153. The rumor of Coruscant
After getting off the shuttle, Ailiya-Isabel seemed very cramped. She followed Tang Xiao very carefully with small steps. He wanted to look around curiously, but he didn't dare to go too far for fear of provoking someone he shouldn't.
Even though the clothes she was wearing were a gorgeous dress purchased at a high price in Corellia's commercial center, which alone was worth tens of thousands of credits, equivalent to the price of a fighter jet, walking in the mothership she still felt like a country bumpkin entering the city for the first time.
Tang Xiao sent a message to Daphne-Clement, asking her to send a female assistant to put Ailiya in her bedroom, and then went to the office.
The matter of assembling the fleet has been left to Qi Jian. He came here mainly to worry about other things.
After the communication was connected, the holographic projections of Francis-Underwood appeared in it. Tang Xiao asked, "Malastare's situation may intensify. Is there any news in Coruscant?"
Francis smiled and said, "Coruscant has a lot of rumors every day, manager. The dispute between Malastare and Corporate Alliance is the core of the recent storm, but to understand this storm, we must look at the problem comprehensively."
Tang Xiao nodded for him to continue.
"The root of Galactic Republic's current problems lies in the financial crisis. You heard it right. Although Galactic Republic has neither major disasters nor large-scale wars, Galactic Republic's treasury is getting increasingly empty." Francis said with a sneer.
"Corruption and embezzlement..." Tang Xiao frowned.
"The root cause of corruption and embezzlement lies in the unscrupulous expansion of major trust enterprise oligarchs. Monopoly trusts have emerged in almost every industry. For example, Trade Federation in the inter-galactic transportation industry, InterGalactic Banking Clan in the financial industry, and Corporate Alliance in the manufacturing and processing industry and so on. In order to ensure their monopoly status, these trust companies continue to bribe Galactic Republic officials, to the point where they cannot stay in Coruscant's officialdom without accepting bribes," Francis said.
"So under the large-scale bribery that has both positive and negative effects, Galactic Republic's decree has become a piece of paper." Tang Xiao shook his head.
"That's right. So, Galactic Republic has no money now. The huge bureaucracy and inefficient administrative agencies are filled with a lot of redundant staff. If you ask Rosana- As for Goodes, she will tell you how many procedures I went through in applying for Fourth Group's company registration and Dawn Star Planet's colonial development license, even if someone helped me get through."
Tang Xiao nodded and said, "So this is the source of the contradiction. Galactic Republic, which lacks a strong central authority and cannot even maintain a large-scale regular army, has become the cake of those large enterprises."
"Yes, and the crux of the problem is here. The problem of Galactic Republic is seen by many people, so the call for establishing a powerful regime has never stopped. When I first heard you telling me about the political ecology of Galactic Senate, I I once thought that the person with the strongest voice was Sheev-Palpatine, because he relied on this to reach the position of Chancellor of the Galactic Senate in the future. I already believe this." Francis said.
"So... it's not him?" Tang Xiao frowned.
"No, the one with the strongest voice is the representative of Ryloth, Tusken Orn-Free-Tower. He is also the person who currently opposes the current speaker Phineas-Valorum the most fiercely. Palpatine is very cautiously hiding behind it. On the surface, he is supporting Phineas-Valorum, but in fact he has created an image of himself as someone who has lofty ideals but is still loyal to the current Speaker. Orn Free-Tower regards him as a comrade, while Chancellor Valorum regards him as his right-hand man."
"How did he do it?"
"A long process." Francis shook a book in his hand, "Sheev-Palpatine has written many books on politics and power. Some of these books have even become textbooks in colleges and universities. And every time something difficult happens to Chancellor Valorum, he is always the one who comes forward to wipe it out. And he solves the matter satisfactorily every time."
"A perfect solution is impossible. Based on my understanding of Palpatine, his method of solving the problem is almost certainly to treat the symptoms rather than the root cause. On the surface, the problem is solved, but in fact it leaves hidden dangers, and the switch that detonates this hidden danger is in his own hands."
"If you don't tell, no one will know this." Francis shook his head, "Let's talk about it. Now Phineas-Valorum is involved in a bribery scandal. He accepted more than 1 million credit points in bribes through a trust fund, and this news was discovered by Orn Free Tower. After a not difficult investigation, the target was locked on an illegal organization Nebula Front."
"Nebula Front is a trap set up by Sheev-Palpatine. No one knows their relationship." Tang Xiao sneered.
"No matter what, accepting bribes from an illegal organization is a fatal blow to Chancellor of the Galactic Senate. Representative Orn-Fry-Ta has launched two impeachments in a row, but Chancellor Valorum successfully survived with the help of Sheev-Palpatine."
"Then?"
"Then Phineas-Valorum started his plan. In fact, when he came to power, he had been taxing Outer Rim Territories and increasing Galactic Republic fiscal revenue. He made this his policy agenda in order to win votes, but he could tell with his toes how difficult it was. Therefore, when Valorum was about to take action, those companies that had already heard the news took action first."
"Is this why Corporate Alliance suddenly wants to increase fuel tax on Malastare?"
"That's right. Corporate Alliance is using this to express an attitude to Chancellor Valorum - don't you want to tax? Yes, I will also tax. Then we will see who has more influence on Outer Rim Territories."
"So they won't give in on this matter, and they must use Malastare to push Chancellor Valorum into a desperate situation?"
Francis suddenly showed a weird smile, "But here's the problem... Just last year, Niele was besieged by Bislanka pirates, Galactic Republic launched Judicial Fleet with great fanfare and completely eliminated this group of pirates (Chapter 7 of this book), and the person who promoted this expedition was none other than Sheev-Palpatine."