I Will Teach You How to Hunt Gods

Chapter 565 145: Military and Civilians United as One (4,200 Words)

As a soldier who has been on the battlefield and also an army lieutenant general, Tang Yue speaks quite bluntly.

Although he appeared respectful on the surface, seemingly giving enough respect to Mokaka, the two questions he posed were quite difficult to answer.

The first question asked Mokaka's attitude towards the military, which essentially was asking—does Mokaka intend to be a partner of the military, or its adversary.

The second question was even more direct, asking if Mokaka would need the military's help in the future, what value she could bring to the military.

Mokaka understood the underlying meaning of Tang Yue's words. Essentially, both questions pointed to an old issue that existed since the time Kars was in power.

The establishment of the "military-industrial complex".

Although, in name, the military of Nest City No. 3 was under the jurisdiction and command of the Nest City Council, in practice, it was completely independent, possessing self-decision rights and personnel appointment rights, and like the Apprentice Death God, was not much bound by Nest City laws.

Millions of rigorously trained Iron-blooded Soldiers, a complete independent administrative organization, countless heavy equipment and space warships, even its own special administrative region within Nest City, where they could freely conscript, establish military schools, and train commanders and Apprentice Death Gods loyal only to the military...

This force was terrifyingly powerful.

Their only weakness might be "money".

Or in other words, various modern products.

Other laws of Nest City No. 3 would selectively ignore the military, but the two ironclad decrees of "rigorous commerce and scientific research" could never be violated by the military.

The Nest City Council's thinking was simple—this group of uncontrollable brutes was already fierce enough, holding a massive population and force. If they were also given financial self-reliance, the military would completely become a tiger breaking free from its cage, trampling the mortals and order within Nest City underfoot.

This is why, for so many years, the military has been constrained by several huge enterprises. Ammunition had to be procured from "Military Technology," medical supplies could only be obtained from "Biotechnology," and food and other consumables could only be purchased from official enterprises under the Nest City Council.

Originally, this arrangement wasn't a problem, with balanced checks and the soldiers were able to understand it...

Moreover, the product prices offered by several large corporations were reasonable, to the extent they were cheaper than if they produced them themselves, leaving no room for complaints.

But... over time, the major enterprises were no longer satisfied with the meager profits.

The quantity of supplies procured by the military was extremely large; just raising the price by one or two percent could create huge profits.

And the military couldn't refuse these price hikes because those goods were monopolized by large corporations, and the military, even if wanting to switch suppliers, couldn't find any replacements for the giant corporations.

Hence, the corporations repeatedly raised product prices for various reasons, challenging the military's bottom line, and the military could only keep compromising...

Over time, naturally, the military no longer wanted to be such a fool.

The money in their pockets was also money, earned through much hardship, sweat, and sacrifice!

They didn't want to be oppressed like this any longer, why should the tycoon lords within the giant corporations easily take away their hard-earned money with a flick of their fingers, shifting a few decimal points?

Thus, seventy years ago, when the former Mayor Kars came to power, the military struck a deal with him, hoping that this mayor, who had a military background, could provide some convenience, giving the military a chance to engage in trade and research.

Kars readily agreed to this.

Without much effort, he could gain the military's favor and receive compensation from the military—at least ten percent of corporate shares.

Such a nice job, both emotionally and rationally, he should accept.

Moreover, executing this was simple, by hiring a few clear-background white gloves from outside cities to pose as outside investors, opening factories and labs in their names to bypass legislative restrictions.

The idea was beautiful, just that the military underestimated the intelligence of the Nest City Council and the giant enterprises.

The council isn't stupid, how could they not detect this little trick to deceive the heavens? And how could they let it happen?

If they really let the military succeed, another Military Technology company would appear, acting even more arrogantly and recklessly than the current one.

Therefore, very quickly, Mayor Kars voluntarily abandoned the cooperation. He never stated the reason, but everyone knew it resulted from the combined pressure from the Nest City Council and the major enterprises.

Afterward, as compensation to the military, the corporations slightly reduced the prices of materials, but over time, they slowly raised them again.

The military had also negotiated with the enterprises many times, but the end result was always fruitless, only resulting in endless wrangling.

And so it dragged on to the modern day, until Mokaka's appointment.

So all of Tang Yue's questions essentially asked: "Honorable new mayor, under your governance, can the military restart the previous plans to establish enterprises and meet their internal demands?"

Mokaka didn't know the military's methods, but since Tang Yue dared to publicly raise the question on such an occasion, it proved they likely had ways to deal with the Nest City Council and the major enterprises and had the resolve to become a military-industrial complex.