Resurrection Empire

Chapter 1319 - 500: Plans and Changes (Part 2)

In the Empire, when the level of technology has developed to an astonishing height, if breakthrough progress is desired in some key areas, promoting a core project on the level of basic science often requires the linkage of tens of planetary systems at least, and thousands or even tens of thousands at most. The timeline for promoting these projects is often measured in centuries, and ultra-long cycles of ten thousand or even one hundred thousand years are not uncommon.

This is not an exaggeration.

Take, for instance, the publicly available knowledge obtained from Ren Zhong’s earl authority. Despite the diligent efforts of the researchers and scholars in the Source Star Fleet, they still mainly focus on assimilating existing knowledge.

No one can advance even one step forward based on the current knowledge.

Even just verifying established principles requires a consumption of resources and time that is beyond imagination.

These are issues that cannot be resolved by individual wisdom, requiring a massive civilization to support them through historical accumulation.

In terms of the political and economic system, the vast Empire seems somewhat like a loose yet tightly-knit federation.

Interspersed among the Royal Family’s territories, different nobles delineate boundaries in different regions according to their rank and power.

The great majority of long-distance trade across star clusters and star domains are predominantly established on exchange platforms set up by the Empire’s Commerce Department.

Relying on ultra-long-distance Star Gates and Fold Jump Subspace Channels, long-distance trade spanning several thousand light-years has become a feasible undertaking.

Militarily, the Mechanical Empire’s ruling method is somewhat akin to the noble private army system of medieval Europe on ancient Earth.

Nobles with titles are obliged to recruit troops independently and form fleets to guard their fiefs.

Due to the pressure of warfare among the four major Star Countries, the Mechanical Empire does not limit nobles’ independent military development at all.

As long as you can afford it, even a Viscount can possess a Star Cluster Level fleet. Conversely, the Imperial Family has set minimum combat capability thresholds for various titles. If an Earl only has a Star System Level fleet and fails to expand his forces after the grace period ends, he may even have his title reduced.

Thanks to the convenient communication brought by information flow technology and the rapid mobility enabled by Star Gate Technology and Fold Jump Technology, coupled with the natural antagonistic relationships between the Empire’s humans and the other three branches, even though the Empire is vast, the Royal Family is not worried about the nobles rebelling.

Once entering a large-scale war period, the Imperial Family will use Star Gate Technology to dispatch powerful direct Forbidden Army fleets to the front lines while simultaneously requisitioning private fleets from nobles at various levels.

This requisition is not without compensation. The Royal Family will provide nobles who supply troops with substantial rewards in terms of battle achievements, Contribution Points, technology, resources, fiefs, and more.

Additionally, in various regions, fleets directly managed by the Empire Military Department still exist. For instance, the fleet under the Military and Political Center of the Nanxiang Star Cluster is not the private army of Nanxiang Marquis Liu An. The commanding authority belongs to officials appointed by the Empire, though this official happens to be Liu An himself. The situation is similar in the Southern Nine Star System.

The nine managers of the Source Star civilization were all life peers, and if they could complete the tracking colonization mission, they could smoothly advance to hereditary barons.

According to the original plan, the nine hereditary barons would, upon returning to the Empire, each oversee one star, jointly managing a large planetary system with nine habitable planets.

Of course, now this has all become a pipe dream.

In terms of private forces, the largest force in the Southern Nine Star System naturally belongs to the Augustus Viscount family, which has been entrenched here for many years, along with three other hereditary baron families. However, these three baron families are also branches of the Augustus family.

Administratively, the ruling body in the Southern Nine Star System is the Military and Political Department. The director of the Military and Political Department is Sosgate Augustus, who holds all military and political power within this star system.

In terms of strong control over their own territories, Sosgate Augustus and Liu An have somewhat similar tactics.

Zheng Tian made an excellent summary at the meeting, "So, in the first hundred years, that is, during the Earl’s hundred-year review period, our main enemy is the Augustus family. Unlike in the past, although the Augustus family has chosen a hostile relationship, they are unlikely to use military force directly against us. Therefore, the nature of the upcoming war will change, shifting from military battles to the realms of trade wars and resource wars. This is not my area of expertise. However, I believe we cannot be complacent."