Yosi Ha’er’s remarks actually fell short of a tough threat, yet the actual effect was quite good. The civilizations within the Bi Star Cluster were very clear that even a united front would not change the fate of the Bi Star Cluster, and the Star Alliance’s dominance would continue as long as the Alliance existed.
This meeting was called to discuss the division of influence within the Bi Star Cluster; however, Yosi Ha’er had been advised by Bai Zhongqi before attending the meeting and was given two very important tasks.
"Ladies and gentlemen, envoys, regarding the standards for the division of influence proposed by the Star Alliance, you may take some time to consider it further. Next, I hope to present some other thoughts from the Star Alliance," Yosi Ha’er initiated a new topic after noticing the meeting had lapsed into an awkward silence.
The reactions of the representatives, however, were not enthusiastic. What had just been proposed was already disheartening enough, and now the Star Alliance still had more to say, causing some diplomats’ faces to turn ashen.
Yosi Ha’er remained unconcerned, smiling slightly, "As I have said, the Star Alliance hopes that the Bi Star Cluster can maintain peace, stability, and prosperity. We sincerely wish to see all civilizations living in harmony and making progress together. Therefore, the Star Alliance suggests that the civilizations within the Bi Star Cluster should reach a unified trade agreement. Within the framework of this trade agreement, the civilizations can conduct free commercial trade."
Pan Muzhuo was taken aback. Before the Star Alliance, Pan Star Civilization had also thought about using its strength to coerce other civilizations into forming a trade system within the cluster, but the difficulty was immense. Not only was Pan Star unable to use military force to compel others, but their own spaceships also had difficulty maintaining commercial shipping for twelve civilizations.
However, the Star Alliance possessed all the conditions that Pan Star lacked.
The Pan Stars were still weighing the pros and cons of the trade agreement proposed by the Star Alliance to themselves, while some Lower Civilizations started showing interest first.
An envoy from a Lower Civilization asked eagerly, "Mr. Yosi Ha’er, does this framework for the trade agreement include bilateral trade between the Star Alliance and us?"
"Naturally, it does," Yosi Ha’er acknowledged.
The envoy was thrilled and said, "Does that mean we can purchase goods from the Star Alliance?"
Upon hearing this, Pan Muzhuo’s eyes also sparkled with eagerness.
It’s a principle of the Galactic High Governance Council not to allow High Level Civilizations to casually sell technological goods beyond their own level to Lower Civilizations. This principle has many exemptions and is generally ignored by High Level Civilizations. For instance, the Borke Civilization sold Teizene a shoddy star energy engine.
But most civilizations in the Galaxy treasure their proprietary technology, especially that which gives them a relative advantage, and they don’t easily disclose it to Lower Civilizations. They prefer to sell technology that is only slightly beyond the Lower Civilizations’ own level and then obtain extremely valuable trade items from them in return.
Yosi Ha’er then explained, "Exactly, the Star Alliance is willing to engage in trade with all friendly civilizations within the Bi Star Cluster, exchanging what we have. We will sell a variety of goods to the civilizations in the cluster, starting with barter trade initially, and afterwards, as trade frequency increases, we can continue to discuss other forms of trade. The goods we sell are not limited to the technical levels of the civilizations themselves."
"You mean, a Level 15 civilization can purchase products with Level 20 civilization technology?"
"Why not?"
Pan Muzhuo felt some pressure, swallowed, and said, "But... this is not in line with usual practices." Discover more content at Freewebnovel
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In the end, he couldn’t resist the temptation and asked, "So, will the Star Alliance sell goods with technology above Level 20?"
Yosi Ha’er still replied, "Why not?"
Astonished, Pan Muzhuo said, "Does this mean that a Lower Civilization and a Mid-level Civilizations can purchase the same goods?"
"That’s correct," Yosi Ha’er confirmed.
As soon as these words were spoken, the eyes of several envoys from Lower Civilizations immediately heated up with excitement. Being able to purchase advanced products manufactured by the Star Alliance could not only improve the social and military standards of their civil societies but could even help promote the level of their civilizations.
Someone immediately asked, "Will the Star Alliance sell technology?"
Finally, Yosi Ha’er shook his head, "No, the Star Alliance’s trade with other nations, in principle, does not include any technology transfer. We only sell products and some services."
At this, Pan Muzhuo let out a sigh of relief. For Lower Civilizations, obtaining the products of High Level Civilization technology means there’s virtually no chance of reverse engineering or mastering similar technology due to the vast knowledge gaps.
In truth, looking at who benefits more, it’s the civilizations within the Bi Star Cluster that genuinely benefit more. The Star Alliance’s open trade and selling of some goods are tangible benefits to these civilizations, and all they have to pay with is the resources they’ve mined.
To use an analogy, consider the production of a car: if Country A has low technology and Country B has high technology, Country A assembles by hand while Country B has a professional assembly line and industrial robots—that’s the difference in productivity. It might cost Country A 10,000 units to make a car. Yet Country B sells a car to Country A for only 3,000 units. It is naturally more economical to buy than to make.
And for the Star Alliance itself, selling goods is really about offering products several generations outdated, some maybe even below the technology of Pan Star Civilization. Nevertheless, the Star Alliance constructs things with Atomic Substance Construction. The costs are frighteningly low and pose no difficulty whatsoever.
By trading with Lower Civilizations for mined resources—where the Star Alliance also has higher production efficiency—the Star Alliance might use goods worth 10 units to get resources valued at 100 or even 1,000 units, only to produce goods worth tens of thousands of units in value.
This is a clear case of profiting from the price difference.
And it’s a price difference that the civilizations consent to while being willingly exploited.
At this time, everyone no longer sees the Star Alliance merely as a terrifying threat, a formidable enemy that encroaches on their living space, but as a significant opportunity to improve the level and standard of their civilization.
Undoubtedly, maintaining good relations with the Star Alliance meant the possibility of obtaining better goods. If they could glean a bit of technology or some inspiration and guidance from it, then the value would be immeasurably great.
That’s how Bai Zhongqi schemed, making them both fear the Star Alliance and unscrupulously cling to it.