I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 529 Confrontation

While Revney was struggling internally, he saw the butler arriving with Carberi, the manager of the caravan.

As soon as the latter entered the room, he resigned to Revne very simply, citing physical discomfort. Of course, the real reason was that the Trade Alliance offered too much and it was difficult for him to refuse.

Revney immediately tried hard to persuade him to stay. Kaberi is the main person in charge of the daily affairs of the caravan. If he leaves, it will have an extremely serious impact on the caravan.

But Carberry's attitude was very resolute, and he quickly left his resignation letter and walked away.

Revne slapped the table and roared for a while, but soon became depressed. Then he looked at his son and shook his head: "We can't ruin the entire caravan for Fuld. You should contact the people from the Trade Alliance tomorrow. If If possible, we will join in.

"I will raise some money. If Viscount Fuld still insists on his own way, then we will form a new caravan with the veterans of the caravan."

If you can't beat it, join. Even a businessman in the 18th century still understood this "principle".

As was the case with Champagne, caravans across France who participated in the moratorium soon came to regret it.

A large number of caravans have chosen to resume business and even seek to join the trade alliance. After all, the market is difficult to get back once it is lost, and currently the trade alliance has firmly occupied a huge market share.

As for those caravansaries that are fully controlled by tax collectors, although they have to stay dormant at a loss under the strict orders of their bosses, this does not affect their employees' large number of job changes.

…

Marseille.

The sea breeze blows through the busy port with a fishy and salty smell. The early morning sun penetrates the mist and shines on the mountains of goods. At the same time, merchant ships of various sizes are constantly docking, preparing to unload more cargo.

Old Fickman pulled the collar of his thin and worn coat to block the chill that kept creeping into his neck. But he was not worried about freezing, because he would soon be busy, and the heavy goods on his shoulders would soon make him sweat profusely.

However, as soon as he and several fellow dock workers reached the outside of the dock, they were blocked by a short man with a broad, flat nose and droopy eyes.

He recognized the man. He was Hogot, the steward of Monsieur Philippe Antonel. Antonel controls more than half of the warehouses on the west side of the pier and is one of the largest forces in Marseille Port.

Old Fickman and others hurriedly stepped forward and bowed: "Mr. Hogot, what can I do for you?"

The latter pointed his nostrils at them and said coldly: "Everyone go home. There is no need to go to the dock today."

The workers were stunned for a moment, and someone asked anxiously: "Master, what happened? If I don't go to work, my family will have nothing to eat..."

"Give them fifteen sous each."

Hogot gestured disdainfully to the men next to him, who immediately took out a handful of copper coins and handed them to Fickman and others: "Stop talking nonsense and go back quickly."

"Ah, is this for me? Thank you sir, thank you sir!"

The dock workers saluted repeatedly. Although 15 sous was slightly less than what he could earn as wages, he was naturally happy to get paid without working.

Immediately, Hogot pointed at them and said: "Don't go to the dock for the past half month. Just come here every day to collect money."

Fickman and others thanked them again, and when they were about to turn around and leave, a man wearing a patched burlap coat and shoes stained with mud squeezed in from behind and whispered with a smile. He said: "We might as well go around to the dock from the south and continue working. Wouldn't these 15 sous be earned in vain?"

Hogot immediately had a fierce look on his face, and for a moment he couldn't remember who this person was - he had been living in the Port of Marseille for more than ten years, and there were very few dockworkers he didn't know - but judging from his clothes, he must be the same. He was a hard worker, so he grabbed the man's collar and said fiercely: "Do you want to be beaten? Go back, you don't want to see me angry!"

The man looked at the copper coins in his hand, but he didn't seem nervous: "You are disturbing the normal order of the dock."

Hogot immediately punched him, but he easily dodged it by turning his head.

"He committed murder openly." The man broke away from his hand and said to Fickman and the others, "You all saw it."

Hogot was furious and signaled his men to teach the thorny man a lesson, but as soon as he took two steps, he froze on the spot in fear - the "coon" on the opposite side took out a pistol from his waist.

Immediately afterwards, several people rushed over from across the street, pushed Hogot and his men to the ground, and tied them up tightly.

The man holding the pistol looked at Fickman and others, smiled and said: "Now, you can go to work. Oh, Gemini Trading Company has a large number of goods arriving at the port these days, and it is said that labor wages will be at least 20% higher than usual."

The dock workers looked at each other and tremblingly handed over the money Hogot had just given them, "O-Master, he insisted on giving us this money."

"I don't know why he gave me money..."

"Since it's a gift from him, just take it." The man with the gun said, "By the way, I heard that someone recently threatened the workers at the dock not to work, so the Marseille City Hall is going to hire Italians. Moving cargo.”

After hearing this, Fickman and others looked at each other with nervous expressions on their faces, and then quickly ran towards the dock.

They all carry goods at the dock to make a living. If their jobs are taken away by the Italians, they will probably starve to death.

They must show the cargo owners that they are more hardworking and reliable than the Italians. If anyone does not allow them to work at this time, they will definitely fight with that person.

And according to this master, they can earn 20% more wages in the next few days, which makes them work harder!

Similar situations are happening everywhere in the Port of Marseille. A large number of police officers dressed as dock workers attacked everywhere, and arrested more than 30 guys who instigated the strike in one day, while spreading the news that Italian workers are coming to Marseille.

This is the plan discussed by Besancon and Volante, the assistant manager of the twin companies.

Besancon originally planned to send a large number of police to surround the Port of Marseille to prevent large-scale strikes, but Volante believed that this would only increase the chaos and give the instigators hiding in the dark an opportunity to take advantage.

So he suggested pretending that nothing happened and only letting dozens of police officers mix in with the workers. Those who instigated the strike would definitely meet them as long as they contacted the workers. Combined with some news about Italian workers, this crisis can be effectively resolved.

Things developed exactly as he expected. Workers at the Port of Marseille soon spread rumors that "the port can earn extra wages recently" and "Italians are rushing to the docks to grab jobs."

For a time, all the dock workers rushed to the docks desperately, determined to drive the Italians out. Even some people who originally did other jobs were attracted by the high wages and came to the docks to try their luck.

Soon, several confidants of the tax farmer, including Antonel, were identified by his subordinates and taken away by the police on charges of spreading rumors and undermining the stability of Marseille.

The chaos in the Port of Marseille, carefully planned by Ford and others, ended almost before it began.