"Go to the bank."

Near noon, Sir Liu Shunli did not dine in the Guangliang Trading House, but walked out with an unswerving expression, and after Zhongbo opened the car door respectfully, he gave a brief order.

Uncle Zhong didn't dare to ask more, just gave the driver and personal guard a look, and then followed the old man to get into the car and sit in the back, and the car started to draw a circle and a half and drove outside.

The white Chicago sedan drove all the way out of the Port Authority yard and into the street outside through a guard post. Passing the Royal Navy Family Yard and the tram terminal between Eighth and Ninth Streets, you quickly approached the bustling New York Harbor Passenger Terminal.

Uncle Zhong endured it for more than ten minutes, and finally couldn't help asking; "Master, have you encountered something unhappy?"

"It's nothing, the British have greatly reduced their orders this year, and I heard that they were transferred to Robertson & Co., how can this really be reasonable?"

"Is the reason the same as the first two times? That's not right, there will be no major military operations this year and next, and the British will not show us color? ”

"It is estimated that it has something to do with the French, the British have always been this kind of Lao Tzu's most stinky virtue in the world, and from time to time remind us of his existence, forget it, don't talk about it." Sir Liu Shunli waved his hand in a bad mood.

Even if he is only an inconspicuous minority shareholder of Guangliang Trading Bank, the reduction in coal orders from the British will affect him, and of course he will not be happy.

As a strong military trading firm, the British often vented some frustrations through orders, such as the invasion of Colombia by the imperial army and the war in the Don-West, when the British slashed coal import orders.

It's not that you don't import it, but you transfer the order to someone else.

Robertson & Co. is a British-funded foreign firm, one of the few large commercial houses in New York that can compete head-on with Chinese-funded commercial firms.

The Appalachian coalfield in the United States is the world's largest coalfield, with an extremely wide distribution, distributed in seven states in the northeast and two provinces under the Tang Empire, and the coal exported is dominated by Chicago Board of Trade futures.

Generally speaking, the coal exported this year is last year's order, and this year's order is next year's export volume.

The long-term orders determined on the Chicago Board of Trade are mainly based on the delivery price of Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and other ports, that is, the port delivery price.

If British coal importers want to ship the coal back, they also need to find a powerful merchant such as Guangliang Trading Company to handle the coal export license, load and transport, arrive in the UK for customs clearance, etc., until it is delivered to the designated port for unloading.

The orders mentioned by Sir Liu Shunli refer to the transportation orders of this kind of full-process service, and Guangliang Trading Company has always been one of the main participants, and such long-term cooperation has continued for more than 20 years.

Take London, England, for example;

In the mid-80s of the 19th century, the population of London has reached more than 4.7 million, and it is the most populous international metropolis in the world today.

The smog capital consumes a staggering amount of coal each year, more than 4,510 tonnes, accounting for one-third of the UK's coal production.

London's countless factories and the cold autumn and winter months at high latitudes make the amount of coal used for industrial and domestic heating staggering, but it is also a metropolis flowing with endless wealth and staggering spending power.

Therefore, it is also the largest market for U.S. coal exports, with an annual import demand of more than 10 million tons of coal.

Every autumn and winter

There is no end in sight to the coal ships on the Thames, bringing burning light and heat to the world's largest metropolis, and making many traders, including Guangliang Trading Company.

Britain is the world's second largest coal producer, but due to the early start of industrialization, some of the old coalfields that were exploited on a large scale in the early 18th century are facing resource depletion, and many of them have ceased production.

Some of the major coal mines also have limited capacity to increase production and cannot meet the hungry demand of the UK, so they need to import large quantities of coal to replenish it.

Today, France is also one of the major importers of coal, which is a bit heart-wrenching.

Originally, France did not lack coal, but after the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Alsace and Lorraine, which were rich in coal and steel resources, were ceded to Germany, and as a result, there was a large gap in domestic demand.

However, the French colonies in North Africa are relatively poor in coal and iron resources, and the colonies in Africa and Indochina are rich in coal and iron resources, but the distance is too far away and the transportation cost is high.

It cannot compete with North America's imports of cheap and high-quality coal and iron ore, so it is also an importer of bulk resources such as coal, iron, copper and oil.

"Horn Horn Horn ......"

"Hey man, get out of the way."

The crowded crowd in front of him and many horse-drawn carriages blocked the road, and the driver could only desperately pinch the rubber horn, and at the same time let go of his voice and shouted, moving forward with difficulty in the crowd.

At this moment the guard in the front seat and the loyal man in the back seat also stood up, one vigilant hand on the revolver at his waist, and loudly drove the crowd away to prevent the Italian thieves and Irish villains from approaching the convertible.

The New York Harbor Ferry Terminal is always the busiest, most chaotic and most committed place in the city, where hundreds of robberies, thefts, woundings or rapes occur every day, and many young Caucasian women who have just stepped off the ferry often disappear at the New York Harbor Ferry Terminal.

They may appear at dimly lit strip balls, in brothels or on the streets at night, or they may be sold to wealthy Chinese as concubines, or perhaps the latter is the best ending.

