Chapter 94: Bait

The two looked at each other for a moment, and Seweini immediately realized that his reaction just now was indeed a bit too intense, and his expression couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. ,

"No... don't get me wrong. Xu Yi, it's not that I don't like Freya, I just... just don't think the two of them are suitable."

Xu Yi looked at Seweini suspiciously, not quite believing her explanation.

Of course, he would not misunderstand that Seweney would not like Freya, but Seweney's reaction was so abnormal that he was a little strange.

Sensing Xu Yi's skeptical gaze, Sevini's expression became even more embarrassing. He opened his mouth, but did not give any further explanation. Instead, he paused and changed the subject.

"Xu Yi, how is the abolition of slavery going in your Principality of Standing?"

This topic change was so blunt that even Xu Yi was stunned for a moment before he realized it.

He took a deep look at Sevini, took a breath, and gave up on pursuing further.

The origin of Seweney's child is very strange, and she still refuses to announce who is the father of the child, obviously she has something to hide.

As a friend, Xu Yi certainly couldn't force her to reveal the secret she wanted to keep.

"Uh...not so well. The lords in the Principality are not willing to turn their slaves into civilians. They think that this will make them lose these slaves and suffer losses for nothing."

"That's for sure." Seweney nodded. "Xu Yi, actually...I also think that what you did this time is really...strange..."

Xu Yi looked at Sevini's hesitant expression, thinking that she must have wanted to say that she was crazy, but she didn't say it.

"Slaves have existed on this continent for such a long time. You want to abolish it directly. This is tantamount to challenging the order of the entire continent. It is absolutely impossible for the lords who own slaves to agree with your idea. You are It can be enforced in the Principality of Standing, but if it is changed to the Kingdom of Lampari, there is absolutely no possibility of this proposal being passed by the Kingdom Council."

"What if you are the one to carry it out?" Xu Yi asked tentatively.

"Then the best outcome for our Lampari family is probably to give up the throne." Sevigny replied seriously.

Xu Yi thought for a moment, then nodded silently.

"Actually, Xu Yi, I'm afraid you yourself are very aware of the consequences of doing this? Otherwise, your actions in the Principality of Constantine would not be so anticlimactic. You don't seem to be someone who can only do things halfway." Seweney asked again.

Xu Yi chuckled: "Well, I've been under a lot of pressure and opposition, so I decided to postpone it, and I'm not in a hurry."

Sevini frowned slightly: "That's why I don't understand. Why did you do this? You know that this matter is extremely difficult, and it is not good for your Xinfei Chamber of Commerce. Why do you still ignore the opposition of so many people? How about putting pressure on this matter?"

"No, this matter is very beneficial to our Xinfei Chamber of Commerce." Xu Yi shook his head. "Sevigny, have you read the report in the Lampari Weekly?"

"Written by Baron Haynes, about your report that lifting slavery is liberating productivity? I've read it, and I've read it more than once," Seweney said. "I admit that what you said is very reasonable. Hiring slaves as workers cannot achieve the best work efficiency, and may even affect the quality of products. But since slaves cannot achieve good results when doing complex work, then It’s perfectly fine to just let them do simple jobs. Anyway, slaves don’t need to be paid, do they?”

"Even you don't fully understand what I mean. It's obviously impossible to expect other people to understand." Xu Yi shook his head and sighed: "All of you don't understand the truth that slaves are similar to livestock to you. What special value. But for me, they are still a living person. Since they are human, they have the most basic learning talent of human beings. So even slaves still have the possibility to improve their abilities, and they cannot Simply treat them like livestock."

"You mean...you plan to let these slaves come into contact with the identities of these slaves, and then let them receive training and education, and train them to become skilled workers?" Seweney asked in surprise. "Is it worth investing so much effort in slaves?"

"Why isn't it worth it?" Xu Yi asked back. "Sevini, I want to ask you a question, how many people are there in the Kingdom of Lampari now?"

Sevini was taken aback for a moment, but Xu Yi suddenly brought the topic up to this point.

After thinking for a while, she replied: "I did a statistic when I first came to the throne, and the total population at that time was about 6.4 million."

"Slaves are not among these people?"

"Yes. Slaves are not counted as civilians, so they are not included in the statistics. However, according to estimates from various places, the total number of slaves in the kingdom is about three million." Seweini replied.

"Then can you tell me, how many of the 6.4 million people in the Lampari Kingdom are actual laborers? And how many of the 3 million or so slaves are actual laborers?" Xu Yi asked again .

