Volume 2 Chapter 151 - Poor army headquarters (1/2)

“This…..” Major MacConley’s mouth opened before he finally gave a long sigh. He said with a bitter smile, “Chairman Xu, this price…..it’s just too expensive…..”

“Expensive?” Xu Yi shook his head, “Major, I think that after you saw the blueprint, you should understand how powerful the Magic Trebuchet is. With this kind of power, do you think that the Magic Trebuchet would be cheap?”

“I know this, but…..” Major MacConley had a helpless smile, “This price is still too high. I won’t hide it from you, our logistics department’s yearly budget is no more than three hundred thousand gold coins and we use less than a hundred thousand one equipment. If it wasn’t because we made a weapon factory with your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, decreasing our costs by several times, I might not even be able to take out a single copper coin.”

Xu Yi couldn’t help shaking his head. The Lampuri Kingdom really was poor, their annual income was less than two million and the military expenses were only three hundred thousand, it really was pitiful.

It was already a stretch to maintain the army with this bit of money, it was no wonder major MacConley kept complaining when he saw him.

But sympathy was just sympathy, this price was one that Xu Yi wasn’t willing to bend by even a single copper coin.

“Major, although I also want to help you, the cost of the Magic Trebuchet is just too high. Not mentioning anything else, it takes over three tons of steel just to make a single Magic Trebuchet. As for this new kind of steel, our company is selling it at a hundred gold coins per ton. Other than the materials, the labour costs are also quite high and the most important part is the research cost. In order to develop this Magic Trebuchet, our Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s magicians, including Great Magician Camilla spent two whole months working on this, forgetting to eat, losing sleep, and even working overtime. You think…..that a thousand gold coins per unit is too high?”

“Indeed it’s not high.” Major MacConley nodded before giving a sigh, “But chairman Xu, the problem is that our army headquarters can’t take out that much money. There’s not much left in this year’s budget and our army headquarters being able to buy three units is already good enough.”

“If you want to buy, it doesn’t mean you have to spend gold coins…..” Xu Yi softly said.

Major MacConley looked at Xu Yi with a complicated gaze.

After thinking for a bit, he waved his hand, “Let’s not talk about this for now. Even if I want to buy it, let’s wait until your company makes the thing and see if it moves the hearts of the people above me. It’s still too early for us to discuss other things right now.”

Major MacConley didn’t plan on discussing it, so Xu Yi could only stop here.

Of course, other than this topic, Xu Yi hadn’t mentioned his other important goal. Seeing major MacConley carefully putting away the blueprint, Xu Yi directly reached out his hand.

“Major, I’ve already accomplished what I promised you, what about the people you promised?”

“Come with me.”

Major MacConley waved his hand to Xu Yi and brought him out of the office to the training field outside. He reached out to wave at a large man who had been standing there the whole time.

This large man jogged over and gave a clean military salute to major MacConley. He kept looking at major MacConley, not even sparing a glance for Xu Yi.

Seeing his strong figure, his straight back, and his resolute expression, along with the scars that he had, this should be a veteran with quite a bit of experience.

“Come, chairman Xu, let me introduce you. He is Hart, he is a veteran who retired this year. Since Hart joined the army, he has been someone who has been fighting with the Sack Kingdom bastards up north, so he has rich fighting experience. The most important thing is that he used to be an instructor with the northern army and he has a group of brothers under him. He is definitely the most suited person if you’re looking for a guard leader for your company.” Major MacConley pointed at the large man as he gave his introduction.

Hearing major MacConley say this, Hart turned to look at Xu Yi.

The two locked gazes and Xu Yi felt his scalp itch. There was a killing intent that came over him and instantly covered his body in goosebumps.

Xu Yi narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself down before facing Hart straight on.

Hart’s eyes were bright and seeing that Xu Yi didn’t evade his gaze, he seemed to be a bit surprised. There was a smile of praise that flashed on his face.

“You are the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s chairman Xu?” Hart took the initiative to reach out his hand, “You seem much better than I imagined.”

Xu Yi reached out his hand to take his hand and asked with a smile, “What kind of person am I in your imagination?”

“In my imagination, merchants are all trash with money in their eyes!” Hart said without any courtesy, “If it wasn’t the major who came looking for me and promised that chairman Xu is different from other merchants, I wouldn’t have come to see you.”

Major MacConley said with an awkward smile, “Chairman Xu, Hart has this kind of personality, but don’t mind him.”

Xu Yi laughed, “It’s fine, I like this kind of frank person. For a soldier like Hart, if he can be the leader of my company’s guards, I believe that no one will dare offend my company.”

Since Xu Yi and Hart were both satisfied, this first meeting was considered a success.

With major MacConley as a witness, Xu Yi and Hart signed a contract to hire Hart as the leader of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s guards.

Other than Hart, major MacConley had also recruited two hundred retired veterans who were on the same level as Hart.

These veterans were elite soldiers who had fought many battles, becoming the biggest targets for the Lampuri Kingdom’s companies after retiring.