Quoted By:
<span class="mu-b">"We won't accept your currency in the heart of our empire, you capitalist dog, but in the border colonies, I suppose the interconnection between them and the galactic neighbors... I suppose we'll accept, but only in a controlled economic zone."</span>
"Of course you would say no, why even bother wasting time with your fascist, imperialist... wait, economic zone? Are you actually agreeing to it?"
The hologram changes its mood instantly, instantly perking up. He reaches forward and you shake his not-real hand awkwardly.
"Oh! Thank you your Majesty! You won't regret this; the Consortium has been trying to get into the Hegemonic market for a long time. Even with your oversight, I'm sure this will lead to great growth and business opportunities. We'll keep in touch!"
While heavily skeptical, you ended up agreeing to using Consortium currency... but only in the new colonies. You're finding this an eerie parallel to the old HVS system, in exchange for information and protection from the Oon. Who knows, it may even pay off in a big way. The Credit is stronger then your DanboMark anyway, but the core worlds are too steeped in cultural importance and tradition to get rid of their old currency...
It takes a bit of finagling, foreign accounting, double checking, and AI wrestling to set it up, but eventually you have access to several trillion credits. Appointing the financial and economic leaders in the new colonies in charge of your new Hegemonic "bank", you get to work exchanging the D'Mark for Credits in all citizens in the new colonies, opening the markets and trading hubs for foreigners, vacationers from other worlds, and investments in Hegemonic space. However, you have both a desire and duty to protect your Hegemony citizens from capitalist degeneracy- you must retain control. No land, assets, or resources of any kind can be bought by Consortium entities, no matter how rich, and reservations for Hegemonic citizens in all manner of resources before foreign buyers to ensure that even your low income Hegemonians are never denied what they need. Despite the average Hegemony being more educated, fulfilled, and obviously much healthier then the average Consortium citizen; the Consortium average wage is much higher, not to mention their advanced civil liberties. Still, you hope this small loosening of the leash won't come back to bite you...
