Chapter 29? Lack in manpower
Because of the long journey yesterday and adding in the fact he was tossing and turning late into the night because of Still’s matter, Xu Yi woke up quite late the next day.
When he opened his eyes, the sunlight shined in through his window and it seemed like it was around noon.
“Master, are you awake?” Vivian’s timid voice rang in his ears, “It’ll be noon soon, is there anything you want to eat?”
Xu Yi sat up and looked around, not seeing a trace of Still.
“Big sister Still already went back. She said that if master is heading to the Magic Tower today, she wants you to look for her. She has something to discuss with you.”
“Oh? Something to discuss with me? Why didn’t that fellow tell me last night?” Xu Yi looked out the window before asking Vivian, “Don’t make anything today. Let’s go out to eat, it’ll save some time.”
“Master, there’s no need for me.” Vivian said in a surprised voice, “You go and eat, it’s alright for me to casually eat something at home.”
“Stop talking, this is an order.” Xu Yi said without any politeness.
After being with Vivian for some time, Xu Yi knew that because this little girl had been a slave for too long, she was used to putting herself in a very low position. If he wanted to change her views, it would also take a long time.
“Oh.” As expected, hearing the strong tone in Xu Yi’s voice, Vivian obediently agreed.
After bringing Vivian out, Xu Yi brought her to a clothing store to buy two sets of clothes before looking for a restaurant to eat lunch in.
While eating, Xu Yi was organizing his thoughts in his mind.
There were many complicated things in front of him right now, so he had to sort these things into relative importances.
The most important thing was of course guaranteeing the production and sale of Magic Fans. Otherwise, if he lacked money, he couldn’t do anything.
Although the Magic Fan sales had exploded, Xu Yi was very clear that the market of Banta City and the surrounding area would be saturated soon. Their sales in the future quickly fall and plateau, they wouldn’t have the same explosive sales as before.
Xu Yi two methods for this. One was to improve the Magic Fan, constantly releasing new products.
He believed that after the second generation Variable Speed Magic Fan was produced, it would inevitably create a swell. This was because people loved new things.
The second was continuously increasing the market.
Other than Karma City, there have been merchants from other cities near Banta City who have made large orders.
According to the information they brought, when the Magic Fans came to their city, it immediately created a wild surge. The first test batch of Magic Fans these merchants brought back were emptied in a short period of time, so when these merchants came a second time, they directly proposed an order that was several times larger than last time.
But because the Magic Fan production capacity couldn’t be increased for now, Heinz had only accepted five thousand fans in orders right now.
Heinz was very annoyed because of this. If he knew about this earlier, he would have been even bolder and built a factory several times bigger, increasing their production capacities by several times to allow them to swallow all these orders.
Xu Yi was not anxious because of this, he had already set his mind on the second generation Variable Speed Magic Fan.
As long as everything went smoothly, as long as the second generation Variable Speed Magic Fan entered the production line, their output would increase by several times. When the time comes, not to mention a trivial ten thousand fans, even if it was twenty thousand, thirty thousand, or even more, they could handle it easily.
Of course, to actualize this production line, there were many things that needed to be prepared.
This was the thing Xu Yi cared about the most right now.
Although Master Lanus had already built a Magic Thread Rolling Machine and a Magic Capping Machine, allowing the production of screw bolts and allowing the possibility of a Variable Speed Magic Fan production line, it was far from being enough.
In order to upgrade the crude forging of the first generation Magic Fans, he needed to standardize every part of the Magic Fan production.
But to standardize it, it was very hard just based on manpower.
Even if Master Lanus’ tribe members had the same forging skills as Master Lanus, it wouldn’t satisfy his needs.
To achieve this, the most important thing was a forging machine.
Take the Magic Fan cover as an example, if one were to rely on hand forging, a blacksmith shop in Banta City couldn’t produce more than thirty covers.
In order to guarantee the production of Magic Fans, Xu Yi had already made orders in every single blacksmith shop in Banta City.
Although this meant there was always work and it made the blacksmiths very happy, this affected the order in Banta City, so it wasn’t a long term plan.
Even if it was like this, the output of Magic Fan covers could only barely match the production output of the factory. If he wanted to increase it, it was almost impossible.
Not to mention that Xu Yi had always been dissatisfied with the blacksmiths’ handiwork, most of the Magic Fan covers they made were not uniform at all. If it was placed on earth with their strict factory guidelines, most of them would be considered defective products.
If he wanted the Variable Speed Magic Fans to be placed on a mass production line, these outer covers couldn’t be used at all.
“In the end, there is still a serious lack in industrial foundations.” Thinking of this, Xu Yi couldn’t help sighing.