It would be normal to lose some wagons, luggage or other things.

The garrison of the Tang Empire ignores local security cases, does not accept any criminal cases, and generally does not interfere in the management of the Port Authority of New York unless it is too rampant to kidnap people under their noses.

Seeing a Chinese noble car stuck in the crowd, several Chinese policemen hurriedly rushed over with a whistle, which made the crowd dodge one after another and make way for a narrow road.

After passing through this congested section, the Chicago convertible car gradually became faster, and Zhongbo sat down with palpitations.

When the cold wind blows, the back is cold.

It turned out that I was nervous for a while, and my back was sweating a lot, and at this time, the cold wind blew naturally cool.

Zhongbo's fears are not unreasonable, the security at the New York Port Authority's passenger terminal is quite poor, there are not a few people who shoot people in the street to kill people or stab knives, and there are more than a dozen Irish or Italian gangsters who make money here, each with its own territory.

It's really hurt in the hands of these little Karami, and I can't find a place to cry.

More than 20 minutes later

The Chicago white convertible drove onto the streets of Gro, a bustling neighborhood in Queens, and turned into the yard next to the bank building at an intersection.

This is the location of the Royal Chang'an Bank Queens Branch, because it is located in a bustling street, there are many people coming and going from the south to the north, and the nearby shops are very prosperous next to each other, so there are many people of all kinds.

This is Sir Liu Shunli's stronghold, where he can easily meet people of various identities, direct his subordinates to deploy operations, and collect secret information from all directions.

Arrived here shortly after

Sir Liu Shunli received a piece of bad news that made his heart feel cold; The 573,000 workers in New York City are on a general strike demanding an eight-hour workday, and are now actively joining the New York Dock Union, the New Jersey Dock Union, the New York State Construction Workers' Union, the Textile Union, the Steelmen's Union, the Craftsmen's Union, the Transportation Union, and the Tricycle Drivers' Union, which almost all the major trade union forces are actively linked.

American workers have a long history of demanding an eight- or nine-hour workday, and more than 100 demonstrations have erupted in various places over the past few years.

In 1884, the U.S. federal government passed a settlement that legislated for an eight-hour workday beginning May 1, 1885.

But actually

No factory or enterprise has complied with this rule, and workers have to work at least 10 hours, and at most 14 or 5 hours, which has caused anger to build up among workers.

It's not ...... The trade unions of various industries began to go on strike in tandem.

The only good news was that the trolley union did not participate, because the vast majority of streetcar drivers in New York City were Chinese retired soldiers, which was a relatively stable job and the pay was good, so the Chinese capitalists gave priority to the retired soldiers.

"So...... How is the government responding? Sir Liu Shunli was already hungry, and sat down at the table to prepare a large piece of food, and looked up with chopsticks in his hand and asked.

"The New York West End Business Owners Federation has allocated $30,000 for the emergency purchase of guns, similar to the Grocery Store Owners Committee, which urgently raised tens of thousands of dollars to purchase additional guns and ammunition for the police department, and some other Chaoshan Chamber of Commerce, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce and Huguang Chamber of Commerce have also made similar moves, anyway, they are unwilling to compromise!" The head of intelligence introduced.

"Alas, it looks like another bloodshed!" Sir Liu Shunli shook his head helplessly and began to eat with relish.

There are more lice and it is not itchy.

This is the case in the United States today, where the government, the upper class and the capitalists are not sympathetic to the workers' strikes and are unwilling to follow the "eight-hour day".

Those are all promises made by the previous US President Zhang Zongliang for the Liberal Party general election and trying to win the votes of the grassroots people, why should the current administration fulfill its promises?

So now the New York City and the Police Department are so nervous that they may have contacted the North American Command and are ready to suppress the strikes.

It's just that this time the scale is particularly large, and the blood will not be less shed, and the number of dead people will not be less.

But so what?

This is the case in industrial countries all over the world, where factory owners oppress and exploit workers with all their might, and it is too common to work 10 or even 14 or 5 hours a day, and thousands of workers die of exhaustion in factories every year.

Datang Dingguo explicitly prohibits workers from working more than 10 hours, and it is not that many companies secretly work overtime, but they will give more money.

This situation is repeatedly prohibited, and it is entirely due to profits, and it is by no means something that can be solved by a single rule or a few demonstrations.

So why didn't the Tang Empire have so many strikes?

It is not that the Chinese capitalists of the Tang Empire are benevolent, but because as an absolute monarchy and feudal state, the Tang Empire does not have the freedom to march in the streets.

Those who want to march must report it in advance, otherwise they will be severely punished for the crime of gathering a crowd to cause chaos, and the military and police will be dispatched to carry out merciless suppression.

On the other hand, because the Chinese are hardworking and willing to work, after experiencing such a difficult life on the mainland, their ability to bear it has been greatly enhanced.

If you do more work in the factory of the Tang Empire and get more money, your resentment is naturally not so big, and you won't work with the boss everywhere.

The more than 200 years of enslavement education in the Manchu Qing Dynasty are still somewhat remnants.

(End of chapter)