Volume 1 Chapter 100 More people from the agricultural department
After two hours, Xu Yi and Sancheli returned to the office.
Housekeeper Lahm saw Sancheli who looked no different from a beggar following Xu Yi and his heart was filled with doubt, but he was an experienced person, so he wouldn’t ask about it. He followed Xu Yi’s orders and had the servants help Sancheli wash up and change clothes. He followed Xu Yi and said with a serious look, “Chairman Xu, the special guards of the king has just sent a messenger saying that his majesty will be summoning you the day after tomorrow at five in the afternoon, it’s best if you prepare yourself. You should wait here ahead of time and people will take you into the palace when the time comes.”
“The afternoon of the day after tomorrow? It’s quite fast.” Xu Yi nodded, “I thought that his majesty would be busy with other matters and I would need to wait several days before being summoned.”
Housekeeper Lahm immediately said with a smile, “Chairman Xu, you are underestimating yourself too much. The messenger who came was his majesty’s personal clerk, so sending him to contact you, it can be seen that his majesty has placed great importance on you. I even asked that clerk and he said that since his majesty has set the appointment for five in the afternoon, it means he wants you to stay for dinner. This is a rare honour, you must prepare yourself mentally.”
“Oh? His majesty has placed such importance in me? That really makes me feel flattered.” Xu Yi laughed before knitting his brows, “Since it’s like this, what is going on with the agricultural department? His majesty has placed such importance in me and the agricultural department is this rude to me, don’t you find it a bit strange?”
“This……” Housekeeper Lahm looked around before suddenly moving to Xu Yi’s side and said in a low voice, “Chairman Xu, the current agricultural department head is Marquis Saitech and he doesn’t have the same political views as Viscount Leslie’s father, Duke Stagg……”
Although this was a simple reminder, Xu Yi immediately understood what Housekeeper Lahm meant.
But understanding was just understanding, Xu Yi could only reveal a helpless bitter smile.
Actually he just wanted to research magic machines and keep inventing new magic machines to increase the lives of the commoners. Now without doing anything, he was caught up in the battle of these important people. He really didn’t want this.
But this was something Xu Yi had already expected.
Not to mention this world that was controlled by the nobles, even on earth with its democratic and equal system, businessmen couldn’t completely stop themselves from being involved in politics.
Not to mention the larger countries on earth where politics were controlled by the large businessmen.
“According to this, wouldn’t it mean that I can’t receive the support of the agricultural department?” Xu Yi knit his brows.
Although by receiving the support of his majesty, Xu Yi’s plan to promote agricultural magic machines can be accomplished, the concrete parts of the plan would still involve the agricultural department. If the agricultural department were to obstruct Xu Yi’s plan for political reasons, that would create many problems.
“Chairman Xu, you don’t need to worry about this. The agricultural department is the most important department in the country, it’s not just controlled by Marquis Saitech alone.” Housekeeper Lahm comforted him.
Xu Yi thought about it and could only give a shrug, “I hope it’s like this.”
When he was about to give some instructions to Housekeeper Lahm, a servant quickly ran in.
“Sir housekeeper, there are two people claiming to be officials of the agricultural department here to see chairman Xu!”
Housekeeper Lahm and Xu Yi were stunned at the same time.
Didn’t the agricultural department officials already come, why are there two more now?
After five minutes, Xu Yi went to see the two agricultural department officials in the main hall.
The two were wearing the same uniform as the other four officials from before, but there was a bit of a difference in the badge on their chests.
The two officials were a man and a woman who both looked quite young. The man seemed to be around thirty and the woman was in her early twenties, they were far from being able to compare to a fifty year old old man like Lord Fisher.
They were different from the aloof Lord Fisher, these people looked more gentle and approachable. When they saw Xu Yi, the male official took the initiative to stretch his hand out to him.
“Are you chairman Xu? I am Harvey, I have long heard of your fame. Now that I’m finally meeting you in person, I am truly filled with excitement.”
Xu Yi was confused as he shook his head, “You know me?”
Harvey laughed, “Of course. I have already done quite a bit of research into the farmer support plan your Frestech Chamber of Commerce has proposed. I have to say, chairman Xu, your plan is a work of art. Not only does it help the peasants make a living, with the efficiency of the agricultural magic machines your company has produced, the citizens of Banta City has drastically increased their number of tiller fields. According to Count Sean’s report, if nothing unexpected happens, the harvest next year in Banta City will be greatly increased. As an official of the agricultural department, I am very happy about this matter. If the situation in Banta City can be shared across the entire kingdom, the amount of food harvested can be greatly increased and it would solve a major problem for our Lampuri Kingdom! Therefore, our agricultural department had placed great importance in you and your Frestech Chamber of commerce, reporting this matter to his majesty immediately. His majesty has also placed great importance in this matter, so he has decided to summon you for a meeting.”
