This night was destined to be an unquiet night, and while the students of dozens of universities in Nanjing were busy preparing for the next day's demonstrations, Zheng Shaoqun, the chief of the Imperial Capital Police Department, was also busy. Since receiving information from the Bureau of Investigation yesterday afternoon, he has sent dozens of plainclothes agents to infiltrate the halls of various schools to attend student assemblies. The detectives came back to report that there would be demonstrations tomorrow, and in addition to calling for an investigation into the Wuxi tragedy, their petition was aimed at the imperial system.

Monarchy!

The students' petitions demanded political reform, that the emperor should be returned to the people, and that the prime minister should be directly elected by parliament.

With years of intuition and experience, Zheng Shaoqun immediately made a judgment that this storm was more than auspicious. The more he thought about it, the more terrifying he felt, and he broke out in a cold sweat. Almost as soon as the report was received that evening, he hurried to the police office, picked up the telephone, and personally reported to the Minister of the Interior.

"Hey! I am Zheng Shaoqun, the chief of the Imperial Capital Police Department. I have important information to report to the Minister. What the? Minister Wu has not yet gone to work. Are you Secretary Tian on duty? Alright, well, I'll report back to you. Here's the situation, tonight ......"

Zheng Shaoqun finished reporting the situation, and Secretary Tian gave him instructions. The instructions were very direct, listening to the instructions over there, Zheng Shaoqun replied loudly on the phone:

"Yes! Be! I have informed all police officers to take up their posts and closely monitor the movements of the students and strengthen their precautions. If there is anything unusual, I will report it again. Ok bye! ”

Zheng Shaoqun put down the phone, fastened his armed belt, hung a command knife on his waist, strode out of the office, and asked the secretary to inform the directors of the sub-bureaus to hold a meeting, and at three o'clock in the morning, the meeting of the police station ended.

At the Xiaguan District Police Station, a police officer walked into the courtyard, he took out a siren from his coat pocket, and blew "doodoo" sharply. When the patrol heard the whistle, they took action, and half of the Chinese police were retired soldiers. Almost as soon as the whistle sounded, when the policemen rushed out of the duty room, after the news of the Wuxi tragedy came yesterday, all police stations had been ordered to enter the 24-hour duty situation. All police officers and officers are required to be on standby at the police station.

"Stand upright! Align with the right! Look forward! At ease! ”

After more than 100 police officers finished the procession, the officer gave the order:

"Today, tens of thousands of students in Nanjing's colleges and universities are demonstrating. In order to prevent misdeeds, everyone should maintain a high level of vigilance and strengthen patrols and vigilance. In case of excesses, they make trouble. Immediately arrest and bring to justice. The alert areas of each team are as follows: the first detachment, the area around Yangtze University, and the second detachment, Guangfu Avenue and the embassy area. The third detachment ......"

"Yes!"

The policemen standing in line replied in unison.

"Turn left and go!"

Zheng Shaoqun gave an order, and after receiving the order, the policemen immediately lined up in three rows, walked out of the gate, and began to work on the street.

It's the height of summer. The sun is shining. The Western-style parliament building in the middle of the avenue stands majestically. Majestic and majestic. At noon, the Capitol Square was already crowded.

To the south of the banner is a procession of students participating in the parade. Some of the students wore white cloth robes and white canvas wide-brimmed hats, while others wore black uniforms and held colorful pennants with the words: "Punish the murderer!" "Find out the truth!" "Implement the Constitution!" "Prime Minister's Direct Election!" "Reform of the National Assembly", "Abolition of the House of Lords" and other slogans of the students' petitions.

It was nearly noon, when the procession of petitioners was growing. More than a dozen patrol officers paraded back and forth on the outer edge of the square, and it had not been seen in many years that such a large petition procession had been seen. These patrolmen are just keeping watch as they used to be, in their opinion. When the students' demands were largely met, the petition came to an end. …,

As for those "implement the constitution!" "Prime Minister's Direct Election!" "Impudent demands" such as "reforming the National Assembly" and "abolishing the House of Lords" are just demands put forward by the students in a moment's brainstorm, and they are not true, and in the end, it is not as in the past, His Majesty made a little statement, and then the parade ended, and normal order was restored in Nanjing, at least in the past.

At nearly 12 o'clock in the afternoon, when the student petition representatives were submitting their petitions to the National Assembly, suddenly, a stream of people poured along Guangfu Avenue towards the front of the National Assembly building. I saw a huge contingent of flags fluttering, leaflets flying, and slogans shaking the heavens and the earth. Lu Dashan, the leader, and a strong man, held up a huge banner of the "Xiaguan Wharf Workers' Federation" side by side, and in stark contrast to the students, this procession of thousands of workers was majestic, in front of the procession, more than a dozen students and workers held large banners, and behind them, a procession of dozens of students and workers followed closely. The procession of about three or four thousand people was just like the torrent rushing, rolling in, and this scene only made the patrolmen on both sides slightly stunned.

