Chapter 163 Two naive people
Watching Kennard’s Magic Car heading to Anvilmar City and disappearing on the road, Xu Yi gave a chuckle and shook his head.
“This Kennard, isn’t it just going back home for New Years? Why did he make it sound so serious and tell me ‘goodbye’. He almost scared me to death, I thought he was planning to resign.”
Heinz on the side slightly knit his brows, “This isn’t impossible. I heard that the Emma Family has stepped into the magic machine industry lately. It’s quite reasonable to call back someone like him who has worked as our CEO for two years now.”
“Because the Emma Family wants to step into the magic machine industry, they won’t do something like this because if Kennard remains as the CEO for our company, it will help them develop in the magic machine industry.” Xu Yi said with a faint smile, “In the end, if any company wants to step into the magic machine industry, they have to build relations with our Frestech Chamber of Commerce, right?”
Heinz broke out in laughter, “Xu Yi, I’ve found that you’re becoming more like those important people, you’re always confident when you speak.”
“Oh?” Xu Yi looked at him and thought for a bit before asking, “Baron Hannas seemed to have said the same thing to me, could it be that my personality really has changed?”
Heinz shook his head, “I don’t think your personality has changed, but.....How to say it? It should be because our company is stronger, so you as the chairman naturally will have more confidence compared to before, so you’ve become more oppressive.”
“Why does it sound like I’ve become a villain......” Xu Yi laughed at himself, “Could it be that that kid Alex told you this?”
Hearing the name “Alex”, Heinz’s face fell and he gave a strong snort.
“Don’t mention that kid to me, I’m angry once he’s mentioned!”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile. Heinz had come to send off Kennard with him today, if it wasn’t for Alex, he wouldn’t have believed it.
After Alex came back with him from Anvilmar City, he had remained home for a while. Xu Yi had already told him what he and Heinz had discussed to let Alex prepare his heart.
Only Xu Yi never thought that Heinz wouldn’t be able to calm down. The second day he returned from Sowell City, he came to find him.
It could be imagined that Alex staying at home put a lot of pressure on Heinz.
But he wouldn’t talk about it and acted like it didn’t matter. He continued to ask, “Right, speaking of Alex, since he came back from Anvilmar City, what are you planning to do with him? He’s still young, he can’t just keep staying at home.”
“Un, I think the same. This......” Heinz revealed a very awkward smile and even flattered Xu Yi a bit, “Xu Yi, I have scolded this kid over these days and he regrets it very much, he was very muddled during that time. So.....I hope that you can give him another chance. Look......”
“This isn’t something that can be explained as being confused.” Xu Yi shook his head with a serious look, “Heinz, you should be very clear that if I didn’t find out about this early and he continued to reveal the secrets of our company, it would have created serious consequences that he couldn’t take. Moreover, to be honest, he even had contact with people of the Sack Kingdom before, wanting to betray the secrets of our company to the Sack Kingdom. Do you know that this can be considered treason?”
“It’s not that bad......” Heinz’s expression was very ugly, “He really was just confused, he didn’t have these thoughts. He regrets it now, he shouldn’t have sold the company’s secrets for a bit of money. Xu Yi.....You.....Just forgive him and give him another chance, alright? I’ve never asked you for anything in these years, just treat it as me asking you for a favour this time, alright?”
Seeing Heinz’s begging appearance, Xu Yi gave a deep sigh and patted Heinz’s shoulder, “He is your nephew, you are doing your best for him. When this kid grows up and needs your help, would you dig out your flesh to help him?”
Heinz gave a bitter laugh, “There’s no other way, he is my only nephew. My big brother and his wife died in the turmoil ten years ago and they entrusted him to me when he wasn’t even ten years old. I have a responsibility to take care of him.”
“Taking care of him doesn’t mean pampering him.” Xu Yi shook his head. He took another look at Heinz and gave another sigh, “Alright, although this goes against the company’s rules, since you’ve already said this, I’ll give him another chance. The company will be forming a transport fleet soon, have him take the driver’s exam and then he can join the fleet as a driver. As long as he is willing to endure, it isn’t impossible for him to become the leader of the transport fleet or even manager of the transportation department. I hope that he will seize this chance and do his best.”
