Chapter 103 What benefits can I get?
The entire crowd was silent.
Everyone looked at Xu Yi on the stage in a daze, as they all felt that there was something wrong with their eyes.
This fellow was clearly also participating in the Primary Grade exam, so why was it that just by raising his hand, he could send the genius magician who was at least in the Fourth Grade flying?
Xu Yi looked at Eren lying under the stage not moving at all and gave a cold laugh.
This kid’s magic power wasn’t bad, but his mental endurance and ability to take a hit was too weak. Although his fireball was the Fourth Grade Spell Thunder Crack Fireball, with a powerful might, since he already had the Second Grade Water Mark Spell to defend him, this fireball wouldn’t have done that much damage to him.
However, this kid actually fainted like this. It was probably because he fainted out of his shock and fear.
“Magic genius?” Xu Yi shook his head and turned to the staff member under the stage to ask, “Does this count as me passing?”
The staff member had an ugly expression as he looked at Eren who had been taken away by a few staff members of the Magicians Guild before looking back at Xu Yi. He calmed himself and gave a slight nod.
Xu Yi had knocked the examiner flying in front of all these people, if this wasn’t considered passing the test, what could be considered passing?
“Very good.” Xu Yi obtained the results he wanted and wasn’t prepared to waste anymore time here. After walking off the stage, he patted the stunned Erwin and said a few words of encouragement to him before leaving the test area. However, he didn’t head back to Anvilmar City and went to a place even further away from the city.
Coming out around five kilometers out of the city, he came to an area of flat farmland.
When he was still quite far away, he could hear the mechanical sounds coming from the farmland.
When he came closer, he saw that in this little patch of farmland of around five-six mus, there were three magic machines that were moving through it. There were all kinds of holes created in these fields and all kinds of marks were left.
Beside each magic machine were several people who followed the magic machine along while recording some things down in the notebooks in their hands.
To the side was a young man and woman, who was currently pointing at the magic machines in the field as they discussed in a low voice.
“Hey, mister Harvey, miss Seveni, you’ve already been watching for a day, so what kind of results do you have?” Xu Yi greeted the two beside the field in a large voice.
These two were the two agricultural department officials who had found Xu Yi yesterday and requested that they get a demonstration of the agricultural magic machines.
After Xu Yi had agreed, the two had very quickly found some people to bring the six agricultural magic machines Xu Yi had brought out of the city and to a test farmland they had already prepared.
Since yesterday afternoon, these two had been studying the magic machines the entire time and they still hadn’t stopped today. This proved what Harvey had said to Xu Yi, the agricultural department really did put great importance on these magic machines.
“Chairman Xu, good afternoon.” Harvey waved his hand to Xu Yi. His attitude was even warmer compared to yesterday and there was a trace of excitement in his voice, “Although we still haven’t received the final results, I can be certain that chairman Xu isn’t wrong at all. I was completely shocked by the power of these machines! Look……” Harvey pointed at the large plot of farmland in front of him, “This large piece of land, I just used three people and three machines and in less than a day, they actually completely finished loosening the earth, digging the holes, and leaving trenches. If this was to be done with pure manpower, it would take at least twenty adults to finish in the same amount of time!”
The female official called Seveni to the side also gave a slight nod, “Chairman Xu, I somewhat understand now why Count Sean placed such importance on you and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. These agricultural magic machines are indeed outstanding, it only took three machines to finish all this hard labour. If it can be popularized, all the desolate land in the kingdom could be developed and it would greatly increase the harvest of the kingdom. If this matter can be realized, perhaps there would no longer be famine that would ever occur in the kingdom!”
When she reached the end, the always calm Seveni in Xu Yi’s mind actually showed a bit of excitement.
Xu Yi gave a slight nod, “That is the goal that me and our Frestech Chamber of Commerce is chasing. Mister Harvey, miss Seveni, luckily his majesty is wise and appointed you two to have full authority in this matter. Otherwise if it was given to someone like Lord Fisher, I’m very certain that this matter would be suppressed and wouldn’t reach the result that I wished for at all.”
Harvey revealed a faint smile, how could he not hear the warning Xu Yi was giving them? He said with a nod, “I ask chairman Xu to be assured. Agriculture is the base of the kingdom and anything that can raise the harvest will have his majesty’s close attention and importance. The two of us has received his majesty’s orders and no one else is allowed to interfere in this matter. If there is another person like Lord Fisher who comes to bother you, you can directly ignore them.”
Xu Yi slightly knit his brows, “I’m afraid that’s a bit hard. I am only a small merchant, I am not like you all with his majesty behind you. If I offend someone, whether I can leave Anvilmar City safely is a problem.”
Harvey and Seveni looked at each other before they started smiling.
