Chapter 419 The Bloody Truth (Part 2)
"This"
The Controller hesitated for a moment, and finally revealed the matter tremblingly under the gaze of the Space Marines.
"Sir, there have been no new qualified workers here for three months. All the people coming off the transport ship are women, children, sick and disabled. We, we have nothing to do -"
Said , the Controller handed the data pad to the Space Marine.
"Accidents caused by unqualified workers have also increased sharply recently. We have tried our best."
The results would only last for a minute. Ustad then closed the data board worriedly and turned around. Said to the foreman:
"On behalf of the battle group, I would like to thank you for your efforts. This situation will not continue, I promise."
"Sir, with your words, We are relieved.”
After getting the data he wanted, Ustad quickly returned to the Chapter Monastery.
At this moment, Soshiyang was also busy in the chapter leader's room.
“If necessary, the gene seeds of the Eighth Legion can be used to form a secret company.”
Soshiyan examined the message that Brother Seid left before entering dormancy.
This idea must be said to be too bold, and the Astral Knight, who is already on the edge of heresy, can almost be completely characterized as a traitor, but he knows that this is due to practical considerations.
After all, it is more than a hundred precious gene seeds, but after strict inspection, it is confirmed that there is no contamination in the gene seeds.
Although Valier is a damned heretic traitor, it must be said that his skills in preserving and processing gene seeds are first-rate, much better than any pharmacist Soshyan currently has.
But he must also assess the risks of doing so.
Soshiyang turned the pen in his hand and fell into deep thought.
"Let's wait and see."
It was difficult to make a decision for a while, so he planned to postpone the matter for now.
Another thing is to hire professional explorers to find the planet Talos described - there are countless worlds in the Empire, many of which have similar characteristics, so professionals are needed to find them.
After handling this matter, Soshyan, who was not wearing armor, sat back on the chair and let his body relax for a moment.
But on the desktop, there were mountains of case files and approvals waiting for him to read them one by one and write down his opinions.
So he only allowed himself to relax for ten seconds, and then picked up the pen again.
The room is very quiet. Through the two huge dark glass windows behind you, you can see the soldiers gathering in the open-air training ground outside.
They were conducting tactical coordination training, and Soshyan wanted to see it in person.
But there are so many things at the moment, Soshyan can only be forced to do work that he is not very good at.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and then the servant's voice came from the brass trumpet.
"Your Excellency, Chapter Master, Captain Ustad has requested a meeting."
"Let him in."
Thirty seconds later, there was a knock on the door of the private room.
"Come in."
The door was pushed open, Ustad strode in, then stopped one meter in front of the desk, put his legs together, and saluted a standard military salute.
“Report to Chapter Commander, Second Company Commander, Ustad, that we have completed the mission assigned by you, went to the star port to build the shipyard, and learned the reasons and details for the delayed progress. This is what I got The data and my report are also in it."
After speaking, he handed a data pad to the table.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Soshiyang smiled at him, then leaned out and took the data pad into his hand, and activated it.
Ten seconds later, the smile on his face disappeared.
Five minutes later, he put the data pad on the table and leaned back, looking very frustrated.
“It seems the problem is with us.”
Ustad still stood upright. "You did a great job. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to understand that things had reached this point."
Soshiyan squeezed out a smile and waved.
“Let’s go back to the company first.”
“Yes.”
After Ustad left, Soshyan let out a long sigh, covered his eyes with his right hand, tilted his head back, and leaned on the back of the chair.
In fact, the data and reports collected by Ustad can be summed up in one sentence -
The rapidly growing Astral Knights Chapter is about to drain this planet dry.
Soshiyang has had a premonition of this very early on. Nessen-4 is his home and he knows it very well. Although this planet has a long history, it is by no means the kind of place with very developed productivity. The world - you can tell just by looking at the natural environment.
The governors of the past dynasties did not aim to vigorously develop industry, and the planet does not have many local minerals. The main trading products of Nessen 4 are mostly small commodities, such as the textile industry. economic pillar.
