Chapter 39

New book uploaded, seeking favorites and recommendations.

As Zhu Jishi and Isabelle chatted all the way, they returned to the factory on Vincent Street around six or seven in the evening, dinner time.

In this era, land prices in Britain were not high, so the factory covered a considerable area, about three to four hundred acres, equivalent to more than two thousand Chinese acres. Since it had not officially opened yet, the factory was quiet inside, in stark contrast to the noisy surroundings.

There were many ragged, barefoot poor people at the factory gate, mostly Irish immigrants. In this economically depressed era, they would lose their jobs earlier than the English. These were unemployed workers who had come to see if the factory, which was still in the preparatory stage, was hiring. However, they would leave disappointed today, as the factory had already hired a batch of laborers. As for the workers for the production lines, they would not be recruited for the time being, because the design of the pharmaceutical and rubber production lines had not been completed—there were not many ready-made production lines available for purchase in this era, and they needed to be designed by engineers. Some equipment even had to be specially made, so it would take a considerable amount of time.

Only the office building in the factory had lights on, of course, not electric lights. There was no electricity yet, and they relied entirely on candles and whale oil lamps for lighting. Isabelle told Zhu Jishi that Robert Churchill was in the office building, accompanied by the elderly Dr. Blumstein. This Jewish military doctor, who had retired from the British Army, was now the deputy general manager of Hero Pharmaceuticals.

"Jason, hurry up and go up. Roman must have already prepared dinner, I'm almost starving." After getting off the carriage, the countess held Zhu Jishi's arm and urged him to go upstairs quickly, saying that Mrs. Durand had already prepared dinner.

"Roman is also in Manchester?" Zhu Jishi thought, this mature woman is really keeping a close eye on me! If it were 170 years later and a beautiful and flirtatious French woman pursued me, I would definitely dump Ye Yiren. From this perspective, I'm doing pretty well in this era.

Just as Zhu Jishi was feeling rather pleased with himself, he suddenly heard loud arguments coming from inside the corridor.

"Universal suffrage is just a tool for the poor in the lower classes to seek unearned gains. Such a system will lead to the decline of Western society, which no responsible gentleman can allow!"

"The truly unearned gains are those of the entire upper class! Look at what the people in the Ommerschill Club do all day? What contributions have they made to society? Why are they so wealthy?"

"Every person in the Ommerschill Club is respectable. Their wealth either comes from noble bloodlines or from their own or their ancestors' business acumen and creativity. In fact, anyone has the opportunity to become a member of the Ommerschill Club, even a Chinese person!"

From the voices, the two men arguing were likely Engels and someone else. Zhu Jishi remembered that he had invited Engels to the factory to discuss a book collaboration—introducing European military and political affairs to China, with Engels as the main author and Zhu Jishi responsible for translation.

Pushing open the door of an office, Zhu Jishi saw several men and women sitting in a scattered manner. Engels was among them, glaring coldly at a detestable fat man, who was Churchill, who had come to Manchester with Isabelle and her sister. Next to the fat man sat a British girl of about thirteen or fourteen, wearing a slightly old but clean dress that seemed a size too big. Although she was quite cute, she lacked a certain grace, and her bright eyes were fixed on the food on the table, not at all like a young lady from a wealthy family.

The fat man's hand was around the girl's waist, his eyes wide open, and he held a lit cigarette in the other hand, looking like a somewhat detestable rich second-generation, no, the Churchill family had been wealthy for more than two generations.

Seeing Zhu Jishi and Isabelle enter, the fat man stopped arguing with Engels, stood up, and came forward, first kissing Isabelle's cheek (which was not a good gesture), then smiling and shaking hands with Zhu Jishi, saying, "Jason, thank you for saving me. If it weren't for you, I would be a cold, lifeless corpse now."

"It was my duty," Zhu Jishi smiled. It was a heartfelt response, although Churchill was a detestable guy, without his 50 pounds, Zhu Jishi's early days in this era would not have been so comfortable.

Engels also came forward, hugged Zhu Jishi, and... kissed him on the cheek! Uh, this showed that Zhu Jishi and Engels had a very close relationship!

"Friedrich, this is Countess Isabelle Deneuve, my friend—this is Friedrich Engels, the manager of the Ommerschill-Engels textile factory, my best friend." As Zhu Jishi introduced Isabelle and Engels to each other, he wondered if his portrait would one day hang alongside Marx and Engels.

"This is Robert Churchill, Friedrich, I think you have already met him?" Zhu Jishi pointed to the fat man and smiled at Engels.

"Yes, we have already met," they said in unison, but their faces were somewhat stiff, clearly not on the same wavelength.

"This young lady is..." Zhu Jishi pointed to the girl drooling over the food on the table, thinking, "She definitely isn't a Churchill."

"Her?" The fat man laughed, "I don't know her. I saw her on the way to the factory and paid three shillings."

"Hmph!"

Engels snorted coldly upon hearing this. Zhu Jishi sighed inwardly, she was a young prostitute who sold herself for three shillings!

"Jason, I have something to attend to, I'll leave first." Engels glanced at the fat man and said goodbye to Zhu Jishi.

"Alright, I'll see you out." Zhu Jishi did not try to retain him and walked out with Engels.

"Friedrich, I want to ask for your help..." Zhu Jishi explained his idea of publishing a book, and Engels readily agreed.

"By the way, there's something I almost forgot." Engels suddenly said to Zhu Jishi, "My friend, Karl Marx, the editor-in-chief of the Rheinische Zeitung, is in some trouble and may have to leave Germany to seek refuge in Britain. I think you can ask him to write a book introducing the history and politics of European countries; he is more knowledgeable in this area than I am."

Karl Marx...

Well, the majestic and stirring Internationale once again echoed in Zhu Jishi's mind. He didn't know what the heavens had in store for him. He had only been in this era for a short time and had already met Engels and was about to meet Marx! Was the heavens planning to make him the founder of communism?

"By the way, what kind of trouble is Mr. Marx in?" Zhu Jishi asked with interest.

"He published a series of articles criticizing the Prussian government over the 'wood theft issue,' and the Prussian government recently ordered the closure of the Rheinische Zeitung, which he edited."

"The 'wood theft issue'?" Zhu Jishi thought, was Marx opposing the Prussian government out of sympathy for a thief from a proletarian family?

Engels sighed and explained, "Here's what happened. In western Germany, there were large areas of forests and pastures where the residents could originally cut wood and graze their livestock. However, later, some noble landowners took over these areas and forbade the residents from approaching them. Many residents tried to gather firewood in the forests and were considered thieves. The residents were dissatisfied, and the German parliament had to seriously consider these issues. However, they only considered the interests of the noble landowners, and the result of the deliberation was: the residents' actions were indeed theft! If this continued, legal measures would be taken to resolve it!"

"Not even allowed to cut wood!?" Zhu Jishi thought, what kind of world is this? No need to say, the German working people must be living in dire straits!