Fangzhou Xier, starting with failing the art exam

He still looked unconvinced, muttering, "Another braggart. I'll see what kind of nonsense he can spout."

The square was packed with people. Lacey, dressed in clean work clothes, walked onto the makeshift stage.

He cleared his throat and began his speech in a passionate voice:

"I know you don't trust me!"

"You don't believe anyone standing here spouting nonsense because you've been fooled too many times!"

The audience fell silent; those words resonated deeply with everyone.

"Your lords have come and gone, yet your taxes have only increased; your slogans have been heard again and again, yet your lives have become harder every day!"

"So today, I won't talk to you about anything vague or unrealistic, nor will I shout any unattainable slogans."

"I've come to Viseheim to discuss only three things with you!"

"Fair! Fair! Still damn fair!"

Lacey held up one finger.

"First, starting tomorrow, the first school for the common people will be established in Viseheim! All children aged six to twelve, regardless of gender or background, have the right to attend the school and learn to read and write for free!"

"We want our children to use knowledge to win their future!"

In the crowd, a mother holding her child covered her mouth, tears instantly welling up in her eyes.

Her husband died in the mine, and her greatest wish was that her son would not follow in his father's footsteps.

Lacey held up her second finger.

"Secondly, the old warehouse in the east of the city will be converted into Viseheim's first civilian clinic within three days! Sick people will no longer have to lie at home waiting to die, nor will they have to beg those exorbitant black market doctors!"

"The clinic will provide you with the best treatment we can, and we will only charge the cost price for the medicines! We want everyone who has sweated and bled for this city to be able to live with dignity!"

The crowd began to stir, and people started whispering among themselves.

Lacey held up his third finger, and his voice suddenly rose.

"Third, starting next Monday, all factories and mines in Viseheim must comply with the new labor law!"

"Working hours must not exceed eight hours per day! Overtime must be paid at double the normal rate! A safe working environment and necessary protective equipment must be provided to workers! Any boss who dares to withhold wages or disregard human life..."

Lacey paused for a moment, glancing at several wealthy businessmen in the crowd whose faces had turned grim.

"The Workers' Party will be your nightmare!"

After a brief moment of deathly silence, the entire square erupted in a thunderous roar of cheers.

"Lassie! Lassie! Lassie!"

"Long live Lacey! Long live the Workers' Party!"

Long live the Workers' Party!

The young miner was so excited that his face turned red. He waved his fists and roared with all his might.

The old miner Hans beside him was leaning on his cane, his hand trembling slightly.

He looked at the not-so-tall figure on the stage, his lips moved, but he couldn't bring himself to utter a sarcastic remark.

……

……

Holy Leitanian Empire: Chapter Twenty-Six: Mr. Leisi Dislikes Your Disobedience

The largest iron ore mine owner in Viseheim, a fat man named Jules, gathered almost all the capitalists and factory owners in the city in his private drawing room.

"An eight-hour workday? Double overtime pay? And what kind of damn security guarantees do they want? Who does he think he is? An emperor or a prince?"

Jules slammed his cigar into the ashtray, his fat face contorted with rage.

"This is outrageous! Why should we be allowed to have our hard-earned wealth and fortune dictated to us by some peasant leader?"

“Mr. Jules is right!” a textile factory owner chimed in.

"If we really do as he says, our profits will decrease by at least 30%! Those workers are all scoundrels; if we treat them well, they'll dare to hog our attention!"

“But…but the newly appointed countess seems to be on his side.” A slightly timid voice rang out.

Jules sneered, "Gertrude? Just a little brat who hasn't even been weaned yet!"

“She needs that Lacey to help her clean up the remnants of the Witch King’s faction and consolidate her position, so she will naturally be obedient to him.”

"Once she's settled into her position, do you think she'll tolerate a peasant giving orders in her territory? Don't be naive!"

"So what do we do now? We can't just listen to him, can we?"

“Of course not!” A fierce glint flashed in Jules’ eyes.

"The law is dead, but people are alive. Let's unite and outwardly comply while inwardly resisting!"

"He wants eight hours? Fine, we'll have the foreman figure out a way to drag out their work hours to ten! Twelve hours!"

"He wants overtime pay? Fine, we'll deduct it from his basic salary!"

"He wants safety equipment? Would giving him a few tattered straw hats suffice?"

"I want to see if he can manage so many of our factories and mines all by himself!"

A group of bloated capitalists exchanged smiles, all agreeing that the idea was brilliant.

They formed a defensive alliance and decided to use a soft approach to make Lacey and his new policies suffer a crushing defeat.

……

However, they severely underestimated Lacey's determination and the execution capabilities of this emerging Workers' Party organization.

On the first day of the new bill's implementation, Jules' iron ore mine encountered problems.

The foreman used the excuse of checking tools and giving a safety talk to delay the workers' end of the workday by more than an hour.

They also announced that due to the poor quality of the ore, everyone's salary would be reduced by 10% this month.

The workers complained bitterly, but dared not speak out.

Just then, the young miner who had been shouting excitedly in the square stepped forward.

