Otaku Translation: Blackstone Code Chapter 143

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This kind of thinking was actually a common sentiment among the majority of the people in the Baylor Federation at the outbreak of the world war. This included the inability of the Progressive Party to reach a consensus on this issue internally, leading to the Conservative Party easily winning the election without much difficulty.

It was precisely this isolationist policy that, even today, after the complete cessation of the world war, the Federation's international trade had not fully recovered. Only limited, unavoidable trades were being conducted.

For instance, some goods were exchanged from other countries in return for materials that the Federation couldn’t produce or that were not available locally. Besides this unavoidable foreign trade policy, it was difficult for ordinary individuals or companies to engage in large-scale international trade.

Here, it was necessary to mention a special office within the government led by Conservative Party’s cabinet, Foreign Trade Approval Office. This office was subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the Ministry of Defense also had overlapping management rights, indicating how high the vigilance was domestically regarding foreign trade.

Every year, what goods could be exported and imported was determined by this office.

For individuals like Lynch who wanted to engage in export business, there was essentially no point in considering it in the short term. It was simply unattainable to the point where he wouldn’t even have the chance to demonstrate his capabilities.

The mayor's brow furrowed slowly, then tightened, causing wrinkles to form in the center of his forehead. His eyebrows arched slightly, giving off an aura of authority rather than anger.

In fact, most of this feeling stemmed from his title, the Mayor of Sabin City.

If the person furrowing their brows were a vagabond, he might not be met with reverent gazes, but rather with cursing and possibly a shoe sole smeared with thick spit.

"I'll need to look into it, but I'm not optimistic. Unless there's a shift in international policy in the near future, the odds don't look good."

He quickly gave a response. In fact, many people had expressed interest in engaging in international trade up to this point. Nevertheless, with the world war having just ended, nobody knew if an unexpected border incident would reignite the conflict worldwide again.

So, it would still require some time of observation. However, the Mayor didn't tell the truth; within the upper echelons of the Progressive Party, it had already been concluded that the world war was basically over.

It wasn't that everyone suddenly became civilized; rather, most of the countries involved in the war had exhausted their resources. They no longer had the capability to continue fighting, unless they truly wanted to bring about the demise of their nations.

Considering the current global situation, war was essentially a test of a nation's overall strength. If that strength was depleted, to the point where they couldn't even afford to produce bullets, what was the point of continuing the fight?

However, the Conservative Party, which built its success on isolationist policies and achieved certain results, didn’t think so. Perhaps they shared the same view as the Progressive Party, but benefited from the peace brought by the isolationist policy, as well as the political gains it yielded, they were not willing to abandon this policy until they had fully capitalized on its political potential. Hence, it would still continue for some time.

As for internally, it had actually loosened up already, but this loosening wouldn't be made known to ordinary people. Despite the conservative president constantly criticizing the Progressive Party on television for some "fallacies," and Progressive Party leaders calling the conservative president a pig, the two parties actually shared some consensus at a certain level.

Oh right, there was also the Federation Socialist Party, but it didn’t matter. They were used to being forgotten by people. Sometimes, even newspapers only mentioned "both parties" instead of "all three parties."

If the Mayor genuinely wished to assist Lynch, it might have been feasible. However, considering that aiding Lynch in this matter wouldn't yield much benefit for him through his connections, he deemed it an unfavorable arrangement.

Sometimes politics could be a real headache, but at other times, it was quite simple—so simple that it was merely a matter of comparing the benefits.

Lynch wasn't too surprised by this response. He continued to maintain his elegant demeanor as he sliced through his steak, and said in a casual tone, "If I were granted freedom to trade, I could resolve the employment issues left behind after the departure of the Listoan Group for you."

He placed a piece of tender and juicy beef into his mouth. As he closed his lips and chewed, the juices splattered, creating a delightful sensation. “Perhaps even more,” he continued, “we can push the unemployment rate down. I believe that given the current situation, people are more willing to work, wouldn't you agree?”

That was obvious. If there were suitable... or even unsuitable but paying jobs, everyone was willing to work, regardless of how exhausting or dirty the tasks might be..

At least with a job, there was income, which could help sustain livelihoods. But if even that income disappeared, the wealth accumulated over the past decade, several decades, or even generations would evaporate in an instant.

