Volume 2 Chapter 28 What att.i.tude does the Stagg Family have?
His thought of writing a book was suddenly interrupted by something.
It couldn’t be considered sudden either. When Viscount Leslie left Banta City, this matter, or this person was definitely coming, he just didn’t know when they would come.
At the end of April, a cavalcade came to Banta City from Anvilmar City.
The one in that cavalcade was Viscount Leslie’s successor, which was also the new lord that the Stagg Family had sent for their territory in Banta City, Baron Belil Stagg.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce had rented a hectare of land from the Stagg Family. As the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s chairman, it was reasonable for Xu Yi to pay him a visit as soon as possible.
But when he talked to Butler Brunei who Viscount Leslie had left in Banta City, he learned that the Lord Baron had just arrived and had many important people to see. He didn’t have time to see Xu Yi right now, so he had him wait first.
Xu Yi was instantly stunned before asking Butler Brunei with knit brows, “Are these the words of the Lord Baron?”
Butler Brunei replied without any emotion, “Yes.”
Xu Yi’s brows knit even tighter.
If Butler Brunei were conveying the words of Baron Belil Stagg, it meant that the other side was completely looking down on Xu Yi or was openly revealing hostilities towards him.
No matter which one it was, it wasn’t something that Xu Yi wanted to see.
And from the angle of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, compared to strangely being hostile towards them, Xu Yi hoped that this was the baron looking down on him.
It was fine if he looked down on him or was just arrogant, but it was very troublesome if he was hostile.
Thinking of this, Xu Yi then asked, “Butler Brunei, did the Lord Baron mention my name or our Frestech Chamber of Commerce?”
Butler Brunei looked up at Xu Yi and after pausing, he slowly nodded, “Yes, when I was making my report of the territory, I mentioned your Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the Lord Baron learned of your existence.”
“Then what att.i.tude did the Lord Baron have?” Xu Yi kept asking.
Xu Yi thought that Butler Brunei wouldn’t seriously answer this question, but after Butler Brunei thought about it, he suddenly stood up straight and said with a look of disdain, “There are many small companies in Banta City, I really don’t know why that fellow Leslie places such importance on this.” After saying this, Butler Brunei restored his uncaring appearance and said, “These were the words of the Lord Baron.”
Xu Yi looked at Butler Brunei in surprise for a bit before seriously saying, “Thank you.”
Butler Brunei nodded and remained silent.
After leaving the manor Viscount Leslie left behind, Xu Yi entered his horse carriage and ordered the driver to head towards the City Lord’s Manor.
As the carriage continued, Xu Yi fell into his thoughts.
Although he didn’t know why, Butler Brunei’s actions had surprised him. He had shown Xu Yi Baron Belil Stagg’s real thoughts, which would be a very big help to Xu Yi in making his decision.
According to what Butler Brunei showed hi, this Lord Baron should have learned of Xu Yi and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce from Viscount Leslie.
He could even infer from his words that Viscount Leslie might have specially told him some things about the Frestech Chamber of Commerce or Xu Yi before he came to Banta City.
As for the Lord Baron’s response of not sparing a glance, this was because to him, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce wasn’t one of the big companies of Banta City, so it wasn’t worth entering the eyes of a junior from the Stagg Family like him.
Xu Yi didn’t expect the new lord to be as open as Viscount Leslie, having the same appreciation and support for him and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. But be just hoped that the new lord didn’t have any special goals.
For example, according to what Viscount Leslie said, if the Stagg Family noticed the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s potential, they would decide to move against them. They would send a smart lord who would use the land the Frestech Chamber of Commerce is currently renting and the powerful influence of the Stagg Family to swallow the Frestech Chamber of Commerce bit by bit.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha……Xu Yi, you really are thinking too much.” Count Sean Samo broke out in loud laughter as he pointed at Xu Yi and said, “I say, Xu Yi, should I say that you’re thinking too highly of yourself or too lowly of yourself?”
Xu Yi looked at Count Sean with a confused look. He didn’t understand why he would react so strangely after he came to him for help.
“What does this mean?”
“In terms of thinking too highly of yourself, you think the Stagg Family would actually specially send someone to deal with you and your Frestech Chamber of Commerce? You have to understand, the Stagg Family is one of the top families in our Lampuri Kingdom, even if it is me, I can only look up to Lord Duke Stagg. For such a giant, who is only second to the Lampuri Kingdom’s royal family, would they need to specially deal with a small Frestech Chamber of Commerce?” Count Sean asked with a smile.
“This…..Although our Frestech Chamber of Commerce isn’t big, I have to admit that there’s still some value. Not only are our product revenue margins high, our prospects are very wide, so it wouldn’t be strange if the Stagg Family set their eyes on us?” Xu Yi asked in an unconvinced voice.
Count Sean shook his head with a faint smile, “Although you’re completely right, Xu Yi, you have to see reality. Even if your Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s prospects are broad, you are just a small company who earns less than five hundred thousand a year. This isn’t worth mentioning at all to the Stagg Family, why would they send someone to specially deal with your company?”
“Not afraid of everything, just afraid of if.” Xu Yi said.
“You have to thank that fellow Leslie for this. If it wasn’t for him helping you hide the truth from the Stagg Family, your worries would have become a reality.” Count Sean said with a deep sigh, “Even now I still don’t understand why he helped you this much, actually even thinking of things in long term.”
