Volume 3 Chapter 17: Count Stagg's request

The three of them were stunned at the same time.

Princess Caroline asked in surprise first, "Why? Chairman Xu, since you agreed to invest in the Rudson Kingdom and the Stantine Duchy, why can't you invest in our Drake Duchy?"

"It isn't that I can't, rather mister Anduin's idea isn't very realistic. Or perhaps it's not realistic at this stage." Xu Yi said.

"Why isn't it realistic?" Princess Caroline kept asking.

"Because of distance." Xu Yi said, "Your highness, mister Anduin, I think that you should know that the border between the Drake Duchy and our Lampuri Kingdom is close to a thousand kilometers away from our Banta City. This is a very far distance right now and with our company's current strength, going to such a remote place to invest isn't something that is very assuring."

"Why isn't it assuring?" Princess Caroline asked, "The Rudson Kingdom's capital city is also close to a thousand kilometers away, it isn't any closer than our Drake Duchy. Why do you feel assured investing in the Rudson Kingdom and not our Drake Duchy?"

Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, "Your highness, the Rudson Kingdom and our Lampuri Kingdom are close allies. There is no danger investing in the Rudson Kingdom, so I'm very assured."

Princess Caroline knit her brows, "Could it be that you think our Drake Duchy isn't safe enough?"

"I'm not worried about your Drake Duchy, rather I'm worried about your good neighbours." Xu Yi said with a smile.

Princess Caroline and Anduin understood at the same time.

"So you're worried about the Sack Kingdom." Princess Caroline looked at Anduin before saying to Xu Yi, "Chairman Xu, I think that you don't need to worry about this at all. Although the Sack Kingdom has a hostile relationship with your Lampuri Kingdom, they have always been friendly to our Drake Kingdom. This won't affect your company investing in our kingdom at all."

Anduin also said, "The princess is right, even if the Sack Kingdom is hostile towards your Lampuri Kingdom, it isn't related to your company investing in our duchy at all. This is just a normal business cooperation, the Sack Kingdom wouldn't move against your company in our Drake Kingdom because of this. If they really dare to do this, this would be considered a hostile action towards our duchy. This is something that the Sack Kingdom has avoided doing for years, so you don't need to worry about it."

Xu Yi of course knew that Anduin's words were facts. The Drake Duchy could survive between the Lampuri Kingdom and the Sack Kingdom for so long, other than them not being weak, it was also because both the Lampuri Kingdom and Sack Kingdom wanted to pull them over, so they didn't dare easily offend them.

Because the Lampuri Kingdom and the Sack Kingdom were close in power, as long as the Drake Duchy joined one of them, this could lean the balance in one direction and suddenly change the situation.

This was not something either side wanted to see, so the Drake Duchy had always been friendly to both sides.

But Xu Yi rejected Anduin's proposition not because of a safety issue, rather it was because if he went to invest in the Drake Duchy at this time, it would disrupt his plans for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.

According to his long term plan, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce wanted to develop first and lay a stable foundation in Banta City.

This was already achieved. Even if Count Stagg had forcefully come and aimed at the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, he couldn't do anything to them.

Next, it was for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to develop all over the Lampuri Kingdom, spreading the magic machine industry across the entire kingdom, changing the face and national power of the Lampuri Kingdom.

This was actually being hindered for now by the unclear political situation in the Lampuri Kingdom.

So Xu Yi had taken a few steps forward, which was investing in other countries. It would expand the scale of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and would spread them to more places across the Sines Continent.

Xu Yi had been very discrete with this step. The Frestech Chamber of Commerce had been very careful whether it was investing in the Stantine Duchy or the Rudson Kingdom. Without at least 80% assurance that nothing would happen, Xu Yi wasn't willing to invest.

So although it seemed like the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had many deals with the Rudson Kingdom and the Stantine Duchy, in reality, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce hadn't formally established many factories there.

At this time, the Drake Duchy that was far off suddenly invited Xu Yi to invest in them with all his power, so of course Xu Yi wouldn't immediately agree.

But Xu Yi couldn't just block them off, since the Drake Duchy was a country that had a border with the Lampuri Kingdom. In the Frestech Chamber of Commerce's long term plan, it was a region they had to cover.

Seeing the sincere expressions that Princess Caroline and Anduin had, Xu Yi thought for a bit before saying, "How about this, it's not realistic to have our company invest completely in your Drake Duchy, but there's no problem with some small cooperation. There is a saying in my hometown, don't forget that eating too much will make you fat. So our cooperation can proceed step by step and after accumulating to a certain extent, we can fully invest. But before this, I hope that you will not be too impatient."

