Volume 8 Chapter 44 Buying a ship
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s full withdrawal, as time pa.s.sed, the effects became more and more serious.
In the beginning, there were just some factories and mines related to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce that closed. The Mana Magic Kingdom had already prepared for this ahead of time, so it didn’t affect them that much.
But because the various other races withdrew, as well as a bunch of companies from other countries, the Mana Magic Kingdom’s various factories that had lasted for several years also stopped production.
Even if the Mana Magic Kingdom had made plenty of preparations, having the companies of the country take over while also recruiting companies of other countries to invest, losing the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the other heavy investing companies, the Mana Magic Kingdom’s magic machine industry had been seriously damaged. It had even affected the other industries to varying degrees.
The biggest influence and the most clear representation was the household magic machine industry.
After the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the other companies withdrew, the Mana Magic Kingdom couldn’t even produce the most basic Magic Fan. They either lacked a component or lacked a part for it.
The Mana Magic Kingdom thought that they could rely on their own power to improve this system, but while these things seemed simple, they needed acc.u.mulation of technology over a long period of time and an acc.u.mulation of talented people. So no matter how hard the Mana Magic Kingdom tried, they found it hard to fill these gaps.
Moreover, with the influence of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce withdrawing, the magic machine industry related companies in the Mana Magic Kingdom even found it hard to import components from other countries.
At the same time, with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce giving the Mana Magic Kingdom the label of “untrustworthy”, the products of the Mana Magic Kingdom’s companies had become untrustworthy products in the eyes of the people of the continent.
This view wasn’t limited just to magic machines, but also all the other products of the Mana Magic Kingdom.
Even the several famous cla.s.sic products of the Mana Magic Kingdom’s thousand year history had been affected, with sales plummeting.
As the matter stood, the Mana Magic Kingdom’s companies couldn’t produce products and found it hard to sell their products, so naturally it was hard to keep their business. Most of them announced that they were closing up shop.
As a result, the large number of workers that had been recruited by these companies had suddenly become unemployed.
If it was several decades ago or even ten years ago, the word “unemployed” was a very new word for most people of the Mana Magic Kingdom.
Most people didn’t have jobs in the first place and were farmers that relied on their land to survive. How could they lose their jobs?
But in the recent decade, as the Frestech Chamber of Commerce promoted the magic machine industry on the continent, the Mana Magic Kingdom had many magic machine industry related companies pop up. This allowed the people who only knew how to till the land previously to enter factories and mines, gaining an income that far surpa.s.sed anything they had before and allowing them to improve their lives.
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But now, they lost their jobs.
There was a saying on earth about this. It was easy to go from being frugal to extravagance, but it was hard to go from extravagance to being frugal.
The Mana Magic Kingdom’s people through these jobs had already gotten used to a much better life. Now that they had lost these jobs and their income, they suddenly lost the foundation to a better life.
They were naturally unwilling to go back to the field and even if they were willing, because most of the land under n.o.bles had been booked by the specialized agricultural companies, there wasn’t a share for them.
So these people had suddenly lost all their sources of income.
So it was natural that riots occurred.
In the beginning, there were only large scale riots in three provinces.
But as the Mana Magic Kingdom failed to take effective countermeasures, the riots became bigger and bigger until it affected half their territory.
It could be said that the current riots were as big as the wave of opposition towards the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, it could even be considered bigger.
The Mana Magic Kingdom had been considered stable and even prosperous, but now it was filled with turmoil.
When the foreign newspapers reported on this, quite a few accurately pointed out that the Mana Magic Kingdom had become like this because of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s withdrawal.
There were even some smaller newspapers that wrote that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was secretly pulling the strings. That was why the Mana Magic Kingdom was experiencing this kind of large scale riots.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce official channel didn’t give a response to these accusations.
But in private……
“They deserve this!” Chairman Cruise gave a disdainful cold snort, “Who told these fellows not to obediently cooperate with you and have these small thoughts. The consequences that they are tasting now are all what they deserve. Don’t you think so, Xu Yi?”
Xu Yi shook his head and found it a bit funny.
In fact, he had chosen to let the Frestech Chamber of Commerce withdraw from the Mana Magic Kingdom, other than some deeper considerations, was just to let them suffer.
It wasn’t wrong to say that the Mana Magic Kingdom got what they deserved since they didn’t deliberately delay things, as well as taking small actions, even inciting the waves of opposition to negotiate terms with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, Xu Yi wouldn’t have made this decision.
But chairman Cruise’s appearance of schadenfreude and righteous indignation was taking it a bit too far.
