A Little Bit of Extra Profit
Currently, Augustus owns the Ardien Crystal. The New Apollowin Mine is considered relatively low-grade among the many mines in the Kel-Morian Combine classified by mineral richness; it falls into the category of mineable but low-reserve mines. If the mining costs become too high, Kel-Morian's mining companies will immediately abandon it.
The high purity of the crystals and the newly discovered associated rare metal deposits allowed the mining plan to be approved, and a small community called New Apollowin soon appeared near the mining area. Today, with the influx of colonists, prospectors, and mining families, the community has grown to nearly 20,000 people.
Even so, the revenue from the crystals and other associated rare crystals produced every 24 hours in the New Apollowin mine far exceeds that of a standard medium-sized mine owned by the Terran Confederacy. The Kel-Morian people value high-purity Ardien Crystal by the cubic meter rather than by the Confederacy, and their obsession with finding crystal veins borders on fanaticism.
In the past few decades, there have been instances where the wealthy and powerful Kel-Morian Mining Company has purchased the mining rights to an entire planet in the Terran Confederacy.
At that time, even the most powerful and fearsome Old Families of the Confederacy, the Tagore Family, was amazed by the wealth of the Moria mining companies and no longer regarded the Moria as uncultured country bumpkins and uncivilized savages. The nobles who danced in the ornately decorated ballrooms then elevated the image of the Moria to that of uncultured, ill-mannered nouveau riche.
However, this also ignited the Guild Wars. The greedy Terrans lacked the Kel-Morian's intuition and unwavering patience in searching for mineral veins, but all they needed to do was ensure that they had more and better guns than the Kel-Morian.
The Kel-Morian people spent decades, even centuries, building their mining empire, while the Terran Confederacy destroyed it in less than four years with a single war, seizing all its wealth.
However, Augustus knew that this war only made a small number of people in the Confederacy rich, while most civilians became poorer than before.
The independence of the Korhal IV) and the revolutionary cause of his father, Angus, demonstrate that the Korhal's revolution was justifiable. When the masses realize that no matter how hard they work, they cannot support themselves and their families, the flames of rebellion will sweep across the world, and more and more people will come to support the Korhal.
Just then, the door to the oversight office suddenly opened, and Tychus Finley, dressed in a loose-fitting uniform, walked in carrying a stack of documents.
"This is the list of the new batch of miners applying to go down the mine. Tell me what kind of drugs you gave those Kel-Morian people?" Tychus handed the documents to Augustus's desk. "Tell me how you got them."
"Less working hours, more bread."
Augustus tossed his pen onto the table, rested his elbows on the table, and clasped his hands together under his chin. "I've investigated. The lives of miners in the Kel-Morian Combine and workers in other industries aren't as good as the unions and government portray them. Many are actually starving. This world isn't much better than the Terran Confederacy; exploitation and oppression still exist."
"The claims that workers' right to fair wages is inviolable, that workers should enjoy basic social welfare, and that they should have the right to freely elect a government are all just propaganda on paper."
"The mining guild owners and union representatives have also said that the Kel-Morian Combine is a workers' Kel-Morian Combine, and the working class should rightfully dominate the world," he said. "Of course, their workers are indeed in a better position Terrans. Before the war, Kel-Morian Combine workers were generally paid two to three times more than the Confederacy."
"I think this idea is quite good, but the government of the Kel-Morian Combine only says one thing and does another. You can understand this by looking at who founded the Kel-Morian Combine. The Kel-Morian Combine was formed by the Moria Mining Guild and the Kelanis Transport Guild, but the real power lies with the legal representatives they elected. The union was not founded by workers, but by entrepreneurs."
Do you know what this means?
"You know I don't have time to follow current affairs, worry about national matters, or to hell with whether the system is reasonable." Tychus frowned. "Why do you study these things?"
"Don't tell me you want to rebel against the noble lords. Besides, I remember your family is a Korhal IV noble family, isn't it? How is this any different from you lifting up your own skirt?"
"Go ahead and ask," Augustus, looking at Tychus.
"Alright, alright, what does that mean, my great statesman?" Tychus said in a muffled voice.
"That shows that the union is just a means for the truly wealthy in Kel-Morian to control the workers. When the contradictions between the working class and the upper class become irreconcilable, the union representatives will stand up to 'speak for the workers and fight for their interests,' and after the representatives' reasoned protests, the company president will always reluctantly agree."
"But in reality, the terms of the compromise had already been secretly agreed upon long ago," Augustus. "The unions have no power to influence the decisions of an independent government; they have the right to propose motions, but that's all."
"But what does this have to do with us, no, with my desire to make a fortune and live a life of luxury?" Tychus pulled up a chair from the side, sat down, buried his bottom in the soft cushion, and hummed comfortably.
"It's a very important relationship." Augustus took Lisa's coffee, and the way she swayed her hips made Tychus marvel at Augustus's good luck. "The Kel-Morian government isn't very popular, so as long as we offer them decent treatment—at least enough to ensure they have three meals a day, some money to save, and hope for the future—they'll be willing to work for me."
"Moreover, to prevent the Kel-Morian Combine from continuing to transport personnel and weapons to Meinhoff, our Fleets has cut off the interplanetary routes for imported goods, which has greatly amplified the long-standing problem of food self-sufficiency. Jim went to the local market and saw that food prices had multiplied, and hunger had spread," he said.
"If the residents of New Apollowen Community can't find work, their families will starve to death."
"Mengsk, I've never thought of you as anything other than a capitalist." Tychus grinned slyly. "The blood of a 'vampire' flows in your veins. But if you ask me, you're not a real capitalist."
"We'll be here for at most a month. Why do you care if they live or die? Kel-Morian is our enemy. If you ask me, just like their union government did before, we should just keep them alive. That way we can resell far more crystal ore than we have now."
"Anyway, the people of New Apollowin have to work for us if they don't want to starve. We don't need to do much better than their old government, and we don't owe the Kel-Morian people anything."
"This godforsaken rocky planet is unlucky enough, but also lucky enough, because the war stopped just before it reached this place."
"Kel-Morian is human too. We're enemies now, but we might become friends in the future." Augustus shook his head. "And me..."
"I don't want to see anyone starve to death in front of me."
"You're a good guy, Mengsk." Tychus gave Augustus a "good guy" card.
"Oh, right, there's one more thing, I almost forgot. Didn't you say you wanted to modify that transport plane? The person you asked for has arrived."
Snowfall, Jasmine, DonaldJohn, Lazy Reader, 12th Inspector, Eden-class World Ship, Rushing Wind, Qi Xingping, and Ishimaru Daiki's monthly tickets. Thanks to DonaldJohn, Rushing Wind, Agent Rongrong, and commandlche for their donations.
Thank you all for your recommendations and investments!
Let's hurry up and finalize the cooperation...