Darkstone Code-Chapter 698 - 0695 Buying and Selling [This - is sponsored for additional updates by: Clear Sky Fine Snow - 9/9]
Some things are destined to be hard to let go, such as hatred.
Invaders, butchers, executioners, demons...
These words seem fitting to describe the Gafura people—at least from the locals’ perspective.
It’s already difficult enough for someone to work for the Gafura people under public pressure, but many others, those who harbor resentment, still deal with it silently.
They might not continue to resist Gafura’s rule, but to expect them to voluntarily work for the Gafura in the short term?
It doesn’t seem realistic. After all, it’s as if the Gafura people just stabbed the locals, and despite their bleeding wounds, they are expected to earn money for them.
Without workers, operations can’t start. More importantly, the market here isn’t accessible only to the Gafura people; the Federation people can also reach it, which leads to an unexpected situation.
Competition!
The mainland of Gafura and even the Emperor’s capital are very concerned. A rumor has it that after repeated failures against the Federation, the Emperor of the Empire hopes the capitalists of Gafura can help him recover a round.
To defeat the Federation merchants in a fair environment.
As the highest ruler of the country, the Emperor’s wish becomes the desire of some nobles, so many merchants are told by their backers that they must quickly show impressive results!
Upon hearing this from the president of the chamber of commerce, everyone’s faces turned even gloomier.
After hesitating for a long time, the president of the chamber of commerce sighed again, "Let’s continue raising wages. The previous methods can’t be used now. The Federation people are watching us. They expect us to break the rules, so we can only compete with them within the rules."
"This time we have suffered from the Federation people, but they won’t have it easy!" The president’s emotions were not heavily affected, as he had already anticipated this worst-case scenario.
Ever since the Federation people caught those ’criminals’ but didn’t deal with them and sent them to the Gafura people, everyone felt something was off, but this unease was overlooked due to the strong desire for revenge.
They smiled as rows of locals were sent to the execution ground, ending their ugly and sinful lives with a single shot.
The piles of corpses often caused people to wake up in the middle of the night, and now, retribution has arrived.
He snapped back to reality, licking his lips, and looked at the others, "By raising wages higher, our employment costs may indeed increase in the short term, but these costs are far from the local workers’ wages."
"We can first process some semi-finished products locally to reduce the labor gap here. After some cooling-off period, people will still join us."
"Life must move forward, gentlemen. As long as we can recruit the number of workers we need, Lynch and those Federation merchants will have to raise their workers’ wages."
"On one side, it’s three to five bucks a day, paid daily; on the other side, it’s seventy floras a day, gentlemen, if you were to choose, which would you pick?"
The merchants in the room immediately reacted, each showing smiles on their faces, "You are absolutely right, Mr. President. As long as we can get through this period, Lynch’s employment costs will also rise, and we might even be able to poach his employees..."
The atmosphere in the room became lively, with everyone having their own ideas. Many of these ideas were shameless, but one must admit that they were indeed factual.
Hatred is indeed not so easy to let go, but when something more impactful than hatred appears, hatred can only take a back seat.
For instance, hunger, family, life, and most importantly, survival...
Soon, the wages posted on the recruitment board of the Gafura people rose directly to three floras, approximately five Federation Sols, slightly more than three times Lynch’s wages.
After the prices increased, a few more people appeared, and seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The president of the chamber of commerce proposed a suggestion, "I will talk to the Governor about appeasing the emotions of the local residents. We might hold some charity events later, and you all have to participate."
Naturally, everyone nodded in agreement. Employing charity to win over the lower strata of society is a tactic that not only the Federation people are good at, but the Gafura people excel at it too.
However, they hadn’t been happy for long before someone rushed in panting, "Mr. President... I just came from the Federation side, they have also increased wages..."
Looking at the out-of-breath aide, the President had someone offer him a glass of water, which he downed in five swift gulps after saying thank you.
The President’s expression remained unchanged, and he asked softly, "To how much have they raised their wages?"
"One point eight Sols, Federation Sol!"
The President looked at a person beside him who seemed like an assistant. That person immediately said, "About one flor (Fla)."
"So we are still paying triple their wages?" The President showed little worry, "Do they have many people over there?"
"Plenty... the place is crowded!"
