"Yes, if that day comes, there will definitely be many choices left for us." Willow nodded.
While the two were talking, Mr. Xin, who was standing at the door, left silently. Before leaving, he did not inform Willow, let alone give any uneasy instructions, as if he expected Willow to do his own thing.
I have been looking forward to it for so long, wishing that he would spread his wings and fly high without looking back.
After watching Boss Xin leave, Keating went back to the tavern and sat with Verak and Willow: "Willow, our people will come over later to establish a sub-station of the Equality Association. On the surface, they still use the tavern to hide from others, but they
They all have basically no experience in running a tavern, and they still need you to help them learn the skills of various positions as soon as possible."
"Leave this to me." Willow grew up in Quinn's Tavern, and he knows all aspects of the tavern very well. "It's just that the people you brought are all from Bressi, so there may be some language barriers..."
"I will act as a translator." Sarah, the person in charge of the branch station who can speak Bressian and Dunman, was busy with printing, so Verak stepped forward.
"Just in time to train Verak again." Keating handed over the work to the two young people.
Not long after, Ive, who was also the person in charge of the branch, entered the tavern with more than a dozen members of the Equality Society. He first reported the situation to Keating, and then the two parties introduced each other.
After that, intensive work began.
Verak acted as a translator and repeated Willow's words into Bresci for everyone to hear. The people of the Equality Society began to understand the layout of the tavern, assign their apparent identities and jobs, and learn.
At noon, Sara arrived at the tavern with another team of people. They successfully solved the printing problem, and the printing work could start soon. At their speed, hundreds of copies of "Equality", "The Internationale",
The "Women's Manifesto" will be printed soon.
The tasks of all parties were successfully completed. Keating did not give them a chance to breathe, and asked Sarah to build a communication network as quickly as possible and distribute these books after they were ready. Yves needed to do so within three days.
To make the branch of the Equality Club operational, the tavern must also be reopened.
After allocating their affairs, Keating and Verak had a detailed discussion about tomorrow's meeting and made full preparations for tomorrow's meeting.
——
February 13th, 10 am
Verak drove and took Keating to the door of Mink's Tavern in Manchester City on time. This time, four or five cars were parked nearby. They were obviously Lao Jin, the boss of the Gold Flash Gang, his son Apu, and Lu, the boss of the underworld gang.
Farlow has arrived.
"Talk in the pub?" Keating said this was the first time he discussed such a formal matter in a pub.
"I know Manchester City relatively well. There is really no suitable place here. It's better to just stay in the pub." Verak turned off the fire and said, "Let's go, teacher."
Keating got out of the car from the passenger seat and walked into Mink's Tavern with Verak.
The tavern was deserted outside, but it was crowded inside. The bosses of the Sea Rat Gang, the Gold Flash Gang, and the Black Street Gang were sitting at the same table, and the rest of the place was filled with their subordinates.
"What are you doing with so many people?" Verak and Keating came to Monroe, Lao Jin and Ruffalo, half-pushed and half-receded by the strong men.
"It's too cold outside, so let them come in first." The eyes of the three Monroes fell on Keating, who was short and smiling kindly.
"Everyone get out and stay in the car." Lao Jin shouted.
People from all three parties exited the tavern one after another, and in an instant, only five of them were left in the tavern.
"Sit, sit, sit." Monroe specially left two seats for Verak and Keating to sit down.
"Teacher, sit down." Verak glanced at him after sitting down, "Apu didn't come?"
"There's no need to take him with you on every occasion," said the tall and mighty Lao Jin.
Verak nodded: "Okay, let me introduce each other first. This is the person in charge of our Equality Association in this cooperation, Comrade Keating. This is the boss of the Sea Rat Gang, Monroe, and this is the Flash Gold
The boss of the gang is Lao Jin, and this is Ruffalo, the boss of the underworld gang. They represent the Brexi, Monrego, and Sder immigrants respectively."
"Hello." Monroe shook hands with Keating respectfully.
