Chapter 844: Arrangement and greater opposition

When Carl took off his hat and held it in his hand, his slick, shiny, oiled hair was revealed.

Every strand of hair was where it should be, absolutely not running around.

Carl, who used to have to consider spending five cents to fill his stomach, now spent three dollars on a hairstyle without hesitation.

Money determines everything.

He took off his coat and also draped it over his hand. Only when the person standing by the door took the coat and hat from his hand did he say thank you, and then came to Lanse's front.

"Mr. Lanse?"

Lanse pointed to the sofa on the side, letting him sit down.

During this time, Carl found two tutors, one to teach him social etiquette in the upper-middle social circles of the Federation.

Theoretical things are certainly much more complex than practical ones, but he can endure hardship and has been working hard to learn.

Another tutor taught him some relatively common sense things, in all aspects, which was so he wouldn't make a fool of himself in front of people.

If it were high-end, cutting-edge knowledge, if he got it wrong, he got it wrong, but if it were some common sense things, getting them wrong would invite people to mock him.

For the sake of a beautiful future life, he is now going all out.

Although he is not directly responsible for that part of the work at the Happy Building, the funds still pass through his hands; it's just that he no longer shows his face. For him, there is no substantial loss.

And Lanse also stood up for him.

In order to protect these three soldiers, Miles directly sent them to the front line. As for whether they are dead or alive, it is not clear, but Lanse told him privately that as long as they return, no matter what they did outside, whether they performed meritorious service or not, they are finished!

Carl is not a cold-blooded person, otherwise he wouldn't have taken other people's dreams as his own ideals for so many years.

He just became mature, but it's not that he can't be moved. He knows Lanse is using him to do some things, but he is also truly good to him.

In this world, even his parents haven't been this good to him, so even if Lanse is using him, he also hopes he can have greater utility value, rather than wanting some freedom or autonomy.

At this time, Lanse summoned him late at night, and he came immediately, without stopping at all.

"Has there been any change in the number of refugees in the New District recently?", Lanse gave him a cigarette, and he took it very respectfully, then lit it.

"Mr. Lanse, the number of refugees is now a bit more than before, and I don't know how to say it, but there are also some people from Dantela."

Lanse was stunned for a moment, "Refugees from Dantela?"

"What are they here for?"

Carl shook his head, "I caught one person and asked him. He said the Federation is about to attack, so they came out in advance."

Hearing this, Lanse couldn't help but laugh; a good reason.

He associated this with the things Senator Cleveland told him; perhaps these people are also some kind of spies.

He didn't continue on this question, "How do these people feel about life here now?"

Carl pursed his lips and shrugged, "What else can they feel?"

"Despair."

"Many people spent a lot of money, almost emptying all the money on them to come to the Federation. In other words, even if they want to go back now, they can't go back."

"And you know the situation over there; the government is investigating deserters. Going back now will only get them sent to the most tragic front line, and everyone is unwilling to go back."

"The Federation... although there are all kinds of inconvenient places.", he looked at Lanse's expression cautiously, confirming that saying this wouldn't anger Lanse before continuing, "But in the end, it's much better here than going back, so everyone is still holding on."

Lanse nodded slightly. He thought for a while, "Have you heard about the strike and protest recently?"

Carl didn't hide anything from Lanse. He nodded while saying, "I've heard. Many people in the factories are discussing this matter."

He said this, reaching out to flick the ash in the ashtray.

His social etiquette tutor told him that when a superior is communicating face-to-face with him, if the other party lets him smoke or drink coffee, he cannot refuse.

Refusing would instead offend the other party; only accepting is a sign of obedience.

You cannot finish drinking coffee all at once. The first sip should be a little less, but at the end of the conversation, you must finish the coffee.

Similarly, when smoking, you cannot really smoke all the time. The smoke you exhale will more or less affect the superior.

The best way is to take the first puff when lighting it, and then take the last puff when it's about to burn out.

This way, smoking one cigarette in two puffs both obeys the superior's request and won't exhale too much smoke to affect anyone.

He is not sure if these social etiquettes are appropriate, but he has been observing them.

After Lanse thought for a few more seconds, he said, "I need you to do some things."

He hurriedly stuck the cigarette into the ashtray, then straightened his back and sat obediently.

Looking at Carl like this, Lanse felt it was very interesting, and could also feel his strong desire to obtain a better life.

Someone who doesn't aspire to become upper-class wouldn't go to learn these things!

Having motivation, ambition, and desire—this is a good thing!

If a person has no desire at all, who can be reassured in using them?