As a military organization, the Astral Knights' demand for materials and manpower is naturally boundless. It would be fine if it were a normal full-scale war group, as it would not put huge pressure on the planet in a short period of time.
But the current Astral Knights are a broken and recovering battle group. A recovering patient naturally needs much more than a normal person.
To make an inappropriate metaphor, the Astral Knight is an injured warrior lying on a cow, squeezing the milk, cutting the meat with a knife, and eating the meat to restore strength and wounds.
The materials needed to maintain a war group and to rebuild a war group are completely different in magnitude.
A long time ago, the Planet Governor had hinted to Soshyan that in order to supply the war group, he had repeatedly raised taxes on civilians and nobles.
Moreover, many of the Adeptus Astartes' daily supplies and equipment maintenance materials required by Nessen IV cannot be produced at all, and must be imported from other planets and foundries at high prices. This has led to the near collapse of the planet's original trade system, and a large deficit has reduced the government's finances. The deficit keeps soaring.
But this is not the end. If it were a normal home planet for the battle group, Naisen 4 would not have such a big burden - according to common practice, a normal colony planet is enough to support a battle group. Group
According to imperial law, once a world becomes the home planet of the Chapter, it will receive special tax exemption rights and be exempted from all tithes.
The key is that, although in fact, Nessen IV became the home planet of the Astral Knights Chapter, the Astral Knights were removed from the Council of Terra long ago, and there is no record of the active chapter. Without them, it would be impossible for Nathan No. 4 to apply for special tax exemption rights.
This means that the people of Nessen IV have to bear imperial taxes and support the war group at the same time.
Ustad's report shows that the planetary government has not even been able to collect the large number of qualified workers needed by the shipyard, and can only use women and teenagers between the ages of twelve and fifteen to make up the numbers!
In this case, even if the working hours are increased, the progress will inevitably slow down.
Not only that, due to the repeated increases in taxes on the planet, the trade deficit is getting larger and larger, and the government's financial redness continues to rise, causing the rations that can be provided to workers to decrease instead of increasing!
Ustad transferred the ration quotas for shipyard workers before the Astral Knights arrived, and found that the current ration quotas were nearly 40% less than before.
Many workers died due to hunger and fatigue, which also led to many accidents and more serious casualties.
Moreover, he also investigated the death of some child laborers, which was extremely shocking.
Naisen IV’s manpower and material resources have been pushed to the limit.
The Starport Shipyard is still like this. Soshyan dare not imagine what the surface of the planet looks like.
“What have I done?”
Soshiyang, covering his eyes, muttered in pain.
The photos of children who were injured and disabled, the sad faces of women who lost their husbands, the numb and desperate expressions of workers... all of them were like sharp knives piercing Soshiyang's heart.
As the leader of the Chapter, he naturally hopes that the Chapter will recover as soon as possible, because this is his responsibility.
But this is also his hometown, and he never wants to see his beautiful home in the past turn into a hell on earth.
Soshyan began to reflect, and he realized that he was too impatient. Many things that took twenty, thirty, or even fifty years to complete, he wanted to complete within three to five years.
The cost of such a leap forward is the corpses of the people in the hometown one after another.
After about ten minutes of silence, Soshyan put down his hand, straightened up, picked up the data pad on the table, and wrote down a series of commands.
“All battleships with less than 70% construction progress have been suspended, the collection of materials has been suspended, the recruitment of mortal auxiliary troops has been suspended, the armory has been maintained at a minimum combat readiness state, all exercises that have not entered the execution stage have been cancelled, and mortal servants and auxiliary troops have been reduced. One-third of the ration quota, excess rations will be distributed to workers as overtime labor compensation, and all those who are disabled due to work will be hired into the war regiment monastery as servants, only engaged in low-intensity labor..."
After writing this, please Shi Yang almost slumped in his chair, realizing that the Astral Knights must have a more stable source of supplies.
(End of this chapter)