Today, they too are going to their deaths.

Standing in front of Baron Lawrence's manor, Cui Xun finished his thoughts and turned his attention back to the reality before him.

Just now, he was thinking about how to play his role well.

This time, he intends to seduce a baron, a new nobleman with factories, land, and political influence, a power player accustomed to being flattered, feared, and deceived.

He had absolutely no experience with this.

But he has two advantages: he is a fearless man, and he also knows a little about basic economics.

People like Baron Lawrence can only be considered as those who barely manage to climb into the upper echelons of the power game.

They fear rejection and punishment, yet they revel in oppressing the weaker and extend this behavior to the entire class. This makes them extremely worried about making mistakes and firmly believe that the world is clearly divided into classes.

In their worldview, anyone who dares to lay a hand on them must have a higher status than them.

Those bound by these rules cannot comprehend reckless courage, nor can they see through the cunning of true swindlers.

People often say that those in high positions must be capable, and that the elderly must be wise, but this is just a deliberately created illusion.

The truth is, they use a set of rules to separate themselves from newcomers, and use their advantages in intelligence and capital to crush all challengers.

When someone breaks the rules and acts in ways they cannot understand, they reveal their true judgment, which is not much better than that of a large adult dog.

The less information they are given and the more room they are left for their imaginations to fill in, the more convinced they will be of their own conclusions.

The murderer, who had been dragged along by Cui Xun and forced to run all the way, was panting heavily. After a long while, he shakily led Cui Xun to a small path, opened a secret door, and entered the manor.

They walked through long corridors, past marble floors, ignoring the expensive paintings and sculptures, and finally arrived at the baron's bedroom via a wooden staircase that tried to convey a sense of history.

Before the person who commissioned the murder could prepare to wake the Baron, Cui Xun pushed open the door and walked into the room.

The bedroom was larger than he had imagined. A luxurious four-poster bed stood in the center of the room, with deep red curtains hanging from the ceiling, enclosing the bed in a small, private space, attempting to isolate the sleeper from the outside world.

But it was clear that recent trivial matters had kept Baron Lawrence from sleeping soundly.

"Who?" The curtain was lifted from the inside.

Baron Lawrence was about forty years old, but his hair was already gray, and his face was puffy, typical of someone who had been socializing for years. The contours of his cheekbones and chin were blurred by excess fat, and only his eyes were still bright.

"Who are you? How did you get in!" The baron's voice suddenly rose.

From a nobleman's perspective, it is indeed reasonable to express anger when a mysterious person wearing a mask and strange clothes suddenly enters the room without permission.

Cui Xun pulled up a chair, sat down in front of the bed, and said calmly, "I came in through the back path."

"I didn't give permission..." Lawrence's eyes swept past Cui Xun, looking at the person who had commissioned the murder behind him, his voice rising a few decibels.

But Cui Xun interrupted him: "My actions do not require your permission."

Cui Xun's voice was calm, as if he were stating a fact. This was more effective than any threat because he left no room for the other party to argue.

The Baron opened and closed his mouth, his brain racing but unable to reach a correct conclusion. In the end, he decided to talk to Cui Xun alone.

There are some things that even his confidants cannot know, and this uninvited guest is nothing to be afraid of.

We can't just twist his head off over a disagreement.

"Get out," the baron said to his confidant.

The person who commissioned the murder almost escaped.

Cui Xun didn't turn around. He watched as the Baron sat up from the bed, ran his hand through his hair, and deliberately spoke slowly and deliberately to Cui Xun, showing that even under these circumstances, he was still the master of this room.

Therefore, Cui Xun immediately revealed all the information he possessed: "Fifty small gold coins, Thomas Miller, Marrod."

The Baron paused for a moment, which confirmed to Cui Xun that the other man was afraid because his secret had been revealed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the Baron tried to deny.

Cui Xun did not refute; he simply looked at the Baron, his gaze as calm as a stagnant pool.

Apart from that, Cui Xun had no other significant bargaining chips, but he felt that the mere fact that he was sitting there was enough to make the Baron overthink things.

A long silence stretched between the two. The firewood in the fireplace crackled, a few sparks flew out, and then quickly went out.

The baron looked away first and asked, "Whose side are you on?"

This problem greatly displeased Cui Xun.

Baron Lawrence couldn't even come up with an answer! Looks like I'll just have to beat him up while thinking of a more formal opening line.

Cui Xun grabbed the Baron's head, ignoring his panic and resistance, and pressed his face directly onto the desk next to him.

