I don't know how long it took for Francis to slowly wake up, push away the water cup that the maid brought to his lips, and said in a hoarse voice to the butler who hurried over: "Go, please ask Mr. Gerald." ”

"My lord, Mr. Gerald has been here a long time ago, along with the six nobles of the Mining Association. ”

"It seems that everyone has received the news, that's it, you go and invite them to my office, come here, dress me, I can't meet them in a pajama!"

Francis gritted his teeth and sat up from the bed, although his head still felt dizzy, but the current situation made him careless.

With trembling hands, he unbuttoned his pajamas, and with the help of the young maid, he put on a white shirt, black suit pants, and a coat with gold ornaments.

Today's coat felt particularly heavy, and the golden chain that seemed to make Francis feel comfortable in the first place made him feel so disgusted that he wanted to remove it immediately so that he could lose some weight.

After thinking about it, Francis gritted his teeth and still didn't reach out to pick it, the glory of the marquis still has to be maintained, at least he can't show weakness in front of others in the association, many people are coveting Francis's position as president.

A moment later, Francis appeared in his office with a smile on his face, nodding in response to the guests' respect.

"It's just dawn, I don't know if there is something important in the road that makes you come to me early in the morning, is there anything I can do for you?"

"My lord, the mine is on strike again. You won't be ignorant. ”

"Isn't it just a strike, it's okay, I'll ask someone to send a letter to Egbot, he is still trustworthy, maybe it's just the workers below who are making trouble, and he will solve it if he comes forward." Francis said unhurriedly.

"My lord, that guy from Eggbot is no longer in contact, and all the people we sent to the mine to find him have been kicked out. Immediately, a nobleman said anxiously, and his hair seemed to be scattered. Seems to be a bit flustered.

"Can't be contacted?" Francis couldn't help but pretend to be calm. His face gradually darkened, "What did the person who was kicked out say?"

"They said that they would not talk to us in the future, or the salary would be doubled. Or just keep on the strike. ”

"Is this Egbot's words?"

"I don't know what to do. But. It was a strong man with a scar on his face who told us. ”

"Egbot has been taken power!" ......Francis stood up suddenly, out of breath for a while, and the old marquis coughed violently.

It's not just Francis gaffes. The faces of the other nobles in the room also changed drastically, which meant that the previous negotiations were all useless, and all the agreements were like shredded waste paper, worthless. Their situation became the same as it had been at the beginning of the strike.

The mine is out of production, and when it stops production, there will be no gold coins, and without gold coins, the nobles will have no income, no income, and the good days of drinking wine and eating delicious food will not last long.

The butler immediately stepped forward, smoothed Francis's back, and hurriedly sent twice as much warm boiling water.

Eased by the water, Francis's mind began to rac, thinking about how to deal with it all.

"Ahem!" Gerald, who had been silent, suddenly coughed lightly, attracting everyone's attention.

"It stands to reason that I shouldn't rush you at this time, but, noble lords, please deliver this batch of ore on time. ”

The creditor was in front, and Francis also had to ease his face, and said kindly: "Mr. Gerald, can you follow the method of the last batch of ore this time, and wait for us to deal with the miners' strike, we will definitely work overtime to give you." ”

Gerald smiled bitterly, shook his head helplessly and said: "Everyone, it's not that I don't give you face, it's just that this batch of ore is different from the last time it was sold to those civilian blacksmith shops in the north, this time it was directly purchased by the Cooper Chamber of Commerce, to be honest, I really don't dare to break the contract! I can't afford to provoke the big man behind that Chamber of Commerce." ”

Who is standing behind the Cooper Chamber of Commerce?

Imperial Prime Minister Francis, and the Cooper family, known as the first business family of Bugas, are bullied by other small businesses, but for this kind of top-level combination of politics and business, everyone here does not dare to have the courage to make ghosts, not to mention, everyone has signed a contract, or takes possession, no matter where he goes, Francis has no good fruit to eat.

"Mr. Gerald, can you be accommodating, you have been purchasing the ore from Bithynia alone for the past year, and we have not looked for anyone else. ”

"Hehe, Marquis Francis, and, ladies and gentlemen, that's what I said, but I also bought it with Huang Chengcheng's gold coins, and at the beginning, you also signed an exclusive supply agreement with me because my purchase price was two percent higher than others, so I had the courage to supply to the Cooper Chamber of Commerce, if this batch of goods could not be supplied, that side would fine me ten times! ”

Francis's mouth was bitter, the bitter fruit was planted by himself at the beginning, if he hadn't coveted the extra 20% price, there would be no today's results, and in addition to himself, he also allowed Gerald to sign exclusive supply agreements with other mine owners in the mining association.

