Chapter 718, Top-Tier Bulls and Horses
Arnault has had a relatively long vacation, which is quite rare.
After the holiday, he had no idea where he would be sent or what mission he would be assigned to.
Logically speaking, Osena should cherish this time and try to spend some time with her family outside of work.
However, I simply couldn't find the time.
One task after another came up. First, before the governor's departure, there were a series of meetings to set the general direction for the work to come. This period of time really couldn't be delayed, so Governor Gu could only stay in the alliance territory for another month before leaving.
After seeing Mr. Gu off, she didn't become more relaxed; on the contrary, she became even busier.
Many decisions could have been made in the governor's office, where hundreds of the empire's most elite advisors would send their final decisions to the Alliance government based on the governor's advice. This part of the work was relatively easy for Osena. She didn't need to think much; she could simply follow the governor's instructions.
And there won't be any room for disputes.
Are the various government departments dissatisfied with the decision? Do they have any objections?
Keep them all!
That was the governor's will; there was no room for negotiation, only to carry it out!
Osena didn't need to use her brain or come up with plans; all she had to do was appease all parties and execute the orders.
But now, it's gone!
With the governor absent, the staff in his office were naturally no longer able to convey his opinions.
Although more than half of them stayed and did not go to Holy Terra, the remaining people... were actually not really necessary. They were all placed as mid- to high-ranking officials in the government, legal, and military sectors.
This was traditionally the destination for the governor's staff. The governor's staff were always drawn from government agencies, legal departments, local government agencies, military units, and schools. In fact, a significant proportion of them were outstanding graduates or geniuses. These diverse members collectively formed the governor's office.
After working for a period of time, they will be sent to other places, and they will usually be promoted significantly.
This can be considered a standard method for the governor to train senior officials.
It could be considered a gilded appointment, but it was more than just that. In the governor's office, these staff members had access to high-level affairs within the entire alliance, broadening their perspectives; they frequently heard Governor Gu's insightful ideas and gained a deeper understanding of his thought process. After being transferred, they could represent the governor's will for a considerable period. Their loyalty was beyond question.
From Gu Hang's perspective, this is also about cultivating the loyalty and ideological awareness of the current rising stars and future pillars of the alliance in advance, so that Governor Gu can better control the entire alliance.
Now that these people have been released, although the government has gained many excellent personnel, none of them can replace the governor's decision-making role.
Now, many things need to be done by government departments, which means Osena herself.
Not only has the workload increased dramatically, but I was already mentally exhausted, and now I'm even more mentally exhausted.
For example, right now, the leaders of the Alliance's Production Department, Civil Affairs Department, and Tax Special Task Force are arguing fiercely in front of Osena.
The three parties have different opinions, mainly concerning the supply of agricultural products and industrial consumer goods, the overall welfare of the entire Alliance, and the special collection of Imperial taxes. Conflicts can indeed arise between them.
The supply side is not a big problem. Minister Zhao Jiuzheng of the Production Department came mainly to report on the current overall production situation of the alliance. He doesn't have much of an opinion on how to allocate resources.
If he had to voice any opinion, he would side with Minister of Civil Affairs Wen Zhengnan: he hopes to ensure that the living standards of industrial workers not only do not decline, but ideally improve them.
That would mean a general promotion in job title.
Wen Zhengnan meant the same thing.
Moreover, what he wants to do is not just target workers in various industries.
In terms of the entire alliance, he aims to steadily promote the stable advancement of all members in terms of job rank.
The salaries and benefits of Alliance members are linked to their job rank. Lower job ranks below E9 actually have very low burdens, with individual benefits and consumption being relatively small. Although this is the largest proportion of the population, they also generate income, and their output often far exceeds the consumer goods obtained through the benefits and salaries provided by their job rank.
However, as you move up in the hierarchy, the expenditure on benefits and salaries gradually increases.
Of course, this doesn't mean that those at higher levels haven't made significant contributions. On the contrary, the fact that they've been promoted to higher levels indicates that they must have made substantial contributions.
