As for bribery, few inquisitors in the Imperium of Man ever lost their positions because of it.
The Imperium of Man was simply too vast. To maintain its territory, it had no choice but to adopt a feudal system like Europe's.
Thus, mutual bribery among planetary governors, governing bodies, and oversight agencies became an unspoken rule that could not be eradicated.
During Inquisitor Thraxol's time, a large portion of the funds used to sustain his enormous fleet came from bribes taken from local planetary governors.
Of course, the authority granted by being an inquisitor allowed him to legally requisition some resources, but those resources were nowhere near enough.
So coercion, inducement, and hints for bribes had already become standard inquisitorial procedure.
That said, the entire process was actually fairly gentle. Planetary governors were not afraid of inquisitors hinting for bribes; they were afraid of inquisitors not hinting for bribes.
Because if an inquisitor did not take a planetary governor's money, he was probably planning to deal with him.
After taking the gold card, Li Qinwu gestured for the planetary governor to sit down and asked:
"My next destination is an Industrial World, but my warship's cargo holds are empty.
So I want to purchase some goods from your planet. What special products does your planet have?"
Li Qinwu had planned out his trading route in advance. It covered five planets, alternating more or less between an Agri-World and an Industrial World.
When he arrived at an Agri-World, he would load up on agricultural products and sell them on an Industrial World, then load up on industrial goods and sell them on an Agri-World.
After making a few more rounds like that, the fleet would earn a fortune.
Even the eight shabby armed merchant ships in the fleet relied on trade