2468. Nationalization crisis (Part 1)
Kuat Drive Yards is on the verge of civil strife, but under the strong leadership of Little Kuat, at least no major problems have arisen yet. Little Kuat is not his aunt Onana-Kuat who has high eyesight but low power. His management methods for Kuat Drive Yards are still very strong and effective.
At least until now, although the liberal democrats within Kuat are causing trouble, they have not touched the fundamentals of Kuat.
In other super military-industrial complexes, the situation is also different.
The simplest case is Sith Fleet Systems.
Their position is very clear, because they can rise because of the support of Palpatine, which can promote TIE series fighter, tanks and other combat equipment, as well as the large-scale promotion of L-A2B solar furnace reactors in Imperial army, becoming one of the new the Empire industrial Big Three.
If it were not for Palpatine, with their industrial strength, they would not have any qualification to sit at the same table as Kuat Drive Yards and Corellia Engineering Company.
Don't look at the fact that Sith Fleet Systems has taken over the manufacturing of almost all fighters and bombers from Galactic Empire Navy. It is also entering the industries of tanks, self-propelled artillery and armored personnel carriers. But their only real core competitiveness is the L-A2B solar furnace. Apart from that, they don't even have the ability to build Star Destroyer on their own.
The 600-meter-long Vindicator-class heavy cruiser designed and built by Sith Fleet Systems is already the limit of their industrial strength. Even the L-A2B solar furnace is mostly built by Kuat Drive Yards after authorization. If they were allowed to build this kind of solar furnace themselves, it would be impossible to meet the construction needs of Imperial military.
Therefore, in the face of the Galactic Empire's request for nationalization, Sith Fleet Systems agreed without hesitation and actively cooperated with the Empire officials to complete the nationalization reform, including the reorganization of the company's board of directors to allow the Empire personnel to join the board of directors.
As always, the the Empire representative who joins the Sith Fleet Systems board of directors is still a Dark Prophet.
Corellia Engineering Company's resistance was much more intense, even more intense than Kuat Drive Yards's.
Because since the founding of the Galactic Republic 25,000 years ago, Corellian Engineering Company has maintained a relatively fixed market share. They are the largest civilian spacecraft manufacturer in the galaxy, and also have a large number of small and medium-sized spacecraft, mainly building frigate-class spacecraft.
Don't underestimate the market share of this part. Corellia Engineering Company's annual sales of 50 to 100-meter spacecraft can reach millions! In addition, the maintenance and upkeep of the spacecraft, the production and replacement of parts, etc. are all almost monopolized.
Not to mention they also have a huge manufacturing business of combat, shuttle, transport aircraft, and various types of construction machinery.
It can be said that there are hundreds of thousands of planets with intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way. If you go to a planet, it is hard to say anything else, but it is absolutely impossible to miss the spacecraft spray-painted with the Corellia Engineering Company CEC logo.
If it really compares with industrial manufacturing capacity, Corellia Engineering Company is far larger than Kuat Drive Yards!
It's just that Corellia Engineering Company has not wanted to put too much effort into military orders because it has a share of small spacecraft and civilian spacecraft. So whether it is the Galactic Republic period or the Galactic Empire period, their attitude towards the military has always been - I will take it if you give it to me. It doesn't matter how big or small it is, we can eat it. But we don't bother to pay attention to the capital power struggle behind this.
For example, just like Galactic Empire's large-scale military expansion operation, Corellia Engineering Company has only taken over the foundry business of Imperial-class Star Destroyer and Victory II-class Star Destroyer. Kuat Drive Yards authorizes them to produce these Star Destroyer, and then they just earn some OEM fees.
As for self-developed Star Destroyer? Sorry, go find Kuat, we are too lazy to do it.
Such a relatively independent military-industrial complex with the strongest de facto strength is now being forced by the Galactic Empire to demand nationalization. One can imagine how fierce their resistance is!
Corellian star sector's Council Representative Garm-Bail-Iblis directly publicly and very fiercely opposed the Empire's behavior, and almost pointed at Palpatine's nose and scolded him. The investigators sent by the Empire were also driven away. They did not accept any form of nationalization at all.
Corellia Engineering Company's fierce resistance made Galactic Empire somewhat embarrassed, but in the end they still didn't dare to deal with them like they did with Kuat Drive Yards. Therefore, we can only send representatives to negotiate with them, at least wanting Corellia Engineering Company to belong to the Galactic Empire in name.
After very arduous negotiations and back-and-forth, the two sides finally reached a consensus.
Corellian star sector sent a representative to Corellia Engineering Company to exercise supervisory authority on behalf of the Galactic Empire. Since the sector representative was appointed by the Empire, in this way, Corellia Engineering Company is indeed semi-nationalized by the Galactic Empire in name.
But in fact, this action is equivalent to taking off your pants and farting.
Because Corellian star sector is a relatively independent star sector in terms of economy, politics and even military, the appointment of their officials and representatives is just a matter of going through the process and reporting at the Empire. The Empire cannot influence the personnel appointments of Corellian star sector.
Corellian star sector, also known as Corellian Corridor, is a narrow strip of land that covers about 1,200 habitable planets and is connected by the same hyperspace channel. It was a colony that was established when Great Expansion just started more than 30,000 years ago, which is equivalent to a colony group that was established before Galactic Republic existed.
Corellian system has five habitable planets. This unique advantage allows them to move much faster than other planets during the expansion period. The area they occupy is also the richest and most resource-rich planet.
Later, as one of the founders of Galactic Republic, Corellian system brought their expanded colony to join Galactic Republic, which was equivalent to bringing capital into the group. Naturally, they also retained their autonomy in their own colony. This is Corellian Corridor.
All along, Corellian Corridor has been equivalent to a state within a state among Galactic Republic, and it has always listened to the political power of Coruscant but not listened to propaganda.
And now Galactic Empire demands the nationalization of Corellia Engineering Company, which undoubtedly shakes the foundation of Corellian star sector. There are many companies in Corellian star sector, and Corellia Engineering Company is the largest and most representative one.
This behavior is considered aggression by Corellian star sector.
Although both parties finally reached a certain degree of consensus, both Corellian star sector and Galactic Empire knew that this matter was far from over.