Conquering the world from the Kaiser's driver

Louis nodded and said generously:

"To be exact, it's for you. Berlin is much bigger than Strasbourg. How can you get around here without transportation?"

"Well, although I appreciate your consideration, I can still afford a car..."

Lin Shangzhou was somewhat resistant to the gift Louis gave him. It was not because he did not want to take advantage of it, but because if he accepted it, it would be like owing him a favor. Why should he owe others a favor when he could afford a car?

Louis waved his hand and said, "Oh, it's just a car. I'll give it to you. This is my personal gift. You don't owe me anything for accepting this gift."

"Just think of me as someone with too much money to spend."

Lin Shangzhou was amused by his words and laughed, and Louis also laughed. After laughing, Lin Shangzhou put the key in his pocket and said to him: "You said so, I will accept this gift."

"Take it, take it."

Louis urged, with a look of indifference on his face, as if what he gave away was not a real car but an insignificant noun.

Looking at the wealthy Louis, Lin Shangzhou couldn't help but think: We must cherish Louis who is generous now, because the future Black Monday will equally turn most people into negative assets.

By then, Louis won’t be able to be rich and powerful.

However, Lin Shangzhou would certainly try his best to reduce Louis' losses. Although this man was a little unreasonable, he was still his friend after all. He had helped him before, and reducing his losses would also be beneficial to himself.

"Louis, I'm just about to have breakfast, would you like some?"

Lin Shangzhou invited him to be his guest. Louis put his right hand on his stomach, with a strange expression on his face, and said, "Strange, I remember I clearly had breakfast... Since you said so, I'll have another one."

"You kid... come on, let me show you how to have a Chinese breakfast."

Lin Shangzhou invited Louis to his yard and then took him to the house.

Lin Yangyu entertained the guest Louis very warmly. Louis also tasted an authentic Chinese breakfast today. Of course, he didn't know how to use chopsticks, so Lin Yangyu prepared a knife and fork for him.

After breakfast, Lin Shangzhou and Louis walked out of the house. He was going to go to Lin Wenhua, Goebbels and others to make arrangements for them.

The two came to the car, Louis stepped forward, opened the door and said to Lin Shangzhou: "You drive."

"Row."

Lin Shangzhou nodded and sat in the car, while Louis walked to the other side and sat in the driver's seat.

Then Lin Shangzhou drove the car under Louis's guidance to the apartment he had arranged for Lin Wenhua and others.

.

Chapter 124 New Newspaper Agency Arrangements

After parking the car downstairs of the apartment building, Lin Shangzhou got out and followed Louis to the door of the apartment. Louis opened the door and gave Lin Shangzhou a brief introduction of the apartment.

"This building has four floors in total. I allocated the first floor to the newspaper employees, the second floor is for the workers, the third floor is for Kevin and Harvot, and the fourth floor was originally intended to be a separate room for Letitia, but Letitia went to work at the Palace of Carefree Palace, so I simply let Harvot use the fourth floor as a laboratory and let him do experiments in it."

"Well, thank you."

After listening to Louis' words, Lin Shangzhou thanked him, and Louis smiled and said it was nothing.

Now that he knew who lived on each floor, Lin Shangzhou planned to arrange things for them one level at a time according to the order of their levels, starting with Goebbels and others on the first floor.

Lin Shangzhou came to the door of the room on the first floor, reached out and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, the door was opened and the person who opened the door was Goebbels.

"Good morning, Paul."

Lin Shangzhou greeted Goebbels with a smile. When Goebbels saw that it was Lin Shangzhou and Louis, he invited them into the room.

Walking into the room, Lin Shangzhou saw several newspaper employees having breakfast. They greeted Lin Shangzhou and Louis at the same time, and the two responded to them one by one.

Because they were having breakfast, Lin Shangzhou sat on the sofa with Louis and waited quietly for them to finish breakfast.

Five minutes later, they finished breakfast and started to clear the table. After the table was cleaned, Goebbels pulled out a chair and said to Lin Shangzhou, "Fritts, come and sit here. Aren't we going to discuss what to do next?"

