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The city of Manchester, in the first half of the 19th century, was far more important than later generations, and was the center of the textile industry in Britain and Shijie, and the so-called first industrial revolution began with the large-scale industrial production of cotton textiles here. With a large number of factories and merchants, and the advantages of shipping and railroads, it is indeed the Shijie factory of this era, and in terms of economic status, it even surpasses London as the capital of the British Empire.

This is also the first time that Zhu Jishi has set foot in a big city outside London since coming to this era.

With a long whistle, the train finally pulled into Manchester's train station, spitting thick smoke and panting. The train station is built in a neoclassical style, and the waiting hall is as tall as an ordinary three- or four-story building, supported by a dozen tall columns decorated with elaborate carvings. There was a lot of traffic at the station, and most of the passengers were dressed in shabby clothes with rough workmanship and vegetable faces, so you could tell that they belonged to the working class. But there were also middle-class and bourgeoisie like Zhu Jishi and Madame Duran who were dressed in decent clothes, and some of them carried Indian servants who served as coolies behind them - this was the first time Zhu Jishi had seen another yellow man in the nearly three months since he arrived in this era, but unfortunately not Chinese.

"Jason, there's a plaza outside the station, where you can call a cab, go to the hotel and settle down, and then go to the reporter station of the Polaris tomorrow to find Mr. Hemming."

Madame Duran took Zhu Jishi's arm and whispered softly in his ear. This Frenchwoman is now launching a fierce aiqing offensive against Zhu Jishi, so she accompanied Zhu Jishi to Manchester, because she is very familiar with Manchester and often comes here to buy cloth, and is a very good guide.

However, something unexpected happened, as soon as the two of them walked out of the railway station building, they saw that the square outside was crowded with people, and there was no trace of a rental carriage at all. And the sound of angry slogans and shouts immediately swept in.

"Long live democracy! Long live universal suffrage! The ballot is equal to the bread! Release the Workers' Leaders! Down with the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie! Down with the Peel Cabinet! Robert. Peel (who seems to be the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) is the murderer......"

Zhu Jishi stood on the steps outside the station building, took off his hat and looked at everything in front of him. The word "color revolution" suddenly came to mind! Are these British masses also incited by US imperialism to stir up trouble? Most of the people in the square were young and middle-aged men, but there were also some women, but they were all dressed in almost the same blue overalls, and they gathered in the square with slogans and banners, shouting slogans loudly. I'm afraid there won't be 10,000 or 20, There seem to be some leaders among them -- I wonder if they are opinion leaders who have been bought by the Americans? These leaders are standing on trailers or wagons, some leading the way in shouting slogans, others making impassioned speeches. As they spoke, the crowd cheered and cursed, as if they had gone mad, and the whole square seemed extremely noisy.

It's already very cold in Manchester in November, and 10,000 or 20,000 people gather together, and the exhaled white air is like a cloud of smoke over the crowd, and the whole place is boiling. A barricade had been erected in front of the railway station building, and British soldiers in red uniforms stood in a row behind the barricades, holding black flintlock pistols with their muzzles already on them. The winter sun in Manchester shines brightly. There are also some cavalrymen riding tall horses, and they are also in a neat formation, and their sabers have been drawn!

"Sir, madam, please go this way."

The staff of the railway station seemed to have been accustomed to such a scene, and did not show any panic, but orderly diverted the passengers pouring out of the station into several barricades guarded by British soldiers, from where they could leave the railway station square.

"Jason, let's get out of here too." Madame Duran also pulled Zhu Jishi, who was a little stunned, unhurriedly. "Go outside and look for a horse-drawn carriage for hire, I know there are a couple of hotels in Manchester with very good facilities, but they are not cheap, or we will share a room."

This woman's nerves are too big, right? It's all ...... There has been a "color revolution", how can you still think about this?

Probably to see the panic on Zhu Jishi's face - any Chinese from the 21st century should have a more panicked first reaction when they see this kind of scene, and Zhu Jishi is no exception.

"It's okay, the British don't make a lot of trouble, they won't fight." Madame Duran stroked Zhu Jishi's back like a big sister comforting her panicked little brother, and said with a smile: "If you encounter such a situation in Paris, France, you have to hide a little farther, where the civilians will hold a riot every few years, and the army will sometimes pull out the cannons and bombard, often injuring innocents!" ”

"Cannon!?" Zhu Jishi gasped, thinking to himself that the French Revolution had not long passed decades? Why is it still messing up like this?

"Jason, don't you have this scene in Russia?" Madame Duran pulled Zhu Jishi towards the corridor and said with a smile: "I remember that in 1825, when the Decembrists launched an uprising, they fought a bloody battle with the troops loyal to the Tsar on the Senate Square in the center of St. Petersburg, and more than a thousand rebels were killed and thousands were arrested. Many Decembrists were exiled to Western Europe, in London, Paris, and Germany. By the way, Jason, you didn't contact them when you were in Germany? ”

"Decembrists?" Zhu Jishi had heard of this word, but he didn't know what they did, but it was always right to oppose the Tsar, right? As long as there is no democracy and no universal suffrage of one person, one vote after the overthrow of the tsar, that thing is very bad and bad, it will disrupt the social order, just look at the situation in Manchester, and I don't know who is supporting it?

"Roman, this happens a lot here in England...... Insurrection? After getting into a rental carriage, Zhu Jishi couldn't help but inquire about the situation of the "color revolution" in Britain.

"Riot? Uh, this isn't a riot, is it? Madame Durán smiled and shook her head, "When I was in France, I saw the Paris uprising of 1834, and that was the real riot, and the masses here in Manchester were not armed, so it was not a riot. By the way, the situation before September was even worse than it is now, the government used the army to crack down on it, arrested more than 1,500 people, and closed many newspaper offices. Hemming's Polaris newspaper was also closed for a time, and just resumed publication at the end of last month. ”

"They want to make trouble? Is it the Americans who are behind it? Zhu Jishi asked uncertainly. In fact, he also knew that the United States of this era was not the American empire of the future, but who else could support the democratic movement?

France? The situation in France, Zhu Jishi often heard Madame Durand talk about it (Madame Durán was French), and knew that the Orleans dynasty was very weak, and its own power was not consolidated, and it was impossible to support foreign democratic movements.

Germany? Well, it doesn't seem to be unified yet! Moreover, the current Queen and Princesses of England are imported from Germany, and most of them are relatives of the royal families of the German countries......

As for Russia, the tsar himself was a dictator, and there were serfs in Russia, how could they support the democratic movement?

"The United States?" Madame Duran smirked, "How is that possible?" The hillbillies themselves are still arguing over the abolition of slavery! ”

Black slaves! By the way, the American Civil War has not yet been fought! They still have slaves of their own, and their American-style democracy may not have been established yet, right?

"These troublemakers were instigated by the Chartists, who demanded that the property restrictions on elections be lifted so that every adult man of sound mind and who had not committed a crime would have an equal right to vote and to stand for election."

"What does this have to do with the workers?" Zhu Jishi was very puzzled, "No matter how you choose, it won't be the turn of ordinary workers to be elected, right?" These workers are being used as cannon fodder! ”

"It doesn't seem like you're what you say," Mrs. Duran thought for a moment, but Zuihou still shook her head, "I don't know the specifics, wait until tomorrow when I get to the Polaris reporter station and ask Mr. Hemming." ”