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

The final election results were in: Luo Fu was elected as the new chief minister, while Xi Te received the second-highest number of votes and was appointed as the second chief minister.

Luo Fu and Xi Te loathed each other, and the thought of having to work with such people for the next few years made them feel extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Zhao Zhao was considerate, and he told Xi Te that he could serve as the chief minister of the Protectorate of the Western Regions.

Ili had its own six minor ministries, and the Protectorate General of the Western Regions naturally had its own small Wenhua Pavilion.

Don't you want to expand your military and fight a war?

There are plenty of barbarians in the west, why don't you just go there and solve your problem?

Of course, Zhao Zhao would not take the initiative to do this, since he was ill and unable to govern, so Xi Te would have to fight for it himself.

Upon learning of this, Luo Fu immediately agreed, and with their combined efforts, Xi Te successfully became the chief minister of the Western Regions Protectorate.

Without Xite, Luo Fu was finally able to realize his political ambitions.

He issued a large amount of government bonds, using returns far exceeding market interest rates to entice private capital to buy them.

In reality, although most people supported Ralph, they were not sure whether Ralph's policies would be effective.

After all, can such a difficult situation be solved simply by issuing government bonds?

But since things have come to this, we have no choice but to believe.

In its first year, Luo Fu issued national bonds worth 100 million taels of silver.

Monopoly capital thinks that now that the government has money, the money will eventually end up in their hands after it is spent, and the interest rate on government bonds is much higher than that of money shops, so it is a win-win situation.

As a result, monopoly capital subscribed to these government bonds.

The Luo Fu government's funds suddenly increased from 150 million taels of silver to 250 million taels of silver, which can be described as having ample ammunition.

The immediate response was not to launch a war to suppress the American uprisings.

The primary task is to stabilize the Central Plains. As long as the Central Plains are stabilized, the Americas cannot be turned upside down.

The Americas were thousands of miles away from the Central Plains and had virtually no impact on them.

Previously, the Americas had received numerous subsidies and tax exemptions due to their encouragement of immigration. The loss of the Americas actually alleviated the predicament of the Eastern Song Dynasty to some extent.

The government led by Luo Fu began to undertake large-scale infrastructure construction, including major repairs and renovations of hydroelectric power stations, water conservancy projects, railways, and so on.

This has generated a large demand for labor.

Countless unemployed workers found jobs, and although the wages were nowhere near those of the golden age, they were at least able to support their families.

Even so, the people of the Central Plains were satisfied.

We used to not even have enough to eat, so we're very grateful for what we have now.

Although there was a golden age, let's just treat that time as a beautiful dream.

It's time to face reality.

Ralph invested less than twice as much in public works as Hoover, but the results were worlds apart.

Many people were confused and began to delve into the reasons behind it.

Luo Fu naturally knew the reason behind this, which was "animal spirits"—the confidence and expectations of economic agents, which determine investment and consumption behavior.

During Hoover's time, the economy had just entered the Great Depression, with businesses closing, workers losing their jobs, prices falling, and the market extremely pessimistic. People expected things to get worse, so even with government subsidies, businesses and residents dared not borrow or spend, resulting in poor cash flow.

By issuing government bonds and promising high interest returns, he changed capitalists' expectations. The government had money, was willing to spend it, and was willing to pay interest, which meant it became more competitive.

Of course, many people have also begun to predict the downfall of Luo Fu, believing that this type of lending cannot be sustained and that a more serious crisis will occur after a period of time.

Luo Fu didn't bother to refute these remarks; he simply kept issuing national debt and borrowing money for infrastructure projects.

Soon, the great depression in the Eastern Song Dynasty was alleviated to some extent, and the economy of the Eastern Song Dynasty escaped the brink of collapse and entered a state of near death.

This improvement also gave the Lofau government greater prestige, and Lofau took this opportunity to propose the establishment of a special department.

