Chapter 121 Worker card
After manager Riley found an excuse to leave, Seveni revealed a smile with some extra meaning to Xu Yi as she said, “Chairman Xu, it seems like your partners in Banta City aren’t too happy with you?”
Xu Yi laughed and acted like he was surprised as she said, “Young miss Seveni, what are you saying? The large companies of our Banta City are good partners from the Business union, how could there be dissatisfaction? You must have mistaken something.”
Seveni smile and didn’t waste time pursuing this topic. She looked at the magic machine workshop she had just toured under Xu Yi’s guidance and thought about it before saying, “Chairman Xu, you just said that you are planning to use around a month to develop some new production magic machines to raise the production of agricultural magic machines. Are you confident in researching and developing these production magic machines?”
“Of course.” Xu Yi said responded in a very certain voice, “Our Frestech Chamber of Commerce has large amounts of experience in developing production magic machines. Now that we have a powerful backing like Great Magician Camilla, I am certain it will succeed this time.”
Seveni softly shook her head, “Chairman Xu, you didn’t tell the truth. From the situation in Banta City and the information I’ve gathered in the past few days, the key of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce is still you, this chairman. Whether it was the Magic Fan in the beginning or the agricultural magic machines that are important to the agricultural department, these magic machines all came from you and you played the most important part. So I don’t want to ask if your Frestech Chamber of Commerce can do this or not, I just want to ask you, do you have the confidence?”
Xu Yi looked at Seveni and noticed that her expression was very serious, without a trace of lies. It made people unable to not believe her words.
“Young miss Seveni, if I as the chairman didn’t have confidence, our Frestech Chamber of Commerce would have disbanded already, don’t you think?” Xu Yi asked back.
Seveni looked over the smile on Xu Yi’s face for a while before giving a slight nod, “I hope that chairman Xu will always be filled with confidence. Alright, I believe that you will develop the new production magic machines in a month and that the agricultural magic machines will be integrated into mass production. But chairman Xu, I have a question about the mass production you mentioned. According to what you said, if you can change the production line, the agricultural magic machine production rate can be increased by over ten times. But like this, will they be able to maintain the same quality? I feel that for anything, to maintain quality, one needs to be stringent.”
“The idea of being stringent is good, but young miss Seveni, your thoughts are being used in the wrong place. Going from hand building agricultural magic machines to using machines to mass produce is changing to a completely different method. Although the quantity has been increased, that does not mean the quality will be decreased like you said. If we use strict standards to guide it, the produced agricultural magic machines might even be of higher quality than hand produced ones.” Xu Yi pointed at the household magic machine workshop to the side and said, “In that workshops just now, you saw the first batch of Magic Fans and the newest batch of Magic Fans. Which do you think has the higher quality?”
“Of course it’s the newest batch of Magic Fans.” Seveni replied without any hesitation.
“Like you have seen, although the first batch of Magic Fans were made purely by the best craftsmen in Banta City, its quality can’t compare to the newest batch of Magic Fans assembled from the components made from the production magic machines. Although people are more flexible than machines, when it comes to mass production, human power comes far from being able to compare to machines. If his majesty just wants three thousand agricultural magic machines, I could just have the dwarven craftsmen finish them with their hands alone. But his majesty has requested thirty thousand units and even more, so unless we complete this with machine power, there is no other choice.”
Seveni thought about this before giving a slight nod, “Perhaps you’re right, but without seeing the products it produces first, I still have this doubt. I hope chairman Xu will not disappoint me.”
“Relax, I promise you won’t be disappointed.” Xu Yi revealed a smile before pausing and saying, “Young miss Seveni, I think you should know now that the ones making those agricultural magic machines for our company are those dwarves. Can you help me solve a problem?”
“Chairman Xu does not need to be this polite. My main task in coming here is to help the Frestech Chamber of Commerce complete his majesty’s orders. As long as your request will help complete these orders, you can mention them all.” Seveni said with a smile.
“That’s good.” Xu Yi didn’t stay polite as he continued, “Although those dwarves had been working for the company for several months, because they are dwarves in the end, they never received any certification from the kingdom. It makes it quite inconvenient for them to live here. Young miss Seveni, can you help solve this problem?”
“The kingdom has laws pertaining to this. As long as races other than humans fulfill these conditions, they can become citizens of the kingdom. I believe chairman Xu should know about this, right?” Seveni asked back.
