Harvest and Resistance

President Hidalgo was slightly relieved by his friend's words. Indeed, the France had invested a considerable amount in him, and if they were truly suppressed by the Spain, all of France investment would be wasted.

But then President Hidalgo remembered another serious problem.

"My friend, but if we are burdened with too much debt, then even after we gain independence, although the Spain will no longer exploit us, we will still have to pay the France every year because of this debt. Isn't it like we just overthrew the Spain who oppressed us, only to be oppressed by the France instead? The old bad guys are gone, and new ones have come, each generation darker than the last, while we Mexico are still being harvested like wheat..."

"Mr. President, independence always comes at a price; everything has a price. Think about it: if we had fought better and quickly defeated the Spain invaders, we would have had less debt. And on the other hand, at least we would have had a chance to pay off those debts, while Spain rule would never end."

"My friend, have you ever actually seen anyone pay off a loan with exorbitant, compounding interest?"

"Hmm... Mr. President, I have indeed seen this before," said Peria, Portugal businessman and friend of Hidalgo. "I have a friend named Mendoza was quite reckless in his youth, borrowing a ton of money from loan sharks, but he eventually paid it all off."

"Your friend must be very wealthy, or perhaps he used to be?" President Hidalgo asked.

"Yes, Mr. Mendoza's family is indeed very wealthy, so after his father died and he inherited his father's estate, he sold one of the family's estates and paid off the usurious loans," Peria replied.

"You see, my friend, people are different. Your friend is rich, while we in Mexico are a poor country." Hidalgo shook his head.

"No, Mexico is a rich country, it's just that its wealth hasn't been fully exploited yet," Peria replied. "The Spain are only interested in making quick money in the simplest and most brutal way, they don't care about our lives. They even worry that if Mexico becomes rich, it will create centrifugal forces that want to break away from Spain. So you see, the Spain have imposed all sorts of restrictions on Mexico's development. The France, at least, don't worry about that, and they won't oppose our own development and wealth, because only when we become rich can their investments earn more."

Furthermore, Mexico possesses vast territories, but the northern territories are sparsely populated and of limited significance to Mexico. The France, however, are currently continuously migrating to the Americas. They need land, and they possess railway technology, which they may utilize in the future. Therefore, they would certainly be willing to pay for the land. So, if we can make a firm decision, we can use this land as collateral to borrow a large sum of money from the France, then directly assemble a large army to quickly wipe out the Spain. Perhaps, in this way, the cost to us would be minimal."

"Peria, aren't you teaching me how to betray my country?"

"Mr. President, this is the Americas, not Europe. Territorial transactions are all too common here. How can that be considered treason? Besides, our northern border has always been somewhat ambiguous. Furthermore, Mr. President, you must understand that interactions between nations are essentially transactions—transactions of national interests. Transactions are buying and selling, so treason, as long as it's not sold too cheaply, and as long as you haven't embezzled the proceeds, how can it be considered treason?"

"Peria, you always have a knack for finding good excuses for yourself," President Hidalgo shook his head. "However..."

The New World was too far from Europe, so the revolutions New World had a limited impact on the Europe continent. Although the Spain sent an expeditionary force of up to 30,000 men to the New World, even the Spain media did not pay much attention to it. Everyone's attention was focused on London, because something had happened London.

This incident was sparked by the London textile workers' mutual aid society.

In late April, some business owners began to notice that their factory workers seemed to have joined some kind of organization. At first, the factory owners weren't too worried about it; it was very common for workers to form gangs. It didn't seem like anything to be concerned about. Until one day, a man claiming to be a representative of the London Textile Workers Mutual Aid Association knocked on the door of textile factory owner Raine.

Mr. Raine was the owner of Renn Textile Mill Factory, the largest textile factory in London. His factory employed more than 3,000 workers and operated 24 hours a day. It brought Mr. Raine a considerable income every year, allowing him to buy an estate from a fallen nobleman. He also married a young lady who, although not wealthy, had a noble surname and was much younger than him, old enough to be his daughter-in-law.

Mr. Raine didn't usually spend much time at the manor. Although it was a very comfortable place, it was a bit far from the business center. So most of the time, he lived with his young wife, twenty servants, and more than ten bodyguards in a building next to Hyde Park.

