2131. The beginning and end of Trade Federation (1)
In today's galaxy, Trade Federation (Trade Federation) gives people the impression of being domineering, greedy, ruthless, and corrupt. However, few people know that when Trade Federation was officially established about 350 years ago, this organization could be called the model organization in Galactic Republic's country at that time.
And it can be said that without Trade Federation, there would be no rule of Galactic Republic over Outer Rim Territories - although this rule has always been very weak.
Therefore, if we understand it from this perspective, we can understand why from Galactic Republic to now Galactic Empire, Trade Federation has tolerated Trade Federation betting on both sides of the war, but has never completely solved them.
The reason is simple. They have a lot of support in the parliament.
350 years ago, with the further expansion of hyperspace channels, Galactic Republic ushered in a golden age of great exploration. Many Outer Rim Territories's edge planets were discovered and joined the Galactic Republic family. These newly discovered star sectors are called Expansion Sectors, and the scope includes at least one-third of the current Outer Rim Territories and a small part of Mid Rim Territories. The scope is extremely broad.
In this process, a large number of conflicts inevitably arise, with different species having different interests, as well as major chambers of commerce and major companies, and various disputes emerging one after another.
And because most of the places where disputes occur are in expansion areas, the law does not apply here. Galactic Republic 350 years ago did not have a powerful standing fleet, only Judicial Fleet, and Judicial Fleet generally would not be dispatched.
At that time, Galactic Republic was still in its final glory period. In addition to Judicial Fleet, they often relied on Jedi Order to resolve disputes. But will Jedi Order go all the way to Outer Rim Territories to solve the problem of your company owing 100,000 credit points to another consortium but defaulting on the debt and not wanting to pay it back?
Obviously not.
So at that time, Expansion Sectors was basically a lawless area everywhere, fights were trivial, and gunfights were only common, and firefights between fleets often broke out. Both sides are armed cargo ships with thin skin and big stuff, so they will naturally suffer heavy losses in a fight.
During this struggle, Mega-corporations including Pulsar Supertanker (Pulsar Supertanker), Quasar Cargo (Quasar Cargo), Red Star Shipping Lines (Red Star Shipping Lines), and Ororo Transportation (Ororo Transportation) were born. These companies can be called the overlords of Expansion Sectors, and no one dares to provoke them.
If you look at the names, you will find that these are all logistics and transportation companies. Why is it a shipping company and not some industrial giant, financial giant, or business tycoon?
Because at Expansion Sectors at that time, what was the most important thing? Navigation data! Without navigation data, you have no idea how those newly discovered galaxies go, and you can easily get lost in the hyperspace turbulence and never come back.
Therefore, these logistics and shipping companies began to monopolize the navigation data of Outer Rim Expansion Sectors. All companies and individuals doing business in Outer Rim Territories must rent navigators from these companies at high prices in order to obtain accurate coordinates to other galaxies. As a result, these shipping companies can make huge profits without leaving home.
Such a deformed monopoly naturally produced great resistance. Many races, small companies, and small groups joined forces to form an organization to fight against those large shipping companies, and this was the prototype of Trade Federation.
At the beginning, Trade Federation was enlightened, efficient, fair, open, and clean. They elected their own governor, and then made overall arrangements for the transportation and shipping undertakings of all participating planets, races, and companies. Those shipping companies refused to disclose the navigation data, so Trade Federation organized an exploration team by itself, explored step by step, and then disclosed the exploration results to each member, and also to the Galactic Republic official.
At the same time, in order to facilitate the maintenance of unified standards, the trade alliance and Hoersch-Kessel Drive Inc., one of the large shipyards at the time, placed an order to develop a large cargo ship with a simple structure, a large transport capacity, and sufficient self-protection capabilities.
So this is the LH-3210 cargo ship, the famous donut, Luukri-Hok-class.
In addition, they also concentrated on ordering a convoy fleet composed of Captor-class heavy munitions cruiser (Captor-class heavy munitions cruiser) and Munifex-class light cruiser (Munifex-class light cruiser) nicknamed Class 1000 cruiser (Class 1000 cruiser).
Powerful cargo ships and excellent escort fleets protect the safety of shipping between various galaxies. Under the protection of Trade Federation's escort fleet, the chance of a merchant fleet being robbed by pirates is reduced to less than one percent. For Expansion Sectors who is not covered by the laws of Galactic Republic, this is heaven.
With constant efforts and common struggle, Trade Federation defeated and annexed those arrogant shipping companies one by one, and became a decisive presence in Outer Rim Territories. Even super industrial giants like Kuat Drive Yards, in order to protect their interests in Outer Rim Territories, took advantage of the cooperation opportunity to produce Predator-class armed freighters for Trade Federation, joining Trade Federation and becoming their peripheral members.
After defeating all competitors, Trade Federation became the actual controller of Expansion Sectors and most of Outer Rim Territories. They are responsible for trade and shipping between all galaxies, resolving disputes for the major races, and unifying industry pricing to avoid malicious competition.
At the same time, Trade Federation disclosed Outer Rim Territories's navigation data for Galactic Republic, which also allowed Galactic Republic's power to enter Outer Rim Territories, which made them famous.
After Trade Federation became a terrifying behemoth, some people once raised concerns that if Trade Federation continued to grow, they would become a powerful force strong enough to challenge Galactic Republic. They once proposed to expel Trade Federation from Outer Rim Territories.
But the answer they got was - "Deport Trade Federation? Do you know that if Trade Federation were not there, there would not even be laws there?"
This is a summary of the power of Trade Federation, and it is also an affirmation of their positive image. Trade Federation, who controlled unparalleled power and wealth, was the super monopoly giant second only to the InterGalactic Banking Clan in the galaxy at that time! It can't even be said that this is a trans-galactic cartel, they are directly a river-level super cartel!
But power and wealth are the breeding ground for corruption. This statement applies to anywhere and in any era. Trade Federation, who once brought order and stability to Expansion Sectors, is no exception.