The heavy door slowly opened to both sides, and Arthur, dressed in a black suit with a white flower on his chest, strode in, his blonde hair a little dazzling in the sun.

After standing in front of the throne and saluting the king and the archbishop in turn, Arthur said without hurry: "Your Majesty, Your Excellency, I am negotiating on behalf of the striking workers. ”

As the leader of the Labor Party, Arthur is of course the representative, and he is also the most suitable representative, and the nobleman who has long wanted the workers to go back to work immediately said: "Your Royal Highness the Fourth Prince, are you breaking the rules by doing this?" Strikes are a means you use to defend your rights, and that's nothing, but you can't strike because of some trivial things! You know, your strike will affect millions of people! ”

"When did Baron Anabel start thinking about the populace?"

Arthur turned around and smiled at the nobles standing in a group: "Before, Baron, you never thought about the people at the bottom, did you? ”

"What words!" Baron Anabel immediately denied it: "The goddess is above! I have always been concerned about people's lives! ”

"Yes, you have several estates at home, so in order to make those farmers work harder for you, of course, you should pay attention to them from time to time to show your broad-mindedness."

Arthur did not shy away from sneering, and did not give Baron Anabel any face, and the other nobles saw this scene, for fear that Arthur would bite them like a mad dog, so they quickly changed the subject:

"Your Highness, hurry up and say, what are the workers' requirements this time!"

took out the treaty that had been prepared and unfolded it in front of everyone, Arthur read slowly: "First, in order to cope with the current high prices, the salary must be increased by 2% again, this time it cannot be converted with performance bonuses, and must be added to the basic salary. ”

The nobles glanced at each other, and they were all a little surprised, 2% of the salary, they still rose, Arthur, who thought that this time the lion would open his mouth, turned out to be like this

Gentle?

"Your Highness, I want to say." A nobleman hesitated: "If you are just for a 20% salary increase, you don't need to launch this general strike at all, why bother?" ”

"Only a salary increase of 20% is due to the fact that the current situation in the Kingdom of Windsor does not allow too much salary increase."

Arthur said slowly: "Nowadays, more than half of the factories in the Kingdom of Windsor produce cheap products such as canned food and ready-to-wear clothing, which is the path of small profits and quick turnover, if the wages of basic workers are too high, resulting in the price of goods rising, the final payment is still the people, and secondly, it is not good for the kingdom's export trade." ”

After hearing this, the nobles nodded their heads one after another, and smiles appeared on their faces, as if all the unpleasantness just now had dissipated, like seeing the family dog coming with food from their master.

What is this?

See the big picture!

It won't do anyone any good to lose both!

"Of course, in order to protect the rights and interests of workers, I have drawn up a minimum hourly wage scale, and taking into account the consumption level of the Kingdom of Windsor and the prices of various places, the wages of workers or laborers cannot be less than 2 pence per hour. The United has just proposed a 2 percent wage increase, and London workers have accumulated a 5 percent increase in wages on this basis, which is 3 pence per hour. ”

"3p per hour?!"

A nobleman in the mining area almost lost a mouthful of old blood when he heard this: "Do you know the normal salary standard? A miner's salary is 5p per day, per day! It's only 2p a day for small children! You have 3p per hour. Isn't it too much! ”

"Oh yes, you did remind me that child labor is prohibited from now on." Arthur said: "It's a brute to let a 12-year-old into a mine to mine! There are many adult workers, so why use children? 12-year-olds, should be in school! ”

The aristocrats almost blew up the hair, why hire child labor?

The reason is simple, in addition to being cheap, skinny children can get into the machine for repairs, which adults can't!

In addition, children who have been working outside the home since they were young are illiterate at all, and when they grow up, they can only become low-level workers like their parents and continue to serve them!

First of all, the minimum hourly wage and the prohibition of child labor knew that Arthur was planning to dig up their roots!

