Conquering the world from the Kaiser's driver

Lin Shangzhou nodded.

They spoke in Chinese, which the others could not understand at all. They did not disturb them. After they finished talking, Andy asked with concern: "Brother Fritz, are you alright?"

Lin Shangzhou waved his hands gently to signal to Andy and the others that he was fine, but the expression and eyes on his face did not look like "all right" at all.

Andy felt very remorseful and guilty towards Lin Shangzhou. If he had not been too weak and caused himself to be bullied by Tis and others, Lin Shangzhou would not have stood up for him. If he could be braver and tougher and not let Tis bully him, this might not have happened.

So he said to Lin Shangzhou with a guilty look on his face:

"I'm sorry, Brother Fritz, it's all my fault for being too cowardly..."

"Andy, you don't have to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. It's Kayden, Tis, and the administrator who are wrong."

Before Andy finished speaking, Lin Shangzhou interrupted him and said earnestly: "But now that you have realized your cowardice, you must remember to change yourself, make yourself brave, and not be bullied. You are so strong, as long as you make up your mind, I believe you can change."

After listening to Lin Shangzhou's words, Andy's eyes were filled with tears. He wiped his tears and nodded vigorously.

(Although I’m 16 years old, I’m not much different from a child)

Looking at Andy wiping her tears, Lin Shangzhou thought to himself.

After eating for a few minutes, he asked the workers around him: "You haven't thought about what to do since wages have not been paid enough for so long?"

"Do something?"

The workers around him were stunned at first, then looked at him in confusion.

"For example, complaining to the government, protesting to the administrators, and going on strike, have you ever thought about doing these things?"

When the workers heard Lin Shangzhou mention complaints, protests, and strikes, they looked embarrassed and shook their heads.

Lin Shangzhou was very confused by their behavior. Complaints, protests, and strikes were all legal and reasonable demands of the workers. Why were they all shaking their heads?

He asked in confusion:

"Do you don't want to or don't dare?"

None of the workers answered his question. At this time, Huo Wen came over. The worker on Lin Shangzhou's left stood up consciously to make room for him. After thanking him, Huo Wen sat down.

He looked into Lin Shangzhou's eyes and said, "It's both."

"Both?"

"Brother Huo Wen, are you saying that everyone neither wants nor dares to do this?"

Lin Shangzhou asked after hesitating for a moment.

"Ah."

Hoven nodded.

Lin Shangzhou could understand why the workers did not dare to do this. On the one hand, there was no guarantee of success, and on the other hand, they would be retaliated against by the factory after the matter was over. So why didn’t they want to do this?

Although there are some overlaps between not wanting to do something and not daring to do something, there are still differences between the two. Not wanting means not having such an idea, while not daring means having the idea but backing down for some reason.

Lin Shangzhou asked Huo Wen in confusion:

"Then why don't you want to do it? I understand if you don't dare to do it, but why don't you want to do it?"

Huo Wen looked at the workers, sighed, and said to Lin Shangzhou, "Because we are all waiting for the government to send people to inspect the factory. When that time comes, we will naturally raise these opinions with the inspectors and change our treatment."

"what?"

Lin Shangzhou looked unconvinced. Was it just for such a simple reason? Waiting for the government to send someone to inspect the factory? Didn't they think about what if the government didn't plan to inspect the factory? What if the factory owner had connections?

"Did the government send anyone to check?"

Hoven shook his head.

"Then why are you still waiting? Wouldn't it be better to report to the government or go on strike than to just wait?"

Lin Shangzhou said in confusion, because there were other people in the cafeteria, so his voice was not loud, and only the people around him could hear it. If someone like Tiskaden heard it, it would be troublesome.

"It's no use reporting it."

A middle-aged man in his forties shook his head at Lin Shangzhou.

"No, why didn't it work?"

Lin Shangzhou looked at him and asked. He knew that sometimes reporting was really useless, just like when the school put pressure on students in high school, a student called the Municipal Education Bureau and the mayor to report, and then the student was punished, and the school did not change at all.

But the examples he cited cannot represent all. Alsace is the SPD's territory. The SPD cannot fail to safeguard the interests of workers. Moreover, the party's high support rate in Alsace-Lorraine shows that it will deal with these issues.

The man had a bitter look on his face and replied, "The factory manager has thugs at the complaint mailbox. If anyone dares to put a complaint letter in there, they will stop that person and beat him up."

As he spoke, he opened his mouth, revealing his teeth. He was missing two lower teeth. Lin Shangzhou also understood the significance of his actions. He tried to stuff a letter of denunciation into his mouth, but was beaten up by thugs arranged by the factory.