The establishment of an industrial system couldn’t leave behind development of heavy industrial equipment. But on the Sines Continent, not to mention heavy industrial equipment, even light industrial equipment was rare to find. Their foundation was just too lacking.
“I hope that after those dwarves come, they can improve this aspect.”
Xu Yi took out a little book and began making preliminary plans on this matter.
According to his agreement with tribe chief Siluka, in three days, there would be a hundred dwarves with excellent skills that would come to Banta City to become Xu Yi’s employees.
In order to protect these dwarves, Xu Yi would build a residential area near the factory and also separately build two more workshops.
One would be a metal foundry that the dwarves would mainly work in while the other would be the assembly room for the Variable Speed Magic Fans.
Because there was only a single month of summer left, time was very short. Those two workshops would have to be crude for now and would be built like the previous Magic Fan workshop.
But he couldn’t casually build the residential area. He had given tribe chief Siluka a good condition and also slap his chest in promise in front of Master Lanus.
Not to mention that these dwarves were the most important forging masters in Xu Yi’s heart. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the base of the industrial system for the Sines Continent laid in these dwarves’ hands. If he didn’t treat them properly, that wouldn’t be good.
“There are just too many things to do, I don’t have enough people at all.” Xu Yi knit his brows as he looked at the packed things in his little book, “Not mentioning anything else, just the workshop and the employee dormitory needs a large amount of people. I wonder, how will Heinz take care of this?”
While thinking about this, Xu Yi suddenly looked at Vivian who was focused on eating and his eyes lit up.
“I know!”
###
“You want to buy a few slaves from me?” Viscount Leslie looked at Xu Yi in a daze. He never thought that this fellow would run over here at noon and ask this kind of request, “What are you buying them for?”
“Because I need a large amount of people right now.” Xu Yi said, “I’m expanding the factory’s production line and need large amounts of workers. I can’t hire that many people in a short period of time, so I could only find you to think of a solution.”
Viscount Leslie’s expression was a bit ugly, “Based on your tone, I’m afraid you won’t need a small amount of people. Tell me, how many people do you need?”
Xu Yi raised one finger and said with a faint smile, “I’ll take one hundred for now.”
“One hundred?” Viscount Leslie slightly narrowed his eyes and reprimanded him without restraint, “Do you think they are pigs? You’ll get one hundred if you need one hundred? Let me tell you, I only have a total of three hundred slaves under my name and if I give you one hundred, what would I do? I’ll be honest with you, where would I even find slaves to buy to make up for that? Don’t you see that there is still undeveloped land under my name? If I had enough people, that land wouldn’t be empty at all and there wouldn’t be empty space for you.”
Xu Yi wasn’t moved at all by this, as he asked with a smile, “Then speaking of this, the Lord Viscount only needs slaves to help you sow the land?”
“Nonsense, what use do these fellows have? It’s just a bunch of slaves.” Viscount Leslie said these sharp words before suddenly looking at Vivian who had been following behind Xu Yi the entire time, “That’s right, this little girl should be the slave you stole from Brunei without my permission last time, right? What? After experiencing some sweetness from her, you want to buy a few more slaves to use?”
Viscount Leslie looked over and Vivian immediately lowered her head in fear.
From her views, her previous master Viscount Leslie was in an aloof position, one that a small slave like her couldn’t stare at.
Xu Yi knit his brows and seriously said, “Lord Viscount, first, I didn’t steal her, rather I have discussed the conditions with Butler Brunei. Vivian was bought with agreement from both sides and you signed the contract for this matter. Secondly, Vivian is my people, so I ask you to mind your words and not say anything degrading.”
Hearing Xu Yi directly contradicting Viscount Leslie, Vivian was terrified. She couldn’t help reaching her little hand to pull on Xu Yi’s clothes with a face covered in terror.
Viscount Leslie was a bit surprised. He actually wasn’t angry at all from being contradicted, rather he looked over Xu Yi and Vivian before revealing a smile.
“Xu Yi, you really are a strange fellow. For a slave, you actually dared confronting me. You said that this little girl belongs to you…..but I can see that she’s still a virgin, right? She could actually remain a virgin after being with you for so long, are you actually an unexpected good person?”
They never thought Viscount Leslie would say something like virgin, causing Xu Yi and Vivian to blush.
“Ke…...Lord Viscount, I didn’t mean that, only…...Forget it, there is no meaning hanging onto this matter. I just want to remind the Lord Viscount that you have underestimated slaves too much. Even if they are slaves, as long as their hands, feet, and head are working properly, they have value as manpower, only you are not using them efficiently. I’ll say something you won’t like to hear, but if those three hundred slaves remain in your hands, their value is far less than if you hand them all to me.”
