Chapter 159 City symbol
Xu Yi thought about it, but he gave up explaining this to Hannas.
The Sines Continent’s social system was different from earth. On earth, the politicians needed to earn the support of the people, but for the Sines Continent, a great noble like Count Sean didn’t need to put on a show for the citizens at all.
It was like Hannas said, those citizens couldn’t influence Count Sean at all because it was impossible for them to choose the City Lord, decide Count Sean’s title, and they couldn’t influence the family behind Count Sean.
“Alright, let’s not talk about this. Hannas, after you saw this new city square, what do you think?” Xu Yi asked as he changed the topic.
“What do I think? This is just too shocking!” Hannas immediately gave an emotional sigh, holding nothing back, “Xu Yi, how could I have never discovered this before, you were actually such an expert in building a city? This city square is just too creative. I dare say that on the entire Sines Continent, there isn’t a single city with the same city square. Not mentioning the beautiful fountain in the middle, just the Magic Lights that can light up the entire square is shocking enough.”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, thinking that Hannas really was inexperienced.
Just a small city square was enough to shock him, then wouldn’t he faint from his shock if he were to see those huge metropolises on earth?
Of course, he was very clear on the fact that the Banta City square could be considered crude to him, but this was a very shocking new thing on the Sines Continent.
Hannas kept praising him for a bit before suddenly changing the topic.
“This new city square is indeed quite good, but was it worth you having me specially come from Anvilmar City?”
“Of course, you are the secret leader of Anvilmar City’s newspaper business. If I don’t find you, how can I show everyone in the kingdom the beautiful scene of Banta City’s city square?” Xu Yi said with a smile.
Hannas slightly knit his brows, “Actually…..I’m very curious. Xu Yi, why are you so passionate about this? You are just a normal company’s chairman and not Banta City’s City Lord. Putting in this much effort for this matter and even advertising it like this, why are you doing this?”
“It’s very simple, I did this to raise the fame of Banta City, to let everyone know that this small and remote city in everyone’s mind is a new and impressive city filled with life. If Banta City becomes famous, it would greatly help the companies in Banta City.” After saying this, Xu Yi pointed at the city square in the distance and said, “Do you see that unicorn in the center of the square? It is the name card of Banta City. When people introduce Banta City in the future, it will be the symbol of Banta City.”
Hannas looked at where Xu Yi was pointing and muttered, “That is a unicorn? I thought that it was a horse with a deformity……”
Xu Yi couldn’t help rolling his eyes.
He thought that since this world had dwarves, elves, beastmen, and once had halfling and dragons, it meant that the divine beast of the western fantasy world, the unicorn would also exist.
But when Count Sean asked about the design of the statue and Xu Yi proposed the unicorn, he was met with looks of bewilderment.
When he gave the rough outline of the unicorn, whether it was Count Sean, Agnes, or even the elf in the factory, they had never seen this kind of creature before.
Xu Yi could only helplessly accept the fact that there were no unicorns in this world, but Count Sean was very pleased by the image that he drew. After they had an artist draw it, they decided to have it as the statue that would represent Banta City.
This unicorn had a very profound meaning.
First the unicorn was in the shape of a horse and horses represented speed and endurance. Banty City was in a state of quick development and has kept it going all this time.
Next, there was only a single horn on the unicorn’s head. It meant that no matter what difficulties there were, Banta City would keep charging forward and break through everything.
Finally it was the pair of wings which meant that Banta City would soar in the sky.
When Xu Yi told Count Sean of all these meanings, Count Sean approved it even more.
Count Sean even planned to publish a book on Banta City’s history, which would not only describe the past, it would also describe the current Banta City. He was planning to show everyone the current Banta City through this book.
This was also a part of the “Banta City image construction plan” that Xu Yi proposed.
The other things like rebuilding the city square and calling Hannas over to use the newspaper to advertise Banta City all over the country was all a part of the plan.
In short, it was to build a star city in the Lampuri Kingdom, to let everyone in the Lampuri Kingdom know about Banta City.
“Then what is your real goal?” Hannas asked, “You say that this is helpful to all the companies in your Banta City, but I don’t see how it will help. If you are planning to increase the fame of your Frestech Chamber of Commerce and let it develop a bit faster, I can understand and there are many methods that can help you achieve this. But if you’re talking about creating a symbol for Banta City…..I still have the same thing to say, that is something for Count Sean to consider and not something for a normal merchant like you.”
