Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt - Chapter 204



Only Krnovel

Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt Chapter 204

36-Class conflict

“If the crown prince ascends to the throne, it is obvious that the country will be swayed by traitors.”

“Are you saying that you’re already showing that kind of caution?”

“Yes, already. The noble guys are sticking with the crown prince… … .”

Arthur continued the conversation for a long time, receiving valuable information from Count Stan, and Count Stan sighed and spoke only after he had said everything he wanted to say.

“Whew. You’re saying everything I couldn’t say.”

“They say that’s what happens when you get older.”

“Do you think it would be different?”

“I guess it’s because my mental age is old, but I’m still like that now.”

“Click, click. So loud.”

After a brief joke, Count Stan returned to the main topic.

“If this is the inevitability of history, then there’s nothing we can do about it.”

It was a declaration that republicanism could not be abandoned, even if it meant making significant concessions to the common people, as opposed to the country falling into ruin.

“You are a patriot.”

“Not really. I just think about my family.”

Arthur thought to himself at those words. He might as well have chosen to become a traitor for the sake of his family.

Count Stan returned to the main topic and turned his question to Arthur.

“Anyway, so… …what are your thoughts on the strike?”

“How should I respond?”

“Jackson’s words that there is a conspiracy behind the scenes are also true.”

Hmm… … If there was a theory that the bourgeoisie was behind the great strikes of the past, it would not have been strange for the thoughts of Johnson Cordelli, who played a great role in suppressing the strikes, to flow into some kind of conspiracy theory.

“I don’t think there is no mastermind behind it.”

“Where could it be?”

“The Kingdom of Jatra.”

“Hmm… … .”

Count Stan nodded.

“But if such background is true, it should be covered up.”

“Why?”

“If so many workers are implicated in treason, it will be more difficult to clean up the mess.”

Most nobles and bourgeoisie would not hesitate to immediately link a strike to treason and treason. The workers’ demands would be ignored and suppressed… … The problem was that Arthur was now in the process of supplying guns cheaply and in large quantities.

If the common people are oppressed and have easy access to firearms, the chances of something happening increase, and it becomes difficult to predict when that will happen and what the consequences will be.

Arthur wanted to remove some of the pressure that was currently underway for a more moderate and predictable future. So, as Johnson Cordelli said, even if the foreign sabotage conspiracy theory were true, he needed to persuade many people in advance to respond moderately.

Count Stan, who had a considerable position within the neutral faction, was one of them.

“Branding a strike as an anti-state act and beating up workers will not solve the problem. If you use coercive methods like that, you will not be able to resolve your grievances, and you will be able to sabotage the entire process of the factory, including negligence and lateness, as well as inventory management, product production, and inspection.”

“Do you really think that’s possible? So organized and so secretive?”

Don’t you have a factory manager or executive to oversee that kind of thing?

But Arthur said with certainty.

“Wouldn’t they be willing to do it if they thought it was a scheme to reduce the industrial productivity of the enemy country?”

To be honest, the awareness of human rights in this era is so weak that many people do not realize that even an earthworm will squirm when stepped on.

No, it would be more accurate to say that he knew it would be the same in the future since he had been stepping on it without any problems up until now, but anyway, perhaps because of the times, the labor management of typical employers was so superficial in Arthur’s eyes that it was strange that there were no strikes.

“In my view, the working conditions in this country are like a powder keg. If someone lights a spark, it could explode. The fundamental solution is to either get rid of this powder keg or disperse it so that it doesn’t cause too much damage.”

“Any good ideas?”

Arthur then brought up a story from his Ignaqua factory.

“Are you going to select those who bought war bonds and give them promotions or raises in their salaries?”

“yes.”

“You treat me like a patriot?”

“It conveys the message that if you want more money, you have to prove that you are worthy of it.”

“Will that do?”

“The key is not to get people to think, ‘I want to get paid more because the factory makes a lot of money,’ but to get them to think, ‘I have to be a patriot to get paid more.’”

“What if everyone buys war bonds?”

Arthur smiled at that question.

“A significant number of workers are not paid enough to buy war bonds. Ultimately, only those who are somewhat well off, and who have managed to make money in these dire circumstances, will buy war bonds.”

Count Stan found Arthur’s smile to be extremely cold.

“And at the same time, it divides the workers and gives them a little hope, which takes the pressure off?”

It was inevitable that there would be a sense of discord between those who were promoted and received higher salaries because they were patriotic and those who were not.

In a situation where there is no concept of labor solidarity or labor unions, such a sense of disharmony will be a major obstacle to collective action, and rather than joining forces to strike, there will be many cases where people will buy war bonds in order to survive first.

Count Stan said with a smirk.

“You are evil.”

“I just did what the Bible says.”

For whoever has, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken away.

Count Stan nodded with a satisfied expression at Arthur’s trickery and began to devise a plan to pour cold water on the current strike atmosphere by following Arthur’s methodology.

The striking workers would certainly be outraged if they found out about their scheme, but Arthur and Count Stan thought it was better than suppressing them with clubs like Johnson Cordelli.