He believed that the original Imperial City Guard could no longer meet the needs of the Eastern Song Dynasty, and that a completely new intelligence agency was needed to deal with the Mo Party and other ideologies that threatened the country.

Not many people oppose this policy.

Overall, it was in line with the interests of the scholar-official class.

Many people are saying that Luo Fu was a really good person.

Five years have passed.

Although the Eastern Song Dynasty never regained its golden age, it at least stabilized.

Zhao Zhao, deep in the palace, was very confused.

Could borrowing money really save the Song Dynasty's economy?

It doesn't look too difficult.

My illness is cured, it's my turn to play now.

The so-called "ruling by doing nothing" means that the power was voluntarily relinquished by the emperor, and can naturally be taken back.

Moreover, Zhao Zhao's imperial strategies combined the strengths of many schools, making it incredibly easy for him to reclaim power.

Just as Zhao Zhao was preparing to cause trouble,

He suddenly fell ill with a serious disease, and his whole body was covered in red hair.

Even gathering the best doctors in the country couldn't help.

Soon after, Zhao Zhao passed away.

Zhao Zhao's seven-year-old son, Zhao Bai, ascended the throne.

Of course, when Zhao Zhao was about to leave, he also left a will, appointing Luo Fu, along with the left and right prime ministers Feng Zhan and Zhou You, as regents to jointly assist the young emperor.

There's nothing wrong with that; the Song Dynasty emperor and the scholar-officials shared power for over a hundred years.

If an emperor could endure not returning to the capital for forty years, how much more so would he be able to assist a mere child emperor?

Just a little water.

I originally thought that the situation would be one of harmony between everyone, and that we could all enjoy a peaceful and prosperous era together.

But Luo Fu didn't think so; he still owed money.

Every year there's a fiscal deficit of over 100 million, and someone has to pay it back.

Thus, the Secret Service, which Luo Fu founded, came into play. As it was a secret service agency, its members were destined to be of low status, many of them ordinary workers, so that they could complete some special missions.

And who are the workers most grateful to now?

It was undoubtedly Luo Fu.

He was the one who pulled the Song Dynasty out of the mire.

Therefore, the Secret Service followed Luo Fuma's lead.

Soon a scandal was exposed.

Left Chancellor Feng Zhan was in league with the Mexicans and intended to overthrow the court. He also embezzled court funds to support the rebels in the Americas and even leaked a lot of military secrets to the Mexicans in the Americas.

Upon learning the news, Feng Zhan was furious at the Left Prime Minister's residence.

"This is outrageous! Luo Fu has gone too far, daring to slander me like this. The late emperor has only just passed away, and he can't help but start his factionalism and attacks on those who disagree with him?"

"I am irreconcilably opposed to such treacherous villains."

That very night, the Secret Service stormed into Feng Zhan's residence and arrested him.

Just as the Secret Service was preparing to place the evidence under Feng Zhan's bed, they discovered that the evidence was already lying under the bed.

"No, he's really good with ink!"

The Secret Service officers were dumbfounded and didn't know what to do, so they had no choice but to report to Luo Fu.

Luo Fu was stunned for a long time after hearing the news, and eventually went to visit Feng Zhan in prison.

"Prime Minister Feng, why are you doing this?"

Feng Zhan gave a cold laugh, "We scholars are here to establish a moral compass for the world, to secure a future for the people, to continue the lost learning of the sages, and to usher in an era of peace for all generations. In my heart, there is only the people of Song, and I have a clear conscience."

Luo Fu remained silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "I am also trying to save the Song people. Would Prime Minister Feng be willing to lend me a hand?"

"Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together. Your methods cannot save the Song Dynasty."

Luo Fu didn't try to persuade him further; he would prove himself right through his actions.

Of the three regents, only two remained in an instant.

Zhou You did not believe that Feng Zhan had colluded with Mo, so he thought that Luo Fu had framed him, and therefore he wanted to fight back.

Such a treacherous villain must not be allowed to live, otherwise the Song Dynasty will be destroyed in his hands.