After spending quite a bit of time at the magic research facility, when Xu Yi came back to the City Lord’s Manor, Kennard and his assistants had already finished the process of hiring Hart and the five hundred elites.
As the first group of employees for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s guards, Xu Yi extended a warm welcome to them on behalf of the company.
But welcoming them was different from the other employees. They didn’t choose to bring these guards to any restaurants, but rather Kennard had an assistant bring them directly to the Falling Rain Valley.
In the Falling Rain Valley, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had already prepared a large area for their guards.
This close to ten thousand square meter area was the living space for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s guards, also where they trained and where they gathered.
At that place, their first job was to protect the Falling Rain Valley.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce was currently moving all their important facilities to the Falling Rain Valley. The Falling Rain Valley could be considered the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s foundations, so it wasn’t too much for them to have a strong defensive force there.
After sending off the five hundred elites, Xu Yi and Count Sean discussed the matter of when Count Stagg would take over in three days. Then he left the City Lord’s Manor with Kennard and headed off to Sandton Manor together in a horse carriage.
After entering Sandton Manor, Kennard went off to take care of the relocation while Xu Yi headed to his personal office, planning to pack up his personal belongings.
Less than ten minutes after arriving, the chairmen of the small companies of the Sandton industrial area all came to visit.
Seeing over a hundred people filling his office, Xu Yi couldn’t help asking with a smile, “What is going on today? Everyone is gathered here together, could it be that everyone is taking a vacation today?”
The group looked at each other before they all finally looked at the Ireland Chamber of Commerce’s vice chairman Kovac.
Kovac paused for a bit before replying to Xu Yi with a smile, “Chairman Xu, we are all gathered together to ask you a question.”
“Oh? What is it? Speak.”
Although the Ireland Chamber of Commerce had Freeman as their chairman, it was Kovac who suggested to Freeman to form the Ireland Chamber of Commerce back then. After the Ireland Chamber of Commerce was formed, Kovac held the position of vice chairman, but he was always the one in charge of decisions and Freeman was just in charge of the production side.
In other words, Freeman and Kennard were in the same CEO position and Kovac was the same as Xu Yi, in charge of the main decision power for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
So compared to Freeman, Kovac’s words represented the Ireland Chamber of Commerce more.
Adding in the fact that the Ireland Chamber of Commerce led the Sandton industrial district’s component producing factories, they became everyone’s representative.
There were many times that Kovac represented the small companies of the Sandton industrial district.
Now that all these people had gathered and they had elected Kovac as their representative to talk to Xu Yi, it seemed like this wasn’t a small matter.
Although Xu Yi’s tone was relaxed, his expression was very serious.
Although these component factories were very small, they were the foundation of the magic machine industry and its future, so Xu Yi had placed a lot of importance on them.
Kovac hesitantly asked, “Chairman Xu, I…..We’ve heard that your Frestech Chamber of Commerce is preparing to relocate?”
“Where did you hear this news?” Xu Yi looked over everyone here.
“Is there a need to hear it?” A small company’s chairman shouted out, “There have been things moving in the Sandton Manor for a few days and we even saw you moving out several magic production machines. Could it be that it isn’t because the Frestech Chamber of Commerce is moving?”
“That’s right. Chairman Xu, are you really planning to move?” With people taking the lead, the others all began asking their questions.
“Why are you moving? Is there something wrong with this place?”
“Before leaving, why didn’t chairman Xu tell us at all? We didn’t make any preparations at all…..”
“Chairman Xu, will your Frestech Chamber of Commerce not return after leaving?”
“Chairman Xu, are you moving because Banta City is changing City Lords?”
“Chairman Xu……”
……
“Everyone, please calm down.” Kovac suddenly shouted and calmed everyone down, “If so many people ask questions at the same time, how can chairman Xu answer our questions?”
Everyone looked at each other before looking back at Kovac.
Seeing that everyone calmed down, Kovac gave a satisfied nod before asking Xu Yi, “Chairman Xu, everyone came this time because of the matter of your Frestech Chamber of Commerce moving. Why is your Frestech Chamber of Commerce moving? Are you not planning on staying here?”
Xu Yi looked at Kovac with a surprised look as he thought that this guy really was good at leading. He paused for a bit before replying, “The reason is to gather our company’s research and production facilities together, to make it easier for our company’s future operation and something that I already decided. As for not planning on staying here, this is only a big manor, we can’t just leave it as we wish, right?”
“Then why didn’t you inform everyone before moving? You made us ask around before confirming this news.” Kovac’s voice filled with a blaming tone.
Xu Yi slightly knit his brows, “This move is our Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s matter, is there a need to contact you?”
