Song Dynasty: Yuan Dynasty, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm still alive.

Hoover's policies in response to the Great Depression were not laissez-faire; on the contrary, they involved unprecedented intervention in the economy.

He initiated a series of public works projects, including bridges across the river, hydroelectric power stations, and dams. However, the imperial court's annual fiscal surplus was only a mere 150 million taels of silver—and this was the result of sustained economic development.

This expenditure, when spread among 200 million Song people, had a negligible effect.

To completely turn the situation around, a massive amount of money is needed.

Therefore, there is only one solution: increase taxes.

Unfortunately, the largest monopoly capital in the Eastern Song Dynasty was the Royal Chamber of Commerce.

No matter how Hoover tried to intervene, he couldn't avoid this issue.

Zhao Zhao would never cooperate with him.

He provides the money, and Hoover earns the fame?

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Whenever Hoover was about to take action against monopoly capital, these bastards would run to see Zhao Zhao and beg for the emperor's protection.

What's even more remarkable is that behind these monopolistic capitals stood the scholar-officials of the imperial court.

The reason is simple: in the Eastern Song Dynasty, it was absolutely impossible to achieve great things without the support of scholar-officials.

At the same time, the scholar-officials would not stand idly by and watch Zhao Zhao's royal merchant guild arbitrarily annex other businesses.

So why did it ultimately come to this?

This is all thanks to the imperial wisdom that Emperor Xingwei taught Zhao Zhao—

"Gather the strength of friends to defeat the enemy."

If you were to attempt to acquire territory yourself, the scholar-officials would object.

But if the annexation is done along with the literati, then there will be no problem.

What? Some scholar-officials have such high moral standards that they are unwilling to accept the merger?

It's okay, we still have other methods like sowing discord and winning people over.

"Damn it, how can we govern the Song Dynasty well with a bunch of insects like you?"

Hoover had no choice but to push through reforms without touching the monopoly capital. He tried everything he could, but could only barely maintain the status quo. While he didn't end up dumping milk into the river like in the early days of the Great Depression, the economy remained stagnant.

Workers in the Eastern Song Dynasty could only go to the cinema once a week, and they lived a very frugal life.

Ultimately, Hoover had no choice but to build relief centers across the country, providing free food such as buns.

As time passed, public discontent continued to accumulate.

They no longer believe the "thriving" claims in the newspapers.

Just then, they discovered the last gift Emperor Sejong had left them—

Guns!

Thus, the workers' uprising began.

The workers armed themselves and stormed into the factory, smashing and destroying the machines.

They didn't know how to change their fate, but at least this allowed them to vent their anger.

The scholar-officials of the Eastern Song Dynasty were not worried at all about this situation.

It's an old tradition.

They then offered them amnesty, promising that as long as they joined the Xiang Army, they would be given priority consideration for future public works projects such as dam construction.

Although the treatment of the Xiang Army soldiers was far inferior to that of workers in the Golden Age, it was still considered respectable. As a result, those workers who had no core principles and no idea what they were supposed to do accepted the offer of amnesty.

Even the most stubborn and ambitious individuals were suppressed in the face of the powerful national strength of the Eastern Song Dynasty.

Amidst these contradictions, new ideas are taking shape.

In Nanjing, three young men picked up Ma Si's book.

One of them was named Xi Te, a retired soldier who had made many contributions on the European battlefield.

The second one is named Luo Fu, who is disabled and has difficulty walking, so he can only use a wheelchair.

The third was named Liezi, who studied law at Tsinghua Academy.

Due to the failure of Hoover's reforms, insightful people in the Eastern Song Dynasty began to discuss how to save the country's economy.

Although Marx has passed away, his theories have become a hot topic of discussion.

Countless new theories have emerged from Marx's work or drawn useful insights from it.

For example, Ralph Roth founded a doctrine of democratic Marxism, advocating for the use of national debt to construct large-scale public works projects in order to revitalize the economy.

This proposition was supported by the majority because it could solve the current predicament of the Eastern Song Dynasty without touching the interests of monopoly capital.

Issuing government bonds sounds simple, but in reality, it involves extremely complex economic principles that are not something that ordinary people can handle.

Issuing paper money indiscriminately can cause serious problems; the Ming Dynasty's precious paper money serves as a stark reminder of this not long ago.

Xi Te, on the other hand, founded a doctrine of national Marxism, advocating war to eliminate the barbarians of the world. He believed that these barbarians occupied vast tracts of land but did not know how to develop them. If the Song people were to develop these lands, it would create numerous jobs and surely restore the glory of the Golden Age. He also claimed that foreign workers were stealing jobs from the Song people by paying wages far below market rates, which he considered theft.

Interestingly, like the late emperor, Xi Te was a staunch supporter of penguins. He enjoyed drawing penguins, but he drew them in a feminine style, which few people appreciated.

Overall, although Xi Te's doctrine is full of logical flaws, its simple and crude way of personifying the object of hatred has attracted many supporters.

What Luo Fu and Xi Te had in common was that neither of their doctrines touched upon the interests of monopoly capital.

Therefore, the next Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Pavilion will be chosen from among these two.

As a traditional Marxist, Liezi was among the first to criticize both of these doctrines.

He began by reiterating Marx's core argument: the state is a product of irreconcilable class contradictions and an instrument of class rule. He also clearly pointed out that only through violent revolution could the bourgeois state apparatus be completely destroyed.

"When great revolutionaries are alive, the oppressive classes constantly persecute them, treating their doctrines with the most vicious hostility, the most insane hatred, and the most outrageous rumors and slander. After their deaths, they attempt to turn them into harmless idols, one might say idolize them, and bestow certain honors upon their names in order to comfort and fool the oppressed classes, while at the same time emasculating the content of revolutionary doctrines, dulling their revolutionary edge, and vulgarizing them."

Needless to say, Liezi was banished to the Americas.

Fortunately, Liezi was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations and a master at Tsinghua Academy, belonging to the scholar-official class.

Otherwise, such violent remarks would not be as simple as just exile.