Seeing Xu Yi finally agree, Heinz’s eyes lit up and he was filled with joy. He grabbed Xu Yi’s hands and shook it, “Good, good, good. Thank you, chairman, thank you for giving him this chance. I’ll tell him now and have him work properly!”
Seeing Heinz turn to leave, Xu Yi slightly knit his brows.
Actually, he didn’t feel good about Alex.
The matter of Alex selling the company’s secrets for money in Anvilmar City was completely because he was corrupted by Anvilmar City.
He’s already used to the life of luxury, could he really suffer and work hard as a driver?
Xu Yi was doubtful.
Even though there were plenty of other jobs for Alex in the company, Xu Yi had already lost faith in him, so naturally he wouldn’t give him any chance to touch the secrets of the company.
It was like he had told Heinz earlier, the things Alex did could be considered treason. Xu Yi had forced him back from Anvilmar City was all because of Heinz.
If he wanted to enjoy a good job again, it wouldn’t be fair to others and it would be irresponsible when it came to the company.
Thinking of how Heinz was begging for Alex, Xu Yi couldn’t help giving another sigh.
“Others pity the parents of the world, but what about Heinz? Pity the uncles of the world?”
Xu Yi shook his head with a bitter smile. He turned to his horse carriage and headed to the City Lord Manor.
When she saw Xu Yi, Seveni was on her rare break.
When she saw Xu Yi, Seveni put down the hot drink at her mouth and revealed a happy smile.
“Xu Yi, you’re finally back.”
Xu Yi raised his hand to greet her with a casual look on his face.
“Hey, your highness, I’m back. Have you been well during this time?”
Seveni pointed at the pile of paperwork on her desk, “What do you think?”
Xu Yi laughed, “This is the work of a City Lord. When you become queen, I guarantee there will be several times more paperwork.”
Seveni said with a sigh, “Right, I’ve seen my father at work before, I was scared by the amount of paperwork he faced, so I’m hesitating now. If I want to take the throne, I have to face this difficulty and I’m afraid I can’t handle this.”
Hearing the hidden meaning in Sevenin’s words, Xu Yi knit his brows and said with a serious look, “Your highness, you can’t just give up because you want to. If you want to give up, it means giving up on the people who have supported you.” After pausing, Xu Yi pointed at himself, “Or to put it more directly, people like will be sold out by you.”
Seveni looked at Xu Yi and said with a faint smile, “Chairman Xu, even if I wanted to sell you out, I need people to buy you, right? Don’t forget, your current value has reached a point where others are willing to collude with the Sack Kingdom to get rid of you.”
Hearing Seveni mention this, Xu Yi deeply knit his brows, “What about the captives I sent back? If i wasn’t prepared this time, I might not have come back at all.”
“I’ve handed them to father, so I don’t know about them right now.” Seveni replied.
“His majesty?”
Xu Yi thought about it. The king used a forward method to deal with the Royal Parliament this time, which also showed his support for him. Other than deterring those fellows with bad intentions, this was also a warning to the nobles and the reason for that was here.
Thinking of this, Xu Yi stopped discussing this matter.
Now that the matter had been handed over to his majesty, he no longer needed to meddle.
But there were other things that needed to be done. So after Xu Yi thought about, Xu Yi mentioned another important matter to Seveni.
“Noble private armies?” Seveni slightly knit her brows and looked at Xu Yi with a strange gaze, “Why are you thinking about this? Didn’t you oppose nobles having private military equipment, feeling that it would destabilize the kingdom?”
“That is to protect oneself, your highness should understand the reason.”
Seveni let out a deep sigh, “I can understand your ideas, but ideas have even been changed by you, so I feel that this world really is disappointing.”
Xu Yi gave a shrug with a bitter smile, “Your highness, we are no longer children, so we should expect this sooner or later. Only I never thought that the other side would be in such a rush to force me to bring this day sooner. I think that if you had been there when our motorcade was attacked, you would definitely understand my urgent mood.”
Seveni shook her head, “No, even if I was there, I can still understand your idea and support it very much. But.....Xu Yi, do you know that I’ve always been moved by your great ideal? So I hope that you can keep acting this pure , but now it seems like you can’t avoid this fate. Actually.....I’m very disappointed, but it isn’t disappointment in you.”
