Chapter 1 ?Industry Business conference
On the fifth day after New Years, Xu Yi received a special invitation.
This invitation came from the City Lord’s Manor. The contents was to invite Xu Yi to represent the Frestech Chamber of Commerce in participating in the New Years exchange banquet at the City Lord’s Manor.
It was different from the normal banquet invitations Xu Yi received from the City Lord’s Manor before. This time the invitation was personally signed by the City Lord Count Sean Samo.
Xu Yi could avoid the banquet invitations from before, but since this was an invitation the Lord City Lord was personally sending, it was hard for him to easily avoid them like before.
Moreover, the key point of this invitation was that at this New Years exchange banquet, other than representatives from Banta City companies, there were also merchants from Karma City that was closest to Banta City.
This made Xu Yi a bit surprised.
It was only the fifth day after New Years, why were the Karma City merchants suddenly running over to Banta City?
“Actually this is an old tradition.” The Amrit Chamber of Commerce’s chairman Moon Cruise had a cup of wine in his hand as he explained to Xu Yi with a smile, “Every New Years, Karma City’s City Lord Count Anaris would bring the Karma City merchants to visit our Banta City. Then a few days later, the Lord City Lord would pick some Banta City company representatives to take a trip to Karma City. Chairman Xu, you have only joined the business circle last year, so it isn’t strange that you don’t know about this custom. But your Frestech Chamber of Commerce was just established last year and already has already been invited by the Lord City Lord to this banquet, it really is shocking.”
Xu Yi looked at him, “What? You don’t think our Frestech Chamber of Commerce is qualified?”
“How could that be!” Chairman Cruise called out with an exaggerated expression, “Chairman Xu, although your Frestech Chamber of Commerce hasn’t been established for long, is there anyone in Banta City that still dares to question your qualifications? Then again, we are close partners, so no matter who I think is unqualified here, I wouldn’t think of you, don’t you think so?”
Xu Yi laughed, “I’m just joking, chairman Cruise doesn’t need to be this nervous.”
Chairman Cruise said that the Amrit Chamber of Commerce and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce were close partners and although it was a bit exaggerated, it wasn’t that exaggerated.
Since the Amrit Chamber of Commerce obtained cement from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and they grasped the various methods of using the cement, the quality of the Amrit Chamber of Commerce’s buildings had soared.
In just a short two months, the Amrit Chamber of Commerce had received quite a bit of praise. Their construction orders had increased after the New Years and it had raised by 30% all of a sudden compared to last year.
And this increase of 30% wasn’t including the construction orders the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had made with the Amrit Chamber of Commerce.
On the third day after New Years, Xu Yi had specially found chairman Cruise. Other than wishing him a happy New Years, his more important goal was to mention the new large scale construction products the Frestech Chamber of Commerce needed.
Other than constructing another new factory on Viscount Leslie’s land for the household magic machine workshop to use, there were two other large projects that surprised chairman Cruise.
One of them was building new houses for the Norma and Angola Tribe and to build houses for the new tribe. The other was solving the water problem of the Night Song Tribe, changing that river in the Falling Rain Forest filled with silt.
Xu Yi didn’t tell chairman Cruise why he wanted to do these two projects, but chairman Cruise wasn’t that interested in Xu Yi’s goal. Other than raising some doubts on whether Xu Yi had Count Sean’s approval on changing this river, he was mostly focused on the price of these two projects.
Xu Yi had very high requirements to the quality of these two projects, requesting the Amrit Chamber of Commerce to use their best manpower and materials. This meant that the Amrit Chamber of Commerce would receive the most profits from these two projects.
According to Xu Yi’s initial plan, chairman Cruise could easily calculate that the total price of these two projects could surpass three hundred thousand gold coins!
And the lowest profit the Amrit Chamber of Commerce could get was a large profit of over fifty thousand gold coins.
Although the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had high profits, they had been established for too short, so it was impossible for them to take out three hundred thousand gold coins at once. So Xu Yi proposed to settle this debt with the Amrit Chamber of Commerce using cement, which was greatly welcomed by chairman Cruise.
The construction projects under the Amrit Chamber of Commerce almost couldn’t leave cement now.
Therefore, chairman Cruise had requested several times to Xu Yi on increasing the length of the monopoly right on cement the Amrit Chamber of Commerce had, but it was firmly rejected by Xu Yi.
But no matter what, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the Amrit Chamber of Commerce could be considered close.
Actually when Xu Yi said “some people doubted the Frestech Chamber of Commerce didn’t have the qualification to participate”, he was completely joking.
The ones at the banquet were all merchants from Banta City and just in half a year of development, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was known by all the companies in Banta City. Everyone was very clear on the powerful potential the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had.
And after the auction of the two mines from last time, no one doubted the power of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce anymore.
