Chapter 119 There is no free meal
The becoming famous Great Magician Camilla mentioned was becoming famous in the magician circle.
This magazine like thing was a periodic released inside the Magicians Guild, so only Great Magicians and Arch Magi will regularly get it.
So Great Magician Camilla saying Xu Yi’s become famous means that he was known by many Great Magicians.
There were only twenty seven Arch Magic and over five hundred Great Magicians on the entire Sines Continent, so strictly speaking Xu Yi was only famous among these five hundred or so people. To be honest this couldn’t be considered famous at all.
“Idiot!” Great Magician Camilla angrily looked at Xu Yi, “Arch Magi and Great Magicians are the top characters among magicians, so having the Arch Magi and Great Magicians knowing about you, that is equal to all the magicians knowing about you. Is this not considered being famous?”
Xu Yi looked at Great Magician Camilla in shock, “Really?”
“Why would I lie to you?” Great Magician Camilla pointed underneath him, “As long as I wanted, all the people in this Magic Tower would learn about this news. If they then spread this news to others, all the magicians in Banta City and the surrounding cities would know about this. Let me tell you, this internal periodic has a high position in the hearts of the magicians of the continent, so if you can appear in this periodic, it is hard not to become famous.”
Xu Yi stroked his chin, looking a bit confused.
“Although it is rare to see someone become a Fifth Grade Magician with their first exam, with how high scale this periodic is, I think I shouldn’t be qualified to appear in this periodic, right?”
Great Magician Camilla shook his head, “Of course it’s not because you became a Fifth Grade Magician. Although this doesn’t happen often, there are many people who participate in the guild’s exam and there will always be someone who is as shocking as you, so this matter isn’t considered rare. This periodic isn’t a newspaper that reports gossip like the ?Banta Times?, it only reports on things related to magic. For you to appear on it, it is actually related to your answers on the Fifth Grade exam written test.”
“Written test answers?” Xu Yi remembered when he took part in the test and was a bit astonished, “Why do I feel that there isn’t anything special about that?”
“You don’t think it’s special?” Great Magician Camilla looked at Xu Yi as he asked this with a serious look.
Seeing how serious Great Magician Camilla was, Xu Yi seriously thought about it before shaking his head, “No, I don’t.”
Great Magician Camilla’s expression became a bit strange, “Xu Yi, it seems like I’ve still underestimated your talent. Come, take a look at the appraisal of you in the periodic.”
Xu Yi took the thick periodic from Great Magician Camilla’s hands and turned to the seventh page as instructed. He found that what was written on it was actually the questions on Magic Arrays he had encountered in the Fifth Grade exam.
Xu Yi noticed that the one who wrote this article was called Gordon Eisenkel.
This name was a bit familiar to Xu Yi. Thinking about it, he finally remembered that when he had just started working at Great Magician Camilla’s Magic Tower, Sarash had mentioned this name. He said that he was the richest Great Magician in the Lampuri Kingdom.
And in this article, this richest Great Magician was filled with praise for the answers that Xu Yi had given.
The Magic Arrays in the written exam were only Fifth Grade Arrays. The questions were asking about some details of the Magic Arrays, as well as some small requests to let the examinee improve a few parts of the Magic Array.
Xu Yi already knew a great deal about Magic Arrays and adding in the fact that he focused most of his energy in changing Magic Arrays to suit the needs of magic machines, these kinds of questions were a piece of cake for him.
After the test was finished, the old examiners from the Magicians Guild were unanimous that Xu Yi’s answers far surpassed the level of normal Fifth Grade Magicians. They specially agreed to let him pass the test and become a Fifth Grade Magician.
And in this article, Great Magician Eisenkel analyzed the answer Xu Yi gave bit by bit, clearly explaining all the ideas behind Xu Yi’s answers.
“......This is completely a genius level of creativity! Using the curves of the array to change the Magic Array’s magical elemental area density absorption, causing a change in the area of effect of the Magic Array, this is simply allowing the Magic Array to come alive! If we can promote this kind of creativity, we can even change Magic Arrays as we wish, allowing the Magic Arrays to reach the effects we want. I can definitely say that this Xu Yi’s research on Magic Arrays has reached the level of grandmaster! Even I can’t compare to him!”
Seeing Great Magician Eisenkel’s straightforward praise in the article, Xu Yi couldn’t help blushing a bit.
These Magic Arrays were only natural to him, but he never thought that in Great Magician Eisenkel’s eyes, it would be this shocking. This was something he really didn’t expect.
After he finished reading the article, Xu Yi slightly knit his brows. He asked Great Magician Camilla, “Your excellency Great Magician, are you close to this Great Magician Eisenkel?”