Xu Yi couldn’t help giving a sigh.
Different societies had different understandings. For Xu Yi who transmigrated from earth, building the image of a city was a natural thing.
But for someone from the Sines Continent, a city was just a city in the end. It was a place with a bit more people living in it, but there was no special meaning.
To let them understand the importance of a city’s image was simply playing the fiddle for a bull.
Even for Hannas who came from the largest Anvilmar City was the same.
After thinking about it, Xu Yi found that if he wanted to let Hannas understand the meaning of this matter and how it would help the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, it would be a troublesome matter. He was too lazy to explain and just asked him to help him advertise this without caring about the reason.
As for the benefits it would bring to the companies of Banta City and Banta City itself, Hannas didn’t know now, but he would know in the future.
After discussing how to advertise this with Hannas, Xu Yi had Hannas go meet Count Sean who returned to the City Lord’s Manor as he went to a wing in the City Lord’s Manor.
When he came into the hall, Xu Yi heard the unique laughter of Akali coming through the door.
“Ha, ha, you really should have been on stage. When the surrounding Magic Lamps lit up, everyone closed their eyes. When they opened them again, almost everyone’s mouths dropped in shock. Their expressions were really funny…..”
“Is that so? I feel their mouths weren’t open as wide as yours right now, right?” Xu Yi smiled as he opened the door and walked in.
The little hall had seven members of the magic research facility including Akali. They were the technical support staff for the Magic Lamps in the city square, they were mainly responsible for solving the problem of how the lamps would light up the entire square.
The twenty large scale Magic Lamps on poles around the city square and the small lamps by the plants, as well as the lamps in the fountain, were all designed by them.
The chief designer was Akali.
Seeing Xu Yi come in, Akali wanted to excitedly charge over, but hearing what Xu Yi said, she stopped and said with a soft snort, “Sir chairman, I just completed quite a meaningful job, can’t you let me be happy for a bit?”
“Of course you can.” Xu Yi said with a smile, “Not only can you be happy for a bit, you can keep being happy since I have some good news for you. With the success of this city square improvement plan, especially with how great the Magic Lamps were working, I’ve decided to represent the Frestech Chamber of Commerce in giving you a special reward.”
Hearing the words “special reward”, all the researchers looked at Xu Yi with expectant looks.
Xu Yi deliberately paused before giving a cough and saying in a loud voice, “Other than Akali, the six of you will receive a third grade reward. This means that each person will receive one hundred gold coins!”
“Oh!”
“That’s great!”
“Great!”
“Ah, ha, ha, ha.”
…...
When Xu Yi’s voice fell, everyone immediately burst out in cheers.
Akali rushed over in an excited manner and grabbed Xu Yi’s arm while asking, “Sir chairman, what about my reward? You said last time that my magic resonating technology was a great discovery and I’ve worked so hard, look how thin I’ve become. Since it’s like this, my reward can’t be less than theirs, right?”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile and said with a nod, “Of course, you are the inventor of this technology and the leader of this research group, so your reward is definitely higher than the others.”
“Then I should be at the second grade right? Let me think…...The second grade is…..Is…..”
“No need. It’s not the second grade, rather it’s the first grade. That means you receive five hundred gold coins!”
Chapter 160 Banta City’s ambitions
Hearing the number “five hundred gold coins”, the six researchers who were cheering were stunned and the room fell into a strange silence.
After a while, Akali asked Xu Yi with a look of disbelief in a trembling voice, “Sir…..Sir chairman, you just said…..I’m receiving a first grade reward?”
“Yes, first grade reward, five hundred gold coins. You didn’t hear wrong.” Xu Yi nodded with a serious look.
Akali was stunned for a bit before suddenly cheering and jumping up.
“Ha, ha, that’s great! Five hundred gold coins! I can buy so many new clothes!”
Xu Yi was speechless.
This Akali in the end was just a young girl in her early twenties. Suddenly receiving this large reward, the first thing she thought about was buying new clothes.
