Earth Era

When the news that the two thrusters were finally laid was announced, the entire civilization fell into madness. No matter which spacecraft becomes a sea of ​​joy. Even some spaceships that have been classified into fifth-class cities have relaxed their energy restrictions and material supplies. At extremely low prices, people can obtain exquisite food and various kinds of food that they could not get in exchange for a month of hard work in the past. supplies. Even the air was filled with a sense of celebration.

People know that this news doesn't just mean some macro-level victory, but it also means specific issues that everyone cares about and that concerns everyone. For example, now that this great project has been successfully completed, can the resources allocated to them in the past be returned to their original areas? Will the classification of city levels be cancelled? Are there any limits on resource supply? Will the tax/fee ratio be reduced to pre-disaster levels?

In comparison, these are the things that tug at the heartstrings the most. At the same time, almost everyone is optimistic. The reason is simple. People really can't imagine what other reasons the government can use to suppress the improvement of living standards. Isn’t the development of science and technology meant to make people’s lives better? Everything that needs to be paid has been paid, and everything that needs to be done has been completed. There is no need for us to continue to maintain a lower living standard than ancient humans.

Under such high expectations, Shen Qingyuan finally woke up from hibernation.

When Shen Qingyuan regained consciousness, he found that he was not in the hibernation cabin, but in the rescue room. What came into view were various pipes and instruments of unknown purpose, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of medicine. There were no political commissioners waiting nearby, but only doctors and nurses in white coats.

Seeing Shen Qingyuan wake up, a doctor came forward, took off his mask and said: "Führer, you are awake."

"What's wrong with me?"

Shen Qingyuan spoke with difficulty, feeling as if a ball of cotton was stuffed in his throat. There was also burning pain in my lungs, and every breath felt like a steel file being constantly rubbed.

The doctor whispered: "Führer, because your body is extremely weak, you had an accident while you were recovering from hibernation. But please don't worry, we have solved it."

Shen Qingyuan closed his eyes and felt his body silently. He first clenched his fist vigorously, but his fingers only moved slightly. He tried hard to lift his leg, but it felt like a lead weight had been dropped on his leg, and he couldn't lift it no matter how hard he tried.

Sensing Shen Qingyuan's movements, the doctor hurriedly said: "Führer, please stay relaxed. There are a total of seventy-three devices maintaining your life at this moment. If you exert too much force, it may cause your organs to collapse again." problem appear."

"Can I still stand up?"

The doctor shook his head silently.

"Oh..." Shen Qingyuan murmured in reply, looking at the ceiling with somewhat empty eyes.

The doctor whispered: "Resuscitating you from coma is already the limit of our capabilities and current technology."

Shen Qingyuan ignored it and asked another question: "How long can I live?"

"Ideally, you have about a month to live."

"A month..." Shen Qingyuan murmured: "I don't know if the time is enough. What is the situation now? Why did you wake me up?"

The doctor said: "I don't know. I just received a wake-up order signed by all members of the Political Affairs Committee, and then took measures to wake you up."

"Very good, call Lei Zhen."

General Lei Zhen, who was tall and had a stern expression, strode into the ward and saluted Shen Qingyuan on the bed. The doctors each left the room.

"Is the project completed?"

"yes."

"When will it start?"

"anytime."

"Is there any surprise?"

"Everything is planned."

"very good."

Shen Qingyuan closed his eyes tiredly and stopped talking. Lei Zhen operated the portable computer on his wrist a few times. After a moment, several people wearing sterile clothes and carrying boxes came in. With the cooperation of doctors, they installed some weird instruments on Shen Qingyuan. After finishing, one person turned on a certain projection device, and Shen Qingyuan's figure was projected.

Shen Qingyuan in the virtual projection has a faint smile on his face. He is tall and straight, and his movements are full of confidence and domineering, just like decades ago. This figure was in sharp contrast to Shen Qingyuan, who was lying on the hospital bed unable to move and could only rely on various equipment to maintain his life.

Without anyone's operation, the virtual image turned around on its own and said to Lei Zhen: "Let's go to the conference room."

General Lei Zhen saluted again, turned and left the room. The projection equipment was turned off and Shen Qingyuan disappeared.

In the Government Affairs Committee meeting room, nine of the ten members except General Lei Zhen were already seated, but the head of state's seat remained empty. The conference room door was opened, but only General Lei Zhen entered. The expected figure of the head of state did not appear.

