Chapter 131 Maniac
The entire banquet hall fell into a deathly silence.
There were people whispering under the stage, but when they heard the final number manager Rose gave, they were so shocked they couldn’t say anything else. The large banquet hall was so silent that even the sound of a pin being dropped could be heard.
This deathly silence didn’t last long as the hall exploded after a while.
“Five million gold coins? Gods above! Is this true?”
“It can’t be, right? How could the Frestech Chamber of Commerce be allowed to borrow that much?”
“That’s right, there wouldn’t even be this value if the entire Frestech Chamber of Commerce was sold, right? Five hundred thousand gold coins is already enough!”
“When did the Chimera Chamber of Commerce become this easy to talk to? We were rejected last time we put in a loan for just eight hundred thousand gold coins, so how did the Frestech Chamber of Commerce get approved for five million?”
…...
Everyone’s eyes were filled with disbelief.
The one filled with the most disbelief was of course chairman Morgan.
He kept staring at manager Rose. If it wasn’t for the people watching on the side, he would have charged up to the stage and pulled on manager Rose’s skin to see if it was someone disguised as him.
But his reasoning told him that this manager Rose was indeed the manager Rose he had contacted many times in Anvilmar City, it definitely was not someone disguised as him.
Also what use would there be in Xu Yi finding someone to disguise as him? If this matter didn’t have the Chimera Chamber of Commerce’s approval, would Xu Yi dare do this?
After a while, chairman Morgan slowly came back to his senses. He took a deep look at Xu Yi before turning to manager Rose to ask, “Manager Rose, can I ask a question?”
Manager Rose gave a slight nod, “Please ask.”
“I want to ask, just based on what did the Frestech Chamber of Commerce receive the approval to get a five million gold coin loan from your Chimera Chamber of Commerce?” Chairman Morgan asked.
This question was the question that everyone wanted to know. When chairman Morgan asked this, everyone looked over at manager Rose.
Who would have thought that manager Rose would just look at chairman Morgan and answer without any expression, “I’m sorry, I cannot say anything about this issue.”
“Ai.”
A wave of sighs sounded.
Disappointment came, but everyone was clear that this reply from manager Rose was irrefutable.
It was a Chimera Chamber of Commerce secret why this loan was approved, so it was expected that manager Rose wouldn’t answer this question.
Chairman Morgan’s face twitched a few times before he nodded and didn’t ask anything else.
Seeing that no one else had any questions, Count Sean stood up and announced the auction would continue.
But the auction continuing meant chairman Morgan had to face the sky high price of one million and eight hundred thousand that Xu Yi gave.
Although before this auction, the Jole Family had given chairman Morgan instructions that he had to obtain these two iron mines, the Falcao Chamber of Commerce had only valued this smaller mine at eight hundred thousand to one million and two hundred thousand. When chairman Morgan gave that one million six hundred and sixty thousand gold coin bid, it had already surpassed his budget.
If he wanted to press down Xu Yi’s bid of one million and eight hundred thousand,
The auctioneer who was on the stage again saw that chairman Morgan didn’t say anything, so he couldn’t help giving a soft cough. He reminded him, “The Frestech Chamber of Commerce has bid one million and eight hundred thousand, is there anyone that wants to go higher? If not, the iron mine will belong to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.”
Everyone looked at chairman Morgan.
The cold sweat covering chairman Morgan’s head was several times more than chairman Bruno earlier. He looked at Xu Yi before looking back at the auctioneer. After hesitating for a bit, he slowly raised his hand as the auctioneer raised the wooden gavel and softly called, “One million eight hundred and fifty thousand.”
“Two million.” When chairman Morgan said his final word, Xu Yi already called out another number.
Everyone in the hall took a cold breath of air at the same time.
Two million gold coins!
All for an iron mine that wasn’t considered too big!
Moreover Xu Yi had gone to two million from one million eight hundred and fifty thousand at once, this was even more aggressive than chairman Morgan from before!