Sevini frowned: "There is no way to make specific statistics."

"Okay, leaving aside the specific figures, do you think that if all three million slaves can be liberated and made into a truly usable labor force, will it be of great help to the entire Lampari Kingdom? "

"I don't understand what exactly you mean?"

"To be specific... let's take our Xinfei Chamber of Commerce as an example. Our Xinfei Chamber of Commerce currently has a total of more than 93,000 employees. I think this number can be used in either the Duchy of Standing or the Kingdom of Lampari. It is a very large chamber of commerce.”

Sevini nodded: "Well, probably only the Falcao Chamber of Commerce and the Armani Chamber of Commerce in our kingdom have more employees than you."

"But I still feel that there is a serious shortage of manpower. According to my plan for the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce, we have calculated that our Chamber of Commerce will need to hire at least 50,000 employees in the next three years to barely meet the demand."

"Need so many people?" Sevini asked in surprise. "What do you want to do?"

Xu Yi smiled and pointed to the southeast direction: "In the last letter to you, I should have mentioned earlier that our chamber of commerce intends to build several island bases in the southern waters of the endless sea. The average manpower on each island base is at least One hundred people are needed. Plus all kinds of logistics support personnel. Just this aspect alone. Our chamber of commerce needs at least 20,000 employees."

"So many?" Seweney opened his eyes wide. "Are you going to build so many island bases? What are you going to do?"

"It's nothing, I just want to make good use of the abundant resources in the endless sea." Xu Yi explained with a relaxed face. "In addition to the island base, our Chamber of Commerce will continue to expand the market in the future, and once the market of the Candela Empire is truly opened, the demand we face will be extremely terrifying. Therefore, we must prepare one step ahead to ensure that the Chamber of Commerce's production capacity will be increased."

"Well... Speaking of the production capacity of your chamber of commerce...Xu Yi, when do you plan to give me my one hundred magic airships?" Seweini asked suddenly.

Xu Yi rolled his eyes: "Wait, the tests related to the magic airship have not been completely completed yet. It will be at least next year to actually put it into mass production."

Seweini glared at Xu Yi: "When I ordered these one hundred magic airships from you, you said that they could be delivered at the beginning of this year."

Xu Yi smiled awkwardly: "Well... the magic airship is different from ordinary magic machines, and the requirements in all aspects are too high. You don't want me to deliver the unreliable magic airship to you? Besides, Didn’t I still talk about the lack of production capacity just now?”

"Then what does this have to do with liberating slaves? I don't think those slaves can help you build a hundred magic airships as soon as possible."

"Of course they can't do it now. But as long as I train them for a while, I'm sure they can still play the role they should play. But it's a pity..." Xu Yi spread his hands and said helplessly: "This damn slave The system stipulates that slaves do not have any opportunities to actively receive education, training, or even the opportunity to choose their own jobs. Moreover, slaves are completely owned by their masters. Even if I train them well, it will only be cheaper for them master."

"Are you remembering the hundreds of slave workers trained for the Stark family?" Seweini laughed.

"That's right." Xu Yi shrugged.

When the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce was first established, Leslie sent a hundred of his slaves to work in the factory of the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce. So as to master a certain magic machinery manufacturing process.

Later, the Stark family sent another 300 slaves into the factory of the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce, and they also mastered good abilities.

Later, when the Stark family opened the Magic Machinery Chamber of Commerce, these slaves became important skilled workers and played a vital role.

For Xu Yi, these four hundred slave workers are equivalent to making wedding dresses for the Stark family for nothing.

At that time, he had no choice, and now he is not willing to let him do such a thankless thing.

"So, you are not as noble as those newspapers boasted, but you are completely thinking about the interests of yourself and the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce." Seweini joked.

"Of course, I'm not a saint." Xu Yi replied with a face of course. "However, what I said is true. Think about it, these slaves will be of no use if they stay in the hands of those lords, but if they are handed over to me, they can increase their value countless times .I think a normal person should know how to choose?"

"It's a pity that no matter which lord it is, they will not be willing to hand over their slaves to you for nothing." Seweini said.

"Of course I understand that. So this time... I prepared a very big bait, hoping to catch some guys who are willing to take the bait..."

Seeing the somewhat satisfied smile on Xu Yi's face, Seweini blinked his eyes, thinking that Xu Yi must have thought of something else.

Based on her understanding of Xu Yi, since he said it was a very big bait, the allure contained in it must be extremely amazing. (To be continued..)