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

An investigation revealed that Zhou You, the former Right Chancellor of the Song Dynasty, had lost his ideals and beliefs, betrayed his original aspirations and mission, lacked political awareness, was not resolute in implementing the court's decisions and plans, and illegally occupied corporate shares. He was dismissed from his post for serious violations of laws and regulations.

Following the Left Chancellor Feng Zhantong's corruption, the Right Chancellor Zhou You was also dismissed for embezzlement and corruption.

Two of the three regents have already passed away.

The world was shaken.

In a brothel, high-ranking officials such as Zhong Yong, Minister of War, and Ge Hui, Minister of Revenue, unusually set aside their debate over the orthodox tradition and sat together, each embracing a courtesan.

"Luo Fu has gone a bit too far," Ge Hui said calmly.

"They were too hasty. In less than a month, both the left and right prime ministers were taken down one after another. They didn't even try to cover it up." Zhong Yong shook his head.

"Why not send troops to the capital to purge the emperor's inner circle of corrupt officials? The Ministry of Revenue will provide the funds, and the Ministry of War will provide the troops."

"Without the approval of the Wenhua Pavilion, can your Ministry of War mobilize troops?"

"Special cases require special treatment, right? Those who control the army are also human, and they have long been dissatisfied with Luo Fu's perverse actions," Zhong Yong laughed.

"good."

"Well said!"

Zhong Yong was overjoyed when Ge Hui agreed and was about to discuss important matters with the courtesan when he suddenly realized something.

There were two voices that answered him just now.

Who is the other one?

Zhong Yong turned his head and saw that Luo Fu had appeared in the room at some point.

Those who know you might think you're sitting on a wheelchair, while those who don't might think you're in a spaceship.

Zhong Yong was immediately shocked. "Luo Fu, when did you arrive here?"

Luo Fu did not answer Zhong Yong, but instead instructed the servant beside him, "Was everything they said recorded?"

"He's also a member of the Secret Service?" Zhong Yong suddenly realized, and then a chill ran down his spine.

Just how many people are in this Secret Service?

How come there are even brothels?

In this way, wouldn't every move of the ministers be under Luo Fu's watchful eye?

too frightening.

Zhong Yong stood up, straightened his clothes, pointed at Luo Fu, and cursed, "Traitor! Kill me or torture me, come at me! Don't you know that everyone in the world wants to eat your flesh alive? You can kill me, but can you kill hundreds of thousands of loyal ministers of the Song Dynasty?"

Luo Fu pointed to the recording, "Who is the traitor?"

Zhong Yong panicked a little. Although Luo Fu was forming cliques and attacking dissidents, at least he was following the proper procedures.

His illegal troop deployment makes him seem more like a rebel.

Zhong Yong closed his eyes. "Things have come to this. Do with me as you please!"

Luo Fu shook his head. "I am ashamed to admit that I am inferior to Lord Zhong in terms of integrity. I have a plan that can restore the Song Dynasty from darkness to light and bring peace to the nation from danger. I wonder if Lord Zhong would be willing to lend me a hand?"

Zhong Yong sneered inwardly, "So you're helping me seize power?"

Don't even think about it.

However, since Luo Fu praised his integrity and gave him face, he couldn't very well turn against him.

"If it concerns neither the ruler nor the father, then refrain from speaking."

After a night of detailed discussions, Luo Fu regained control of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue.

From this point on, he had initially gained control of the government.

The first thing Luo Fu did after seizing power was not to win people's hearts, but to raise taxes!

How to save the economy through reforms without touching monopoly capital?

I was just kidding.

From beginning to end, Luo Fu knew that there was only one way to save the Song Dynasty's economy: increase taxes!

The previous issuance of government bonds was merely a stopgap measure.

If he had said from the beginning that he wanted to increase taxes, it wouldn't have passed, let alone been allowed into the Mandarin Pavilion.

Now, through five years of governance, he has shown everyone that the court can save the Song Dynasty's economy if it has enough money.

He already has the foundation to realize his ambitions.

However, there is still one problem to achieve this goal.

Tax increases require the approval of two-thirds of the scholar-officials.

