Conquering the world from the Kaiser's driver

Jane nodded, said goodbye to the two of them, and returned to the factory.

Letitia looked at Jane's back, her heart full of sympathy for the female workers and anger towards the owner of the textile factory. She walked up to Lin Shangzhou, looked up at his eyes and asked, "Fritts, you will definitely help them, right?"

"Well, I will."

Lin Shangzhou nodded, but then he thought of the difficulty of this matter, so he said very honestly: "I will try my best."

"Let's go find the boss."

"Ah."

Then the two of them walked towards the building where the owner of the textile factory was.

.

Chapter 91 The Face of the Capitalist (I)

A few minutes later, the two arrived in front of the second-floor building. They walked up the stairs and came to the office of the owner of the textile factory on the second floor. Lin Shangzhou reached out and knocked on the door.

dong dong dong.

There was a dull knock on the door, and a few seconds later a woman's voice came from behind the door: "Come in."

Lin Shangzhou opened the door of the office and saw a brown-haired woman in her forties sitting behind a desk, busy processing documents. When she heard the sound of the door opening, she looked up at Lin Shangzhou. When she saw that the visitor was a stranger, she showed a puzzled expression.

She didn't remember which partner she had invited today, but Lin Shangzhou's face looked familiar to her. After thinking about it for a while, she remembered the identity of the man standing at the door.

"Ah~ You must be Mr. Hipper, please come in quickly."

She stood up with a smile on her face and warmly welcomed Lin Shangzhou. Lin Shangzhou walked into the office and Letitia followed him. When the female boss saw Letitia, there was some confusion in her eyes, but there was no change on her facial expression.

In her heart, Letitia hated this boss, but she didn't show it too much. She stood quietly behind Lin Shangzhou.

"Mr. Hipper, please take a seat. I'm Jenna, the owner of this textile factory."

As Jenna spoke, she extended her hand to Lin Shangzhou, and Lin Shangzhou extended his hand and shook hers.

"Hello, Ms. Jenna, since you already know who I am, I won't introduce myself."

"It's okay. I've seen your name in the newspapers countless times. I won't introduce myself."

"Please take a seat, please take a seat."

At Jenna's warm invitation, Lin Shangzhou sat on the single sofa, and then she sat on the sofa next to him.

Jenna looked up at Letitia standing next to Lin Shangzhou and asked in confusion: Mr. Hipper, who is this lovely lady...

She paused for a moment, then asked, "Is she your girlfriend?"

These sudden words confused Letitia. These words were very useful to her, but when she thought that this woman was the culprit for the poor treatment of the female workers, the anger in her heart was greater than her shyness, and she quickly recovered.

Lin Shangzhou shook his head slightly and said, "No, today I was promoted to Minister of Labor and Social Affairs and became a city councilor. Letitia is my secretary."

He revealed his current identity, and Lin Shangzhou hoped that his identity could put some pressure on the textile factory owner so that she would agree to improve the treatment of female workers in the future.

Letitia, who was standing aside, looked at Lin Shangzhou in surprise. She didn't expect that he would be a member of the city council.

Jenna was very surprised to hear Lin Shangzhou's words. Who would have thought that this friend of workers would now become a minister and even a member of the city council.

She did not show her surprise, but focused on the other part of Lin Shangzhou's words: secretary.

Jenna glanced at Lin Shangzhou with an ambiguous look, then looked at Letitia and said, "Oh~~ So it's the secretary... It's really enviable that you have such a lovely secretary."

Lin Shangzhou's shaking head to deny their relationship made Letitia feel a little disappointed, and Jenna's ambiguous tone made her very disgusted. Letitia hated the textile factory owner more and more.

After finishing this ambiguous story, Jenna pretended to congratulate Lin Shangzhou and said, "Mr. Hipper, I would also like to sincerely congratulate you on your promotion."

"Thank you."

Lin Shangzhou smiled and thanked her. He noticed that Jenna didn't change at all because of her identity, which made him feel an invisible pressure in his heart.

(This Ms. Jenna seems to be more difficult to deal with than the bosses of other factories...)

Sighing in his heart, Lin Shangzhou looked at Jenna, waiting for her to ask why he came here.

Jenna looked at the silent Lin Shangzhou. She had never seen Mr. Hipper before, but she also learned about this "friend of workers" through newspapers. Jenna also guessed what his purpose was in coming here - to improve the treatment of female workers.

She looked up at Letitia, and the name of this lovely girl came to her mind: Letitia.

After thinking of this name, Jenna felt like she had heard this name somewhere... After thinking about it carefully, she remembered that this girl was the girl who had caused a scene in her factory three months ago. It was because of her that her factory was raided by the government.

Jenna looked at Letitia in surprise and said, "Oh! Is this Miss Letitia the girl who was bullied by those hateful female workers that day?"