"Impossible! When pigs fly! A nobleman could not bear it anymore and complained loudly to the king: "Your Majesty! Listen, what an impudent and excessive request! We never forced children to work, they applied for the job themselves! What does this have to do with us! Moreover, we simply cannot afford such a high salary for workers! ”

"Can't afford it? Is that really the case? ”

Arthur nodded expressionlessly to the housekeeper, who walked out the door, and after a while, returned with Sean Rickman.

Sean Rickman held a document in his hand, and after putting it on the table, Arthur said: "This is the factory tax form for the past two years, comparing your export prices and tax costs, I guess your profit should be around 70%, even if you raise workers' wages, the profit can still be maintained at around 50%. ”

“.”

"I understand that making you pay for the benefit is no different from cutting meat, but I think it's better to cut meat than to guillotine, right?"

Guillotine?

The nobles' eyes widened, they took a step back in surprise, and just as they were about to ask a question, they heard Rhodes IV cough: "Arthur, be precise." ”

"It's better to give up a part of your profits than to go on a hunger strike." Arthur put it another way, and no one knew what he really thought.

"I'm going to talk about it."

"Yes, please get back to me as soon as possible."

After the nobles left the palace, they immediately found the second prince and the eldest prince, and conveyed Arthur's request, and when they heard that Arthur was going to implement a minimum hourly wage system, the eldest prince and the second prince were furious and immediately said that they could not agree to such a request.

In order to unite everyone, the eldest prince and the second prince convened a chamber of commerce meeting, wanting to unite all the big merchants of London to fight against Arthur for a month.

The meeting was soon convened, and the businessmen, who had no business due to the strike, rushed to the Chamber of Commerce after receiving the news, and in addition to the eldest prince and the second prince, Ma Wei and Russell Benjamin were all present.

There were so many people who came that many merchants could only stand in the corners, the room was sweltering, and the choking smoke was mixed with the strong smell of perfume, like a hodgepodge.

"Everyone! Arthur's proposal is too much! We absolutely can't agree! You have to fight him to the end! ”

The proposal of the second prince was supported by many businessmen, who had put up with Arthur for a long time, and everything was fine, but it was because of the emergence of the Labor Party that they had no money to make.

But some people are worried that the workers have united, that London is paralyzed, and that if this continues, the church will come forward sooner or later, and they will have to obey the orders of the church.

Do you have your arms twisted over your thighs?

In the end, it is likely that the workers' union will win.

Of course, the second prince knew the situation faced by the Liberals, and he just wanted to delay Arthur for a month, and when the soul medicine attacked and Rhodes IV could not handle government affairs, he activated the emergency plan and held the election of a new king

As long as he can be king, does the interests of the Liberals still need to be his concern?

"I disagree!"

Russell Benjamin stood up, looked around, and said in a deep voice: "Why fight the Workers' League to the end?" Isn't what they ask for is money? In that case, we can see this as a collaboration! ”

"Business is business because it doesn't rely on the exploitation of workers, and it's not the Middle Ages hundreds of years ago! At that time, it was made by exploiting serfs, but now it is on commodities! ”

"In the Middle Ages, the farmer and the serf were in an antagonistic relationship, and they could extract benefits from the serfs, but now it is different, the relationship between the boss and the worker should be cooperative, produce good products, and sell them for win! Why do we have to oppose each other? ”

Russell Benjamin, or Gawain's words, made everyone shut their mouths, and the merchants looked at him in some shock, speechless, and speechless for a long time.

The first is that Russell Benjamin dared to reply to the second prince, and secondly

It's because he said it

"Makes sense." Smith muttered.

The second prince glared at Smith: "There is bullshit! Which side are you? ”

Smith hurriedly closed his mouth, and just as Russell Benjamin continued to speak:

"An excellent company, an excellent factory, must be united inside! As a boss, we need workers to be innovative and motivated, only in this way can our products sell well overseas! ”

"The real market is never internal, but external!"

