Calculations

The two sides argued back and forth for the entire afternoon without reaching a conclusion. However, this was to be expected.

"They won't compromise on profits until the very last moment." On the way back, Fagin and several other worker representatives said as they walked, "Actually, they're more worried about us than we are. Every day they stop work, they lose tens of thousands. Moreover, the 'Pakistan Trade Fair' is getting closer and closer, and they're burdened with bank loans and various outstanding payments. Everyone is anxious and won't allow this matter to drag on any longer. So don't be intimidated by their feigned calmness today. They don't have much time left. If they continue to drag it out, because of the cash flow problem, they won't be able to keep the factory running, and the crisis will spread to other areas. This is something they, and everyone behind them, cannot tolerate. So, as long as we can hold on, they will definitely compromise."

The group talked and encouraged each other as they walked back.

"Fagin," Bill suddenly spoke up, "Those guys have suffered such a huge loss, will they be content with that? After the trade fair, will they change the contract back to its original form?"

This is indeed a big problem. Even Fagin had to admit that this possibility existed. In fact, one could confidently say that the word "possible" could be dropped entirely.

"They've never been willing to compromise, so why must they now? The reason is simple: the workers have united and demonstrated their strength," Fagin said. "Raine and his men are the most pragmatic people out there. Look at us today, mocking and ridiculing him—it's practically slapping him in the face. If it were me, well, I'd probably be furious."

At this point, Fagin chuckled self-deprecatingly twice, then continued, "But you see, did that guy get angry?"

"I didn't see that coming." Bill shook his head, then added, "That's why I'm increasingly worried. The scariest kind of old silver coin is the one who can still smile even if you slap him across the face. Damn it, I really want to stab him to death, otherwise I can't sleep when I think about his smiling face..."

"Bill, do you think that old silver coin hates us?" Fagin asked.

"Of course, of course we hate him!" another worker representative named George interjected. "We're blocking his path to wealth. If we're blocking his way to get rich, how can he not hate us?"

"Killing his parents and sleeping with his wife might not be as hateful to him as stopping him from getting rich."

"Since he hates us so much, why doesn't he turn against us?" Fagin asked again.

This time, however, he answered without waiting for anyone's reply, "Because he doesn't dare. He knows that turning against us would be a losing proposition. If he concedes to us, he'll lose a pound, while a direct confrontation would cost him a pound and a pence. He wouldn't choose to confront us. So, as long as we demonstrate our strength and make them realize that the losses from turning against us are greater than the losses from not turning against us, they won't dare to do so. Therefore, to prevent them from reneging on their promises in the future, we must further strengthen our unity, making our organization a cohesive whole. That way, if they make any moves, we can immediately use unified action to make them suffer losses they cannot bear."

Fagin's words gave everyone some courage. But Fagin himself knew that things weren't that simple. The stakes involved went far beyond the workers and textile factory owners. There were many more crucial interests he hadn't mentioned. For example, interests can be divided into short-term and long-term interests.

Direct confrontation with the union, leading to a major strike, would certainly harm Raine's short-term interests as the factory owner. However, if they could destroy the union in one fell swoop and push through the new contract, it would be more advantageous in the long run. Moreover, if Raine and his group decided to provoke this struggle, they would prepare in advance, further reducing their short-term losses. Under such circumstances, achieving victory in the struggle would naturally be extremely difficult.

But that's not even the worst thing. What's the worst thing? The worst thing is that it won't just be the textile merchants who are causing them trouble, disrupting their operations, and suppressing them; it'll be all the factory owners. Because if textile workers win their rights through strikes today, won't their workers also protest tomorrow? Won't they also use similar methods to fight for their economic interests?

Therefore, it was not just one Raine who desired to destroy them, nor even just the textile factory owners, but the entire "rich people." And the knowledge he had gained in Toulon told him that this entire group also had a name: "United Kingdom."

Therefore, the enemy facing the London Textile Workers' Union was not just the textile factory owners, but a much larger and more terrifying behemoth— the United Kingdom.

Fagin, and the London Textile Workers' Union's struggle against this adversary, is like a child with a needle trying to fight an ancient red dragon of challenge level 26.

However, some things cannot be ignored simply because of a large power imbalance. Just as a child may not pick up his embroidery needle, the red dragon will not eat him any more gently if he does not pick up his embroidery needle.

Many times, no matter how powerful the opponent, we can only fight them with our embroidery needles. This is not for glory or justice, but simply for survival.

As an individual worker, if given the opportunity to become a workers' representative, he might have the chance to act as a traitor, selling out other workers to get thirty silver coins for himself. But for the textile workers as a whole, the only path they could take was resistance.

Frankly, Raine and other wealthy people don't hate workers; they simply see them as tools, tools to generate profit for them. How could they hate such tools? Although some people are unwilling to be transformed from living, breathing human beings into tools, as far as capital is concerned: alienating you, what does it matter to you?

Therefore, for those who do not want to be alienated into the tools depicted by Chaplin in "The Gilded Age," the only way is to resist, even if the opponent is as powerful as the "Trisolarans," and we are "just insects."

But these things cannot be said to everyone yet. The enemy is too powerful; saying these things now might frighten them. So Fagin thought for a moment and said:

"After this incident, we must further strengthen the unity among textile workers. And relying solely on textile workers is far from enough. Those wealthy people may have many conflicts in their daily lives, even harboring mutual hatred. But on the issue of bullying the poor, they can reach a consensus without discussion. Therefore, to fight them and survive, we must organize more poor people. Textile workers, steelworkers, shipyard workers—all workers should unite. The world's wealthy have long since united; the world's poor must also unite to resist them, to suffer less, or even be free, from bullying."

The group walked and talked, some discussing how to strengthen the bonds between textile workers; others talking about how to connect with workers in other industries; still others dreaming of the future, how to save enough money to go to the New World and start a new life. People cannot live without hope, and it was this faint hope that sustained these workers from collapse and ruin in such a painful life.

Meanwhile, textile factory owners gathered to discuss their next steps.

"These representatives are really difficult to deal with," a factory owner said.

"Yes, but it's not really hopeless," Raine said. "They're very vigilant, but no one can stay vigilant forever. There will always be times when they let their guard down. So it's not that there's really no way out; it's just that they caught us off guard, leaving us no time to react."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" another factory owner asked.

"Take a step back for now and restore most of the old contract," Raine said. "At the same time, try to divide them."

"They're always together, how can we divide them?"

"We can bypass them and directly divide their base—the workers. Those workers are already starving. We only need to make slight concessions, not even back to where we started, to make them think that this might be barely manageable. Then, these people will go into the factories, or at least want to go into the factories. And how many of them can we exploit? Once this period is over, they won't be able to threaten us anymore. At that time, hehe..."

Raine sneered, "By then, whoever took what's mine will have to return it; whoever ate what's mine will have to spit it out! Actually, if it weren't for the Pakistan Trade Fair, not only us, but many big shots would have wanted to teach them a lesson long ago! Are you worried that they won't recognize this new contract in the future?"

Then the "respectable people" present burst into laughter like jackals. At that moment, a Breeze blew in, and the candlelight on the candlesticks in the room flickered, casting distorted and eerie shadows of the "respectable people" like ghosts.

Tomorrow is the birthday of the great proletarian thinker, revolutionary, and comrade Marx. To commemorate this teacher of the proletariat, we will be taking a day off. Updates will be made the day after tomorrow. We hope for your understanding.