When the butler told him that representatives of the "London Textile Workers Mutual Aid Association" wanted to see him, Mr. Raine was in his small drawing room listening to his wife read Shakespeare's King Lear to him.

"Oh, how stupid is that old man? How could he do this? You know, the most reliable thing in a person's life is their wealth, their money. His daughters, my God, isn't the reason they call him 'Dear Dad' because he's rich? Ah, just you wait and see, the moment he signs this, his daughters will kick him out the door..." As Raine was making these remarks, he saw his butler Phyllis, standing cautiously in the doorway of the small living room.

"Oh, is there something you need?" Raine asked the butler Phyllis, as he rose from his rocking chair.

"Yes, sir," Phyllis said with a troubled expression, "There are a few lowlifes claiming to be representatives of the 'London Textile Workers Mutual Aid Association,' who insist on seeing you."

"'London Textile Workers Mutual Aid Association'? What kind of bullshit is that?" Raine said with a disdainful look. "Phyllis, you really disappoint me. You can't even get rid of this kind of lowlife?"

Raine's voice wasn't loud, but to Phyllis, it sounded like a thunderbolt had struck him. His face paled, and he replied in a trembling voice, "Sir, I've already sent those men away, but they left you a petition opposing your decision to lower wages. It's full of arrogant words, but since it's addressed to you, I dare not handle it on my own..."

Hearing this answer, Raine was somewhat satisfied. Although this butler was a bit timid and slow-witted, he still knew his limits. And as a butler, being a little timid and slightly slow-witted wasn't really a flaw.

"Bring me that letter and let me see it," Raine said.

The butler then carefully approached and handed a letter to Raine.

Raine took the letter and started reading it. After only a short while, his eyebrows shot up.

"Heh, not bad at all!" Raine laughed. "A bunch of penniless bastards, a bunch of social scum who only eat because of me, actually want to negotiate with me? I could find thousands of these scoundrels just by having someone whistle down the street!"

As he spoke, Mr. Raine stood up. "Melissa, could you get me my coat? I need to go to the office."

His wife then fetched his coat. As Raine put it on, he said to the housekeeper, "Phyllis, take my business card to the police station and find Chief Clark. Ask him to come to my house tonight."

The butler responded and ran downstairs to prepare a carriage for Raine.

Raine boarded the carriage and quickly arrived at the company, where he called a meeting with several managers. Afterward, he went home and spent the entire evening talking with Director Clark, who had come to visit...

The next morning, the workers went to work at the factory as usual, but when they arrived at the factory gate, they found a group of armed police officers guarding the place, along with the factory security team. They shouted to the workers that all the workers who had put their fingerprints on the petition sent to Mr. Raine had been fired and their work permits would be taken back.

The petition bore the fingerprints of 1,200 workers. In other words, Raine fired 1,200 workers at once. That was almost a third of his entire workforce. But Raine felt it wasn't a problem at all. There was unemployment everywhere, and textile factory workers didn't require high skills; he could easily hire a new batch.

According to a famous economist of later generations, in one of his major works that is hard to classify as economics or more as ideological propaganda, people should be wary of any intervention in the free market. He argued that if the market is not free and heretical practices such as public ownership are implemented, then workers' labor will only have one buyer, which will allow the market to exploit workers at will, leading them down a "road to enslavement."

But in a free market, can workers be exempt from enslavement simply because they have the right to choose? Ha! If that were the case, how come the average lifespan of Britain textile factory workers was lower than that of enslaved people? No factory owner would be willing to pay workers more wages, because that would increase their costs and put them at a competitive disadvantage. In a free market, capital is always scarce, while labor is always abundant. It's like how companies that can produce Marvel movies are always scarce, while those who can draw comics and write stories for Marvel, without any real power, are always plentiful. Those laid-off workers couldn't possibly find a more benevolent capitalist elsewhere. Because if a more benevolent capitalist truly existed, he would have already gone bankrupt due to cost issues and competition.

So a worker representative stepped forward and called on all the workers to strike. This time, the London Textile Workers Mutual Aid Association played a crucial role, and almost all the workers stayed outside the factory.