“Viscount Leslie helped me hide the truth?” Xu Yi was surprised. He thought of Viscount Leslie’s advice from before he left and he understood.
It seemed like Viscount Leslie never reported his appreciation for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to the Stagg Family and had even lowered his evaluation. This caused the Stagg Family to have the wrong evaluation of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s worth, causing them not to place any importance on it.
The three hundred slaves from the Stagg Family last time was proof.
According to Viscount Leslie’s warnings, Xu Yi didn’t let those three hundred slaves touch the core technology of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. He just had those slaves work on some simple a.s.sembly work.
Those three hundred slaves had already left the household magic machine workshop and the Stagg Family didn’t send anyone else after that.
But Xu Yi was still a bit confused.
“Even if Viscount Leslie hid this, our Frestech Chamber of Commerce has quite the fame in the kingdom. It is impossible for the Stagg Family to not investigate us, so why do they have this kind of att.i.tude?”
“This was the second thing I said. Xu Yi, you’re looking down on the Frestech Chamber of Commerce too much.” Count Sean stopped laughing and after a pause, he said with a serious face, “Although the Frestech Chamber of Commerce isn’t big right now, you have met the king and have signed the cooperation agreement with the agricultural department representing the king. When the agricultural department announced this, your Frestech Chamber of Commerce had already become famous among the n.o.bles. Because the king wants to popularize the agricultural magic machines through the agricultural department, they have to cooperate with your Frestech Chamber of Commerce. Of the n.o.bles in the kingdom with land, they can’t avoid cooperating with your Frestech Chamber of Commerce. The Stagg Family is the large n.o.ble family with the most land in the kingdom, so they are the first ones the king’s plans apply to. It could be said that everyone is paying attention to them right now, so of course it’s impossible for them to move against your Frestech Chamber of Commerce at this time.”
Xu Yi was surprised, “Then why does the new Lord Baron look down on our company?”
Count Sean thought about it before replying, “According to my contact with Baron Belil, perhaps it is because his personality is like this. As for why the Stagg Family would send him here, that is a matter of the Stagg Family and I can’t reply for you.”
Xu Yi considered this before slowly nodding, “Alright, I understand. Many thanks for the Lord City Lord’s advice.”
According to Count Sean’s a.n.a.lysis, the Stagg Family should still be paying attention to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, but they didn’t have a clear understanding of its true value.
Perhaps to the Stagg Family, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce is just lucky. They were relying on some agricultural magic machines they developed to receive the king’s recognition, which resulted in this large order.
In the end, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was just a very small company.
According to Baron Belil, it was just a small company that couldn’t even stand at the top of Banta City.
If the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was like the Falcao Chamber of Commerce with influence all over the Lampuri Kingdom and having the Jole Family behind, there would be no need to mention the Stagg Family paying attention to them.
As for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, they weren’t qualified.
“Should I be happy or disappointed?” Xu Yi revealed a bitter smile.
Count Sean patted Xu Yi’s shoulder and said with a faint smile, “Don’t think that much. You just need to know that I like you and your company very much, it is the same with that fellow Leslie. His majesty’s att.i.tude isn’t very clear, but based on the att.i.tude of her highness queen, his majesty should also favour you and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. When the agricultural magic machines spread across the kingdom, your Frestech Chamber of Commerce will have a true foundation in the kingdom. Anyone will have to consider it if they want to move against you, will you still need to be worried with this foundation?”
Xu Yi considered it before nodding with a smile.
“The Lord City Lord is right, as long as we finish this matter, we won’t need to think about anything else.” Xu Yi looked at Count Sean and seriously asked, “Lord City Lord, I’m very grateful for your support towards me and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, but why are you supporting us like this?”
“You can’t even understand this? No wonder that fellow Leslie said that you were an idiot with politics, he wasn’t wrong at all.” Count Sean said with a sigh, “It’s very simple. First looking at it from a wide perspective, I’m hoping that our Lampuri Kingdom will become stronger, so I support his majesty.”
“Second, from my personal point of view, your Frestech Chamber of Commerce has already recruited five hundred workers and their income is quite good, which is enough to solve the daily problems for five hundred families. This is very helpful in stabilizing Banta City. Moreover, according to your plan, your Frestech Chamber of Commerce will hire several thousand or over ten thousand workers in the future. If this becomes real, our Banta City citizens will quickly become rich and it’ll be much easier for me as a City Lord. And if this result was achieved, wouldn’t my status in the kingdom also increase?”
Xu Yi understood. If this was on earth, this was called political achievements.
Indeed, according to his plan, with the development of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, the Banta City residents would be freed from the farmlands and would invest into industrialization.
When all of Banta City was placed on the track of industrialization, the citizens would all have decent incomes and everyone’s basic livelihood would be easily guaranteed.
For the Lampuri Kingdom that wasn’t strong and where many people couldn’t eat their fill, this was a dazzling achievement.
Thinking of this, Xu Yi couldn’t help saying to Count Sean, “Lord City Lord, it’s a good thing the Stagg Family doesn’t favour our company like you, or that if that I worry about might become real.”
Count Sean revealed a faint smile, “Your Frestech Chamber of Commerce is under my eyes, who understands it better than me? As for your worries, just give them up. The thing you need to do now is to properly develop the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. Remember, as long as you become stronger, you have nothing to fear.”
Xu Yi gave a strong nod.