Chapter 211 Marry Lin Wen
The meeting then turned to the issue of money.
The empire is currently burdened with a heavy burden, with expenditures increasing dramatically and revenues decreasing dramatically.
Since losing control of the Bay Canal, the empire's foreign trade has relied almost entirely on sea transportation.
Since the outbreak of the war, all the countries in the Western Continent have supported the Papal States, and maritime transportation has shrunk significantly, which has dealt a greater blow to the empire.
The two sudden wars greatly increased the empire's consumption. Coupled with the never-ending battle for the Bay Canal, the empire's economy was already stretched to the limit as it was maintaining three wars at the same time.
The last compulsory fundraising initiated by the imperial emperor Li Longxing finally received 10.2 billion, but it is almost used up today, and the war is still like an unfillable bottomless pit.
Where does the money come from?
Li Huideng, the Imperial Finance Minister, proposed three options.
First, printing money.
Second, issue war bonds.
Third, collect taxes.
This is the fifth time money has been printed this year. The empire has printed money four times and has long reached its theoretical limit.
Printing again will inevitably lead to a sharp depreciation of the currency, and the economy will inevitably be worse next year.
However, printing money is still extremely tempting. It is the easiest and fastest way to resolve the crisis, and the benefits of war may offset the harm of excessive money issuance.
But after a heated debate, this item was rejected.
The crucial vote comes from the emperor of the empire.
Li Longxing knew very well that the upper echelons of the empire, the chaebols, families, groups, financial tycoons and high-ranking officials of the empire, all had countless ways to resist inflation and transfer the harm and losses.
Printing money is the greatest evil.
The second option was to issue war bonds, which was ultimately rejected after much discussion.
There is only one item left, collecting taxes.
But how to collect this tax has been a huge problem over the years.
Each elder represents a different group, so no matter how the deal is taken, one side will suffer losses, so it can only be put on hold temporarily.
The last topic: the empire’s economy and internal affairs.
This is the longest and most important topic.
Li Longxing used to sleep every time because there were serious disagreements among the elders and no matter how much they argued, there would be no result.
But this time there was something different.
When Elder Lin Yabo once again proposed his aristocratic system, citizen hierarchy system and slave legal system, he actually gained the support of many people.
It is not surprising that Yu Zhongxian and Mo Xili are allies, but why would Elder Ren Zhengqing, the leader of the Capitalist Party, and his die-hard Mingzhou Governor Ge Guanglin also support it?
Elder Cheng, Elder Luo, and Elder Xu Chengguo did not express clear opposition.
The situation was not good. When Li Longxing originally planned to pay a high price to stop this proposal, Elder Wang Wengong strongly expressed his opposition.
He believed that slavery and citizenship were a great destruction to the empire and a backward system that only a backward and barbaric country like the Adrian Papal States would implement.
"The Empire is noble!"
He concluded his speech.
"The nobility of the empire does not come from the nobility of the upper class, but from the nobility of equality that was established after the Shenwu Reform 180 years ago."
"Whether a person is base or noble is not determined by his innate nature or bloodline, but by his acquired character and ability."
"Otherwise, wouldn't the traitor Wu Jingtang also be a noble and superior person?"
Li Longxing knew that Wang Wengong was the leader of the reformists and the most staunch opponent of imperial power. He had repeatedly obstructed the imperial faction's expansion plans, and the imperial faction hated him to the core.
Li Longxing didn't like this person very much either. Many of his reform ideas were too idealistic and almost impossible to implement in the empire.
However, Wang Wengong had many supporters among the middle and lower classes of the empire. Many knowledgeable people and talented people in the empire came to join his army, making him the undisputed leader of the empire's reformists.
However, he was isolated and helpless among the upper echelons of the empire, and his ideas had no appeal to them, which was also his biggest weakness.
Li Longxing decided to help him secretly.
He coughed and said, "I don't think he's right. People are born into a hierarchy, and the emperor is born a noble."