And if the Kingdom of Jatra was truly behind this guerrilla strike, then the club could have become a bullet, so the two men’s scheme could not be seen as entirely evil.

* * *

Arthur, despite his busy schedule, took the time to consult with Count Stan and design a plan to divide the labor sector (although it is not yet possible to say that there is such a thing as labor sector) into patriots and non-patriots, and entrusted it to him. Count Stan, who was neutral and somewhat moderate, was the perfect person to entrust the job to. As a financial aristocrat who made investments, he also had connections and influence among people in the industrial world.

And Arthur, who returned to his work of increasing gunpowder production, concluded from his research with Count Ullorance that it was better to use only urine rather than all of the manure. However, this did not mean that feces were unnecessary. When mixed with earth, straw, and ash, the manure provided stickiness and was helpful in building the foundation stone walls.

Arthur, feeling the need for a more smooth supply of urine, met with Rep. Fried again. Meeting Rep. Fried in the salon where a room for conversation was provided, Arthur encountered a familiar face.

“Are you no longer a lawyer?”

“I took a break for about a month and then no work came in.”

In front of the bitter-spoken Osarin Conte, Arthur tried hard to swallow the question, “Then did you make a living working in the shop of that banned book collector?” Meanwhile, Rep. Fried smiled and said,

“I saw your face for the first time in a while, and your face looked almost dead. That’s why I hired you as an office worker in my congressional office.”

“It must have been a difficult decision… … .”

“But thanks to that, I feel more comfortable.”

Arthur and Rep. Fried were chatting and laughing about the convenience of having a smart, hard-working person come in, and then they got to the main topic.

“Separate collection of feces and urine… … .”

“It’s not that stool doesn’t help, but urine is better.”

“Separating waste can cost more because the process becomes more cumbersome.”

“Um… … . When I designed the bathroom, I thought I designed the urine storage and feces storage separately.”

“However, I understand that when workers collect the waste, they do not separate it but put it all in one bin and take it out.”

“If that doesn’t work, let’s split the company into two. One that collects sewage and one that only collects urine.”

“Isn’t that too much of a hassle?”

“It might be easier to manage if we split the business into two, using different tools.”

Congressman Fried and Arthur discussed ways to facilitate urine collection and came up with a plan.

“Well, the problem is getting it passed through the People’s Assembly… … .”

“Can you convince other members?”

“In fact, there are many lawmakers who are not very interested in increasing gunpowder production.”

That also meant that Rep. Fried was keeping quiet about the true purpose of the increased gunpowder production. Was it because of Rep. Fried’s caution, or because there were not many ‘comrades’ in the People’s Assembly with whom he could talk dangerously?

“In fact, most of them accept it as part of the poverty alleviation project.”

“Is that so? Then is the relief for the poor going pretty well?”

“Um… … What should I say… … . There’s something called a staffing agency.”

“A staffing agency?”

“Because it’s dirty and hard work, even if you’re a poor person who needs money, they don’t show up the next day without even contacting you.”

So, the need for a smooth supply of manpower arose, and a company emerged to fill that need.

Arthur said calmly.

“There is a need to investigate the actual conditions of that staffing agency.”

“Do you have any concerns?”

“In the distribution process, if someone is involved in the middle, they are bound to take a cut of the middle margin.”

“But the hiring budget did not increase further.”

“Then where do those staffing agencies make their money?”

“ah!”

Congressman Fried sighed as he realized that the commission was being taken from the dispatched workers.

Arthur continued.

“Inevitably, such dispatch companies are in a relatively advantageous position for the poor people they employ.”

“So, you’re saying that depending on the level of fees, the purpose of poverty relief may become meaningless?”

“yes.”

If sewage treatment companies only use temporary workers because they face various difficulties in direct employment, poor people who want to work for sewage treatment companies may have to pay exploitative fees.

This could have led to a complete collapse of the poverty alleviation aspect of the toilet project, and could have given rise to opposition questioning whether it was necessary to invest money in the toilet project.

There was already public opinion questioning why the Minhoe was doing relief work for the poor. The argument was that the poor were poor because of their lack of effort, so why should the Minhoe spend taxpayer money on such people who lacked effort?

However, most of the costs of sewage collection were labor costs.

They had to collect as much as possible and turn it all into gunpowder, but if there were middlemen who exploited the waste and made a profit, the number of poor people who would do the work of collecting waste would decrease. If the number of poor people decreased, labor costs could increase.

In other words, in a situation where manpower is gunpowder, this manpower dispatch company was likely to become an obstacle to increasing gunpowder production.

Ossarin Conte intervened.

“How about His Majesty the King giving the order himself?”

“So you’re saying you shouldn’t charge more than a certain amount of commission?”

“yes.”

“How likely is it that such a law will be enforced?”

Currently, under the rule of law and with the level of awareness of the law in this country, it is possible to pretend to follow the king’s orders on the outside while extorting money under all sorts of pretexts instead of fees.

If the king himself does not find it strange to allow the sale of official posts to the royal central army, what about the civilians?