The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 674 Comrades, let's go on strike together! (asking for monthly tickets)
At the corner of Sutter Street in San Francisco, the California Chinese Labor Association building is faintly visible in the drizzle.

The newly painted lime on the inner wall of the first floor of the building was pale blue. Facing the main door hung a three-meter-long wheat-ear shovel flag - two miners' shovels crossed in a cross, surrounded by a circle of wheat ears. Two pine boards were nailed to the flagpole, one of which was inked with seven Chinese characters: "Workers are tough and fearless of death", and the other was in English: "Unite!"
Xianfeng (Zhao Si) stood on the steps of the first floor, looking at the muddy street outside the building. Lei Laohu was using a broom dipped in ink to paint a slogan on the brick wall: eight hours of work, eight hours of rest, eight hours of freedom, also in Chinese and English.

Zeng Jia Linshu (Zeng Da) was squatting under the eaves with an English version of the "Manifesto" spread out on his knees, studying it last-minute!

"Fourth brother," Sushun, who had changed into a patched work suit and a red armband on his left arm, suddenly approached Xianfeng and lowered his voice, "What are we doing?"

Xianfeng looked at the rain dripping from the eaves and sneered, "It was taught by Master Karl!" As he spoke, he took out an English version of the "Manifesto" and handed it to Sushun: "This is what I copied from the "Manifesto" given by Master Karl. Take a look at it."

Sushun quickly took it and said, "Then I have to take a good look at it."

Xianfeng smiled and said, "By the way, when you see Carney later, remember to call him 'Genoser Carney'."

"Genosa is his name?" Sushun asked.

"No," Xianfeng laughed, "That's German, meaning comrade!"

Before he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves came from the corner of the street. A faded carriage came shakily, and an Irish driver with a revolver on his waist sat on the shaft. When the curtain was opened, Carney's face with red nose poked out.

"Gennoser!" Xianfeng suddenly shouted in German, startling the sparrows napping under the eaves and making them fly up. He rushed down the stairs in two steps and grabbed Carney's hand before the carriage stopped.

Carney's palms were very rough, and it was obvious that he came from a poor family. The fifty-year-old Irish miner was obviously frightened by this sudden enthusiasm. He pulled his hand back awkwardly and rubbed it on his trouser leg: "You, what did you say?"

"Genousse! After the revolution of 1848, European workers called each other this." Xianfeng deliberately emphasized the word "Europe" and dragged Carney into the building. "Genousse Jones in London and Genousse Blanqui in Paris both said that workers all over the world must unite."

"Jones Blanche."

Kani's cloudy blue eyes suddenly lit up, and his whole spirit was lifted, as if he had returned to that turbulent era!

He was not a native American, but an Irishman. His youth coincided with the British Charter Movement and the European Revolution of 1848. Those ten years were truly unforgettable for him!

He followed Xianfeng into the hall and saw the familiar red flag and the English slogan "The World Unite!" The glorious days of the past when he and the "Genothers" had fought against the European feudal lords and capitalists suddenly appeared in his mind!

"You are." Carney stared at the flag, his Adam's apple rolling.

"I came to the United States from Europe." Xianfeng took the handwritten "Manifesto" from Zeng Da and handed it to Carney.

Carney's fingers trembled as he read the words "..all we have to lose are our chains", tears suddenly welled up in his eyes. This old miner who had participated in the Charter Movement recalled the bitterly cold morning when two of his fingers were cut off by the sabers of British cavalrymen on the streets of Manchester more than 20 years ago, and the snowflakes falling when he saw "Gennoser" exiled to Australia at the Liverpool dock.

"Mr. Zhao, Gennoser Zhao," he choked up and took off his worn cap, "On behalf of the Irish Miners' Brotherhood, I ask for support from the Chinese Workers' Association."

Lei Lao Hu suddenly stood up, shaking the long wooden bench and making it creak. "If you want support, do it big! There are 87,200 Chinese workers in California, 55,000 miners, 18,000 dock workers, and the rest are laundry workers and cooks - shut down everything!"

Zeng Da stroked his graying beard and took over Lei Lao Hu's words: "We need to set up a joint patrol team and issue a joint declaration, announcing that we will advance and retreat together!"

Carney still had tears on his face, but he laughed with his missing front teeth: "Okay! Let those masters see the power of us California workers!"

