The most noteworthy news from the Great Tang Kingdom recently is the downfall of the once invincible and domineering Prime Minister Zhang Ming.
Although the Zhang Family fell into a low ebb with the destruction of Zheng Country, their vast foundation ensured they remained like a centipede which does not topple over even in death.
Leveraging their complex connections in the localities, the Zhang Family opened many factories and owned vast tracts of land, maintaining a significant prestige.
Yet such a massive family was completely toppled over due to tax evasion, left with no room to struggle.
The tax bureau made direct arrests, the military cleaned up without a shred of sympathy, all of the young masters of the Zhang Family were sent to prison, and the old head of the Zhang Family, Zhang Ming, fainted from anger on the spot. When he awoke, he couldn't utter a single word.
Within a few days, the Zhang Family's influence scattered like monkeys upon the tree's fall, and their former splendor was no more. All their enterprises were nationalized and had nothing to do with the Zhang Family any longer.
Even worse, all of the Zhang Family's lands were confiscated, and even their ancestral home was taken to pay the fines. Still, they owed the state millions of Gold Coins in penalties, a sum the Zhang Family might never be able to repay, even for generations to come, with interest compounding on the debt.
Fortunately, the state showed leniency, giving the Zhang Family a way out: they could declare bankruptcy to clear their debts, but everything to do with the Zhang Family would be no more.
Who could have imagined just over a year ago, Zhang Ming, the country's Prime Minister, and his illustrious family, would fall overnight?
And who could have thought that all of this was not the result of political machinations, but merely a minor case of tax evasion?
Throughout the entire incident, other merchants remained calm because they dared not evade taxes and indeed benefited from the industrial reforms of the Great Tang Group.
To be honest, the vast majority of these merchants did not understand why anyone would evade taxes during such good times. They were making ten to a hundred times more profit than before; what was wrong with the state taking its deserved share?
Although they were aware that it was a considerable sum, most still understood the simple truth that without the new Great Tang Kingdom, they would not have made so much money.
With the continued development of time, everyone began to feel the massive societal transformation brought about by the improvements in productivity.
Business branch offices that previously required several days and nights to reach by fast horse could now be contacted within an hour by telegraph.
In the past, transporting a cart of grain from Tongcheng to Chang'an could take ten days, but now it only took a day at most from Tongcheng train station to Chang'an train station to unload the goods. Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire
What's more astonishing is that transporting a cart of grain used to result in at least half of it being lost during transit, but now it's virtually zero wastage, doubling profits at a stroke.
Thanks to better seeds, this year the Great Tang Kingdom truly reaped an enormous harvest. Last year, the whole nation was still immersed in the fear of a grain shortage, but this year grain prices plummeted directly to the national subsidy line.
If it weren't for the national grain security subsidy system coming into operation, it's likely that grain prices would have continued to fall. In years when there was a grain surplus, the farming peasants couldn't be happy, but now their faces are all smiles, even happier than if they had taken a wife.
With ample labor force, the total area of farmland in the Great Tang Kingdom has doubled compared to the Zheng Country era. Introducing terrace farming techniques, utilizing fertilizers and pesticides, and rationally allocating the planting of fruit trees, cotton, and crops like potatoes and sweet potatoes, the total increase in agricultural output is staggering.
In just one year's time, due to the state's reasonable planning and allocation, the entire nation had access to vegetables and fruits and an adequate supply of salt and spices.
This is no joke but a great achievement. It should be noted that before the advent of the Great Tang Group, most common people in the world seldom had the chance to eat salty foods, or afford cooking oil and spices.
It's precisely because of a sufficient amount of seasonings that many more delicious cuisines could be developed, greatly enhancing the happiness index of the dietary aspect.
Following this, civilians with a certain economic foundation began to consume in retaliation, boosting the internal demand of the Great Tang Kingdom.
The first to become in short supply were various canned foods. Due to their novelty and ease of preservation, all sorts of starch-laden canned hams, inexpensive sausage, and instant noodles originally developed for military rations became popular products.
People who have never tried or seen these items before were frantically buying them, and with the construction of roads, bicycles quickly became a sought-after commodity.
After all, not everyone is capable of getting a driver's license to drive a car or willing to buy a motorcycle. However, cheap and practical bicycles are a different story. Once learned, they are perfect for carrying goods or commuting.
Next, more affluent civilians began to pursue a higher level of happiness: they started buying glass, to make their homes more transparent and bright; then they began purchasing bricks and stones, hoping to rebuild more comfortable dwellings.
Cement, glass, red bricks... Construction materials began to sell well, many peasants started building vegetable greenhouses, and some villages even started to build roads spontaneously.
"To get rich, build roads," this slogan was posted everywhere in the Great Tang Kingdom, but the following line was changed to "Have more children, plant more trees"…