Chapter 129 Achilles’ Heel

Author: Seven Years Period

Chapter 129 Achilles’ Heel

London, England.

Britain was the first country to complete the Industrial Revolution and is known as the "world's factory".

In order to reverse the inherent pirate image of Britain that Europeans have had for hundreds of years, the British instead vigorously promoted its "parliamentary democracy" and its so-called progressive and civilized "gentlemen".

However, the so-called democracy of the British is nothing more than the product of the peace between capitalists and aristocrats. Only the rich have the right to vote and be elected. The voices of workers, farmers, and homeless people cannot be heard in the parliament at all.

However, with the process of industrialization, the urban population has increased rapidly, and a new class has emerged, that is, the working class. The workers here are different from the handicraftsmen of the past. They often have no wealth and will go hungry if they do not work for one day. What’s more,

Poverty.

At the same time, they are more organized and disciplined than farmers, and they are relatively centralized and easy to form organizations.

In 1838, Britain's urban population had reached 48% of the total population. Industrialization and rapid urbanization caused conflicts between the poor and the rich to surge.

In 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, the average spinning mill worker walked eight miles a day between machines; by 1838, the average worker walked an average of twenty-four miles a day.

You may have no idea about twenty miles, which is 38.62 kilometers. During the same period, the Austrian army's marching speed was 20 kilometers per day, and its forced march was only 30 to 40 kilometers.

By the way, people can die during forced marches. In other words, it is common for people to die from exhaustion during forced marches in this era.

In addition, some people will definitely say that marching 120 kilometers in one day is not a normal situation. 99.999% of pure infantry armies at all times and at home and abroad cannot do it.

At this time, the daily working hours are also unbearable for ordinary people. The 12-14 hour working system, and the even more extreme 16-hour working system, there is nothing you dare not think about, but there is nothing they dare not do.

As for the working environment, let alone places where death is inevitable such as coal mines and brick factories, textile workshops are also torture like purgatory. In summer, the high temperature in a closed room can reach 70°~80°C, and it is common for workers to suffer from heat stroke.

The workers who fell will most likely never stand up again, because most of the workers caught in the machinery will die immediately, and the rest will die within a few months. If they still survive, there is a high probability that they will.

Sent to the workhouse.

The increase in work intensity and working hours did not lead to an increase in income. After the initial market dividend disappeared, factory owners began to squeeze their employees. In 1804, workers could receive 15 shillings per week, but by 1838, workers could only receive 15 shillings per week.

Got 10 shillings.

The more ruthless factory owners usually replace wages with physical goods, and these physical goods are usually not best-selling products, but some unsalable defective products.

There are even mine owners who directly give ores that have no smelting value to miners to replace wages. The cost of smelting these ores has almost caught up with their own value, but all this is legal in the UK.

As for child labor, half of the workers in factories are usually minors because their price is half that of adults.

Some factories recruit child workers and even directly provide three meals as bait. After the child workers accept the contract of two pence a day, they find that the so-called three meals are not as good as pig food, but a paste made of weeds, sawdust, and soil.

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The streets of London were crowded with people, and a team of ragged workers passed through London Bridge. The police and military police were dispatched, but there were still not enough manpower because there were too many workers.

Regarding the workers' march in London, Palmerston advocated a complete suppression, and the Viscount of Melbourne also felt that the problem must be solved before it escalated.

Even Iron Duke Wellington, who had been semi-retired for a long time, was found. Viscount Melbourne asked Duke Wellington to assemble his troops and suppress the workers' uprising when necessary.

In order to prevent a vicious incident like that in Lyon, France, from happening, the Viscount of Melbourne had prepared for the worst and asked Palmerston to tell the Iron Duke Wellington.

If workers initiate a riot, the cavalry must disperse the crowd as soon as possible.

Palmerston, on the other hand, asked the Duke of Wellington to send troops to block the streets and prevent the workers from continuing to advance to the Palace of Westminster, where the House of Commons is located, at all costs, because once the workers reached the House of Commons, they would have a huge international impact.

Because Palmerston knew what those workers were up to, they demanded that the People's Charter be made into law.

The "People's Charter" was a petition submitted to Parliament by the London Working Men's Association in 1837. It proposed that men over the age of 21 should have universal suffrage, that electoral votes should be held secretly, and that property qualification restrictions for parliamentary candidates be abolished.

Hold a re-election and distribute the constituencies evenly.

At this time, the "People's Charter" had been revised, but the target was still directed at those nobles and those who were unkind for their wealth.

Some factory owners even said that if the eight-hour work system was implemented, he would rather move the factory to France or even change his nationality.

The leader of the workers also had a treasonous petition which read:

“The distinguished House, as it is currently constituted, is neither elected nor decided by the people. It only serves the interests of a few people and ignores the poverty, suffering and aspirations of the majority.

"

"Queen Victoria's daily income was 164 pounds 17 shillings 60 pence, her husband Prince Albert's income was 104 pounds 20 shillings, while millions of working people earned only two or three pence a day each."

"Viscount Palmerston colluded with the Sassoon family to prepare Britain to fight for the opium traffickers, etc."

The most frightening thing is that there are still 1.25 million signatures on this petition. At this time, the total population of the UK mainland, not including the island of Ireland, is only 10 million.

For Britain's sake, this petition must not be made public, and Palmerston did not hesitate to do so at any cost.

Historically, although the Duke of Wellington's troops arrived at the Palace of Westminster before the parade, they did not implement the blockade order. The relationship was very complicated, and the soldiers were unwilling to shoot their own people, so the parade was allowed to

The procession arrived at the Palace of Westminster.

The parade has passed London Bridge and is about to reach St. Margaret Street in the Palace of Westminster.

Palmerston was prepared for the worst. He hired several tramps to mingle with the crowd and shoot when necessary to cause chaos.

Once someone fired a gun in the parade, the army had to fight back, so that his plan to conspire with the Sassoon family to start a war would not be exposed, and he would still be the British Foreign Secretary.

However, at this moment, the parade suddenly turned around and did not go to the Palace of Westminster, but to Buckingham Palace where Queen Victoria lived.

In fact, many labor leaders were very puzzled by this decision. But William Lovett, the actual controller of the workers' association at this time and the moralist leader, insisted on doing so.

William Lovett opened a letter, and inside was a letter from the "mysterious man".

"This is the instruction of the mysterious man. Do you still doubt it? The mysterious man never misses it. Without him, we would have been caught in the gendarmerie."

Several of the labor leaders recognized the mysterious man's handwriting, but this time the mysterious man used Latin again, which many leaders could not understand. Fortunately, some of the labor leaders had been priests and understood some Latin, so they could read it to everyone.

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The leaders of the British Workers' Association still admired this mysterious man very much, but this mysterious man wrote in different languages ​​​​every time, which was very difficult to read, and from time to time he would insert a sentence or two in German and French.

Ahem, cough, cough, I can’t seem to write more about this topic, so there will be no more updates today.
Chapter completed!