Volume 1 Chapter 122 - Cement
Volume 1 Chapter 122 Cement
Seveni felt that spending five gold coins to help a worker apply for a worker card was too much, but Xu Yi felt it was too little.
On earth, not to mention foreign worker permits, even if it was Chinese citizens applying for worker permits in Hong Kong or Macau, it would cost them several thousand RMBs.
Converting it, it was equal to several dozen gold coins.
Of course, Xu Yi wouldn’t tell Seveni this.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce had over two hundred dwarves now and there would be even more dwarves in the future. It was even possible for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to hire elves and beastmen in the future.
With all these other races, he could save more and more on the worker cards.
Other than receiving a confirmation from Seveni on the worker cards, Xu Yi also received some good news from her.
With the agreement of the king, the king had paid the mines that were meant as payment for the agricultural magic machines. Xu Yi had thought that it would take some time after the contract was fulfilled and was afraid that these mines were just lip service. But Seveni told Xu Yi that the kingdom’s mineral department had already cleared one of the mines outside Banta City and Xu Yi could take it at any time.
According to Xu Yi’s agreement with the king, as long as the Frestech Chamber of Commerce finished the first batch of orders, the contract would come into effect. The iron mine would then belong to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
As for other iron mine and three Magic Crystal mines, it would depend on the future orders the Frestech Chamber of Commerce finished.
Although there were many variables in the future, at least this iron mine could already be considered a source of income for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Moreover, during the discussions, because iron ores weren’t that valuable on the Sines Continent, the king and the agricultural department’s representative had put a low price on them.
Xu Yi was very clear that once the magic machine industry developed on the Sines Continent, the demand for iron ore would greatly increase. At that time, the value of iron ore would soar.
As for the Magic Crystal mine…..There were Magic Crystals all over the Sines Continent and they weren’t worth any money at all. The value of the three Magic Crystal mines added together didn’t even match a single iron mine.
But Xu Yi was very certain that as the magic machine industry developed and as magic machines were used in a wider scope on the Sines Continent, the demand for Magic Crystals would greatly increase. The Magic Crystal value would also explode.
Right now it seemed like the king using just two iron mines and three Magic Crystal mines to gain three million gold coins worth of agricultural magic machines from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was earning a large deal, but Xu Yi was more clear than anyone that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had earned a large amount from this.
Thinking of how he could rely on these mines to lessen his worries in the future, Xu Yi was naturally in a very good mood. He even had a wide smile on his face when he met the Amrit Chamber of Commerce’s chairman Moon Cruise, like he had completely forgotten what he had spoken to manager Riley about.
“Chairman Xu, it’s rare for you to come see me, I really am incredibly happy. But…..why did you make an appointment at the construction site?” Chairman Cruise pointed at the cleared ground where they were planning to build a wall and asked this, “The weather is so cold. We should find a place to have a few drinks and talk, that is more appropriate.”
What surprised chairman Cruise the most was Xu Yi didn’t meet him at the nearly finished new workshop for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, rather he met him at a small construction site outside Banta City. He also requested that other than manager Riley, no one else should come with him.
“There are many opportunities to drink and talk, but chairman Cruise, if you miss the opportunity in front of you, that wouldn’t be right.” Xu Yi gave chairman Cruise a mysterious smile and then he took a heavy cloth sack from his horse carriages, throwing it in front of chairman Cruise and manager Riley.
“What is this?” The two looked at the cloth sack in a daze.
Xu Yi smiled without responding. He asked manager Riley, “Manager Riley, when your workers were building the wall, how did they make the bricks they used?”
Manager Riley had a strange expression, not understanding why Xu Yi asked this question. After hesitantly looking at chairman Cruise, he gave a nod in agreement before responding, “It’s mixing lime and sand with mud, it’s nothing special.”
Xu Yi pointed at the cloth sack, “Then try replacing the lime with this.”
Manager Riley opened the sack in a confused manner and after taking a look, he said in a surprised voice, “Chairman Xu, this is……”
“This thing is called cement, it’s a bit like lime. Give it a try, it should be easier to use than lime.” Xu Yi said.
Manager Riley reached out to take a handful of cement and rubbed it together, as the fine powder fell out of his hands.
After working in construction for all these years, going from an ordinary worker to becoming a manager, manager Riley knew just by touching it that this thing had some special characteristics. Not mentioning anything else, there were more fine particles in this powder compared to the lime they normally used.
After rubbing it a few times, manager Riley didn’t waste any other words and picked up the shovel Xu Yi had already prepared. He took a shovel of cement and mixed it with the sand on the side, carefully mixing water.
