First-Rate Guilds Set the Standards

Heinz watched the fat man wander around the Production Workshop, touching this and peering at that, and frowned in confusion.

"Hey, Xu Yi, who is that guy? How can you let him look around the workshop? Won't we lose all our secrets?" When the fat man even tried to operate the Magic Thread-Rolling Machine, Heinz finally spoke up.

"Secrets?" Xu Yi glanced at Heinz in feigned surprise. "What secrets?"

"The production process for Magic Fans, of course! That's our guild's secret!" Heinz said urgently. "If that gets out too, won't other people soon be making Second-Generation Variable-Speed Magic Fans just like us?"

"You're worrying too much, Heinz." Xu Yi patted his shoulder, then pointed to the slaves busily assembling Magic Fans in the workshop. "Look at all the people here. Do you really think anything can stay secret?"

"That's different. They're our workers!" Heinz's eyes widened. "Besides, they're Viscount Leslie's slaves. They wouldn't dare tell anyone what goes on here."

"But word will get out sooner or later, won't it?" Xu Yi shrugged. "I never planned to keep any of this secret. It isn't important."

"How can it not be important?" Heinz threw up his arms. "Even if we can't keep it secret forever, every extra day gives us a head start over everyone else. That means more profit!"

Xu Yi shrugged. Explaining his ambitions to someone as habitually penny-pinching as Heinz would take too much effort. Instead, he walked over to President Fasak, who was preparing to operate the Magic Thread-Rolling Machine.

"President Fasak, this machine is quite dangerous to operate. I'd advise you not to try it lightly."

President Fasak turned and grinned at him. "Don't worry. I watched it for a while. I'll be fine."

Xu Yi did not want to spoil his enthusiasm, so he stood nearby, ready to pull him away if anything went wrong.

Despite his size, President Fasak was remarkably nimble. After watching for only a short while, he operated the Magic Thread-Rolling Machine as though he knew what he was doing and soon finished making a Screw.

President Fasak gazed at the finished Screw, its threads exquisitely formed, and could not stop praising it.

"Amazing! Absolutely amazing! President Xu, it may be a tiny thing, but a blacksmith would probably spend an entire day making just one. This machine did it in less than a minute! It's incredible!"

"Now that you've seen the Assembly Workshop, what do you think, President Fasak?" Xu Yi asked with a smile.

President Fasak fell silent. He surveyed the workshop for a long while before sighing. "President Xu, I have to say, this workshop has opened my eyes. I thought making a Magic Fan would be terribly complicated. But here, workers with no special skills assemble them easily and in perfect order. Frankly, I never imagined a little workshop like this could be so efficient. Let me guess: you can make over three hundred Magic Fans a day here?"

Xu Yi gave him a thumbs-up. "You have a keen eye, President Fasak. Yes, this workshop can make three hundred Magic Fans a day. That only applies to the Second-Generation Variable-Speed Magic Fan, though. Because of its design, the first-generation Magic Fan actually has a lower production capacity."

He did not tell President Fasak that the workshop's hours were strictly limited to eight a day. With overtime, it could have produced five hundred Magic Fans without difficulty.

But Xu Yi demanded high quality, so he kept output under strict control rather than padding the numbers with substandard products.

President Fasak looked back at the machines running at full speed under the slaves' control. "If you ask me, President Xu, those machines are the heart of this workshop."

Xu Yi smiled and nodded. "You do have a sharp eye. What do you think of them?"

"What do I think?" A rueful smile crossed President Fasak's face. "Before I came here, I was confident about working with you. I even thought you'd readily agree, since it offered you nothing but benefits. But after seeing these machines, I realize our positions have reversed. You hold all the cards now. To be honest, I don't like that feeling."

Xu Yi laughed. "You're too modest, President Fasak. We're talking about cooperation, not who stands above whom or holds the advantage. We each get what we need, and we both benefit. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Both benefit?" President Fasak's small eyes, nearly buried in his fleshy face, lit up. "That's a new way of putting it, but it makes sense. The best partnership benefits both sides. So how do you think we should work together?"