"Ah."

Lin Shangzhou stood up and sat over, and Louis followed and sat on a chair beside him.

After everyone was seated, Lin Shangzhou looked around at everyone and said sincerely: "First of all, I want to thank everyone for following me from Strasbourg to Berlin. I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to everyone here."

After saying that, he stood up and bowed to the newspaper staff in front of him to express his gratitude.

They had to start from scratch here. The competition among newspapers in Berlin was much greater than in Strasbourg, and this was a right-wing stronghold. It was extremely difficult for them to operate and develop a left-wing newspaper.

The sight of Lin Shangzhou bowing to express his gratitude to the newspaper staff left a deep impression on them, and made them more determined to follow him.

Goebbels looked at Lin Shangzhou with satisfaction, and then exchanged glances with Monchi Jesus and others, then looked at Lin Shangzhou and said with a smile: "Fritts, we accept your thanks, and now let's discuss how to develop in the future."

"Ah."

Lin Shangzhou straightened up and looked at the people who were staring at him eagerly, nodded and sat down again.

Then he took the lead and said, "I believe everyone knows why I brought you to Berlin. Editor-in-Chief Louis and I plan to build a new newspaper in Berlin, and you will be the first batch of employees of this newspaper."

Everyone nodded, indicating that they understood this very well.

"So we have to consider the following issues at this stage."

Lin Shangzhou stretched out his right hand and pointed with his index finger, saying, "First of all, the first point is the issue of the venue of our newspaper. I believe our editor-in-chief Louis will arrange it."

After that, he looked at Louis, who followed his words and said, "I bought a private newspaper in the city that was not doing well. You don't have to worry about the venue. The newspaper is well-equipped. The only shortcoming is that there are not enough employees. The original employees plus us are not enough to support the operation of a newspaper, so you have to recruit more employees after you start working."

Everyone nodded. Recruiting workers was a simple matter and there was nothing to worry about.

Then Lin Shangzhou stretched out his index and middle fingers and made a "2" gesture and said, "The venue problem has been solved. Now the next point is what our newspaper will mainly report on."

"We maintain the content structure of the Workers' Daily, reporting on social and political current affairs and publishing some entertaining stories and novels. Social news should focus on the lives of ordinary people, especially the situation of the lower classes and workers. Political news should criticize and satirize the policies and actions of the right-wing government. The intensity of criticism and satire depends on the situation."

After saying this, Lin Shangzhou looked at the people who were listening attentively and asked, "Did everyone understand? If there is anything I didn't explain clearly, please point it out and I will explain it again."

Jesus shook his head and said, "No, no, Fritz, you explained it very clearly."

After making sure everyone understood, Lin Shangzhou continued, "I will write the entertaining story novels, and the social and political current affairs articles will need to be submitted to Paul for review and revision after they are written. Paul, is that okay?"

"No."

Goebbels shook his head. He had expected Lin Shangzhou to assign him such a task, and no one else had any objection.

Then Lin Shangzhou bent his right index finger, put the tip of his thumb against the back of his index finger and made a three. This behavior made Goebbels and others feel a little confused. Why was he making an "OK" gesture?

Seeing several people looking at his right hand in confusion, Lin Shangzhou looked at his right hand in confusion, and then he understood why they were confused.

Thinking of the reason why Goebbels and others were confused, Lin Shangzhou smiled and explained to them: "In some places in China, the number three is measured like this."

As he said this, he bent his little finger again, put the tip of his thumb against the tip of his little finger and said to everyone, "There is also this."

After his explanation, everyone suddenly understood and started laughing, and the room was suddenly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

After laughing, Lin Shangzhou made the number three again, but this time he extended his thumb, index finger and middle finger, which is the German way of making the number three.

His expression was very serious, and the others stopped smiling as well. The cheerful atmosphere just now disappeared in an instant.

"The third point is about what name our newspaper should be named. You can suggest whatever you like. Finally, I will vote on the suggestions made by everyone. The one with the highest number of votes will be the name of our newspaper."

