Volume 3 Chapter 19 Count Stagg who almost couldn’t hold on any longer
Xu Yi didn’t talk to Agnes about much, it was mainly concerning the design department.
Now, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce produced more and more magic machines, with different models between each kind of product.
For example, the first time there were different models was with the bicycle, separated into male and female. Next there would be adult and children models and they would be divided even further, going into luxury models, fashionable models, and simple models.
For the household magic machines, Xu Yi was also planning on dividing them into different models.
For example, the Magic Air Conditioner currently had the cold version and the variable temperature version. When it was promoted before, Xu Yi had only made those two versions, but now that the Magic Air Conditioner research was getting more in depth, changing the effectiveness of the warming and cooling functions, Xu Yi followed the same division of air conditioners on earth. They were separated into different efficiencies for different needs.
The same division was used with the other household magic machines, so there was a problem with this.
Since there were different versions of the same product, if they had the same design, it would seem very boring.
According to the customs from earth, different products naturally needed different designs. Not only did it make it easier to differentiate between versions, it made them look better to people.
Like this, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s current design department that only had Agnes and Vivian just wasn’t enough.
Vivian was currently still studying at Baron Rickto’s Magic Academy and she couldn’t work long enough. This meant that most of the designs were made by Agnes.
Even if the elves were filled with energy, Agnes’ time was still limited. So Xu Yi talked to Agnes, hoping that she could find a few elf designers from the Night Song Tribe to join the design department, helping Agnes finish these designs.
Hearing Xu Yi’s request, Agnes’ face was covered in joy.
“Chairman, even if you didn’t say anything, I was prepared to raise this issue with you.” Agnes said, “I have already thought that I don’t have enough time. Other than making designs, I’m also responsible for the forestation changes on the Black Rice Wasteland, so I really am busy.”
“Un, so I thought of finding people to help you take some of this work.” Xu Yi nodded, “Since you were here today, I was just informing you of this. Agnes, based on your good performance, I as the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s chairman appoint you the chief of the design department. You will be in charge of everything with the design department.”
“Ah?” Agnes was stunned, “You want me to be chief? This…..This isn’t right, right? Chairman I don’t know anything…..”
“It’s fine as long as you understand designs.” Xu Yi said with a smile, “The design department recruiting new staff will all be handled by you. So whether you can find useful designers will all be up to you.”
Agnes thought about it and didn’t really hesitate as she gave a nod in response.
“Alright, then I will work hard.”
“That’s right.” Xu Yi thought for a bit before asking, “Right, I suddenly thought of something that I kept forgetting. The Stantine Duchy is smaller than the Lampuri Kingdom, but the Stantine Duchy’s Moon Shadow Tribe has over three thousand elves. By that logic, your Night Song Tribe shouldn’t only have a thousand elves, right? Based on common sense, there should be other elf tribes in the kingdom.”
Agnes thought for a bit before shaking her head, “I don’t really know because I’ve rarely left the Falling Rain Forest since I was young and I’ve never heard the elders mention this before.”
“Alright, I’ll ask elder Illusia about this later.”
Xu Yi said a few more things to Agnes about recruiting people for the design department before having her leave the study. He went over to a giant map hanging on the wall of the study.
This map was different from the map he had hanging in the office of the factory. Other than the Lampuri Kingdom, this map also included the countries around the Lampuri Kingdom.
For example, the Stantine Duchy that Xu Yi visited before, the Sack Kingdom that has always been hostile towards the Lampuri Kingdom to the north, and the Rudson Kingdom that Xu Yi was planning to invest in.
Xu Yi’s eyes swept over the map before falling onto the top right corner, looking at the Drake Kingdom that shared a border with both the Lampuri Kingdom and the Sack Kingdom.
Based on the map, the Drake Duchy was a bit smaller than the Stantine Duchy.
But the Stantine Duchy had a special geography and it was quite remote, so comparatively speaking, while the Drake Duchy was smaller, it was much more important.
For the Lampuri Kingdom and the Sack Kingdom, they had less than a fifth of the area, but it was still very important.
If either side had the support of the Drake Duchy, it would mean that they would be able to obtain the advantage and it wasn’t impossible for them to eliminate the other side.