This is especially true for those who level up quickly. Within the E rank, it's one promotion per year; from the D rank onwards, it's one promotion every two or three years, and there's also an assessment; failing the assessment results in a postponement. To break the norm and level up quickly, you need to have excellent performance; at D5 and above, it's one promotion every 5 to 6 years. At D8 and above, it's one promotion every 8 to 10 years.
Assuming someone reaches E5 at age 18, spends 5 years in E-level, and 14 years to reach D5, that person will be 37 years old. Reaching D8 takes another 18 years, and D9 another 9 years, by which time they will be 64 years old. Essentially, they'll be holding a D9 rank and enjoying retirement benefits—retirement benefits based on rank, including all political privileges, 70% of welfare benefits, and 40% of salary.
If a citizen of the Union lives from adulthood to old age, this is the trajectory of their life.
If one could rise this far, it would be wonderful. Reaching D1 level would mean a comfortable life, with no worries about food or drink, and enough salary to buy decent large appliances. Benefits would include housing, healthcare, and education. D5 level represents the middle class as defined by the Alliance; in the context of typical imperial worlds, only small industrialists could achieve this standard of living. Even in some garden worlds, the standard of living for those with good incomes is similar. D9 level is a level that most ordinary imperial citizens can only dream of; it represents the pinnacle of what the working class can reach in most imperial worlds.
Those at grade C and above are considered wealthy in terms of their personal lives.
Clearly, by this standard, the citizens of the Union are treated quite well.
But even an alliance can't truly make everything as wonderful as a utopia.
If everyone could smoothly progress from age 18 to 64, the high welfare and salary expenditures would put immense financial pressure on even the league.
In reality, starting from level D, the assessment becomes more difficult. When the time limit is reached, an assessment is required, and if the assessment is not passed, the time limit is extended. Only if the assessment is passed can the time limit be accumulated. If the assessment is good, the time limit can be directly promoted without considering the time limit. If there is a major meritorious performance, then the level can be skipped.
Furthermore, all job levels must be matched with jobs. If you become unemployed, forget about promotions; you'll even be demoted every year.
This 'assessment' is, to put it bluntly, based on specific targets.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs, with its vast system, calculates the total annual budget for human resource expenditures based on the fiscal budget, and allocates these upgrade quotas according to the overall plan. Whether it's a production unit, a functional unit, a business, a private enterprise, or a government department, it all depends on performance. Good performance leads to more upgrade quotas; otherwise, there's a possibility of being downgraded.
The organization department within the department then allocates these quotas to the next lower level of departments, and finally to individuals.
From a macro perspective, to put it bluntly, the number of upgrade slots depends on the alliance's total output and how much of that output is allocated to human resource expenditures.
During wartime, a large amount of resources were invested in military production. In addition, many newly occupied territories required funding for construction, so the number of upgrade slots available was relatively limited.
There were even some war mobilization orders, which required all levels to reduce welfare and salary ratios.
Now that the war mobilization order is about to be lifted, the number of newly incorporated people in various occupied territories, even if their initial classification is very low, is in the hundreds of billions or even trillions. As a result, the expenditure on human resources has increased significantly.
Furthermore, the organization departments of various units are constantly reporting upwards that, due to the alliance's commencement of large-scale production plans, each unit is introducing a series of incentive policies for personnel. Those who perform well and are highly capable are more likely to be promoted, which will further stimulate greater productivity.
All of these factors necessitate a continued rise in labor costs.
To put it bluntly, this is paying back the debt for the exploitation of the people during the war, and in order to stimulate development during the next period of great development, the benefits of development must be shared with the people.
People don't need military products or heavy machinery to improve their living standards. What they want is a genuine quality of life.
This requires a more abundant supply of goods, from clothing, food, housing, and transportation to all kinds of entertainment and consumption...
Whether it's the growth of service industry workers or the increasing demands for higher living standards among ordinary people, both require a large number of consumer goods.
This created a conflict with the Alliance's tax task force.
They specifically addressed the issue of imperial tax collection, focusing primarily on heavy industries, but also prioritizing the collection of consumer goods, especially items like food.