As he spoke, Russell Benjamin pointed at Mavey: "Ladies and gentlemen, take Mr. Nicholas von Manstein as an example, the Manstein Potions Company he founded, with a market value of tens of millions of gold pounds, is it based on the exploitation of workers?" ”

"As far as I know, the daily wage paid by the Manstein Potions Company to the lowest workers is 11 shillings! Daily wage! ”

"During these two general strikes, only Manstein Potions was not affected, so why did the workers not respond to the call of the Labour Party? Why are they striking? Because there is no need! ”

"Other than that, Manstein's Potions product quality control is the best I've seen so far! The yield rate has reached 99%! What is this concept? The yield rate of garment factories is only 75%, a garment is 1 shilling, and a better coat is more expensive, isn't the loss in this cost? As long as the workers are attentive enough, the loss can be greatly reduced! ”

"I don't understand, how can you just not figure out such a simple truth."

Russell Benjamin shook his head and sighed, "The best way to deal with the Labour Party is to turn the workers into their own!" Instead of seeing them as enemies! If we all treated the workers like the Manstein Potions Company, who would follow the Four Princes on strike? ”

"But if you agree to the conditions of the fourth prince, we need to give up 2% of the profit, which is too high." Someone whispered.

"Yes, yes, 2% profit is too much!"

Gradually, there was another cry of opposition in the room, and Russell Benjamin smiled at the sight of the businessmen's obsession.

It's hard to persuade damn ghosts with good words.

The saying that businessmen seek profit and capital is short-sighted is not untargeted.

It is even more difficult to get them to give up their immediate interests than to ascend to the sky.

The limelight turned to him again, and the second prince stood up with satisfaction, and said to everyone: "President Benjamin's idea is good, but we should start from a practical point of view, the Manstein Potions Company can offer such a high salary to the workers, one is because they are large and have enough capital, and the other is because they need the workers to keep the potion formula secret, so they have made a generous offer. ”

"However, for the vast majority of factories, the money is nowhere near as rich as Manstein's Potions, and they have to save costs and keep them running."

Russell Benjamin smiled and didn't speak, these words are just self-deceptive lies, and they are just psychological comfort, and they do not do any good to solve the problem.

"Nicholas, are you saying I'm right?"

Ma Wei, who was sitting in the first row silently, heard the second prince's inquiry and grinned: "Yes, Your Highness, what you said is not wrong at all. ”

Or Nicholas understands my mind

The second prince nodded with satisfaction and continued: "In order to suppress Arthur's arrogance, I propose that everyone join hands and resolutely disagree with the conditions of the workers, they will have no food if they don't work, I will see how long they can support it!" ”

The decision of the Chamber of Commerce soon reached Arthur's ears, and when he learned that the merchants of all London were joining forces to suppress the workers' union, Arthur did not show a look of surprise, as if he had expected it.

"Your Highness, aren't you surprised?" Sean Rickman was curious: "The second prince, they are out of the way!" I'm going to have to fight against you! ”

"Charles and Shukri are not that stupid, they know better than anyone that it will be the Workers' Union that will win in the end."

"Then why are they?"

"Because it is not their own interests that are sacrificed, they can ultimately have a negative impact on me, a political enemy, and be generous to others, which is what they want to see."

Arthur said lightly: "Those merchants were used as guns, it's ridiculous that they don't know what is going to happen." ”

Only a few people knew about poisoning the king, and the merchants thought that the eldest prince and the second prince were allies with themselves, but in fact they were thinking about how to use them!

"Your Highness." Sean Rickman pondered: "This strike, we have mobilized hundreds of thousands of workers in the south of the entire kingdom, and the momentum is huge, if it drags on for too long, I am afraid that the funds will not be able to support it."

No matter how rich the West Island nobles who supported Arthur were, they could not surpass the London nobles in the economic center.

What's more, there are hundreds of thousands of workers on strike this time, counting their families, how many mouths are waiting to eat every day?

Last year, there was a famine in the Romanov Kingdom, and the Truth Church spent all its family resources, and it was only after knocking on the military nobles that it was able to stabilize the situation, and this time it was the turn of the Windsor Kingdom

Will those West Island nobles, except for the Knights of the Round Table, give all their wealth for Arthur?

The answer is no.

Arthur also knows this, and he must find a solution as soon as possible, otherwise the situation will develop in an extremely unfavorable situation for him.