Great Magician Camilla shook his head, “No, we just know each other’s names.”
“Then why is he praising me like this? I don’t think that I’m worth this kind of praise. Seeing him praise me as a genius in his article, I feel a bit embarrassed.”
“There’s no need to feel embarrassed. After I saw the answers you wrote for the written exam, I felt that his praise for you isn’t exaggerated at all. Your creativity and ingenuity really is worthy of this praise.” Great Magician Camilla seriously said, “I still have the same view as before, if you were to focus on studying magic, perhaps your future achievements might even surpass me and you could even become the first Arch Magus of the Lampuri Kingdom.”
Xu Yi gave a dry laugh, “Your excellency Great Magician, you don’t need to say this again.”
Great Magician Camilla gave a snort before saying, “Of course, other than you having the qualification to be praised like this, I have to remind you, that this fellow Eisenkel…...He has never done anything unnecessary, so…...you should be a bit careful.”
Xu Yi gave a slow nod.
There was a phrase that said that there was no free meal in this world.
Even if the answer that he gave in the written test was quite shocking, it was still only a written test for the Fifth Grade exam. In a normal situation, it wouldn’t fall into the eyes of an important character like Great Magician Eisenkel at all.
But Great Magician Eisenkel had to choose the answer that Xu Yi had given and specially wrote an article in this important Magicians Guild’s internal periodic, giving such large praise. If it was said he didn’t have any other goals, Xu Yi wouldn’t believe it even if he was beaten to death.
But Xu Yi felt this was very strange. He was just a small Fifth Grade Magician, what was worth having this Great Magician deem as important?”
Unless…..He cared about the fact that he was Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s chairman?
Xu Yi thought about it and couldn’t think of an answer, so he could only put aside this question for now. He focused his mind back on the main topic of why he came to find Great Magician Camilla.
Hearing that Xu Yi wanted to focus on studying a series of production magic machines and that he was only giving him a month’s worth of time, Great Magician Camilla couldn’t help knitting his brows.
“Kid, are you planning on not giving me any time to research magic?”
Xu Yi gave a helpless sigh, “There’s no other choice, to complete the order for his majesty, I have to invent these production magic machines. Even if the dwarves go all out, they can at most finish the initial three thousand small agricultural magic machines. But to finish the tens of thousands of agricultural magic machines the king wants, they might not even be able to finish in several years. Since it has to be studied eventually, it is better to do it earlier.”
But these Magic Punch Presses look this complicated, you really think it can be done in a month?” Great Magician Camilla doubtfully asked.
“Perhaps the time is a bit tight, but I don’t think it’s that big of a problem.” Xu Yi paused before saying with a serious expression, “Your excellency Great Magician, it isn’t just the king that wants to achieve the plan in his heart, I want to do the same. To spread the agricultural magic machines before the harvest season, it will raise the kingdom’s total harvest. The king is considered the living problem in the kingdom and although I’m not that noble, I’m not willing to see people starve. Last time when I discussed the disaster in the kingdom with Heinz, where many people starved to death, a grown man like Heinz couldn’t help breaking out in tears. I decided then that my priority would be to make magic machines that could increase the harvest.”
Great Magician Camilla thought about it before giving a slight nod, “Your thoughts aren’t wrong. When I was invited to Count Sean’s banquet a few days ago, Count Sea was filled with praise for you and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. He said that with the help of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s agricultural magic machines, quite a bit of farmland had been opened near Banta City. If nothing unexpected happens, Banta City’s harvest will greatly increase and make sure that everyone can fill their stomachs. Xu Yi, do you know that because of this, Count Sean has been secretly giving you and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce quite a bit of support? If not, your Frestech Chamber of Commerce wouldn’t have developed so smoothly in Banta City.”
Xu Yi nodded with a faint smile, “The City Lord taking care of me and the company, I know in my heart.” He then gave a laugh, “But your excellency Great Magician, since the Lord City Lord is supporting me, shouldn’t you also support me?”
Great Magician Camilla snappily looked at Xu Yi, “Don’t use Count Sean to pressure me, it’s no use. But since you are trying to increase the production of agricultural magic machines, I’ll agree to your request. Not only me, I will have the entire Magic Tower help you research the Magic Arrays for these production magic machines!”
Xu Yi was filled with joy.
With Great Magician Camilla’s promise, Xu Yi had over 80% confidence in making these Magic Press Punches.
Chapter 120 Prodigal
Two days later, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s factory outside the city welcomed a special guest.