Viscount Leslie was instantly filled with joy.
“Good, then I want to hear this. If I gave them to you, how will you let them display their value?”
Chapter 30 Plant manager and assistant plant manager
Heinz saw the large group of ragged men and women far behind Xu Yi, surging as a wave towards the factory and was terrified.
Could it be that this fellow was locked onto by all the “beggars” inside Banta City?
When the crowd came closer, Heinz noticed that he wasn’t right because in front of the men and women in rags, there was a brightly dressed old man with a noble aura around him with Xu Yi.
“Butler Brunei? Why are you here?” Heinz asked in a stunned voice.
Butler Brunei nodded at Heinz and didn’t respond to his question. He turned to Xu Yi and said, “Chairman Xu, I have already sent the people over. From now on, these hundred slaves will be for your use, you can do whatever you want with them. But the Lord Viscount has said that these hundred slaves are only being lent to you and they aren’t being given or sold to you. He hopes that you will fulfill your promise to him and if not, he will immediately take back the hundred slaves.”
Xu Yi said with a smile, “Alright, many thanks to Butler Brunei for personally sending them over.”
Butler Brunei turned to give those men and women a few orders before those people walked behind Xu Yi, revealing looks of obedience.
“Alright, I have finished my task.” Butler Brunei gave another nod to Heinz before saying seriously to Xu Yi, “Xu Yi, although the Lord Viscount didn’t tell me why he gave you these hundred slaves, as the Lord Viscount’s butler, I must warn you that these hundred slaves are very important to the Lord Viscount. Now that the Lord Viscount has given them to you, that represents the Lord Viscount’s trust in you. I hope you will not disappoint the Lord Viscount.”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, “Be assured, if the Lord Viscount didn’t trust me, how could he accept my request?”
Butler Brunei gave a slight nod before saying nothing else and turning to leave.
After Butler Brunei entered his horse carriage and left, Heinz couldn’t contain the curiosity in his heart anymore as he asked, “Hey, Xu Yi, what is going on here? These people are all slaves? And they are all Viscount Leslie’s slaves? Why would he give you these slaves to use? What condition did you discuss with him?”
Xu Yi raised his hand to stop Heinz from asking his questions.
“I’ll talk about this later, what about the houses I asked you to build last time? Let’s set up the slaves first and let them settle down.”
Heinz doubtfully looked at Xu Yi looked at Xu Yi before turning to shout at the workshop. After a while, Heinz’s nephew Alex ran out.
After listening to a few words from Heinz, Alex waved his hand to bring the slaves to the distant large wooden cabins near the river.
“You called Alex over to help?” Xu Yi looked at Alex leading the slaves and asked this with a bit of a surprise.
“Hei…..I was just too busy, so I directly called him over to help.” Heinz somewhat awkwardly said, “Although this kid isn’t that smart, at least he’s serious when he works. I had him help me manage several things and it’s saved me quite a bit of effort.”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile and patted Heinz’s shoulder as he said, “This is my fault, I’ve put everything onto you. Actually now that there are more and more things, I should have found you a helper to share this a long time ago. You having Alex help is also good. At least he’s one of us, so we can be assured.”
“Un, I also thought the same. Of course, if the chairman has someone more suited for this, I’ll immediately send this kid back to manage the general store.”
“No need for that. Since he is already here, then let him work properly. We’ll do this, I’ll use this chance to divide the work. Heinz, you’ll now be in charge of managing the production line and all the large and small matters here. You’ll be the plant manager. As for the salary…...let’s just set it for thirty gold coins per month for now.”
“Ah? How could that be?” Heinz was stunned before he quickly waved his hands, “I have stock already, managing things here is what I should do. How could I also receive a salary?”
“Stock and you doing things are two completely different things. Putting effort in means receiving a reward. You spend a large amount of time and effort to manage things here, so actually thirty gold coins is already very little. But we are just beginning and can only afford this much for now. When we develop further, your salary will definitely become bigger.” Without waiting for Heinz to refute this, Xu Yi forcefully slapped his shoulder, “We’ll just set it like this!”
“This…..That…...That isn’t good…..” Heinz rubbed his hands and had a look of embarrassment, but in the end he didn’t refuse this.
Xu Yi smiled before continuing, “As for Alex, he’ll be the assistant plant manager. His salary will be..,....”
“No, no, no, no, no! It’s already his luck for that kid to help, how could he dare take a salary. You don’t need to consider him at all, really!” Heinz quickly said.
Xu Yi laughed as he pointed at Heinz, “You’re getting thirty gold coins each month and he’s not getting a single copper coin, how could he be happy? Alright, I’m setting this matter and it’ll be ten gold coins for a month for now. If he does well, it can be raised at any time. What do you think?”
