Emilia was naturally unaware of the waves of criticism aimed at her from all over the world, and continued her speech while facing the crowd in the plaza, her gaze solemn. “The two most major changes I intend to bring to our empire include the way our economy functions, as well as the process through which our people seek justice when wronged.”
Not to mention the people in the plaza, even those who were watching her through their screens felt their hearts beat faster in both excitement and fear.
After all, the next words of their empress would decide not only the future of the empire, but also their life.
Even if they were sure that she would do things with the best intentions in mind, those who were smart and had seen the world were well aware that the road to hell was paved with good intentions.
Most of them might love Emilia as a person, but given how desperate many of them had already been before the rebellion, if things really got worse… they didn’t know what they would do.
Of course, with Dixie right in front of her below the platform, and Crystal in the first row of the crowd, there was no way that Emilia would miss their tension.
After all, even if she could overlook the shaking pupils of the blonde girl, the creaking of bones as Dixie tensed up after getting a signal from the blonde girl was impossible to miss.
’How silly… even if they are scared and excited, my people wouldn’t try to hurt me.’
Cynthia was just about to roll her eyes and remind Emilia of her second life where she had been publicly denounced, but as she touched upon the gloom in the girl’s heart, the words got stuck in her throat.
’If they really went against me… they wouldn’t be my people, after all.’
With her thoughts confirmed, the raven-haired girl suddenly didn’t know if she should praise Emilia or not.
After all, with how effective her ‘strategy’ had been so far, if she really pushed this ‘good little princess’ any further towards the path of a ‘villainess’, Cynthia couldn’t help but worry about how it might come back to bite her in the butt.
Feeling complicated, the raven-haired girl could only pray in her heart. ‘Little monkeys of Blue Dawn, please don’t be stupid, and just follow my villainess like good little babies forever!’
Despite the tense atmosphere, Emilia’s smiled gently. “Everyone knows that I’m the daughter of one of the most successful business families in the world. That being said, as the empress of Blue Dawn, there is one bitter truth that I must accept.”
The crimson-haired beauty tapped the ceremonial scepter against her soft cheek, and grinned. “While healthy competition and fair chance form the bedrock of a thriving economy, left unchecked, the larger corporations can definitely cause an unfathomable amount of damage to the people they used to climb where they are.”
The crowd felt their emotions soothed after staring at her beautiful smile, and many happily nodded in agreement. They had felt with their flesh and blood just what corporations like Black Tiger and Gray Wolfe could do, after all.
Emilia sighed. “But stifling the growth of corporations and putting sanctions on what they can and cannot do is not the way I want our Blue Dawn Empire to go. After all, not only is it not fair to those who want to trade and prosper, it is also no better than trying to stop a flooding river with a rickety dam. It may work for a while, but by no means is it a permanent solution.”
Many looked at each other in dismay, but before their thoughts could wander, the sweet voice of their empress quickly pulled their attention back.
”What I plan to do, instead, is to use the empire’s own treasury to establish competent businesses that can not only serve as a check and balance as needed, but also provide us with extra resources that can then be used to both fuel their growth and improve the lifestyle of the empire’s people.”
Emilia’s gaze remained firm as she continued. “I’m well aware that this would only be wishful thinking if these state-financed corporations failed to turn up profits, but… as both the Empress of Blue Dawn, and Emilia White… I still have this confidence.”
Of course, with the White Deer Corporation’s most talented people and copious amounts of resources at her beck and call… it would be strange indeed if she were to somehow still fail to make the ‘Empire of Blue Dawn’ the number one not-for-profit corporation of the country.
Facing the somewhat confused crowd, the crimson-haired beauty smiled. “To make a point, the Blue Dawn Empire will only have a flat five percent income tax for all citizens, and thirty percent for all foreign entities, and nothing else.”
She didn’t need to mention that this money would be specifically set aside for emergencies only, and also to subsidize major projects to improve the overall quality of life for the empire’s people.
This information had already been passed on to the ‘higher-ups’ of the empire, and the people would be able to see it for themselves in due time.
Of course, the crowd was more than ecstatic when they heard that there would be only one tax, and that too of just five percent on their net income.
Compared to the thirty to sixty percent imposed by the previous government — not even counting the hundreds of other taxes on various goods and services — this was already a vast, vast improvement!
Although this won’t solve the problem of poverty for those who were the most desperate, it will definitely help everyone else improve their life greatly!
How could they not cheer?
Emilia waved her scepter in a ‘I’ll beat you’ gesture while pretending to be angry. “Hey, if you don’t stop cheering, how am I supposed to speak?!”
Of course, the crimson-haired beauty didn’t really dare to say ‘I’ll come beat you if you don’t stop!’, because there was a vague feeling in her heart that a few perverts in the crowd might just be into that.
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