Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 1200: Chapter 1105: Joining Forces

The tavern instantly erupted with excited shouts.

“Mr. Baxter is right, hang those corrupt officials!”

“We need true freedom…”

“Return the right to survive to the people!”

“First, bring down those damned sugar prices…”

Baxter raised his hand to signal for silence, and loudly said, “Whether they are corrupt officials or ruthless factory owners, landlords, their privileges come from the Congress that shelters them.

“If we want to reclaim our stripped rights, we must abolish ’rotten boroughs’ and grant the right to vote to all free British!

“Recently, with the surge in sugar prices, people everywhere are protesting in the streets. Our ’London Communications Agency’ must seize this opportunity and organize as many members and workers as possible to petition the government!”

The so-called “London Communications Agency” is a civil rights organization founded five years ago by the shoemaker Thomas Hardy, advocating universal suffrage, annual re-election of Congress, abolition of rotten boroughs, and demanding respect for the rights and freedoms of the people, and the protection of workers’ rights, etc.

Only three years after its establishment, the London Communications Agency had developed 70 branches with tens of thousands of members, easily able to organize demonstrations of over ten thousand people.

However, two years ago, Hardy was falsely accused of treason and arrested, along with several high-ranking members of the agency, causing the agency to fall into a slump.

This time, the soaring sugar prices fueled public anger, especially impacting industrial workers the hardest, with many factory owners even siding with the workers—of course, mostly because they could no longer tolerate the declining operating rates.

Recently, the number of people applying to join the London Communications Agency has skyrocketed, giving hope to Francis Pres and other organization leaders.

Baxter waved vigorously: “Headquarters has decided to organize at least 20,000 people next Friday to protest at St. James’s Palace…”

Just as he was speaking, the tavern door was pushed open violently, or perhaps kicked open, making a loud “bang” sound.

The tavern owner instinctively turned and said, “I’m sorry, we’re not open today…”

He suddenly fell silent because he saw Sheriff Brey from the St. Giles District standing at the door, holding a gun.

Immediately, fifty or sixty members of the Patrol Team rushed in, and there were several people wielding swords guarding each window outside.

“This is a private gathering,” Baxter said fearlessly, “please leave immediately!”

The district judge emerged from behind the sheriff, waving a document in his hand: “John Baxter, you are accused of inciting riots.

“Toby Howard, you are accused of participating in riots…

“Mike Matthews, you are accused of…”

As he read out each name, Brey gestured for the patrol members to step forward and make arrests.

Baxter protested loudly: “You have no right to do this! I want to see a lawyer!”

No one paid him any attention.

More than 20 minutes later, over a dozen members of the London Communications Agency were being led away with bound hands, escorted by patrol members armed with swords and spears towards Clink Prison.

The next day.

A very special guest arrived at the secret meeting room of the London Communications Agency.

The leader of the agency, Francis Pres, greeted the newcomer with a simple gesture, brought over a chair for him, and said, “To be frank, I never thought there would be a day when we would cooperate with the Irish.

“However, from now on, we might become the closest of partners.”

The diplomatic head of the United Irishmen Association, Thomas Emmett, sat down in the chair and said in a deep voice: “England is now like a pile of logs soaked in oil; as long as we join forces, we can definitely make it burn fiercely.”

Indeed, the London Communications Agency has tens of thousands of members, and while the Irish Association’s base is in Ireland, gathering a thousand people in London is not difficult.

The number of Irish may seem small, but more than a quarter of them are radical nationalists who dare to clash with the police, boasting impressive combat power.

Pres nodded: “Do you already have a plan?”

Emmett took out a map: “We plan to stage demonstrations simultaneously in London, Birmingham, Manchester, and other places, blocking City Halls, courts, and other key departments, forcing Congress to accept our terms!”

Pres rubbed his hands excitedly looking at the clearly marked retreat and advance routes on the map: “People from other regions will definitely respond, but it might take a long time to make Congress yield.”

“We have patience and perseverance!”

…

London.

At Jonathan Cafe, stockbroker Montes was leisurely enjoying pastries and chatting with old friend Grabby, showing no trace of the gloom from the previous stock abandonment.

The café door opened, and a blond man in his 30s walked in.

He quickly found Montes’ spot, hurried over, and whispered, “Boss, just as you anticipated, Genoa United Credit and International Standards Statistics have downgraded Chat Han’s rating to Caa.

“The exchange has already descended into chaos, everyone is desperately selling, and it’s estimated that today’s closing price might fall below 10 British Pounds per share.”

Chat Han Shipyard only got listed on the London Stock Exchange at the end of last year, benefitting from the huge positive news of “orders for over 200 steam paddle ships”, its share price surged to 34 British Pounds per share in just three days.

But now it plummeted to 10 British Pounds due to the news of “mass cancellations of steamship orders”.

The blond man looked at Montes: “Boss, should we start taking profits?”

The latter just smiled slightly and asked Grabby, “How many shares do we still hold?”

“Not too many, about 2800 shares.”

Montes nodded and gestured to the blond man with a finger: “Adams, sell them all for me.”

Adams hesitated: “But if there’s a rapid rebound, we might be left without options.”

“Don’t make me repeat myself, sell immediately.”

“Got it, boss.”

Once Adams left, Montes immediately pulled Grabby along: “Let’s talk to Mr. Curry Porter. I know he still has over 3,000 shares of Chat Han.

“Our take-profit point should be below 5 British Pounds per share.”

Indeed, after the Bolton-Watt crash last time, he suffered significant losses from buyers abandoning him, even having to sell his house in the Westminster District.

But he did not let this get him down, instead, he keenly noted Chat Han Shipyard’s severe dependency on Bolton-Watt’s products.

He then conducted an on-site investigation, judging that the shipyard would be severely dragged down by Bolton-Watt.

So he convinced several bankers to invest a total of 100,000 British Pounds, starting a full-scale short sale of Chat Han’s stock.

Coincidentally, Engine52 experienced widespread cylinder leakage at this time, preventing the delivery of steam paddle ships, which made his short-selling efforts ridiculously successful.