Kent was a very ordinary worker, and he had no complaints about his life until a month ago. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Info's salary of five silver coins a month was enough for him to support his family, and his wife also worked in a factory and also had four silver coins a month. Nine silver coins, which are less than the upper in the city of Baratan, are more than the second, and there are still two or three silver coins left each month after the basic expenses are removed. They are considering whether or not to have children, which is a big deal, and once they decide to have a child, the wife will almost have to give up her current job, which means that the family's income is nearly half less.

And after the wife gives birth, it will take another two or three years to raise the salary to four silver coins.

If nothing unexpected happens, Kent and his wife may have a child within two or three years.

In fact, without considering too many other factors, such as the standard of living, the need for food and clothing, even if Kent works alone, it is enough to shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the family. It's just that everyone has their own dreams and pursuits, and some people pursue plain and bland, and get by. Kent pursues to make his life a little better, at least richer, and not to be caught off guard by some unexpected reason.

When the Self-Help Society informed him that he was going to ask the merchants for a salary increase and an increase in vacation, Kent did not hesitate to write his name on the proposal brought by the foreman. This has happened before, and each time it has brought a great deal of benefit to the working class, and no one has ever thought that it is wrong to help themselves, because they are not acting for their own benefit, they are acting for the benefit of the whole Balatan workers.

In the words of the workers, this is a class war, and victory always belongs to the great workers.

Only this time, things are clearly not as smooth as they used to be. The workers' representatives and the businessmen of the Self-Salvation Association held several consultations, but they never came up with an accurate result. The merchants agreed to give each worker an additional day of rest per month, and to reduce the number of minutes worked each day. But in terms of wages, they held their ground and did not give up a single step. Although many workers are very disappointed, it is not unacceptable, and a reduction of half an hour a day for 27 days a month is equivalent to an extra day of vacation, and at the same time, the salary remains the same, which is equivalent to a disguised salary increase, although it is not much.

In addition, although the work is tiring, the wages are still slightly higher than those of workers in other cities.

When the Self-Rescue Association was active internally, some people privately rumored that the reason for this confrontation was not so simple, but there were other reasons. Kent was just an ordinary worker, he didn't care about this aspect, he only cared about his own interests.

When the merchants and the self-help society began to become antagonistic because of their differences, the foreman returned from the meeting of the self-help society and told everyone that they needed to go on strike.

Many workers do not understand and are not so willing to strike. In the final analysis, workers, workers, are the people who should go to work. If you don't work, don't expect the merchants who look at people with their nostrils to give you silver coins for nothing, and they will only be willing to pay for the goods if they have made them. Strikes will cause great economic losses, and they will not go to work for a day, and they will not be paid for a day. But this is the trend of the times, and it is not something that can be twisted by the will of one or two people, so Kent, like many people, was half helplessly forced to participate in the strike march.

This strike, like the previous demands on the merchants, was completely different from the previous ones. In the past, strikes rarely lasted more than a week, and the merchants finally pinched their noses and confessed, so they received a satisfactory answer and went back to work in the factories contentedly, enjoying the benefits of the strike - increased wages, more benefits, and more vacations.

This strike was different, the businessmen insisted on not wanting to raise the wages of the workers, which extended the strike from a week to half a month. During this half-month, the merchants suffered great economic losses, and they became more determined to show the Self-Salvation Association that the workers' unity could not sway their will. At the same time, the strike also caused great losses to the workers, with no wages for half a month, and the cost was devastating for some workers who had no savings. They need a salary, they need money to support their families. When the strikes could not shake their positions against each other, some workers were the first to compromise.

They quit, they asked to return to work, even without a raise. Seeing the actions of these workers, the merchants became more intransigent and even said that some of the advocates would be punished, that they would be expelled, and that they would not have food to eat in Balatan.

Kent was not a smart man, having only gone to school for two years and learned basic literacy and simple arithmetic, but he could also see clearly that the strike was starting to turn sour. The intransient stance of the businessmen was a strong expression of what they wanted to show - their dominance over the working class. The strike action carried out by the Self-Help Association has changed from the initial increase in workers' salaries and benefits to a confrontation with the merchants and the privileged class Chiguoguo, which is completely confrontation for the sake of confrontation.