Smash, rub, smash again, and finally Cui Xun simply grabbed a wine bottle and made full contact with the back of the Baron's head.

Blood and wine flowed slowly, and the baron, who had just resisted fiercely, dared not make any further moves.

He felt that if he said one wrong thing, he would really die from "acute alcohol poisoning," but he could also feel the contempt and oppression of those in power in this violence, a kind of punishment within the rules that made him feel at ease.

The other party walked in openly and honestly, and only made his move at this moment, and his technique was precise, as if he had his life firmly in his grasp.

This is someone in a position of power, or at the very least, someone who speaks for those in power.

Therefore, he must have made a mistake!

Was it because he didn't ask the question directly from the beginning, which was not decisive enough, or because he thought about it for a long time but couldn't come up with an answer, which was considered too stupid?

The moment Cui Xun released his grip, the Baron felt a surge of joy, as if he had been given the right to answer the question again.

He raised his head, his eyes wide, staring intently at Cui Xun, trying to glean more information from this stranger, letting the blood and alcohol flow along his hair.

Cui Xun put the broken bottle back on the table and sat down again.

"Now, I'll tell you where you went wrong."

Cui Xun recalled his experience as a tutor, speaking in a tone like a teacher lecturing students: "What do you think is needed after the goods are produced?"

The Baron pondered and spoke, but before he could utter a word, Cui Xun deliberately interrupted in an impatient tone, saying, "It's selling."

"Goods need to be sold to become money. If you weave cloth and put it in a warehouse, it's just a pile of cloth."

The baron tried to argue, "I know that..."

"You don't know." Cui Xun interrupted the Baron again, further pressuring his confidence. "You know how to say this, but you don't understand its meaning. Otherwise, you wouldn't have driven workers out of the factory on such a large scale and disrupted the market with those idiots."

The baron's lips moved, but no sound came out; he was beginning to doubt himself.

Cui Xun chose to press his advantage, instilling other ideas into his mind in the simplest terms: "Machines can weave cloth, but they can't buy it."

"If workers are kicked out of the factory, they lose their wages and can't afford the cloth you weave. If your cloth can't be sold, the price has to be lowered. Once the price drops below cost and you still can't sell it, your factory is completely finished. It becomes a money-losing junk, and you're finished too!"

"The more workers you get rid of, the faster the process will go."

"Production and consumption must maintain a balance."

No one can exploit someone who has nothing.

The baron wiped away the spilled wine and blood with his sleeve, and tried to refute Cui Xun: "But machines are cheaper than workers. If I don't use machines, others will, and eventually I'll be eliminated."

"In the short term, yes," Cui Xun said. "But you must remember that the workers who are driven away are no longer your workers."

"Those hungry, angry, and destitute people will no longer speak to you in the gentle manner of the union. They will ambush you wherever you might pass by, using every weapon they can find to kill you and destroy everything you have."

The Baron's expression changed. He couldn't imagine the workers' resistance, but he was indeed afraid of the unreasonable mob. Even so, he couldn't abandon the machines.

But in the end, his unease turned into anticipation for the person in front of him.

Those in positions of power are certainly smarter than him; since they chose to come here and discuss this issue, they must be able to provide him with guidance.

The baron said respectfully, "Sir, could you please enlighten me?"

Cui Xun tapped the table. He knew he had completed the most crucial step, and now it was time to fight for his own interests.

He needs a group of educated, well-organized, and fearless people, and as many as possible.

Therefore, Cui Xun instructed the Baron: "Education, unions, and policies are the three key areas for you going forward."

"You must understand that the essence of all wealth in society is labor, and the key to determining the quality of labor is education."

"Education is the greatest investment."

"A literate worker is more valuable than an illiterate worker; a foreman who can do arithmetic is more valuable than a foreman who can only count on his fingers; a technician who can read blueprints is ten times more valuable than a worker who can only tighten screws, and all of these require education."

The Baron was about to say something, but Cui Xun raised his hand to stop him.

"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, what's the point of educating workers? If we make them smarter, wouldn't it be easier for them to rebel? Wouldn't it be easier to manage them if we kept them ignorant for life? Besides, education is too costly; you'd have to spend a lot of money."

"But these workers also yearn for change, crave learning, and want to become richer, while the wave of layoffs has also driven away a group of educated people."

