"You said you want to increase taxes?" In the magnificent office decorated with gold and jade, on the huge multi-person conference table with exquisite carvings, Lu Hu's fingers casually picked up her hair, as if a beautiful flame was leaping out from her fingertips.
"The current situation is not very good. We may need to increase taxes a little to ease the pressure on the national treasury." He Fang actually felt a little guilty. After all, the reason why his people were rich but the country was poor was that he did not grasp the mechanism changes after "Xu Wu Chongqi" was launched online.
If he had focused more on development rather than on balancing happiness and other factors before the online launch of "Xu Wu Restart", and had been more bold in expanding land and increasing population, he might not have been so passive.
"Sure." Lu Hu did not hesitate, "Why not?"
"Do you think it's okay?" He Fang didn't know whether Lu Hu said it was okay because of his suggestion or because of the current development of the city.
"What's the problem?" Lu Hu asked back curiously.
"If taxes are suddenly increased without warning, won't that cause public protests?" He Fang asked.
Lu Hu casually touched the information He Fang had given her on the table, and spread the thick information in front of her: "Haven't you already done your research?"
"Are there any other suggestions or things to note?" Ever since he got advice from Lu Hu last time, He Fang has had an inexplicable sense of trust in Lu Hu, and now he urgently wants to get some advice.
This time, Lu Hu did not answer, but looked at He Fang. Her rosy lips were slightly pursed, forming a very obvious arc. Her eyes were fixed on He Fang, and a bright rose color bloomed in her pupils.
"My dear city lord, you seem to trust me very much." Lu Hu's voice was seductive, making He Fang blush.
He Fang didn't know why he blushed easily in front of Lu Hu, and stammered, "You are the Minister of Finance, you must be very capable, of course I believe in your suggestions."
Lu Hu laughed softly, her laughter full of joy.
"Then of course I have to seriously respond to the expectations of our city lord." Lu Hu began to read the very detailed information on the desk, not only the report from their Ministry of Finance, but also He Fang's own analysis. Putting these things together gives people a very wonderful feeling.
Lu Hu's fingers passed over every note made by He Fang and the documents sorted out by He Fang. Each one was an annotation made by He Fang after careful consideration.
He Fang was actually very nervous. He felt the same nervousness as if he was facing his teacher and waiting for him to mark his homework. He even swallowed unconsciously to calm his heartbeat.
Of course Lu Hu noticed He Fang's little physical reaction and his smile got even bigger.
She finally put down all the information and half-closed her eyes. Even without looking at it, she had already memorized all the information that needed to be remembered.
"You have indeed read the information here. I commend you for your hard work in organizing the information."
Lu Hu's words did not make He Fang feel at ease. It sounded like this was just the beginning and there would definitely be a sequel. He Fang nervously forced himself to listen carefully to every suggestion of Lu Hu.
"First of all, whether the people can bear the pressure brought by the tax increase is probably what you are most concerned about." Lu Hu narrowed his eyes slightly, and couldn't help smiling when he saw He Fang's bright eyes. "My answer is that they can bear it. The city is now peaceful and prosperous under your management. Many people have a lot of savings to use. A slight increase in taxes is not difficult for the people to accept."
He Fang had also considered this problem. From the information Lu Hu gave him, it seemed that many of his residents now had considerable wealth, and they seemed to be much richer than him.
After all, this is a completely closed small city. There is no concept of "luxury goods" in such a small city, so there are not many places where you can spend a lot of money, and the daily entertainment expenses are not very large. Over time, the money in people's pockets accumulates more and more.
"Proper tax increases can actually curb current inflation, which is not a bad thing for the entire city. Secondly, tax increases are for long-term considerations, which is beyond doubt, and can appropriately reduce some of the gap between the rich and the poor."
He Fang nodded. The taxes in the game were different from the complex taxes in reality. In reality, taxes were clearly classified and graded, but in the game, they were uniformly planned using a percentage standard. Moreover, He Fang's current city population was only about 30,000, so a too complex tax model was not needed.
Lu Hu listed the data and the pros and cons of increasing taxes one by one, and finally emphasized: "There may be short-term dissatisfaction with taxes, but after residents find that appropriate taxes have little impact on their current lives and can enrich the treasury to improve infrastructure and expand towns, they will not protest."
