Father Mavie

The heavy door slowly opened to both sides, and Arthur, dressed in a black formal suit with a white flower on his chest, strode in. Under the sun, his blond hair was a bit dazzling.

After coming to stand in front of the throne and saluting the king and the archbishop in turn, Arthur said unhurriedly: "Your Majesty, Your Excellency the archbishop, I am here to negotiate on behalf of the striking workers."

As the leader of the Labor Party, Arthur is of course the representative, and he is also the most suitable representative. The nobleman who had long wanted the workers to go back to work immediately said: "Your Highness, the Fourth Prince, are you breaking the rules by doing this? Strikes are your use It’s okay to use it as a way to protect your rights, but you can’t go on strike just because of trivial matters! You know, your strike will affect millions of people!”

"When did Baron Anabel start thinking about the people?"

Arthur turned around and looked at the nobles standing in a group with a smile: "Baron, you have never considered the people at the bottom before, right?"

"What are you talking about!" Baron Anabel immediately denied: "Goddess! I have always paid attention to people's lives!"

"Yes, you have several manors at home. In order to make those farmers work harder for you, of course you have to pay attention to them from time to time to show your broad mind."

Arthur was sarcastic without hesitation and did not give Baron Anabel any face. When the other nobles saw this scene, they were afraid that Arthur would bite them like a mad dog, so they quickly changed the subject:
"Your Highness, tell me quickly what the workers want this time!"

Taking out the treaty that had been prepared and unfolding it in front of everyone, Arthur slowly said: "First, in order to cope with the current excessively high prices, the salary must be increased by another 2%. This time, it cannot be converted into performance bonuses. It must be increased. In the base salary.”

The nobles looked at each other, and they were all a little surprised. They were still able to raise their 2% salary. Arthur, who thought he would be a lion this time, turned out to be like this.
gentle?

"Your Highness, I want to say..." A nobleman hesitated: "If you just want a 2% salary increase, there is no need to launch this general strike. Why bother?"

"The salary increase is only [-]% because the current situation in the Kingdom of Windsor does not allow for a salary increase too much."

Arthur said slowly: "Nowadays, more than half of the factories in the Kingdom of Windsor produce cheap products such as canned goods and ready-made clothes. They follow the path of small profits but quick turnover. If the wages of basic workers are too high, the price of goods will rise." , it is the people who ultimately pay the bill, and secondly, it is also detrimental to the kingdom’s export trade.”

After listening, the nobles nodded one after another and smiled on their faces, as if all the unhappiness just now was gone, like a domestic dog that saw its owner coming with food.

what is this?
Big picture!
It will hurt both sides and benefit no one!

"Of course, in order to protect the rights and interests of workers, I have formulated a minimum hourly wage schedule. Taking into account the consumption level of the Kingdom of Windsor and prices in various places, the wages of workers or laborers cannot be less than 2 pence per hour. The union just proposed With the 2% wage increase, London workers will receive a cumulative 5% increase in wages, which is 3p an hour.”

"3p an hour?!"

A nobleman in the mining area almost burst into tears when he heard this: "Do you know the normal salary standards? A miner's daily salary is 5 pence, every day! A child only has 2 pence a day! You 3 Pennies an hour. Isn’t that too much!”

"Oh, yes, you reminded me that from now on, the employment of child labor is prohibited." Arthur said: "Letting 12-year-old children enter the mines to mine is an animal-like behavior! There are obviously many adult workers, Why use children? 12-year-olds should be studying in school!"

The nobles were almost furious, why did they hire child labor?

The reason is simple. In addition to being cheap, small children can get into the machine for repairs, which adults cannot do!
In addition, children who have gone out to work since childhood are illiterate at all. When they grow up, they can only become low-level workers like their parents and continue to serve them!
First of all, the minimum hourly wage and the prohibition of child labor. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that Arthur is planning to dig out their roots!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" A noble couldn't bear it any longer and complained loudly to the king: "Your Majesty! Listen, what a rude and excessive request this is! We have never forced children to work. They applied for the job themselves! What does this have to do with us! Besides, we simply can’t afford the workers’ high wages!”

