Chapter 157: Technological research of small companies
After inspecting Koror Village, Xu Yi directly took his horse carriage to the Ireland Chamber of Commerce at the Sandton industrial sector.
Compared to last year when the Frestech Chamber of Commerce announced their small company support plan, there were several more small factories producing components near the Sandton Manor. It had gone from over sixty to over a hundred companies.
This kind of growth in just a year, other than proving that the magic machine industry was being recognized, it also meant there was promise in this field.
Take the Ireland Chamber of Commerce that wanted to produce components in the beginning.
Last year when Freeman and the other villagers mentioned this idea with Xu Yi, when they founded the Ireland Chamber of Commerce, their total assets didn’t even add up to two hundred gold coins.
As for the three most important magic production machines in the beginning, it was something the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had given them on a loan.
To many people, this kind of company wasn’t even worth being called a company and could barely be considered a workshop.
However with this small workshop that couldn’t even be considered a company, Freeman’s group had earned over five thousand gold coins in less than half a year!
The current Ireland Chamber of Commerce not only paid off their debt for their magic machines, but they also bought several more magic machines, even building a brand new workshop. No matter how one looked, this was quite the normal company.
Moreover, because the Ireland Chamber of Commerce was the first company to enter the component producing business, they had the support of Xu Yi, and the hard work of Freeman and the others, the Ireland Chamber of Commerce was the leading component producing company in Banta City. Not only did they produce all the components for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, they had close relationships with many other companies in Banta City.
Last year the Ireland Chamber of Commerce earned over five thousand gold coins in half a month, that was already shocking.
Only two months had passed this year and according to what Freeman said last time he met Xu Yi, they had already earned another five thousand!
So no matter where Freeman went, he would always have a smile and a satisfied look on his face.
“Ha, ha, chairman Xu, how could I not be happy? I just discussed a deal for a hundred thousand spinning needles with the Armani Chamber of Commerce yesterday.” Freeman laughed as he said to Xu Yi, “I won’t hide it from you, we’ve earned several hundred gold coins just from this order.”
“Then I really have to congratulate you.” Xu Yi nodded with a faint smile.
“Chairman Xu, don’t laugh at me. I know that the Armani Chamber of Commerce gave this order to us in the end because you mentioned our Ireland Chamber of Commerce to the Armani Chamber of Commerce chairman Vincent, right?” Freeman seriously asked this.
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, “Who told you?”
Freeman scratched his head, “It was Kovac who told me. Last time he went to a banquet in the city, he saw you talking to the Armani Chamber of Commerce’s chairman. Then less than two days later, the Armani Chamber of Commerce took the initiative to send people to give us this order, so you must have recommended us to the Armani Chamber of Commerce. Otherwise, they definitely wouldn’t have chosen us.”
“Banquet?” Xu Yi thought for a bit. Freeman must be talking about the Lord City Lord traditional spring banquet that celebrated the passing of winter from five days ago.
At that banquet, he had indeed talked to chairman Vincent, but the content was about bringing a large amount of goods to the Black Rice Wasteland. As for the Ireland Chamber of Commerce, chairman Vincent had asked him which component company was the best and he had mentioned them.
If it was said like this, the Ireland Chamber of Commerce receiving this order was mainly because of Xu Yi’s recommendation.
But Xu Yi wouldn’t take undeserved credit.
An order of less than ten thousand was a large order for the Ireland Chamber of Commerce, but he didn’t put it in his eyes at all.
So Xu Yi just patted Freeman’s shoulder and said with a laugh, “Don’t mind it. If it wasn’t because the quality of your components was good, I wouldn’t have recommended you to chairman Vincent, right?”
Seeing Freeman wanting to thank him still, Xu Yi quickly changed the topic. He looked around before asking, “Where is the thing I wanted?”
Freeman’s words of thanks were stopped by Xu Yi and after being surprised for a bit, he immediately brought Xu Yi to a magic production machine in the corner that had been working the entire time.
This magic production machine had created several hundred small round metal caps, which were the most important component in making the canned fruits.
