Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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Others naturally accepted this outcome, not reluctantly, but to a certain extent willingly.

Ultimately, it comes down to this: we're currently in the startup phase. In the startup phase, not to mention shareholders, even employees are willing to sacrifice their own interests for the company, as long as they believe it will lead to a bright future.

Moreover, the new tax law and commercial law did not pose too much of a disadvantage to them.

Fair trade and paying taxes according to the law are, in essence, the shield of the strong.

This prevented "upright officials" and "conscientious gentry" from "upholding justice."

But Ronan always believed that it was more progressive for corrupt businessmen and officials to spend money and go through procedures to settle matters than for these people to take everything away from others at will.

"Why didn't you start with tax law and commercial law from the beginning?" asked "Didi" from another timeline to Ronan.

“No matter where they start, they’ll always make excuses and haggle,” Ronan replied. “Instead of that, let’s just stick to the old ways, talk about tearing down the house but actually open the windows.”

"Moreover, this time, I really want to bring some marginal people from the imperial court here. I'll make a show of force first. They don't give me any face at all, so it'll be natural for me to bring in this group of people."

"Furthermore, in a few days, they will also agree to some new regulations concerning officials."

"Hmm?" Didi asked, puzzled.

“In the past, Guangdong was far from the emperor’s reach and was also a maritime trade center, so the people here had never experienced the iron fist. They may think that the previous suppression and cleanup operations counted as the iron fist. They are completely unaware of the original laws of Seris. There’s no way around it, too many of them are used to trampling on the law. The law is usually only used when they have finished their collusion with officials and businessmen and write the judgment. You can’t expect them to understand the law.”

"All I can say is that it's a law that makes it easy for those in power to wield their iron fist at will."

"Once they understand the cruelty of the old laws of Seris, they will beg me to implement the new laws, and that will be the time for me to control them."

“I gave them a chance, but they didn’t cherish it, which disappointed me greatly.”

Ronan said.

Why didn't Ronan do that from the beginning?

The reason is too simple. Doing it this way at first would seem a bit dishonest. Ronan did this to make it seem like they were the ones who had let Ronan down, let down the country, and let down the saint's benevolence and righteousness.

"Okay, I have to go."

With a shout, Ronan vanished in a flash, heading home.

This house is under construction.

To make things easier for her work, Ronan is preparing to move to Guangzhou.

The Guangzhou city of this era is centered around the Yuexiu District of the original timeline, and is two times smaller than the city center of Guangzhou in the original timeline.

Of course, the urban area is not the same as the jurisdiction. The entire jurisdiction was no smaller than the later Guangzhou City. It's just that many of the places that were later cities are still towns now.

Luo Nan fenced off about 100 acres of land on a hillside in what is roughly the original timeline of Guangzhou's Tianhe District.

The reason the garden is so big is that Ambrina enjoys designing and participating in its construction. She wasn't satisfied with the previous small courtyard, so this time she wants to create an even bigger one.

The slope of the hillside is not steep, and the overall plan includes three gradients.

Below are the main entrance, water room, carriage and horse stables, warehouse, training ground, and other functional buildings, as well as the living quarters for the servants.

The middle level is where Ronan's family lived, including the house, the yard, and the large bathtub.

The top floor is the large garden that Ambrina longed for, which also serves as a place for receiving guests.

The construction project is currently in the site leveling stage; the next step will be digging the foundation and laying the base.

Most of the workers here are from Guangdong, but there are also craftsmen from Anhui who were specially hired at high prices from the small government sphere of influence in Jiangnan, and some are foreigners.

Ronan just came over for a quick look and chatted briefly with Ambrina, who was the director.

After they finished talking, Ronan went to find Elena.

Elena was very busy, extremely busy, because after the expanded meeting came to an end, the expansion of the farmers' association began. Although Guangdong was not a particularly suitable place for growing grain, it was such a large province with so many states, and each state could set aside a piece of land to establish farmers' associations and carry out intensive production.

As for places that are not suitable for intensive production, we'll just leave them alone; managing them would be too costly.

Ronan only favors farmers within the scope of the farmers' association, giving them welfare, security, and even the opportunity to become extraordinary.

Compared to Elena, Agustina had it much easier.