In the last days of February, the Balatan Chamber of Commerce demanded that all workers must return to work on March 1 with very harsh words, and at the same time posted a notice that the entire Balatan would refuse to provide any work to all workers who held positions within the Self-Help Society, and that the Balatan officials would expel them.

At any given time, in whatever is happening and is about to happen, there are always people who play a radical role. The cadres of the Self-Rescue Association believed that they were threatened, and together with the militants, they got into a physical altercation with the Balatan Chamber of Commerce. In this conflict, forty-one workers were reduced to cold corpses. This incident completely intensified the conflict, and even Kent, a somewhat honest man, became angry.

A sick mood is spreading among the working class like some kind of manic virus, and one conflict after another finally spreads from the part to the whole. When the president and vice president of the Self-Rescue Association were assassinated and killed on the streets, this morbid mood finally broke out completely. Under his call, the agitated workers rushed into the upper city, frantically dragged the merchants out of their homes, tortured them, and paraded them through the streets. The lord even had his head cut off and hung on the tower of the lord's house.

All of Kent's previous fears finally broke out.

This is no longer a strike march, this is a rebellion!

Driven passively, Kent was also asked to take up arms and to stand with everyone. They repelled the city defenders and the lord's private army, and repelled the armies of the nobles from other cities. An invincible fanaticism is ignited. They divided all the wealth and began to sing and dance to celebrate the victory in this class war. They don't need to work to enjoy a wide variety of food, and they don't need to work to have plenty of goods.

Under Andorran propaganda, this is a victory of great significance, a victory for the working class to resist oppression and exploitation, so that it can stand up and no longer need to live humbly.

If......

No ifs!

Kent let out a long sigh and checked the pocket containing the wheat kernels, the long-term work has made him sensitive to weight, and the wheat kernels in his pocket will not exceed three catties, which is only enough for their family to eat for two days. Since March 19, the whole city has been in charge of food supply, and people can no longer eat until they can't walk. The familiar hunger pangs once again befell everyone, and the prospect that had been bright and uncertain turned completely gray.

"Kent, are you at home?", the door was pushed open, and the foreman stood outside the door and poked his head inside.

Kent handed the food bag in his hand to his wife, squeezed out a smile, and patted her on the shoulder, "I'll come when I go." ”

He walked out of the door, standing side by side with the foreman a little away from the door, "What's the matter?" or has the situation changed?"

The foreman was also at a loss, and it was clear that what was happening now was not at all the same as what they had fought for in the first place. The foreman shook his head, "There is another group of troops gathering outside the city, and a notice has been posted in the city, asking everyone to enter the defensive position as soon as possible and prepare for the next battle. ”

Kent was stunned, "They still dare to come?"

The foreman nodded solemnly, he looked left and right, leaned into Kent's ear and whispered: "I have heard some rumors recently, the Self-Rescue Association may be planning to give up Balatan, I don't know the specific things, I think it should be true." This time the battle idea is to protect yourself, try not to get hurt, and ......", he hesitated, "Surrender if necessary!"

A flash of horror flashed in Kent's eyes, and he opened his mouth but didn't know what he was supposed to say. Is it angry? Perhaps, after all, how can people not be angry when a good life suddenly becomes what it is now? What ideals, futures, visions, and plans have all become meaningless daydreams. Perhaps, how can you not be sad that even the Self-Help Association can't save the workers in the city, and even thinks about leaving?

The foreman smiled reluctantly and patted Kent on the shoulder, "Remember my words, ...... when necessary." He nodded vigorously, "I still have to go to someone else's house, you take care of yourself." ”

Despair spread in Kent's heart, and he returned home blankly, looked at the two days' rations in his hand, and suddenly sneered. Under the surprised gaze of his wife, he poured all the wheat kernels into the pot, and took out a palm-sized, three-finger-thick air-dried bacon wrapped in oiled paper from a wooden box at the bottom of the bed, and threw it into the pot together.

Come on, come on!

Eat well and hit the road!