Xu Yi picked one up to look over and found that this cap felt smooth, without a single defect on the surface. He used his finger to touch the inside and could feel the smooth threaded surface.
After taking a glass jar from Freeman, Xu Yi put on the bottle cap and gently twisted it. There was a click sound as the glass jar was capped and it didn’t reveal a single gap.
Xu Yi gave a satisfied nod and experimented with several other bottle caps. He found that all these bottle caps fit the glass jars perfectly.
“Very good, it seems like you’ve already found the right trick. These bottle caps are all useful.” Xu Yi revealed a smile of praise as he looked at Freeman. ｂｅ𝚍ｎｏ𝚟𝚎ｌ.𝚌𝚘ｍ
Obtaining Xu Yi’s recognition, Freeman immediately revealed a happy smile.
When Xu Yi gave them the order for the canned fruit caps, he only gave them a few blueprints and some specific details, he didn’t give them anything else. He didn’t give them the support of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce technical staff like when he had them produce components, so they could only figure it out themselves.
In the beginning, in order to make a suitable cap, they had failed countless times and wasted countless materials.
Although they had made a batch of bottle caps that met the requirements, they had wasted over ten thousand bottle caps before making this batch.
But it was like Xu Yi had said to Freeman and Kovac, if a company wanted to become bigger, they had to have some things that they truly understood. Just by following the guidance that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce gave them, the Ireland Chamber of Commerce would never grow.
Freeman and Kovac understood this, so they didn’t oppose him at all, rather they chose to experiment to develop this themselves.
Although they had failed over ten thousand times, which created a loss of close to a thousand gold coins, they kept persisting.
The achievements of persisting were clear.
After this “technical research” called by Xu Yi, Freeman found that the Ireland Chamber of Commerce’s workers were much more skilled when it came to operating the magic production machines.
For example, the young fellow who was currently operating the magic production machine. He didn’t know a single thing about the magic production machine when he entered the Ireland Chamber of Commerce, but now he was a skilled worker at operating the magic production machine.
Xu Yi even gave him an appraisal of being at the same level of the dwarves in the magic machine workshop.
It had to be known that although the dwarves had short and thick hands, they were highly talented in this.
To be able to match a dwarf was already high praise.
Other than this, the most important thing during failing these experiments was that the Ireland Chamber of Commerce discovered many problems, so it gave them quite a bit of new understanding and knowledge when it came to producing components.
Freeman was very confident that if one had to choose one of the hundreds of components workshops in the Sandton industrial district as having the best technique, it would definitely be the Ireland Chamber of Commerce!
“Chairman Xu, since you are satisfied with the bottle cap we produced, can we start officially producing them? How many do you need for the first batch?” Seeing that Xu Yi had finished measuring the measurements of the bottle cap with the Vernier Scale that he described, so Freeman asked this.
“There’s no rush right now.” Xu Yi shook his head, “The canned fruits factory needs two months before it can go into production. When that time comes, I’ll be able to know the quantity and types of canned fruits being produced. You also have a big order from the Amrit Chamber of Commerce right now, so you might as well do your best during this time.”
“Un.” Freeman nodded as he quickly agreed.
After taking Xu Yi around the factory, Xu Yi decided to leave.
After sending Xu Yi out, Freeman suddenly revealed a bothered expression and he kept hesitantly opening his mouth, but he could never say anything.
Xu Yi couldn’t help laughing, “Just say it if you have something to say, you know that I don’t like beating around the bush.”
Freeman scratched his head and said with an embarrassed smile, “It’s like this, chairman Xu. There are many small components companies in this industrial district and although there are many benefits, the competition is too fierce. There are many times where there are conflicts between companies for contracts and many companies would choose to cut their prices. We already don’t earn much on the components and if the price is cut even more, no one will be able to earn money in the future.”
“So? You’ve thought of a solution?” Xu Yi asked back.
Freeman laughed, “Aren’t I asking you because I haven’t thought of anything?”