Xu Yi pointed cheerfully at the machines. "President Fasak, would you be interested in buying a few of those?"

President Fasak jolted. "President Xu, you... you mean you're willing to sell me these machines?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Xu Yi spread his hands. "Why else would I have brought you here?"

"But these machines..." President Fasak's eyes flickered. "All right. If you're willing to sell, I'd be delighted to buy. But the machines alone hardly make a partnership, do they?"

"Of course not. You'll need workers too. I doubt you can find anyone in Sartan City who knows how to operate these machines. So I'll sell you the machines, help train your workers, and teach them this workshop's assembly process for the Second-Generation Variable-Speed Magic Fan. I'll keep helping until your factory runs as smoothly as this workshop. What do you think?"

President Fasak narrowed his eyes and studied Xu Yi. "President Xu, you aren't joking, are you?"

Xu Yi smiled. "Would I joke about this now?"

President Fasak nodded and thought for a long while before answering slowly. "I must say, President Xu, those terms are so generous that for a moment I wondered if you were trying to trick me. Your demands must be substantial in return. Let's hear them."

"My demands... I wouldn't call them high, but I wouldn't call them low either. It depends on how you look at them," Xu Yi replied.

"Oh? What an unusual answer. Go on, President Xu."

"My demand is..."

Two days later, President Fasak concluded his talks with Xu Yi and boarded a carriage out of Bunta City.

Heinz watched the carriage vanish at the distant horizon and frowned. "Xu Yi, are you sure about this? We'll get ten silver coins for every Magic Fan he makes, but we've effectively given up Sartan City. Won't we lose more than we gain? And we've handed over all our current Magic Fan technology. Other factories like his are bound to appear, and that will limit our room to grow."

Xu Yi smiled and shook his head. "No, Heinz. You need to look further ahead. Something as easy to copy as a Magic Fan won't keep us ahead for long. To stay in front, we have to keep innovating and adapting. That takes constant research. As long as our technology leads, we can keep leading. There's something I want you to remember."

Heinz fixed his attention on Xu Yi. Whenever Xu Yi spoke in that tone, he had something important to say.

"Third-rate guilds make products. Even if President Fasak gets his factory running, all he'll have is a Third-Rate Enterprise that makes Magic Fans. It won't make much of an impact."

"Second-rate guilds build brands. I've explained what a brand is, though I doubt you fully understand it yet. We've worked together all this time and you still don't, so there may be few people on the Sains Continent who grasp its significance. Or perhaps they do, but don't know how to build one. That's what the Xinfei Merchant Guild is doing. In Bunta City, at least, Xinfei is already a trusted brand. As long as we don't ruin its reputation ourselves, it can endure."

"And finally, most importantly, first-rate guilds set the standards. That's the goal I'm working toward. It's a difficult one, and it may take us a long time even to get close. But once we achieve it, the Xinfei Merchant Guild will have an unshakable place on the Sains Continent. President Fasak may think he got a bargain buying that Magic Machinery from me, but in my eyes, he has accepted my standards. The Fasak Merchant Guild may be far stronger than us now, but in the end, we'll leave them far behind."

Heinz stared at Xu Yi, unable to understand where his confidence came from.

By size alone, the Fasak Merchant Guild was one of the largest guilds in Sartan City and dozens of times bigger than their little Xinfei Merchant Guild. Surpassing it seemed impossible; even catching up would be extremely hard.

Heinz had not fully understood Xu Yi's speech, but it sounded impressive. At the very least, it showed that Xu Yi had long-term plans and was not acting at random.

Looking at Xu Yi's confident profile, Heinz felt a sudden stir of hope.

Maybe this guy really can make the Xinfei Merchant Guild one of the greatest guilds on the entire Sains Continent.