Xu Yi looked at him with a bit of surprise, “You say your agricultural department has placed great importance in this matter? Why can’t I see it?”
Harvey was a bit stunned. He could tell something was strange from Xu Yi’s tone.
“Why do you say this?”
Xu Yi looked at Housekeeper Lahm to the side and paused for a bit before saying, “Before you came, in the morning, there were four other officials from the agricultural department who were here. They didn’t show any manners at all and immediately told me to hand over my six agricultural magic machines to them.”
“Agricultural department officials came?” Harvey was stunned. After looking at the female official who had been silent the entire time, he asked Xu Yi in a serious voice, “Chairman Xu, who was leading them?”
“He called himself Lord Fisher.” Xu Yi said.
“Lord Fisher?” Harvey gave a slight nod and said nothing else. After being silent for a while, he said with a serious expression, “Chairman Xu, I want to explain something to you. Our agricultural department has many responsibilities and for contacting your Frestech Chamber of Commerce and for any future cooperations, it is all controlled by the Kingdom Agricultural Reform Committee under the agricultural department, which is formed of only me and her.” Harvey pointed at the female official beside him, “Lord Fisher is an official of the agricultural department, but he has no authority in this matter, so you don’t need to worry about him.”
Xu Yi knit his brows, “Only you two? Then how should I believe you?”
Harvey thought about it and revealed a bitter smile, “This is something we haven’t considered. But chairman Xu, I think after you see his majesty, you’ll have your answer.”
Xu Yi spread his hands, “Alright, after I see his majesty, I’ll come talk to your agricultural department. For now, I don’t know who I should believe.”
“This……Chairman Xu, before you meet his majesty, we want to see the six agricultural magic machines you bought at work and summarize it in a report for his majesty. So we hope that you can cooperate with us and bring the six agricultural magic machines out of the city now to perform a demonstration for us.” Harvey said.
“Why should I believe you?” Xu Yi looked at Harvey and said, “What if you are the same as that Lord Fisher and just want to confiscate my magic machines?”
Harvey didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Chairman Xu, how about……”
“If the agricultural department really wanted you to hand over the six magic machines, would you hand it over?” The female official who had been silent the whole time finally spoke to cut Harvey off.
Once she spoke, Harvey immediately closed his mouth.
Based on this, Xu Yi immediately understood. Although it seemed like Harvey was in charge, the real leader here should be this younger female official.
Actually calling her an official made her seem too old. Actually she was just over twenty and even if she didn’t look as shocking as Still, she had very gentle features and a close to perfect figure. When one looked closely, they couldn’t help feeling a bit of affection for her.
But her aura revealed a strong confidence and nobility. She clearly didn’t have a normal status and had been properly educated since she was young.
This kind of outstanding girl, this was not something a normal noble family could raise. At the very least she came from some large noble family.
No wonder the Agricultural Reform Committee Harvey mentioned was only composed of him and this girl.
Harvey already looked like he wasn’t simple and this girl’s background was probably even stronger than his. Perhaps their backing was the king himself, so they didn’t need to care about Lord Fisher at all.
“If the agricultural department has enough reasons, for example wanting to study how these six machines function, as well as how they increase efficiency, then I can hand them over. But if it is someone like Lord Fisher who arbitrarily orders me to hand them over, then I’m not willing to comply.” Xu Yi honestly answered.
The girl gave a slight nod, “For this kind of unreasonable request, of course you don’t need to accept. But chairman Xu, we hope that you can give us a demonstration of these six magic machines now, letting us understand how these magic machines function, so we can let his majesty understand more easily how they work. I think you wouldn’t reject this, right? I think that since you’ve brought these magic machines from Banta City, of course you don’t hope to keep them in a storage room, unable to demonstrate their true use.”
Xu Yi thoughtfully looked at the girl. The other side’s eyes didn’t turn at all, looking right at Xu Yi. Her eyes were clear, not having a single trace of guilt at all.
“Your eyes are truly beautiful.” Xu Yi suddenly praised with a smile before suddenly standing up, “Alright, I’ll choose you believe you. But I need to remind you first that you shouldn’t be scared by how powerful they are.”