Lei Zhen ignored the puzzled looks of the committee members and made a few operations on his wrist. The projection equipment above the conference room was turned on, and Shen Qingyuan's figure appeared in the conference room.

"Sorry everyone, I can't come due to some special circumstances, so I can only attend the meeting in this way. Since everyone has decided to wake me up, something must have happened. Please report them to me one by one now."

Although this way of attending the meeting is strange, it is not unacceptable. The committee members reported to Shen Qingyuan in turn, describing the various changes that had occurred in civilization in the past few decades from an overall perspective.

"Very good. During my period of hibernation, everyone has done their duty. Now that the super planet accelerator project has been completed, we are ready to go. But there is one more thing that needs to be told to everyone. When the Messenger Project enters its third phase, In the first stage, after we really set off, the existing economic policies need to be adjusted again. You must each make plans in your own fields and publicize them to the society at the same time to ensure a smooth transition."

This is what it should be, and the committee members are mentally prepared for this. Everyone knows that existing economic policies are only suitable for emergencies and cannot be sustained for a long time. Now that the construction of the planetary accelerator is completed, it is naturally time to cancel it.

For a moment, the conference room became completely quiet.

Shen Qingyuan's figure slowly scanned the committee members - the recording equipment representing Shen Qingyuan also rotated at the same time, taking in the committee members' reactions in full view.

"I order that the residence tax rate will be increased by another 10 percent and the consumption tax rate will be increased by 5 percent. At the same time, robot positions will be eliminated, robot workers will be replaced by human workers, weekly working hours will be extended, vacations will be compressed, and further restrictions will be placed on various industries. Growing supplies of daily necessities…”

Although as far as the current political system is concerned, it is not in compliance with the regulations for the head of state to directly order tax rate or economic adjustments, but today when Shen Qingyuan has essentially implemented dictatorship, no one is stupid enough to care about these things. Anyway, Shen Qingyuan was already doing this nearly a hundred years ago.

What surprised the committee members was not Shen Qingyuan's direct intervention in the economy, but Shen Qingyuan's so-called adjustments to the economy.

Will the residence tax rate be increased? Will the consumption tax rate be increased? Abolish robot jobs? Compressed vacation?

Why? Is this necessary? Apart from causing a stronger backlash from the public, is there any point in doing this? Especially now, when almost all people are looking forward to the arrival of looser policies.

Han Luochang was so shocked that he forgot the speech procedure: "Führer, why are you doing this?"

Shen Qingyuan said calmly: "Resource reserves are limited. During the voyage of more than two thousand years, we must use energy frugally."

"What about abolishing robot positions? Is it necessary?"

“Being idle all the time is bad for social stability.”

Han Luochang felt a rush of hot blood rushing into his brain, which made Han Luochang want to grab Shen Qingyuan's collar and crack his head open to see if his brain was turbid. Not only Han Luochang, but also Wu Wei, who had always followed Shen Qingyuan's lead, widened his eyes in surprise. Even Professor Laird and Commissioner Donald, who had nothing to do with economic work, had expressions of disbelief on their faces.

Shen Qingyuan's so-called reasons are completely unfounded. Anyone with basic intelligence knows that doing so is harmful to civilization. They originally thought that the economic adjustment announced by Shen Qingyuan would be a relaxing policy, but no one expected that Shen Qingyuan would tighten it further.

Shen Qingyuan glanced at the committee members again and said calmly: "Whether you understand it or not, you must implement it."

General Lei Zhen sat quietly in his seat, his head hanging slightly, as if he was not aware of what was happening in the conference room. Then people knew that General Lei Zhen still supported Shen Qingyuan. And as long as General Lei Zhen supports it, it will be useless even if all the other committee members object.

"yes."

After a long silence, the committee members finally responded.

"Very well, let's break up."

Shen Qingyuan disappeared, and General Lei Zhen was the first to leave the conference room.

After these economic adjustment policies were announced, although various experts and scholars have interpreted them from countless aspects and concluded that this move is very necessary and meaningful, the boiling public opinion is still as follows Being doused with a basin of cold water calmed him down instantly. After a moment of calm, a stronger rebound came.

A full hundred years of oppression, a hundred years of sacrifice and dedication. I originally thought that the pain was finally over, and I persisted until it was time to turn over, but who would have thought that the suffering would continue and be worse than before?

Anger exploded like a bomb. Just one day after the news was announced, countless people spontaneously took to the streets.