"Dock workers strike in support of student petition!"

Amid the shouts of the workers, the students in the Capitol Square immediately applauded and cheered, and for the first time, their actions were supported by the people, and this support was directly turned into a strike, and even the shouts and cheers of the people were heard around them.

"Docker strike?"

Listening to the news brought by the servants in the square, Yang Du, who was "feeding" in a private house in the suburbs, only felt that it was dark in front of him, and his feet were weak.

"Skin, Skin!"

Xia Shoutian shouted and held him up, as an old friend, the reason why he came to the door today was to discuss with Yang Du how to deal with it, and the party was fighting for his position there, so he hoped that Yang Du could come forward to coordinate.

Yang Du, who was pale, leaned on Xia Shoutian's shoulder, a miserable smile appeared on his pale face, and said weakly:

"It doesn't matter."

"What's going on?"

Xia Shoutian asked in some surprise, what's wrong? Why did the person who had said before that it didn't matter almost faint when he heard that the workers were on strike?

"Yes, something big is going to happen!"

Yang Du, who had just stood up with the support of his friends, covered his chest and said,

"Wu Yi, now, it's going to be a big mess."

"Big mess?"

As a member of the National Assembly, Xia Shoutian has not yet realized what kind of chaos will go there, and in his opinion, it is nothing more than the relationship between the party's statement. However, he held Yang Du's hand. The hands are cold. So he pointed to the stone bench not far away.

"Let's go sit there for a while!"

Yang Du nodded, and they came to the stone bench and sat down together. When the servant came over, Xia Shoutian instructed the servant to pour two cups of hot tea.

After taking a few sips of tea, Yang Du felt better in his chest. His eyes were slightly closed. In my heart, I silently repeated the words "Amitabha" over and over again. After reading hundreds of sentences, his emotions gradually calmed down, and his face slowly returned to blood. But even if the color of blood is restored. But his hands were still a little cold, and he still looked worried.

"Huizi, you said earlier that there would be a big mess, why is that?"

Seeing that the old friend's complexion recovered. Xia Shoutian asked puzzled.

"Docker ......"

When chanting these four words, Yang Du's whole person seemed a little distracted.

"The lowest income in Nanjing is the first to be a dock worker, and the second is a construction worker......"

Although in the past few years, Yang Du seems to have stayed away from politics. But in fact, he had more time to learn about things that he had not known before, just as after the civil strife in Russia, he was anxious to know the situation of the workers in the country, and this understanding was not very close, and after he understood, he realized that a considerable part of the workers were living in far more hardship than he had imagined, if someone was inciting the labor movement like Russia. Then the Russian rebellion could be repeated with China. …,

“…… These workers. They are casual workers and itinerant workers, whose incomes are low, and their coolies have nothing to ask for, and they are instigated by others very late, and now the dock workers are instigated to join the march, and the construction workers and tens of thousands of casual workers in Beijing are not far from joining. The students marched, chaotic and orderly. There is no harm in the country, and the workers' strikes and demonstrations are inevitably mixed. If any of them take advantage of the fire to rob, I am afraid, I am afraid that the whole country will be in chaos! ”

After saying this, the melancholy on Yang Du's face became even stronger, and now the development of this situation is far beyond his expectations, how can this be, how can this be?

"That ......"

Xia Shoutian was surprised, but comforted Yang Du and said.

"Skin, maybe, the situation is not as bad as you think, maybe ......"

can think of the contention within the party, but Xia Shoutian only feels that his scalp is numb, is it ......

"I'm afraid,"

Yang Du's eyes opened suddenly, but the melancholy on his face turned into anger.

"I'm afraid that someone is trying to take corn from the fire!"

Unlike Ma'anshan, which is full of "imperial products", most of the factories in Xiaguan District are factories of various sizes built by private investment in the early days of the empire, and after the Wuxi incident, there were university students who began to be active in the factories in Xiaguan District, trying to persuade these workers to petition with them.

"Workers, Brothers......"

In a factory that has stopped working in Shimonoseki District, students standing on a podium give loud speeches.

"In Wuxi, your brothers and sisters were killed by the police while they were on strike for their rights, and the rights they fought for are exactly the rights that each of you needs......"

When the young students gave speeches, the striking workers in the factory stood under the stage, listening to the speeches on the stage, at the factory gate, the factory managers were looking at the scene in front of them with solemn expressions, they also felt a little surprised that the students came to the factory to speak, but for all this, they did not know how to do it, and wanted to stop it, but the workers stopped them and wanted to call the police to solve the problem, and the police of the police station had already been dispatched to the streets to maintain order.

"Forming trade unions is the most basic right of workers, and workers should have the right to negotiate their wages with the factory, and have the right to force the factory to raise wages through strikes."

Li Zishan, who was giving a speech, naturally knew how to lobby these workers to participate in the march, wages, benefits, ...... For these workers, wages and benefits are often the most attractive to them, they don't care about politics at all, and politics doesn't seem to have anything to do with them, but if they are promised that they can get higher wages and better benefits by launching a demonstration, then they will naturally participate in it.