“I do know about this, but young miss Seveni, you should be clear that these laws are too strict. If the dwarves want to become official citizens, not only do they have to fulfill a requirement for years lived in the kingdom, they have strict requirements in terms of taxes, it is impossible to achieve this in less than eight years. And to have these dwarves wait for eight years, perhaps our Frestech Chamber of Commerce will have disappeared by then.”
“Chairman Xu, are you joking?” Seveni looked at Xu Yi, “The Frestech Chamber of Commerce has such good prospects for development, how could it not last at least eight years. As for the request you’ve raised, I’m afraid I can’t respond to you. The laws of the kingdom are clearly written and it can’t just be changed for the two hundred dwarves of your Frestech Chamber of Commerce.”
“I’m not requesting that you change the laws and I’m not hoping the kingdom can accept them as citizens, I was just hoping that you could give them a special certification to make it easier for them to live here. For example…..a worker card.” Xu Yi then said.
“Worker card?” Seveni looked at Xu Yi in surprised, “What does that mean?”
“A worker card is…...Other than other races who are citizens of the kingdom, this can also be given to humans from other countries who want to work here. The people with worker cards can be employed by the companies of the Lampuri Kingdom. While their worker cards are in effect, they can stay, work and live a normal life in the Lampuri Kingdom. To put it simply, people with worker cards can be considered temporary citizens of the Lampuri Kingdom, but they are restricted by the companies. Once problems occur with these people, the kingdom officials can look to the companies that hire them to take responsibility. After their worker card expires, these people will lose their temporary citizen status. If they want to remain here, they can apply for it again and wait for the kingdom officials to approve it.” Xu Yi patiently explained.
Seveni looked at Xu Yi in surprise, “This idea isn’t bad, but how can you guarantee that these people will follow the kingdom’s laws?”
“I’ve just said it, these people rely on the companies and their employment status to enjoy this qualification. Other than watching these people, the officials just have to watch the companies as well. I think that the companies of our Lampuri Kingdom would care about their own feathers, right?”
Seveni thought about it and couldn’t help slowly nodding.
“This idea isn’t bad, but chairman Xu, you’ve forgotten a problem. Whether it is issuing the worker card or doing qualification tests, it requires a related department from the kingdom, the human resource needed won’t be small. With the kingdom’s current finances, I feel that it will be hard for his majesty and the Royal Parliament to accept this suggestion.”
“No money? Isn’t that simple?” Xu Yi laughed, “You need to pay money to apply for a worker card and while these cards are in effect, the companies that hire these people will also have to pay a fee, with the amount depending on the situation. Young miss Seveni, if it is like this, do you think his majesty and the Royal Parliament will not accept this suggestion?”
Seveni looked at Xu Yi with a strange gaze before slowly saying, “Chairman Xu, I suddenly feel that you shouldn’t be a merchant. How about working for the government?”
Xu Yi waved his hand, “I am a rotten merchant from head to toe, let’s forget about working for the government. Young miss Seveni, do you think my suggestion has any hope?”
“Un, if there are payments like you described, I think the difficulty in passing it is much lower.” Seveni said with a nod, “But chairman Xu, according to what you said, I don’t think there are that many humans or other races that qualify for this in the kingdom right now. How much are you planning to spend to obtain these rights for the two hundred dwarves in your company? Other than your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, there should be other similar situations in the kingdom. If this law were to pass, what if the other companies aren’t willing to pay?”
“Isn’t that simple? They won’t enjoy the benefits if they don’t apply for the worker card and everything will be the same as before. As for our Frestech Chamber of Commerce, like manager Riley said just now, because this chairman is a prodigal, he would be bored enough to apply for this kind of worker card for his workers.” Xu Yi gave a shrug as he casually said this.
Seveni broke out in laughter. After a while, her face returned to being serious as she asked, “How about the answer for the first question? How much money is your Frestech Chamber of Commerce planning on giving?”
“It’ll be up to the kingdom officials to decide how much it is, but I can give you our company’s bottom line.” Xu Yi raised his hand, “Five gold coins per worker, what do you think?”
“Five gold coins?” Seveni’s beautiful eyes opened wide and she took a deep breath. She looked at Xu Yi with an emotional gaze, “Chairman Xu, you really are good to your workers.”
Chapter 122 Cement
Seveni felt that spending five gold coins to help a worker apply for a worker card was too much, but Xu Yi felt it was too little.
On earth, not to mention foreign worker permits, even if it was Chinese citizens applying for worker permits in Hong Kong or Macau, it would cost them several thousand RMBs.