Lin Shangzhou was a little confused by her behavior. Was she going to apologize for what happened that day? Or was it for something else?

He nodded and said, "Yes, that's right. Letitia went to work in the textile factory at that time. Who knew that she was bullied by the three female foremen? She couldn't stand their oppression and decided to leave. Who knew that something like that would happen again?"

Lin Shangzhou frowned and pretended to be angry and said, "If I hadn't been near the textile factory with my friends at the time, I don't know what would have happened."

Facing Lin Shangzhou who lied without thinking, Jenna sneered in her heart. After that incident, she combined what happened before and after to infer the purpose of the girl's coming to the textile factory, so she naturally knew that Lin Shangzhou was lying.

Jenna's eyes were filled with guilt and apology. She said to the two, "As the owner of the textile factory, I apologize to Miss Letitia. I fired those three female workers a long time ago. They got the punishment they deserved."

"It's good that they were punished, and I also thank you for your willingness to apologize to me."

Letitia spoke to Jenna politely. She could see that Jenna's apology was just a polite remark, which made her hate Jenna even more.

After Letitia accepted her apology, Jenna felt as if a huge stone had been lifted from her heart and she felt a lot more relaxed in an instant.

"It would be great if you could accept my apology."

Jenna looked at Lin Shangzhou beside her and asked, "So does Senator Hipper have anything else to discuss with me today?"

Now the conversation between the two really began.

.

Chapter 92 The Face of the Capitalist (Part )

(Anything else to talk about...)

“It’s not a big deal…”

Lin Shangzhou looked up at Letitia, and then continued, "Didn't Letitia work in your factory for a few days?"

"She later told me that the treatment of female workers in your factory was very poor. After the government inspected your factory at that time, I believe that you, Ms. Jenna, also improved the treatment of female workers. Today, I thought of taking some time to come and see whether the treatment of female workers has been effectively improved."

Jenna still had a textbook fake smile on her face. The purpose of Lin Shangzhou's visit was the same as she guessed. She did not show any special expression and looked calm and at ease.

Lin Shangzhou looked into Jenna's eyes and said with a half-smile: "Although I believe that Ms. Jenna has improved the treatment of female workers, we met a female worker in the factory..."

"After asking her some questions, I found that things seemed to be a little different from what I thought."

He changed the subject and his tone became serious.

"The women's wages have not changed from three months ago, it is still 7 pfennigs an hour, the working hours have not changed, it is still 12 hours a day, and the women's vacation has not changed, there is still no vacation."

"Ms. Jenna, can you explain why the treatment of female workers is still so poor after the government inspection?"

Jenna smiled and said slowly, "The reason is very simple. The female workers have not expressed any dissatisfaction with their treatment to me, which means they are very satisfied with their current situation. Why should I change what they are satisfied with?"

After hearing what Jenna said, Lin Shangzhou felt more pressure. One of the advantages he had in getting factory owners to agree to workers' demands in other factories was that he had the support of the factory workers. If the factory owners did not agree to increase the treatment, they would face a strike by the workers in the factory.

Under the threat of the strike, they had no choice but to choose a gentle approach and agree to the workers' demands through their own negotiations.

but now…

The female workers in the textile factory are very different from the workers. They have a sense of resistance, but it is almost the same as not having it. And unless something unexpected happens, these female workers will not unite to go on strike. Without a sense of resistance and without going on strike, there is no threat to Jenna. Even if she were here, it would be difficult to make her agree to the treatment of female workers.

After all, the Labor and Social Affairs Department is only a department that mediates conflicts and does not have the ability to enforce laws. If he wants to do something to the textile factory, he needs to ask his higher authorities for approval first, and then the inspection department will carry out the implementation after obtaining approval from the mayor.

He also knew what the inspection department would look like after its implementation, and it would remain the same as it should be, so it would not have much effect at all.

After a brief thought, Lin Shangzhou said to Zhan Na: "But the female worker complained to me about her dissatisfaction with the treatment. I hope you can listen to my advice and improve the treatment of the female worker within your acceptable range."

Jenna made a welcoming gesture and said, "Okay, I'm all ears."

(If only you could really listen)

Lin Shangzhou teased in his heart, and after organizing some words, he said to Jenna: "First of all, I think you should improve the food for the female workers. Although this is the age of machines, workers are still an important party. Letting the female workers have enough food will help reduce accidents and allow them to work better.

He did not mention the most important thing for capitalists and female workers - salary increase. He also did not expect that he could convince Jenna to give the female workers a salary increase. He had to start from the most basic level, starting with food and accommodation. Whether to raise a request like salary increase would depend on Jenna's attitude.

After saying that, Lin Shangzhou looked at Jenna who was lost in thought. Jenna was indeed thinking about this matter. She had thought in the past about feeding the female workers enough so that they could work better and reduce the occurrence of accidents. There had been cases in the textile factory in the past where hungry female workers were injured by machines.