It was cruel, but kindness couldn’t save the world.

"Is the profit from import-export business really that significant?" The mayor was somewhat taken aback. If international trade could yield such significant profits, it might serve as a pivotal strategy for the Progressive Party to decisively defeat the Conservative Party. All it would require was the implementation of an open-trade policy, which sounded almost too straightforward.

Lynch smiled, his expression sending a chill down the mayor's spine. Despite being only twenty years old, the smile of the young man sitting across the table echoed those of prominent politicians and influential capitalists he had encountered before. It exuded a contemptuous air, as if he possessed an intimate understanding of both human nature and the world.

In the past, this kind of smile would only appear on the faces of older individuals. But now, it actually appeared on the face of a young man who was almost the same age as his son.

Lynch set down his knife and fork, picking up a napkin to dab at the sauce on his lips. The smile on his face hadn't faded since the outset; if anything, it had only grown more pronounced with each passing moment.

He placed both hands on the two corners of the table, slightly leaning back, straightening his upper body. He was about the same height as the mayor, perhaps a bit taller, but his current posture seemed to impose a surprising sense of authority over the mayor.

"This relates to the second trouble I'm facing. Interested in hearing about it?"

Quietly, the mayor also set down his knife and fork. He reached for his wine glass, intending to ease the sudden unease with a sip. However, upon seeing the vivid red liquid resembling blood, he withdrew his hand and nodded, “Perhaps I might be interested.”

"I plan to change the current employment model, no longer adhering to standards like minimum working hours, but shifting employment more towards cooperation..." Lynch's words caused the mayor's brows to furrow tightly once again.

The Minimum Wage Law had been in effect for many years, with revisions made annually based on the price level and publicly announced to the entire society. All employers, whether factory owners or business owners, must comply with this law.

Each worker must work a minimum of sixty hours per week but not exceed seventy-two hours. If the working hours arranged by the factory or employer were less than sixty hours, wages should be paid according to the hourly wage stipulated in the labor contract for effective working hours, and according to the minimum hourly wage for other hours.

This meant that if a factory hired a worker but didn't let them work, they still had to pay them according to the minimum wage law every month.

If it exceeded seventy-two hours, the wages would be paid based on overtime hourly rate. Currently, the minimum standard for overtime hourly rate in the Baylor Federation was one hundred twenty percent of the regular hourly rate, which was the lowest standard.

Overall, this greatly safeguarded the legitimate interests of the workers. When this bill was announced to have passed in the congress, all the working class and the lower-middle class were jubilant about it. Some even held newspapers and went straight to their factory owners, employers, and read the news to those detestable capitalists right in front of them.

People all said that this law protected the working class, but in reality, it also protected the capitalists. Of course, that was another matter.

Since the establishment of this law, many had demonstrated that it was an untouchable bottom line through hefty fines and bankruptcies. In the Baylor Federation's judicial system, there existed guidance on punitive sentencing/penalty standards.

When the court deemed it necessary to give someone a heavy punishment to make them and society realize that certain mistakes should not be made, these standards would be used. For example, a fine that was originally ten thousand bucks might suddenly become a million.

Similarly, a sentence that was originally one year might suddenly increase to five or ten years. The purpose of doing this was to punish and set an example.

Lynch's words made the mayor feel nervous all of a sudden. It could trigger a series of events, turning workers' protests into mass demonstrations, which could eventually lead to riots.

Although people from the lower strata of society were sometimes genuinely unfortunate, more often than not, they would engage in actions that would provoke anger. For instance, they would tend to attribute their misfortunes to societal unfairness and others' unfriendliness, rather than introspecting for personal shortcomings.

Lynch would trigger this characteristic in them, leading them to believe that their unemployment was due to the inaction or even persecution by capitalists or politicians, sparking yet another controversy.

Before Lynch could finish, the mayor interrupted him. "Your idea is very dangerous, Lynch. One wrong move, it could lead to a big mistake. At that time, even if I'm willing to help you, I won't be able to save you."

"There are things you can touch, even if you fail, people will forgive you because you're young."

"But there are things you cannot touch, whether you're young or not, whether you do it intentionally or not. Once you touch it, you'll become a criminal."

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