Princess Caroline and Anduin looked at each other before Anduin gave a nod, "I admit that chairman Xu is being very reasonable. Then chairman Xu, where do you think we should start?"

Xu Yi was a bit surprised, but he quickly came back to his senses. Perhaps this Anduin already knew that he wouldn't agree to invest fully in the Drake Duchy.

He was just giving a sky high price and going down to a reasonable price.

He didn't agree to fully invest in the Drake Duchy, but he had unknowingly agreed to cooperate with the Drake Duchy.

After understanding this, Xu Yi couldn't help shaking his head.

A person who had become the finance minister of a duchy really wasn't some hot blooded youth who wanted the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to invest fully right away.

But there wasn't much influence here since Xu Yi wasn't against investing in the Drake Duchy.

"I don't know much about the Drake Duchy, so I should be asking you where we should start. What your duchy needs and what our company can provide, after we determine this, how about we talk about the concrete details of our cooperation after that?" Xu Yi asked back.

"Right." Anduin said with a big smile, "But chairman Xu, these things require us to understand a few things about your company. So in the next period, the princess and I will be disturbing you."

"You're definitely welcome." Xu Yi revealed a warm smile, "To have guests come from so far to inspect our company, it really is our honour."

"Alright. Chairman Xu, starting tomorrow, we hope that we can inspect Falling Rain Valley. We hope that you can prepare everything." Anduin said.

"Definitely."

"Chairman Xu, we'll see you later." Princess Caroline waved her hand at Xu Yi before leaving the room with Anduin while smiling.

"See you later?" Xu Yi was confused. He watched Princess Caroline and Anduin walk out before turning to the silent Count Stagg. The smile on his face disappeared as he calmly asked, "Lord City Lord, what do you need to talk to me alone about?"

"It really isn't anything, I just need your help with something." After Princess Caroline and Anduin left, Count Stagg's smile also faded by a bit. Although there was still a faint smile, there was a coldness to it.

"Oh? You need my help? The Lord City Lord is too polite, please tell me what you have to say." Xu Yi said.

Count Stagg looked at Xu Yi and seeing that he didn't object, he said with a nod, "Alright, on the behalf of the City Lord Manor, I have a.....request for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. Now that Banta City is entering the fall harvest, in order to ensure that everything proceeds smoothly and to guarantee Banta City's harvest yield, I ask the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to maintain all of the agricultural magic machines in Banta City in half a month. If there is anything damaged, it must be fixed or replaced within half a month. Do you understand my meaning?"

"I don't understand." Xu Yi shook his head, "Lord City Lord, the agricultural magic machines in Banta City are all sold by our Frestech chamber of Commerce, so they are all insured by our company. If there are any problems with the agricultural magic machines, the buyers can just report in at our service center. I think there's no need for us to check everything, right?"

"I just said it, it's to ensure that the fall harvest progresses smoothly." Count Stagg said with knit brows.

"Alright, since it's the City Lord Manor's request, I will accept on behalf of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. But....." Xu Yi looked at Count Stagg with a faint smile, "As for the extra cost, can I ask the Lord City Lord who will bear them?"

Count Stagg gave another cold snort, "What? The fall harvest is the most important thing in Banta City, your Frestech Chamber of Commerce can't even make this small contribution? Chairman Xu, in front of important matters, I urge you to not show your face as a merchant. Don't forget, other than being a merchant, you are also a noble of the kingdom!"

Xu Yi gave a shrug, "Alright, I understand. I represent the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to accept the Lord City Lord's arrangements."

Count Stagg gave another snort before continuing, "Other than this, according to the statistics, I've found that to plant on all the reclaimed land in Banta City, we need around another three thousand agricultural magic machines. I represent the City Lord Manor to ask the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to provide three thousand various agricultural magic machines to the City Lord Manor within a month."

Xu Yi's brows jumped up as he raised his voice, "Lord City Lord, our Frestech Chamber of Commerce has many orders and it's very hard to produce them. If we provide three thousand agricultural magic machines to the City Lord Manor within half a month, it will affect our other orders."

"I don't care. This is the City Lord Manor's orders, you must accept." Count Stagg said with a wave of his hand.

Seeing Count Stagg give this unreasonable demand, Xu Yi gave a sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair. He looked at Count Stagg and asked with a smile, "Then may I ask the Lord City Lord, should the cost of these three thousand agricultural magic machines also be paid by our Frestech Chamber of Commerce?"

Count Stagg's face twitched before he said through gritted teeth, "No, these three thousand agricultural magic machines will be paid for by the City Lord Manor."

The smile on Xu Yi's face instantly became even thicker.