Volume 6 Chapter 4 Managing rights of workers
Duke Makaros still didn’t make a decision in the end.
But even if he didn’t decide to buy the agricultural magic machines, that didn’t mean that he didn’t buy the household magic machines.
After all, he had seen the amazing effects of the various household magic machines that Xu Yi had brought this time after coming to Marquis Southgate’s manor, so no matter how stubborn he was, he had to admit that these things were very easy to use.
Since he only needed to spend a bit of money to make his life more convenient, why wouldn’t he do this?
Of course, this “bit of money” was only for Duke Makaros.
He had bought seven sets of various household magic machines from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, spending three thousand and six hundred gold coins.
For the citizens of the Marlow Empire, this figure was a giant figure that they could never earn in their entire lives.
“Lord Marquis, may I ask what is the average annual income of the people in your territory?” After Duke Makaros left, Xu Yi suddenly asked Marquis Southgate this.
“Why are you asking this question?” Marquis Southgate was a bit surprised.
“I just want to estimate the general consumption level here.”
Marquis Southgate looked at Xu Yi with a bit of a strange look.
“Chairman Xu, I might disappoint you. To be honest, my territory is already considered quite good, but compared to the people under your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, there is a big difference. I’m ashamed to mention this, but as their lord, I could only barely maintain their normal living conditions and couldn’t improve their living standard.”
Xu Yi shook his head with a faint smile, “Lord Marquis, this isn’t your fault. Not to mention that you brought our Frestech Chamber of Commerce here, we will definitely give them a better life.”
“Definitely?” Marquis Southgate took a deep look at Xu Yi, “Chairman Xu, you really are confident.”
“Of course, if I wasn’t confident, I wouldn’t have come here, right?” Xu Yi revealed a smile before he kept asking, “Lord Marquis, knowing the average yearly income is very important to my future plans, please tell me.”
“Is that so?” Marquis Southgate thought about it before giving a sigh and shaking his head, “Actually, as for your question…..I really don’t know how to answer. I said it just now, the citizens can barely maintain their normal living conditions, so if you want to talk about income…..they really don’t have any income at all.”
“It’s like this……I have a general idea of what to do.” Xu Yi nodded before suddenly looking at Marquis Southgate with a serious look, “Lord Marquis, now we can discuss the issue of hiring employees for the various factories of the magic machine industry base.”
“The people of our territory have to be the main employment force, there’s no room to discuss this.” Marquis Southgate said without any hesitation.
“Of course, we already agreed on this, meaning that I have no reason to change this. What I am discussing now is their wages. How does the Lord Marquis want to process this?”
Marquis Southgate was surprised, “What do you mean?”
“My meaning is that as the lord, you have the right to order your people to work in our factories, just like how they farm the land on your territory. Our company doesn’t need to pay them a wage and just needs to pay a fee to you as the lord, what do you think?” Xu Yi said.
Marquis Southgate knitted his brows to think before asking, “Chairman Xu, I remember that whether it is your Frestech Chamber of Commerce or the other companies, they all freely paid their workers wages, right?”
“Yes, but before this, there were magic machine companies that were set up by the nobles. They then ordered their citizens to work in the factories and then didn’t pay their workers.”
“Why aren’t there these companies anymore?”
“Because they were all eliminated.” Xu Yi replied with a faint smile, “Facts proved that it was hard to stimulate the enthusiasm for work among the employees, so it caused their magic machines to have some problems in terms of quality and performance. So they were eventually pushed out of the industry by our Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the other magic machine companies.”
“Enthusiasm for work…..” Marquis Southgate stroked his chin to think for a bit before giving a nod, “I understand what you mean. Chairman Xu, if I allow these citizens to be employed in the factories as individuals, what do you think?”
“It’s very simple, it will be like the Lampuri Kingdom or the Stantine Duchy. They will become our employees and we will provide them with their wages, as well as some benefits, but…..”
After saying this, Xu Yi paused.
“They will become our employees like this and they should be workers of our companies, so they will be managed by our company. Even if you are their lord, you can’t interfere with them and you need the agreement of our company if you need something.”