"Can't afford it? Is that really true?"

Arthur nodded to the internal affairs officer expressionlessly, and the internal affairs officer walked out of the door and came back after a while with Sean Rickman.

Sean Rickman held a document in his hand. After putting it on the table, Arthur said: "This is the factory tax form for the past two years. Comparing your export prices and tax payment costs, I speculate that your profits should be At about 70%, even if workers’ wages are increased, profits can still be maintained at around 50%.”

"."

"I understand that asking you to pay benefits is no different from cutting off flesh, but I think cutting off flesh is better than going to the guillotine, right?"

guillotine?
The nobles widened their eyes and took a step back in shock. Just as they were about to ask questions, they heard Rhodes IV cough: "Arthur, your wording must be precise."

"It's better to give up some of the benefits than to go on a hunger strike." Arthur said it in another way, and no one knew what his true thoughts were.

"We need to discuss it."

"Yes, please reply to me as soon as possible."

After the undecided nobles left the palace, they rushed to find the second prince and the eldest prince, and conveyed Arthur's request. When they heard that Arthur wanted to implement a minimum hourly wage system, the eldest prince and the second prince were furious and immediately said they could not agree. This kind of requirement.

In order to unite everyone, the eldest prince and the second prince held a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, hoping to unite all the big businessmen in London to fight against Arthur for a month.

The meeting was held soon. Businessmen who had no business due to the strike rushed to the chamber of commerce after receiving the news. In addition to the eldest prince and the second prince, Ma Wei and Russell Benjamin were also present.

There were so many people coming that many businessmen could only stand in the corner. The room was extremely hot and stifling, and the choking smoke was mixed with the strong smell of perfume, like a pot of hodgepodge.

"Everyone! The plan proposed by Arthur is too extreme! We absolutely cannot agree! We must fight him to the end!"

The second prince's proposal was supported by many businessmen. They had tolerated Arthur for a long time. Everything was fine originally, but it was because of the emergence of the Labor Party that they had no money to make.
But some people are worried that the workers have united and London is paralyzed. If this continues, the church will come forward sooner or later, and they must obey the church's orders.

Are the arms twisted past the thighs?

The final winner will most likely be the Workers’ Alliance.

Of course the second prince knew the situation facing the Liberal Party. He just wanted to delay Arthur for a month. When the soul agent took effect and Rhodes IV was unable to handle government affairs, he would activate an emergency plan to elect a new king.
As long as he can become king, are the interests of the Liberal Party still something he needs to care about?
"I disagree!"

Russell Benjamin stood up, looked around, and said in a deep voice: "Why fight to the end with the workers' alliance? Isn't what they want just money? In this case, we can completely regard this matter as a cooperation!" The reason why a business is a business does not rely on the exploitation of workers. It is no longer the Middle Ages hundreds of years ago! At that time, it relied on exploiting serfs to make money, but now it relies on commodities!"

"In the Middle Ages, farmers and serfs had an antagonistic relationship, and they could extract profits from the serfs. This is different now. Bosses and workers should have a cooperative relationship, producing good products and selling them for a win-win situation! Why must they be in opposition?"

Russell Benjamin, or Gawain's words, made everyone shut up. The businessmen looked at him in shock, speechless, and could not speak for a long time.

First, he was shocked that Russell Benjamin dared to reply to the second prince, and secondly,
It's because he said it
"That makes sense." Smith murmured.

The second prince glared at Smith: "That makes sense! Where are you from?"

Smith quickly shut up, and just then Russell Benjamin continued to speak:

"An excellent company and an excellent factory must be united within it! As bosses, we need our workers to be innovative and motivated. Only in this way can our products be sold well overseas!"

"The real market is never internal, but developed externally!"

As he spoke, Russell Benjamin pointed at Mavey: "Everyone, take Mr. Nicholas von Manstein as an example. The Manstein Potion Company he founded has a market value of tens of millions of gold pounds. It relies on... Is it exploiting workers?”

