African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1468: Chapter 26: Bullying the Weak, Fearing the Strong

The Russian Labor Party is indeed not very friendly to certain groups of people—not only the rich, the capitalists, all those feudal tumors like the Monarch, the nobility, the slave owners, the Peasant Slave owners—but also to petty bourgeois, small merchants, and farmers.

The only difference is that the farmers, who under former Russian rule made up the majority of the population, because of their limited education and horizons, did not really understand the Russian Labor Party’s attitude toward them.

In fact, the Russian Labor Party’s attitude toward the lowest-stratum farmers was still decent. Although objectively they were still ”beasts of burden,” at least it wasn’t like with Russia’s nobles and landlords, who wouldn’t even give them a path of upward mobility.

And this so‑called upward path is essentially a change of status and occupation—for example, a farmer becoming a soldier or a worker. It was still not easy, but far better than in the Tsarist Era. In any case, in the previous life the Russian Labor Party raised the level of urbanization to more than sixty percent, and most farmers became real workers.

And Russia as a country, under any system, always takes war quite seriously, so the size of its army is never small.

The Russian Labor Party, while drastically raising the status of workers, was at the same time fully pushing forward the process of industrialization; this indirectly meant raising the status of the vast majority of the country’s citizens.

So in theory, as long as the Russian Labor Party could raise the level of industrialization to the same standard as countries like the United States in the 21st century in the previous life, that would mean leading the majority of the nation to complete Russia’s transformation. Unfortunately, before it reached the 21st century, the Soviet Union collapsed, and all the merits and faults that came before—generations of effort—were completely wiped out. The only legacy left might be that they got rid of the Tsar.

Of course, none of this in the slightest affects Opishnya’s attitude toward the Russian Labor Party. He does have some culture and knowledge, but the group he belongs to is not the main force capable of changing the course of Russian history.

The main forces that change the course of Russian history in this Era are either workers or capitalists, while small merchants and petty-bourgeois types like Opishnya’s group are the kind that please neither side.

And this particular feature of Russia is different from the national conditions of the Far East Empire. After all, Russia had already accumulated a substantial industrial heritage back in the Tsar Era, and workers had already become a force capable of directing national development. Compared with Russia, the Far East Empire is purely an agrarian society, so the Far East Empire’s Labor Party can only unite the farmers if it wishes to push forward the development of historical progress.

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The anti-labor group in the city of Xiqueslav made a killing yet again in the new round of campaigns; by extorting small shopkeepers and street vendors, everyone’s pockets swelled up again.

As for actually going after the Labor Party—this might be very important to the higher‑ups, but for the rank‑and‑file members of the anti-labor group, most Labor Party people are dirt poor, and arresting them takes time and effort, yields no profit, and might even cost you your life. Only the honest types would really carry out Leonid’s orders to the letter.

Outside Opishnya’s tavern, Jayka was holding forth eloquently in front of his subordinate Sirodine: ”See that, cousin? I told you long ago, stick with me and you’ll be eating well and drinking strong every day. As long as we’ve got these uniforms on, people have to obediently bring their money to us.”

”Even though each haul isn’t much, it all adds up. By the end of the day it’s several times more than you’d make breaking your back in a factory. Maybe not enough to become rich and noble, but living comfortably, modestly well‑off? No problem.”

Sirodine looked at his cousin with worship in his eyes and said, ”You really are something, cousin. On this whole street, you’re the most fearsome. If I’d known the situation earlier, I would’ve come to you long ago.”

As he spoke, he was counting today’s take. Under Jayka’s lead, his share of the split today came to five rubles and thirteen kopeks. What does that mean? Some poor workers might toil for a month and only earn that much.

If he could reach this level every day, then in a month he’d be making almost as much as some senior technicians, lower‑level managers, or secondary‑school teachers.

Just today’s earnings would be enough for Sirodine to rent a pretty decent apartment in Xiqueslav, or buy a fairly respectable suit.

To a young man from the countryside like Sirodine, this was no different from outright robbery.

And his cousin Jayka earned even more; with his wages added in, even the junior supervisors in some major enterprises and institutions didn’t make as much as Jayka. Granted, Jayka’s income wasn’t clean—but do those junior supervisors in enterprises and institutions not skim off their subordinates’ and workers’ pay?

Jayka said to his cousin, ”The good days are still ahead of us! While things are like this, grab as much as you can. Quick hands get, slow hands don’t. Everyone’s doing it anyway.”

Hearing this, Sirodine couldn’t help but be tempted: ”Then, cousin, why don’t we work overtime today?”

What Sirodine called overtime naturally meant squeezing out more side income, and Jayka replied, ”Of course. It’s martial law right now—this is the best time to skim fat. And with the higher‑ups loosening the reins, we don’t have to be as constrained as usual. Today we’ll hit one more street.”

So the two cousins hurriedly launched into the second half of their day’s work, continuing until eight in the evening, by which time there were basically no shops still open on the street.

In the early 20th century, Xiqueslav was considered a big city within Ukraine, but it was clearly far behind cities in other countries, so the nightlife was not rich.

After seven o’clock, the vast majority of shops closed. And this was summer; in winter, closing time would be even earlier.