Association Affairs

Setting down the last ledger in his hand, Ling Yi closed his eyes, did some mental deduction, and then opened his eyes to look at Old Master Jin opposite him.

Just then, Old Master Jin pushed a cup of freshly brewed tea over.

Ling Yi stood up, thanked him, took the teacup with both hands, smelled the fragrant steam, and sipped the hot, refreshing tea.

Setting down his teacup, Ling Yi gently patted the ledgers and documents on the table in front of him and said:

"Master, I've reviewed the association's accounts and expenses for the past three months—"

Upon hearing this, Old Master Jin, toying with his small teapot, first glanced at the account books and documents, then met Ling Yi's clear eyes, and asked with some anticipation, "Tell me about it, how was it?"

For the past three months, with Ling Yi away, Old Master Jin has been dealing with all this on his own, and he feels like he's on the verge of depression.

It's really too much for an old man who has wielded a hammer all his life to have to face all these rules and regulations in his old age!

Previously, Ling Yi would pass by "Wood Plant City" every few months to help him sort out the various matters within the association, formulate a development direction and action plan, etc., and he only needed to follow the instructions.

In addition, Li Qiang, who was also in "Wood Plant City", would occasionally lend a hand, which prevented the newly established "Blacksmith Association - Water Wood Duchy Branch" from falling into a series of situations such as unclear authority and unclear division of labor.

However, when Ling Yi was not around, Old Master Jin always seemed flustered and powerless when dealing with things.

He did consider hiring some people to help, but he picked out seven or eight in a row. These included blacksmiths with quick minds from various branches of the association, as well as experienced people from the families of vice presidents such as Li Qiang, Fu Shan, Long Ang, and Qingqiu Li who were good at managing family affairs. Even his own Jin family found some younger and older members of the clan to assist him in handling various affairs within the association.

However, when these people arrived at the association and saw the myriad of tasks, they were all dumbfounded and bewildered.

Throughout the entire Water Wood Duchy, there are three major cities, hundreds of towns, seventy or eighty senior blacksmiths, and nearly seven hundred blacksmith shops.

There are two to three thousand blacksmiths, including intermediate blacksmiths, junior blacksmiths, and blacksmith apprentices!

Every day, when a customer places an order for ironware with the association, the association has to coordinate based on the situation of these nearly seven hundred blacksmith shops.

For example, whether customers order directly from blacksmith shops or from associations, the quantity of ironware ordered, the level of requirements, whether the blacksmiths in each shop are idle or busy, and whether their skills are up to standard or more than sufficient...

In addition, there are some blacksmith shops where blacksmiths forge finished products in their spare time, and customers come in to buy them directly...

For Blacksmith of different ranks, what percentage of raw materials can they purchase from the association's unified procurement? What were their previous consumption figures? Is this time more or less than the last?

There are countless similar cases; anyone who sees these categories would be moved to tears.

In any case, no one could stay by Old Master Jin's side for three full days.

They either resigned voluntarily, or they were kicked out by Old Master Jin and the people behind them.

Fortunately, each time Ling Yi passed by, he not only perfectly resolved the issues that had accumulated in the association, but also left a general framework and standard that could be referenced and implemented for the association's future operation, so everyone could carry out their respective tasks.

The current association seems to be a replica of the old system, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it's a case of "following the old system and the new system."

The happiest time for Old Master Jin these days is when Ling Yi returns to the association's headquarters and helps him deal with all sorts of account books and documents that he finds like gibberish.

Under the old man's expectant gaze, Ling Yi maintained a respectful and humble expression, pointing to the ledgers and documents spread out to the north, and said gently:

"Master, here... here... and there are about twenty other companies here. The materials they purchased last time, after deducting orders from the association and what they used in their spare time, still have at least half left... But I see that on their applications for this purchase, they wrote that the share they requested is about 10% to 30% more than last time. It's a bit of a waste—"

"But these dozen or so shops have seen their apprentices and junior blacksmiths improve their skills. The quality of the ordinary ironware they've been selling lately is much higher than what customers are asking for, so they must have advanced. As a result, their material consumption is also much higher than before. However, the quotas they've applied for are a bit conservative. We could talk to them and give them more work..."

Looking at the names of the blacksmith shops that Ling Yi pointed out, and listening to the words in his ear, Old Master Jin's expression became solemn. He matched Ling Yi's words with the memories in his mind, nodding from time to time.

"Also~"

After discussing the purchase of raw materials, the sale of finished ironware, and the allocation of orders, Ling Yi pulled out a few pale yellow sheets of paper from under a stack of documents and continued:

"Master Yuan from Green Mountain Town has applied to take the advanced blacksmith exam. If he passes, he hopes to transfer his blacksmith shop in Green Mountain Town to the association so that the association can arrange for someone to take over. He himself hopes to open a new blacksmith shop in ' Azure City '..."

Similarly, Master Zhu from Dai River Bay Town under Hedong Market Town, applied for the intermediate blacksmith certification exam. If he passed, Master Liu from Dai River Bay Town wanted to hire Master Zhu into his blacksmith shop, and the blacksmith shop in Hedong Market Town would be merged into Master Liu's name...

After saying this four or five times, Ling Yi finally stopped and said to Old Master Jin, "Master, for these assessments, you and Uncle Li Qiang and Fu Shan should each send one senior brother to go down and conduct the assessments together. Don't do what happened before, where you each sent only one person to go through the motions. That's easy to attract gossip and cause problems."

Hearing this, Old Master Jin nodded and said, "Alright, I'll remember that. I'll tell Little Li and Little Fu about it later."

Seeing that Old Master Jin nodded in agreement, Ling Yi continued, "Master, I've reviewed all the account books and compared them. Our cost-sharing system still needs improvement. Sometimes we also need to consider the distance between the Blacksmith' shops to see if it's suitable for the final transaction..."

"In addition~" Ling Yi paused, took a deep breath, frowned slightly, and after the old man's expression also became solemn, he said in a deep voice, "I found that the price of the raw materials purchased last month was nearly 20% higher than when we first purchased them."

However, I looked through the information I had you collect before, Master, regarding the selling prices of ironware within the Heaven Dou Empire, and there was no obvious upward trend.

This indicates that there should be no shortage or price increase of raw materials within Heaven Dou territory...

"Is there a problem with the raw material supply chain?"

As Ling Yi asked his final question, a complex expression appeared on Old Master Jin's face.

There was anger, dejection, and helplessness...

Seeing this, Ling Yi didn't ask any further questions. After glancing at the military information provided by Fu Shan, he changed the subject and said, "Master, please tell Fu Shan later that we will be cooperating with the Duchy's military..."

"Cooperation? What cooperation?" Old Master Jin was taken aback by Ling Yi's sudden change of topic.

"For all future orders placed with us by the Principality's military, if payment is made in the form of raw materials, the price will be reduced by 10%!"

"Ten percent?!" Upon hearing this, Old Master Jin's eyes widened slightly as he looked at Ling Yi, asking in astonishment, "Ah Yi, if the selling price is ten percent cheaper, wouldn't the profit be roughly the same as a twenty percent increase in raw material costs?"

Ling Yi nodded, confirming, "That's right."

Old Master Jin was puzzled: "Then—"

"Master~" Ling Yi shook his head and said, "Anyway, our profits are going to be cut, so what difference does it make who earns those profits?"

"It's better that the five marquises of the Five Military Commands profited than that the raw material suppliers within the Heaven Dou Empire profited from it—"