Chapter 59 Transport problem
The one sitting in the first carriage was chairman Rank’s assistant Leif, he had seen Xu Yi several times at the Business Union conferences. Seeing him suddenly appear, he quickly stopped the horse carriages.
“Chairman Xu, how do you have time to take a stroll in the city today?” Leif was around forty years old and was a bit chubby. He looked a bit like the Falcao Chamber of Commerce’s chairman Morgan when he smiled, but he seemed a bit more friendly compared to chairman Morgan.
“No, I was just discussing some things with the Lord City Lord and just came out.” Xu Yi casually replied before looking at the horse carriages and saying, “It seems like your harvest this time isn’t bad, did you sell all those Magic Fans?”
Leif said with a smile, “It’s all thanks to chairman Xu’s suggestions that we’ve sold all the Magic Fans in our warehouse. I won’t hide it from you, the demand for Magic Fans in the other places in the kingdom is still very high.”
Xu Yi gave a slight nod, thinking that this was an obvious matter.
When the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had just been established last year and the Magic Fan was released, the people in Banta City and the surrounding cities all went into an uproar. It was enough to prove that the novel magic machines on the Sines Continent could affect people.
There was no reason why the other people of the Lampuri Kingdom didn’t need the same things as the people of Banta City and the surrounding cities.
But Leif was right, the Sarank Chamber of Commerce selling the Magic Fans under their names in the other parts of the kingdom had come from a suggestion from Xu Yi.
At the Business Union conference last time, Xu Yi had proved a point to the other companies. It was that the magic machine technology of the other companies was just too far lacking when it compared to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, so it was almost impossible for them to steal business from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
So Xu Yi had mentioned that because the Frestech Chamber of Commerce didn’t have mature channels, the other companies could use their channels to sell their Magic Fans to other parts of the kingdom, so they wouldn’t need to worry about their sales.
Although the other companies didn’t give a clear stance on Xu Yi’s proposal, Xu Yi learned afterwards that many companies had indeed done this. Based on the news that they brought back, the results were quite good.
After the other companies saw the large demand for Magic Fans in the other parts of the kingdom, even the ones that had thoughts of giving up on the magic machine market began producing Magic Fans again.
There were even two companies that bought another two sets of production lines from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. They brought them to two cities far away from Banta City to create a new Magic Fan factory and it’s said that their sales were quite good.
Thinking of this, Xu Yi asked Leif, “Since the sales are quite good, are you prepared to suggest to chairman Rank to keep investing and sell produce even more Magic Fans?”
Leif looked around before moving in front of Xu Yi and saying in a low voice, “Chairman Xu, is your Frestech Chamber of Commerce really not planning to sell your Frestech Brand Magic Fans in other places this year?”
“Of course.” Xu Yi gave a certain nod, “Didn’t I show my attitude last time at the Business Union conference? The Frestech Chamber of Commerce doesn’t have the strength to sell our products in every part of the kingdom. So at least for this year, our Frestech Brand Magic Fans will only be sold in Banta City and the surrounding three cities. Of course, starting next year, we will be trying to open up new business channels because all the people in Banta City have already bought our products, so the market is saturated.”
Leif looked at Xu Yi for a while and seeing his serious expression, he gave a slight nod, “Alright, I understand. Chairman Xu, I think our Sarank Chamber of Commerce still has a chance to cooperate with your Frestech Chamber of Commerce.”
Seeing that Leif was prepared to leave, Xu Yi quickly stopped him and asked, “Let me ask you something else, what’s the furthest place you’ve gone this time?”
Leif looked at Xu Yi in surprise, “It isn’t that far, the furthest was just Safran City.”
“Safran City?” Xu Yi thought about it, “That place is only four hundred kilometers away from Banta City.”
“Four hundred kilometers is already very far.” Leif emotionally shook his head, “Because we’re afraid of damaging our cargo, we spent an entire week on this journey. If it wasn’t for the fact that the Magic Fans sold fast, it would be impossible for us to be back today.”
Xu Yi looked over the horse carriages and he saw that the iron sheet around the wheel was already worn out. It could be seen that they had a hard journey.
Seeing Xu Yi look over their carriage, Leif suddenly said with emotion, “Chairman Xu, when your Frestech Chamber of Commerce was building that road to the Falling Rain Valley, I thought that you must have gone crazy and had too much money. But after this trip, I’ve found that what you said before, called…..called…...What was it again?”
“You have to build roads to become rich.” Xu Yi said.