After all, the Federation people did not carry out the executions in front of everyone. This has created ample emotional buffering and provided more outlets to vent emotions.
It’s as if one had to choose between a father’s killer and a stranger. Even if the stranger’s offer isn’t that good, people tend to lean towards the stranger rather than the father’s killer.
But now, saying these things doesn’t matter. From the very beginning, they were "deceived" by Lynch.
The heavy atmosphere didn’t dissipate even after everyone left; instead, it became even more silent.
They realized that with less money, others could recruit many people, while they had to offer triple the salary and only managed to recruit a few old men. Even though they knew these differences wouldn’t be so pronounced in the future, they were still frustrated.
These merchants have not yet been tempered by the free market, appearing somewhat immature.
The president of the chamber ate a little and drank a bit in the evening, planning to go to bed early, when the butler came to his study door. "Sir, Mr. Lynch wishes to speak with you."
"Let him... Who did you say?" The president suddenly sat upright, slightly bowing his head, peering through the gap between his glasses and his forehead at the butler standing outside the door.
The butler maintained his humble posture, "Mr. Lynch, sir."
Instinctively, the president wanted to refuse a meeting with Lynch, but he suppressed that urge. After some thought, he removed his glasses and stood up, "Bring him to the living room. I’ll change clothes and come down."
In just a few minutes, the president changed into casual clothes. He still hadn’t figured out why Lynch was visiting him. Was it to mock?
Or something else?
As he descended the stairs, the serious thinking expression on his face transformed into a warm smile like a spring breeze, "Good evening, Mr. Lynch. You should have called first, so I could have changed clothes beforehand!"
He actively approached.
Compared to the Gefura nobles who still cling to their rigid traditions, sofas are adopted more quickly by ordinary people and capitalists in Gefura, especially the capitalists—they mostly have sofas and are accustomed to enjoying them.
"I’m sorry for my sudden visit, I hope you can forgive me."
The two exchanged insincere handshakes and then sat down separately.
After briefly chatting about trivial and empty topics like "The weather is nice today," Lynch got to the point.
"I heard today that you didn’t manage to recruit many workers?"
How to offend a Gefura merchant with just one sentence.
The president’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably, and he lowered his head to hide the displeasure almost spilling from his eyes. "Isn’t this embarrassing?"
"Embarrassing?" Lynch raised his tone slightly, "No, absolutely not. I have no intention or desire to ridicule you or any other friends. I’m not here to boast about anything either."
"I am simply here as a qualified merchant, having seen a market and coincidentally possessing the capability to supply, hence my appearance."
Lynch spoke neither fast nor slow, articulating clearly, yet the president still couldn’t quite understand, "I don’t quite follow your meaning, Mr. Lynch."
Just then, the butler served tea and snacks and left. Lynch casually picked up a delicate piece of cake.
The Gefura people always invest their thoughts in unnecessary areas, but this is what they refer to as "life."
"You couldn’t recruit anyone, but I have many workers at my disposal. We can make arrangements for these people to work for you."
"This way, it solves my inconvenience of having to feed these people and provides you with a sufficient workforce. It’s a win-win situation for both of us."
The president contemplated for a while before frowning slightly and responding, "I just figured out a part of it. You’re proposing that your people work for me, and then I pay you or them, correct?"
Lynch’s smile broadened, "That’s right, but you would pay me, and then I would pay them."
"You know, earning money is not easy!"
The president laughed upon hearing this, "Why shouldn’t I just pay them directly to employ them then?"
Lynch didn’t hesitate one bit in revealing the reason, "Because you can’t recruit them!"
The president cast a peculiar glance at Lynch, "But eventually, we’ll be able to recruit enough people!"
"You’ll also miss out on the entire market because of it!" Lynch’s retort was so quick that the president’s thoughts couldn’t keep up.
The president furrowed his brow; his interest in Lynch’s proposal began to grow slightly, "How much do you charge per person?"
The smile returned to Lynch’s face, "I’ve seen your recruitment board. A daily wage of three Fla, I can offer you a slightly discounted price of two point eight. Either Fla or Sol for settlement is acceptable."
The president’s heart still harbored some resentment at this moment, and with a forced smile, he remarked, "We need many workers. Do you have that many?"
Lynch’s grin grew so wide his back teeth showed, "As many as you need!"