Being able to snatch an iron mine from the Falcao Chamber of Commerce and borrowing funds from the Chimera Chamber of Commerce, no matter what point it was, it was enough to make the other companies hold the Frestech Chamber of Commerce in high respects.
There were even quite a few people who guessed that there was a large backer behind Xu Yi.
And based on speculation from Xu Yi’s relationship with Viscount Leslie, his backer was very likely the Stagg Family which was one of the strongest families in the Lampuri Kingdom.
Of course, no one questioned it, but that didn’t mean everyone accepted it.
There were some who were like chairman Cruise and were very friendly with Xu Yi, but there were also people who showed hostility that wasn’t strong, but was very clear.
This was of course referring to chairman Fuller Morgan of the Falcao Chamber of Commerce.
Because an iron mine had been taken by the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, Fuller Morgan had been reprimanded by the important members of the Jole Family, almost losing his position as the chairman because of this. So Fuller Morgan being full of hate for Xu Yi wasn’t strange.
Normally speaking, when the other side fully displayed their hostility, people wouldn’t willingly approach them, but Xu Yi was the exception.
After he found Fuller Morgan in the crowd, he walked over with a smile.
“Chairman Morgan, happy New Years.” Xu Yi raised his cup in a toast to chairman Morgan.
Although chairman Morgan was very unhappy, he had the good demeanor of a large merchant. After clinking glasses with Xu Yi, he said with an ugly smile, “Happy New Years.”
Xu Yi finished his cup of wine and said after some praise, “Chairman Morgan, I’ve been busy these days and haven’t had a chance to talk to you. Now that we have a chance to meet, I want to ask you, the mining magic machines I mentioned last time, have you considered it?”
Chairman Morgan was stunned. He remembered the auction and that Xu Yi had mentioned this matter with him, but Xu Yi had said that it was just a simple concept and chairman Morgan had been in a very bad mood, so he didn’t seriously listen and had forgotten about it.
Because there had been many things he had been busy with in terms of the mine, chairman Morgan had thrown this to the back of his mind.
Hearing Xu Yi mention this again, chairman Morgan thought about before discreetly answering, “I have considered it, but chairman Xu, although I believe in your Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s ability, is there any meaning in not seeing the thing and just believing in empty words?”
“Oh? This means that chairman Morgan is interested?” Xu Yi said with a smile, “It’s actually very easy to see the thing. Our company has just invented a small Magic Drill not long ago that can increase the efficiency of mining. If chairman Morgan has the time, will you come and see it?”
“Small Magic Drill? This name sounds not bad……” Chairman Morgan was a large merchant in the end, he wasn’t easily influenced by his emotions. After hearing that Xu Yi didn’t seem to be joking, he considered it before saying with a nod, “Alright, chairman Xu can have someone send the thing over to let me study. If it is easy to use, we can discuss other matters.”
Seeing chairman Morgan agree, Xu Yi didn’t care about the fact that he deliberately acted reserved, agreeing with a smile.
Not long after, Count Sean suddenly walked out from the back of the banquet hall. Beside him was a middle aged man with small stature, but was firmly built, with clear eyes.
It was very clear that this middle aged man was Karma City’s City Lord Count Anaris.
And following behind the two City Lords were the merchants that had come from the far Karma City.
Xu Yi looked over them and found several acquaintances. They were all merchants who had come to Banta City to order large amounts of magic machines from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
The two City Lords gave a speech on the stage, speaking of the main purpose of this banquet. It was to give the merchants of the two cities a chance to interact, hoping that everyone would seize this chance to create many new business deals to help develop the two cities.
It should be said that this exchange was very meaningful.
With the limited technology level of the Sines Continent, there weren’t many methods of communication. If the merchants wanted to do business, most of the time they relied on face to face interaction.
Now that the City Lords of the two cities took the initiative to host this kind of banquet, it gave the merchants of the two cities a very good chance.
Of course, the premise was that Count Sean and Count Anaris had a good relationship, allowing them to host this kind of banquet.
When the two counts announced that the banquet was starting, everyone began talking to each other. The merchants of the two cities went to find friends they were familiar with and they began chatting in small groups of twos and threes.
When Xu Yi wanted to find some Karma City merchants he was familiar with to talk to, he suddenly noticed Count Sean beckoning to him.
Chapter 2 Invitation from Karma City
After following Count Sean and Count Anaris to a small booth at the side of the banquet hall, the two counts took their place before Count Sean pointed at Xu Yi and said with a smile to Count Anaris, “Here, Anaris, this is the Xu Yi I mentioned to you last time.”
Count Anaris looked over Xu Yi before nodding with a faint smile, “I’ve already heard of chairman Xu as a promising youth, but seeing you today, you really are young. It makes this old man’s heart unable to not fill with envy.”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, “Lord Count, you are in a man’s golden age, I’m the one who is envious of you.”