"Schools don't need these extra people, but factories do. You can have workers pay a uniform fee, hire educated people on their behalf, send them to evening classes, and even have workers educate each other, promoting those with special skills to higher positions so that they are willing to share their skills with other workers."

The baron suddenly realized something. He looked at Cui Xun as if he were looking at his mentor, and said earnestly, "Then, what should we do with the unions? They are really a headache. Once those union representatives are killed, new ones come. Bribing them is useless, and I certainly can't agree to their suggestions."

Cui Xun asserted, "You've used the wrong methods to bribe people. Your thinking is still stuck in suppression; you can't progress to 'control'."

The baron's breathing became clearly audible in the quiet room, and he couldn't help but repeat the word: "Control?"

Cui Xun explained, "Unions are a necessary need for workers. The more they suffer, the angrier they become, and the more they want to speak out and have someone speak for them. If you forcefully eliminate a union, they will gather underground. If you break up the gatherings, they will communicate in secret at work."

"Give them a set of rules, let them win a little when they follow the rules, let them feel that the problem lies in the method, and they will stop going out of bounds. Give them a little mercy, let them feel that you are different, that you are on their side, and they will try to understand you."

"Give unions real power and make their roles clear. They will start fighting among themselves, trying to persuade the most radicals to stay in their positions, suppressing dangerous demands, and packaging concessions as acts of kindness when you have to make them, calling kindness great, so that more workers will sing your praises."

These are all real and effective means that touch upon the essence of rule, but for the nobles of this era, they can only be effective for a period of time. If the nobles are even slightly greedy, it will shatter their beautiful illusion and arouse even greater anger.

Baron Lawrence was unaware of the deeper issue; he only felt that Cui Xun was full of wisdom, and his original thoughts, after this little guidance, were finally fully understood.

He felt he could now easily handle union issues, but Cui Xun had a third piece of wisdom that he hadn't yet shared with him.

The baron, adopting a subordinate's tone, inquired of Cui Xun, "What does the policy refer to...?"

He stopped before he could finish asking the question, feeling that he already had the answer.

When Cui Xun saw the Baron begin to "think about it," he naturally said nothing and waited for the Baron to figure it out himself.

The Baron arrived at the answer.

Who cares about the lives of workers? Who cares about long-term economic stability? Who would send someone to knock on your door in the middle of the night?

The person in front of me is definitely a royal agent!

The Baron's breathing quickened. Cui Xun guessed that the identity he had in mind was different from that of the person who commissioned the murder, but he did not try to correct him.

The fact that he realized their identities were different wouldn't arouse the baron's suspicion; on the contrary, he would feel that he was smarter than his subordinates, and thus be more convinced of his own guess.

With the knowledge of being a royal agent, the Baron's speculations about policy became much clearer.

"Those policies that the royal family can't easily mention, but which are beneficial to the entire market, such as the minimum wage proposed by the House of Commons, are the third point I'll be discussing today," the Baron said with some pride.

Cui Xun did not answer, but the Baron had already interpreted the meaning of silent support.

"I understand." The Baron's voice carried a strange sense of relief, like someone who had been lost for a long time finally seeing a signpost. "I understand everything."

He knelt down in front of Cui Xun, bowing his head in utmost humility.

"I will follow your instructions," the Baron said. "The day after tomorrow, no, I will send someone to the union at noon to apologize and renegotiate the terms. This time I will go in person."

Cui Xun looked at him, but still didn't say anything.

The baron immediately realized that he would take control of the unions when the time was right, and this was not something the royal agents had asked him to do.

What he really needs to do is become a pioneer!

The baron solemnly said, "My lord, I will convey what you told me today to others in a more understandable way, little by little, so that they may understand what this inevitable trend is!"

"I'll make them do the right thing too!"

Cui Xun nodded silently, stood up, went out, and left the manor without saying a word.

After walking for a long time, he finally stopped and took a deep breath.

He did it.

With just a few words and actions, he created an unfathomable image, brainwashed a nobleman, made him fawn over him on the spot, and made him work for him. He even enthusiastically handed out the rope to the workers to strangle him and actively recruited others to join him.

Looking back now, it's actually quite amusing. I wish I could share this funny story with someone...

Cui Xun turned his head; there was no one beside him.

He put aside his own thoughts and began to set his next goal.

Next, he will go deep into the grassroots and see what the situation is like from the workers' perspective.

But it was clear that the workers wouldn't wake up until the daytime and then gather together. Tonight, he would continue his night watch to ensure that no one committed a crime under his nose, and also to look for any other clues.