Everyone looked at Xu Yi like he was a maniac.
Does this Xu Yi know what he was doing?
Did he think that this two million gold coins fell out of the sky?
Even if your Frestech Chamber of Commerce received a loan of five million from the Chimera Chamber of Commerce for an unknown reason, can you not spend it so freely like some low level nouveau riche?
Thinking of upstarts, everyone suddenly remembered that compared to the large companies with rich backgrounds and history, isn’t Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce considered nouveau riche?
But whether he was one or not, Xu Yi had already given his price, so would chairman Morgan meet it or not?
Chairman Morgan took out his handkerchief and forcefully wiped his head. He found that his dry handkerchief had become soaked and his hand holding it couldn’t help shaking.
“Damn fellow!” Chairman Morgan looked at Xu Yi in the distance with a relaxed smile on his face and he cursed in his heart.
If it wasn’t for this fellow suddenly butting in, he could have used one million six hundred and sixty thousand to take this mine.
Although this price was a bit high, it was still in his acceptable range.
But now that Xu Yi had given a price of two million gold coins, it had already passed what chairman Morgan could accept.
Chairman Morgan hesitantly wiping off his sweat. When the auctioneer reached his third count and the wooden gavel fell, he didn’t make a single sound.
“Two million gold coins! Congratulations to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce for winning, obtaining the mining rights to this mine for fifty years!”
The auctioneer’s voice reverberated through the banquet hall, but it didn’t draw out any response. There wasn’t even any polite clapping.
Everyone looked at Xu Yi and chairman Morgan with extremely strange expressions.
Chairman Morgan gave up on bidding in the end, which made everyone disappointed, but it was expected. After all, the price of two million was just too high, it had already surpassed everyone’s calculations.
Even if the Falcao Chamber of Commerce had many resources and was powerful, they couldn’t spend this casually. This was the reason why chairman Morgan gave up.
As for the iron mine that Xu Yi used a sky high price to obtain, no one was happy for him.
With such a large investment, even if the Frestech Chamber of Commerce wildly mined it, it was impossible to earn this large amount back in a short period of time.
Not to mention that this amount was something the Frestech Chamber of Commerce borrowed from the Chimera Chamber of Commerce. The Chimera Chamber of Commerce was not kind, there had to be a high interest to this loan. If the Frestech Chamber of Commerce wasn’t managed properly, they wouldn’t even be able to pay back the interest. In the end, they might even collapse from this interest.
In the opinion of many people, Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce made a very stupid choice.
So the first auction ended with this strange silence. The Frestech Chamber of Commerce used a shocking price of two million to earn the mining rights of this rather small mine.
But the silence was crushed instantly by the sounds of bidding as soon as the second auction began.
The second mind was much bigger than the first mine, so there was much more value contained in it. Just the starting price was seven hundred thousand gold coins.
Perhaps it was because of how wild the first auction was or maybe it was because everyone was set on this larger mine to begin with, so when the auction started, everyone jumped out with prices.
The seven hundred thousand starting price turned into a million in an instant and it quickly charged close to one million and five hundred thousand.
But when the representative of a company wanted to bid one million and five hundred thousand, chairman Morgan who had been silent the entire time suddenly spoke.
It was fine when he didn’t open his mouth, but he shocked everyone when he did.
“Two million!”
He directly raised the price by five hundred thousand gold coins!
The hall fell silent and everyone looked at chairman Morgan. They found that the expression on his face was quite fierce at this time.
Everyone understood that this time, chairman Morgan wouldn’t give up on this mine no matter what.
Otherwise, the Falcao Chamber of Commerce would return empty handed this time.
After a pause, a company representative from Anvilmar City called out a bid of “two million and fifty thousand”.
When he finished, chairman Morgan directly called out “two million and three hundred thousand”.
Although he didn’t suddenly raise it by five hundred thousand again, suddenly raising it by two hundred and fifty thousand was still shocking enough.
