qiansihu is the chief person in charge of the new waterway project. If he dies, Fenris will definitely face accountability from the Empire and the world's giant corporations, and the entire people of Fenris will suffer.

Now that Qiansihu has got hold of his own dirty laundry, he may have no choice but to obey what others are doing!
"Forget it. A man of insight is a wise man. I'll just earn less if I can." Hector sighed.

This matter is not a big deal, but it is not a small matter either. If it is really reported to Horus by Qiansi Fox, and coupled with the charge of obstructing the new waterway project, I am afraid that I will end up becoming a mechanical servant.

This is worse than death!

Soon, Hector opened the communicator to contact all departments and told them to immediately cooperate with the giant enterprise to block Fenris and prohibit all spacecraft from passing through. Similar situations are still happening in various regions of the human empire.

The local imperial bureaucrats and planetary governors would use a variety of reasons to prevent the giant corporations from blocking the star field, but without exception they were silenced by the giant corporations using negative information.

Except for a very few stubborn ones who were escorted to Terra to be beheaded early, the rest of the governors were very "cooperative" and became staunch supporters of the giant enterprises.

The progress of the new waterway project was much faster than Qiansihu had expected.

But back at the Terra Palace, Horus encountered a series of political troubles that made him feel overwhelmed and extremely painful.

"Damn it! Why are there so many more government affairs to deal with...!"

In the regency of the empire, Horus sat in front of a long table piled with books, files, and documents. His gorgeous silk robe had become disheveled due to days of hard work.

During this period, he first dismissed a number of high lords of the empire, arranged for his own confidants to take office, and carried out drastic reforms.

The first step Horus took was to severely punish corrupt officials and arrest corrupt elements in all parts of the empire.

However, the thunder was loud but the rain was small, and Horus's series of fierce offensive moves did not cause much ripples at all.

Not many corrupt officials were caught, but because of his series of personnel replacement decisions, the empire's government affairs were stalled and stagnant.

Without the help of the High Lord, Horus could only handle government affairs alone, but the numerous documents really made Horus exhausted.

In less than half a month, Horus had to send people to invite back the high lords who had been dismissed before, and continue to let mortals assist him in handling government affairs.

Although doing so is indeed slapping oneself in the face, it is better than the collapse of the empire. The emperor has entrusted his foundation to me, I can't just ruin it!
"You only know to choose the Imperial Warmaster, why choose the Imperial Regent? It's a waste of time." Horus had a headache and he had already started to regret it.

Before this, Horus thought that what the Imperial Regent had to do was very simple. It was nothing more than expressing his opinions on some key issues, and then the people below would obey and do their jobs.

Anyone who doesn't listen will have his head chopped off.

During the Great Crusade of the Galaxy, Horus had seen countless Imperial bureaucrats do exactly the same thing. They left most of the work to their subordinates and just waited for the results.

Why is it that when it comes to me, it is completely different!

In fact, Horus was right, but he overestimated the Empire's government processing system. Without the help of AI, the Empire's government efficiency was quite low and backward.

There are many key decisions that require Horus' personal involvement.

Extreme centralization also means extreme responsibility.

The reason why other small lords and governors can just sit there and do nothing is that their territories are not large. Many government affairs only need to be reported and left to Terra to find a solution. They just need to wait for orders and do their work.

It would be easier if there was autonomy.

He only held military power and subcontracted the rest of the government affairs to other levels. He would punish those below him before anything happened, and if there was any rebellion, the peasant army would not be able to defeat his elite regular army.

The most typical example is the planet Fenris of Rus. He only focused on fighting and enjoying himself, and Hector took care of the rest. Even though he had no political talent, he still managed the territory in an orderly and prosperous manner.

But not Horus.

Terra is the power center of the empire, and any disturbance here will trigger a series of chain reactions.

If Horus dares to mess up for one day, the accumulated government documents will double in minutes!
"Alas, without my father and Malcador, I wonder what the human empire would become!" Horus sighed with a sad face.

After these days of practice, Horus has finally figured out the lifeblood of the empire.

The reforms he wanted to carry out, to kill corrupt officials and bring peace to the people of the empire were simply impossible to achieve.

Firstly, Horus sent people to conduct secret investigations and discovered that many of these corrupt officials directly served the Primarchs, including some of his own legion commanders, who were also the corrupt officials' direct superiors.

Without the services of these people, his primarch brothers would immediately face resource shortages and operational inconveniences.

If these people were really killed, it would inevitably lead to a deterioration in the relationship between the brothers, or even to a rift between them.

This is completely contrary to Horus's previous promise to the Emperor, to unite the Primarch brothers and advance and retreat together!
In addition, these corrupt officials and dignitaries in the empire occupy a large number of key positions. Without them on the job, the empire's political system will only collapse even more seriously.

After experiencing the dilemma of having no one available, Horus no longer dared to dismiss the high lords and others from their duties as he had done before, otherwise the empire would be destroyed in a matter of minutes.

Horus could neither kill nor dismiss these corrupt officials and dignitaries.

After all, these people are valuable talent resources, and they are a very small number of people with brains.

The human empire's educational resources are already scarce, and it is not easy to raise a few smart people. If all these people are killed, all that will be left are some clear-headed, stupid good guys.

As for the group of good guys, Horus still knew how terrible they were.

The little tricks that bad guys think up after racking their brains are often not as good as the sudden inspiration of a fool.

So after weighing the pros and cons of all parties, Horus had no choice but to give up the reforms. His revolutionary enthusiasm was like an iron fist hitting soft cotton, and was dissipated without a trace by the mysterious power.

Now, he has gradually become a government machine like Malcador. It is a blessing for him to be able to pull the half-dead machine of the Human Empire away.

Not to mention any reform, it is simply impossible.

"Alas, are these officials useless? They don't know how to handle these trivial matters on their own. Why do they keep reporting them to Terra? What a waste of time!"

Looking at the piles of government documents, a lot of them contained repetitive, low-quality junk information, which made him quite annoyed. He wished he could send someone to pull out the local governor and give him a beating.

However, among these documents, there are indeed many important matters that require one to make decisions on one's own, and there are many difficult matters involving the Primarchs that cannot be handled, and they can only be dealt with depending on Horus' attitude.

For example, materials that were supposed to be transferred to a certain barren colonial area were intercepted by a certain Primarch on the grounds that they were needed for troop training. He had a legitimate reason and was protected by his superiors.

But the local people will starve to death without these supplies. What should we do about this problem?

For example, a planet may be attacked by alien forces or the subspace may be polluted, and the Empire may need to send troops to suppress the situation.

For the local governor, the only way to deal with these issues is to explain the situation to Terra before making a decision. Even if it is too late, no one dares to act rashly.

Because before getting a reply from Central Terra, acting on your own means taking the blame. If you haven't made any mistakes and have done something meritorious, then it's fine, at most you won't have to die.

But once a mistake is made, officials will be severely punished.

The current political system of the Human Empire is in its best state after countless experiments, improvements and optimizations by the Emperor and Malcador.

There is no more room for optimization. Any reform or change will only lead to a loss of balance. If the original code can no longer run, it will have to be started from scratch.

There is no way, the territory of the human empire is too large.

Countless things happen every day, countless conflicts arise, and the disabling of AI artificial intelligence has resulted in the ceiling of the empire's government system being so high.

Sitting in the position of Regent of the Empire, Horus finally understood the concerns of Malcador and the Emperor. It turned out that handling government affairs was never easy, and the degree of brain-burning was no less than understanding various complex military orders.

(End of this chapter)