Then everyone started to put forward their own suggestions. Some suggested naming it "Berlin Workers' Newspaper" based on the old name, some suggested naming it "Workers' Newspaper", and some suggested naming it "People's Newspaper". Finally, after discussion and summary, three candidate names were selected.

They are: Deutsche Arbeiterzeitung (proposed by Monch and others), Volksverein (proposed by Goebbels), Deutsche Volkszeitung (proposed by Lin Shangzhou)

After ten minutes of discussion, Goebbels's proposal of "People's Forward" was finally chosen as the name of the new newspaper.

"Then let's follow Paul's suggestion and name our new newspaper People's Advance. Is that okay with you?"

Lin Shangzhou asked everyone, and everyone nodded to show that they had no objection. At this time, Lin Shangzhou smiled slightly and said, "But before it is actually used, I want to add a prefix to this name - Germany."

Lin Shangzhou stood up and said excitedly: "The German People's Forward means that the German people will always move forward!"

After that, he looked at Goebbels and asked, "Paul, do you have any opinion on this? If you are not satisfied, you can raise it."

Goebbels looked up at Lin Shangzhou, shook his head and said, "No objection, this name is very good, and the German people will always move forward."

Seeing that the name of the newspaper was decided, Louis applauded enthusiastically in congratulations. After he applauded, others followed suit.

Then everyone discussed the distribution of positions in the newspaper. Lin Shangzhou originally wanted Louis to be the editor-in-chief, but he declined and said that it would be better for Lin Shangzhou to be the editor-in-chief because he had no job now and it was impossible for him to enter politics in Berlin. Moreover, he was also one of the investors of the newspaper and could write articles, so he could be the editor-in-chief.

Goebbels and others also persuaded him to become the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. Under the persuasion of everyone, Lin Shangzhou had to accept the position.

The editor-in-chief was chosen, and the deputy editor-in-chief was soon decided upon as well - Goebbels was very satisfied with this and gladly accepted the position.

The remaining ministers were selected from among Monchi Jesus and others, who were all experienced and suitable to be ministers.

.

Chapter 125 Obstructed

After finishing the work at the new newspaper, Lin Shangzhou left the room on the first floor. The next step was to find the workers and arrange for them to do the next thing. He and Louis came to the door of the room on the second floor. He reached out and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, the door opened. The person who opened the door was Lin Wenhua.

Lin Wenhua warmly invited Lin Shangzhou and Louis into the room. The workers in the living room were leisurely killing time. When they saw him and Louis come in, they stopped what they were doing and greeted them.

Because the workers were all on standby, Lin Shangzhou directly gathered the workers together to discuss the next steps with them.

Lin Shangzhou first sincerely thanked the six workers who were willing to follow him from Strasbourg to Berlin. You know, the conditions of the workers here are definitely worse than those in Strasbourg. They were willing to give up their jobs there and accompany him here. Lin Shangzhou was very grateful.

After thanking him, Lin Shangzhou sat back in his chair. He cleared his throat and said to the workers, "Then let's talk about what we are going to do next."

As soon as these words were spoken, Lin Wenhua and the other six workers became serious and waited quietly for him to speak.

"First of all, everyone should be prepared for bad treatment. Berlin is completely different from Strasbourg. The government there is more left-leaning, while the Center Party government in Berlin is completely right-wing. This is also the stronghold of the right wing, so the treatment of workers may be at the same level as that of workers in Strasbourg in the past, or even worse."

After he finished speaking, Lin Shangzhou noticed that two workers swallowed, but their eyes remained firm.

"It's okay. What's wrong with poor treatment? We have all suffered before. Although the old saying goes that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality, we have all suffered before. It's not like we can't endure hardship. Don't you agree?"

Lin Wenhua spoke loudly without fear, and his words also inspired the other workers, who nodded to indicate that they could do it.

