America 1881: Legend of the West

May 1886, 5, early morning in San Francisco.

The morning sun rises from the sea level, shining sunshine on this seaside city.

At this usual time, the city has woken up from its slumber, with people coming and going and busy traffic.

But today is different.

No whistles of ships could be heard on the pier, they were parked quietly in the berths of the port; no tinkling of tram bells could be heard on the streets, only the occasional horse-drawn carriage passing by.

The construction site was quiet, with not a single worker in sight; the same was true in all factories. The machines no longer roared, and the chimneys did not emit white or black smoke as usual.

Shops were sealed and closed.

There were very few people on the streets.

Even people who are completely unaware of the problem are aware of the seriousness of the problem and are on their way in a hurry.

The whole city seemed to hold its breath.

On the rooftop of the tallest tower in San Francisco, Governor Stoneman, the mayor of San Francisco and several bosses of the Anti-Strike League stood there, looking into the distance.

"Why isn't Brannan here?" Stoneman turned his head, looked around, and found that the leader of the anti-strike alliance was not there.

"Brannan has some personal matters to deal with and is unable to come for the time being." said the owner of a shoe factory.

As for what kind of private matter it is, needless to say, everyone in San Francisco now knows.

"It's really mud that can't hold up the wall." The governor muttered.

All the businessmen present looked solemn.

They are very worried about their factories and shops, fearing that the workers will conduct "zero-yuan purchases" during the demonstrations and destroy their little wealth.

For this reason, many of them paid high prices to border detective agencies and hired them to protect the safety of their factories.

At this time, the boss of the Border Detective Agency was standing beside them, leisurely looking at the scenery of San Francisco.

"Stoneman, what do you think if those workers are really determined to cause sabotage?" the mayor asked worriedly, "I really don't want to see this happen!"

"Miller, if they really want to imitate the gang in Paris ten years ago, my militia can be assembled at any time to show them how powerful they are!"

The governor didn't even look at the mayor.

The way he talks now seems to be back to when he was the commander of the Arizona Military District a few years ago.

This is something Miller has been criticized for since becoming governor.

He is more of a soldier than a politician.

Stoneman looked at Chen Jianqiu who was leaning on the railing, smiled and said to everyone:

"By then, Boss Chen will sponsor all the ammunition for my soldiers! He is the largest arms dealer in the west, so please don't worry!"

Chen Jianqiu waved his hand:

"Mr. Governor, you are doing this for us, and I should pay some money."

Upon hearing that Chen Jianqiu and the governor had taken action, the businessmen present were immediately relieved.

“Boss Chen was willing to take out the guns and ammunition from his warehouse, and I immediately felt much safer!”

"Boss Chen is worthy of being the number one person in the western arms industry!"

These bosses began to treat Chen Jianqiu as brothers and didn't care that he was Chinese.

"Look, over there!"

The mayor suddenly pointed forward.

At the end of the street in the distance, a dark group of people appeared.

From the various work clothes they wear, you can tell the industry and identity they are engaged in.

Shoemakers, textile workers, house renovators.

They were holding signs and banners and heading towards Union Square.

The voice of the slogan came from far to near, faintly:

"Shorten working hours! Improve remuneration! Give us a safe working environment!"

"This doesn't look like much." A businessman muttered.

"I'm afraid not necessarily." The mayor stared at the parade.

Sure enough, as the procession moved forward, workers and citizens would pour out from both sides of the road from time to time to join the procession.

This makes the team bigger and bigger.

"Hey, look, what's over there." A businessman pointed in another direction.

Another team appeared there.

The size of this team is smaller than the one directly in front, but it is still mighty.

However, judging from their clothing, the members of this team are not workers. They look more like farmers or farmers:

"Oppose monopoly! Reject the shamelessness of bankers! We also want to survive!"

This is their slogan.

The appearance of this group of people put everyone present into a state of confusion.

"Didn't you say that today is just a workers' demonstration?"

one businessman asked the governor.

The governor frowned.

He didn't know what was going on. The information Brannan and Hellman gave him was that today was just a workers' strike demonstration.

Before everyone on the rooftop could react, another person pointed to the road directly below them and exclaimed:

"besides!"

Everyone hurried to the railing and looked down.

Another parade has appeared!

Unlike the workers and farmers, there was a caravan in the middle of this team. Some members of the team were sitting on the caravan, while others followed around the caravan, waving small flags in their hands.

The most important thing is that the members of this team are all women!

"Oh my god!" The mayor's face suddenly turned the color of liver.

He was all too familiar with the girl standing on the caravan, chanting slogans.

That's his daughter!

"We want voting rights! We want equal job opportunities! We want to participate in politics!"

The mayor's daughter, wearing a green dress and a headscarf, raised her arms and shouted.

If Chen Jianqiu hadn't stopped him, the mayor would have jumped off the roof and dragged his daughter off the caravan.

"Where are the people? Come quickly! Damn it! Go get my daughter home!" The mayor coughed while looking for his subordinates.

The "culprit" of all this, Chen Jianqiu, took the mayor's arm and persuaded him calmly:

"Mayor, don't be impatient. This is a good thing. There is an old saying in my hometown that says, 'A dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, and a mouse gives birth to a big hole.' Ling Qianjin must have been influenced by you, sir, since childhood, and determined to enter politics. Today Once you see her, she will be like a woman, and you will definitely have a lot of potential in the future."

The mayor was anxious and angry, and could no longer hear the sarcasm in Chen Jianqiu's words.

The best destination for his precious daughter should be to find a well-matched son-in-law. Now, what does it mean to engage in the feminist movement in public?

"Go and find out what's going on!" he said eagerly to his subordinates.

what happened?

Chen Jianqiu knew it.

He did it.

To hold a strike and demonstration, the power of workers alone is not enough. How can it be done without the participation of farmers?

At this time, American farmer groups were victims of the industrial revolution and had no room for survival under the double squeeze of monopoly capitalists and big bankers.

And the struggle of farmers has never stopped.

From the "Grange" organization that Chen Jianqiu met in New Mexico to the current "National Farmers Union".

There was a mountain of information about their activities in California at the Border Detective Agency.

Therefore, after Chen Jianqiu thought about it, he quickly found the person in charge of the National Farmers Union in California.

Coincidentally, he also knew this person, and he was also a parade leader all year round.

The two still have a GM friendship to a certain extent.

Chen Jianqiu also saved his life.

His name is Oliver Dunleavy, the former head of New Mexico State.

The two hit it off.

"The activities carried out by the workers' brothers are still nationwide, and we must help the venue!" Dunleavy said.

As for those feminist activists, they found Hawley on their own.

The mayor's daughter learned about the strike from her father and contacted Hawley.

Chen Jianqiu never thought that such a thing would happen.

The structure of feminist organizations is relatively loose, but from the current perspective, these women's fighting ability is not weak at all.

While Chen Jianqiu dragged the market that was close to collapsing beside him, he looked down, touched his chin, and said to himself in a voice so low that the people around him could not hear:

"It doesn't matter if you come, women can hold up half the sky."