The more shocking thing was what chairman Morgan said after he made his bid.
“This mine, our Falcao Chamber of Commerce has to obtain it. Whoever wishes to steal it will become an enemy of our Falcao Chamber of Commerce! Moreover, you all understand that even if you obtain this mine, will you really have the ability to mine it?”
This was simply a naked threat.
Count Sean knit his brows. He was dissatisfied, but his brows relaxed and he didn’t say anything.
Seeing that no one made a sound, chairman Morgan looked at Xu Yi and said with a cold snort, “Chairman Xu, how about it? Do you still want to bid? Your Frestech Chamber of Commerce has suddenly borrowed five million from the Chimera Chamber of Commerce and there’s still three million left, so will you struggle against our Falcao Chamber of Commerce again?”
Xu Yi looked at chairman Morgan in surprise and said in an innocent manner, “Chairman Morgan, what are these words? Could it be that you’ve forgotten that you’ve said that we’re all friends in the Business Union and everyone should help each other? How could I maliciously attack you? Then again, I can’t just spend all five million of what I’ve borrowed, right? Actually using two million to buy the mine is already enough to give me a headache. If it wasn’t for the fact that the magic machines produced by my company using a large amount of iron, I wouldn’t be that interested in the iron mine, don’t you think?”
Chairman Morgan glared at Xu Yi, not believing a single word.
But Xu Yi seemed like he was going to make a concession, so naturally he wouldn’t say anything. He just kept staring at Xu Yi, seeing if he would do the same as before, bidding at the last second.
But when the auctioneer finished counting and the small wooden gavel fell to the end the auction, Xu Yi had the same smile on his face with his mouth closed, not saying a word.
After hearing the auctioneer say that the Falcao Chamber of Commerce received the mining rights to these mines, chairman Morgan let out a long sigh of relief. After he finished fighting this war, his body relaxed.
Xu Yi actually came over at this time and said to chairman Morgan with a smile, “Congratulations, congratulations, this mine has fallen into your Falcao Chamber of Commerce’s hand in the end. It’s a pity that my Frestech Chamber of Commerce isn’t strong enough, otherwise I really wanted to struggle a bit.”
Chairman Morgan gave a strong snort. He thought that if it wasn’t for this fellow causing trouble, those two mines would have easily fallen into the Falcao Chamber of Commerce’s pockets.
Losing a mine, the Joles Family would definitely be dissatisfied because of this. Chairman Morgan didn’t know what kind of punishment he would receive because of this.
Xu Yi suddenly came forward two steps and said to chairman Morgan in a low voice, “That’s right, chairman Morgan. Now that our Frestech Chamber of Commerce has gained a mine, I was prepared to invent some mining magic machines. I wonder, is your Falcao Chamber of Commerce is interested?”
Chairman Morgan looked at Xu Yi in a daze. After seeing that his expression was serious and it didn’t seem like he was lying, he couldn’t help thinking deeper into this.
Although chairman Morgan looked down on a small company like the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, he had to admit that the magic machines of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce were all surprisingly easy to use. The most obvious example of this was the agricultural magic machines.
If Xu Yi really invented some mining magic machines, perhaps it really would help the Falcao Chamber of Commerce.
Thinking of this, chairman Morgan’s expression changed several times at a speed that made Xu Yi sigh with emotion. He finally revealed a warm smile and said to Xu Yi, “Of course we’re interested. How about chairman Xu discuss this with me in detail?”
Chapter 132 Year end bonus
This public auction in Banta City that attracted countless people’s attention and several large and small companies of the Lampuri Kingdom was actually just a play Xu Yi coordinated with the royal family to put on.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce certainly couldn’t take out an exaggerated amount as two million and it was like everyone had thought, they didn’t have the qualifications to apply for a large five million gold coin loan from the Chimera Chamber of Commerce.
This five million gold coin loan was actually taken by the king, using the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s name on the application.