Seeing the serious look on Xu Yi’s face, Marquis Southgate deeply knitted his brows.
Xu Yi’s words were already quite forward. This meant that according to the method that Xu Yi proposed, those workers would be turned over to the factories of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the various factories, Marquis Southgate wouldn’t be able to meddle most of the times.
To put it simply, Xu Yi was striving for some rights for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the other companies that came to invest here.
If Marquis Southgate didn’t agree, Xu Yi had also given the consequences, which was that the enthusiasm for work for the employees would be affected. This would affect the quality and performance of the magic machines made.
Xu Yi watched as Marquis Southgate thought about it for a while before slowly shaking his head.
“Chairman Xu, I can’t agree to this request. Ruling over the people is my responsibility as the lord and I have the responsibility to guide them. No matter what, I can’t just let others manage my people.”
Xu Yi’s expression didn’t change, but he gave a sigh deep down.
He was very disappointed in this answer.
He thought that Marquis Southgate was smart enough to see through this matter, but he never thought that he would be like most lords in this world, unwilling to give up control over his own territory.
Of course, Xu Yi wasn’t surprised by this answer.
In the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s development over the years, Xu Yi had been in contact with many lords. He understood the thoughts of the lords and knew that without receiving any benefits, it wouldn’t be easy for them to change their ideas.
This was an idea that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had been able to change in the Lampuri Kingdom and the surrounding countries with the magic machine industry they developed, but for the nobles of the Marlow Empire which was one of the two empires, it wasn’t that easy to change this idea.
Xu Yi was silent for a bit before replying, “If the Lord Marquis has made this choice, this is also fine. Our Frestefch Chamber of Commerce and the other companies will hire some workers from you and directly pay you, but we won’t need to sign private employment contracts with the workers themselves. What do you think?”
Marquis Southgate nodded, “Un, we’ll do this. But there’s no need to pay the fee, as long as these people can live normal lives. Anyway, your factories will be paying me taxes, right?”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile. Marquis Southgate rejecting his suggestion of paying the fees went against Xu Yi’s plan.
“No, Lord Marquis, taxes are taxes and fees are fees, they can’t be mixed together. Putting a factory on your territory already reduces the taxes, so without the fees, you will be suffering too much.”
Marquis Southgate gave a laugh, “It’s fine even if I suffer a bit of losses. The most important thing is that you work with me to improve my territory. If it can become like Banta City or even your Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s headquarters, I would be willing to exempt you from all taxes.”
“You can’t make this joke, Lord Marquis. If I take it for real, you might really regret the loss each year.” Xu Yi said with a smile, “In short, from the perspective of a merchant like me, all cooperations and transactions should be fair, otherwise they won’t be able to last long. In order for a long term partnership in the future, it is best to start with a fair agreement, don’t you think?”
Marquis Southgate shook his head with a bitter smile, “Alright, since chairman Xu insists, I will take the fees. Un…..This is my first time doing this, so I really don’t know what the starting price is. Chairman Xu, you decide, it’s fine as long as you give me a fair price.”
“Alright, then for each worker……” Xu Yi raised three fingers, “It would be thirty gold coins a year, what do you think?”
Marquis Southgate had inspected the Frestech Chamber of Commerce twice and had stayed for close to a month. He was very clear that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was paying their employees over a hundred gold coins a year.
Compared to this, thirty gold coins a year in fees was too much of a difference.
But the two had clearly discussed this just now. The Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the other companies are only hiring workers from Marquis Southgate, they wouldn’t have the right to manage them, so naturally it would be much different from hiring them as an individual.
Although there was a big difference, it was considered fair.
Marquis Southgate thought for a bit before nodding in response.
“Alright, we’ll set it at this price, but there’s still a problem. Chairman Xu, according to your estimate, how many workers do you need to hire?”
Xu Yi revealed a cunning smile as he stretched out one finger.
“Not much, it’s only around ten thousand in the beginning.”
“Ten thousand?!”
Marquis Southgate looked at Xu Yi with wide eyes, unable to speak for a while from his shock.