Because Guangdong's industrial zones are located within the Pearl River Delta region centered on Guangzhou and Foshan, and will not expand outwards, although the number of workers is still increasing, they do not need to manage matters outside the designated area, making their lives relatively easier.

She even has plenty of time to lift weights.

The specially made barbells, weighing over a ton on each side, are what Agustina uses for squats. For her, that's equivalent to an average person using a barbell weighing ten pounds on each side.

The physical resilience of high-level superhumans cannot be measured by the standards of carbon-based life forms, because Agustina's actual weight is only a little over 100 pounds, and her skin and muscles still feel human to the touch.

They look at them, touch them, and even dissect them; they are human, but in reality, they are not human. That is what makes them extraordinary.

Hundreds of years ago, superhumans tried to forcibly remove the almost passive "membrane layer," but they were still able to reach a level that a flesh-and-blood body should not be able to achieve.

The physical body has its limits, but those of slightly higher rank can easily break through those limits.

However, those who are extraordinary also possess many characteristics of flesh and blood.

Are humans both animals and not animals?

Could it really be something created by God?

For centuries, people have been trying to understand this problem, especially in recent years, as both the East and the West have begun to move towards rationality and have developed something called logic.

But the more the superhumans looked at it, the more illogical it seemed.

However, understanding this problem might unlock the most fundamental secrets of extraordinary power and lead to groundbreaking achievements, so many people are still devoted to this research.

If Ronan hadn't been completely clueless about this, he would have researched it too. Once this problem is solved, resolving the apocalyptic crisis will only be a matter of time.

However, it remains a mystery to this day.

"Why are you here?" Agustina asked Ronan, who had suddenly appeared, as she was taking a shower in the bathroom.

"This is to reward you for your hard work," Ronan replied.

As Agustina enjoyed her shower, she said, "Elena's situation is quite tough."

“Just came from over there.” As he spoke, Ronan had already stripped naked and pressed himself against her well-defined, muscular body.

Asgutina stretched her hand back and grasped the large, fleshy worm, ready to receive a reward.

Chapter 1041 The Role of the Union, the Necessity of Monopoly, Even a Heart of Black Charcoal Has a Lingering Flame

Afterwards, at Agustina's residence.

Ronan, dressed in a robe, was writing and drawing in Agustina's study.

Agustina, who was also wearing only a robe, came over carrying a cup of coffee.

These coffees use Indian coffee beans, whose history of coffee cultivation predates that of the New World, and whose history of coffee drinking predates that of most Westerners.

In Guangdong, it's quite easy to buy these kinds of imported goods from India.

Setting down her coffee, Agustina asked, "What are you writing now?"

"I'll give you some ideological guidance for your union's struggle," Ronan replied, pausing his pen and picking up his coffee.

"Who are we fighting?"

Agustina asked.

It's normal for her to ask this question, because whether it was in the West before or in Seris now, the so-called guild is not the guild that many people in Ronan's original timeline had in mind.

In the case of Seris, its main role was to replace the laborers' contracts, living arrangements, job placement, rank determination, discipline inspection, and disaster relief that were originally undertaken by the Chamber of Commerce, gangs, brokers, etc. It did not include fighting for their rights or organizing certain activities. On the contrary, it also participated in the suppression of workers.

They simply charge lower fees, offer better service, and don't collude with factory owners or bureaucrats in related fields.

It is by no means an organization that seeks to improve the welfare of workers.

“Fight the bourgeoisie,” Ronan replied.

“Fighting the capitalists is unacceptable,” Agustina said. Although the union is not aligned with the capitalists, represented by factory owners, fighting them would clearly be detrimental to the current situation.

More importantly, fighting against capitalists goes against Ronan's basic policy of feudalizing some local industries.

“The bourgeoisie includes bureaucrats, and you could even say that bureaucrats play the main role,” Ronan said. “Therefore, the unions are fighting against the officials. Only in this way can the capitalists, unions, and workers unite to form a ‘feudal force.’ The capitalists are the lords, the unions are the church that both cooperates with and opposes the lords, and the workers are the subjects. In order to control the subjects, the lords must introduce internal strategies to continuously stabilize the people’s hearts.”

“I have a question,” Agustina said after finishing her coffee. “The factory owners’ rivals are other factory owners. Lowering costs and increasing profits are their basic demands, and exploiting workers is the easiest way for them to do that. What can be done about it?”