“If we can win over the Drake Duchy, with this great advantage, would the support for Seveni surpass his highness Eric?”
Xu Yi tapped his finger on Banta City on the map before drawing a line to the Drake Duchy in the upper right corner. After calculating it, he found that it was over seven hundred kilometers away.
This distance wasn’t much on earth, but for the Sines Continent that hadn’t developed their transport system yet, this was a distance that was considered quite far.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce wanting to take this far step and putting their influence in the Drake Duchy that was over seven hundred kilometers away, this wasn’t very realistic.
Calculating a few things in his heart, Xu YI tapped a few parts of the map.
These points were cities that directly connected Banta City to the Drake Duchy. If the Frestech Chamber of Commerce could proceed slowly and first develop in those cities, moving forward step by step, it was very likely they could enter the Drake Duchy in the end.
“In the end, the foundation in the Lampuri Kingdom hasn’t been established yet and wanting to develop in another country isn’t a realistic idea.”
Xu Yi gave a sigh before his eyes finally fell onto Anvilmar City.
“How good it would be if Seveni could take the throne right now. She supports the magic machines industry and we could develop much more quickly in the Lampuri Kingdom. It would also save me the headache of thinking about how to develop foundations in other countries.”
It was a real pity that Xu Yi didn’t excel in this matter and could be considered helpless.
Even if the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was developing well right now, they were far from enough to be able to interfere with the Lampuri Kingdom’s politics.
“The only thing I can do now is to let the new Lord City Lord properly enjoy the taste of defeat.”
Thinking of the pained look Count Stagg had when he agreed that the City Lord Manor would pay for the three thousand agricultural magic machines, Xu Yi couldn’t help smiling.
In the past two years, with the appearance of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce driving Banta City’s development, Banta City’s tax revenue had greatly increased. When they paid their share of the kingdom tax, they had left a surplus of over a million gold coins.
This was a very large amount for a small city like Banta City, but under Xu Yi’s suggestion, Count Sean had used that money in city construction plans to improve Banta City, creating a long term plan for Banta City.
Calculating it all, when Count Sean was the City Lord, although Banta City’s tax revenue had increased, the money they spent was even more.
When Count Sean was replaced as City Lord, if the accountant had calculated everything, the City Lord Manor didn’t even have a single copper coin left. Because of the various construction projects around the city, they owed quite a large amount to the companies of the city.
Taking the Frestech Chamber of Commerce as an example, the City Lord Manor owed a large amount of one hundred and seventy thousand gold coins.
As for the Amrit Chamber of Commerce who took most of the projects, according to what chairman Cruise had told Xu Yi, the City Lord Manor owed them over seven hundred and eighty thousand gold coins.
If all the debts of the City Lord Manor were added together, Xu YI estimated that their debt would be over one million and five hundred thousand gold coins.
If Banta City followed the same trend as before, while this debt seemed to keep increasing, it would have been paid off in just a few years.
But now that the City Lord position had been taken by Count Stagg who had other plans, in order to demonstrate the political opinions of the Stagg Family and the old fools he represented, in the two months since taking the office, he had first forced the Frestech Chamber of Commerce away and then implemented his agricultural promotion policies, causing the companies of Banta City to leave Banta City.
The reason for Banta City’s two years of high tax revenue, most of that came from business taxes.
Now that most of that tax was gone, where would the City Lord Manor find money to deal with these large expenditures?
Although three thousand agricultural magic machines cost less than two hundred thousand gold coins, which wasn’t much, the City Lord Manor couldn’t even take out twenty thousand gold coins, not to mention two hundred thousand.
Because this was the decision of the City Lord Manor, even if Count Stagg wanted to aim at the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, he couldn’t have the Frestech Chamber of Commerce pay for everything because this was no different from stealing.
Xu Yi was very clear on this situation, but when Count Stagg requested for three thousand agricultural magic machines from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, he agreed without even blinking an eye.
Actually, Xu Yi would have rather preferred for Count Stagg to have the Frestech Chamber of Commerce pay for everything.
But it was a pity that Count Stagg wasn’t that much of a fool.
Thinking of this, Xu Yi couldn’t help giving a cold laugh.
“Hei, I want to see how long this Count Stagg can remain this stubborn.”
At this time, there were two crisp knocks on the door.