"This strike and protest is aimed at me, but they have taken some preventive measures in advance, and I can't directly make a move against them."

"I thought about it, and you are the most suitable people."

"You first go recruit a group of people willing to get rid of the status quo. Not too many, but not too few, about four or five hundred people."

"Divide them into ten teams. You need to insert people you trust as team leaders."

"Once the strike and protest completely break out, let them disperse to those protest points and create conflict."

Creating conflict is only part of the whole plan.

If these refugees dealing with the strike and protest are too many, it will lead to a series of other problems, and Mayor Williams might also be implicated.

For example, thousands of refugees organized and attacking the protesting crowd—how would the governor and Congress view this matter?

This is typical mismanagement, but if it's just small-scale, it doesn't count as a "threat" in the public and public opinion, so Mayor Williams won't be criticized too much.

At most, it's asking him to solve some problems as soon as possible—raised high, put down lightly.

In the end, the ones who really need to make a move are the Jincheng police.

The Jincheng police have expanded to 20,000 people after two years of recruitment; this is a super weapon.

Because the Federal Constitution's First Amendment allows the public to spontaneously strike and protest, the police don't have the right to stop them from doing so.

However, the police have the right to stop violent incidents from happening.

When both sides start to conflict and cause bloodshed, the police will start to intervene. They will focus on arresting those protesting citizens and let those refugees go, letting them create more conflict.

This strike and protest, which would have affected the whole city, and even the whole state and the whole Federation, can be pressed down like this.

A single spark can indeed start a prairie fire, but what if it's extinguished before it can start a prairie fire?

Carl listened seriously to every word Lanse said and firmly remembered these words in his heart. He asked, "Mr. Lanse, to what extent should we... do this?"

"Use sticks, daggers, long swords, or guns?"

"Although this question is quite stupid.", Lanse commented with a smile, "But it shows you are indeed very attentive!"

"Using sticks is enough. Try not to cause any deaths, but it must look very tragic. It's best to use those square pieces of wood."

"Don't use the heavy kind; use lighter ones. Even if you hit someone on the head, it won't cause fatal injuries, but at the same time, it can draw blood."

"In short, you judge for yourself."

"We will have a lot of work to do later, and our territory will expand a lot. Besides our own people, you can also recruit some people on your side."

"This action is also a good litmus test. Absorb those you think are good; we will have use for them later."

As he said this, he lifted a suitcase from the floor beside him and placed it on the coffee table, "There is 100,000 dollars here as the budget for this activity."

"How much to give, you decide, but don't mess up the things I entrusted to you, understand?"

Carl didn't even look at the suitcase, keeping his head low and eyes submissive, nodding repeatedly, "I understand."

"Hmm...", Lanse was very satisfied with Carl's performance. This is a talent, so he didn't mind chatting with Carl for a while longer.

"The serious business is finished; we can chat about some idle gossip."

"I haven't been in Jincheng recently. Has the military district been causing trouble?"

Carl shook his head, "They are much more honest now; the military police have been patrolling."

Very soon, as the two chatted, they talked about Carl's family, "Have you considered bringing your family over?"

Carl nodded, "I've considered it, but it's very difficult now."

"The Slard officials have released a new policy, already prohibiting departure without reason. Even if you spend money, it's very difficult to bring them over."

Speaking of this, Carl's mood was still a bit low.

Lanse took out a piece of paper and a pen and handed them over, "Write down your family's information for me, and I'll arrange it for you."

To do big things, Lanse's ability might not be enough, but just getting a few people over from Slard is very simple.

Even without General Miles's connections, he has relationships in the military and the Ministry of Defense.

Carl looked at Lanse in disbelief, but also felt it was within reason, and then started writing.

He wrote very fluently, and one could feel the beauty of the written characters; this was clearly practiced.

"You are very hardworking!", looking at the information on the paper in his hand, Lanse praised him.

This made Carl a bit embarrassed; he scratched his head and smiled without speaking.

Subsequently, Lanse let him go back first to prepare.

Days passed one by one, and the atmosphere in some parts of Jincheng became more subtle.

Monday noon, in a factory that does upstream and downstream supporting, workers came out from the assembly line. The clothes they wore didn't look thick. Although some people wore coats, they could reveal the short sleeves inside when walking.

The temperature in the assembly line was too high, a full twenty or thirty degrees.

Mechanical problems, the temperature generated by people, and the physical exertion during work would all make them feel hot.

After working all morning, it was finally lunchtime.

They had half an hour to eat and rest, and then they had to throw themselves into busy work again.