"First of all, the workers within this feudal system are not all workers, but rather union members, and high-ranking members at that; ordinary workers are merely vagrants."

In reality, this includes employees who can be considered junior managers, those who have been selected as skilled workers, and those above that level.

Calling them "citizens" is a bit of an insult; they should be called knights and squires.

"Secondly, not all factories need to do this. Generally speaking, it's some relatively large-scale factories that are engaged in the initial processing of raw materials and are in the downstream sector. Upstream factories that are small but specialized are not included in this scope. More specific investigations and research are needed."

"Finally, the union needs to step in and actively eliminate some factories that engage in malicious competition, and create a price alliance led by the union."

To compete with foreign countries, we need to create giants, and giants mean monopolies.

Ronan didn't want the factory owners to do this on their own. If they did, some capitalist elements would immediately rise up and become too powerful to control.

Because this thing is very likely something that extraordinary individuals would like to see.

Ronan has even envisioned a future where, after the Industrial Revolution, high-level superhumans become high-level consultants in companies, earning profit-sharing, while low-level superhumans are stuck in the middle, filled with resentment towards the current order.

If even a few high-level superhumans betray their class at this point, something big is about to happen.

At the same time, we don't want the government to take the lead in doing this. If the government takes the lead in doing this, it will either ruin things or become a tool for tycoons who dominate various fields.

This is even more terrifying and oppressive than the former.

It seems like we'll be going punk before we even get to cyberpunk.

It would be better if the union, which plays the role of the "church," took the lead in this matter.

It's only relative.

To reiterate, in the pursuit of development, policy choices often involve choosing between one bad policy and another bad one; there is no good one.

"In the end, I still have to do what Didi initially wanted to do with her." Ronan couldn't help but sigh, but he also smiled.

As a successor without a successor, how could one not want to burn brightly for one's ideals?

Even though Ronan's heart has turned black, and he's doing the things that reactionaries do, he's as black as a lump of charcoal.

Naïve Dinia held onto Ronan, that lump of black charcoal, and although she was also stained black, she also managed to ignite the charcoal and create a fire.

"Commander?" Agustina asked, puzzled.

Ronan smiled. "Well, a few hundred years from now, she and I—no, you and I—will go wild and challenge a feat that even great men couldn't overcome. Even if we fail, we'll be satisfied."

“Aren’t you a great man of this era?” Agustina retorted.

Some might think that France could have been managed by someone else, but as a participant and witness, she knew very well that no one but Ronan could have saved that declining dynasty, let alone made it rise again and dominate the Western Continent.

This is not a big deal.

Ronan bears the responsibility of saving a world that is slowly heading into its doomsday countdown.

If this doesn't qualify someone as a great person, then what does?

Are they those mediocre kings of the West, those dreaming emperors, those self-righteous popes, those scholars who only write articles and spout nonsense, or those high-level superhumans who only know how to pursue power and are indifferent to worldly affairs?

Or perhaps it's that idiot emperor Seris, those faction leaders who are only thinking about seizing power, or those dozens of top-tier superhumans who act like immortals but are actually terrified of death.

Compared to Ronan, they are all insignificant.

Ronan stood up and put his hand on Agustina's shoulder. "To do something even when you know it's impossible is a necessary prerequisite for being a great person. I'm still far from that level."

"Forget it, you too, and the captain too, I can't understand people like you. Anyway, I'll just follow you," Agustina said.

She saw herself as firewood, only able to make the fire burn brighter.

Ronan stretched and said, "I'm tired. I'll rest here today."

"Then I'll cook."

Agustina said with a smile, "It's getting late, and dinner time is just around the corner."

"You can cook?" Ronan was immediately surprised.

Agustina rarely made that pouty, girlish expression. "What do you know? I used to live in other people's homes as a maid, and later I went to the New World and learned a few tricks myself."

"A new continent, want to learn a thing or two?" Ronan was extremely curious.

"Wrap everything in a pancake, understand?" Agustina said very seriously.

Ronan couldn't help but laugh.

After all that, Agustina's so-called cooking was just making a wrap.

“I can also cook soup, tomato and egg soup,” Agustina emphasized.