“Young miss Seveni, please take a look, these two workshops are the current factories for our Frestech Chamber of Commerce. As for the construction to the side, that is our new magic machine workshop. According to manager Riley’s deadline, we should be able to use it within the month.” Xu yi was standing outside the workshop, introducing everything to Seveni beside him.
Wayne Riley on the side heard Xu Yi mention his name and immediately revealed a smile as he said while nodding, “That’s right, if nothing unexpected happens, this factory can be used at the end of the month.”
Seveni looked at the magic machine workshop that was less than a thousand square meters before looking at the new workshop that was clearly more than ten times bigger. She knit her brows and said, “Such a large place, can it be done within the month? Even if it is done, can it be used that quickly? Chairman Xu, aren’t you being too hasty?”
Xu Yi shrugged his shoulders, “If it wasn’t for manager Riley insisting on maintaining quality and not ruining the reputation of their Amrit Chamber of Commerce, I would have requested him to finish this factory by the middle of the month.”
Manager Riley heard Xu Yi unintentionally praising him and the Amrit Chamber of Commerce, causing him to fill with joy.
With how Xu Yi was treating her and even how respectful he seemed, although this young miss Seveni seemed young, she definitely was someone with status. If he could make a good impression on her, it was a good thing whether it was to manager Riley or the Amrit Chamber of Commerce.
“Chairman Xu, although his majesty’s request is a bit tight, I hope that it will not cause too much pressure for you that will lead to accidents. If you let these workers be hurt, his majesty and I will both be unsettled.” Seveni looked at Xu Yi, speaking in a serious voice.
Xu Yi was a bit surprised. He looked at Seveni and saw that her expression was serious, not like she was saying this just for appearance. He gave a nod and said with a smile, “Be assured, young miss Seveni. I take the safety of the workers under me very seriously and I am assured in the skills of the Amrit Chamber of Commerce and manager Riley, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”
Manager Riley immediately came forward to say, “Young miss Seveni, you might not know this, but in terms of treating one’s workers, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce is one of the best. Not to mention the companies of our Banta City, perhaps there wouldn’t be a single company in the entire Lampuri Kingdom that could compare to them.”
“Oh?” Seveni looked at manager Riley and asked in an interested voice, “What special treatment for Frestech Chamber of Commerce workers? Why do you think that it is so good?”
Manager Riley looked at Xu Yi and saw that he had no objections, so he said with a smile, “Not mentioning anything else, just the set work time of eight hours a day for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce workers is something no companies can compare to.”
“A set work time of eight hours a day?” Seveni looked at Xu Yi in surprise, “Chairman Xu, is this true?”
Xu Yi gave a slight nod with a smile
Seveni of course knew that Xu Yi wouldn’t use something this easy to research to deceive her with, so she was even more surprised.
“Why do you have this rule? Although employees do need time to rest, don’t you think set work times of eight hours is too short? If you give the employees that much time to rest, don’t you think that it’s a waste of their wages?”
Xu Yi’s expression became a bit strange, as he thought that since the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had too many orders right now, the workers were working overtime each day. If this was earth, he would be scolded as a no good capitalist. He never thought that he would be asked if he felt the wages were a waste if people rested too much.
“This…..Young miss Seveni, workers are people too. Other than work, there are many things they have to do in their own time. Actually manager Riley’s words aren’t correct, because the company has been too busy lately, the workers have been working overtime each day and don’t have that much time to rest.”
Before Seveni could speak, manager Riley couldn’t help saying, “That’s not right, chairman Xu. Not mentioning your workers doing overtime, when the workers under me heard that your workers receive overtime pay, there were some people who wanted to come over to your company.”
“Overtime pay?” Seveni was surprised again, “What is this?”
“Eh…...It’s that outside the set eight hours of work each day, if people still need to work, they will receive rewards for their services. That is called overtime pay.” Xu Yi explained.
Seveni looked at Xu Yi with a strange gaze, “Chairman Xu, you really are a strange chairman. Your Frestech Chamber of Commerce is also very strange, this is the first time I’m hearing about a company giving their workers overtime pay. That’s right, chairman Xu, can I ask you something? The employees for your company…..How much is the wage for your workers each month?”
“There isn’t anything wrong, it’s not a secret.” Xu Yi said with a smile, “If it’s for the set eight hours and there isn’t overtime, the workers in the two workshops earn around eight gold coins. Because there have been more overtime in the past two months, most of the workers earn around ten to sixteen gold coins.”
“That much?” Seveni’s eyes widened slightly. After thinking about it, she turned to ask manager Riley, “Mister Riley, can I ask how much the workers under you earn each month?”