He talked about how the imperial power was granted by God and was supreme, and sure enough, in the subsequent vote, no one supported Lin Yabo's proposal.
Every elder knew very well that the reason they had their current power was because of the imperial power. The more the imperial power increased, the less power they had.
This is the most irreconcilable contradiction.
Only the Grand Elders are different. They have the attributes of both elders and senate members. The fundamental meaning of their existence is to eliminate differences, maintain balance, and safeguard the stability of the empire.
Afterwards, the Supreme Council discussed the economic situation in various regions, as well as the implementation of imperial policies and institutional reforms.
Despite being criticized from all sides, the Great Elder still affirmed Yao Jing's achievements and promised to provide some help.
The focus then shifted to the reforms in Dongqin Prefecture. Yu Zhongxian and many of Sheng Huaixuan's opponents strongly criticized his reform methods, believing that he maliciously changed labor relations, rendering the vibrant social organizations in the middle ineffective, and that direct organization and management by the prefecture government greatly increased administrative costs.
Unauthorized establishment of a minimum weekly wage is tantamount to malicious competition and sets a very bad example for other regions of the empire.
"If the originally law-abiding civilians in various places start to riot, it's all his responsibility!" concluded a reviewer.
There are also things like restricting state government officials, maliciously maintaining public order, and arbitrarily cracking down on crime.
They all attacked it from all sides.
In their mouths, Sheng Huaixuan quickly became a tyrant, a cruel and inhumane ruler.
All this was due to the fact that his overall authority as governor was too great, and he demanded that the empire take back his "overall" authority and implement the people-king reform in Dongqinzhou.
Li Longxing nodded: "Yes, I think it should be promoted. The empire also needs such changes."
This topic was too broad and no one dared to take it up. The imperial political supervisors in charge of the attack wisely avoided it and only attacked Sheng Huaixuan for his cruelty and evil.
Finally, at Li Longxing's suggestion, the elders reached a resolution that Sheng Huaixuan would immediately pay a fine of 670 million yuan and write a letter of guarantee, admitting his mistake and promising never to make it again.
After the resolution was made, the atmosphere in the meeting suddenly changed, as if the door to a new world had silently opened before them.
The imperial officials exchanged secret glances, as if they had discovered some unspeakable secret.
After that, the Supreme Court suddenly became a penalty committee, and any criticism or accusation against any state was ultimately resolved with fines.
As a result, some imperial political supervisors who were loyal to the emperor started to make random accusations, and the elders whose interests were harmed were unwilling to be the only ones who suffered.
In the end, all 29 states of the empire, except Zezhou, were fined, with the total amount exceeding 10 billion. Even the Great Elder had a smile on his face.
Before the meeting ended, Yan Gao, the Imperial Tax Commissioner, suddenly jumped out and claimed that Changshan County had illegally smuggled gold, the amount of which was as high as billions.
Although there was no evidence at the time, Yu Zhongxian took advantage of the situation to dig out a lot of negative information about Changshan County, trying his best to exaggerate how pure and kind the wealthy people killed by Changshan County were, how sad and heartbroken their relatives and family members were, and how the unearned rich people built their happiness on the suffering of others.
Although it was just a matter of bringing up old scores, Changshan County had offended too many people some time ago and was immediately besieged.
While they were criticizing each other, Li Longxing handed the output value report of Changshan County to the four elders and whispered.
"Production and construction in Changshan County have grown rapidly, and it has absorbed a large number of workers, approaching 500,000, which is one-third of the county's population."
"It has contributed to the stability of the empire. If we rashly sanction it, Changshan County's economy will collapse, and the empire will suddenly have another 500,000 destabilizing factors. What will we do then?"
Li Longxing particularly understood the thoughts of the Great Elder. Their core was stability and balance.
Small-scale chaos is now happening all over the empire, and a large-scale civil unrest has even broken out in Shizhou. Although Shizhou Governor Gu Xuanli has repeatedly claimed that the rebellion has been wiped out, it always suddenly revives, and the bandit leaders he executed keep coming back to life.