After he finished cursing the Mana Magic Kingdom, chairman Cruise gave a cough before asking, “Speaking of this……Xu Yi, are you really planning on not caring about the Mana Magic Kingdom? As long as you are willing, the Mana Magic Kingdom side would agree to any conditions you have.”
Xu Yi looked at him, “Our company has publicly announced that we are fully withdrawing from the Mana Magic Kingdom, how can we go back on that?”
Chairman Cruise pursed his lips as he revealed a look that showed he clearly thought otherwise.
The announcement of companies was just like the words of the important people in politics, it was no different from nonsense.
As long as there were enough benefits, those things could be flipped instantly. No one would find it strange at all.
If the Frestech Chamber of Commerce re-entered the Mana Magic Kingdom in the name of helping the citizens, it wouldn’t be considered as going against their previous announcement. The Mana Magic Kingdom could just make a statement later and the Frestech Chamber of Commerce would be invited back. No one would even accuse the Frestech Chamber of Commerce of anything.
It was impossible that Xu Yi didn’t think of this, so why was he insisting on his previous decision?
“Don’t look at me. Since I’ve already decided to withdraw, I will withdraw.” Xu Yi could see what chairman Cruise was thinking and explained, “Actually for your Amrit Chamber of Commerce, this is a good chance to completely dig into the Mana Magic Kingdom. Cruise, you can’t miss it.”
Chairman Cruise revealed an awkward smile, “I never thought of this. Don’t forget, our Amrit Chamber of Commerce was the first one to leave the Mana Magic Kingdom after your Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Xu Yi revealed a smile. Although the Amrit Chamber of Commerce had withdrawn after the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s announcement, they never stated that they would leave forever. They also didn’t state that they would fully leave, they were just setting an example.
If chairman Cruise wasn’t tempted, the idea of putting one foot into the Mana Magic Kingdom’s matters would be strange.
“Alright, the Mana Magic Kingdom matters aren’t related to me, so let’s not waste time talking about this. Cruise, is your side prepared?” Xu Yi asked.
Hearing that Xu Yi was asking about business, chairman Cruise’s expression became serious as he said with a nod, “It’s already prepared and can set out at any time.”
After a pause, he came a bit closer and asked with a laugh, “That……Xu Yi, our people are already prepared, but I’m afraid that we don’t have enough ships. Just relying on your Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s transport fleet might be a bit too much trouble for you, so how about……”
“How about selling you a few ships?” Xu Yi finished his words with a smile.
“Ha……Ha, ha……If it’s possible, naturally that would be best.” Chairman Cruise gave a few dry laughs as he didn’t completely deny this.
Xu Yi couldn’t help smiling as he shook his head. He took a doc.u.ment from beside him to place in front of chairman Cruise.
“Take a look. If you’re satisfied, then you can sign it.”
Chairman Cruise took it to take a look and found that it was a contract about selling large Magic Ships.
After carefully looking it over, he found that this contract actually involved ten large transport Magic Ships!
Chairman Cruise looked at Xu Yi with a look of pleasant surprise, “This……You……You’re actually planning on selling me ten ships at once?”
Xu Yi reached out a hand and turned the contract to the last page before pointing at the final line.
“If you want it, sign. Stop wasting words.”
Chairman Cruise looked at it and without any hesitation, he signed his name on the final line.
He had already worked with Xu Yi for thirty years, he didn’t need to doubt that Xu Yi would lay a trap for him in the contract.
“It’s only ten for now, so you shouldn’t think about getting more.” Xu Yi pulled out two more of the same contracts for chairman Cruise to sign, “If you want more, wait until we finish our new shipyard. Perhaps then we can give you a bit more.”
Chairman Cruise had a wide smile as he nodded, “It’s already enough for now to get ten. In the future……of course it would be best if we could get more. As long as you’re willing to sell, I’ll take them all.”
“You’re thinking too much.” Xu Yi gave a snort, “Even these ten were pulled from the Marlow Empire, Candra Empire, and the Lampuri Kingdom’s quota for you. Do you really think there are that many?”
Chairman Cruise’s smile became even wider as it filled with deeper meaning.
“Xu Yi, I will always remember your care for our Amrit Chamber of Commerce. After we go to the Magic Cloud Continent, I will definitely make my subordinates go all out and make sure that they don’t hinder you.”
“Actually, the situation on the Magic Cloud Continent is much simpler than the Sines Continent, so it’s easier to do things. There aren’t any hindrances at all.” Xu Yi stopped for a bit before continuing, “After I arrive on that side, I might need to make some changes based on the situation. You should prepare yourself.”
Chairman Cruise nodded in response and when he wanted to say something, he suddenly reacted by looking at Xu Yi with wide eyes.
“You’re going as well?”