“How is there no need?” Kovac’s was clearly dissatisfied, “Chairman Xu, our small companies have cooperation agreements with your Frestech Chamber of Commerce. If there is a change with your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, you should contact us so we can prepare ourselves.”
Xu Yi looked at Kovac with even a stranger gaze, “What do you need to prepare?”
“For example, if your Frestech Chamber of Commerce leaves, how will the cooperation between our companies and your company continue?” Kovac asked.
“I don’t understand your meaning.” Xu Yi said in a confused voice, “Our cooperation is protected by a contract, you should do what you need to do. How is this related to us moving?”
“It’s different.” Kovac shook his head, “To give an example, chairman Xu, when we took orders from your Frestech Chamber of Commerce before, we just sent the final products to Sandton Manor. If you all move to the Falling Rain Valley, that is over fifty kilometers away. With how far it is, if we have to send our products over, isn’t it a bit too much?”
Xu Yi immediately understood his meaning, “This means that you’re not willing to pay for the transportation costs?”
Kovac nodded, “That’s right. Chairman Xu, your Frestech Chamber of Commerce is big, you wouldn’t care about the transportation costs of a trivial fifty kilometers, but even a single gold coin is important for our small companies. The transportation costs for fifty kilometers isn’t a small figure for our companies, so I feel that you should have discussed this matter with us beforehand.”
“Alright, I admit that I neglected this.” Xu Yi nodded before looking at the other chairmen and asking, “Is this also your intentions?”
Everyone didn’t make a sound, they just gave nods.
Seeing everyone’s response, Xu Yi understood.
These small companies had this plan, but because of Xu Yi or perhaps the overwhelming power of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce compared to them, they didn’t dare directly ask Xu Yi. They gathered together and wanted to use their collective power to get Xu Yi’s attention.
Xu Yi felt happy and disappointed by their intentions.
If it was from the perspective of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, Xu Yi was naturally very disappointed.
These small companies developed because of Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s support, but they were now haggling with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce over this small matter. This was simply being ungrateful.
But if it was his personal view, Xu Yi was a bit happy to see this happen.
This is because these small companies were gaining awareness, meaning they were gradually adapting to their environment, understanding to gather together. It meant that these small component factories were slowly building confidence.
For Xu Yi’s ideal industrial system, this was a very happy thing.
So Xu Yi thought about it before saying, “Since everyone is here, then you can tell me the worries you have. As long as it’s a reasonable request, you can raise it. Although we’re all business partners, there are some things that are easier if they’re said out loud. Don’t you all think so?”
Hearing Xu Yi’s words, the expressions of the small company chairmen relaxed.
Actually there was a large amount of pressure on them when it came to making demands of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Not mentioning how the Frestech Chamber of Commerce helped them making them unwilling to haggle with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, just their scale and position, as well as them being the leader of the magic machine industry was enough to give them pressure.
If Xu Yi ignored their requests, they couldn’t do anything and they didn’t even have a place to complain.
It was a good thing that Xu Yi had always been tolerant of them and now he was even letting them speak freely.
“Right, right, very right. Chairman Xu, it isn’t comfortable to keep things in one’s hearts. If they are said, everyone can discuss a solution to the problem, don’t you think?”
“That’s right. Actually we came this time mainly because we were worried that if your Frestech Chamber of Commerce left, our hearts would feel empty like something was missing and we wouldn’t be able to continue forward with steady steps.”
“That’s right, chairman Xu. Your Frestech Chamber of Commerce supports everyone and if you suddenly move, we thought that you were giving up on us. It even turned my face pale in fear.”
“Ha, ha, you’re too exaggerated. Aren’t we clear on what kind of person chairman Xu is? How could he give up on us?”
“That’s right…..”
……
Xu Yi had the same smile as he listened to everyone, but his heart was quickly thinking about the problem they had just mentioned.
Kovac was right, the transportation cost for fifty kilometers wasn’t much for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, but it was very important for these small companies.
This problem was all because the contract wasn’t perfect, creating this loophole.
It was also because of both sides’ mentality.
Before this, those small companies all took orders from Xu Yi before, so they had never dared to discuss conditions with Xu Yi.
But now it was different. These small companies had developed and had their own demands, so naturally they wanted to discuss conditions with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Xu Yi wasn’t against this at all.
He had come from earth where trade had been prosperous, so from his viewpoint, a business deal should be more extensive. The more details that went into a contract, the less chances that a loophole would appear.
But the problem was, Xu Yi and the chairmen of these small companies weren’t professionals. They weren’t any different from other people when discussing a contract, so it was impossible to make it perfect.
Now that these problems had appeared, Xu Yi began to seriously consider this issue.
But the biggest problem was, where would he find a professional for this?