Xu Yi snappily looked at him, “Is it that you haven’t thought of it or you’re not willing to say it? What about Kovac? He’s definitely the one who thought of asking me, so why are you asking instead?”
“He’s in Karma City for some special business.” Freeman had the same shameless smile as he said, “Chairman Xu, you are the president of the Banta City Magic Machine Business Union, our small component companies came from your Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s small company support plan, so you can’t just not care about us, right?”
Seeing the pleading look on Freeman’s face, Xu Yi gave a nod with a sigh, “Alright, the component industry is part of the magic machine industry, so I can’t just ignore it. At the next meeting, I will announce a bottom price for each magic machine related product. If any company goes below that price, it will be considered aggressive competition and they will be kicked out of the union.”
Freeman was immediately filled with joy as he cheered, “That’s great! As long as chairman Xu says a word, this problem can be easily solved. Those companies won’t have to kill each other in the future!”
Xu Yi looked at the happy Freeman and shook his head as he said with a sigh, “It’s too early to be happy. In Banta City, I can help you solve this problem, but when you leave Banta City and move through the Lampuri Kingdom, or even walk out of the Lampuri Kingdom to the continent, I can’t help you like this.”
Freeman laughed as he spread his hand in a natural manner, “Isn’t that simple? Right now chairman Xu’s words are effective in Banta City and when we start moving through the Lampuri Kingdom, your words will be effective in the entire kingdom. When we move across the continent, your words will definitely be effective across the continent!”
Xu Yi couldn’t help smiling.
“Freeman, you’re overestimating me too much…..”
Chapter 159 New city square
Even though it was March and the cold winter had passed, it was still cold during the nights.
Normally speaking, on these kinds of cold nights, most people of Banta City chose to stay in their homes. They either wrapped themselves in their blankets or enjoyed the warm wind of the Magic Air Conditioner.
If nothing special was happening, no one was willing to go out.
But tonight, the people of Banta City went against the norm. Once it became dark and after they finished dinner, they left their warm homes and entered the cold breeze as they headed to the city square at the center of Banta City.
When it completely became dark, the roads to the city square were filled with people and were completely blocked.
Even when it wasn’t that cold, although there were countless people who walked around in the city square during the evening, it was never as crowded as this.
The reason why this happened was that a week ago, the ?Banta Times? used a large title to announce that a week later, the Banta City city square would have a new appearance and the entire square would be changed.
The Lord City Lord had also expressed his views in the ?Banta Times?, indicating that this new city square would open everyone’s eyes and shock them.
Count Sean was the Banta City City Lord, but he rarely made this kind of exaggeration before. So after the ?Banta Times? report came out, it immediately attracted the attention of everyone in Banta City.
This new city square, what kind of appearance would it have? If could even make the Lord City Lord describe it as “unbelievable”.
After this report, starting from the second day, there would be a large number at the head of the ?Banta Times? every day.
The first day was six, the second day was five, the third day was four…..
So everyone knew that the ?Banta Times? was making a countdown.
As the day approached, everyone became more and more excited for this new city square.
Although before the ?Banta Times? report came out, everyone found that the City Lord’s Manor had suddenly sealed off the city square and blocked it off, making people unable to see into it.
Although they could hear the sounds of construction coming in from it, doing this attracted people’s attention more.
When the day finally came, everyone’s curiosity reached a peak and many people came to the new city square without even getting dinner, just to see the new city square as soon as possible.
They didn’t know if the City Lord’s Manor did it on purpose, but the day that was chosen was a day in the period of two days where there wasn’t a moon each month.
Although they could see the stars in the sky since there were no clouds, once it became dark, the city square fell into complete darkness.
There were many smart citizens who had predicted this and brought their Magic Lamp from home.
When the sky fell into darkness, there were many different colours of lights around the city square.
If one looked down from above, they would be able to see that in the dense crowd, there would be countless different lights that looked like the stars above them in the sky.
Everyone patiently waited while chatting with each other. When it finally reached eight at night that the ?Banta Times? had said,, there was a deep sound as the city square was unsealed. Then fireworks roared out into the sky and exploded, lighting up the night.
