Liu Yi's question made the logistics director a little confused, and said in his heart: "Could it be that the chief is really planning to go to the production area to purchase in person?" ”

However, the superior's question could not be answered, and the logistics director sorted out his thoughts and replied: "Most of these merchant ships come from several nearby galaxies, and the colonies of these galaxies are mostly based on agriculture and food production because of their late development, and they are generally transported to the industrial-dominated galaxies like Yaqiu and Gao Fan. In addition......"

When the logistics director said this, he became slurred, and he looked like he wanted to speak and stopped, which couldn't help but make Liu Yi suspicious.

"Go on, what else?" Liu Yi urged.

The logistics chief gritted his teeth and said stubbornly: "In addition, there are some from outside the empire, and the products in those places are cheaper, so for merchant ships, the profits are more objective. ”

"Oh, so you've ever sourced something like this?" Liu Yi asked.

The logistics director expected that Liu Yi would definitely ask such a question, so he was mentally prepared to be punished. I heard the logistics supervisor reply: "That's right, we did buy such goods, if the adults think it is inappropriate, the subordinates are willing to accept the punishment." ”

Liu Yi waved his hand and said: "Don't say the punishment in advance, how about you talk about these overseas products first?" And these products flow into the territory of the empire, won't they be traced? ”

Seeing that Liu Yi didn't mean to punish himself, the logistics director immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and said carefully: "My lord inquired about this, could it be that he is preparing to investigate these products?" ”

"I still have to think about it if I can't check it, you answer my question."

"Yes. The quality of these foreign products, especially food, is actually very good, and the prices are cheaper than those in the empire, and they are selling well in several nearby galaxies. As for the investigation, in fact, everyone is turning a blind eye, after all, it is profitable, and who can get along with the money. But we still have to intercept some every year, otherwise we won't be able to explain to the above......"

"I see......" Liu Yi tapped his fingers on the table and fell into thought.

Seeing that Liu Yi didn't speak, the logistics director was so nervous that his forehead sweated, lest Liu Yi seriously investigate the matter, and he was afraid that he would be severely punished.

Liu Yi was actually thinking in his heart, whether the garrison of the fortress could also get a piece of the pie from these trades, and making money through interstellar trade was much faster than opening a repair shop.

However, as a border anti-smuggling force, it is too eye-catching to personally participate in these trades, not to mention anything else, if the interests of those merchants are touched, maybe they will sue the higher authorities, and then it will be like lifting a stone to shoot themselves in the foot.

In addition, some of these border trades are legal and some are illegal, and if they are mixed into illegal trade, I am afraid that those merchants who do legal trade will not agree, after all, if the army is involved in illegal trade, it is more convenient than any smuggling syndicate.

Liu Yi decided to think about it, this matter is not a joke after all, not to mention that he has just arrived here, how many people are of the same mind as him is still unknown, and he can't be too careful.

"Okay, you go get busy first, let me think about it again." Liu Yi sent the logistics director away, and then summoned Shangguan Qi to his office.

After coming to the White Rock Fortress, Shangguanqi's main job was to screen the old mechs and pick out the ones that could not be fought and sell them. After these tasks were completed, Shangguanqi led the technicians to debug the newly transported mecha, and at the same time helped train the soldiers of the fortress so that they could learn the operation of the new mecha as soon as possible.

These tasks are very trivial, and it seems to be a matter of a few words, but it takes a lot of time and energy to actually do them, so Shangguanqi sometimes can't see anyone for days, unless Liu Yi takes the initiative to find him.

Liu Yi brought Shangguanqi to ask Shangguanqi's opinion on these overseas colonies. In the past, Shangguanqi's unit had been fighting against these colonies that refused to be naturalized, so he was much more familiar with the situation than Liu Yi.

"Shangguan, I want to ask you, what about these colonies outside the country? Is there a great danger if we trade with them? Liu Yi asked.

"I advise you to give up this idea, it's very troublesome to deal with these overseas colonies, and if you accidentally let someone with a heart seize the handle, I'm afraid the consequences will be very serious." Shangguanzaki said earnestly.

Liu Yi smiled: "Don't be nervous, I'm just inquiring, I don't really want to trade with colonies outside the country." If you know more about your surroundings, you won't have a problem. ”

Shangguan Qi nodded and said, "That's fine." Speaking of which, these overseas colonies are actually quite complicated, and the relationship between them is definitely not clear in one or two sentences.

In addition to not buying the accounts of the empire, these colonies also often fight with each other, sometimes united, sometimes divided, and if they want to settle the relationship between these colonies, I think it is impossible to ...... even on the day of the destruction of the universe."