"damn it…."

Lin Shangzhou clenched his fists tightly. He didn't expect the factory to arrange it this way, but this was in line with the reality.

"What about a strike? Have you ever thought about going on strike? As long as we unite, the strike will surely succeed!"

Hoven held his shoulders and shook his head.

"Fritts, I know I want to do something, but listen to me first..."

Lin Shangzhou fell silent and waited for Huo Wen to speak.

“I have participated in many strikes in the past and have also tried to organize them, but all the strikes I have tried to organize have failed because I could not convince the workers to unite. Although the strikes I have participated in were successful, many times people did not know what the strike was for and just followed suit. In the end, the only ones who benefited were the organizers who were bribed by the factory owners after the strike ended.”

When talking about the strike, Huo Wen's face was full of loss and fatigue, and his words made Lin Shangzhou feel cold in his heart.

No one can defeat united workers except the workers themselves.

If the workers cannot unite, then they can go on strike. As for those bribed organizers, Lin Shangzhou is very angry about their actions, but he can do nothing about it. People are selfish. The purpose of the strike is to get better treatment. It is normal for them to be bribed by the conditions offered by the factory owners.

Lin Shangzhou briefly summarized in his mind the reasons why the workers refused to go on strike and report to protect their own interests:

1. Believe that the government will handle it and fear the boss’s retaliation after failure.

2. The workers are not united enough and lack an organizer with leadership ability and determination to lead the workers in a strike.

3. Lack of guidance, scientific action program and clear strike objectives.

After finishing the summary, Lin Shangzhou suddenly thought of one thing. This is a gathering place for the German left. Not only is there the Social Democratic Party, a party that the left dislikes for not being left enough and the right thinks is not right enough, there are also many other active German left-wing groups underground, such as syndicalists.

Didn't they provide guidance to the workers on strike?

With this question in mind, Lin Shangzhou leaned close to Huo Wen's ear and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "Brother Huo Wen, didn't the syndicalists help the workers go on strike?"

He really didn't dare let anyone else hear this. If someone heard it and reported it, he would have no choice but to run back to Berlin to find Cecilia.

Huo Wen's heart trembled. He didn't expect Lin Shangzhou to ask this question.

Did he help? The answer is yes. He himself had contact with syndicalists, but the syndicalists' help to them was limited to off-site guidance. They did not personally send people to organize and lead the strike.

In other words, it helped, but not much.

He nodded and replied quietly, "Of course they helped, but they just told the organizers what to do and provided some suggestions, but they didn't lead us in the strike."

After hearing Howen's answer, Lin Shangzhou's impression of the German syndicalists instantly dropped a lot. They could have helped organize and lead the strike, but they chose to provide the minimum help, which was only to provide advice.

What's the point of just providing suggestions?

Lin Shangzhou roared in his heart. He knew that the German syndicalists must have their reasons for doing this, but he was still very angry.

"Fritts, don't think about these things, just work peacefully."

Huo Wen persuaded earnestly.

After hesitating for a long time, Lin Shangzhou finally shook his head. It was impossible for him not to think about these things. Now that external forces (the German left) could not be relied upon, the workers in this factory could only rely on themselves. Among the workers, there were also traitors like Tiskeden, which made it even more difficult for the workers to unite.

(It’s so damn hard…)

Seeing Lin Shangzhou shaking his head, Huo Wen gave up the idea of ​​continuing to persuade him. He told Lin Shangzhou:

"Forget it. You have your own ideas, but you must not let Kaiden and the others know, and don't let them catch you."

"Yes, I know. Thank you for your reminder, brother."

Then Huo Wen got up and left. After lunch, Lin Shangzhou returned to the dormitory and lay on his bed to rest. He closed his eyes and thought about these things.

His goal had actually been achieved. He investigated the treatment and living conditions of the factory workers. After living in the factory for a week, Lin Shangzhou had already figured out how the factory workers were treated and what their living conditions were like.

If he wanted, he could resign now, go home, write the report, and continue to live a leisurely life in the newspaper. He could also report the workers' treatment issues to the government after he leaves.

But Lin Shangzhou didn't want to do that. If he reported it to the government, who knew how the government would handle it, when it would handle it, or whether it would really handle it.

He wanted to do something for the workers here. The workers were simple and kind people. They worked hard to earn money to support their families. They didn't deserve to be treated like this.

The dormitory environment is poor. Although the smell of feet, snoring and the smell of heather are the workers' own problems, this is also caused by their long working hours. They work nine hours during the day and another two hours at night. Even he, a clean person, doesn't want to wash his feet and brush his teeth seriously before going to bed at night, let alone these workers?

