I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 529 Confrontation
While Revne was struggling internally, he saw the butler coming with the caravan's manager, Carbery.

As soon as the latter entered the room, he very straightforwardly submitted his resignation to Reifner, citing poor health as the reason. Of course, the real reason was that the Trade Union offered too much, and he really couldn't refuse.

Raifune immediately tried to persuade him to stay. Kaberi was the main person in charge of the caravan's daily affairs, and if he left, it would have a very serious impact on the caravan.

But Carberry's attitude was very firm, and he soon left after leaving his resignation letter.

Ravne slammed the table and roared for a while, but soon he became dispirited, then looked at his son and shook his head, saying, "We can't destroy the entire caravan for Ford. Go and contact the people from the trade alliance tomorrow, and if possible, we will join.

"I will go and raise some money. If Viscount Ford still insists on doing what he wants, we will form a new caravan with the veterans of the caravan."

If you can't beat them, join them. Even merchants in the 18th century understood this "principle".

Similar to the situation in Champagne, caravans across France that participated in the suspension of trade soon regretted their decision.

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

As for those caravans that were fully controlled by tax farmers, although they had to lose money and remain dormant under the strict orders of their bosses, it did not affect the large number of their employees jumping ship.

……

Marseille.

The sea breeze blew through the busy port with a fishy and salty smell. The morning sun penetrated the mist and shone on the piles of goods. At the same time, merchant ships of various sizes continued to dock, preparing to unload more goods.

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

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

He recognized the man, it was Hogot, the steward under Master Philippe Antonel. Antonel controlled more than half of the warehouses on the west side of the dock and was one of the largest forces in the Port of Marseille.

Old Fickman and the others hurried forward and bowed, "Master Hogot, what can I do for you?"

The latter turned his nose at them and said coldly: "Go home, you don't have to go to the dock today."

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

"Give them 15 sous each."

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

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

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

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

Fickman and the others thanked them again and were about to turn around and leave when a man in a patched linen jacket and muddy shoes squeezed in from behind them and whispered with a smile: "Why don't we go around the dock from the south and continue working. Wouldn't the 15 sous be earned in vain?" Hogot's eyes flashed with murderous intent. For a moment, he couldn't remember who this man was - he had been in Marseille Port for more than ten years, and there were very few dock workers he didn't know - but judging from his clothes, he must be a hard laborer, so he grabbed the man's collar and said viciously: "Do you want to be beaten? Go back now, you don't want to see me angry!"

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

Hogot immediately threw a punch at him, but he dodged it easily by turning his head.

"And he committed the crime openly." The man broke free from the hand that was holding him and said to Fickman and the others, "You all saw it."

Hogot was furious and signaled his men to teach this troublemaker a lesson together, but he had just taken two steps when he froze in fear - the "peon" opposite him pulled out a pistol from his waist.

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

The man holding the pistol looked at Fickman and the others and smiled, "Now, you can go to work. Oh, a lot of goods will arrive at the Gemini Trading Company in the next few days, and it is said that the wages will be at least 20% higher than usual."

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

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

"Since it's a gift from him, you can 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 plans to hire Italians to move the goods."

Upon hearing this, Fickman and others looked at each other, all showing nervous expressions, and then ran quickly towards the dock.

They all made a living by moving goods at the docks. If the Italians took their jobs away, they would probably starve to death.

They had to show the cargo owners that they were more hardworking and reliable than the Italians. If anyone didn't let them work at this time, they would definitely fight with that person.

Moreover, according to this boss, you can earn 20% more wages in the next few days, which means you have to work even harder!
Similar situations took place in various parts of the Port of Marseille. A large number of police dressed as dock workers went out to attack everywhere, arresting more than 30 people who instigated the strike in one day, and at the same time spreading the news that Italian workers were coming to Marseille.

This is the plan discussed by Besançon and Volante, assistant manager of the twin subsidiaries.

Besançon originally planned to send a large number of police to surround the port of Marseille to prevent a large-scale strike, 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 had happened and only letting a few dozen police officers blend in with the workers. Those who instigated the strike would definitely encounter them as long as they came into contact with the workers. Combined with some news about Italian workers, this crisis could be effectively resolved.

Things developed just as he expected. Workers at the Port of Marseille soon spread the news that "you can earn extra wages at the port recently" and that "Italians are going to flock to the docks to grab jobs."

At that 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 of the tax farmer's confidants, including Antonel, were identified by their subordinates and taken away by the police on charges of spreading rumors and undermining the stability of Marseille.

The chaos in the port of Marseilles, carefully planned by Ford and others, came to an end almost before it began.

(End of this chapter)