"As far as I know, the daily wage paid to the lowest level worker by the Manstein Potion Company is 11 shillings! Daily wage!"

"During these two general strikes, only the Manstein Potion Company was not affected. Why didn't the workers respond to the Labor Party's call? Why did they go on strike? Because there was no need!"

"In addition, the product quality control of Manstein Potion Company is the best I have ever seen! The yield rate has reached 99%! What is the concept? The yield rate of the garment factory is only 75%. A piece of ready-made clothing costs 1 shilling, and a better coat is even more expensive. Isn’t the loss included in this a cost? As long as the workers are careful enough, the loss can be greatly reduced!"

"I don't understand why you can't figure out such a simple truth."

Russell Benjamin shook his head and sighed, "The best way to deal with the Labor Party is to turn workers into one of our own! Rather than treating them as enemies! If we all treat workers like the Manstein Potion Company, who will follow the Fourth Prince? Going on strike?"

"If Coco agrees to the Fourth Prince's conditions, we need to give up 2% of the profits. This is really too high." Someone whispered.

"Yes, yes, 2% profit is too much!"

Gradually, objections resounded in the room. Seeing the persistence of these businessmen, Russell Benjamin smiled.

It's hard to persuade a goddamn ghost.

The saying that businessmen pursue profits and capital is short-sighted is not without purpose.

It would be even harder to get them to give up their immediate interests.

The limelight turned to him again. The second prince stood up with satisfaction and said to everyone: "President Benjamin's idea is good, but we should proceed from a practical point of view. Manstein Potion Company can offer such high wages to workers." The salary is, firstly, because they are large and have sufficient capital, and secondly, because they need workers to keep the potion formula secret, so they offer generous conditions."

"However, for the vast majority of factories, the funds are far less wealthy than the Manstein Potion Company. They must save costs and maintain operations."

Russell Benjamin smiled and said nothing. These words were just lies to himself and others. They were just for psychological comfort and did not help solve the problem at all.

"Nicholas, are you right what I said?"

Ma Wei, who was sitting silently in the first row, heard the second prince's question and grinned: "Yes, your highness, you are absolutely right."

Nicholas still understands my feelings
The second prince nodded happily and continued: "In order to suppress Arthur's arrogance, I propose that everyone join forces and firmly disagree with the workers' conditions. If they don't work, they will have no food. Let's see how long they can sustain it!"

The decision of the Chamber of Commerce soon reached Arthur's ears. When he learned that businessmen all over London were joining forces to suppress the Workers' Alliance, Arthur did not show any surprise, as if he had expected it.

"Your Highness, aren't you surprised?" Sean Rickman asked curiously: "The Second Prince and the others are going all out! They have to go against you!"

"Charles and Shoukry are not that stupid. They know better than anyone else that the workers' alliance will win in the end."

"Then why are they"

"Because the sacrifice is not for one's own interests, it will ultimately have a negative impact on my political opponent and be generous to others. This is what they want to see."

Arthur said calmly: "Those businessmen were used as guns. It's ridiculous that they don't know what is going to happen."

Only a few people knew about poisoning the king. The merchants thought that the eldest prince and the second prince were allies, but in fact they were planning how to use them!
"Your Highness." Sean Rickman thought: "For this strike, we have mobilized hundreds of thousands of workers in the entire southern part of the kingdom. The momentum is huge. If it drags on for too long, I am afraid that funds will not be able to support it."

No matter how rich the West Island nobles who supported Arthur were, they could not surpass the London nobles in the economic center.

What's more, there are hundreds of thousands of workers on strike this time. Counting their families, how many mouths are there waiting for food every day?

Last year, there was a famine in the Romanov Kingdom. The Church of Truth spent all its money, and then went to the military nobles to stabilize the situation. This time it is the turn of the Windsor Kingdom.
Will the nobles of the West Island, except the Knights of the Round Table, give up all their wealth for Arthur?

The answer is impossible.

Arthur also knows this. He must find a countermeasure as soon as possible, otherwise the situation will develop into an extremely unfavorable situation for him.