After the meeting, Earl Satsuma once again left Xu Yi alone.
No one was surprised by this, because at the meeting just now, Earl Satsuma did not continue to ask about the "agricultural industrialization development" proposed by Xu Yi, so of course he wanted to have a detailed discussion with Xu Yi alone after the meeting.
However, unlike what everyone imagined, Earl Satsuma left Xu Yi, but he did not immediately ask about the "development of agricultural industrialization", but asked another question that many people ignored.
"President Xu, the 'fruit canning factory' you just mentioned, I remember you once mentioned to me that you planned to open it in the Principality of Standing. Now you are saying that you want to recruit 500 workers in Bonta City... Could it be that you Are you planning to take these workers to the Principality of Standing?" Earl Satsuma asked.
"Of course not." Xu Yi immediately shook his head. "The cost of recruiting people from here to take them to the Principality of Standing is too high. What I mean is that we plan to build a fruit canning factory in Bonta City first. The address has been selected, right next to the city's Korol Village. ”
"Koror Village?" Earl Satsuma thought for a moment. "This village is not on the first batch of demolition and reconstruction lists you gave me, and it is not close to Bangta City. Why was it chosen to be in that place instead of in the Sanqidun Industrial Zone?"
"Mainly because the area near Koror Village is the area with the most concentrated fruit trees in Bonta City. After discussing with President Cantona, I determined that it will be the central location of Bonta City's fruit production base in the future. The fruit canning factory was built there. The place is convenient for processing the fruits as soon as possible," Xu Yi replied.
"President Cantona?" Earl Satsuma frowned slightly. "I really want to hear you mention this name. Isn't his chamber of commerce mainly helping other farmers to unify their farmland harvesting? How come they discussed with you about building a fruit production base?"
"Lord City Lord, this is exactly related to the 'agricultural industrialization development' I mentioned just now. It can even be said that President Cantona is the most critical figure in it, and the role played by their chamber of commerce is equally crucial."
Earl Satsuma couldn't help laughing: "You brought up this topic before I mentioned it. Well, since you brought it up on your own initiative, tell me in detail. This President Cantona What does his chamber of commerce have to do with the ‘agricultural industrialization development’ you’re talking about? What exactly is this ‘agricultural industrialization development’ you’re talking about?”
"Okay." Xu Yi nodded without being polite. He sorted out his thoughts in his mind and said seriously: "Lord City Lord, regarding the 'development of agricultural industrialization', it sounds like a very complicated matter. But if you change One way of saying it is actually very simple and easy to understand. To put it simply, everything related to farming is treated as a complete industry and left to others, and the city lord’s palace only needs to receive enough food every year.”
"Isn't that just renting out farmland? What's the difference from now?" Earl Satsuma asked with a frown. "Now the farmland in Bangta City is originally leased to various farmers outside the city. The city lord's palace is only responsible for collecting rent every year. Isn't this the same thing as what you are talking about?"
"Of course it's not the same thing." Xu Yi shook his head and said: "It's also leasing, but now the farmers outside the city only rent a small piece of farmland, and the annual income output is not high, so the farmers are not interested in continuing. There is not much interest in renting farmland, and they would rather work in the factories of major chambers of commerce. However, if industrial transformation is carried out and these scattered farmlands are gathered together for overall planning and planting, these farmers can be brought together. They freed up the farmland and handed it over to a chamber of commerce like the Cantona Chamber of Commerce that planned to specialize in planting farmland. It would be extremely beneficial to both the Cantona Chamber of Commerce and the city government to increase the value of these farmland. Something to help with.”
"But don't those farmers have no farmland to cultivate?" Earl Satsuma frowned. “Wouldn’t taking farmland away from farmers mean to cut off their livelihood?”
Xu Yi couldn't help but shook his head: "Lord City Lord, you are still stuck in that old mindset. Didn't I tell you just now at the meeting? There are not many farmers outside the city willing to farm now. Farmland. Because compared to working in the fields all year round and earning less than ten gold coins, working in a factory can earn hundreds of gold coins a year. Even if you give them farmland, there is such a big difference. They won’t be willing to farm either.”
"Although you are right. But I always feel that this will cause problems." Earl Satsuma shook his head slightly. "Although the salary is indeed much higher when working in a factory, how do you ensure that they will always have this job? If the factory closes down and the workers lose their jobs, and then find that they can't even farm, it will definitely cause a big problem. questionable."
Xu Yi smiled slightly: "I understand your worries. But Lord City Lord, I think you should be more confident in the overall development of Bangta City. Instead of worrying about which chamber of commerce's factory will close and cause workers to lose their jobs, you should also It’s better to worry about whether Bangta City can keep up with the current rapid development and meet the large demand for manpower from our major chambers of commerce.”
