Chapter 2130. The Beginning and Ending of the Trade Federation (1)
2131. The Beginning and Ending of the Trade Federation (1)
In the current galaxy, the impression given by the Trade Federation (TradeFederation) is Domineering, greedy, ruthless, and corrupt, however, few people know that when the Trade Federation was formally established about 350 years ago, this organization could be called a model organization in the Galactic Republic at that time.
And it can be said that without the Trade Federation, there would be no Galactic Republic's rule over the outer ring star areas of the Milky Way - although this rule has always been very weak.
So by understanding it from this perspective, we can understand why from the beginning of the Galactic Republic to the present Galactic Empire, the Trade Federation has tolerated the Trade Federation betting on both sides of the war, but has never completely solved them.
The reason is simple. They have a lot of support in the parliament.
350 years ago, with the further expansion of hyperspace routes, the Galactic Republic ushered in a golden age of great exploration. Many edge planets in the outer ring star areas were discovered and joined the Galactic Republic's large among families. These newly discovered star regions are called expanded star regions, and their scope covers at least one-third of the current outer ring star regions and a small part of the middle ring star regions. The scope is extremely vast.
In this process, a large number of conflicts have inevitably arisen, with different species having different interests, as well as major chambers of commerce and companies, and various disputes emerging one after another.
And because most of the places where disputes occur are in expansion areas, the law does not apply here. The Republic 350 years ago did not have a powerful standing fleet, only a judicial fleet, and the judicial fleet generally would not be dispatched.
At that time, the Galactic Republic was still in its final glory period. In addition to the Judiciary Fleet, they often relied on the Jedi Order to resolve disputes. But will the Jedi Order travel all the way to the Outer Rim Star Region to solve the problem of a company that owes 100,000 credit points to another consortium but refuses to pay it back?
Obviously not.
So the Expanded Star Territory at that time was basically a lawless area. Fights were trivial. Fighting with firearms was only common. Fighting between fleets often broke out. Both sides are armed cargo ships with thin skin and big stuff, so they will naturally suffer heavy losses in a fight.
During this struggle, super tankers such as Pulsar Supertanker, Quasar Cargo, Red Star Shipping Lines, and Ororo Transportation were born. enterprise. These companies can be called the overlords of the expanding star field, and no one dares to provoke them.
If you look at the names, you will find that these are all logistics and transportation companies. Why is it a shipping company and not some industrial giant, financial giant, or business tycoon?
Because in the expanded star field at that time, what was the most important thing? Navigation data! Without navigation data, you have no idea how those newly discovered galaxies go, and you can easily get lost in the hyperspace turbulence and never come back. Therefore, these logistics and shipping companies began to monopolize the navigation data of the outer star expansion area. All companies and individuals doing business in the outer star area must rent navigators from these companies at a high price in order to obtain accurate coordinates to other star systems. . As a result, these shipping companies can make huge profits without leaving home.
Such a deformed monopoly naturally produced great resistance. Many races, small companies, and small groups united to form an organization to fight against those large shipping companies, and this was the prototype of the trade alliance.
The original trade alliance was enlightened, efficient, fair, open, and clean. They elected their own governors, and then made overall arrangements for the transportation and shipping of all participating planets, races, and companies. Those shipping companies refused to disclose the navigation data, so the Trade Alliance organized its own exploration team to explore step by step, and then disclosed the exploration results to every member, and also to the officials of the Galactic Republic.
At the same time, in order to facilitate the maintenance of unified standards, the trade alliance placed an order with Hoersch-Kessel Drive Inc., one of the large shipyards at the time, to develop a simple-structure, transportable A large cargo ship with a large volume and sufficient self-protection capabilities.
So this is the LH-3210 cargo ship, the famous donut, Rookery Hooker class.
In addition, they also concentrated on ordering a convoy fleet composed of the Predator-class heavy armed freighter (Captor-class heavy armed cargo ship) and the Munifex-class light cruiser (Munifex-class light cruiser) nicknamed the Class 1000 cruiser.
Powerful cargo ships and excellent escort fleets protect the safety of shipping between various galaxies. Under the protection of the Trade Alliance's escort fleet, the chance of a merchant fleet being robbed by pirates has dropped to less than one percent. . For an expanded space beyond the reach of the laws of the Galactic Republic, this was heaven.
With continuous efforts and common struggle, the Trade Alliance defeated and annexed those arrogant shipping companies one by one, becoming a pivotal presence in the Outer Rim Star Region. Even super industrial giants such as Quat Dynamic Shipyard, in order to protect their own interests in the outer ring star region, they have taken advantage of the cooperation opportunity to produce Predator-class armed freighters for the Trade Alliance, joining the Trade Alliance and becoming their peripheral members.
After defeating all competitors, the Trade Federation became the actual controller of the expanded star field and most of the outer ring star area. They are responsible for trade and shipping between all galaxies, resolving disputes for the major races, and unifying industry pricing to avoid malicious competition.
At the same time, because the Trade Federation disclosed the navigation data of the Outer Rim Star Region to the Galactic Republic, it also allowed the power of the Galactic Republic to enter the Outer Rim Star Region, which made them famous.
After the Trade Federation became a terrifying behemoth, some people once raised concerns that if the Trade Federation continued to grow, they would become a powerful force strong enough to challenge the Galactic Republic. They once proposed to expel the Trade Federation from the Outer Rim Star Region.
But the answer they got was - "Expulsion of the Trade Federation? Do you know that if the Trade Federation was not there, there would not even be laws there?"
This is a response to trade. A summary of the strength of the alliance and an affirmation of their positive image. The Trade Alliance, which controlled unparalleled power and wealth, was the super monopoly giant second only to the Interstellar Banking Association in the galaxy at that time! It can’t even be said that this is a trans-galactic cartel, they are directly a river-level super cartel!
But power and wealth are the breeding ground of corruption. This sentence applies to anywhere and in any era. The Trade Alliance, which once brought order and stability to the expanded star field, is no exception.