Volume 3 Chapter 15: Investing in the beastmen

Seeing chairman Cruise walking away with a thoughtful look on his face, Delil couldn't help asking Xu Yi, "Chairman Xu, you said that for a merchant, the most important thing is benefits? But according to what you described just now, this new source of profit has great benefits, so why are you giving it to the Amrit Chamber of Commerce?"

"It's not completely giving it to them." Xu Yi replied with a smile, "You should be able to hear that this new source of profits has benefits for both the Amrit Chamber of Commerce and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. If we work together and the effects are good, both sides would win. Although the Amrit Chamber of Commerce would earn more, our Frestech Chamber of Commerce doesn't have any foundations in the construction business at all. If we were to do this ourselves, not mentioning if it would succeed or not, it would consume quite a bit of effort and time. For me, the thing I lack the most are those two things."

Delil was silent for a bit before suddenly saying, "No wonder the elder was worried about your lifespan. Chairman Xu, if you could live several hundred years like us elves, that would be great."

Xu Yi laughed, "There is life and death. I am a human, I have to accept the limited lifespan of humans. For me, only when I have a limited lifespan can I use my full power to do what I want to do. Then again, don't I have a chance to become an Arch Magus or a Grand Magus?"

Delil didn't say anything.

"Alright, you know life is short and time is precious, we shouldn't waste time here. Come with me."

Xu Yi waved his hand at Delil and moved towards the other chairmen in the hall.

The reason for bringing Delil was to use this chance for her to meet some of the chairmen at this banquet. It was good to see if there was a chance to cooperate with these large companies.

Between giving Xu Yi face and their curiosity towards elves, the other chairmen naturally wouldn't reject talking to Delil.

Delil was nervous at first, but she quickly adapted to talking with everyone.

Although she couldn't be as smooth as a normal merchant, with her status as an elf, her reactions made it easier to obtain the trust of the other side.

So with just a few short conversations, there were many companies that wanted to cooperate with the Night Song Tribe's rubber processing factory.

Of course, those companies were the same as big sister Sara, they had some need for plastic.

They guaranteed that as long as Delil could give them suitable plastic products, they would certainly make an order to the Night Song Tribe's factory.

Seeing Delil gradually adapt to this environment, Xu Yi moved to the side and let her face it alone.

The Armani Chamber of Commerce's chairman Vincent who was already waiting on the side leaned over.

Xu Yi saw him and immediately asked with a smile, "Hey, chairman Vincent, I've heard that you've been inspecting on the Black Rice Wasteland for two months now, what are the results?"

Hearing this question, chairman Vincent's expression became strange, "I don't know if it's good or bad. The good news is that the beastmen on the Black Rice Wasteland indeed can't make clothes and they have a favourable impression of wearing human clothes, so in theory there is a very broad market."

"Then what is the bad news?"

"The bad news is that the Black Rice Wasteland's beastmen are very poor. To them, even if they exchange the few resources they have with us humans, they prioritize things that they need like salt and other necessities. As for clothes.....I went to many beastmen tribes and found that many beastmen don't care about wearing clothes. I even saw over ten beastmen tribes where they were walking around naked, looking no different from beasts."

Seeing the bitter smile on chairman Vincent's face, Xu Yi said with a faint smile, "This reminds me of a joke from my hometown. There were two sales staff that were sent to inspect a beastman tribe. One of the sales workers was very depressed when he came back and reported that they didn't wear shoes. The other sales staff was overjoyed as he reported that it was great that the beastmen didn't wear shoes!"

Chairman Vincent laughed, "Chairman Xu, are you laughing at my indecisive feelings?"

"I just want to remind you that for something like a market, it can be made if one doesn't exist. For example, look at the Voller Tribe, aren't they wearing clothes now?" Xu Yi said.

"That's right. Beastmen didn't wear clothes before, so we can have them wear clothes. However there's still the problem of creating a condition where they wear clothes." Chairman Vincent knit his brows in thought again.

"I'll give you some notice. Our Frestech Chamber of Commerce is planning on investing in a household magic machine assembly plant near the Voller Tribe this year, specially used to assemble household magic machines." Xu Yi said.

Chairman Vincent was surprised, "Why? If you want to do assembly work, should it be done in the Falling Rain Valley? No matter how you look at it, it's much more convenient and safe compared to the Black Rice Wasteland, right?"

"The key point is the cost." Xu Yi explained, "Speaking of the Black Rice Wasteland, perhaps everyone feels that it is a bit far, but actually you'll find that comparing it, it's closer to the north of the kingdom compared to Banta City and it has a direct border with the Sack Kingdom to the north. Adding in the smooth terrain, if we build roads, it'll be easier to transport to the north part of the kingdom compared to transporting from Banta City."