“Right, right, you have to build roads to become rich. That phrase is just too accurate! If all the roads in our Lampuri Kingdom were public roads, not only would we not have to worry about damaging goods, the horse carriages could run even faster. If we keep moving on public roads, a four hundred kilometer trip would only take three days. Like this, we could be back in just a single week, which is enough for us to do an extra run.”
Xu Yi said with a faint smile, “Of course, transportation is a basic problem when it comes to business development, so the phrase having to build roads to become rich is correct. You should have come back from the direction of Saltan City, so you should have seen the road that the Fersen Carriage Company is currently building between Saltan City and Banta City, right?”
Leif nodded, “Un, I saw it. I thought that this road was also built by your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, but after asking around in the city, I found that it was the Fersen Carriage Company that paid for it.”
“Right, building roads is actually the most helpful for us merchants. When you see chairman Rank, help me remind him that if he doesn’t make up his mind soon, he might not have the chance.”
Leif looked at Xu Yi in surprise, not he didn’t ask much and nodded in agreement.
Xu Yi moved aside and Leif saw that Xu Yi didn’t have anything else to say, so he bid him farewell and left with his horse carriages.
Watching the horse carriages disappear around a corner, Xu Yi finally turned away. After thinking about it, he didn’t head home and went in another direction.
After ten minutes, Xu Yi came to the Fersen Carriage Company’s Banta City headquarters.
As expected, as this time, the Fersen Carriage Company’s chairman Pompeii was in his special room in the headquarters, getting some rare leisure time.
Hearing that Xu Yi was here, he quickly sent someone to bring him in.
“Chairman Xu, you actually came for a rare visit, this really is a pleasant surprise for me.” Chairman Pompeii said while laughing. He was showing Xu Yi to a special seat woven from fragrant grass while giving him a completely green glass that was filled with Firefly Flower Nectar that was worth a high thirty eight gold coins per liter.
Xu Yi looked around the room and finally looked at the cup of Firefly Flower Nectar. He couldn’t help saying with a smile, “I’ve already heard from others that chairman Pompeii lives a luxurious life, but seeing it today, I’ve found that whether it is everyone’s descriptions or my imagination, it was far lacking.”
Chairman Pompeii laughed while waving his hand and saying, “Chairman Xu, it’s fine if normal people say this, but you are the chairman of the Banta City company earning the most right now. So you saying this is simply slapping my face. If you’re willing, you could live ten times as luxuriously without any pressure.”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, not choosing to discuss the matter of luxury with him. After taking a sip of the refreshing Firefly Flower Nectar, he asked chairman Pompeii about the situation of the Fersen Carriage Company building a road.
“It’s quite smooth generally speaking. Although there have been a few small problems, it isn’t worth mentioning.” Mentioning the shared interests of the two, or rather their two companies, chairman Pompeii’s tone became very relaxed, “According to chairman Cruise’s estimates, that road will be finished in just another three months. They can finish it right before it becomes cold. What about yours?”
“Pretty much the same.” Xu Yi replied, “The roads our two companies are building are both longer than the Falling Rain Road, so it’s normal if it takes even more time. Not to mention that chairman Cruise has been complaining to me that theri company doesn’t have enough manpower, so their company can’t work in full force.”
Chairman Pompeii gave a helpless sigh, “Not mentioning him, even I’m complaining. There are many people from other cities coming to our Banta City, either visiting or staying, so our Fersen Carriage Company has had twice as many customers as before. I’m also worried about not having enough people.”
“More customers means that your business is good, could it be that this isn’t something to be happy about?” Xu Yi said with a smile.
“I am happy, but my worries are still real. Tell me, should we give a suggestion to the Lord City Lord to have him write an application to his majesty to bring people over from other cities?”
Xu Yi shook his head to deny this, “Even if it’s his majesty, it isn’t good for him to casually order people of the kingdom to move. Not to mention that they are citizens of the territory of other nobles, so his majesty doesn’t have the power to do so. If you want to solve the problem of lacking manpower, the best method is to increase your advertisements. As long as the people of the kingdom know that our Banta City needs large amounts of workers and the wages they receive aren’t low, I think there’s no need to force anything and many people will naturally come to Banta City.” 𝑏𝑒𝘥𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑒𝘭.𝘯𝑒𝑡
Chairman Pompeii considered this and couldn’t help nodding, “Un, this should be a bit better. Everyone hopes that they can make more money, so if they know that there are many opportunities to earn money in our Banta City, there will be many people running here.” But then his expression became bitter, “But as more people come, there are more customers for us. Where could we find more people to use in a short period of time?”
“This is your problem.” Xu Yi gave a shrug and paused before saying, “But chairman Pompeii, have you ever thought of improving this situation yourself?”
