"My lords, rather than waiting to be killed, we should strike decisively. If we succeed, one of you will be the new leader of Wind Star. If we fail, it will only hasten our own execution by a few years. Besides, as long as our plan is thorough, our chances of success are very high."
"Industry, what Master Feng said seems to make sense. The Führer seems to be increasingly dissatisfied with us these past few years. Even if he doesn't kill us, there's a high chance he'll replace us."
The Minister of the Army and the Minister of Industry appear to be on equal footing, but in reality, the Minister of the Army has always been just an assistant to the Minister of Industry. Both of them were originally just middle-level civil officials, and it was by taking advantage of the head of state's dissatisfaction with the previous ministers and fabricating charges that they have achieved their current positions.
"Lord Feng, even if we kill the current leader, it will be difficult for him to become the new leader. The leaders of our civilization have always been recommended and elected by the chiefs of various tribes. Since the chiefs are not officials, the selection process is relatively fair, and the new leader can gain the support of the people. Moreover, those old guys are impervious to both soft and hard tactics; wealth and violence are useless against them. What we are doing will not work," said the Minister of Industry.
"I have a plan. New Silo Liquor is the best weapon. When the fleet sets sail, according to past practice, the leader will definitely arrange a grand departure ceremony, and the entire civilization will see the fleet off. At that time, we will provide Silo Liquor for free in the name of the expedition, so that everyone in the civilization can drink it. However, I will secretly add more addicts to the free Silo Liquor until they cannot get rid of their dependence on Silo Liquor."
"Addictive molecules are just a low-level substance that is easy to crack. The amount added now is small, and with our crackdown, no one dares to say that once large-scale addiction occurs, they will quickly find a way to crack it," the Minister of Industry retorted.
"It's simple. We just need to control the raw materials needed to crack the code in advance. We can requisition them on a large scale for the expeditionary fleet. The fleet needs tens of thousands of various supplies for its voyage. Having a few more raw materials won't attract any attention. We only need a month to prevent these raw materials from being mass-produced, and we can control the entire civilization. Then we can talk to these tribal chiefs one by one. I believe they cannot resist the magic of an addict."
"That's a really good idea. Industry, Master Feng's plan is truly flawless."
"Also, Military Commander, you should send your trusted subordinates to infiltrate these clan leaders' inner circle, under the guise of protection, to exert soft control and prevent them from speaking out of turn. We'll eliminate these old bastards one by one after we succeed."
"Lord Feng, it seems you've planned everything all along, just waiting for us to board the ship, is that right?" the Minister of Industry said. Compared to the brainless Minister of Military Affairs, the Minister of Industry was far more cunning and shrewd. Old Li still couldn't be sure if this Minister of Industry truly trusted him completely.
"My lords, I am a businessman. I will do anything to pursue greater profits. If you two do not seize this opportunity, we will have no chance once the fleet returns. The military force under your command is no match for the leader's fleet."
"Alright, let's take a gamble. It all comes down to this. If we win, the two of you will become the vice presidents of the Wind Star Civilization."
"In that case, we still need to plan carefully. The common people and those clan chiefs are just minor issues. How to deal with the head of state's personal guard, when is the best time to act, and how to act are all things that need to be planned in detail. The operation must be detailed down to every second and every single action."
"The Führer's personal guard can be dealt with like this..."
"Hmm, we can do it like this then..."
"No, this won't work, it should be like this..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Thus, a plan to replace the leader of the Wind Star civilization was born. All the details and all possible scenarios were planned, waiting for the most suitable opportunity. Only Old Li knew the answer to that opportunity: the moment the fleet attacked the Wind Star Civilization.
When Old Li reported the news to Hu Yu, Hu Yu was genuinely surprised and delighted. He was delighted because if Old Li Li's plan to seize power succeeded, Wind Star would definitely cause chaos, which would increase the fleet's chances of winning. He was surprised because Old Li was just a decent small businessman, yet he had managed to complete the mission to this extent.
As it turns out, the best businessman is not necessarily the most successful businessman. A successful businessman often has all the right conditions, such as timing, location, and people. Ability is only a small part of the equation. The reason why a businessman like Old Li did not become rich and powerful in the Earth era was not because he lacked ability, but because the timing was not right in other aspects.
Originally, Hu Yu only wanted Old Li to find out more information about the Wind Star Civilization. He never expected that Lao Li would not only be able to take up the position of Vice Minister of Commerce of the Wind Star Civilization, but also to stage a coup. However, Old Li tried everything he could to make no progress in the technological development of the Wind Star Civilization.
The Wind Star Civilization is extremely protective of its technology. Once someone applies to become a scientist in the Wind Star Civilization, they will be secretly taken away by the action team of the technology department, along with their family. The concealment of the core technology is directly the responsibility of the successive heads of state. Even these ministers have no right to know a thing about it. All the technology of the Wind Star Civilization is directly transmitted from the scientists in the core technology to the head of state, and then the head of state passes it on to the ministers for execution.
If the core technology of the Wind Star Civilization is like that of the human fleet, Old Li might actually be able to acquire the technology tree, thus avoiding the need to wage war and saving a lot of trouble.
Compared to the Wind Star Civilization, Hu Yu, while also valuing technology, also considers the feelings of scientists. He can't keep them confined in one place forever. Scientists are ordinary people too, and they need to integrate into the community during their rest time. Currently, Hu Yu places scientists on a very high pedestal, making them like celebrities worshipped by the public. In contrast, the former celebrities have become ordinary cultural workers, their halos gone, but they are still an important part of the fleet. Their efforts bring laughter and joy to the fleet, and provide it with passionate motivation.
Under Wen Zhonghua's personal command, the transport of supplies proceeded in an orderly manner. The surface of the resource planet was almost piled with various items. For now, we didn't care about the organization; as long as the goods were transported to the resource planet, that was all that mattered. The organization could be done on the way.
However, there were simply too many resources. It was impossible to complete the relocation mission, which was originally planned for ten years, in one year. Wen Zhonghua personally inspected each planet and only selected the most important resources to transfer. Large smelters and factory shells were simply abandoned. Such low-level equipment was troublesome and time-consuming to move. Now that there was an entire planet as a resource base, such simple things could be rebuilt in a short time.
Precision equipment, such as various automated machine tools and robots, which occupy little space, are highly technical, and take a long time to manufacture, are all among the highest priority items to be moved.
In order to transport as much supplies as possible, countless people spontaneously took action. They possessed more than 200 million small spaceships. When transport ships were insufficient, these small spaceships took on the task of transporting scattered supplies and small items. These small spaceships took off and landed on resource planets like locusts.
The small spaceships had a small transport capacity, but there were so many of them. With the spontaneous participation of billions of people, the transport capacity almost doubled in a short period of time. Originally, these small spaceships were treated like cars when they first entered people's homes. People cared for them even more than their own families. Cleaning and maintenance went without saying, and they would even sweep up a leaf that fell on the surface immediately.
But at this moment, people no longer cared about these things. Scratches on the exterior didn't matter, and interior parts that hindered transportation could be removed directly. Planetary dust and rocks entering the spaceship were of no concern to them. Their only hope was to be fast, faster, and to load as much as possible. Every bit of supplies represented the future of the fleet, and every bit of supplies was stained with their sweat. They couldn't bear to part with them.
Only those who have personally experienced the construction can understand this feeling. These materials were built bit by bit by people, taking countless days and nights, and embodying countless drops of sweat and hardship. How could they bear to part with them?