Manager Riley gave a bitter laugh and looked at Xu Yi with hidden complaint. He hesitated a bit before saying, “This…..There are different works, so there are different wages. For the current month…..it’s around four gold coins……” Seeing Seveni’s strange appearance, manager Riley couldn’t help explaining, “The price our Amrit Chamber of Commerce is giving is already quite high, the other workers who build houses like us at most earn six gold coins! Young miss Seveni, you can’t compare our company with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. Chairman Xu, he…..he……”
“I what?” Xu Yi asked with a smile.
With Xu Yi and Seveni looking at him, manager Riley gave dry laughs for a while before he finally couldn’t hide it any longer. He lowered his voice and said, “This…..Chairman Xu, young miss Seveni, you mustn’t think that this is something I’ve said. Actually, there are many bosses of many companies in Banta City who secretly talk about chairman Xu. They all say that…...chairman Xu is a complete prodigal……”
“Prodigal?” Xu Yi couldn’t help smiling, “Giving the workers a slightly higher wage is being a prodigal? I think that aren’t they being a bit too stingy?”
Manager Riley quickly waved his hand, “Chairman Xu, you can’t speak nonsense. Actually if I have to say something, you are indeed a bit of a prodigal. They are just some normal workers, why do you need to start them off with such high wages? Not to mention with your Frestech Chamber of Commerce giving such high wages, what can the other companies of Banta City do? Do you know that the workers under me have protested many times. If it wasn’t for chairman Cruise agreeing to increase their wages, they would have already stopped working.”
Xu Yi looked at the slightly irritated manager Riley. He thought that these words probably weren’t manager Riley’s words, but rather words from chairman Cruise and a small warning to him from the other companies of Banta City.
Xu Yi disdained all of this.
Compared to him, these fellows were capitalists who squeezed out every drop from their employees.
Of course, on the Sines Continent, their ways were common and Xu Yi’s was a bit strange. It was expected that it raised some opinions with some people.
But Xu Yi didn’t plan to change according to their ideas.
Based on industrial development from earth, pressing down the wages of the workers was not the right thing to do. This would go against the rules of socio-economic development and would actually slow down the development of the economy.
[TL Note: If anyone is more interested in this, search “wage increase effect on supply and demand”, it’s actually quite interesting.]
If the normal populace didn’t have the economic ability to buy products it meant that the market wouldn’t be active and it would affect the circulation of goods. This would affect the profit of the company and would create a vicious cycle.
But with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce raising the wages of their workers, it allowed the workers to have enough financial power to satisfy their basic needs, while also allowing them to buy other products. This facilitates the circulation of products and increases economic development.
Take the example of the two hundred human workers in the household magic machine workshop. Because they received a wage of over ten gold coins from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce for two months, not only has it greatly increased their family’s living conditions, it also allowed them to have enough money to buy toys for their children.
These toys were not made by the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, but the company that made these toys benefited from this, which brought more profit for their company. This also allowed them to create more jobs, which also increased the income of another group of people.
Through the business cycle, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce would benefit eventually.
Take the Magic Fan as an example. Actually one Magic Fan only cost two gold coins and if the people of Banta City had the same level of wages as the workers in the household magic machine workshop, then each person would have the financial power to purchase one.
Like this, in just a small city like Banta City, there would have been several tens of thousands of Frestech Brand Magic Fans that sold. It wouldn’t have been the same as summer where only several thousand sold.
This logic was something that Xu Yi felt someone like chairman Cruise wouldn’t understand, so he didn’t waste time explaining it to him. The best method was to just do it.
If he placed the solid benefits in front of their faces, those fellows might understand.
As for now, Xu Yi didn’t plan on changing his methods.
After a few thoughts passed in his mind, Xu Yi paused before saying to manager Riley with a smile, “If they won’t work anymore, our company is about to expand again, so we plan on recruiting some more workers. If the workers under you don’t want to work anymore, I welcome them very much to join our company.”
Manager Riley’s face instantly changed, “Chairman Xu, what do you mean by this?”
Xu Yi laughed and patted manager Riley’s shoulder before saying, “Nothing at all, it’s just a joke. Relax, manager Riley. Please tell chairman Cruise that since our Frestech Chamber of Commerce is already working with the Business Union, then we won’t make it hard for everyone. Since the wages of workers has already increased, it’s impossible for it to fall for no reason. As for other aspects, we can cooperate on some more things. As long as everyone receives gold coins, it isn’t that hard to accept the workers earning a bit more, don’t you think so?”
Manager Riley looked at Xu Yi with an uncertain expression.
This Xu Yi, was this secretly making fun of them?