CHAPTER 181: CHAPTER 179: PAST HISTORY

With the explanation of the hooded man, Perfikot finally understood his identity and the relationship between him and his parents.

Simply put, Mr. Brandelis was a progressive young man who saw the various drawbacks of Victor’s authoritarian rule and the hardship of the people’s lives beneath the Empire’s superficial prosperity.

So, driven by his concern for the country and its people, he embraced the ideas of freedom from across the sea from France and joined the revolutionary movement to overthrow the imperial and noble rule, aiming to achieve freedom and democracy in Victor.

Yet, as a top alchemist, Mr. Brandelis was extremely intelligent, and he also possessed keen observation and analytical skills.

Thus, he quickly realized that without a systematic program and a powerful armed force as assurance and support, it would be impossible to genuinely establish a new Victor based on freedom and democracy.

Especially after the revolution in France erupted and was eventually seized by the big bourgeoisie, the people remained oppressed, merely replacing past nobles with current capitalists and factory owners.

This severely shocked Mr. Brandelis, who became acutely aware that the domestic revolution in Victor was similarly exploited by these nascent bourgeois.

Especially after Mr. Brandelis visited France and interacted with local workers, ordinary citizens, and many more grassroots people, he realized the exploitation and oppression by the bourgeoisie on the people were even more excessive than those by the former nobles.

Noble exploitation and oppression were more about identity and status, leaving the people without personal freedom, with the people even being considered mere property and assets of the nobility.

Yet for this reason, nobles generally wouldn’t overly exploit and oppress the people on their lands, because those were the people who cultivated and worked for them; if too many died or fled, it would result in loss of property for the nobles.

But to capitalists, workers were just parts on a production line, and if one broke, it could just be replaced with a new one.

If you don’t work, there are Palu willing to.ipg

This led to capitalists seeking ways to extract the last bit of surplus value from workers, even refusing to pay workers the wages they deserved.

Thus, originally being a serf for nobles, one might barely survive year-round, and could even achieve sustenance under a kind-hearted Lord. After becoming workers, these people faced long hours of high-intensity labor in various dangerous environments and had to rely on the hard work of the entire family just to barely support them all.

Remember, in the past, when working for noble lords, all it took was a single adult man’s hard work to sustain a family.

This harsh reality struck Mr. Brandelis deeply, although he knew that compared to the capitalist system, feudalism was backward; yet, in terms of exploitation techniques, feudal methods were just as backward as capitalism.

Regarding extracting surplus value from the people, capitalists undoubtedly excelled.

Hence, they became so affluent, even able to surpass generations of noble accumulation within a short timeframe.

Thus, they were unwilling to be ruled by the nobility, inciting and exploiting the awakening masses to overthrow the feudal monarchy, then they came forth using wealth and influence to establish their bourgeois government.

The people were exploited, having not escaped the fate of exploitation and oppression; after overthrowing one big mountain, another was placed upon them.

Realizing this, Mr. Brandelis returned home and engaged in intense discussions with his companions. Some believed that they should first overthrow the feudal monarchy to grant people freedom, then tackle bourgeois exploitation.

Others felt that given the bourgeoisie was worse, they should maintain monarchical rule through the Royal Family’s reform to achieve Victor’s social transformation in as mild a manner as possible.

The latter view was supported by some noble heirs, who like Mr. Brandelis were nobility descendants but sympathized with the grassroots after embracing liberal democratic ideas, opposing their class origin.

They were compromising, though admittedly such mild reforms were least disruptive to society.

These individuals began practicing their ideals, which gradually led to the Royal Family transferring power to the council in Victor.

As for the former, they cooperated with bourgeois, still secretly trying to initiate a revolution akin to France’s, to completely overthrow the current political regime and monarchical rule in Victor Empire.

Mr. Brandelis clearly did not wish to see such events occur, yet he knew too well that the effectiveness of feudal monarchical rule wholly depended on whether the ruler was wise or not; a capable leader could usher in national prosperity, while an inept leader could drive the nation into an abyss.

Under such circumstances, unable to devise a good solution, Mr. Brandelis retreated one step, allowing others to conduct reforms, to try which method best benefits the people.

He along with his wife and other like-minded companions played the role of shadows watching over events.

They founded the Assassin Brotherhood, targeting and assassinating the decadent and stubborn nobles and greedy, fallen capitalists, thus eliminating the Empire’s parasites and rot.

Though somewhat resorting to violence, not entirely praiseworthy, undeniably in the years when the Assassin Brotherhood was most active, Langton’s officials behaved most exemplarily.

At that time, everyone feared becoming targets of the Assassin Brotherhood, thus neither exploiting nor oppressing the people excessively.

Even capitalists, to avoid waking up with their heads not on their necks, pinched their noses in agreement to many demands raised by worker movements at that time, somewhat easing Langton workers’ lives.

However, as the moderate reformists gradually gained a foothold within the Noble Council and began gradually acquiring power from the Royal Family, they targeted the Assassin Brotherhood.

After all, no one wished to face a dagger from the shadows as they ascended to the pinnacle of power.

Not only the moderate reformists, but those revolutionary factions leaning towards the bourgeois also opposed the Assassin Brotherhood’s existence, believing that its assassinations forced nobles and capitalists to compromise, reducing the people’s fighting spirit.

Temporary compromise couldn’t alter the oppressed status quo, hence rather let the people endure harsher oppression, then erupt when they could no longer bear it.

Consequently, the Assassin Brotherhood suffered great setbacks from betrayal, opting to retreat into silence.