After getting a positive answer, He Fang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "But I don't know how much tax should be increased so that it won't completely affect the people. I want to increase it gradually depending on the situation, but I'm not sure if multiple increases will cause public dissatisfaction."
"So you want to increase the current taxes to the maximum extent possible?" Lu Hu asked with narrowed eyes.
"No." He Fang refused. "I want to at least ensure that the city can function normally and maintain the current status quo of prosperity for the people."
Lu Hu's eyes narrowed slightly. Their city lord was even considering whether he would take too much money and make the residents unhappy when he was collecting money.
"Well then." Lu Hu's fingers were stained with water from the cup and he wrote a number on the table in front of He Fang.
He Fang was stunned when he saw it: "Isn't it too high?"
"No, this is the minimum number given after considering your thoughts, Lord City Lord. Since the city was founded, you have never raised taxes once." Lu Hu smiled, "Not to mention that you are going to increase the minimum living allowance policy for poor households. Subsidizing poor households based on this number will not have much impact."
He Fang stared at the '3' on the table. It was so high, and he had originally planned to increase it by only a few tenths. As the Minister of Finance, was Lu Hu so ruthless in asking for money?
Thinking carefully, although I tried very hard, I didn't have a detailed understanding of the economic system. Although the game is real, it is not too demanding to the point of being too detailed. I have no idea where the taxes are.
I was relieved to get an accurate number from Lu Hu.
He Fang felt a little reluctant, but seeing that Lu Hu didn't care, he calmed down a little and said, "I... I'll try."
He will take a closer look at the statistics page, and once public dissatisfaction appears, he will immediately reduce taxes to a fraction of a percent. Although the time line for replenishing the treasury will be extended, at least it will not affect existing residents.
When He Fang was thinking, he looked up unconsciously and met Lu Hu's eyes. The clarity in the other's eyes seemed to know what He Fang was thinking about.
"What...what's wrong?" He Fang was startled and leaned back unconsciously, not wanting to be stared at by Lu Hu like that.
"I'm glad that you, Lord City Lord, trust me so much. This makes me very happy." Lu Hu covered his lips with one hand, as if to hide his smile, but Lu Hu's eyes, which would narrow like an old fox whenever he smiled, made He Fang shudder inexplicably.
"There's... there's one more thing, which is that you divided the land for private construction of residential buildings." He Fang stammered and wanted to start his 'city lord boasting mode' again.
"Hmm?" Lu Hu tilted her head, her long hair falling from her shoulders, and she looked incredibly beautiful.
"Just...just...you did a good job, you did...very well..." He Fang originally wanted to say something nice, but seeing Lu Hu's expression, it became difficult for him to say any nice words.
"Hehe." With a smile, He Fang felt his cheek being touched again. Lu Hu's hand was very warm, as if she herself was a burning flame. "Thank you, my dear Lord City Lord. I really can't stand your praise. I really want to tear you apart and eat you up."
He Fang's eyes widened and he retreated at the speed of light.
Lu Hu stared at He Fang disappearing from her hands, then stood up again and looked at the information with half-closed eyes. Although she didn't smile, her pupils, which were like blooming roses, revealed her excellent mood at the moment.
In front of her, He Fang would involuntarily reveal his dependence. He accepted everything about this city well, even...
It was as if he was treating himself standing in front of him as a human being, not an N-PC.
He Fang quit the game, lay in the somatosensory cabin, sighed deeply, his cheeks flushed, and secretly criticized the maker of this somatosensory cabin.
Just make a game, it's not some rubbish game that needs to use scantily clad pretty girls in small advertisements, and there's no need to set up a good N-PC like this!
Just now he really felt Lu Hu stroking his cheek and breathing softly in his ear.
He Fang thought that if the person playing this game was a wretched person who took advantage of the game settings to do whatever he wanted to the N-PC, wouldn't that be very unsafe?
Does this game have any rules that prohibit players from touching N-PCs at will?
He sat up and rubbed his temples vigorously. He continued to complain, but he still had to continue with the information he had received from Lu Hu.
Those complicated file analyses would burn out all of He Fang's brain cells. Although compared to real files, they are just small things in the game, but they are very strenuous to really study.