On the Sacramento River, the Stanford family's private estate. On the long oak table stood a gilded candlestick, the candlelight making the silver cutlery shine coldly. Hong Renzheng sat at the table, looking coldly at Leland Stanford, the leader of the California White Chamber of Commerce.

"This is crazy. Look, look, what does the joint declaration say? What is it all about!" Leland Stanford, the head of the Stanford family, roared.

Collis Huntington, who made his fortune by selling mining tools, sneered while holding his crystal wine glass: "I thought you were just a bunch of charlatans, but I didn't expect you to have dealings with European revolutionaries. But this is America!"

Huntington's partner Mark Hopkins asked: "Mr. Hong, what is the origin of this Chinese Workers' Association? You have to explain it clearly, otherwise we will never continue to cooperate with you!"

Charles Crocker, the big boss of Crocker National Bank, also said coldly: "Governor Weller is raising money everywhere to exclude the Chinese!"

The four people who were talking to Hong Renzheng were all really big shots in California, as you can tell from their last names. However, they all had very pleasant cooperation with the True Yorkists, and they were also planning to build the Pacific Railway, and they were counting on Chinese workers to help them lay the tracks! So they blocked Weller's anti-Chinese funding.

But if the Chinese trade unions are led astray by the European ghost, they will have to change their position.

"I will find out what the Chinese Workers' Association is all about!" Hong Renzheng said, "But you also have to look into the background of that Kearney. Kearney is from Europe, right? Maybe he even participated in the revolution of 1848!"

Leland Stanford snorted: "We will find out! However, the Chinese union cannot participate in the strike! Otherwise..."

Huntington said coldly: "Bishop Hong, I hope you can understand one thing, you are different from the Irish. They are free white people from Europe! You are not, and you will never be! You and we belong to two different civilizations!"

Huang Shiren suddenly sneered: "What do you mean by civilized or uncivilized? Why would someone so civilized come to California? People come to California to make money!" He picked up the wine glass and shook it: "Don't you realize that this is a great opportunity to make money?"

When he heard the word "making money", Huntington stopped talking about "civilization" and narrowed his eyes and asked, "Tell me about it."

Leland Stanford asked, "We're almost on a general strike, and you're still trying to get money?"

"It's because of the general strike that we can make money!" Huang Shiren laughed, "The reason these workers dare to strike is because they have enough spare money to live on for a year or two even if they just lie down! This shows that they don't have too little money, but too much!"

Mark Hopkins snorted coldly: "So what? Do you have any other way to confiscate their money?"

"Of course there is a way!" Huang Shiren said with a smile.

"What is it?" Crocker asked.

"It's going up!" Huang Shiren said, "It's going up really fast! The reason why those workers can save money is because the prices in California have been low in the past few years! They can't spend all their wages, so they can save money to go on strike. We can take this opportunity to raise prices and give them a hard time!"

"How cruel?" Leland Stanford asked.

"The current price of flour in San Francisco is four dollars a barrel." Huang Shiren wrote an English "four" on the tablecloth with his fingernails. "It will rise to ten dollars tomorrow! Cotton cloth in Sacramento is thirty cents a yard, rising to two dollars. And eggs, beef, pork, salted fish, salt, spices, all will rise sharply! Double and triple! As for mining tools, they will rise fivefold! And rifles, bullets and gunpowder - just cut off their supply! Let those striking workers understand that their savings are not enough to spend in California, far from enough! If they strike for one more day, their wives and children will have to go hungry for one more day!"

"Can it really increase that much?" Mark Hopkins asked, while calculating in his mind how much money he could make from this big price increase.
"Of course!" Huang Shiren sneered, "We have 80% of the supply of various materials in California, and you still have %. As long as we work together, can't we raise prices as much as we want? Besides, there are good reasons to raise prices now! The US Congress has just passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, and merchant ships from China, Japan, and North Korea are no longer coming, so the materials imported from East Asia are naturally gone. And the local Chinese and Irish workers in California are on strike again, so production has naturally stopped. As for farms, the Chinese are ready to leave, and of course they will no longer farm, and % of California's food supply will be cut off soon. And it will take at least half a year to transport materials from the East Coast! In the past six months, prices in California will have to rise sharply! Now is just the beginning!"

Hong Renzheng took a sip of wine, then smiled at the heads of the four major families in California and said, "How about we make some money together? We can't let the workers in California get too rich. We have to make all their money ours!"

(End of this chapter)