But Luo Fu was not worried.

He has power, money, an army, and secret agents.

Why do we need the consent of the scholar-officials?

Emperor Sejong's ancestral precepts were meant to restrict future rulers, but Luo Fu was not an emperor, so what restrictions did he have?

Of course, we can't just say we'll raise taxes at the beginning, because that would create too much resistance.

So Luo Fu changed his wording.

It's not about increasing taxes, but about investigating tax evasion and illegal activities by businesses.

Luo Fu then set up another department, ostensibly a tax investigation agency, but in reality, it was still a secret service agency.

However, their roles differed from those of the Secret Service.

Some things may seem insignificant on the scale, but once weighed, they can weigh a ton.

Which company dares to say that it has never violated any regulations?

Even if you are extremely cautious and abide by all laws and regulations.

The word "official" has two mouths; the power to interpret the law lies in their hands.

If I say you've broken the rules, then you've broken the rules.

capital?

Go play at the kids' table.

Luo Fu did not conduct indiscriminate investigations; instead, he started by investigating companies that were not cooperating.

Divide and win over—this isn't a tactic only emperors know how to play.

Even the scholar-officials would do it.

With the help of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and secret agents, these enterprises soon could not hold on any longer and began to pay fines.

Instead of using this large sum of money for major infrastructure projects, Luo Fu simultaneously raised the salaries of all officials. This time, the salary increase applied to everyone within the imperial system, including Song soldiers.

Why not invest in large-scale infrastructure projects to improve people's livelihoods?

Of course, it was because Luo Fu felt the money wasn't enough.

By appeasing the Song Dynasty court, they could then focus their efforts on cracking down on monopolistic capital.

Corporate income tax will be increased by 10%!

After the Eastern Song Dynasty recovered the Central Plains, it faced no further external threats.

Despite experiencing a golden age, territorial expansion, and population growth, fiscal revenue has not increased much.

It's just that the amount has increased from 500 million taels during the Xingwei era to 800 million taels now.

The reason is that the tax rate did not increase at all during the Penguin Emperor's reign.

Needless to say, the late emperor was a major capitalist and a powerful emperor who not only did not increase taxes but also reduced them several times.

The current corporate income tax rate is only about five percent, a rate that has never been seen before in historical records.

A 10% increase in corporate income tax means that the Eastern Song Dynasty's annual fiscal revenue will increase by 300 million taels of silver.

The higher the potential reward, the greater the obstacles.

The scholar-officials, who represented the interests of monopoly capital, opposed this matter.

However, not all scholars and officials were driven by greed. Especially after several years of great depression, most ambitious people were seeking ways to reform, and some even went so far as to embrace the Mohist school.

In times of peace and prosperity, it's perfectly acceptable for everyone to be like rats in a rice jar.

But what time is it now? The people are suffering, and even the Americas are in rebellion.

Therefore, a group of enlightened scholars began to unite around Luo Fu, as for the monopoly capital shares they had previously acquired.

Go away.

Do you really think that having a few stinking coins means you can eat at the same table as them?

Of course, such people who betray their class are still a minority, but Luo Fu has a way to make them the majority.

If they don't change their mindset, they'll replace them.

When his intelligence agency was deemed incompetent, a large number of officials were exiled to Africa for losing their ideals and beliefs and betraying their original mission.

With the largest monopoly capital, the Royal Merchant Guild, being controlled by a seven-year-old child, the monopoly capital of the Eastern Song Dynasty had no power to fight back.

Three hundred million taels of silver have arrived in the account.

Luo Fu has started a massive spending spree.

Officials' salaries will increase.

Unemployment benefits have increased.

Pensions will increase.

The wages of employees in public works and state-owned enterprises have increased.

Want to buy a car? Subsidies available!

At the same time, the Anti-Monopoly Law was quickly introduced, and monopoly capital was broken up, returning the pricing power of goods to the market.

With money in hand, people gained confidence, and the economy recovered at a miraculous pace.

It feels like we're about to return to that golden age.

The Golden Age was the best era that ordinary people could imagine, but it was not Luo Fu's ultimate goal.

Everything has just begun.