However, He Fang will study all the games he is interested in very seriously, such as the properties and introduction of a certain weapon. Although these items have basically no effect on the players, they are all easter eggs for He Fang. The detailed descriptions of many things are secretly in line with the map, world view, background story, etc., which are actually very interesting to read.
However, this habit became very troublesome when studying data. He Fang could not help but pay attention to those boring data and analyze them seriously. He had never had such a hard time when he was in school.
"I want to eat chocolate." In the quiet room, the fair-skinned boy sat up from the body warmer, his mind full of thoughts of eating sweets. He skillfully opened the takeaway software and went directly to the supermarket to buy several chocolates and some chocolate-flavored ice cream.
He Fang half-lay down in front of the computer desk, opened the operation panel of "Xu Wu Chongqi", and hesitantly added '3' to the tax.
He Fang's eyes were fixed on the data and contents on the statistical panel, especially the resident column.
The fun of infrastructure games is to create something from scratch, but He Fang also really likes to watch the values of residents' happiness and satisfaction increase, just like...
It seemed that this world would be filled with all kinds of unhappiness, but the residents in the game world would always be happy, which would make him feel very good.
He Fang first opened a bottle of Coke for himself to replenish his sugar intake, then he tilted his head back and took a few sips. However, his eyes never left those numbers. He felt that his heartbeat was being grasped by those numbers.
The population, which had been growing very slowly, stagnated for a short time. He Fang kept watching the passage of time, and the plummeting happiness and satisfaction that he had imagined did not happen.
Only after a long pause did it return to its previous very slow growth.
He Fang breathed a sigh of relief.
He watched helplessly as the amount of money in the national treasury grew faster and faster, and he felt like jumping for joy.
Woo woo woo, he has money now.
Wuuuuu, he has become a big bastard who extorts money from the people!
He Fang decided to reduce the amount of money in the treasury after it grew to a certain level, so that other values that are currently growing as slowly as a turtle could be accelerated a bit.
The daily tax for a city of 20,000 to 30,000 people is not actually that high, but it will become more as time goes by. He Fang waited for a long time but nothing unexpected happened, so he happily drank a few sips of Coke. This time he drank Coke but did not look at the screen at all!
If he had known that he could raise taxes so much, he would have done it earlier, right?!
He didn't even know his residents were so rich!
He Fang went back and watched the old strategy videos again. A short-term increase in taxes would soon lead to various complaints from the public about the taxes being too high. He looked at the event statistics again and saw that they were still refreshing some irrelevant information.
He Fang raised his eyebrows slightly. This is just like when you have a hundred dollars, one dollar seems like a lot, but when you have ten thousand dollars, a hundred dollars won't seem so noticeable.
Its residents are really rich.
Hehehehe.
He Fang was in a good mood, when suddenly a piece of news appeared in the event statistics.
'Congratulations to the city lord for the city's population exceeding 30,000.'
He Fang was delighted and flipped through the event statistics, and found that an area in the residential area had been built!
There’s someone here, there’s someone here!
He Fang looked at those residential areas eagerly, then looked at his own taxes, and his mind became active again, wanting to develop supporting facilities in the newly expanded areas as soon as possible so that the residents living there could have better living conditions.
Finally, He Fang shook his head and patted his cheeks. Don't spend money so quickly. Have you forgotten the embarrassment before? Now these people just live a little far from the city center, which is not very convenient. Don't worry about the rest for the time being!
He Fang's mind was full of thoughts of 'having money' and 'wanting to spend money', when suddenly his cell phone rang.
He Fang, who was still hesitating, picked up his phone and answered the call without even checking the caller ID: "Hello?"
He Fang's voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time. Even He Fang himself was stunned for a moment.
The person on the other end of the phone was obviously stunned for a moment, as if confused about who heard such a cheerful voice, and suddenly both parties stopped talking.
Finally, the other party suddenly spoke. It was the familiar blond-haired man. "Ah, sorry, customer. I'm the delivery man. I was looking for your meal before I spoke. I'm going upstairs right now to pick up your takeaway and leave it at the door as usual. Remember to accept it."
He Fang was silent for two seconds and hung up the phone.