This conflict erupted in the northern part of the Dragon Eagle Starfield, where there was a generally bumper harvest this year, over the distribution of agricultural products and processed agricultural goods from the former orc-occupied territories.
The civil affairs department requires more consumer goods to be included in the budget, but the tax department requires a considerable proportion of consumer goods to enter the tax system and be transported to the storage world—Shiping Star—which is already under construction and located in the easternmost part of the Spider Web Space, in the Tangu Star Region.
Neither side would back down, and each went to their respective leaders. After several rounds of arguments, the conflict escalated until it reached Osena.
In the past, Osena would sometimes handle similar matters, but sometimes she couldn't manage them all, so she would usually just send them to the governor's office and that would be the end of it. Once a document representing the governor's will was issued, no one could complain; they just had to do it.
But now, it's all piled up on Osena.
After listening to the argument from both sides, Osena rubbed her head and quickly made a decision based on her own thoughts and the advice the governor had left behind before he left, preventing the conflict from dragging on.
"Following Minister Wen Zhengnan's suggestion, we do need to invest a lot of consumer goods in public incentives."
"The value of civilian consumer goods is relatively low, and collecting large amounts of tax revenue to fill the gap is just a drop in the bucket."
"However, the Ministry of Civil Affairs must work with the Ministry of Production to impose requirements on all production departments and local governments. Once the quotas are allocated, the corresponding production targets must be increased. We need to exchange lower-value-added civilian consumer goods for more output. Military production, shipbuilding, and raw material processing are all of paramount importance. My desired outcome is to use one billion shirts and one hundred million tons of food to exchange for more warships, which will then be sent to the Empire as imperial tax revenue, rather than simply improving the welfare of the people."
After making the decision and sending the person away, she immediately called her secretary:
"Also, have someone from the Ministry of Commerce come to see me."
She then assigned some business-related tasks.
She instructed the Ministry of Commerce to strengthen trade within and outside the alliance. For high-value-added consumer goods, she suggested establishing brand recognition and increasing prices so that those with higher ranks could spend their money. Simultaneously, she proposed that any surplus high-value consumer goods, including military equipment and heavy machinery, could be traded with external entities to directly earn tax revenue.
Markets are subject to change, and the Imperial Tax sets a clear value for every product. However, some planets may be facing food crises, or other worlds may be at war, requiring more military supplies. Often, in such situations, the corresponding products can be exchanged for higher value.
One hundred million consumer goods are distributed to the Alliance's citizens, which produce one billion military products. These are then sold to planets in need, yielding two billion more consumer goods, which are then distributed back to the citizens to incentivize the production of even more military products... This exchange generates greater circulation value.
Output exceeding market demand is directly taxed, minimizing concerns about overcapacity; profits from trade are used to pay taxes, amplifying the value of production capacity…
The means to meet the imperial tax quota must be diverse.
Not to mention, while paying taxes, Osena didn't forget that she also had to take care of the league's development.
After finishing all that, Osena suddenly realized that she hadn't rested for another thirty-three hours. Her meals in between were just simple, ordinary snacks.
She sometimes couldn't help but smile bitterly, because she was at least an A7 level employee, and in theory, the total value of her annual salary and benefits should exceed three thousand yuan in taxes.
However, she's lucky if she can spend a hundred dollars in taxes a year.
She eats quick work meals, lives in the office, wears uniforms provided by tailors, and is still in her prime. The rejuvenation surgery not only extended her lifespan but also boosted her energy, allowing her to work continuously at high intensity and without getting sick...
Luxury goods are completely unnecessary. For travel, the company cars and spaceships are all government-owned.
Sometimes, she felt like she was the best of the best—a phrase that came from a joke told by the governor and had now spread throughout the Alliance.
Even someone as energetic as her would be exhausted after 33 hours without rest.
Looking at my schedule, the pile of work is still enormous.
She planned to sleep for six or seven hours before continuing.
However, there was one last thing she had to do before going to sleep.
It's almost time to speak with Sage Wu Jiarong.
They need to have another discussion about the alliance's production issues.