Read "Empire" by Clifford D. Simak online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The revolution was over. Interplanetary officials and army heads had fled to the sanctuary of Earth. Interplanetary was ended. ended forever, for on every world, including Earth, material energy engines were humming. The people had power to burn, to throw away, power so cheap that it was practically worthless as a commodity, but invaluable as a way to a new life, a greater life, a fuller life. a broader destiny for the human race.
Interplanetary stocks were worthless. The mighty power plants on Venus and Mercury were idle. The only remaining tangible asset were the fleets of spaceships used less than a month before to ship the accumulators to the outer worlds, to bring them Sunward for recharging.