He approached the door, leaned his back against it, and tilted his head slightly to listen to the sounds outside. The sound of the elevator quickly attracted He Fang's attention, and He Fang pricked up his ears to listen to the sounds outside.
The man's footsteps were so light that they were not even as loud as the sound of the plastic bag of takeout in his hand. Then he heard the friction sound of the plastic bag of his takeout placed at the door and the slight sound of it hitting the ground, and finally the sound of the elevator door opening.
He Fang blinked his eyes. Was this person really light? Why was there almost no sound when he walked? Or was it because the delivery guy traveled so much that he had developed such graceful steps? He Fang was speechless at his own thoughts.
After waiting for three minutes, He Fang was sure that no one was at the door. Before opening the door, he secretly looked outside through the peephole and finally opened the door.
When the sweet chocolate is wrapped in your mouth, the strong sense of satisfaction is self-evident. It is very nice to comfort yourself with something sweet after consuming a lot of brain cells.
He Fang took the second bite of chocolate and then thought casually, did the other person hear what he just said? Did he think this person's voice was so unpleasant?
He Fang was somewhat curious and said "ah" a few times, then said to himself: "Hello, I am He Fang, He of He Fang, Fang of He Fang."
I said a few meaningless sentences to test whether my voice was really that hoarse. The result was that it was not. It was probably because I was not prepared for the moment that I made that sound.
You probably didn’t hear it. The delivery guy just said he was picking up the food.
He Fang took a bite of a piece of chocolate.
Forget it, never mind.
At the same time, the huge snow-white iconic building was now surrounded by a faint white aura of confusion.
People passing by walked past the iconic building with expressionless faces, ignoring this strange guy who occasionally had a seizure.
——
He Fang was sitting in the research institute, with other researchers standing behind him.
The institute has successfully applied for research funding, and after relieving some of the pressure, He Fang came to the institute and began simulated training in operating an aircraft, striving to establish contact with the outside world as soon as possible.
He Fang was very familiar with how to operate an airplane, so familiar with it that he could even pass the test directly. However, when he actually saw the research institute version of the simulated driving instrument, he was still stunned.
The man in the snow-white coat leaned against He Fang's side, and carefully explained all the buttons to He Fang with his gloved fingers. Zhu Yan leaned against He Fang to make progress, also in order to be able to see the same perspective as He Fang.
But even though it was so close, He Fang didn't feel the place was inappropriate or strange at all. His mind was full of the functions of those messy buttons.
"It's so complicated..." He Fang himself didn't expect this.
"It can be designed to be simpler. In many cases, there are not many things that need to be operated. The reason why all of these are made operable is to ensure safety." Zhu Yan explained to He Fang seriously, "Even if the plane disintegrates in the air, the lives inside the plane can survive. This is the original intention of these complex operation designs."
He Fang blinked, very satisfied with the research institute's ability to design safety performance so seriously.
He Fang said unconsciously: "The institute has always exceeded my expectations and has never let me down."
Zhu Yan's eyes flashed with a subtle joy of being praised. He lowered his eyes and said softly to He Fang, "Lord City Lord, you have never let us down."
He Fang blinked his eyes, sincerely admiring the intelligence of today's N-PC.
"Is there an instruction manual?" He Fang looked at these complicated operations. Rather than having someone explain them to him, he preferred to study the instructions slowly by himself.
Zhu Yan was stunned and a little disappointed. The brief disappointment prevented him from answering immediately.
He Fang turned around in confusion: "Isn't there an instruction manual?"
Zhu Yan stood up, his face cold and calm: "Yes."
"Hmm..." He Fang wondered if it was his own illusion. He always felt that Zhu Yan's expression was not very good after he asked for the instruction manual. "Is there any detailed information in the instruction manual?"
"have."
He Fang choked up, looked at Zhu Yan, then looked at Zhu Yan again, not knowing why he didn't have the courage to ask to read the instruction manual.
However, Zhu Yan slightly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he showed no emotion and said, "The manual can be accessed from the third light green button on your right hand side. It also has search and retrieval functions. I will leave for now. If you need anything, you can press the call bell button on your right hand side, and I will come to you immediately to help you solve your problems."