“Oh? I’m already an old man and I don’t even have the strength to do anything. How can I be filled with energy like a young man like you? What are you envious of me for?” Count Anaris asked back with a smile.
Xu Yi pointed at the empty seat to the side, “At your age, at least you have a seat to sit in, right?”
Count Sean and Count Anaris were stunned. They looked at each other before breaking out in laughter.
Count Anaris pointed at Count Sean as he laughed loudly. He said in a loud voice, “Sean, you’re the one at fault here, right? How could you accept a guest without arranging a place to sit? You still need chairman Xu to discreetly insult you.”
Count Sean also laughed before looking at Xu Yi and saying, “My City Lord’s Manor has always left a seat for chairman Xu, but chairman Xu is a busy person and it’s hard for him to come normally. If it wasn’t to give you face today, chairman Xu might not have even come to this banquet. Alright, chairman Xu, please sit down. Don’t let this fellow Anaris laugh at me for not understanding how to treat guests.”
Xu Yi had a faint smile as he found a seat that was a bit closer to Count Sea before asking, “Lord City Lord and Lord Count Anaris, for you two to specially call me, is there something you need from me?”
“It isn’t something we need, only Count Anaris wants your help with something. But it isn’t convenient for him to say it, so he had me help him call you over.” Count Sean replied.
Xu Yi turned to Count Anaris, “Lord Count, you’re too polite. If there is anything I can do for you, please give me the order.”
“This isn’t an order, rather I’m sincerely asking for your help.” Talking about business, the smile disappeared from Count Anaris’ face and he said with a serious expression, “Chairman Xu, before this, I want to first tell you about the protest my Karma City merchants have about you.”
Xu Yi was stunned, “Protest? Protest what about me?”
“Our Karma City and Saltan City are the two cities closest to Banta City, so we can be considered neighbours. But why is it that your Frestech Chamber of Commerce has agreed to sell your production magic machines to Saltan City’s Farsak Chamber of Commerce and not to our Karma City’s companies?” Count Anaris asked.
“This……” Xu Yi looked at Count Anais in surprise and seeing that he didn’t seem like he was kidding, he seriously thought about it before saying with a bitter smile, “Then you really can’t blame me. Our Frestech Chamber of Commerce has given the same conditions to the Karma City colleagues as the Farsak Chamber of Commerce, but while the Farsak Chamber of Commerce could agree, the noble colleagues couldn’t. You can’t blame me for being unfair to them, right?”
“Oh? I’ve heard the merchants of my city say that it is because your Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s conditions are too strict and they can’t accept that, that’s why they didn’t agree.” Count Anaris kept saying.
Xu Yi stretched out his hands and helplessly said, “Lord Count, the conditions are the same, so why can the Farsak Chamber of Commerce agree and the colleagues from Karma City can’t? Actually I also feel this is very strange. I clearly gave them a chance to let them buy production magic machines and sell magic machines produced in Karma City, but they didn’t agree at all. Rather each time they chose to come to Banta City to purchase some magic machine products to bring back to Karma City to sell. Could it be that they don’t think this is troublesome and very inefficient?”
Count Anaris shook his head, “I don’t care what they are thinking. As Karma City’s City Lord, I have a responsibility to help them achieve their goals. You just said that the merchants of my city come from far to your Banta City to buy your Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s magic machine to bring back to sell, that is the ky point. Since your Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s products are this popular in our Karma City, then why hasn’t your company considered opening a factory in our Karma City? If you directly produce magic machines in our Karma City, can’t you just directly selle it?”
Xu Yi couldn’t help being surprised as he asked in an uncertain voice, “Count Anaris, your meaning is that…..You want our Frestech Chamber of Commerce to invest in building a factory in your Karma City?”
“Invest in a factory? This term seems quite novel, but indeed this is what I want.” Count Anaris said with a nod and a smile.
After receiving an affirmative response, Xu Yi’s minds filled with thoughts.
As for investing in a factory in another city outside Banta City, Xu Yi already had this thought.
But for this Sines Continent that didn’t have a developed communication system, each city was like its own kingdom. With the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s current strength, if they wanted to invest in a factory in another city, they would be facing all kinds of trouble. If they weren’t careful, they might lose their investment.
So Xu Yi had been discreet about this matter, planning step by step. He would consider this after the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was strong enough.
But that did not mean that Xu Yi wanted to give up, rather now that there was a good chance in front of Xu Yi, how could he just ignore it.
Thinking about it, Xu Yi asked, “Then…..Lord Count, I wonder, what kind of factory you want our company to build?”
Count Anaris waved his hand, “That is you company’s matter, I don’t care. But I can disclose some matters to you first. In order to welcome your Fretech Chamber of Commerce to our Karma City…..Un, to invest in a factory, I will use the City Lord’s Manor’s name to rent some land to your company and will also provide some help to your company, to make it easy for you to complete this investment. What do you think?”