Seeing the cement, sand and water gradually come together, not only manager Riley, even chairman Cruise had a strange look in his eyes.
As the chairman of the Amrit Chamber of Commerce, chairman Cruise naturally could see the specialty of the cement.
After evenly stirring it, manager Riley took a brick and skillfully smeared the plaster on it before firmly placing it on the wall.
They didn’t even need to wait for the cement to dry. Just with the feeling of his hand, manager Riley could tell that this plaster made from cement was much better than the plaster made from lime.
After seeing manager Riley use up all the plaster and build two levels of brick, chairman Cruise looked at Xu Yi and tightly knit his brows.
“Chairman Xu, what is the meaning of this?”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, “There is no meaning, I just found this cement formula in an ancient book and wanted you two experts to appraise it.”
They naturally didn’t believe Xu Yi’s words, what kinds of ancient book would have this thing? Even if it did, how could these people who rely on the construction industry to make a living not know about it?
But this wasn’t time to expose Xu Yi. Chairman Cruise thought about it before saying in a deep voice, “Chairman Xu, everyone is intelligent, there is no need to beat around the bush. I am very interested in this cement and if you’re willing to take out the recipe, we can discuss any condition you want.”
Xu Yi gave a few fake laughs, “Chairman Cruise, aren’t you too lacking in sincerity? Hand over the formula? Do you think that’s possible?”
Chairman Cruise fell silent. Of course he knew that Xu Yi definitely wouldn’t agree to his request, but this cement was just too good and he couldn’t stop it from moving his heart.
After thinking for a bit, chairman Cruise than said, “Alright, chairman Xu, give me your condition. Since you specially had me come here, you already had the idea to work with me, right?”
“Of course, otherwise I wouldn’t have wasted all this effort.” Xu Yi pointed at the unused cement on the ground and said, “To be frank, chairman Cruise, this cement was just developed recently by our Frestech Chamber of Commerce and has just entered mass production. I asked you here to tell you that this thing has appeared and to ask, is you Amrit Chamber of Commerce interested in it?”
Chairman Cruise gave a cold snort, “Chairman Xu, don’t ask the obvious. How are you planning on selling this cement? Our Amrit Chamber of Commerce wants everything that you have. Of course, all of us are friends in the Business Union, so I hope that you won’t go overboard with your price.”
Xu Yi laughed, “Chairman Cruise, what kind of person do you take me for? This kind of cement has a fixed price of six gold coins per ton, do you think it’s fair?”
“Only six gold coins?” Chairman Cruise and manager Riley couldn’t help calling out, “This…..This is too……”
It was a good thing these two were astute and swallowed the words “too cheap” back down.
But from the shocked expression these people had, it was clear they were deeply shaken by this price.
It had to be known that lime powder’s current market price was six gold coins per ton. This cement was clearly better than the lime, so they were already prepared for Xu Yi to give a sky high price. They never thought that Xu Yi would actually give the same price as lime!
This price, of course it was too cheap!
“This…..Chairman Xu, are you telling the truth?” After a while, chairman Cruise asked this with a look of disbelief.
“Of course it’s true, why would I need to lie to you?” Xu Yi said with a faint smile, “How about it? Do you think this price is fair?”
“Fair! Fair! Of course it’s fair!” Chairman Cruise kept nodding, like he was afraid Xu Yi would regret it. After pausing, he then asked, “But chairman Xu, since we are friends in the Business Union, I have a small request that I hope you can agree to.”
“Please ask.”
“Since you have just started mass producing this cement, your output shouldn’t be that high, right? Since it’s like this, then all the cement that your company has, no matter how much it is, our Amrit Chamber of Commerce wants it all! Moreover, I can increase your price a bit to six and half gold coins per pound, what do you think?”
Xu Yi made an awkward expression and considered it a bit before slowly nodding, “Alright, president Rank has already said that since all of us are comrades in the Business Union, we should help each other. Based on this, all the cement our Frestech Chamber of Commerce makes in the next two years will all go to your Amrit Chamber of Commerce. Other than this, I will give you some more uses for the cement, like reinforced cement…..”
Hearing Xu Yi say it was only for two years, chairman Cruise and manager Riley were a bit disappointed, but after hearing Xu Yi mention “reinforced cement”, the eyes of the two lit up again.
Since it was something that Xu Yi specially mentioned, there was definitely something special about it.
As long as the Amrit Chamber of Commerce could grasp the uses of cement before everyone else, then the Amrit Chamber of Commerce would make leaps and bounds in the construction business. Perhaps they might even be able to step out of Banta City because of this, becoming one of the best construction firms in the Lampuri Kingdom.