“Chairman Xu, you don’t need to worry about this matter at all. Everyone now knows that you will have an audience with his majesty soon, so there definitely won’t be anyone coming to cause trouble with you. When you meet his majesty, I can promise that no one will casually come looking for you to cause trouble in the future. Of course, that is on the premise that we can come to a cooperation in the future.”
The final words were a hidden warning.
Xu Yi thought about it before asking, “Alright, mister Harvey, I’ll believe your promise for now. But as for the cooperation you mentioned…...Can I ask what you are planning to do? How do you want me to cooperate with you?”
“This……” Harvey fell silent for a while and looked over at Seveni before saying with a serious look, “Chairman Xu, this should have been discussed after you met his majesty, but since you are asking about it now, I might as well disclose a bit to you. We hope that you will give us the production methods for the agricultural magic machines and help our agricultural department set up a production line for the agricultural magic machines, so we can directly popularize these agricultural magic machines in the kingdom.”
After hearing this, Xu Yi didn’t know whether to be happy or angry.
It seemed like no matter which world it was, politicians were all shameless.
Compared to Harvey, those fellows from the Banta City Business Union were even better.
“Can I ask, what will me and my Frestech Chamber of Commerce gain from this matter?” Xu Yi asked.
“Chairman Xu, there are many gains from this matter, his majesty will definitely give you proper compensation.” Harvey was not surprised by Xu Yi’s question and said with a full smile, “If this plan succeeds, his majesty will give you a special award. Which means that as long as you help us complete this plan, you will be able to rid yourself of your commoner identity and officially become a noble.”
“Just this?”
Harvey looked at Xu Yi in surprise, “Chairman Xu, going from a commoner to a noble, this is something that many people dream of. You have to know, other than in times of battle, normally there wouldn’t be a situation where a special award is given.”
Xu Yi gave a sigh. He pointed at the magic machines rolling along in the farmland and asked Harvey, “Do you know how much each magic machines costs?”
Harvey and Seveni were stunned. They clearly never thought that Xu Yi would suddenly bring the topic here.
“This…..I’m sorry, I don’t know.” Harvey thought about it and honestly shook his head.
“A small Magic Excavator costs fifty eight gold coins. A small Magic Harvester costs seventy gold coins. A small Magic Plowing Machine costs sixty give gold coins. A small Magic Bulldozer costs sixty gold coins. A…..”
Xu Yi said this while looking at their expressions.
As he listed each machine, Harvey and Seveni’s faces also became ugly.
When Xu Yi finished, the smiles on their faces had completely disappeared.
Watching the two of them in silence, Xu Yi smiled before continuing, “Banta City is only a small city in the kingdom, but our Frestech Chamber of Commerce has already sold over a hundred agricultural magic machines. Then if we use this number to calculate the entire kingdom, I think it wouldn’t be a problem to say it would be over ten thousand machines. Even if each agricultural magic machine only brought an income of one gold coin, that would be a large profit of ten thousand gold coins. But mister Harvey, according to your method of cooperation, this is equal to me giving up this profit and exchanging it for a lord title that is just in name, right?”
“No, you will also receive his majesty’s favour and his care.” Harvey quickly said, “I think this is very important to you and your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, right?”
Xu Yi looked at him with a ghost of a smile and after seeing his face flush, he said, “Mister Harvey, no one is a child here, there is no need for that rubbish. My thoughts are very simple, to have us cooperate with the agricultural department and complete your plans, increasing the harvest of the kingdom and let everyone have enough to eat, there is no problem here, I’m very willing to cooperate. But accordingly, me and my company should receive a corresponding compensation. If this compensation cannot satisfy me, I can only say I’m sorry. Perhaps the agricultural department’s plan is very good, but compared to this, it would be better for me to implement the plan myself. Mister Harvey, I don’t think you’ll doubt the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s ability to implement the farmer support plan by ourselves across the kingdom, right?”
Chapter 104 Wanting territory is fine
Even though the weather was a bit cold, Harvey couldn’t stop the cold sweat from appearing on his forehead. He gave two dry laughs before saying, “Chairman Xu, if I may be frank, if you do not have the support of his majesty or the agricultural department and you only rely on your Frestech Chamber of Commerce to promote your agricultural magic machines, you will encounter many difficulties.”
Xu Yi gave a relaxed smile, “It doesn’t matter, I’m not in a rush.”
“You……” Harvey’s expression instantly changed.
Seeing that the two were in a stalemate, Seveni who had been silent on the side the entire time suddenly spoke.
“Chairman Xu, just like you said earlier, no one here is a child, so let’s not waste words.” Seveni looked at Xu Yi and said with a serious expression, “There is no meaning in senseless arguing, so let’s honestly discuss the issue. Chairman Xu, you are not satisfied with the proposal Harvey gave just now, that is not a problem. Now, can you tell us your proposal? I think that before you came to Anvilmar City, you’ve already made your plans, right?”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile. He already knew that although Harvey was the one that usually spoke to him, the one with authority was Seveni. Now that Seveni had spoke, that meant he finally had the chance to bargain with the other side.