Listening to Shangguan Qi's words, Liu Yi couldn't help laughing and asked, "Is it really that serious?" Anyway, we're all human beings, so we wouldn't hate each other so much, right? ”

"If it's just hatred, I'm afraid it's simple, it's a big deal to fight each other until one side completely kills the other. But these colonies, in addition to hatred, will unite with each other, especially in the face of the Empire, they will cooperate with each other without much mobilization, it is as if there was an agreement a long time ago......"

Speaking of these overseas colonies, Shangguan Qi's seemed to have suddenly opened the conversation, and he kept talking, confiding in all kinds of things he had experienced.

Liu Yi rarely saw Shangguan Qi say so much, since Shangguan Qi was rarely interested, Liu Yi simply accompanied him to chat.

Shangguanqi told Liu Yi that these overseas colonies had extremely close ties with the smuggling syndicates, and if they directly traded with the foreign colonies, they would inevitably offend the smuggling syndicates; If you trade with a smuggling syndicate, you will harm legitimate traders.

Therefore, it is really an extremely complicated matter to clarify the interests of these aspects, and it is easy to get caught up in it and it is difficult to get out. If you are repeatedly sued by the higher-ups, I am afraid that you will be severely punished, and in the end, it is likely to turn into stealing chickens and rice.

After listening to Shangguanqi's narration, Liu Yi realized that he was thinking too simply, it turned out that the border trade and border smuggling had such an intricate relationship, and it was definitely not something he could intervene in casually.

However, no matter how lucrative the border trade is, Liu Yi always feels that it is a pity not to do such a business.

Shangguanqi said: "In fact, the most important thing in border smuggling is weapons, when they fought against these colonies in the past, most of the weapons they used came from within the empire, and the empire will definitely not sell weapons to them, these weapons can only come from smuggling." ”

"You mean, we can sell them weapons?" Liu Yi asked.

"No, I mean you can catch these smuggled weapons first, and then find a way to make money from them." Shangguanzaki gave a rare sly smile.

Liu Yi suddenly realized, nodded again and again: "Makes sense!" Thanks to Shangguan for reminding me, otherwise I wouldn't have thought of this layer. Focusing on arms smuggling, which can not only complete the tasks of the superiors, but also reap the benefits of it, and at the same time not easily attract the resentment of the surrounding colonies, is indeed a very good idea! ”

Received Liu Yi's repeated praise, but Shangguan Qi said with emotion: "Actually, it's not that I'm smart, it's just a feeling." ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"When I fought against foreign colonies in the past, I found out that in fact, not all the people in these colonies were warmongers, and not everyone hated the empire so much, and the real reason for the long-term confrontation between these colonies and the empire was mainly the warlord power. These warlords are constantly fighting and therefore have a great need for weapons, and these are the main customers of the smuggling syndicates. ”

"I see, didn't the empire think of adopting a policy of gentleness to attract people from these colonies to migrate to the empire?"

"There have been such policies, but due to the obstruction of the warlords, and the enmity between the empire and these colonies for many years, it is very difficult to get people in these places to change their minds." Shangguanqi said with great regret: "Actually, the people of these colonies also hate war, but they don't like the rule of the empire even more. ”

"I understand, I will carefully consider the matter of trade, this matter is too big, and it really has to be considered in the long run." Liu Yi said.

Fortunately, the repair business was gradually accepted by the merchant ships, and the number of ships repaired in the White Rock Fortress increased a lot, so that the fortress had a stable income.

Liu Yi decided to find a way to catch the anti-smuggling work first, if the smuggling activities were too rampant, it would not only affect his own evaluation, but also be unfair to those legitimate traders.

Now that the legitimate businessmen are honestly inspected, they can no longer continue to indulge those smuggling syndicates, if not completely eradicate them, at least let them restrain them.

However, in order to crack down on smuggling activities, Liu Yi alone cannot do it, and must cooperate with all the people from top to bottom, so Liu Yi decided to talk to the officers of various departments first, and then discuss the specific plan after reaching a consensus.

Among these officers, the most difficult one is Ye Na, who is the second-in-command of the fortress and the boss of other officers for many years, and it is difficult to gain the support of others without putting her right.

Ever since Liu Yi came to the fortress, Ye Na has been singing against him, which has forced Liu Yi to temporarily avoid as much as possible in order to reduce direct conflict between them.

However, Liu Yi knows that this is not a long-term solution, and the contradiction between himself and Ye Na must be resolved.