Chairman Pompeii looked at Xu Yi and doubtfully said, “How can I improve it myself?”
“For example…...Right now it takes your company’s horse carriages two days to go from Banta City to Anvilmar City, but if this trip can be shortened to a single day, how would you feel?”
Chapter 60 Tire
“Two days into one day?” Chairman Pompeii was stunned before he shook his head, “How could that be possible? If you say a day and a half, I could have my subordinates work a bit harder and buy some better horses, perhaps it would be possible. But to shorten it to a day…..Only if there was a public road connecting Banta City and Anvilmar City.”
“Don’t think about it for now.” Xu Yi shook his head, “The two roads we are building right now is an experiment for his majesty. When these two roads are finished and his majesty feels the results are good, then the kingdom will start investing into building public roads. As for the road connecting Banta City and Anvilmar City, who knows how long we’ll have to wait.”
Chairman Pompeii gave a dejected nod, “That’s right. If every part of the Lampuri Kingdom was connected with roads, then it would be much easier for our carriage company to do business.”
“This is my second time hearing someone sigh like this.” Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, “Relax, as long as more people see the benefits of these roads, then I believe that all of the Lampuri Kingdom’s roads will be turned into public roads.”
“I also believe this, but the problem is how long will it take? Right now I can’t wait that long.” Chairman Pompeii gave another sigh before looking at Xu Yi, “Chairman Xu, didn’t you say that we should change ourselves and not change the roads?”
“That’s right, I’m talking about something more realistic. It is the horse carriage that your company currently uses.” Xu Yi said.
“Horse carriage?” Chairman Pompeii considered it before knitting his brows, “How can we improve the horse carriages? Other than getting better horses, is there anything else we can do? The problem is that good horses cost more and eat more expensive feed, I can’t support that.”
“Alright the horse can be replaced with something else, we can’t do that now. I came to you this time to talk about the carriage specifically.”
“Carriage?” Chairman Pompeii was even more confused, “What part of the carriage can be improved?”
“Of course there’s a part.” Xu Yi gave a confident nod, “I saw the Sarank Chamber of Commerce’s cavalcade just now and I noticed that all the horse carriages in their cavalcade were made of wood?”
“Of course, our carriages are horse drawn vehicles, whether it is transporting humans or goods, they are all made of wood. Is there some problem?”
“Could it be that you don’t think…..horse carriages made from wood aren’t durable and break easily?” Xu Yi asked.
“Of course I’m clear on this, but we can’t make it out of metal, right? I tried making a carriage out of metal before, but the problem was that not only is metal heavy to the point that two horses couldn’t even move it, it also costs quite a bit to make. Last time I tried making a four person carriage and it actually cost me two hundred gold coins! Do you think that I can afford this kind of price? You have to know that all our horse carriages are made of wood and they cost no more than twenty gold coins to make.”
Xu Yi couldn’t help smiling. A carriage made completely out of iron? This chairman Pompeii really could think.
“I’m not saying to completely make it out of iron, of course that won’t work. My meaning is that for a carriage, the easiest thing to wear down and break is not the horse carriage itself, but rather the tires and rolles, right?”
“That’s right, it is indeed like this.” Chairman Pompeii nodded, “But I’ve also tried this, making the wheels and rollers out of iron. It is still too heavy and is actually easier to distort than wood. Adding in the fact that it costs several times more than wooden tires, I had to give it up in the end.”
“It costs several times more to make it?” Xu Yi was a bit surprised, “That isn’t right, from what I can see, iron should be cheaper. Shouldn’t it be more expensive to make wheels and rollers out of wood?”
“Chairman Xu, you don’t understand. Although iron itself is much cheaper than wood, to build the same kind of wheel and roller, it costs more to pay a blacksmith than a carpenter. Calculating this, it’s more expensive to make a wheel out of iron.” Chairman Pompeii helplessly said.
“Pa——”
Xu Yi suddenly clapped his hands before saying with a smile, “That’s it!”
Chairman Pompeii looked at Xu Yi in surprise, “What do you mean?”
Xu Yi laughed, “Chairman Pompeii, if I told you that I could sell you wheels and rollers made of iron at a price lower than that of those made of wood, would you be interested?”
“Are you joking?” Chairman Pompeii curled his lip, “How could iron be cheaper…..” He suddenly stopped talking and looked at Xu Yi with wide eyes, “That’s right, doesn’t your Frestech Chamber of Commerce do this! I really am stupid, I actually forgot something like this! Chairman Xu, can you really provide a cheaper wheel and roller made of iron?”