“The idea that you have, could it be that you idealize me too much, or wouldn’t this be called naive by others?” Xu Yi said with a smile, “Seveni, perhaps it was because of this that we attracted each other and started walking together?”
When he said this, Xu Yi immediately reacted. These words were a bit too much.
However, it was too late to change his tone, so he just gave a cough and turned his head. He quickly changed the topic, “That.....Your highness, you still haven’t told me how big of a private army nobles can have.”
Seveni’s face was a bit red, but she still looked at Xu Yi and said with a faint smile, “In theory, there is no limit.”
Chapter 164 Traffic jam
When leaving the City Lord Manor, it was already close to noon.
Xu Yi looked at the sky and thought that since he had just come back, he had to go back to the Falling Star Manor today to enjoy lunch with Still. Since he didn’t have time to visit anyone, he got into his horse carriage and headed to the Falling Star Manor.
As he swayed with the horse carriage on the road, Xu Yi thought about the answer Seveni had just given him.
In theory, there were no limits to a noble’s private army because the parliament and the Royal Parliament didn’t put any limitations on this.
Because if one carefully analyzed the structure of the Lampuri Kingdom, they would find that the entire Lampuri Kingdom was just a group of large nobles.
As for the royal family, they were just the strongest noble family.
The army that the royal family had was the strongest in the kingdom, so the royal family controlled the largest influence in the kingdom and the head of the royal family was the one who was king.
If one day the royal family couldn’t keep this superiority, it was very likely they would be replaced by another large noble family and the ruler would change.
This wasn’t that different from the history of earth, but it wasn’t as open as it was in the Lampuri Kingdom.
On the Sines Continent, other than some small duchies and small countries, all the other countries, including the Candra and Marlow Empires all had this same system. So Xu Yi’s problem didn’t seem to be a problem for Seveni.
Of course, this only existed in theory.
First, the most important issue was cost.
To build an army, it wasn’t as simple as bringing men together to create a private army.
This army would be a motley crew without any strength.
If one wanted strength, they needed soldiers of a certain quality.
The Lampuri Kingdom didn’t have a high population and the living conditions have never been good, so there weren’t enough people physically capable of being soldiers, decreasing the quality of the Lampuri Kingdom’s armies. Even the strongest northern army had no more than thirty thousand people.
Second, there had to be enough supplies.
A single soldier other than their personal quality needed equipment to increase their battle strength.
To guarantee that a soldier always had this, one had to give corresponding supplies and at least let the soldier eat their fill.
The investment in this would be without a doubt very terrifying.
The Lampuri Kingdom’s royal army had less than fifty thousand people, but they spent over three hundred thousand gold coins in military expenses each year.
This investment was already considered very low.
Not only could it compare to the Sack Kingdom, it was even worse than the smaller countries like the Drake Duchy.
There was no other way since the Lampuri Kingdom was poor before.
So that meant that to have a limitless army, you had to have limitless funds to invest.
Of course this was impossible. So for the second strongest Stagg Family after the royal family, they only had three thousand people in their private army.
Of course, how many soldiers the Stagg Family really had was not an accurate answer.
But if one was bold with their calculations, it would be at most five thousand people.
Because even if the Stagg Family is willing to invest, there was another important question other than the costs which was suppression from the royal family.
Since the Lampuri Kingdom’s political system decided that the strongest family was the royal family, the royal family had to strictly limit the private armies of the other nobles.
Although through the unwritten rules among nobles and the customs of the Sines Continent, the royal family couldn’t force the Royal Parliament to make a decision and limit the amount of troops a noble had, as the family that had the most power in the kingdom, the royal family naturally had countless methods to achieve this.
For example, Lampuri Thirteenth once gave a decree on the grounds of protecting the kingdom that the large nobles had to send a certain amount of their private armies to the northern army, to defend against the Sack Kingdom.
The northern army had a high casualty rate, so if they sent a portion of their army, the bigger the private army, the higher the loss of the nobles.
So with the other methods of the royal family, the armies of the nobles in the Lampuri Kingdom were gradually stabilized.
