Thursday, May 5, 1644, Risaki.

This day is the day when members of the House of Representatives and members of the Cabinet of the new Congress of the United States of America take office. After two rounds of elections in a month, Zhou Yi, the former governor of the Governor-General of South Africa, easily became the speaker of the House of Representatives.

After several ups and downs, Zhou Yi, who has a close personal relationship with Dong Jiunan, has gained widespread support in China. With his own ability and the number of votes basically set a long time ago, Zhou Yi's entry into the House of Representatives is a result without suspense.

After eight years, the conservatives made a comeback, and under the high-profile push of Dong Jiunan and others, Guan Ruzhong also became the only candidate for the nomination of the prime minister of the cabinet and became the new prime minister.

After a busy inauguration ceremony took place at the city's Parliament House for a morning, Kwan announced the new Cabinet members.

As a political evergreen, Zheng Quan continued to serve as defense minister, holding the record for the longest tenure of a cabinet minister. Zheng Quan, who has already entered the age of sixtieth year, except for his white temples, still looks strong and healthy, and he is full of energy when he speaks.

Former Binzhou Governor Lim Chao En entered the cabinet for the first time as Minister of Civil Affairs. Lin Chaoen is 49 years old this year, he is still in the prime of life, he is chic and generous, and he has shown good skills in dealing with various complicated affairs in Binzhou.

Minister of Immigration, formerly Song Governor Don Ke. Tang Ke served as a cabinet minister 20 years ago, and his unhurried, calm and careful personality can be regarded as a job fit.

Lin Chaoen and Tang Ke have long been valued by Bao Zitu and Qi Jianjun, and have long been classified as conservatives, and this time they entered the cabinet, and the position of conservatives in the cabinet has increased slightly. However, in addition, the change of other ministerial positions is not significant, and it can be regarded as a gesture to continue to maintain the overall working atmosphere of the previous cabinet.

The most important change in the position is the resignation of Yan Xiaosong as foreign minister and the appointment of a new minister in the current cabinet. Shi Wenbo officially took over Yan Xiaosong's gun and became the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The deputy minister is Dai Botong, who continues the "old tradition" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs like a baton.

The changes in local administrative positions are much greater than before.

Xu Wen, the former mayor of Heping City, Haizhou, was transferred to the post of Governor General of South Africa, replacing Zhou Yi. Xu Wen, who was born in the "West Point Department", is the first generation of immigrants promoted from Yingu Town by former Commerce Minister Sun Hongyi, and is an excellent official trained by the Huamei Cabinet for nearly 20 years.

The former governor of the Indian Ocean Governorate and Dutch immigrant Huygens retired due to illness, and Sun Hongyi took the initiative to take over. Sun Hongyi, who is only 47 years old this year, is known for his eccentricity in local development, and this time he volunteered to be the governor of the remote Indian Ocean Governorate, and he didn't know what kind of medicine was being sold in his stomach. But no one doubts Sun Hongyi's local management ability, especially when he became a "neighbor" with his former subordinate Xu Wen.

Interestingly, the elder Huygens's eldest son also worked in the Chinese-American Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was fluent in many Chinese, and now he is also the first Chinese-American consular officer in Sweden. At the age of 15, his youngest son, Huygens, became a household name in Huamei, and his invention of a simple automatic rope braiding machine and a walk-behind weeding machine was even patented.

Conrad, who belonged to the liberal faction, became the Governor of the Viceroy District of Hong Kong. Conrad, 34, is the eldest son of Adelaide, the general manager of Mayflower Transportation, and has previously served as mayor of Huatian Town, Binzhou, for nearly three years. He is an outstanding representative of the new generation of officials, and he is one of the objects of the liberal faction's hard work.

This change indicates that the Oriental Union Group will be more proactive in borrowing the state's administrative power in the future development of the Far East. It is said that this is also one of Guan Ruzhong's softening attitudes towards Ren Changle and others, who gave up the cabinet election.

Former Governor of Hong Kong, Elson. He was transferred to the governor of Songzhou. Since following Fan Li to work in the Netherlands, Elson has been adrift for more than ten years, and this time he finally achieved a positive result, becoming the first European to serve as a local governor since the founding of the United States.

Starting with this administration. Overseas governors are no longer required to be stationed at their home country, and they only need to spend a total of 10 months in their place of office during their tenure before they can manage remotely from home.

……

The day after the inauguration. Guan Ruzhong convened the first ministerial meeting of the new cabinet, and after the meeting, he released a blockbuster meeting minutes: the cabinet will soon adjust the tax bill for domestic and foreign monopolies.