In the exclusive supply agreement, if one party fails to contract, it will be subject to a high fine, and the clause that the downstream customer's fine is passed on to the upstream supplier is also unique to the exclusive contract, and the strong background of the downstream customer makes it impossible for Francis to repay the debt.

"My lord, I think there is only one way, let all our private soldiers go up the mountain and force those untouchables to mine!"

Blake, who was overly drunk, was also among the visitors, his frivolous face was hideous, as if the miners were his enemies of life and death.

"Yes, my lord, don't hesitate, send troops!"

"Yes, my lord, no matter what others do, I must send troops!"

......

"That's enough!" Francis roared: "Send troops, send troops, you fools, if you all send Lu, which of you can raise private soldiers does not exceed the limit set by the empire, all of them will be sent out, as long as someone calculates, you will find out, when the time comes, how do you explain, do you want to rebel?"

Hearing Brownsis say this, the nobles immediately stopped talking, the empire has a limit on the number of private soldiers owned by the local nobles, and only those who are both the officials of one side and the nobility can legitimately recruit troops in the name of the local army, such as the governor of the province like Philip.

"What do you say, my lord, you can't let the mud-legged men strike, can you?" said an older nobleman.

"Of course not, you will go back later and gather your own private soldiers together, so that others will not reach out to which private soldier has exceeded the limit. Let's take the troops together to the North Mountain Mine where Eggbot is located, and if they are willing to return to work, then it is okay to say, if they are not willing to ......"

Francis, grinning, his teeth shining with a cold light, said word by word: "Then don't blame us for being ruthless!"

Although the afternoon sun is not as hot as at noon, the heat shining on the ground at noon has not yet dissipated, and the steaming air is even more uncomfortable.

Valker stood at the entrance to the mine with a young man with a little baby fat on his face, holding two iron pickaxes that served as weapons in his hands, and his face was serious.

"Brother Valker, you say, will they agree to our request?"

The heat around him and the fact that Valk was already a little irritable in his heart, the scar man who temporarily acted as the leader of the miners glared at the young man beside him, and the young man who was bluffing immediately closed his mouth.

"Definitely, we won't mine for them, what do they sell to Brother Gerald, they will lose money if they break the contract, and those nobles will definitely ask us to mine for them if they are not afraid to lose money and even sell their shorts. Wright walked over to the young man and said with a smile.

Seeing Wright coming, Valk loosened his shoulders, then remembered something, and asked with some uneasiness: "......Where is Brother Egbot?"

Wright sighed: "Big brother still doesn't want to talk to me. ”

Valk gritted his teeth and said: "You are all affected by me, I will go to make amends to my eldest brother, yes, I will go now." With that, Valk prepared to walk into the mine, and in the distance, in a gentle area halfway up the mountainside, rows of simple wooden houses stood there, and from time to time miners in rudimentary clothes could be seen walking around.

The wheelbarrow walked on the flat ground, a large piece of dust, from time to time someone stopped, choked and coughed, the old man lay on the chair outside the house, the throat made a "ho-ho" breathing sound, the lung disease accumulated over the years made it difficult for the old miners to breathe.

At the innermost part of the residential area, two stout miners with iron picks stood at the door of a house that looked like an ordinary wooden house, but was relatively clean, and their expressions were a little depressed.

Valker's eyes were fixed on the wooden house, which was apparently the same house where Egbot was being held.

Wright grabbed Valk, shook his head, and said: "Forget it, at the beginning, I promised to strike again with you, Big Brother Egbot doesn't even want to see me, just your violent temper, you will quarrel when you see it, or wait for this matter to pass, let's make amends to Big Brother together." ”

Valc's head was like a depressed rooster, hanging down, and he was very depressed.

"Someone's coming!

Wright let out a low snort, drawing Valker's attention to the pickaxe with both hands.

The nobles' private soldiers came up from the foot of the mountain, and the heavy infantry in heavy armor walked at the front, holding shields half the thickness of the palm of their hands, and advanced side by side.

The not too wide mountain path was filled with this heavy infantry, like a heavy piece of iron, stuck in the trough and pushing forward, as if to crush all the obstacles that stood in its way.

Among them are Valker and Wright. (To be continued......)