Converting it, it was equal to several dozen gold coins.
Of course, Xu Yi wouldn’t tell Seveni this.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce had over two hundred dwarves now and there would be even more dwarves in the future. It was even possible for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to hire elves and beastmen in the future.
With all these other races, he could save more and more on the worker cards.
Other than receiving a confirmation from Seveni on the worker cards, Xu Yi also received some good news from her.
With the agreement of the king, the king had paid the mines that were meant as payment for the agricultural magic machines. Xu Yi had thought that it would take some time after the contract was fulfilled and was afraid that these mines were just lip service. But Seveni told Xu Yi that the kingdom’s mineral department had already cleared one of the mines outside Banta City and Xu Yi could take it at any time.
According to Xu Yi’s agreement with the king, as long as the Frestech Chamber of Commerce finished the first batch of orders, the contract would come into effect. The iron mine would then belong to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
As for other iron mine and three Magic Crystal mines, it would depend on the future orders the Frestech Chamber of Commerce finished.
Although there were many variables in the future, at least this iron mine could already be considered a source of income for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Moreover, during the discussions, because iron ores weren’t that valuable on the Sines Continent, the king and the agricultural department’s representative had put a low price on them.
Xu Yi was very clear that once the magic machine industry developed on the Sines Continent, the demand for iron ore would greatly increase. At that time, the value of iron ore would soar.
As for the Magic Crystal mine…..There were Magic Crystals all over the Sines Continent and they weren’t worth any money at all. The value of the three Magic Crystal mines added together didn’t even match a single iron mine.
But Xu Yi was very certain that as the magic machine industry developed and as magic machines were used in a wider scope on the Sines Continent, the demand for Magic Crystals would greatly increase. The Magic Crystal value would also explode.
Right now it seemed like the king using just two iron mines and three Magic Crystal mines to gain three million gold coins worth of agricultural magic machines from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was earning a large deal, but Xu Yi was more clear than anyone that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had earned a large amount from this.
Thinking of how he could rely on these mines to lessen his worries in the future, Xu Yi was naturally in a very good mood. He even had a wide smile on his face when he met the Amrit Chamber of Commerce’s chairman Moon Cruise, like he had completely forgotten what he had spoken to manager Riley about.
“Chairman Xu, it’s rare for you to come see me, I really am incredibly happy. But…..why did you make an appointment at the construction site?” Chairman Cruise pointed at the cleared ground where they were planning to build a wall and asked this, “The weather is so cold. We should find a place to have a few drinks and talk, that is more appropriate.”
What surprised chairman Cruise the most was Xu Yi didn’t meet him at the nearly finished new workshop for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, rather he met him at a small construction site outside Banta City. He also requested that other than manager Riley, no one else should come with him.
“There are many opportunities to drink and talk, but chairman Cruise, if you miss the opportunity in front of you, that wouldn’t be right.” Xu Yi gave chairman Cruise a mysterious smile and then he took a heavy cloth sack from his horse carriages, throwing it in front of chairman Cruise and manager Riley.
“What is this?” The two looked at the cloth sack in a daze.
Xu Yi smiled without responding. He asked manager Riley, “Manager Riley, when your workers were building the wall, how did they make the bricks they used?”
Manager Riley had a strange expression, not understanding why Xu Yi asked this question. After hesitantly looking at chairman Cruise, he gave a nod in agreement before responding, “It’s mixing lime and sand with mud, it’s nothing special.”
Xu Yi pointed at the cloth sack, “Then try replacing the lime with this.”
Manager Riley opened the sack in a confused manner and after taking a look, he said in a surprised voice, “Chairman Xu, this is……”
“This thing is called cement, it’s a bit like lime. Give it a try, it should be easier to use than lime.” Xu Yi said.
Manager Riley reached out to take a handful of cement and rubbed it together, as the fine powder fell out of his hands.
After working in construction for all these years, going from an ordinary worker to becoming a manager, manager Riley knew just by touching it that this thing had some special characteristics. Not mentioning anything else, there were more fine particles in this powder compared to the lime they normally used.
After rubbing it a few times, manager Riley didn’t waste any other words and picked up the shovel Xu Yi had already prepared. He took a shovel of cement and mixed it with the sand on the side, carefully mixing water.
Seeing the cement, sand and water gradually come together, not only manager Riley, even chairman Cruise had a strange look in his eyes.
As the chairman of the Amrit Chamber of Commerce, chairman Cruise naturally could see the specialty of the cement.