Seeing that everyone's spirits were lifted, Lin Shangzhou continued, "In that case, your first priority is to find work in a factory. I suggest that you look for a factory after the newspapers at the New Newspaper Office start selling. At that time, you can form groups of two, a total of three groups. This way, it will be convenient for two people to take care of each other after entering the factory. What do you think?"

The workers looked at each other and nodded, agreeing with this.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Lin Shangzhou continued, "Okay, then the second thing. I suggest that after entering the factory, you spend some time to build good relationships with the factory workers. After establishing good relationships with some workers, just like in Strasbourg in the past, you can go out during your break to buy our newspapers, read them in the factory, and distribute them to other workers to let them read. This will inspire the workers' consciousness of struggle. What do you think?"

Hoven said, "Fritts, I have something to say."

"Well, tell me."

Lin Shangzhou nodded and waited for Huo Wen to give his opinion.

Huo Wen said seriously, "Your suggestion is very good, but I went to the Berlin factory with Lin Wenhua yesterday afternoon and had some contact with people from the Free Workers' Union. From them, I learned some information about the Berlin workers. I hope you will reconsider what to do next after listening to what we have learned."

His serious expression made Lin Shangzhou feel uneasy.

"People from the Free Workers' Union told us that workers in Berlin work even harder, working 15 hours a day. Whether it's meal time or bedtime, they are so exhausted that they may not have time to read the newspaper at all."

"In addition, the factories have united to form a so-called workers' association, whose members are entirely made up of factory owners. More importantly, they have obtained legal authorization from the government to formulate relevant regulations on workers' wages and other aspects."

"They have formulated many seemingly reasonable regulations, for example, workers are required to work 10 hours a day, and they are not allowed to work overtime at all. Only overtime that exceeds the stipulated working hours is calculated as overtime pay."

Huo Wen's face became more and more gloomy, and Lin Shangzhou's brows also furrowed as he spoke.

"Although the workers' association stipulates that we can only work ten hours a day, these shameless bastards stipulate that only those who work 100 hours a week can get their wages. So if the workers really work according to the working hours they stipulate, they will not get a penny. Therefore, the workers can only voluntarily work overtime. Once they work overtime, it is five hours. They can't earn any money for these five hours. In addition, the association stipulates that taking leave will be counted as an absence. If the working hours cannot be made up in the future, then this week's work is equivalent to wasting time."

Huo Wen had a dark face and said to Lin Shangzhou earnestly, "Fritts, think about it again. Under this situation, if we go in, we will just suffer. We won't be able to help the workers, and your plan will eventually fail."

After hearing what Huo Wen said, Lin Shangzhou took a deep breath in his heart. Huo Wen was right. If they entered the factory, they would only suffer.

"Well, I'll think about it again. Let's all think about what to do together."

Lin Shangzhou leaned back in his chair, stroking his chin with his right hand, thinking about how to solve this matter. Others were also thinking about what to do.

This is undoubtedly a very thorny issue. The so-called workers' association is nothing more than an organization of capitalists uniting to exploit workers. More importantly, this workers' association has been recognized by the government and is a legal organization, so they will formulate various regulations.

In other words, if this workers' association is not eliminated, the workers' situation and treatment cannot be changed, and the strike method can be abandoned. It is simply impossible. Even if the workers can unite to strike, they will be brutally suppressed by the right-wing government.

And whether it is possible to unite the workers to strike is still a question.

This workers' association is a legal organization, which means that if you want to get rid of it, you can only do it at the government level. The current right-wing government cannot dissolve such an organization. In other words, if you want to get rid of this organization, the social democrats need to come to power.

(What should I do…)

For a moment, Lin Shangzhou didn't know where to start. If he dealt with it, he didn't know where to start. If he didn't deal with it, he would be unhappy.

Suddenly, he thought of Louis. Didn't Louis have two factories? Would he be in that so-called workers' association?

Louis saw what he was about to say, so he shook his head and said, "Don't look at me. I'm not a member of that workers' association. The workers in my factory are treated the same as those in the factories in Strasbourg."

"alright."

Lin Shangzhou sighed in his heart and continued to think of other solutions.