Seeing the other researchers looking at Akali with looks of envy, Xu Yi added, “Don’t be jealous of Akali. I will always be generous for breakthroughs in technology and Akali’s achievements are worthy of this reward. If you want to receive the same reward as her, then you just need to properly study and make a breakthrough that can compete with hers.”
The six researchers all gave strong nods.
Although they were jealous of Akali, they knew that Akali played the biggest role this time. It could even be said that this magic resonance technology was completely developed by Akali alone.
Being able to receive a hundred gold coins as a reward was already considered a pleasant surprise.
Seeing Akali and the other researchers cheering in celebration, Xu Yi couldn’t help revealing a smile.
Actually, according to his ideas, Akali’s magic resonance technology had many uses. Just using it to control all the Magic Lamps in this small city square was just a very simple application of this technology.
If they continued researching this technology, they could use it in many different other places. Even now based on what Xu Yi could think of, he already had three different ideas.
Moreover, as they continued studying this, there would definitely be more applications/
For a technology with such influence and such a broad area of use, Xu Yi felt that it was quite cheap only giving Akali five hundred gold coins.
If it was possible, he felt that it was worth it even if he gave Akali fifty thousand gold coins.
Of course, the reward system of the magic research facility was something that Evita made and Xu Yi recognized, so he couldn’t just break the rules at will.
Not to mention that only rewarding five hundred gold coins now, there would be more room to increase on in the future.
When the magic research facility created more and more magic machines, with increasing importance, it would be inevitable that the amount given would increase.
When that time came, perhaps it would be like the companies on earth where a single piece of technology would be worth tens of millions.
Thinking of this, Xu Yi turned to look at Sancheli who had been sitting in the corner, looking excited, but also quite awkward.
Seeing Xu Yi look over, Sancheli revealed a smile that seemed rather forced.
Xu Yi thought for a bit before sitting down beside him. He patted his shoulder with a smile and said, “How about it? Your work is this outstanding, why do you have this kind of expression? Come, tell me honestly, what grade reward do you think you deserve?”
Sancheli’s smile became even more awkward as he kept waving his hand and saying, “No, no, no. I’ve already mooched off you for a year and now I can finally help, I’m already very happy, how could I dare want some reward. Sir chairman, you not blaming me for taking this long to develop something is already very good.”
Xu Yi looked at Sancheli for a bit before asking, “So you always looked for a reason to avoid me because you felt ashamed?”
Sancheli revealed a look of shame as he nodded and said with a deep voice, “Yes, seeing the other colleagues have results all day and develop all kinds of products for the company, I feel like I’ve never done anything. Although sir chairman hasn’t said anything, I feel quite sorry in my heart. If it wasn’t for you, I might have starved to death in Anvilmar City. Not only did you save me and fulfil me wishes, letting me have my own laboratory and study the magic I want to study, I really don’t know how to repay you. I thought that if I could make the programming technology that you spoke of, I could repay you, but…...I never thought that it would be this hard.”
“You’re surprised?” Xu Yi said with a smile, “To be honest with you, I didn’t have any hope with this at all. I only had this idea when I saw the crystal ball that you made, so I decided to let you give it a try. I’m very clear on how difficult this technology is, so I didn’t have any hope of you developing this in a short period of time. This time you being able to apply a part of your technology and letting the Water Magic Array in the fountains create shapes was already a pleasant surprise. So there is no pressure on you, you just need to keep researching.”
Xu Yi was very generous, so the look of shame on Sancheli’s face became even stronger.
It was like he said, Xu Yi had not only saved him, he had also given him what he wanted.
If he didn’t insist on studying his unique magic, with his decent talent in magic, he wouldn’t have come close to starving himself.
To him, his magic research was more important than his life.
Now that he was at the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, Xu Yi had given him an environment to study the magic that he loved, almost giving him a new lease on life.
“Alright! I will definitely work hard!” Thinking of this, Sancheli gave a strong nod, “Sir chairman, be assured, if I can’t do it in a year, I’ll do it in ten years! If I can’t do it in ten years, I will use my entire life! I will definitely develop the programming technology that you want before I die! You don’t need to give me a wage, I only need food and magic materials! I will dedicate my entire life to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce!”
