The two looked at each other for a moment, and Sevigny 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... I just don't think the two of them are suitable."
Xu Yi looked at Sevini suspiciously, not quite believing her explanation.
Of course he didn't misunderstand that Sevigny didn't like Freya, but Sevigny's reaction was so abnormal, which made him a little strange.
Feeling Xu Yi's suspicious gaze, Sevini's face became even more embarrassed. She opened her mouth, but did not give any further explanation. Instead, she paused and changed the topic.
"Xu Yi, how is the abolition of slavery in the Principality of Standing going?"
This change of topic was so blunt that even Xu Yi was stunned for a moment before he could react.
He took a deep look at Sevini, took a breath, and gave up pursuing it.
The origin of Sevigny'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 cannot force her to reveal the secrets she wishes to keep.
"Well... it's not going well. The lords in the principality are not willing to convert their slaves into civilians. They feel that this will make them lose these slaves and suffer losses in vain."
"That's for sure." Sevigny nodded. "Xu Yi, actually... I also think what you did this time is too... strange..."
Xu Yi looked at Sevini's hesitant expression and thought that she must have wanted to say that she was crazy, but she didn't say it out loud.
"Slaves have existed on this continent for such a long time. But you want to abolish it directly. This is tantamount to challenging the order of the entire continent. It is absolutely impossible for the slave-owning lords to agree with your idea. You are here It can be implemented forcefully in the Standing Principality, but if it were the Lampali Kingdom, there would be absolutely no chance that this proposal would be passed by the Kingdom Parliament.”
"What if you were the one to implement it?" Xu Yi asked tentatively.
"Then the best outcome for our Lampali family is probably to give up the throne." Sevigny replied seriously.
Xu Yi thought for a moment and nodded silently.
"Actually, Xu Yi, I'm afraid you yourself are also very aware of the consequences of doing this? Otherwise, your actions in the Standing Principality would not be so anticlimactic. You don't seem to be someone who only does half of things." Sevini asked again.
Xu Yi chuckled: "Well, I have received a lot of pressure and opposition, so I decided to postpone it and not rush it for a while."
Sevini frowned slightly: "So I don't understand even more. Why are you doing this? You know that this matter is extremely difficult and will not be of any benefit to your New Flying Chamber of Commerce. Why do you ignore so many people's objections and support it?" How about putting pressure on this matter?”
"No, this matter is quite beneficial to our Xinfei Chamber of Commerce." Xu Yi shook his head. "Sevigny, have you read the report in Lampali Weekly?"
"Written by Baron Heiners, about the report you proposed that lifting slave status is the liberation of productivity? I have read it, and I have read it more than once." Sevigny said. "I admit that what you said makes sense. Hiring slaves as workers will not achieve the best work efficiency, and may even affect product quality. But since slaves cannot achieve good results when doing complex work. Then You can just let them do simple jobs. After all, slaves don’t need to pay them, right?”
"Even you don't fully understand what I mean. So it's obviously impossible to expect others to understand." Xu Yi shook his head and sighed: "None of you understand the truth. To you, slaves are almost like livestock. No What special value. But to me, they are still living people. Since they are human beings, they have the most basic human talent for learning, so even slaves still have the possibility to improve their abilities. Simply treated like livestock.”
"You mean... you plan to let these people come into contact with the identities of these slaves, and then let them receive training and education to train them into skilled workers?" Sevini asked in surprise. "Is it worth investing so much in slaves?"
"Why isn't it worth it?" Xu Yi asked. "Sevini, let me ask you a question, how many people are there in the Lampali Kingdom now?"
Sevini was stunned, but she didn't expect Xu Yi to suddenly bring the topic to this topic.
After thinking for a moment, she replied: "I conducted a census when I first ascended the throne. The total population calculated at that time was about 6.4 million people."
"These people don't include slaves?"
"Yes. Slaves are not considered civilians, so they are not included in the statistics. However, based on local estimates, the total number of slaves in the kingdom is about three million." Sevigny replied.
"Then can you tell me, how many of the 6.4 million people in the Lampali Kingdom are actual laborers? And how many of the three million or so slaves are actual laborers?" Xu Yi asked again .
Sevini frowned: "There's no way to make specific statistics."
"Okay, putting aside the specific numbers, do you think that if all three million slaves could be liberated and turned into a truly usable labor force, would it be of great help to the entire Lampali 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 regarded as high in both the Principality of Standing and the Kingdom of Lampali. It’s 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."
"You need so many people?" Sevini asked in surprise. "what you up to?"
Xu Yi smiled and pointed to the southeast: "I should have mentioned it in advance in my last letter to you. Our Chamber of Commerce plans to build several island bases in the southern waters of the Endless Sea. Each of these island bases has the lowest average manpower. One hundred people are needed. In addition to various support personnel, our chamber of commerce needs at least 20,000 employees.”
"So many?" Sevini 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 look. "In addition to the island base, our Chamber of Commerce will continue to expand the market in the future. Once the market of the Candela Empire is truly opened, the demand we will face will be extremely terrifying. Therefore, we must make preparations in advance to ensure that the Chamber of Commerce's production capacity is increased."
"Hmm... Speaking of the production capacity of your chamber of commerce... Xu Yi, when are you going to give me my hundred magic airships?" Sevini suddenly asked.
Xu Yi rolled his eyes: "Wait, the tests related to the magic airship are not completely over yet. It will not be put into mass production until at least next year."
Sevini glared at Xu Yi: "When I ordered these one hundred magic airships from you, you said they would be delivered early this year."
Xu Yi smiled awkwardly: "Well... the magic airship is different from ordinary magic machines. The requirements in all aspects are too high. You don't want me to deliver an unreliable magic airship to you? Besides, I Weren’t you just talking about insufficient production capacity?”
"Then what does this have to do with freeing 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 you give me a period of time to train them, 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 system , which stipulates that slaves do not have any opportunity to actively receive education or 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. Owner."
"Are you thinking of the hundreds of slave workers who were trained for the Stark family?" Sevini laughed.
"So." Xu Yi shrugged.
When the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce was first established, Leslie sent one hundred of his slaves to work in the Xinfei Chamber of Commerce's factories. Thus mastering a certain amount of magic machinery manufacturing techniques.
Later, the Stark family sent another 300 slaves to the New Flying Chamber of Commerce factory, and they also mastered good abilities.
Later, when the Stark family opened its own Magic Machinery Chamber of Commerce, these slaves became important skilled workers and played a vital role.
For Xu Yi, these four hundred slave workers were equivalent to him giving the Stark family a wedding dress for nothing.
He had no choice at the time, and he was not willing to do such a thankless job now.
"So, you are actually not as noble as those newspapers boasted. You are entirely considering the interests of yourself and the New Flying Chamber of Commerce." Sevini joked.
"Of course, I'm not a saint." Xu Yi replied matter-of-factly. "But what I said is true. Think about it, these slaves will be useless if they are left in the hands of the lords, but if they are handed over to me, the value they generate will increase countless times. . I think a normal person should know how to choose?”
"It's a pity that no matter which lord he is, he won't be willing to hand over his slaves to you for nothing." Sevini said.
"Of course I understand this. So this time... I prepared a very big bait, hoping to catch some guys who are willing to take the bait... "
Seeing the slightly contented smile on Xu Yi's face, Sevini blinked, thinking that Xu Yi must have had another idea.
Based on her understanding of Xu Yi, since he said this was a very big bait, the temptation contained in it must be extremely amazing. (To be continued...)