The day after the dinner, after Todd finished handling the government affairs at hand, he came to the venue of the political debate according to the time and place provided by Emerson.
The so-called debates in Twilight City are somewhat similar to the televised talks during the US presidential election campaign in previous lives.
However, the venue was set at the Muxi Grand Theater, and the audience also sat directly in front of the candidates from in front of the TV.
When Todd walked into the venue, the entire theater was instantly flooded with calls and praises. The king, who had not been seen for a long time, finally returned to the kingdom. This was a great thing for the people.
But for some people, it may be a huge shock.
When the business alliance's campaign team saw the king's return, everyone's faces showed nervousness and uneasiness.
Todd sat on the auditorium on the second floor, first waved to the audience, and then turned his attention to the stage below.
Emerson sat on the left side of the stage with several assistants. A well-dressed young man in his twenties with sharp eyes sat opposite him and seemed not to care at all about the upcoming debate.
A man who looked like a consultant ran out in a panic from the seats of the Business Alliance, walked to the young man's side, and quietly gestured for him to look towards the stands on the second floor.
The young man shook his head impatiently and shouted away the man.
Todd stared at this strong and confident young man, secretly wondering, could this be the Rutledge Dolson mentioned by Emerson, the current head of the Dolson family?
Rutledge glanced at the audience, threw the speech that his subordinates had prepared on the ground, stood up from his chair, and said to the audience: "Today, what I want to tell everyone here is not these experiences.
A revised and whitewashed manuscript! But a fact, a complete and irrefutable fact!"
Listening to a group of college students in the audience chanting Rutledge's name, Todd smiled and said to Huggins: "Is this young man really the head of the Dolson family? Although his words and deeds are full of passion
, but I don’t know how to be restrained.”
Huggins bent down and whispered: "Rutledge has two older sisters and one younger sister. He is the only son of the previous head of the Dolson family. He has high hopes from the family and inherited the position of head of the family from his father last year. Your Majesty
, Don’t underestimate this young man, he is very good in terms of eloquence, critical thinking and action.”
Todd suddenly became interested, and he leaned forward, wanting to see what the outcome of this debate would be.
The moderator of the debate, a well-known university professor, motioned to the audience to be quiet, and then announced that the political debate had officially begun.
The first topic that comes up is the issue that the Knights Council is most concerned about - taxation.
Rutledge was the first to attack: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I read last year's financial announcement. Last year's tax revenue obviously increased by 52 percentage points compared with the previous year, but the Kingdom's year-end final accounts showed a deficit. How should this be explained?"
Emerson put on his reading glasses, picked up a manuscript, and said calmly: "Because government spending has increased significantly."
Rutledge then asked: "Can you tell me what the main expenses are?"
"Urban infrastructure construction, port expansion, government personnel salaries, social welfare..."
"Wait a minute!" Rutledge suddenly interrupted Emerson: "You mentioned social welfare. Can I ask how much the expenditure on this was last year?"
Emerson took a breath and said slowly: "37321 Jin Xu..."
Rutledge nodded: "What about the year before last?"
"If I remember correctly, it's about 7,200 Jinxu."
Rutledge stared at Emerson and asked: "I'm not particularly good at mathematics, but I can also calculate that the expenditure on social welfare last year was five times that of the year before. Isn't it strange?"
The latter shook his head: "It's not surprising at all. Last year, a large number of farmers in Muxi City had a large backlog of agricultural products due to some businessmen with ulterior motives, and had to sell their land at low prices. The cabinet had to help these farmers
Re-settle and start a new round of farming."
Hearing Emerson's emphasis on the word "ulterior motives," Rutledge smiled and shrugged: "Prime Minister, I don't know if you have done business, but you should still know some basic market behavior. Trading has always been the case.
Everything is free. As long as you are willing, there is no such thing as a backlog of products. The fundamental reason lies in the greed of these farmers."
"You might as well take a look, what was the price of a kilogram of wheat in Muxicheng five years ago, and what is the price of wheat now? Farmers have raised the prices of agricultural products wantonly, causing the price of food in Muxicheng to skyrocket. Anyone who is not blind can see this.
Given this fact, you actually think these farmers are innocent."
Hearing this, Todd, who was sitting on the second floor, laughed.
This sneaky concept is really beautiful.
The biggest reason for the price increase of agricultural products is inflation, but Rutledge defined this phenomenon as the greed of farmers.
"Originally, as long as the price was lowered a little and two coppers less were made, all the products could be sold. However, these greedy farmers refused to let go of the profits. They would rather watch the food in the warehouse moldy and rot.
, and refused to lower the price to a reasonable position." Rutledge sneered and said to Emerson: "For this group of people, I can only say one thing to them-it is their own fault."
Listening to the applause and echoes in the venue, Todd smiled helplessly.
The pricing of agricultural products involves a series of costs such as land, fertilizer, labor, animal power, etc., and when the pricing is reflected in currency, it is also necessary to calculate the interest rate difference between general equivalents in the free market, as well as overseas bulk trade.
The exchange rate changes cannot be explained casually by saying "Buying and selling have always been free".
This Rutledge took advantage of the blind obedience of the public and shifted the main contradiction to the farmers. He not only absolved himself from responsibility, but also attacked his political opponents. He was really a rare rhetorician.
Seeing that Emerson wanted to refute, Rutledge rushed to say at this time: "Ignoring the price of agricultural products for the time being, what I want to ask most is why the taxes that taxpayers have worked so hard to pay should be given to those people in vain.
Greedy farmers.”
Emerson, who was born into a noble family, no matter how good his temper was, was still very angry at this moment. He said in a deep voice: "Those farmers are citizens of Muxi City! They are brothers and sisters of all of you! Back then, they were the most powerful people in the kingdom.
In difficult times, they
They donated the only food in the cellar to use as rations for the army, and tore off the only cloth from the curtains to make bandages for the wounds. Now they are begging on the streets, and they are about to starve to death there. Is it possible?
Shouldn’t you be lending a helping hand?!”
Rutledge stood up, pounded the table in front of him, pointed his finger towards the audience, and said loudly: "Prime Minister, please open your eyes and take a look! Are there any of these people here who are not devoting themselves to the kingdom in obscurity?"
?!If you don’t have money to buy food, go make money! If you don’t have a job to feed your family, go find a job!”
"Those guys who live by sucking the blood of taxpayers, I absolutely do not recognize them as my brothers and sisters! I also absolutely do not agree with the cabinet spending tax money on them!"
Rutledge's impassioned speech was like a spark igniting a pile of dry firewood, and the atmosphere in the entire venue was instantly ignited.
Many spectators stood up, applauded vigorously and shouted various slogans.
“If you don’t have money, go make money! If you don’t have a job, go find a job!”
"Our tax dollars are not used to feed these vampires!"
"We have no such brothers and sisters!"
In the stands on the second floor, Huggins looked at Todd's increasingly frowning eyebrows and asked tentatively: "Your Majesty, do you want me to find some people to maintain order?"
Todd waved his hand: "No need, keep reading."
At this moment, seeing the venue gradually losing control, the moderator of the political debate quickly shouted: "Let's move on to the second debate - the religious war!" ()