"Thank you." He Fang could only utter these two words with his eyes wide open. He couldn't say anything else.
He Fang watched helplessly as Zhu Yan left and the door behind him closed. He was the only one left in the room and he suddenly felt relieved.
Even though he knew that he was just an N-PC, He Fang always felt a little uncomfortable when facing him.
It's just an N-PC...
He Fang opened the instruction manual, which contained a lengthy introduction. The language was very professional and not interesting at all. After flipping through it, He Fang pursed his lips and thought, "Okay, this is another very, very brain-intensive thing."
While studying it, He Fang was impressed by the uniqueness of this design and the innovative thinking mode. Although this is an aircraft, the cockpit is an extremely important area. The entire aircraft is very large, but the cockpit is relatively narrow. In addition, the cockpit can have a "support". If a damaged part suddenly appears, the support can be transferred to other important parts and the damaged part can be removed. The principle is very similar to that of a rocket, but this removal is selective.
The more He Fang read, the more he felt that the design of this game was simply too detailed. What kind of obsessive-compulsive person would design such a complicated instruction manual? Did the game developer write the copy himself? Wouldn't he think that the copy was too complicated and reduce the difficulty to make it less difficult for players to read?
He Fang compared the instructions one by one and began to tentatively start the operation simulation.
Zhu Yan poured himself a glass of water and drank it in one gulp. Someone from the research institute behind him asked, "Zhu Yan? Why are you here? Aren't you here to explain simulated flight to the Creator?"
"The Creator said that he doesn't need me." His cold face was as handsome as ever, but compared to his usual indifference and alienation, it now looked even more gloomy. His emotions were exposed to the point that people around him could tell at a glance that he was in a bad mood.
"Are you unhappy? Isn't it a well-known fact that the Creator himself has social phobia?" A researcher at the side poured a glass of calming cold drink for Zhu Yan. "Before the Creator came, the Creator had always been doing research alone. I'm afraid he hasn't changed yet."
Zhu Yan did not respond, but just held the cup of water and drank it in small sips to calm himself down.
"Before the advent, our research institute had been completely useless." The researcher at the side couldn't help but join in the conversation.
"That's right. We didn't have any goals at the time. We just researched all sorts of random things. By the way, who invented the super-efficient and multifunctional egg beater? It can beat 60 eggs in one minute and also separate the egg liquid and mix them evenly. It's so funny." One of them laughed as he recalled the incident. "At that time, the Creator also made a few egg beaters and put them on the market for sale, but no one bought them. It seems that they are still in the national treasury now, hahahahaha."
"Oh, maybe someone would buy this thing now? When it was first developed, there were no egg dishes or desserts. They were all written in by the Creator later."
"It seems to be somewhat useful now, but you remember that walking aid, which is directly connected to the nerves and will force a person to keep walking. Where on earth did the inspiration come from to design such a hellish thing? The Creator made it and actually sold it."
"Yes, yes, yes. I remember this. It was not sold at the time because someone tried it out of curiosity. As a result, the time setting was wrong and it could not be stopped or dismantled. It is said that the person said that the walking time was too long and there was no control. It felt like he was walking to death and he was desperate. The product was also taken off the shelves. It was too hellish."
"Come to think of it, no matter what strange things we designed, it seemed that the Creator would make a few and sell them. Did the Creator really think that these things could be sold?"
"I don't know, but when the strange things I made were made seriously by the Creator and sold, how should I put it, well, I felt something special in my heart..."
"I know, I know. The things I designed at that time were useless, but the creator would definitely open the instruction manual to read it clearly. I even secretly wrote an acrostic poem to let the creator see it. I don't know if the creator found it."
"My goodness, you are carrying contraband!"
"Hahahaha, you blame me for not knowing how to smuggle private goods?"
Listening to the researchers in the institute chatting away from their busy schedule, the director of the institute slowly walked over and asked, "What are you talking about that makes you look so happy?"
"Let's talk about the Creator again. It is said that the Creator made a lot of strange things before, and he would read the instructions and then sell them, especially the egg beater and walking aid." Someone immediately answered the director.
"Ah, that one." The director of the institute glanced at Zhuyan, "It was Zhuyan who did it."
