Volume 4 Chapter 49 Becoming a foreign company
âSir chairmanâŠâŠâ
Sebas handed the Frestech Chamber of Commerceâs last month financial report to Xu Yi with a strange look on his face.
âWhat is it? Is there a problem?â Xu Yi took it and asked in a surprised voice.
âThereâs no problem, justâŠ..our companyâs revenue last monthâŠ..actually increased!â
Seeing Sebasâ look of disbelief, Xu Yi laughed. He went through the report in his hand and found that it was as Sebas had said.
According to the stats, the Frestech Chamber of Commerceâs net profit after deducting all costs last month had broken a million gold coins!
This was not just a large increase from the previous months, it was even an increase from this month last year.
It was no wonder Sebas had a strange expression. It was because according to the original estimates, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce would be affected by the ban and their performance would drop, which meant their profits would fall.
However, facts were different from what most people had expected.
Although in the first month after the ban, the Frestech Chamber of Commerceâs profits and gross sales had dropped, in the second month, this drop had stopped and kept climbing. It even reached the point where last month had surpassed the same month from last year.
âThis isnât anything strange.â The CEO Kennerad on the side said with a smile, âAlthough weâve been banned from producing magic machines in the Lampuri Kingdom, the business department hasnât banned us from selling magic machines in the kingdom, so there really isnât that much of a difference.â
âUn, although relocating the factories affected the production, such a long time has passed and our company is back to normal production. Actually we arenât that different from before, but if you must compare it, we are no longer as restricted as we were in the Falling Rain Valley. Rather we have quite a few more factories compared to before, so our production capacity has increased.â The household magic departmentâs head Ankhto added.
âRight, I really donât know what the idiots at the department were thinking with that damn ban. Didnât it make the people in the kingdom want to buy our magic machines more?â
âRight, right. Thereâs even a movement in Banta City now, calling everyone to only buy the Frestech Brand magic machines and to boycott the magic machines of the ten companies.
âI also heard that this movement has gotten bigger and even the surrounding cities are joining in. Now those companies canât even sell products in Banta City or the surrounding citiesâŠâŠâ
âŠâŠ
Hearing the discussion in the room, Xu Yi couldnât help shaking his head.
The people at the department making this ban for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce were clearly trying to put them in a death trap.
However, they never would have thought that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce would be able to build a new production base in the Black Rice Wasteland in such a short period of time. It only took them a month to get back to normal production.
And the department targeting the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had triggered the doubt and anger of many people in the kingdom.
In the newspapers and advertising agencies close to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, there was a surge of support for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, resisting the wave of the magic machine industry management department.
It was because of this wave that the Frestech Chamber of Commerceâs sales had increased in the past few months. It even made a breakthrough in the last month, surpassing a record of a million gold coins in one month.
And accordingly, of the household magic machines made by the ten companies, they were being boycotted by the citizens of the Lampuri Kingdom and their sales were very bad.
There were even quite a few cities that erupted in protests against those ten companies. The ones that were a bit excessive even destroyed the stores of those ten kingdoms. It could be considered quite a stir in the Lampuri Kingdom.
After learning of this, Xu Yi didnât know whether to laugh or cry.
Compared to the public, he knew more and could see things more clearly.
He knew that the publicâs support for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce is real, but the riots being initiated werenât that simple.
It was likely that these citizens were being used by someone.
The cities that these things happened in were cities that had supported Seveni before. It could be said that they were on a completely different side compared to the current King Eric and the conservative nobles represented by the department.
This was a clear indication of their attitude to the other side.
The departmentâs ban on the Frestech Chamber of Commerce gave them a good excuse.
To put it strictly, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was being used.
But Xu Yi didnât care that much about that.
King Ericâs side clearly didnât show any support for him and suppressed him in all places, so naturally he didnât need to consider anything for them.
If Seveni was willing to stand out, it was possible that Xu Yi could support her.
However, when he thought of Seveni, Xu Yi just gave a bitter laugh in his heart.
Since bringing five hundred guards here last time and helping Xu Yi with purging the beastmen on the Black Rice Wasteland, Seveni had returned to her territory and hadnât taken a step out of her territory in the last two months.
Her methods clearly showed everyone that she wasnât willing to interfere with the business of the kingdom.
Those cities that supported her did things, which was just a waste of time.
âItâs fine, I have no plans for the Lampuri Kingdom for now.â Xu Yi gave a sigh in his heart, lifting his hand to stop the discussion in the room.