The two million gold coins used to buy the first mine would naturally return into the king’s hands. The three million that wasn’t spent in the end would directly be given back to the Chimera Chamber of Commerce.
In this auction, when it came to settling accounts, Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce didn’t spend a single cent. The interest the king had to pay for this short term loan of five million was twenty thousand which wasn’t even worth mentioning.
Compared to the income of two million and three hundred thousand gold coins earned from selling the second mine, it really wasn’t worth mentioning.
Of course, according to Xu Yi’s agreement with the king, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce should have received two iron mines. Although now one of the mines ended in the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s hands, the other mine was still auctioned off to the Falcao Chamber of Commerce.
But Seveni and Xu Yi’s plans had already thought of that.
If Xu Yi could have bought the second mine at a suitable price, it would have been good. But chairman Morgan threw those rough words at the auction, so Xu Yi chose to give it up after careful consideration.
Seveni had given Xu Yi two choices in this situation.
One was according to the one million and three hundred gold coin value in the contract. The king would directly give one million and three hundred thousand gold coins to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, which would be considered payment for the order of agricultural magic machines.
The second was to find a suitable iron mine in the kingdom to give Xu Yi. That way, it would be no different from the contract from before.
But Xu Yi gave Seveni another option. That was to let the Frestech Chamber of Commerce rent some land from the royal family, using the payment as rent for the land.
As for the size of the land, Xu Yi’s first request was around ten times the size of Banta City.
But Seveni’s response to this was…...
“Chairman Xu, are you crazy?”
Of course Xu Yi wasn’t crazy, he was actually very sane.
Because he was very sane, he proposed the plan of renting land from the royal family. He no longer wanted to obtain territory like before.
This was because Xu Yi had studied up on the history of the Lampuri Kingdom. Since the kingdom had been founded, although the Lampuri Kingdom royal family had conferred new noble titles, they had never given out an inch of land.
It could be seen that the Lampuri Kingdom’s royal family felt the land was quite important.
Xu Yi didn’t think he was qualified to have the royal family give him land, so after considering it, he chose the next best option to rent land from the royal family.
It was renting, but it was completely different from renting land in the hands of the nobles.
First the royal family controlled the Lampuri Kingdom. Putting aside the land in the hands of the nobility, over 70% of the land belonged to the kingdom.
If one rented from the royal family, they could get more and request to rent a large piece of land.
If he rented from the nobles, even if it was the Stagg Family with the most land, Xu Yi couldn’t find an area that would satisfy him.
Secondly, the royal family was much more stable compared to the nobles.
If one rented land from the nobles, with a single idea from the nobles, there could be many changes against the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
As the royal family was in control of the kingdom, they cared more about their prestige and about the general situation. In a normal circumstance, they wouldn’t easily change their policies.
The main reason why Xu Yi wanted territory that belonged to him was mainly because of the latter reason.
Right now the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was renting land from Viscount Leslie. Although Xu Yi’s relation with Viscount Leslie was good and Viscount Leslie was a major shareholder of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, so there normally weren’t any problems, Xu Yi didn’t have much expectation to this kind of relationship.
This point could be seen by the three hundred slaves Viscount Leslie had sent into the household magic machine workshop.
It was clear that these three hundred slaves didn’t belong to Viscount Leslie and Viscount Leslie himself was dissatisfied with the plans for the three hundred slaves. He even secretly warned Xu Yi not to treat these slaves are real workers and not to let them learn all the technology in the workshop.
But even if Viscount Leslie wasn’t willing, once those three hundred slaves entered the workshop and learned for a month, a large part of the slaves had mastered the techniques required.
Xu Yi was very clear that these three hundred slaves should be from the Stagg Family behind Viscount Leslie.
And from this point, he knew that Viscount Leslie is influenced by the family behind him.
So no matter how good his relationship was with Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, that didn’t decide everything.
So Xu Yi wanted to avoid situations he couldn’t control and of course he wanted his own territory.
So even if there were limitations in renting from the royal family, no matter what, it was better than his current situation.
