The Emperor’s Angel of Death

The other party's statement of their family motto was clearly a taunt, but Pat didn't get annoyed. He picked up his cup and walked to the seat he had chosen.

"Haste makes waste. Running too fast can easily lead to problems."

His words made Benito narrow his eyes. The Lillard family had suffered a small loss not long ago. One of their fleets, in a rush, had chosen an unfamiliar route because it was carrying a batch of goods that were in high demand after the Orpheus war. However, due to the establishment of the Expeditionary Force Headquarters, the market had fluctuated greatly, and they needed to transport the goods before the deadline to avoid losses. Unexpectedly, the fleet was attacked midway. Although nothing serious happened, the delay meant the transaction didn't yield the expected profits, and many members faced penalties from the council.

Anyone with a brain knew that the Clark family was behind the sabotage.

Benito immediately wanted to retort, but another voice cut him off.

"Silence!"

Everyone immediately stood up because the door on the other side of the hall was opening. Through the crack, they could see warm, white light, as if it led to a brighter, warmer world.

Everyone was silent, their eyes wide with anticipation.

"Captain Talos is here!"

A moment later, with brisk footsteps, a giant in silver-gray power armor with dark blue lightning patterns walked in through the open door. He came to the round table, took off his helmet, revealing a hairless and pale face, and scanned the crowd with his black eyes.

"Everyone's here. It seems merchants really do have a habit of arriving early."

With that, he placed his helmet on the table.

"Then I'll get straight to the point. This time, I'll represent our Chapter Master in discussing cooperation with you all. The Orpheus Sector has been ravaged and is on the verge of collapse after the Bloody Hundred Days. Although we won the battle at Amara, the losses have been irreversible. Now, our Chapter Master plans to restore the sector, so he has organized an expeditionary force. However, the expeditionary force needs a stable rear base to provide a steady supply of manpower, equipment, and supplies. Rebuilding Orpheus is therefore imperative. According to the Chapter Master's vision, everything must start with stabilizing the people's livelihoods and the economy. Only a stable society and flowing trade can produce stable output. However, due to the war and turmoil, many merchants and guilds have fled the sector. Orpheus's commercial activity is now very bleak. The sector's internal trade volume has decreased by 76% compared to before the war, and trade volume outside the sector has decreased by 85%."

Everyone present knew these figures. In fact, all five families had businesses in Orpheus to some extent, but they had basically withdrawn after the Bloody Hundred Days. After all, at the time, it seemed that the Orpheus Sector had almost no power to resist.

"Although the Expeditionary Force Headquarters has relevant reconstruction and development plans, as our Chapter Master said, the commercial power of the private sector is irreplaceable. Moreover, Orpheus needs to be replenished with external resources to recover quickly. An important reason for choosing you five is that you all have the qualifications and ability for commercial immigration."

The term "commercial immigration" is a rather veiled term, usually referring to governors who are short on funds "reasonably" and "legally" using their surplus population to sign immigration agreements with certain merchant guilds, transferring a portion of the population to places where it is needed. Similarly, these merchants will also sign contracts with certain organizations or planets that need population, or even the Department of the Interior, to send a certain number of immigrants to designated planets—especially in areas where administrative power is weak, the Department of the Interior's colonization activities rely heavily on merchants because the Imperial Merchant Fleet simply does not have the ability to send colonization fleets here. Only profit-seeking merchants will come.

Then, Talos raised his hand slightly, and several attendants came over and placed a data slate in front of each person.

"This is the first phase of the cooperation plan and orders. Take a look and consider it."

Getting down to business, everyone acted quickly. Pat also opened the data slate immediately and carefully browsed the text.

There were many items, but they could be summarized into a few points.

The Merchant Dynasty will rebuild trade routes and networks in Orpheus, especially foreign trade routes, and the Governor (Expeditionary Force Headquarters) will provide all conveniences for them to establish trading stations and offices.

All trade, both inside and outside the sector, will be settled in promethium coins.

They must maintain a considerable fleet of merchant ships within the sector, with at least 120 large transport ships or armed merchant ships, and these ships must provide assistance to the Expeditionary Force when necessary.

The markets of each star system in the sector will basically be open, but a certain percentage of taxes will be levied according to the type of trade.

They can undertake some of the Expeditionary Force's logistics and transportation tasks, with prices determined by the type and scale of the task.

After reading this series of things, Pat's expression was a little dignified, because no matter how he looked at it, it seemed like the merchants were being treated as suckers.

Although there were things like guaranteeing the safety of shipping lanes and providing cheap storage facilities and port berths, it all seemed like an attempt to get something for nothing.

Until he saw the last few items...

They can undertake some of the subsequent reconstruction orders for the liberated planets.

Deep cooperation partners are eligible to purchase ownerless land on the liberated planets, and even entire planets.

This made Pat's brow relax slightly. In the Empire, real estate is not worth much, but real estate that can be developed is valuable. Since the Expeditionary Force is going to carry out a liberation movement, many of the recaptured planets will be quickly filled with immigrants, and the real estate on those planets will quickly appreciate in value. The profits in this are immeasurable, not to mention the purchase of entire planets, and it seems that it can also be paid in promethium coins, which is a bit interesting.

Merchant Rogues are not just simple merchants, they are also plunderers and pioneers. In fact, the founder of the Orpheus Sector was a Merchant Rogue, and the sector's name was named after his dynasty. When necessary, Merchant Rogues will also transform into feudal lords, ruling one or many worlds, forming small colonial outposts on the edge of the Empire.

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"Lord."

The first to speak was Gaul, who surprised Pat. He was also frowning and raised a question that everyone was considering.

"No organization or individual in the Empire has ever levied any taxes on merchants. In the name of the Emperor, we roam the stars, and our merchant licenses grant us the privilege of unrestricted, free navigation and trade."

Taxes are almost absurd to merchants. Merchant Rogues with licenses have enormous privileges. In the Empire's power structure, they have equal status with naval admirals, inquisitors, and Space Marine Chapter Masters. Even outside the Empire's borders, the entire power structure is controlled by the Merchant Rogue alone.

Therefore, this official act of taxation cannot be imposed on them. They are, by system, outside the law. The only thing that can restrain them is death.

If someone demands taxes or other fees from Merchant Rogues, it will be seen as an insult. Although Merchant Rogues do not have actual political authority, they can respond with violence. This is also the bottom-level logic of the Imperial power game—when armed merchant ships blow up the space station of a planetary governor who doesn't know what's good for him, unless someone like an inquisitor can step forward, even a noble governor can only swallow his anger.