After evenly stirring it, manager Riley took a brick and skillfully smeared the plaster on it before firmly placing it on the wall.
They didn’t even need to wait for the cement to dry. Just with the feeling of his hand, manager Riley could tell that this plaster made from cement was much better than the plaster made from lime.
After seeing manager Riley use up all the plaster and build two levels of brick, chairman Cruise looked at Xu Yi and tightly knit his brows.
“Chairman Xu, what is the meaning of this?”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, “There is no meaning, I just found this cement formula in an ancient book and wanted you two experts to appraise it.”
They naturally didn’t believe Xu Yi’s words, what kinds of ancient book would have this thing? Even if it did, how could these people who rely on the construction industry to make a living not know about it?
But this wasn’t time to expose Xu Yi. Chairman Cruise thought about it before saying in a deep voice, “Chairman Xu, everyone is intelligent, there is no need to beat around the bush. I am very interested in this cement and if you’re willing to take out the recipe, we can discuss any condition you want.”
Xu Yi gave a few fake laughs, “Chairman Cruise, aren’t you too lacking in sincerity? Hand over the formula? Do you think that’s possible?”
Chairman Cruise fell silent. Of course he knew that Xu Yi definitely wouldn’t agree to his request, but this cement was just too good and he couldn’t stop it from moving his heart.
After thinking for a bit, chairman Cruise than said, “Alright, chairman Xu, give me your condition. Since you specially had me come here, you already had the idea to work with me, right?”
“Of course, otherwise I wouldn’t have wasted all this effort.” Xu Yi pointed at the unused cement on the ground and said, “To be frank, chairman Cruise, this cement was just developed recently by our Frestech Chamber of Commerce and has just entered mass production. I asked you here to tell you that this thing has appeared and to ask, is you Amrit Chamber of Commerce interested in it?”
Chairman Cruise gave a cold snort, “Chairman Xu, don’t ask the obvious. How are you planning on selling this cement? Our Amrit Chamber of Commerce wants everything that you have. Of course, all of us are friends in the Business Union, so I hope that you won’t go overboard with your price.”
Xu Yi laughed, “Chairman Cruise, what kind of person do you take me for? This kind of cement has a fixed price of six gold coins per ton, do you think it’s fair?”
“Only six gold coins?” Chairman Cruise and manager Riley couldn’t help calling out, “This…..This is too……”
It was a good thing these two were astute and swallowed the words “too cheap” back down.
But from the shocked expression these people had, it was clear they were deeply shaken by this price.
It had to be known that lime powder’s current market price was six gold coins per ton. This cement was clearly better than the lime, so they were already prepared for Xu Yi to give a sky high price. They never thought that Xu Yi would actually give the same price as lime!
This price, of course it was too cheap!
“This…..Chairman Xu, are you telling the truth?” After a while, chairman Cruise asked this with a look of disbelief.
“Of course it’s true, why would I need to lie to you?” Xu Yi said with a faint smile, “How about it? Do you think this price is fair?”
“Fair! Fair! Of course it’s fair!” Chairman Cruise kept nodding, like he was afraid Xu Yi would regret it. After pausing, he then asked, “But chairman Xu, since we are friends in the Business Union, I have a small request that I hope you can agree to.”
“Please ask.”
“Since you have just started mass producing this cement, your output shouldn’t be that high, right? Since it’s like this, then all the cement that your company has, no matter how much it is, our Amrit Chamber of Commerce wants it all! Moreover, I can increase your price a bit to six and half gold coins per pound, what do you think?”
Xu Yi made an awkward expression and considered it a bit before slowly nodding, “Alright, president Rank has already said that since all of us are comrades in the Business Union, we should help each other. Based on this, all the cement our Frestech Chamber of Commerce makes in the next two years will all go to your Amrit Chamber of Commerce. Other than this, I will give you some more uses for the cement, like reinforced cement…..”
Hearing Xu Yi say it was only for two years, chairman Cruise and manager Riley were a bit disappointed, but after hearing Xu Yi mention “reinforced cement”, the eyes of the two lit up again.
Since it was something that Xu Yi specially mentioned, there was definitely something special about it.
As long as the Amrit Chamber of Commerce could grasp the uses of cement before everyone else, then the Amrit Chamber of Commerce would make leaps and bounds in the construction business. Perhaps they might even be able to step out of Banta City because of this, becoming one of the best construction firms in the Lampuri Kingdom.