The day after the dinner, Todd arrived at the venue of the political debate at the time and place provided by Emerson after taking care of the affairs at hand.

The so-called debates in Twilight City are somewhat similar to the televised talks during the US presidential election campaign in the previous life.

It's just that the venue is set up at the Twilight Grand Theater, and the audience also sits directly in front of the candidates from the TV.

When Todd walked into the hall, the entire theater was instantly overwhelmed with calls and praises, and the return of the long-absent king to the kingdom was a great blessing for the people.

But for some, it may also be a great shock.

When the business coalition campaign team saw the return of the king, everyone's face invariably showed nervousness and uneasiness.

Todd sat on the podium on the second floor, first waving to the audience, then looking to the stage below.

Emerson sat on the left side of the stage with a few aides, and a sharp-eyed, well-dressed young man in his twenties sat across from him, seemingly unconcerned about the ensuing debate.

A person who looked like a consultant ran out of the seat of the business alliance in a panic, walked to the young man's side, and quietly gestured for him to look at the grandstand on the second floor.

The young man shook his head impatiently and dismissed the man.

Todd stared at the strong, confident young man, and wondered if this was the Ratledge Daulson mentioned by Emerson, the current head of the Daurson family.

Glancing at the audience, Rutledge threw the speeches that his subordinates had prepared on the ground, got up from his chair, and said to the audience: "Today, what I want to say to all of you here is not these revised and whitewashed manuscripts!

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 Daurson family? ”

Huggins bent down and whispered, "Rutledge has two older sisters and a younger sister, the only son of the previous head of the Daurson family. He was highly expected by 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, thinking and action. ”

Todd was intrigued, and he leaned forward to see what the debate would turn out for.

The moderator of the debate, a well-known university professor, motioned for the audience to be quiet, and then announced the official start of the political debate.

The first issue that came up was the main concern of the Knights' Council - taxation.

Ratledge was the first to ask: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, I read last year's fiscal announcement, and last year's tax revenue increased by 52 percentage points compared with the year before, but the kingdom's year-end accounts showed a deficit, how should this be explained?"

Emerson wore his reading glasses, picked up a manuscript, and said unhurriedly: "Because of the government spending part, there has been a huge increase." ”

Rutledge then asked, "Can you tell me what the main expenses are?"

"Urban Infrastructure, Port Construction, Government Staff Salaries, Social Welfare ......"

"Wait!" Rutledge interrupted Emerson abruptly, "You mentioned social welfare, can I ask how much it cost last year?"

Emerson took a breath and said slowly: "37321 Jin Xu......"

Rutledge nodded: "And what about the year before last?"

"If I'm not mistaken, it's about 7200 Jin Xu. ”

Rutledge stared at Emerson and asked, "I'm not particularly good at math, but I can also calculate that last year's social welfare expenses were five times as high as the year before, isn't it strange?"

The latter shook his head: "It's not strange at all. Last year, a large number of peasants in the city had to sell their land at a low price because of some merchants with ulterior motives, which caused a large backlog of their agricultural products. The cabinet had to help the peasants resettle and start a new round of farming. ”

Hearing Emerson's accentuated tone on the word 'ulterior motives', Rutledge smiled and shrugged: "Prime Minister, I don't know if you have been in business, but you should still understand basic market behavior. Buying and selling have always been free, and there has never been a backlog of products as long as they want to, and the root cause is the greed of these farmers. ”

"You might as well take a look at what was the price of a kilogram of wheat in Duxi City five years ago, and what is the price of wheat now? Farmers wantonly raise the price of agricultural products, causing the price of grain in Duxi City to skyrocket, as long as you are not blind, you can see this fact, you actually think that these farmers are innocent. ”

Hearing this, Todd, who was sitting on the second floor, smiled.

This hand-swapping concept is really beautiful.

The biggest reason for the increase in the price of agricultural products is inflation, but Ratledge defines this phenomenon as the greed of farmers.

"Originally, as long as the price was lowered a little bit and two coppers less, all the products could be sold. This group of greedy farmers cling to their profits and refuse to let go, preferring to watch the grain in the warehouse become moldy and rotten than to reduce the price to a reasonable position. Rutledge sneered and said to Emerson: "I can only give them one thing for this group of people - to blame." ”

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, and animal power, and when the pricing is reflected in monetary terms, it is also necessary to calculate the interest rate differential between the general equivalents in the free market, as well as the exchange rate fluctuations of overseas bulk trade.

This ratledge took advantage of the blind obedience of the masses and shifted the main contradiction to the peasants, both exculpating responsibility and striking at political opponents, and was really a rare storyteller.

Seeing that Emerson wanted to refute, Ratledge rushed to say at this time: "Regardless of the price of agricultural products for the time being, what I want to question most is, why should the taxpayers' hard-earned taxes be given to those greedy farmers in vain." ”

Emerson, who was born into an aristocracy, was angry at this time, even if he had a good temper, and he only heard him say in a deep voice: "Those peasants are citizens of Twilight City! These are your brothers and sisters! At the time of the kingdom's most difficult times, they gave the only grain in the cellar as food for the army, and tore off the only cloth from the curtains to make a bandage to tie the wounds. Now that they are begging in the streets, they are about to starve to death there, shouldn't they lend a hand?!"

Ratledge stood up, slapped the table in front of him, pointed his finger to the audience, and said loudly: "Prime Minister, please open your eyes and see! Which of these people here is not dedicated to the kingdom in obscurity?! If you don't have money to buy food, you go to make money! If you don't have a job to support your family, go and find a job!"

"I will never admit that the guys who live by sucking the blood of the taxpayers are my brothers and sisters!

Rutledge's impassioned speech was like a spark lighting a pile of dry wood, and the atmosphere of the whole venue was instantly ignited.

The crowd stood up and shouted all sorts of slogans while clapping spontaneously and vigorously.

"If you don't have money, you make money! If you don't have a job, you go for a job!"

"Our taxes aren't for feeding these vampires!"

"We don't have such brothers and sisters!"

In the grandstand on the second floor, Huggins looked at Todd's deeper and deeper brows, and asked tentatively, "Your Majesty, do you want me to find some people to maintain order?"

Todd waved his hand: "No need, keep watching." ”

At this moment, seeing that the venue was gradually getting out of control, the host of the political debate hurriedly shouted: "Now for the debate on the second topic - the war of religion!"

。 m.