Ling Liang Report (IV)
Giving them core technology not only did not let them grow wings and fly away on their own; it actually allowed us to control them. I had not anticipated that at first.
But it was only after the cooperation truly began that I realized how absurdly wrong my understanding of the Trade Federation and the InterGalactic Banking Clan had been. They truly acknowledged nothing but money and cared about nothing else. Looking at San Hill and Nute Gunray, I found it hard to imagine that these two men were the leaders of those two Mega-corporation giants.
Sometimes I wondered what the Neimoidians and Muuns of over twenty thousand years ago, the forebears who had built the Trade Federation and the InterGalactic Banking Clan into such immense enterprises with such deep foundations, would think if they saw their descendants being this foolish.
Of course, this was good news for our Fourth Civilization. When Grand Duke Tang Xiao decided to hand these core technologies over to them, they were naturally overwhelmed with gratitude and said that obtaining these technologies would allow them to leap into the ranks of the few corporations in the Milky Way Galaxy capable of independently designing and building kilometer-class capital ships.
Then we proposed that we would send teams to assist their research, construction crews to build their shipyards, and engineers to supervise the warship production. They would pay all salaries, compensation, and material costs, while those personnel would also be registered under their companies. And San Hill and Nute Gunray actually agreed? Did they not realize that by doing this, those technologies would still effectively remain in our hands?
Apparently, they did not see it that way. They were merely celebrating because, once again, they had solved every problem simply by spending money.