This news immediately stunned many parties, because in the previous factional exchanges, this has always been the most sensitive topic, and the biggest resistance has come from the liberals.

Guan Ruzhong became the prime minister of the new cabinet under the influence of conservatives and progressives, and the situation of conservatives and progressives still holding the country's politics for a long time is still continued. But as soon as he came to power like today, he made such a big move, and it was obviously unfavorable to the liberals represented by the Oriental Union Group, which was so blatant that people were a little scratching their heads.

Excluding specific industries stipulated by the state, the current income tax of domestic production enterprises is 20%, while overseas industries similar to those under the OUCC Group are only 12% according to the relevant industry lifting ban and monopoly operation authorization bill made by Wu Yuanyi when he took office.

In terms of trade taxes, except for raw materials and semi-finished goods, which enjoy an ultra-low tax policy ranging from 1% to 5%, the import and export tax rate of goods in Huamei ranges from 16% to 30%, while the Oriental Union Group and Guoxing Group are only between 8% and 15% according to the provisions of the Monopoly Operation Authorization Act, which is still far lower than the domestic level.

Together, the corporate tax burden of OUCC can be said to be extremely light. As a result, the prices of the commodities produced by the production enterprises set up by the Oriental Union Group in Nanshan Overseas Territory and Pearl Island Overseas Territory and the overseas territory of Pearl Island are significantly lower than those of similar domestic products, and their own operating costs are also lower, and their financial reports have been blushing in China. Even many small and medium-sized trading companies that rely on liberals deliberately take advantage of this loophole to carry out import and export trade through the shell of the OUCC in order to avoid tax burdens.

Under this unequal level of taxation, more than 20 kinds of commodities such as cloth, soap, soap, perfume, hardware products, matches, cigarettes, glass products, garments, paper products, etc., exported by OUCC Group to the local area generally occupy a considerable share, compressing the income of many small and medium-sized enterprises in the same industry a lot.

According to the minutes of the Cabinet meeting, Guan Ruzhong will raise the income tax on production enterprises of the two major overseas monopoly groups to 16%. At the same time, Guan Ruzhong has set out a list of goods that some local enterprises can produce, erected import trade barriers, and directly raised their import tariffs to the level of 35%, which can be described as a sharp increase in tax rates, so as to protect domestic related industries.

When the ban on overseas group industries is lifted in stages. OUCC Group has obtained a total of 17 types of overseas investment and production licenses, and there are as many as 12 kinds of commodities on the list this time, which can be regarded as choking the channel for OUCC Group to seize the local market. For goods exported to Europe or the Far East overseas markets through the OUCC Group, if they are not locally manufactured, an additional export surcharge of 5% is imposed.

In addition to raising taxes on overseas groups, Guan Ruzhong has not forgotten to implement a certain tax reduction policy for local enterprises to encourage domestic investment and commodity exports. A large number of small and medium-sized private production enterprises in China have been taken care of by the new government, but among them, it is Lin Youde, You Qi, and others who have monopolized the manufacturing of many important commodities that have benefited greatly.

The arms tax was once high, but Guan Ruzhong made a reduction adjustment. The reduction from 35% to 28% can be regarded as giving the ridiculously expensive army and navy weapons and equipment more room to reduce prices, so that the military will also benefit from it, and it will greatly cater to the neutrals and the military.

If these tax reform policy adjustments are successful, although they are not enough to completely change the status quo, it also means that the annual tax burden of the OUCC Group will increase by at least 700,000 US dollars, which will increase to more than 1 million yuan in the entire liberal camp, which can be regarded as adding a lot of new fiscal revenue to the country. For Guoxing Group, which has a much weaker overseas industrial investment, it has little impact.

Taken together, in a Congress where progressives, centrists, and conservatives have an overwhelming majority, the series of tax reform bills proposed by Guan Ruzhong are bound to be unimpeded. This big move. No matter how you look at it, Guan Ruzhong mercilessly slashed the liberals in the neck.

But is that really the case? There was a little strange gossip that appeared when Guan Ruzhong released the minutes of the cabinet meeting in a high-profile manner. It is said that Yan Xiaosong and Ren Changle once went to Guan Ruzhong's house in person, and the three of them had a long talk all night. As for what the conversation was, no one knows.

A week later, the Cabinet formally submitted the tax reform bill. The majority vote in the House of Representatives is clear, and the Senate review is also smooth.