Everyone instantly stopped talking because of this and the entire area fell into silence, as a deep male’s voice rang out.
“Banta City residents, welcome to the new Banta City city square!”
As soon as this voice fell, the curtain surrounding the city square fell down and was pulled aside by an unknown force.
The Banta City city square that had been sealed for close to a month had finally revealed its appearance.
The crowd swarmed into the city square, as everyone wanted to see what the city square looked like as soon as possible.
But just with the light of the Magic Lamps in their hands and the stars above them, they couldn’t even see ten meters in front of them. How was it possible to see the entire city square with this many people here.
Some people with better eyes could make out large pillars that were in the city square with the faint light.
When everyone was feeling impatient, there was suddenly a sound from the center as a firework flew into the air.
After everyone’s attention was attracted, there was a bright light that came from the center of the city square, as a figure that was bathed in light had appeared suddenly.
On the stage, Count Sean was bathed in light. He had a faint smile on his face as he looked at the people around him, raising his hands to give a signal.
When everyone calmed down, Count Sean said in a clear voice, “Citizens of Banta City, I know that you have been waiting for this night for a long time, so I won’t take up your time. I just want to remind you that everything you see tonight will definitely be something you never forget!”
It was fine if he said nothing, but once he said this, the people under the stage filled with curiosity became even more impatient.
There were some people who were so impatient that they shouted, “Lord City Lord, what does it look like? Let us see it!”
Hearing these shouts, the crowd echoed this.
The sound surged forth and spread far away from the market.
At this moment, it was impossible to find peace in Banta City.
Count Sean raised his hand again and calmed everyone down, before nodding behind him.
A slender girl who had a cute round face walked out while being illuminated by the light and handed a small box to Count Sean.
Count Sean took the box and asked the girl a few things before turning around. He looked at everyone and raised the hand in his box as he said in a loud voice, “Now is the time to witness a miracle!”
After he said this, Count Sean reached out a finger to press down on the box.
In an instant, there were bright lights that appeared above the city square, like several moons had appeared above them and lit up the city square like it was day time.
This sudden change made people close their eyes, but when they opened them again, they were shocked to find that there was no longer night in the city square, it was just like day.
This kind of light came from the giant Magic Lamps that were hanging on the poles around the city square.
By the sides of the trees and flowers, there were also small poles that had small Magic Lamps hanging on them.
These Magic Lamps didn’t release the same white light as the large magic lamps, rather they released light of all colours.
This seemed a bit disorderly, but after the light shined on the plants, it created a beautiful arrangement.
But it wasn’t over yet.
Everyone looked at the center and found that there was a fountain dug there, perfectly placed in the center with the platform in the middle.
With the light above them, everyone could clearly see that there was a statue on the platform and by the four sides of the platform, there were Magic Lamps releasing all kinds of coloured lights placed in rows.
The lights were all pointed at the statue, making it hard for people not to look at the statue.
But when they saw the statue, people were confused.
It was because this wasn’t the statue of a person, rather it was a strange looking white horse with a horn on its head and wings on its back.
“What is this thing?”
When everyone was confused, columns of water were shot out from around the platform and came together in the air. They suddenly gathered together to take the shape of a flower that slowly bloomed.
With the different colours of light shining on it, this flower completely made of water was filled with different colours of light, looking incredibly beautiful.
The people in the square saw this fantasy like show. They were shocked by the bright lights in the square, but now they saw the water turning into different shapes, they seemed like they were going to go crazy.
In a room on the third floor of the City Lord’s Manor not far from the square, Xu Yi looked away from the scene in the square and turned to look at Hannas on the side, as he said with sigh, “It seems like the Lord City Lord isn’t good at creating a show. This was a good chance to shorten the distance between him and the people, letting the people of Banta City know him better, but he wasn’t willing to take my advice. It really is a pity, it’s a waste of a good chance.”
Hannas turned to Xu Yi and couldn’t help saying with a smile, “What kind of person do you think the Lord Count is? Does he need to put on a show for the citizens? These citizens can’t do anything to him.”