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

The Song army did not manage to capture Chicago as they had hoped.

The Mexican army triggered the "Chicago is right behind them" buff, making their fighting spirit extremely strong. Combined with the defensive system built with machine guns, barbed wire, landmines and artillery, they firmly blocked the Song army in front of Chicago.

The two sides fought back and forth over the positions for several years, which completely demoralized the Song army, forcing them to abandon their offensive and retreat to the Chenbing and Zhou areas to recuperate.

When Luo Fu learned of this, he was not shocked at all; on the contrary, he was overjoyed.

Because what's coming next is a 15% tax increase!

The extra 300 million taels of silver we earned each year before were simply not enough to cover our expenses.

Now that the war in the Americas is going badly, wouldn't that give them an excuse to levy taxes?

Fifteen percent means that the Eastern Song government will receive an additional 4.7 million taels of silver annually.

The reason it wasn't 450 million taels was because the 300 million taels spent earlier revitalized the economy, leading to an increase in the income of basic enterprises.

Capitalists certainly wouldn't agree.

This raised the total tax rate to 30 percent—it's unfair that you have to pay 30 taels to the government for every 100 taels you earn.

But Luo Fu doesn't talk to you about fairness.

Unwilling to pay?

Then we'll send you to America and see how the Mexicans deal with you.

Now, Luo Fu enjoys extremely high prestige due to his merit in pulling the Eastern Song Dynasty out of the Great Depression.

It can be said that his power as Grand Secretary was limitless.

4.7 million taels of silver arrived in the account.

Upon seeing this, Luo Fuzhong's subordinate, Minister of War Zhong Yong, was overjoyed and quickly said, "With this 4.7 million taels of silver, even if we use bombs, we can flatten Chicago."

"Heh," Luo Fu chuckled, "Who said I was going to use those 4.7 million taels to expand my military?"

Zhong Yong was stunned: "Then take this money..."

"Investing in infrastructure and increasing social security—it's all money, no matter where it's spent."

"But if the American rebels continue like this, they might become too powerful to control," Zhong Yong said with great concern.

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Luo Fu waved his hand: "The significance of the Mexican Party's existence is not for us to eliminate them and thus establish our own achievements, but for its very existence."

Zhong Yong frowned slightly, carefully considering Luo Fu's words, before tentatively asking, "What does Prime Minister Luo mean...?"

"As long as the Mexican Party exists, there's a pretext for taxation. If the Mexican Party disappears, what reason will they give?"

"Even if we use 4.7 million taels to eliminate the Mo Party, as long as the people's lives do not improve, other rebels will still emerge."

"The reasoning is simple—Marx's theory explained it clearly long ago, so why did it only develop during the Great Depression? Why didn't the Song people rebel for over a hundred years?"

"If the people live in peace and contentment, there will naturally be no fertile ground for rebels to thrive."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Yong suddenly understood, and his admiration for Luo Fu deepened even further.

The effect of throwing 4.7 million taels of silver into the people was terrifying.

Although the money wasn't directly deposited into each person's account, it was reflected in every aspect of their lives.

First, the unemployment rate dropped significantly. Second, various products were subsidized, and the unit price of goods began to decrease, allowing people to buy more things with less money, while businesses did not fall into vicious competition.

At the same time, government social security measures began to increase, and people's confidence returned.

Then came the full recovery of the stock market.

The economy was booming, and the Song Dynasty was thriving.

In recent years, some workers in high-paying jobs have already bought the latest Volkswagen cars.

In their free time, they can take their family and friends on a road trip in their own car.

Although overtime work is still severe and life is still tough, at least there are some sweet rewards to be had.

However, Luo Fu did not keep the Song people waiting for long; he knew to press his advantage.

Now that people's quality of life has improved and their loyalty to the government has increased, we can move on to the next step—

It allows for the formation of trade unions, an eight-hour workday, and triple pay for overtime.

Each of these three policies struck a nerve with capitalists.

These capitalists all went to the literati behind them to complain, but the literati ignored them—Luo Fu was at the height of his power, and they were unwilling to offend him.

Avoid their sharp edge and be patient for now.

For the Song Dynasty, Luo Fu was the victor, and the policies of the victor are never criticized.

A bumpkin is a bumpkin; what does he know about power struggles?

Now that the emperor is young, Luo Fu holds absolute power.

The opposition is weak and needs to conceal its strength, even deliberately appearing incompetent or cowardly, in order to lull the enemy into a false sense of security and wait for an opportunity.

When Luo Fu does more and makes more mistakes, he can deliver a fatal blow.

Alternatively, one could wait until the emperor comes of age, then seize the moral high ground to contend with him.

Now that you have nothing, what will happen if you jump out, except being demoted to Africa?

If you're looking to do something reckless, don't drag them down with you.

Desperate, capitalists began hiring people to manipulate public opinion, criticizing the system for leading to mass bankruptcies and consequently, unemployment for the workers. Surprisingly, quite a few workers were influenced by this rhetoric and began defending the capitalists.

Luo Fu simply smiled at this, showing no sense of defeat at being betrayed by the person he was protecting.

What does protecting you have to do with you?

If eight hours is too short, then change it to seven hours. Let's see how many businesses go bankrupt!

If the company really goes bankrupt, it doesn't matter if a large number of workers lose their jobs—just collect another round of taxes from the capitalists and raise unemployment benefits, right?

The Mo Party is already advocating for an eight-hour workday. If the Song Dynasty's treatment doesn't keep up, wouldn't that be pushing the workers towards the Mo Party?

Are you all just jealous of the Song Dynasty's prosperity?

Are they only happy when the Mexicans have captured Nanjing?

A group of treacherous officials, people without a ruler or father.

Looks like they want to try their hand at Iron Fist.

Of course, due to the intensity of the war in the Americas, the heavy industry in the cities controlled by the Mexican Party was under immense pressure, and the actual working hours were not the advertised eight hours. However, this overtime was voluntary; the workers were willing to work overtime for their own benefit.

The Song people understood the Doctrine of the Mean. Seeing that Luo Fulai was genuine, the capitalists changed their tune and began advocating for an eight-hour workday. Thus, these three policies were implemented without much fanfare—without strong resistance from the scholar-official class, public opinion was essentially useless.

Do you even know what the true value of a powerful minister is?

In a hotel in Nanjing, several wealthy capitalists gathered for drinks, pouring out their hearts to each other. After a few drinks, they could no longer hold back their grievances.

"Sigh... America."

"It's all the Mexicans' fault. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be having such a hard time."

"I hope the imperial court can eliminate the Mo Party as soon as possible, then we'll have better days ahead."