While the students were promoting and agitating for a strike in the factory area, in this factory, the management put up a poster: "...... During the year, due to various impacts, the factory suffered great losses. At a time when the factory business is busy, please be diligent and work-oriented, and the company should be in the same boat, and be related to each other...... and in the announcement, the factory also promised to give him a salary increase of 10% after the company's business is improved.

Faced with this situation, Li Zishan told the workers who listened to the speech even more directly. "This is just a blank check from the capitalist owners to avoid a strike", and just as the workers were hesitating, a group of people appeared in the factory. Their appearance only made Li Zishan stunned.

It's Song Ziyue, who is a member of the Cadet Party in the National Assembly!

"Workers!"

Compared with those students, Song Ziyue, who is over 30 years old, is obviously more popular with the workers, and he stands on the stage. However, as soon as he spoke, he was welcomed by the workers, after all, he had been speaking for the workers for the past few years, making all kinds of statements for the workers' rights. …,

"What happened in Wuxi. I don't need to say much from my brother, this classmate said it well! ”

When he looked at Li Zishan and the others, Song Ziyue had a slight smile on his face, although the party is still struggling, but in Song Ziyue's view, this is an opportunity, an unprecedented opportunity, as a by-election member of the lower house of the National Assembly. For many years, he has been fighting for labor rights. To be precise, it is "to fight for the right to work".

Immediately after the Wuxi incident, he realized that if he seized this opportunity, he might get a chance to squeeze into the cabinet, and as a politician, he knew how to use the situation to his advantage.

"Why have workers like us been bullied for so many years? I remember three years ago. When I came to this factory, people told me. You need to work ten hours a day, and now? Twelve hours if memory serves. Twelve hours, but how much has your wages increased? Less than 30 percent ......"

Compared with those young students, Song Ziyue counted the facts in his speech.

"But in the past three years, how much have prices risen? Three years ago, a bag of flour was two dollars a dime, and now, a bag of flour is three dollars, and on the surface, your working hours have been extended and your wages have risen, but this increase cannot compensate for the impact of soaring prices......"

Song Ziyue's speech only caused the workers to fall into deep thought, and they seemed to be thinking about his speech.

“…… Yes, some people say that now is not a bad time, after all, yes, it is a good time when the "Social Insurance Law" is passed, and you can also enjoy a pension when you retire, just like the workers of state-owned enterprises, but where does the pension come from? That's deducted from your salary, and in the last few months, I've received a lot of letters from my co-workers telling me that after the implementation of the insurance law, the factory owners have lowered their wages, and what is the purpose of the factory owners? Is it reasonable to deduct your wages and pay social security for the purpose of taking your money to pay you a pension in the future? ”

As soon as a rhetorical question fell, a roar like a wave suddenly sounded.

"Unreasonable ......"

"So, fellow workers, are you willing to accept all this?"

"I don't want to!"

"Are you willing to be exploited by these unscrupulous capitalists?"

Unsurprisingly, the answer was still the roar of thousands of people, but in just a few minutes, Song Ziyue successfully instigated the dissatisfaction of the workers with the factory and even with the social insurance law. It is true that as students, they don't know how to stir up the emotions of the workers, but for Song Ziyue, an "old politician" who was elected as a member of the National Assembly by defending workers' rights, he clearly knows what kind of words and what kind of ways to use to incite them and stir up their emotions, and finally make the workers stand on his side.

"So, brothers, tell me, what we should do now!"

"Strike!"

The workers shouted and shouted, but in their shouts, Song Ziyue raised his hand and pressed it.

"Strike, yes, this is our right, but you alone are not enough, we must unite all the workers, all the trades, to carry out a general strike, only that, we ......"

Song Ziyue's hand pointed forward.

"so that they can see our strength!"

"General strike, general strike of all......"

In the shouts of the workers, the original strike protest in the factory began to go out of the factory, at the same time as the strike in the factory area began, the construction workers and odd workers in Nanjing also joined the ranks of the strike, and then under the impetus of the workers, the students and workers' representatives went to the factories to ask the workers to support the protest strike, and the factory workers took concerted action, and late that night, under the leadership of a part of the Cadet Democrats and university student representatives, the Nanjing Strike Committee was established, and then the strike committee organized more than 10,000 workers to participate in the strikeand presided over the Nanjing Industrial Workers' Conference. The congress passed a resolution in support of the protest of the university students and submitted a petition to the National Assembly, and at the same time put forward a series of demands to the labor authorities, such as "recognition of the right of trade unions to represent all workers", "increase workers' wages", "reduce working hours", "abolish the contract labor system", and "give preferential treatment to female workers".

In the middle of the night, workers poured outside the Capitol, holding up strike banners and tens of thousands of workers shouting: "Strike! Strike! ”

"Workers want to live!"

"Establish an industrial workers' union!"

For a time, the slogans of the strike resounded in and around Nanjing...... (To be continued......)