“My proposal isn’t complicated. First, I won’t, or more accurately speaking, for now I won’t give the technology for the agricultural magic machines. This is because to be honest, I don’t trust you. Moreover, with your current abilities, even if I give you these technology, you wouldn’t be able to grasp it. So my idea is to have our Frestech Chamber of Commerce continue to manufacture these agricultural magic machines and we can make all kinds of improvements based on the agricultural department’s requests, allowing these agricultural magic machines to adapt to the various terrains of the kingdom. And the work of the agricultural department is very simple, they just need to be a medium. To all the nobles and common citizens of the kingdom, you just need to advertise these agricultural magic machines to all your might. For nobles, the agricultural department can force them to buy these. As for the normal farmers who can’t afford to buy them, we can continue carrying out the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s farmer support plan. Like this, I think that it won’t take much time for the agricultural magic machines to be promoted across the kingdom, greatly increasing the kingdom’s farming efficiency in a short period of time.”
Harvey’s eyes were wide open. Although he didn’t agree to Xu Yi’s proposal, before Seveni spoke, he could only stare at Xu Yi and not say a thing.
After hearing Xu Yi’s proposal, Seveni was silent for a bit before she slowly said, “Like this, your Frestech Chamber of Commerce can earn a large amount of gold coins by selling the agricultural magic machines? You said that your company can receive one gold coin for each agricultural magic machine sold, but I don’t think that’s correct, right? This number might still be too small even if it was multiplied by ten. If your company could really sell ten thousand agricultural magic machines in the kingdom, your company would earn a large profit of over a hundred thousand gold coins!”
Xu Yi shook his head with a faint smile, “No, dear miss Seveni, your guess is wrong. This number isn’t just multiplied by ten, it could be twenty or even more.”
Harvey couldn’t help shouting out, “Wouldn’t that be two hundred thousand gold coins? God! Our Lampuri Kingdom only had a tax revenue of a million gold coins last year!”
Seveni glared at him and Harvey instantly realized his mistake. He quickly gave an awkward smile and turned around.
Seveni looked back at Xu Yi and gave a nod, “This kind of large profit, no wonder chairman Xu isn’t willing to accept our proposal. But chairman Xu, if you keep this fixed price, even with our help, it would be hard to expand all over the kingdom. Moreover, raising farming efficiency is a kingdom’s most basic policy, so doing this is going against the nation’s policy and would create consequences. I think I don’t need to remind you of this.”
This last sentence, there was no doubt that it was a bare threat.
But Xu Yi didn’t look nervous at all, rather he still had the same relaxed smile. He shook his head and said, “Miss Seveni, I think you’re mistaken. I am completely in support of this raising farming efficiency plan, so I made this farmer support plan. I wanted the farmers of Banta City to experience the convenience brought to them by machines, freeing them from their farms. It is because of this that I’ve decided to come to Anvilmar and cooperate with the agricultural department. Otherwise why wouldn’t I just stay in Banta City, comfortably and slowly selling these magic machines?”
Seveni gave a slight nod, “That’s right, the fact that you can have this thought means that you aren’t a normal merchant with dull eyes. But chairman Xu, I still don’t understand, why do you keep insisting on selling the agricultural magic machines yourself? Don’t you know that this several dozen gold coins price even for some small nobles isn’t a small amount?”
“It’s very simple, it’s because of business rules. Since our Frestech Chamber of Commerce has already sold agricultural magic machines in Banta City and have already set a price, if other places also had the same agricultural magic machines and the price was lower by several dozen gold coins, what would those people in Banta City who have already bought these magic machines think? How could our Frestech Chamber of Commerce face them? So the price cannot be changed, but…..”
Xu Yi suddenly changed the topic.
“The price cannot be changed, but that does not mean other places can’t be changed. Miss Seveni, I hope the tax department can give some tax rebates for the agricultural magic machines that we produce. At the same time, I hope that the agricultural department can give a document saying that everyone who buys an agricultural magic machine will be able to receive some benefits from the kingdom’s agricultural department. This benefit can be in the form of a fund or some tax rebates, in short, giving some commoners some real benefits and compensations.”
Seveni knit her brows, “Your thoughts aren’t bad, but…...the agricultural department doesn’t have that much money……”
“Money is not a problem.” Xu Yi said with a faint smile, “Our Frestech Chamber of Commerce can take out this money and you can think of the amount.”
Seveni and Harvey were stunned.
“Chairman Xu, since you are providing tax deductions for the agricultural magic machines and taking care of the reimbursements, could it be that you aren’t planning on making money on these agricultural magic machines?” Seveni said in a shocked voice, “This is different from what you just said. If you really aren’t planning on earning money, you might as well have agreed to Harvey’s proposal.”