“Of course, I can even add something better that is called a tire.” Xu Yi replied with a smile.
###
It was close to night when he left the Fersen Carriage Company and when Xu Yi got home, the curtain of night fell.
When he walked into the door, he saw a figure appear in front of him as Agnes suddenly came out.
“Sir chairman, you’re finally back!” Agnes excitedly called out. She grabbed Xu YI’s hand and pulled him in through the door.
Xu Yi was a bit surprised, “Agnes, you seem quite happy today.”
“This is because Agnes made dinner tonight.” Still’s voice came from inside the room.
When she saw Agnes pulling Xu Yi in by the hand, Still’s expression changed slightly. She stood up and her expression didn’t change as she stole Xu Yi’s hand back from Agnes before saying with a smile, “You were gone for so long, the dishes are almost cold.”
Xu Yi looked at Vivian on the side with surprise before looking back at Still, “Didn’t you say that you two were making dinner tonight, why did it become Agnes?”
Still gave a shrug, “You should ask Agnes. When she saw Vivian and me prepare to make dinner, I don’t know what happened, but she suddenly said that she would make dinner. She wouldn’t listen to us no matter what we said.”
Xu Yi looked at Agnes in surprise, “Agnes, did you meet something that made you happy today?”
Agnes shook her head, “No. When I saw Still and Vivian preparing to make dinner, I suddenly thought that I’ve been here for so long, but I’ve always eaten the food Vivian made. According to what sir chairman told me last time about humans carrying their own weight, I thought that I should repay you by making dinner and returning your favours. Am I right, sir chairman?”
Xu Yi couldn’t help smiling, “Although it’s not completely right, it’s not wrong. Very good, Agnes, you’re learning more and more about the customs that we humans have. I believe that you’ll soon become what elder Illusia wishes for and you’ll truly be able to live in our human society.”
Agnes said in a somewhat distressed voice, “But every time I go out, there are many people who point at me and quite a few people surround me.”
“There’s no other way, who told them to be not used to you.” Xu Yi smiled as he patted Agnes’ shoulder, “Relax, humans get used to new things quite quickly. I believe it won’t take long before everyone is used to the existence of you elves. Look, now that a hundred of your compatriots have come, when they reveal themselves more in the city, everyone will gradually be used to this situation and will no longer point or surround you.”
Agnes thought for a bit before nodding, “I hope so. Alright, sir chairman, you’re finally back, so let’s quickly eat dinner. I don’t know what human eating customs are, but Still and Vivian both said that the dishes won’t be good if they’re cold, so let’s eat them before they get cold.”
Hearing Agnes say that she didn’t understand human eating customs, Xu Yi’s heart skipped a beat.
Last time when he went to the Night Song Tribe, elder Illusia had only given the three of them some simple fruits and water. This made Xu Yi complain about the diet of the elves.
Now that Agnes had emphasized this point, just what kind of appearance would the meal she made have?
Seeing Agnes pull back the cover over the table, Xu Yi took a deep breath and calmed himself as he took a look.
When he saw it, Xu Yi almost began to cry.
The things in the three dishes and soup bowl were completely black, he couldn’t tell what they were at all.
If someone wanted Xu Yi to recognize this as a normal meal, it would just by too hard to do.
Seeing the bright smile on Agnes’ face, Xu Yi asked Still and Vivian, “Hey, were these dishes made by Agnes alone? You just stood on the side without helping her at all?”
“This is because Agnes said that having people help wouldn’t let her show her sincerity, so she chased both of us out.” Still casually replied before looking at Xu Yi with a secret smile, “Dear sir chairman, Agnes said that since she came to the human world, you have helped her the most, so she wanted to make this meal to thank you. So…..you can’t let down Agnes’ good intentions.”
“That’s right, sir chairman, in order to show my gratitude, I made this entire meal by myself. How about you have a taste?” Agnes looked at Xu Yi with an expectant gaze.
Seeing the happy expression on Agnes’ face, as well as the secret smile on Still’s face and the worry on Vivian’s face, Xu Yi gave a sigh in his heart. He revealed a bright smile on his face and said to Agnes, “Alright, let me give it a try.”
He gritted his teeth after saying this and revealed a righteous look, as he took a large bite of the food Agnes delivered to his mouth.
Instantly all kinds of strange tastes exploded in his mouth. Xu Yi felt like he had fallen into an amazing world and the surrounding space turned colourful.
At this time, Agnes’ voice rang in his ears.
“Sir chairman, does it taste good?”
After a while, Xu Yi slowly spat out two words with difficulty, “Tastes…...good……”
[TL Note: Moment of silence for our poor man…..]