Even though Keating was no longer the minister who was under the leadership of Bressey and was above ten thousand people, in the minds of these people, they were still from the same world as Keating. One was aloof and the other was as humble as dust.
Lao Jin nodded to Keating, his face was not as arrogant as Verak had seen during the last meeting.
Ruffalo still has a smooth appearance and is impeccable in his dealings with others.
"Would you like anything to drink?" Monroe asked.
"No, thank you." Keating politely declined.
Verak pushed for the start of the meeting: "Since everyone is here, let's not waste time and start talking directly."
"Okay." Lao Jin had no objection.
Monroe and Ruffalo naturally agreed.
"Teacher." Verak looked at Keating, waiting for Keating to speak.
"This cooperation is of great importance. We will give our utmost sincerity and hope that everyone can also determine the cooperation plan together with the simple purpose of solving the matter." Keating first politely reminded the people here that this
This meeting only discussed how to repeal the "New Military Conscription Law" and did not involve other possible private goods.
"certainly."
"Um."
Several people agreed.
"First of all, we want to know about the plan you made before to provoke conflict between the Tunman people and the Tunman government." Keating and Verak were both curious about how the three parties originally planned to compete with the government.
Now that they have decided to cooperate, Monroe and the others did not hide anything. Ruffalo, the boss of the gang, briefly explained their thoughts: "We plan to find a way to list and disseminate the list of local civilians who died in Dunman after serving as soldiers.
Go out, and then secretly provoke conflicts between the local gangs responsible for protecting various neighborhoods and the government, causing them to fight and large-scale conflicts to break out..."
After listening to the tripartite plan, both Verak and Keating exhaled heavily.
Monroe's idea is indeed feasible. For example, when the two sides are at war with each other, they can secretly kill those noble children who have paid to be exempted from military service, and those civilians who have raised the highest voice. What will happen if the misunderstandings and conflicts between the two sides deepen?
Say more.
Even if someone realizes that there may be a conspiracy involved, it won't be of much use.
Because the conflict between the common people and the powerful has been provoked, the importance of who kills people has plummeted. Everyone can only hold one idea, fight!
"This method is very good. We can control everything secretly and stay out of it openly." Ruffalo likes this method that does not require him to fight others to the death.
"But judging from my knowledge of the Equality Society during this period, they would not agree." Munro had read "Equality" and other books, and he knew that Verak and Keating would most likely not accept this kind of landing.
Not on the stage.
"Indeed, we will not do this kind of thing of standing aside and watching the two sides fighting each other. Because we will not watch the people fight alone and profit from trampling on their corpses and blood." Keating rejected this plan.
feasibility.
After hearing this, Verak shook his head: "We will fight together with the people and be the one at the forefront."
"It's admirable." Ruffalo clapped softly.
"So since this doesn't work, do you have any better ideas?" Monroe asked.
Lao Jin said nothing, crossed his arms across his chest, and waited for Keating to propose their plan.
Their purpose of cooperating with the Ping Ping Association is very simple, that is, with stronger allies, it is more likely to be done. Personally speaking, it is to take the blame when something goes wrong according to their plan.
Give to the Equality Society.
If the Equality Council disagrees with their plan and cannot come up with a better solution, then there is no need for them to cooperate.
In short, it is harmless to them.
The Equality Society is simply a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
"I want to ask a question first." Keating did not answer directly, "Why are you letting the Dunman locals and the government fight?"
"Self-protection." Ruffalo said, "If they fight, the government will have no intention of taking action against us. And if the locals can win and force the government to cancel the new conscription law, the situation will be better."
"After their dispute is over, won't the government take action against you again?" Keating then asked.
Ruffalo dealt with it with ease: "The government will face many problems at that time, and at least it will not be possible to deal with us in a short period of time. And once the new conscription law is cancelled, our people will not be signed to serve as soldiers for no reason. Strength
It will not be weakened."