A few days later, Guan Ruzhong read out his memorandum on overseas policy at the regular session of the National Assembly, extending the 20-year monopoly business license of the Oriental Union Group and the Guoxing Group ahead of schedule, and formally confirming the legality of the overseas lending business of the sovereign state of the Oriental Union Group and the Guoxing Group with an amount of less than $1 million in the form of supplementary clauses to the monopoly agreement.

As for the right to lend sovereign government bonds against the Far Eastern Republic of Luzon, the Lanfang Free Territory, and possibly the Ming Dynasty, more than 1 million yuan will be nationalized by Banco Nacional Ultramarino.

It was only at this time that everyone understood Guan Ruzhong's intentions. The liberals, represented by the Oriental Union Group, have won the understanding of the neutrals and conservatives in the Diet through a model of exchange of interests, and the Guoxing Group, which has also received many benefits or voices, cannot blame the cabinet.

Objective history proves that free competition advocated by liberal capitalism will inevitably enter monopoly capitalism. The adjustments made by Guan Ruzhong can probably only slow down the evolution of this stage, but at least leave room for the introduction of anti-monopoly policies in the future.

……

In early June, Manchester City entered the hot weather early and strangely, although this kind of climate change has occurred from time to time over the years, but it is normal for the old citizens who have lived in it for more than 20 years.

On the commercial street square in the west side of Long Island, a unique "collective coming-of-age ceremony" is being held. I saw hundreds of Manchester City girls over the age of 16 from ordinary families standing in the ceremonial venue surrounded by layers of lively citizens.

The girls are still wearing the sleeveless or short-sleeved skirts that once made the newcomers blush, well-behaved and cute, and the vigorous and beautiful bodies exude a pleasing youthful atmosphere in the sun, and the various girly skirts similar to the modern style of later generations are undoubtedly one of the biggest highlights on the streets of Manchester City.

After a tea ceremony to their parents, hundreds of Manchester girls reluctantly walked into a large shopping mall on the side. Half an hour later, the girls of Manchester City, who had changed into a more dignified summer tulle long-sleeved and long-hem fashion dress, appeared in the limelight again.

This is a popular custom that has emerged in the last decade among the ordinary citizens of Manchester City: only underage girls can be tolerated by their elders to wear clothes that show their arms and legs as a symbol of their childhood. And once a girl reaches adulthood, regardless of ethnicity, she must respect the basic ethical norms of this society, and must dress appropriately and elegantly like a conservative lady.

In a way, some of the elements of the era that the Travelers have forcibly brought in, have to accept the increasingly powerful screening and compromise of the localized society, and their children are no exception.

The girls of Manchester City, whose appearance and temperament have changed greatly, bid farewell to their childhood days from today, and welcome a new life with a truly ladylike appearance, at this time they are slightly blushing, bowing their heads and pinching their skirts tightly.

Suddenly, a "trumpet" broke the atmosphere of the collective coming-of-age ceremony, and I saw a young newspaper seller running in from the end of the commercial street, waving the newspaper that had just been printed.

"Extra! Extra! The capital of the Ming Empire in the East was captured by rebels, the emperor committed suicide, and the new government was forced to move the capital! The civil strife in the Ming Empire continues to trigger a large-scale barbarian invasion! ”

Suddenly, the faces of countless new and old citizens who had settled in Manchester City from the Ming Dynasty changed, and both pedestrians and shop customers stood on the streets, staring in surprise at the newspaper sellers running all the way. And the European-American citizens, who have long been strangers to the situation in the Far East, frowned thoughtfully.

The Manchester City girls, who were stuck in the shy part of the coming-of-age ceremony, were even more disgraced in the confusion, and grabbed the arms of their parents who were also nervous around them.

A few minutes later, the crowd on the commercial street surrounded the newspaper sellers, who paid for the newspapers and whispered in twos and threes with various expressions.

The state has been exaggerating the situation in the Far East for several years, and now a heavyweight news has come that far exceeds the war in Europe, and for ordinary citizens, whether Chinese or European, it is no less than a bombshell.

But the vast majority of the people do not know that in fact, as early as half a month, this heavy Far East intelligence arrived in Manchester City, and it has been discussed in several important secret meetings with the cabinet in the US Congress in China.

Another thunderclap sounded, the dripping rain poured down, and the shopping street was in a panic again, and the citizens covered their heads with newspapers and flocked to the shops on both sides......

(End of Volume 6) (To be continued......)