“No, no, no, this is completely different.” Xu Yi kept shaking his head, “According to mister Harvey’s proposal, me and our Frestech Chamber of Commerce would become a dependent of the agricultural department and wouldn’t have any authority at all. I cannot accept this at all.”
Seveni couldn’t help revealing a smile.
Her smile was different from Still’s. If Still’s smile was like a peerlessly gorgeous rose in full bloom, her smile was like a lotus that was slowly blooming.
“Chairman Xu really isn’t someone who is willing to be under others. Fine, chairman Xu, since you are giving up such large profit, what do you want to gain.” Seveni asked, “Don’t tell me that you are doing all this for the normal commoners?”
“Of course I’m not that noble.” Xu Yi stretched out a finger, “I only have one request, that is to get a piece of territory that belongs to me.”
As the lights lit up in the night, Anvilmar City was even more lively compared to the day. People walked about in groups of twos and threes, strolling in the streets, filling the entire city with noise.
Only when this noise came to a wide residence in the west of the city, it was like it had been cut off by someone’s hand.
The president of the Lampuri Kingdom’s Magicians Guild Palmes Eren was sitting in the living room. There was a cup of tea in his hand, but he didn’t take a single sip as it was unknown what he was thinking.
Knowing that the master was not happy, the servants of the manor all went about cautiously. Not to mention them keeping their voices down, they even walked along as soft as cats, trying to make as little sound as possible.
The large manor was usually quite lively, but now it was like a ghost town, incomparably silent.
After a while, a beautiful woman who was still under forty walked out from the inner parts of the manor. After seeing Palmes Eren, her eyes turned red and tears fell down.
“Old master, Anke’s injuries are that serious, you must take revenge for him!” The beautiful middle aged lady begged in a pained voice.
Palmes Eren looked at her before saying with a cold snort, “What revenge? That brat doesn’t even learn properly and wanted to teach someone a lesson to get taken care of himself, do we still have to cause trouble for that person? The lesson that he learned this time will be helpful to him. It’ll stop him from not knowing the depths of heaven and earth, or he’ll eventually really be taken care of.”
Seeing that Palmes Eren wasn’t listening to her pleading, the beautiful middle aged woman didn’t give up.
She only had Anke Eren as a son and had spoiled him since he was young. Seeing him being brought back after being knocked out by someone else, she almost fainted on the spot.
Palmes Eren had a headache from her crying and impatiently scolded her, chasing back into the inner parts of the manor.
The things that happened at the test site today, the staff members of the Magicians Guild had explained everything to him.
No matter how he looked at it, one could only blame Anke Eren for this matter. Even if Palmes Eren spoiled him like his wife, he couldn’t say anything on this matter.
Of course, in normal circumstances, he would definitely help his precious son vent his anger. He would definitely make it so that the person who injured his son wouldn’t have a good life.
But the key thing was that the fellow who had injured his son was called Xu Yi.
Palmes Eren was not familiar with this name and at first thought that this fellow was hiding his strength. He clearly had enough power to beat his son, but he went to participate in the Primary Grade exam.
But after investigating this matter, he found that this Xu Yi wasn’t that simple.
First, he came from Banta City and was participating in the Magicians Guild’s certification exam on Great Magician Camilla’s special recommendation.
Next, he was a colleague of Duke Stagg’s son Viscount Leslie. They came to Anvilmar City together from Banta City and it seemed like they were quite close.
Then, this Xu Yi’s residence in Anvilmar City was actually Banta City’s City Lord Count Sean Samo’s other residence.
This Xu Yi was not some official from Banta City and was only a normal merchant. For him to enter this other residence, it meant that his relationship with Count Sean was quite good.
Finally, which was also the most important point, this fellow was actually being summoned by his majesty tomorrow!
Palmes Eren couldn’t help rubbing his pounding head.
If it was a normal low grade magician, he had his methods to take care of the other side to take revenge for his son. But there were all these important people that he couldn’t ignore that were related to Xu Yi, so he had to be much more prudent in how he took care of this.
Being a prudent and oversuspicious old person who was approaching sixty, Palmes Eren even suspected that this Xu Yi had been sent by one of his enemies to deliberately hurt Anke Eren and dig a hole for him to jump in.
As long as he dared make a move against Xu Yi, perhaps he would be met with great resistance.
“This fellow called Xu Yi, just where did he come from?” Palmes Eren knit his brows and after thinking for a while, he didn’t have the slightest clue.
A servant quickly ran in with a strange expression.
“Old master, there’s a guest here.”
Palmes Eren angrily waved his hand, “I’m not in any mood to see any guests, send him away.”
That servant didn’t leave and after hesitating a bit, he said, “Old master, he says he is called Xu Yi.”
Palmes Eren suddenly stood up from his seat in shock.
This Xu Yi, he actually came to look for him!