Everyone looked over and Xu Yi looked at the report in his hand as he said to Sebas, âSebas, donât be happy too early. Iâm certain that next month, the month after that, or even the following few months, our companyâs finances wonât be that good.â
Sebasâ expression changed, âSir chairman, have you thought of some new investments? I have to remind you, our company has invested too much this year and we donât have much funds left. If youâre not careful, weâll be in a difficult situation.â
âYou donât need to remind me, I know.â Xu Yi waved his hand, âThings like investments are to make money, but we canât go into financial trouble for them, wouldnât that be a pit? Moreover, of all the investments that Iâve made now, have we suffered a loss?â
Everyone in the room fell silent.
Everyone recalled the investments that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had made so far and found that it was like Xu Yi said, there was no loss. Rather whichever investment it was, they werenât determined good at first and people even called Xu Yi crazy, but it had been a great source of income for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
After experiencing this many times, there was no one in the Frestech Chamber of Commerce that questioned Xu Yiâs investments.
But to be honest, if Xu Yiâs investments this time failed and they failed greatly, it would have a profound influence on the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
That was the investment in her highness Seveni.
Of course, this political investment was different from business investments.
âAlright, sir chairman, I wonât question your investments, but I want to remind you that you need to take care of the companyâs current finances.â Sebas fell into thought before tactfully saying, âIf it isnât a necessary investment, I advise we wait several months. At least we should wait until the base on the Black Rice Wasteland is finished before considering it.â
âI will remember this suggestion. But Sebas, Iâve suddenly foundâŠ..Iâve been misled by your words. Actually I wasnât talking about any new investments, rather I received some news which makes me think that the companyâs finances will be bad for the next few months.â
âWhat news?â Everyone curiously looked at Xu Yi.
A piece of news that could make the Frestech Chamber of Commerceâs profits drop for several months? This was just too unbelievable.
Xu Yi put down the finance report and his expression became serious.
âAccording to this new information, the Lampuri Kingdomâs business department will be implementing new rules that will classify the various products that circulate in the kingdom. Those produced in the kingdom will be one kind of product and will be considered internal products. Those that are produced in another country and brought in to sell will be considered imported goodsâŠ..â
âThen what about us who produce somewhere else and sell in the kingdom?â Ankhto couldnât help cutting Xu Yi off.
Seeing the anxious Ankhto, Xu Yi said in a deep voice, âThis is the same as producing it in another country and selling it in the Lampuri Kingdom, it will be considered imported goods.â
Kennardâs brows jumped up, âThis means that we will be treated the same as other companies and will have to pay tariffs?â
âThatâs right.â Xu Yi nodded.
As soon as his voice fell, everyone in the room couldnât help shouting out.
âIt canât be, right? Our company is a Lampuri Kingdom company, how can this be considered importing?â
âThatâs right, we are a company under Banta City, so weâre clearly a local company. Why do our things become imported goods? Could it be that by building foreign production bases, we are considered a foreign company?â
âHumph! What is there to not understand? Itâs clearly those ten companies being unable to compete with us, so they thought of this new shameless move!â
âRight, it must be this! Those fellows really are shameless!â
âToo low! Too shameless!â
âŠâŠ
Xu Yi silently waited for a bit and when everyone slowly calmed down, they turned their eyes back to Xu Yi.
âI understand your anger, but to be honest, I wasnât that angry when I received this news, rather I found it very funny.â Xu Yi revealed a smile, âLook at it, they even had the magic machine industry management department ban us from producing magic machines in the country, so what is strange about this?â
Kennard knit his brows, âBut sir chairman, like this, our costs will greatly increase if we sell magic machines in the Lampuri Kingdom because of the tariffs. Our profits will greatly drop.â
âThatâs why I said that in the next few months, our finances will look ugly.â Xu Yi spread his hands and said with a smile, âAfter all, the Lampuri Kingdom is our companyâs biggest market right now, it will definitely seriously impact us.â
Ankhto thought for a bit before loudly saying, âSir chairman, how about we increase our prices?â
âNo.â Xu Yi shook his head.
âWhy not?â Ankhto was confused, âThis is a problem of the business department, if we increase our prices with the high tariffs, whatâs not acceptable about that?â
âTransferring the problem of the business department to the normal people who need to buy magic machines, that is not what I want to do.â Seeing that Ankhto still wanted to speak, Xu Yiâs tone became heavier, âI have already made my decision on this matter, thereâs no need to discuss it.â
Ankhto paused and could only swallow the words that were in his mouth.
Kennard looked at Ankhto. He thought that after this fellow had been with sir chairman for this long, he still didnât understand sir chairmanâs personality?
Thinking about it, Kennard asked Xu Yi, âThen sir chairman, what should we do next?â
With everyone looking at him, Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, âIâve said it long ago, our company needs to make a big cake and we shouldnât steal from others. Since the Lampuri Kingdom doesnât welcome us, then weâll just turn our eyes to places that do welcome us. The Lampuri Kingdom isnât the only country on this continent, right?â
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