But the injured female workers did not sign any contracts with the textile factory. If they are injured, they are injured. If they cannot work, they can just be kicked out. Why should we increase expenses in such a completely unnecessary area?

However, since it was Lin Shangzhou who made such a request today, she was willing to give face to Lin Shangzhou, a member of the city council. After all, she was an ordinary person, and a woman at that. Apart from being rich, she had no political power to rely on. It was not worth it for Jenna to offend a member of the city council.

After a brief thought, Jenna smiled and said to Lin Shangzhou: "What you said makes sense. I have been considering whether to improve the meals of some female workers. Since you said so today, I have decided to do so. I will improve the meals of the female workers so that every female worker can have enough to eat."

At the end, it was as if she had made a great sacrifice. Such an expression made Lin Shangzhou sneer in his heart.

"It would be great if you agreed."

Lin Shangzhou pretended to be happy, and Jenna's agreement to improve the food made Letitia feel a little better, but she still hated this woman.

After being happy, Lin Shangzhou continued to say to her: "I also suggest that you cancel the unnecessary working hours at night. Letting female workers work at night after a day of hard work will increase the chance of accidents. Similarly, running machines at night will also increase factory expenses, right?"

"It's hard for male workers to concentrate on their work at night, let alone these female workers? Other factories have chosen to cancel their night work hours to reduce expenses, and I hope you can do the same."

After saying that, Lin Shangzhou waited quietly for Jenna's answer.

This time, Jenna shook her head without hesitation. Her refusal without hesitation was within Lin Shangzhou's expectations.

"I'm sorry, Councillor Hipper, but I can't agree with that."

"I believe you also know that the price of textiles is lower than that of industrial products produced by other factories. Textile factories need to ensure output in order to ensure positive profits."

"So in order to earn money for the textile factory, I need to keep the women workers working non-stop. Although running the machines at night will increase the electricity bill and pay a little more wages, it is nothing compared to the income."

Jenna spoke righteously, saying that it was natural for her to do so. Such words made Lin Shangzhou feel nauseous. It would be understandable if this woman could really pay the female workers full wages, but he knew that female workers were rarely paid full wages.

"If you say so, then why don't you pay the female workers full wages? The female worker complained to me that she hasn't been paid full wages for some time."

Lin Shangzhou questioned.

After hearing this, Jenna was very surprised. She looked at Lin Shangzhou in shock and said, "Ah? Is there such a thing?"

"I give enough marks to the female workers' managers every week so that they can pay their wages. So this is what happened..."

As she spoke, Jenna pretended to be angry, clenched her left fist and placed it on the table. She said with a firm look in her eyes: "They actually dared to embezzle the wages of the female workers. Please rest assured that I will handle this matter properly."

Lin Shangzhou was happy in his heart. Jenna’s pretending was quite convincing. People who didn’t know might really think that the female foremen embezzled the marks and caused the female workers to not receive enough wages.

"It would be great if you could solve this problem."

After a pause, Lin Shangzhou said the most important point:

"But I hope you can increase the current wages of female workers within your acceptable range. After all, the wages of female workers are already low enough. I don't think it will cost too much to increase them a little."

Although he had previously thought of not mentioning this point, Lin Shangzhou didn't want to waste time with Jenna any longer.

But what he didn't expect was that Jenna actually nodded to him.

"Congressman Hipper, you are right. It won't cost much to raise the wages of female workers a little bit."

(Um?)

Lin Shangzhou didn't expect that this woman would actually agree with him. He also knew that this woman just agreed with him, which didn't mean she agreed to increase the wages of female workers.

"But I think this request should not be made by you, but by the female worker herself."

Jenna looked at Lin Shangzhou with a smile and said.

"If they are dissatisfied, they can directly raise their opinions to me. If they raise their opinions, I will make changes. But they don't raise any opinions to me. Doesn't it mean that the female workers have no opinion on their treatment?"

"I know you met a female worker who had a problem with the factory, but that was just her personal opinion. She can't represent everyone, right?"

Jenna's words made Lin Shangzhou understand this woman's attitude. She would definitely not raise the wages of the female workers.

"How can you say that!"

Letitia couldn't hold back her anger and spoke angrily to Jenna.

"I know how badly the women workers are treated. They work so hard and get paid less than one mark a day. You must earn much more than the women workers, and you also have much more money than the women workers. Why don't you want to raise their wages?"

"Their lives are not good to begin with. If you treat them like this, won't it make their lives even worse? You are a woman too! Why are you unwilling to help them?!"

Letitia's blue eyes were filled with anger towards Jenna. She didn't know why this woman said that. Didn't she have a bit of shame in her heart?

"Little girl, you can't say that..."