Heinz gave two laughs and didn’t refute him.
Seeing the excitement that couldn’t be hidden on his face, Xu Yi found it a bit funny.
Heinz seeking benefits for his nephew, this could be considered a normal thing for people. Xu Yi didn’t have anything against this.
It was just like he said, Alex was considered one of them, so he could be assured in using him.
Moreover, like this, it would make Heinz invest even more and care even more about the factory which was a good thing.
As for his and Alex’s salaries, it was nothing more than a small thing.
“That’s right, Xu Yi, you still haven’t told me yet, what are these slaves for?” After a bit of excitement, Heinz didn’t forget to ask about the matter with the slaves.
“Oh, that’s the manpower I’ve borrowed temporarily from Viscount Leslie. Our factory will be investing into expanding our production capacity and we need a large amount of workers. These slaves are obedient and easy to use, so of course they are very suitable choices. That’s right, contract a few more construction crews from Banta City and have them build more rooms as quickly as possible. The dwarven craftsmen that I’ve recruited will be here in just a few days, so we need to have a place for them to stay when the time comes.”
“Alright, I’ll remember these matters. Is there anything else?”
“Anything else……” Xu Yi looked at Heinz before shaking his head, “Nothing right now. The main thing is taking care of the problem of where the slaves and dwarves will live. Heinz, you mustn’t neglect them because of their identities as slaves and dwarves, they will become important parts for our company to develop.”
“I know this, I’ll definitely plan everything.” Heinz have a serious nod.
Xu Yi let out a sigh, as he thought that he really lacked manpower.
Heinz in name was a plant manager, but he was also human affairs and the logistics manager. Almost all the small and large things of the factory was taken care of by him.
The factory was still small right now and the scale of production wasn’t big, but he already needed to call Alex over for help. When they developed in the future, he couldn’t rely on just one person to do everything no matter what.
But this kind of management talent was even harder to find than research talent sometimes. For now, he didn’t have a solution for this problem.
After he finished speaking to Heinz, Xu Yi walked into the workshop.
Because there were classes in the morning, the thirty students he recruited were at school right now and this workshop felt a bit lonely.
Xu Yi looked into the empty workshop and couldn’t help giving an emotional sigh over his lack of manpower.
To those students, their studies at the Baron Rickto Magic Academy was more important in the end. Even if they signed a contract, they wouldn’t focus on working here, rather they would balance work and study.
However, for a factory, a stable and continuous production line was very important.
Even if Xu Yi recruited a large amount of students to do this work, the minds of the students would still be affected by the system of the Sines Continent. They would feel that becoming stronger machines is more important than working here, so it was very hard for them to remain here for a long time like Xu Yi wanted.
“Two ways to solve this, one is to cast a wide net. Magic is extremely prosperous on the Sines Continent and there are many magicians, so there will always be magicians who aren’t too successful. In order to live, those fellows still need to work. This work is considered work for their occupation, so there will be people that come here. As for the other method……” Xu Yi fell into deep thought and considered this.
The other method was to reduce the threshold of the Magic Array.
Although the Magic Fan’s Revolving Wind Array was only a Low Grade Magic Array that even students in magic school could finish, Xu Yi would make even more products in the future. The Magic Arrays inside those things would not be limited to Low Grade Magic Arrays.
To draw a High Grade Magic Array, one needed the magician to have a corresponding strength.
When he arrived at that stage, it would be very hard to casually recruit magicians to complete this work.
What Xu Yi could do was reduce the magic power need by these magical machinery as much as possible, lowering the might and grade of the Magic Arrays, as well as the requirement for the magician needed to draw it.
But this was a very large project, needing a large amount of time and effort to finish.
Just based on the Revolving Wind Array used in the Magic Fan, it was already very difficult if Xu Yi wanted to make any improvements to it. If he wanted to make any product in the future, he would have the same problem.
If it was just relying on Xu Yi alone, it definitely couldn’t be solved.
Xu Yi knit his brows and aimlessly walked through the workshop, while considering how to solve this problem.
He arrived at the tables where the students drew Magic Arrays and suddenly felt a breeze of cold wind, surprising him.
Looking up, he found that the Magic Air Conditioner on the wall was still on.
“It’s still on without anyone here? Isn’t this a waste?” Xu Yi muttered, but then he remembered that he was the one who told them to do this. He wanted them to use the Magic Air Conditioner more and test its performance.
“I don’t know what kind of problems those fellows have come up with. After collecting their problems, I should go find Camilla and discuss this magic……” Thinking of this, Xu Yi narrowed his eyes and said to himself in a soft voice, “It seems like I need to have a proper discussion with Great Magician Camilla.”