"At present, under Jiang Hong's management, the Owl Dragon System has established a new noble system, and the few newly risen nobles are all under our control. But because there's no pillar industry yet, it's not very prosperous. The Owl Dragon System's tax revenue for a single year is, at present, no more than 10 million star coins. However, the Owl Dragon Resource Star-Region built last year is now complete; the 10 Prospector-class Heavy Interstellar Mining Ships fitted to it have begun their work, and can mine raw-material resources worth close to 50 million star coins in a single month, with a yearly output that can reach around 500 million star coins. And we've already arranged for Jiang Hong to build up a related industrial chain around the Owl Dragon Resource Star-Region; by the time it's done, it's projected we can increase the Owl Dragon System's own tax revenue at least tenfold, and provide employment posts for 5 million people. Relying on this Owl Dragon Resource Star-Region alone, there's hope of letting the Owl Dragon System's single-year tax revenue break through 100 million star coins in the future!" Lilith said.
That the peripheral industry of just one resource star-region alone was enough to let a system reap so high a profit — from it one could well imagine how important a pillar industry was to an interstellar domain. But at this present rate of growth, to climb from an average living index of 0.6 to 7 within a single year was still of no small difficulty.
"How much population does our Owl Dragon System still have at present?" Zhao Chen asked.
Lilith said, "Originally the Owl Dragon System had close to 500 million in population, but because of the earlier noble-upheaval affair — some nobles purged, some nobles migrating out of the Owl Dragon System — over the course of this past year, population flowed out in great quantity; and on top of that, you'd required Jiang Hong not to restrict the outflow of population. So in the past year alone, the outflow of population from the Owl Dragon System has reached 200 million, leaving fewer than 300 million people!"
This was the so-called "when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter." For in the eyes of the vast majority of people at the time, the Owl Dragon System had no possibility whatsoever of rising; and on top of losing a batch of its backbone nobles, the Owl Dragon System's very system was fated to collapse! So naturally there'd been a crowd of people racking their brains to flee the Owl Dragon System.
300 million… that was still a touch too many.
Zhao Chen muttered inwardly. He didn't care about the size of the population within his own system; what he required was that this crowd of people he kept were ones who genuinely, from the heart, were willing to stay in the Owl Dragon System.
"Arrange a meeting with Jiang Hong for me — on the Owl Dragon main planet. I, as this lord, haven't shown my face in a very long stretch; I ought to go back and take a look, too." Zhao Chen arranged his coming itinerary. Its chief purpose was, naturally, still for the sake of the System mission and that T5 "great beauty."
"Yes," Lilith answered.
"Reporting, Commander — the Governor of Chu River's comm has been arranged; it can be connected now." A bridge crew member reported.
"Put it through." Zhao Chen sat in the captain's chair. The very next second, his whole self entered an immersive holographic comm mode; the surrounding bridge scene vanished, replaced by a stretch of lake. He saw an old man holding a fishing rod, casting the line, by the look of it making ready to fish. This was a function under the holographic mode — it could simulate any scene and behavior.
Zhao Chen walked over and looked at Governor Chu, fishing rod in hand.
"Kid, you don't come to the temple without an errand. Seeking me out all of a sudden — what's the matter?" Governor Chu said without even turning his head.
"To ask you for money. The final payment of the technology-licensing fee for the second batch of T3 Flame Dragon-class Medium Interstellar Destroyers," Zhao Chen said outright.
"The second batch of T3 Flame Dragons isn't built yet." Governor Chu gave the reason the final payment hadn't yet been paid.
Zhao Chen said, "My T4 interstellar destroyer research has had a breakthrough, but I have a great need on the raw-material side. It's projected I'll need, over time, an investment of 10 billion star coins in raw-material resources."
Governor Chu turned his head and looked at Zhao Chen, dubious. "You kid aren't spinning me a line, are you?"
"Do you think I have any need to spin you a line?"
"In this matter of ship technology, you indeed have no need to spin me a line. Over this stretch, old Zhu has praised you to me no small amount — I hear you solved a T3-warship technical problem for him. But 10 billion star coins of raw-material resources — to draw that out in a short span, the difficulty's still no small thing." Governor Chu watched the surface of the lake, as though waiting for the bait to be taken.
Zhao Chen raised a hand and laid several pieces of technical data, prepared well in advance, before Governor Chu. "This is a part of the technical data of the T4 warship I've broken through in my research over this stretch."
Governor Chu looked at it a few times, and his gaze didn't move away. Though he wasn't a ship engineer by background, having commanded interstellar warships for so many years, he'd not eaten the pork but he'd seen the pigs run; he understood a bit of the technology all the same. These ship technologies Zhao Chen had given were, chiefly, ship energy, ship transmission systems, ship shield technology, and ship armor technology — every one of them, without exception, T4-grade ship technology!
"May I show these to the researchers of my ship-research institutes?" Governor Chu asked Zhao Chen to his face.
"No problem," Zhao Chen said.
Governor Chu didn't stand on ceremony either; he made a copy and sent it straight off to several of the ship-research institutes under his command, demanding they give him an answer within 10 minutes.
Zhao Chen was calm and composed at his side. Zhao Chen didn't yet have a T4 interstellar destroyer now — but he'd best not forget that Zhao Chen presently had in hand the two T4-grade warships, the T4 Lucent-class Interstellar Jump Ship and the T4 Reviver-class Clone Ship. Excerpting a bit of ship technology from among them was enough to fudge the thing along somewhat. Governor Chu's ship-researchers might well feel some of the data was a touch strange, but so long as this ship technology was T4-grade, that would do, wouldn't it?
"How is your Owl Dragon Fleet's building-up coming along now? How many T3 warships do you have?" Governor Chu asked.
Zhao Chen hadn't expected Governor Chu to ask this question outright. He hesitated a moment, then still answered honestly.
"100-odd interstellar warships, of which 26 are T3 warships," Zhao Chen said candidly. These were all things bound to be exposed sooner or later, in any case; and toward this father-in-law who was, at this moment, his own "umbrella," Zhao Chen still had to be a little "honest."
"Close to 30 T3 warships — that combat power is already the equal of an Empire Marquis's private fleet." Governor Chu nodded, his tone very calm. There was no telling whether he was praising Zhao Chen's doings, or what he meant by it.
"Zhao Chen, let's you and I, the two of us, speak plainly. We both know well that we've been, from the beginning to now, in a relationship of mutual use. I fixed my eye on the T4 interstellar destroyer technology you could give; you fixed your eye on this signboard of my Chu family." Governor Chu looked at Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen smiled and said nothing.
"In truth, if you have genuine ability, and there's a fated affinity between you and Chu Xuan, I wouldn't mind the two of you truly being together," Governor Chu said.
Zhao Chen said, "A thing like that will still have to depend on the fated affinity between me and Miss Chu."
Governor Chu's gaze went to the float upon the surface of the lake, which had begun to bob up and down.
"As a granddaughter's grandfather, I ask one thing of you; you may agree to it, or you may not." Governor Chu's gaze was somewhat complicated.
"Go ahead," Zhao Chen said.
"If one day in the future, some great upheaval befalls the Starlight Empire — I hope that you can take Chu Xuan and flee as far as you possibly can, and never, ever return." The hand with which Governor Chu gripped the fishing rod couldn't help but clench tight.