He is now the Workers' Party's liaison in the mining area.

“Under the new labor law, any unjustified delays in working hours and withholding of wages are illegal!” he shouted.

"Brothers, we can't take this anymore! Mr. Lacey said we have to fight for our rights!"

The foreman's face changed, and he brandished his whip, yelling, "Who do you think you are? If you dare to incite anyone again, I'll whip you to death!"

Before he finished speaking, a small team of twenty Workers' Party pickets, led by Taylor, appeared at the mine entrance.

Taylor, with his towering frame, didn't even need to lift a finger; he simply glared at the foreman with his large, bell-like eyes, and the foreman's whip fell to the ground with a "thud."

"From today onwards, our Workers' Party will send overseers to every factory and mine in Viseheim to oversee the implementation of the new bill," Taylor declared in a booming voice.

"Anyone who dares to disobey is an enemy of all the workers of Viseheim!"

……

The following day, the first organized and disciplined strike in Viseheim's history broke out at Jules' iron mine.

The workers did not cause trouble or vandalize anything; they simply sat quietly at the mine entrance, refusing to resume work or back down.

Enraged, Jules hired a large sum of money to hire a group of local thugs, armed with knives and clubs, who stormed into the mine in an attempt to violently disperse the workers.

Conflict is about to break out.

However, before the thugs could even get close, Taylor led his scouts to meet them.

Those thugs who usually bullied the weak and feared the strong felt their legs go weak when they saw Taylor's muscles, which were harder than stone, and the group of workers behind him with their resolute eyes.

One of the thugs, trying to sound tough but actually sound cowardly, roared, "What do you want to do? Rebel?"

Taylor grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth. He stretched out his large, fan-like hand and grabbed the wooden stick that the thug swung at him. With a little force, the thick wooden stick was twisted into a pretzel.

“Rebellion?” Taylor threw the broken stick in his hand on the ground. “We’re just trying to reason with you.”

The thugs were so frightened that they threw down their weapons and scattered like birds and beasts.

Jules' last hope was the city guards.

He sent someone to ask the city guards for help, saying that a mob had stormed the mine.

When the city guards arrived, they merely observed from a distance. The captain in charge even nodded amicably to Taylor before withdrawing, citing "labor dispute, inconvenient to intervene."

Jules was completely dumbfounded.

He then realized that Gertrude wasn't just putting on an act with Lacey; she had genuinely entrusted half of Viseheim to that peasant.

The resistance alliance crumbled instantly.

The other factory owners were terrified when they saw Jules's miserable state.

They rushed to send people to the Workers' Party headquarters, expressing their willingness to unconditionally comply with the new bill, and even offered to improve workers' meals and build new dormitories for them.

Three days later, Jules also lowered his proud head.

He personally went to the Workers' Party headquarters warehouse and stood before Lacey like a defeated rooster.

Lacey didn't humiliate him; she even poured him a glass of water.

“Mr. Jules, I’m not trying to take away your jobs,” Lacey said calmly.

"A healthy city needs capitalists, but it also needs workers."

"I just want to create a fairer set of rules so that the workers suffer less bloodshed and more hope."

"From now on, let's follow the rules and live in peace."

"You earn the money you deserve, and the workers get the hard-earned money they deserve. Everyone's happy, right?"

What could Jules say? He could only nod repeatedly like a chicken pecking at rice.

This turmoil ended in a complete victory for the Workers' Party.

……

As dusk fell, old miner Hans sat at his doorstep, watching his seven-year-old grandson skip and hop home from the community school.

Although the little guy's face was still covered in ink, his eyes sparkled with a light he had never seen before.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, listen to me sing, this is a new nursery rhyme that the teacher taught us today!"

The children sang in their tender voices: "Small gears turn the big factory, our hands build our new hometown..."

As Hans listened, his cloudy eyes gradually welled up with tears.

He ultimately failed to write his name backwards.

……

……

Holy Leitanian Empire: Chapter Twenty-Seven: Rumors

At first, Viseheim's story was just a few rumors.

Caravans traveling between the western cities brought back scattered news about Viseheim.

They say the new Countess of the Stroroth is a ruthless figure who has slaughtered the remnants of the Witch King's faction.

They also said that the workers in Viseheim had gone mad, actually helping noblemen build roads and schools for free.

These words were treated as a joke in the tavern, eliciting bursts of laughter.

But in neighboring Finkshire, the local lord, Viscount Elmer Stallenf, was not laughing.

Viscount Stalenf was a typical old-fashioned nobleman, his obese body always wrapped in a coat.

His life motto was simple: his people were his private property, like leeks growing on his estate, which could be harvested and then grown again.

His Finkshire was known for its oppressive climate and poverty, where miners had an average lifespan of no more than thirty years and serfs were treated like livestock.

The Viscount has been in a bad mood lately.

First, his most trusted tax officer reported that the tax revenue for this quarter had inexplicably decreased by 10%.

Immediately afterwards, more than thirty miners from his largest iron mine disappeared overnight.