Some people even nicknamed Gu Xuanli the Necromancer to mock his absurd behavior.
When the news reached the Supreme Elders' Council, the four elders were very angry, thinking that it was a disgrace to the empire.
They immediately dispatched the Imperial Supervisor to investigate and ordered him to quell the rebellion swiftly.
Not only that, the western part of the empire has always been prone to civil unrest, but because most areas are poor and underdeveloped and have little information, they generally have no impact.
But now, even the traditionally prosperous eastern region has shown signs of instability. A large number of industrial sectors have laid off employees, the empire's unemployment rate has hit new highs, and public security has deteriorated rapidly.
The great elders were very worried about the disruption of order in the empire. More than half of the empire's troops were stationed in various places and did not go to assist in the war. This was the reason.
Therefore, the elders quickly agreed with Li Longxing's words.
Thus, the resolution on Changshan County was formed without interference.
"Changshan County has long been a chronic problem for the Empire. Its new governor, Lin Wen, is understandably using drastic measures to implement reforms."
"However, the gold tax is the empire's fundamental tax. Changshan County needs to pay at least 360 million in additional taxes."
"Order the Chief of Taxation, Yan Gao, to supervise this matter. He must ensure that the evidence is solid and the prosecution is strict. He must not accept bribes, abuse the law, or evade taxes."
"I hope that County Governor Lin will continue his efforts to eliminate the chronic problems and bring a healthy, stable, and well-developed Changshan County to the empire."
As soon as the Supreme Meeting ended, Li Longxing immediately returned to the palace, contacted Sheng Huaixuan through an encrypted phone, and informed him of the content of the meeting.
"The plan needs to be stepped up."
Li Longxing warned.
"Lin Yabo and Yu Zhongxian are already one step ahead of us. They don't know your core yet. If they knew, the Great Elder would never tolerate it."
"I see."
Sheng Huaixuan's low voice came from the phone.
Li Longxing was silent for a moment, then said, "It's not my intention to separate Changshan County from Dongqinzhou."
On the phone, Sheng Huaixuan suddenly laughed: "Long Xing, I understand now. This is actually a good thing."
Li Longxing immediately understood what his friend meant: "So you deliberately avoided contacting the Changshan County officials?"
"right."
The two were silent for a moment.
Li Longxing sighed: "Is Yuchen doing well at your place?"
"He's doing well. He has started his own company now and is doing very well."
Li Longxing nodded slightly and changed the subject: "I plan to send people to support Yang Jiewei and Fei Li. Who do you think is the best choice?"
"Li Linyue."
Li Longxing was silent for a moment: "Why?"
"It will make the two stars completely turn to her."
"But this will only make her more arrogant. She will never see where her roots lie and what she should do."
"This is the best possible outcome."
"But what about the child? This Emperor's Tower is my prison. I want to break it and destroy it, to be free and have everything. She has been growing up freely outside the prison since she was a child, but all she wants is how to get in!"
"I think you can marry her to Lin Wen."
"What?"
"Lin Wen has an incredible belief that he can change the people around him. Li Yuchen has changed a lot since he came back from his place. I believe he can change Li Linyue."
Li Longxing was silent for a while.
"Okay, but that girl might not accept it. Once she chooses a husband, the princess faction will lose at least half of its core members. And I also want to see that guy. Damn, the empire's first princess, the most dazzling jewel of the empire, actually let him sleep with her."
The voice of the Governor-General's wife, Li Huaixiu, came from the phone: "Sister, sister! Come quickly, His Majesty is going crazy again!"
A tiger-like voice said, "What did he say again?"
A small whisper.
Then a huge roar was heard: "Li Longxing, are you itching for trouble again?"
Bang.
Li Longxing wisely hung up the phone.
He turned to the royal guards beside him and said, "You guys, these past few days I've been feeling unwell and have been bedridden. I won't see anyone, especially Ah Xi."
"Yes! Your Majesty!"
(End of this chapter)
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