The assembly line is the place that wears people down the most. Anyone full of spirit who comes here will be slowly turned into a numb person.

Repeating the same work day after day, year after year, either erupting in silence or going crazy in silence!

There is also a phenomenon of forming cliques among workers, for example, people on the same production line, or people in the same production workshop.

Several workers walked out of the workshop with lunch boxes, and from afar, they saw some people gathered together.

The worker walking at the front stopped his steps. He looked at the people beside him, and then the group walked toward that side.

Just after getting closer, they could hear someone talking in the middle of the crowd.

"Worker brothers!"

"We are facing the worst situation in history!"

"Presumably you already know, the Wanli Labor Agency is negotiating with factories in the New Industrial Zone about labor support."

"They have already exported 7,000 workers to the New Industrial Zone. Do you know what this means?"

The surrounding workers were all looking at him, no one spoke. The person in the middle then said loudly, "This means 7,000 jobs have been snatched away by those illegal immigrants, refugees, and the like!"

"They snatched these jobs from our hands, and there will be more and more people competing with us for work. In the end, each of us will become unemployed!"

"Although I don't want to admit this, I have to admit that compared to the cheapness of those illegal immigrants, we are clearly much more expensive."

"But, worker brothers, this is precisely the labor remuneration that feeds us and feeds our families. This is the remuneration we deserve for our labor!"

"What we want is not just to survive, but our lives. They cannot treat us like this, cannot snatch work from our hands!"

"We must unite, we must resist the atrocities of the Wanli Labor Agency, resist the city managers' indifference to these things!"

"The Labor Federation and the workers are actively encouraging and calling on us to hold a big strike and protest this month to express our demands."

"This relates to the legitimate rights and interests of each of us. I hope everyone can stand on the side of our working class, this time!"

"Worker brothers who are willing to come can receive food vouchers. Although not much, it's a gesture."

"What we want is to let these capitalists see the power of our unity, just like in the past, facing them time and again using iron fists to shatter their unrealistic fantasies..."

Very soon, some workers were persuaded and signed their names on a registration book. According to the propagandist, they would distribute food vouchers according to this registration book later.

Not much, two-dollar designated food vouchers for each person. These food vouchers are actually sponsored by some capitalists and can only be used to purchase certain goods.

But regardless, two-dollar food vouchers are still quite attractive.

And this strike and protest is for themselves. Very soon, some people started signing, indicating willingness to respond to the call.

Among these people, besides those who really responded to the call, thinking the working class should unite to resist capitalists and labor agencies, there were also some people who simply wanted an extra day of vacation.

But not everyone was willing to participate. There were also some non-union workers who didn't want to pay union dues, just watching from afar.

Some workers also didn't like the union, feeling that the existence of the union instead made labor-capital relations more tense, and they often held activities that would delay them from making money.

So these people just watched for a while and then left to enjoy their lunch.

The factory owner was watching these people in the factory area from his office. His expression was very ugly. There were also managers and some core staff in the office.

After watching for a while, he returned to his chair and sat down, "These people, the union, are like a malignant tumor rooted in our bodies."

"They are growing by sucking our flesh and blood!"

"What's even more hateful is that they actually told me that even during the protest, I need to pay them at least 50% of their wages."

"What the hell!"

People in the office remained silent. The union contacted them yesterday; the strike and protest would last about five to seven days. During this period, the workers participating in the strike and protest were completely off-duty.

But he must pay these workers at least 50% of their salary, the reason being that if he didn't pay the salary, he would violate the Federal Constitution's First Amendment and hinder the freedom of protest.

Then they might hold a longer strike activity targeting his factory!

This is the place where the union and the Labor Federation are most hated by capitalists, yet they have no way to deal with it: strikes.

Once a strike happens, the order schedule will have problems. Some orders might even face overdue compensation, and there are all kinds of troubles.

This is also why many factories, knowing they would offend the union, still choose to cooperate with Lanse.

Those refugees, illegal immigrants, simply don't have these problems. No matter what happens outside, they work when they should work!

After venting his anger for a while, the owner calmed his emotions, "Continue to contact those workers, tell them we will increase the on-duty wages during the days of the strike and protest."

This is the only way he can think of to retain more workers on the assembly line. Those non-union workers will certainly continue to work.

But in this line of work, almost more than half of the workers are registered union members, which means his orders will have big problems!

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but curse again, then picked up the phone and dialed the labor agency's number.

He needs some temporary workers to fill in. The labor agency is clearly the most suitable choice.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 845 =====