Xu Yi’s heart was filled with joy.
According to Count Anaris’ ideas, this meant that there would be Count Anaris’ support for this investment.
With Karma City’s City Lord’s support, as long as no accidents occurred when the Frestech Chamber of Commerce built their factory in Karma City, they would definitely open this market.
But thinking about it, Xu Yi felt this was strange.
“Lord Count, why did you specially come find our Frestech Chamber of Commerce? I think that as long as you offered some help, any of our Banta City’s companies would be very happy to invest in Karma City, right?”
“Of course that’s because your Frestech Chamber of Commerce is special.” Count Anaris said, “Our Karma City and Banta City have carried out business deals for many years. The old companies of the two cities have already invested a certain amount in the other city and have dug out all potential, without any new direction to develop in. But your Frestech Chamber of Commerce is different. Not only was your company just created last year, all your products are unknown magic machines. In Karma City, the magic machines your company produces are very popular and even I have quite a few in my home. So of course I want to invite your company to invest in my city, there is a great need for this.”
“I admit that Lord Count’s words are very reasonable and I indeed hope to invest in Karma City, but…..” Xu Yi hesitated for a bit as he looked at Count Sean, “Our Frestech Chamber of Commerce is a Banta City company in the end, so for matters in this aspect, I think we should ask for the Lord City Lord’s opinion.”
“What? Chairman Xu, you’re kicking this problem to me?” Count Sean teased with a smile before he said with a serious expression, “Since I have called you here to talk to Count Anaris, it means that I have already reached an agreement with Count Anaris. You don’t need to worry about this, I support your Frestech Chamber of Commerce investing in Karma City and sincerely hope your Frestech Chamber of Commerce can stand firm and develop far.”
“Are you warning me?” Count Anaris shook his head with a smile before saying to Xu Yi, “Chairman Xu, please be assured. Since I represent Karma City to invite you, that means I will definitely give you the greatest support and promise that your company can safely develop in my city.”
Xu Yi looked at Count Sean and Count Anaris before saying with a smile, “Since there is the Lord City Lord’s support, if I still rejected the Lord Count’s invitation, it really wouldn’t be smart. Alright, Lord Count, I represent the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to agree to investing a company in your Karma City!”
“Good, let’s have a drink to our cooperation!” Count Anaris raised his wine glass with a smile.
Xu Yi and Count Sean also raised their cups and after toasting him, they drank it all.
After that, Xu Yi had a conversation with Count Anaris and reached a preliminary agreement.
Count Anaris said that he would provide an area of no less than five hectares with a good location and surroundings to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to rent and build their new factory on.
Xu Yi represented the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to promise Count Anaris that they would be developing household magic machine production lines for the Magic Fans, the Magic Rice Cookers, the Magic Air Conditioner, and the Magic Lamp. At the same time, they would also create a post sale center for magic machines in Karma City.
Other than this, they would also create a workshop for agricultural magic machines to satisfy Karma City’s need for agricultural machines.
Although these were just preliminary plans, based solely on this agreement, if the Frestech Chamber of Commerce could establish a production base in Karma City, it would clearly be bigger than the ones in Banta City.
So when Count Anaris reached this agreement with Xu Yi and left in a satisfactory manner, Xu Yi who stayed behind with Count Sean asked, “Lord City Lord, don’t you think…..that like this, it will disperse the power of our Frestech Chamber of Commerce and decrease our tax revenue to Banta City?”
“Of course I know this.” Count Sean said with a faint smile, “But I can see that the prospects for your Frestech Chamber of Commerce is very good and wouldn’t be limited to our Banta City anyway. To leave a bit earlier and open up prospects in another city, whether it is to your company or our Banta City, there will be benefits.”
“It’s just for this?” Xu Yi was a bit doubtful.
“What, this isn’t enough?” Count Sean looked at Xu Yi and thought about it before putting down his wine cup. There was a different meaning that appeared in his smile as he said, “Alright, since you want to ask, I’ll tell you something. The reason why I agreed to Anaris was one because of our friendship and two because Karma City needs you.”
“Karma City needs me?” Xu Yi was even more confused.
If something happened to Karma City that was even difficult to the City Lord Count Anaris, how could the chairman of a small company like him help?
“It isn’t trouble, just that your Frestech Chamber of Commerce can solve some problems for Anaris. I’ll give you an example. Your Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s factory can suddenly hire two hundred workers, letting two hundred households gain stable income and making their lives even better, which solved a large problem for me. Just this point is something that many companies that are stronger than your Frestech Chamber of Commerce can’t compare to.”
Xu Yi instantly understood.
In the end, what Count Sean and Count Anaris cared about was the problem of employment that many leaders on earth cared most about.
And to solve the problem of employment, what was better than the production industry that was filled with labour?