"You mean that you'll save on transport costs like this? But I feel that putting a factory in the beastmen controlled Black Rice Wasteland is very unsafe." Chairman Vincent shook his head and said.

"Then do you think that our three companies building the mine and our company's non-ferrous metal smelting factory near the Voller Tribe is safe?" Xu Yi asked.

"It's also unsafe, otherwise your three companies wouldn't have put so many guards near the mine."

"That is only now. After a while, you'll find that it will be very safe. If someone attacks the mine and the non-ferrous metal smelting factory, I dare guarantee that the Voller Tribe's wolfmen and the surrounding tribes' beastmen will respond even more intensely than us." Xu Yi said with a smile.

"Why?" Chairman Vincent was instantly stunned.

"Because there are many workers hired from the Voller Tribe and the surrounding beastmen tribes being hired at the mine and the factory. If the mine and factory are attacked, they will no longer be able to work and it would affect their wages. You think.....that after finally being able to get a fixed wage and being able to buy things from human companies at will, the beastmen who have lived their dream lives for just a few months will give up and let it be destroyed?"

Seeing the strange smile on Xu Yi's face, chairman Vincent couldn't help asking in a daze, "Chairman Xu, it can't be that this was your plan from the beginning, right?"

Xu Yi smiled without responding.

Chairman Vincent was silent for a bit before letting out a long sigh.

"I think I understand your meaning. Letting these beastmen obtain stable incomes from stable work and then living stable lives, they will naturally be unwilling to return to their lives of poverty from before. But like this, it is equal to destroying the beastmen's wild nature and taming them. Moreover, this will allow the beastmen to have the beastmen to gradually have the finances to purchase other things than daily necessities. For example, clothing from our Armani Chamber of Commerce?"

Xu Yi nodded with a smile, "Not bad, chairman Vincent. Now do you know why I said that a market can be created? According to my ideas, these beastmen in the future will not just wear clothes. Each beastman family will be using our Frestech Chamber of Commerce's magic machines. There are over five hundred thousand beastmen on the Black Rice Wasteland, this is a huge market equal to several Banta Cities."

Chairman Vincent couldn't help shaking his head as he said with a sigh, "Chairman Xu, I really have to say, you really are thinking too far ahead. Beastmen are no different from beasts right now, but you want them to use magic machines which are even considered luxuries for us humans. I really don't know whether your idea is really far ahead or if it's crazy......"

"Ha, ha, sometimes super advanced ideas are no different from crazy ideas." Xu Yi said while laughing, "Whether I'm treated as a prophet or a lunatic will all depend on if it succeeds or not. So chairman Vicnent, even if you didn't come looking for me, I would have come looking for you. How about it? Are you interested in being the same as me, investing in a few cotton factories on the Black Rice Wasteland? I promise you that investing in the Black Rice Wasteland can save many costs. Other than transportation costs, the biggest thing you'll be saving is human costs."

"Oh? What does that mean?" Chairman Vincent asked in a curious voice, it was clear he was moved.

"Do you know how much we're offering the beastmen workers every month at our mine?" Xu Yi asked.

"According to your ideas, it shouldn't be less than the human workers at the Falcao Chamber of Commerce's mines, right? It should be.....no more than fifteen gold coins?" Chairman Vincent guessed.

"No, it's only five gold coins!" Xu Yi stretched out his hand.

"This little?" Chairman Vincent's eyes popped out in shock, "How could those beastmen agree to such low wages?"

"Just the opposite, the beastmen are very satisfied with this wage and even chairman Cruise and chairman Renersa have thanked me many times for this. As for the wages of the workers at our Frestech Chamber of Commerce's non-ferrous metal smelting factory, it's even less. It's only four gold coins a month and those beastmen show their gratitude to me as the chairman. They always offer sincere blessing to me whenever they see me." Xu Yi said in a proud voice.

"This......" Chairman Vincent was still in a bit of disbelief, but after thinking about it, he found it was very reasonable.

The beastmen couldn't get any gold coins at all, even when they exchanged things, they just received normal items from the human merchants.

Now that they could receive those shiny gold coins and use those gold coins to buy the things they needed from the humans, greatly increasing their standard of living.

To them, being able to receive a wage was already good enough, how could they receive the same high wages as the workers in Banta City?

Chairman Vincent quickly calculated the difference in wage and transportation fee and when comparing it in the end, he was shocked to find that according to the wages of the beastmen workers that Xu Yi mentioned before, if he opened a factory on the Black Rice Wasteland, it would greatly decrease his costs!

After drawing this conclusion, chairman Vincent's expression looking at Xu Yi became very strange.

This fellow, just how did he think of this?