"At this time, there are two more questions." As a minister who has assisted Ravel in power for many years, Keating can easily spot the omissions. "First, if the dispute is settled, will the government resort to you for transfer?
Contradiction? Second, will the new conscription law only amend the content regarding locals, while retaining the relevant laws for immigrants who have not spoken out in this dispute?"
"I think..." Ruffalo frowned.
Lao Jin looked serious, while Monroe smiled.
"In some cases, when you think the matter has nothing to do with you, you are already in trouble." Keating fundamentally undermined the necessity of the tripartite plan, "If you plan well, you must know how to use the power of the people and the government.
The bad thing about confrontation is that you yourself are too separated from the people. The consequence of this is that the victory of the people is not the same as your victory."
"I think what Mr. Keating said is very reasonable." Monroe was not unhappy at all because the shortcomings of his side's plan were exposed. He was fortunate that there were people like Keating who could help them in time before they really did this.
Correct errors.
"You just pointed out that this possibility exists. The real situation changes rapidly and no one can say for sure." Ruffalo expressed the opposite opinion.
Keating first said "hmm" with approval, and then once again expanded the advantage he had established: "I have been in power for many years, and no one understands the operation of the government better than me, and the way to deal with these things. The real situation does change rapidly, but
Some things are constant. I won’t say that if you follow this method, the result will definitely be what I said. It’s just that this possibility exists objectively. As a politician and a person who has been in the government
People who have worked for decades feel that it cannot be ignored.”
After Verak saw the changes in the faces of Monroe and others, he secretly applauded.
He and Keating talked from afternoon to late night yesterday, and this time he came prepared.
They know that they cannot judge others by their own ideals and moral sense. Equality will be willing to sacrifice for the people, but Monroe and others will not.
What cooperation seeks is profit.
Monroe and others thought about it. After cooperation, they would continue to use their own plans. If something went wrong, Ping Ping would be blamed. It would be great if Ping Ping had a better plan.
Of course Keating also knew what these people were thinking.
Therefore, he and Verak knew that their initial suggestion that they fight side by side with civilians and that immigrants and locals unite would not be accepted, so they did not come up to talk about ideals, justice, and freedom, but instead followed what Monroe and others cared about most.
Taking safety and interests as the starting point, let the tripartite plan be no longer feasible.
Little by little, Monroe, Lao Jin, and Ruffalo realized that only uniting and fighting side by side is the most realistic and feasible way. Today's cooperation is half done.
"There is no doubt that your opinion is higher than ours in this regard." Keating's halo is too strong, and Monroe is more convinced by Keating than Ruffalo on this matter, "Old Jin, what do you think?"
"I agree with what he said, 'The victory of the people is not the same as our victory.'" Lao Jin said in a deep voice, "We should only have this one chance. If we really use up the local people, there will be no fundamental success."
We can solve our problems first, and I don’t need to say much about the results after that.”
In fact, Ruffalo had no intention of insisting on his opinion. He knew how to speak based on the situation. In addition, Keating's words did make sense, so he quickly changed his tone: "I think the same as everyone, since our original plan exists
If there is a huge loophole, then there is no need to think about it anymore.”
"Yes, we are meeting this time to find a solution that really suits us." Verak tilted the balance of speech power towards his side.
"Then what do you think we should do? According to what you just said, stand together with the locals, fight together, and fight for our rights at the same time?" Monroe was concerned about how to do it. "After listening to what you said, this feels like
It makes sense, but you should know that the locals are very hostile to us, and we have been marginalized. Even if we want to unite with them, they will not accept it."
"Yes, we need to unite with the locals, because we are all essentially the same." Keating said slowly, "And the conflict between immigrants and locals is what we need to resolve before we fight against the government.
problem. As for how to solve it, simply put, it is to let everyone recognize the enemy and recognize the friend."
Verak promptly took out the "Equality" and other books he brought and gave them to Lao Jin and Ruffalo: "These books can solve all our problems."