561 Blacksmith in Dortmund

readx(); In a small blacksmith shop in Dortmund, a man in his forties is directing his apprentices to set up new machinery that the blacksmith Hofmanto had bought from the trading company of Hamburg's Datang at a very cheap price, and it was also smuggled goods that had escaped customs duties. At this time, the tariffs of European countries on Datang industrial products were extremely high, and even countries that encouraged industry imposed tariffs very harshly.

Hoffman's teenage son looked at the metallic tile blue machine and said to his father excitedly: "Dad, this way our shop will be able to make more iron, and we won't have to recruit more apprentices, which will save a lot of money." ”

Hoffman was also very proud, but he shook his head and said: "No, we need to hire more people, with this new furnace, plus other molds, our output has increased greatly, but we need more workers to take care of and work, but we sell more, even if we pay more wages to apprentices, we can still earn more." ”

To motivate his apprentices, Hoffman also generously offered to raise all their apprentices if their blacksmith doubled production. The son was not particularly happy about this, and he did not see the need to raise the wages of the workers, but Hoffman said: "Your father also worked his way up from the position of apprentice to the present day to open his own shop, and everyone who lives by labor should be respected." ”

The son was a little unimpressed, and said, "Dad, you have read too many pamphlets on the street." ”

Hoffmann took out a pamphlet from his pocket, with a few words written in German that meant "the great unity of the working men of the world," and he shoved it to his son, saying, "I think it is more reliable to read something like this than to go to some school in the Middle Ages." Alas. What kind of education can you get in Dortmund, you have to work hard, I heard that there is a special school in Hamburg. I studied Tang Wen there, after passing the assessment. You can go to the Tang Republic to study abroad, and you can learn useful things there. ”

Although he didn't care about the pamphlets on the street, little Hoffman still had a flash in his eyes when he heard the word Datang, and he said: "Do you want to study in Datang?" This is great, I heard that the Tang Dynasty is particularly rich, the river is full of honey, and the trees are full of gold. ”

Hoffman shook his head helplessly: "Those are unrealistic, but I think Datang is indeed a place full of miracles." Your father and I have seen the Tang people, all have a good life, and have a good upbringing, the river is honey, although it is not realistic to grow gold on the trees, but the people there can create miracles one by one, go there to experience, master some knowledge, and be edified is always good. ”

Little Hoffman laughed: "That's great, I've never been far away." But I don't know what the girl in the Tang Dynasty looks like? ”

Hoffman kicked his son with a black face: "Don't think about this all day long, do something meaningful!" ”

When the machines in the blacksmith were almost installed, suddenly a man younger than little Hoffman ran in from the door of the blacksmith. The postman who looked like he was only eleven or twelve years old. The little postman was very white-skinned and had many freckles on his face, but his expression was very serious, and he took out an ordinary letter from his shoulder bag, and then he said to Hoffmann: "Mr. Hoffman, the bell is ready to ring, and the dawn is about to tear the darkness!" ”

When Hoffman heard this, his face suddenly changed, and several of Hoffman's apprentices who were originally standing on the side. Suddenly becoming frenzied, they took their respective tools in their hands. Hoffmann's proud disciple Schmelzer walked up to Hoffmann: "Mr. Hoffmann, it's about to begin." It's finally time to begin! ”

Only little Hoffman didn't know what was happening, but he could feel the atmosphere in the room change, a little overwhelmed.

Hoffman nodded heavily and said, "It's almost time." ”

He read the letter from the little postman in its entirety, and then said to Schmelzer: "Go, in four hours, in the backyard of our shop, gather all the big guys." ”

Schmelzer said excitedly: "Yes, Mr. Hoffmann! ”

The little Hoffman who couldn't figure it out pulled his father and said, "Dad, what the hell is going on?" ”

Hoffman didn't explain, but said, "Go home and tell your mom to keep the doors and windows closed, and don't go out no matter what happens tonight." ”

This frightened little Hoffman even more, but his father's expression was serious and serious, and even full of a fiery emotion that he had never seen, which made little Hoffman dare not beak and ran home.

Hoffmann's apprentices also left the blacksmith's shop, and went to knock on some people's doors or go to some workshop, and everywhere they went: "The bell is ready to ring, and the dawn is about to tear the darkness!" ”

All of a sudden, the phrase began to spread in many parts of Dortmund, with some people rushing to tell each other, workers stopping what they were doing, and some shops closing early, and most of the citizens of Dortmund did not know what was going to happen. In fact, even Hoffman and others don't fully know what kind of big event this code sentence represents.

All they knew was what happened in one place in Dortmund, but in fact, on the same day, the code word began to spread in Hamburg, Bremen, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich, Hannover and other cities. Most of Germany seemed to have entered a state of high tension and calm and fanaticism, with a dark tide surging under the flat lake, and the dull noble lords, the heads of states, did not know what was really going on under their rule.

That evening, Hoffmann gathered about sixty people, all of different ages and from different jobs, but they all had the same identity, that is, members of the German Revolutionary Party.

"The party branch in Dortmund has received news from Hamburg, and we will take action tonight!"

Everyone had already known what was going on before they came, but they were still very excited, and in the small courtyard, dozens of people stirred slightly, and everyone began to hug each other, high-five, and shake hands, as if they had achieved great success. Or in their view, this great cause will eventually be realized in their hands.

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