So even though Seveni couldn’t help calling Xu Yi crazy, Xu Yi still insisted on this request.
Under Xu Yi’s persistence, Seveni decided to report Xu Yi’s plan to the king in the end.
As for whether Xu Yi’s request could be satisfied, Seveni didn’t dare promise anything.
It took quite a bit of time for Xu Yi to clean up after the auction. When he finished everything and succeeded in registering the iron mines in the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s name, it was already close to the end of December.
The Sines Continent also celebrated New Years and of course there would be vacation for New Years.
Even if the Frestech Chamber of Commerce hadn’t finished most of the order, no matter what, Xu Yi couldn’t have the workers keep working overtime during the New Years period.
After discussing it with Heinz, Camby, and the others, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce decided to start their vacation on the twenty fifth and it would go all the way until the seventh of January.
On the twentieth, there was a cheer that filled both the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s workshops.
This was because the vacation Xu Yi announced was longer than most of the other Banta City companies. Once it was announced, it naturally obtained the support of all the workers.
What made the workers even happiers that was Xu Yi announced that other than the Frestech Chamber of Commerce paying their wages while they were off for New Years, each person would also receive one month’s salary as a year end bonus!
Before this, no one had ever heard of a year end bonus before!
After they heard Xu Yi personally announce this, all the workers almost went wild with happiness!
This was because according to Xu Yi’s announcement, not only would the workers receive last month’s pay, with the first half of this month’s pay added in, they would also receive a bonus of one month’s base pay!
Counting it all, even the most normal worker would receive a salary of over thirty gold coins before New Years!
As for the workers with higher wages and the workers who worked more overtime, their wage could surpass forty gold coins or even reach fifty gold coins!
To these workers that would at most receive three-four gold coins per month before coming to work for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, this was a giant amount!
With this money, the workers that were rather poor didn’t need to worry about their family’s livelihood when it came to celebrating New Years this year.
Thinking of them bringing home a large amount of gold coins, letting their parents and wives have a rich celebration for New Years, the workers all looked at Xu Yi with gazes of gratitude.
In that moment, Xu Yi’s image in their minds was incomparably large.
However, not all the workers showed this same display of excitement. The biggest exception to this were the three hundred slaves brought by Viscount Leslie.
They were different than the hundred slaves under Xu Yi’s name. Viscount Leslie had specially said that these three hundred slaves couldn’t receive any special treatment, so even if Xu Yi felt sorry for them, he still couldn’t pay them wages.
Even buying some material compensation for them was greatly discouraged. In the end, Xu Yi could only helplessly buy them some small things they could use for New Years as a sign of recognition for their work.
But even though these were small things that cost less than gold coin, these slaves treated them like things that could burn their hands. If it wasn’t for Xu Yi ordering them to take it, no one would have dared to take it.
Other than the three hundred slaves, the nine magicians in charge of drawing the Magic Arrays weren’t as excited as the other workers.
One was because these magicians hadn’t been at the Frestech Chamber of Commerce for more than a month, so they didn’t have any feelings for this place, so naturally they weren’t excited as the other workers.
Second, the magicians had more experience than these workers, so how could they become excited so easily.
But of course it was false to say that they weren’t happy at all.
Even though they worked for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce for less than a month, because they had a higher efficiency than those students, their salary was over twenty gold coins each month when counting it all!
If they had worked a complete month, their salary might have even come close to more than thirty gold coins!
To these magicians who were at most Second Grade Magicians, this was a high wage that filled them with joy.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce didn’t have a normal day of work today. Thy finished working at the end of the morning and tidied up the two workshops.
They came together for a meal at noon and after they finished eating, wages were given.
After all this fuss, the day had ended like this.
After they finished taking care of the workers’ year end arrangements with difficulty, Xu Yi along with Heinz, Camby, and the others headed back to Banta City together. He had them go find a few places in a restaurant first before he headed to the research lab Evita and Akali lived in.