Xu Yi shook his head with a faint smile, “I already said so, there’s no pressure, you just need to research it at your leisure. Also, through this performance, I’ve realized that I’ve neglected a problem. Akali could develop and apply this magic resonance technology so fast, other than her own talent, it was because she had six researchers helping her. Rather you have been working by yourself the entire time. So starting tomorrow, you will pick a few assistants to help with your research. What do you think?”
“There’s no need, right?” Sancheli said in a surprised voice, “I can just research this thing by myself, there’s no need for assistants.”
“Even Great Magicians have assistants when they research magic, why don’t you need them? This matter has been decided. I’ll give you three days to consider and then you can give the lists of assistants you want to Evita, as well as consult with her on assistants. When this list is finished, come talk to me.”
Seeing Xu Yi not giving him room to negotiate, Sancheli swallowed all his words of resistance and just nodded as he agreed.
“Other than this, my principle is that acts must be rewarded. The Magic Array delay technology you invented had very good results. Although it isn’t as amazing as Akali’s magic resonance technology, it is still very important. So I’ve decided to give you a second grade reward, which is two hundred gold coins.” Xu Yi said with a serious look.
Sancheli was stunned. He wanted to reject, but seeing Xu Yi’s determined look, he couldn’t say a thing and could only accept it.
“Alright, keep working hard. Although your performance this time wasn’t as good as Akali’s, I have always had good views of the Magic Array programming technology. I believe that it will become a very important technology and won’t have prospects worse than the magic resonance technology.”
Xu Yi patted Sancheli’s shoulder again and comforted him before saying goodbye to Akali and the others. He stood up to leave the room and being guided by a servant, he went to another small room to talk to Count Sean and Hannas.
Those two were talking and when they saw Xu Yi come in, they stopped and looked over at him.
“Xu Yi, were you just giving rewards to the researchers from your magic research facility just now?” When Xu Yi sat down, Count Sean asked this with a smile, “We can hear their cheers from here, I think the reward shouldn’t be small, right?”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, “It’s not much, it’s just one hundred gold coins per person.”
“Ha, a hundred gold coins per person isn’t much?” Hannas shook his head with a sigh, “Should I say the Frestech Chamber of Commerce is rich or that chairman Xu really is a wastrel?”
Xu Yi gave a shrug, “It’s fine however you say it, I’m very satisfied with their performance this time. Since I’m satisfied, of course I will give them a satisfying reward. Otherwise, would they still be willing to work in the future?”
“This is right, but isn’t a hundred gold coins per person too much? Even for companies in Anvilmar City, it’s already really good if they gave their workers ten gold coins as a reward.” Hannas couldn’t help saying in an emotional voice.
“That is your Anvilmar City’s companies being too stingy, it’s not related to our Frestech Chamber of Commerce.” Xu Yi gave a soft snort and said in a voice filled with disdain, “Let me tell you, not only our Frestech Chamber of Commerce, if you ask around outside, even for the smallest companies with a yearly revenue of less than five thousand gold coins, if their employee makes an innovation in their technology, they would receive at least fifty gold coins.”
“It’s that exaggerated?” Hannas couldn’t help knitting his brows, “Are your Banta City’s companies crazy? What technology innovations…..I’ve seen those innovations in the ?Banta Times? and they are at most just small adjustments. Are they really that unusual? Does it need to be rewarded that much?”
Xu Yi looked at Hannas and shook his head, “So, Hannas, in the year you’ve been away from Banta City, you’ve fallen behind on the situation. As for the companies of Anvilmar City, they are even more behind.”
Hannas said in an unwilling to give up voice, “What? You’re saying that Anvilmar City can’t compare to Banta City?”
Xu Yi and Count Sean looked at each other before breaking out in laughter.
Xu Yi pointed at the small memo in front of Hannas and said, “What do you think…..the Lord City Lord is carrying the Banta City image construction plan for?”
Hannas looked at Count Sean in a daze before finding that Count Sean also had a faint smile, not planning on explaining for Xu Yi at all.
After being surprised for a bit, Hannas couldn’t help sighing in his heart.
If Count Sean planned on making Banta City surpass Anvilmar City as the biggest city in the Lampuri Kingdom, that really was too ambitious.
But seeing Xu Yi smiling on the side, Hannas suddenly realized something.
This idea that seemed impossible, perhaps…...it really could be accomplished…..