For an army like the Stagg Family’s that had three thousand soldiers, it was already the kingdom’s highest standard.
The other nobles of the kingdom had around two thousand soldiers.
For a trivial viscount like Xu Yi......
Want to own a private army? Are you crazy?
Of course Xu Yi wasn’t crazy, naturally Seveni didn’t think this way.
She knew that Xu Yi’s meaning behind this question was, so after giving Xu Yi a detailed analysis of the kingdom’s noble armies, she gave him a suggestion.
It was best not to announce that he wanted a private army and he could hire several hundred guards for this territory.
Although this would attract the attention of countless people, it would at least be acceptable since many nobles in the kingdom used this method.
Xu Yi happily accepted Seveni’s suggestion, but only a few hundred people were far from enough in his eyes.
If he really needed them, several hundred people weren’t any use at all.
Not to mention that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce didn’t worry about investing like the other nobles and with the weapons they could manufacture, Xu Yi could easily build an army that was over several hundred people.
To avoid the suppression of the royal family, there were also many other methods.
Of course, he didn’t need to discuss this with Seveni.
The horse carriage slowed down after coming out the west gate of Banta City.
“What is it?” Xu Yi asked the driver in a confused voice.
“Sir chairman, it’s a traffic jam.”
“Traffic jam?” Hearing this word that was familiar on earth, but strange in this world, Xu Yi was surprised.
He opened the curtain to the horse carriage and found that the road was indeed blocked.
The road was eight meters wide and could hold four horse carriages, but now that there were Magic Cars that were heading to the Falling Rain Valley, it blocked up the road.
It seemed like there was an accident in front. He could see two horse carriages on the ground and could hear the sounds of arguing in front.
Seeing the anxious looks people had and hearing their discussions, Xu Yi couldn’t help smiling.
This scene really was a fond memory for him.
“Old Bell, are traffic jams normal?” Xu Yi asked Bell who was the driver of his personal horse carriage.
“There weren’t that many before, but there were more in the latter half of this year.” Old Bell replied before suddenly looking at Xu Yi with a strange gaze, “Sir chairman, to be honest, it only started after our company started selling Magic Cars and many people in traffic jams curse us.”
Xu Yi laughed, “They will adapt sooner or later.”
Looking up to see that the situation wasn’t improving and seeing that there were more and more vehicles, even extending to the city gates in the distance. Xu Yi remembered that there weren’t things like traffic police that could be sent to direct traffic.
After hesitating a bit, Xu Yi used his Wind Control Technique to fly over the blocked horse carriages and Magic Cars.
He flew up front to see that it was a Magic Car and two horse carriages that caused the accident.
The two horse carriages were on the ground and looked like they were about to break, clearly having been hit very hard.
That Magic Car was standing on the side, looking like it wasn’t damaged at all.
He looked over the people arguing and Xu Yi found an acquaintance.
“Old man Sarkozy, it’s you. What happened here?”
Old man Sarkozy looked at Xu Yi who had fallen down from the sky in surprise before revealing a happy look.
“Chairman Xu, why are you here as well? I was just transporting goods from Cramer City. Look, this car has goods from your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, it’s about to go to the Falling Rain Valley. I never thought that I would hit them here.”
Xu Yi looked at where old man Sarkozy was pointing and the people arguing with old man Sarkozy were small nobles of Banta City. It was no wonder they had these pretty good personal horse carriages.
Seeing Xu Yi look over, the several nobles began complaining.
“Chairman Xu, don’t listen to his nonsense! We were clearly heading along the road and he slammed into us. Look, our horse carriages are almost broken! We’re also injured, could it be that this is our fault?”
“Whose fault would it be if not yours? Who told your horse carriages to run all wild and run so fast? Are your horses crazy?” Old man Sarkozy immediately refuted.
The expression on the faces of the nobles froze before they roared back, “I think you’re crazy! Our horse carriage and horse have been in the family for over ten years, how could they be worse than this Magic Car that came out of nowhere? You......”
When the nobles said this, they remembered that Xu Yi was on the side. They had actually spoken ill of the Magic Cars in front of Xu Yi, wasn’t this seeking death?
Turning to see Xu Yi’s face sink, their hearts were filled with fear.