Zhu Yan silently drank a sip of the sedative drink.
The whole room fell into an eerie silence.
Suddenly, someone asked tremblingly: "Then...then...the random height-enhancing insoles..."
"Ah, it's also made by Zhu Yan. It's quite interesting, isn't it? I find it quite comfortable to use. It's not just for increasing height and looking good, but sometimes it can increase height casually and save energy. I think it's very useful." The director showed a very amiable smile and even touched his belly.
"That coffin... oh no, the all-round sleep massage bed..." someone asked again.
"That one, didn't you buy it? It was made by Zhuyan. It's so comfortable to lie in it. Even if it's completely sealed, there's still fresh air. I lock myself in it after finishing the experiment every day, and I get massages for my shoulders, waist, legs, feet, and even my face. It's really comfortable." The director said happily.
However, the looks in the entire laboratory became strange and complicated.
They have always known that all kinds of strange research have been discovered, but everyone is studying strange things so they don't think about it in this way.
But if you think about it carefully, the research results can be traced to some extent, and the researchers can be found, but some strange things that cannot be judged by words have never been investigated by who made them.
After all, no one wants to figure out who made such a strange thing.
but……
If Zhuyan did it all and wanted to keep it secret, then no one would know about it.
How can you make something so weird? If you want to talk about weirdness, no one can compare to you.
Zhu Yan continued to drink without changing his expression, and seemed to be in a very calm mood.
Then he slowly raised his eyes, which were filled with a strong coldness, like a blizzard: "What's wrong?"
"No, nothing. I just suddenly thought, after hearing what the director said, that these designs are actually quite interesting." Someone began to stutter.
"Yes, yes, it's us who are blind and fail to see the specific value of something. As expected of the Creator, He can see the value of things. Really, we all need to practice more, hahahahahaha."
Zhu Yan didn't care at all about what people around him were saying about him. He just casually picked up his phone and looked through the records. Suddenly, he found that there was an extra message on the simulated flight recorder.
It was news that the plane had successfully flown.
Now only He Fang is using the simulated driving. The suddenly updated information is 100% He Fang's simulated driving information, which surprised Zhu Yan a little. He clicked on He Fang's driving details.
All the driving scores above are very ordinary. There is nothing special about such ordinary data. But what if we add "first time" to this ordinary data?
Their city lord, their creator, had never flown a plane or driven a car before, but they never expected that he could completely simulate driving and achieve an 'average' result in just the first time.
This is the first time!
Absolutely the first time!
The researchers could not hide their shock. He put down the cup and quickly walked towards the driving simulation room, leaving a group of confused researchers looking at each other. Could he be angry?
When Zhu Yan pushed open the door, he saw his beloved Creator performing a second round of simulated driving.
His creator was extremely serious. His cute face, which always showed various expressions, now showed only seriousness and concentration. Before he did anything, he would lower his eyes to look at the direction of the operating buttons before operating them. There was also an instruction manual next to him, but even so...
Even though He Fang showed great unfamiliarity and slowness, on the screen, the aircraft was driven very steadily, just like a cautious operator who was flying for the first time, with countless simulation experiences and the nervousness and seriousness of the first time.
Zhu Yan was shocked and slowly widened his eyes.
Zhu Yan stood behind He Fang without saying a word. Suddenly, the extreme weather mode appeared on the screen. In this mode, the operation would change and become difficult.
He Fang's clear voice came: "The manual will play the key points for flying in extreme weather at triple speed."
The mechanical sound came very quickly. According to He Fang's mental strength, he should not be able to understand it quickly, unless he already had a general understanding of this piece of information. What he needed were some keywords.
Zhu Yan couldn't take his eyes off He Fang. It was the first time he saw with his own eyes their Creator actually doing something.
In the eyes of their beloved Creator, there seemed to be bright stars shining. He was not afraid of challenges, and was not as cautious as usual. He even showed a rare courage with a desire to challenge and explore.
Zhu Yan heard his heart beating faster due to admiration and joy. He subconsciously covered his heart, fearing that his heartbeat would disturb He Fang's serious and diligent exploration.
He couldn't even maintain his cool appearance anymore, he even... wondered if he looked like the Holy Lord who was sticking to the window.