Earl Satsuma glared at Xu Yi: "Don't remind me in a roundabout way, I have been doing this to bring in manpower, but other nobles in the kingdom have always attached great importance to the people in their territories. This work is not easy to do." That’s it. Well, since you said I don’t need to worry about this issue, let’s not talk about it for now. Judging from what you just said, does the Cantona Chamber of Commerce intend to directly rent a large piece of farmland? "
"Yes. After discussions between President Cantona and I, President Cantona initially decided to lease all the farmland within the three villages of Koror, Cambia and Mexico. "
"Oh, you are so courageous, you actually want to take over three villages in one breath." Earl Satsuma praised. "But has he ever thought that the farmland in these three villages has been leased by the farmers in the village? Even if I want to lease these farmland to him, it cannot be easily taken back. He plans to take this issue back How to deal with it?"
Xu Yi did not answer Earl Satsuma's question immediately, but remained silent for a moment. After hesitating for a while, he said hesitantly: "Lord City Lord, actually... In my opinion, the kingdom's treatment of ordinary farmers is very bad. The farmers work hard every year, but in the end, most of the grain harvest is taken away by the kingdom, and at most they are left with barely enough food to survive. I don’t think ordinary farmers will have any nostalgia for this kind of life.”
Earl Satsuma frowned and glanced at Xu Yi. He found that his expression was very serious and did not look like he was talking nonsense. He sighed softly and said helplessly: "Although what you said is true, this is the rule. Not only Not only in our Lampali Kingdom, but also in all the countries on the Sainz continent, the lives of ordinary farmers will not be that good.”
"So, Lord City Lord, your concerns are unnecessary." Xu Yi changed the subject. "Cantona himself used to be an ordinary farmer in the village of Cambia, and he is very aware of the attitude of ordinary farmers towards farming. When there is no choice, farming can be the only means of survival. But when there is None of these farmers are willing to continue cultivating their farmland if they have no choice.”
"You mean...the farmers are willing for me to take back the farmland from them and sublease it to the Cantona Chamber of Commerce?" Earl Satsuma asked.
"Yes. In fact, Cantona originally wanted to bypass the city government and sublease these farmlands directly from these farmers. And he conducted surveys in these three villages, and more than 95% of ordinary farmers clearly expressed their agreement. But when he asked me for advice, I rejected it.”
Earl Satsuma snorted coldly: "Well done. Is he still planning to hide this kind of thing from me? He really doesn't know how high the sky is." After a pause, he asked Xu Yi again: "You are taking the initiative to mention this matter to me now. Is it right?" Did he support it?"
"I support his idea, but I don't support his approach. That's why I took the initiative to mention it to you, the City Lord, hoping to get a more reasonable and stable method." Xu Yidao.
"So what are your specific opinions?" Earl Satsuma asked.
"My opinion is that I hope that the City Lord can agree to include these three villages in the first batch of pilot projects and agree to lease all the farmland in these three villages to the Cantona Chamber of Commerce. And the City Lord, you only need to transfer Cantona to the Cantona Chamber of Commerce." The Chamber of Commerce will treat it as an ordinary farmer, and the tax it should collect every year is not much more than a copper coin. The only difference is that the farmland contracted by this farmer is larger. "
"Theoretically, this idea is indeed a good one." Earl Satsuma nodded. "But I have a very critical question. The same farmland, which in the hands of ordinary farmers will only allow them to make a living, is now in the hands of the Cantona Chamber of Commerce. How can we make enough money from it while ensuring taxes?" Where’s the money?”
"To put it simply, it is to save costs, change the structure, and increase output through industrialization and scale to gain benefits. Of course, it is a very complicated matter to actually do it, but this actually has nothing to do with you, Lord City Lord. Isn't it? You only need to receive enough taxes every year, and how to benefit from it is something that the Cantona Chamber of Commerce should consider."
"You're right, but I'm very worried that if their chamber of commerce can't make money from this, they will just give up and let these farmlands go to waste."
"I don't think you need to worry about this. I have discussed this aspect with President Cantona many times. I can guarantee that their chamber of commerce will find a variety of ways to make money and will definitely stick to this attempt."
Seeing Xu Yi's confident smile, Earl Satsuma couldn't help but laugh.
"I forgot, since you are involved in this matter, how can it not make money? Am I right? President Xu, who everyone thinks can turn even a stone into gold coins?"
Xu Yi laughed and nodded politely.