If the workers did not have to work for two hours at night, Lin Shangzhou believed that they would definitely be willing to wash their feet and brush their teeth seriously.

As for the food... the only thing that wasn't a big problem in this factory was the food. Although the taste wasn't that great, it allowed the workers to have enough to eat, and most importantly, it provided food and accommodation. He couldn't think of anything bad about that.

and many more…

Lin Shangzhou opened his eyes suddenly. He thought of one thing. Providing food and accommodation was also one of the reasons why the workers did not want to protest and strike. Although their wages would be in arrears, the workers would never go hungry. Naturally, they would not have a strong resistance mentality if they were not hungry.

Oh, the boss is quite smart...

Lin Shangzhou snorted coldly and thought to himself.

The most important issue is the wage issue. The factory has been in arrears with wages for a long time, and he has reason to believe that the factory will not pay the wages that have not been paid for the past few months.

Lin Shangzhou hopes that every worker can get the wages they deserve, and that the workers' working and living environment can be better. He hopes that there will be no managers like that fat pig in the factory.

But no matter how much he hoped, what should he do?

He put his hands behind his head and looked at the bed above him, lost in thought.

You can't... lead the workers on strike yourself, right?

This idea popped up in Lin Shangzhou's mind, and he organized the workers to go on strike. After this idea came up, he couldn't help but laugh at himself, thinking that this was a bit too far-fetched.

Do you have that ability?

Just before his self-deprecating smile disappeared, Lin Shangzhou suddenly thought of the reason why the workers did not want to go on strike.

First, the workers are afraid of retaliation from the boss. The workers are afraid, but he is not. Even if he fails and the boss holds him accountable and fires him, it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t rely on this job to make money.

As for whether he believes in the government or not, it doesn't matter to him.

Second, the workers were not united enough, lacking a person with leadership and determination to organize and lead the workers to strike. He had some doubts about his leadership ability, but his determination was firm. It would be impossible for the boss to bribe him. He had a leisurely and high-income job at the newspaper, and his novels were also making money. Would the conditions offered by the factory owner attract him? Ridiculous.

As for the issue of workers' unity, Lin Shangzhou believed that as long as he told the workers that he would take all responsibilities and persuaded them, most of the workers would definitely be willing to believe him and follow his actions.

Third, the workers lacked guidance and had no scientific action program and strike goals. On the one hand, the syndicalists did not provide sufficient help, and on the other hand, the workers' cultural level was generally not high.

Lin Shangzhou believes that his cultural level is higher than that of the workers in the factory, but of course this is not to belittle the workers.

He could set detailed strike goals for the workers, let them know why they were striking and what to do, and this "guidance"...well...he had never experienced a strike, so Lin Shangzhou couldn't help much with this guidance. As for the action program, Lin Shangzhou knew that he couldn't formulate a very powerful action program like the older generation of revolutionaries, but he could still formulate an action program suitable for the workers of this factory to use during the strike.

(Do you want to do this?)

Lin Shangzhou's heart gradually became excited, and his body began to tremble with excitement. If he made up his mind, he would organize and lead a strike, which was something he had never thought of before.

(Let’s do this, shall we?)

He encouraged himself again in his heart and stood up and looked around at the workers who were taking a lunch break in the dormitory. Their snoring was still so strange and loud that it kept him awake.

After looking at the workers in this way, Lin Shangzhou's eyes and thoughts became much firmer.

(That's it! I'll lead them on strike!)

Lin Shangzhou was determined to lead the workers in a strike. His eyes and heart became extremely firm, and his heart became hot. At this moment, Lin Shangzhou had their shadows.

And the determination he made today for the workers in this factory changed his destiny, the destiny of Germany, and even the destiny of the world.

.

Chapter 45 Preparations

Because he was determined to help the factory workers go on strike, Lin Shangzhou was so excited that he didn't take a nap at noon. He was thinking about various things about the strike in his mind, but these were just his ideas. He still had to discuss with the workers before deciding what to do specifically.

However, before actually uniting the workers to discuss the strike, Lin Shangzhou had to make some preparations.

The first thing was to win over Huo Wen. Because he often helped others and had a strong personal charm, Huo Wen was very prestigious in the three factories. Lin Shangzhou needed Huo Wen to agree to his plan. He knew that he only had a status in Factory No. 1 and in the hearts of the small number of workers who came to seek his shelter. The other workers didn't care about him.

So he needed Hoving's prestige to help him unite the workers. As long as he could win over Hoving to his side, then the preparations before the strike would be half successful.