Xu Yi only stayed in Faraday City for a single day before being led by Anklo and the two ministers sent by Duke Stantine to the three mines that were scheduled to be sold.
Here, Xu Yi saw the two dwarves from the Norma Tribe that he had sent a month ago.
According to the information provided by the two dwarves, the three mines were rich in minerals. The two iron mines were even bigger than the one that Xu Yi had taken from the Falcao Chamber of Commerce.
According to the estimated price of the iron mine of seven hundred thousand gold coins, the value of these two iron mines already exceeded one and a half million gold coins.
And this estimate was from last year. According to the soaring price of iron ore, the value of these two iron mines might have already exceeded two million gold coins.
Although there was the problem of increasing the cost of mining in the Principality of Constantine, the Principality of Constantine was selling the mining rights for eternity. It wasn't like the Lampari Kingdom that had a time limit, so it was still worth it.
Of course, the so called permanent mining rights were just empty words in front of the country's political power.
But considering the situation of the other copper mine, these risks weren't much.
According to the report of the two dwarves, the amount of minerals in this copper mine was even richer than the two iron mines.
This was a pleasant surprise for Xu Yi.
His main goal this time was the copper mine, and this copper mine was rich in minerals, so it was a great harvest.
Because the two dwarves had already done some scouting, Xu Yi only came to the three mines to go through the motions. He casually looked around and inspected the roads and environment around the three mines before returning to Faraday City.
In the next three days, Xu Yi had been haggling over every detail with Duke Stantine and his subordinates.
Perhaps it was because his subordinates reported that Xu Yi was very satisfied with the three mines, or perhaps it was because Xu Yi's offer of one and a half million gold coins gave them confidence, but at the beginning of the negotiations, Duke Stantine directly quoted a high price of two million gold coins.
Although two million gold coins for these three mines was a great profit for Xu Yi and New Flyer, Xu Yi obviously wouldn't agree so easily. Thus, he expressed his strong opposition and listed the various disadvantages of the three mines before lowering the price to one million gold coins.
Duke Stantine and his subordinates were very loud at the beginning of the negotiations and had a righteous appearance, but in the end, Xu Yi still held the initiative in this negotiation.
Other than New Flyer, there were no other companies on the continent that were willing to invest in such a remote place like the Principality of Constantine. Xu Yi was their only choice and they had no other choice.
Not to mention that the disadvantages that Xu Yi pointed out were all pointed at the poor infrastructure of the Principality of Constantine, so they couldn't refute him at all.
Thus, the negotiations that Xu Yi expected to be very difficult only took three days to settle.
In the end, the Principality of Constantine and Xu Yi settled on a price of one and a half million gold coins.
For those three mines that were rich in minerals, this price was considered cheap. It was a large bargain for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Of course, there were still many preparations that needed to be done before they could start mining these three mines.
The Principality of Constantine was behind, especially the poor transportation system, which had a serious effect on the mining of the New Flyer. So Xu Yi planned to have the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce build a road to the Principality of Constantine after returning to Banta City.
When Xu Yi told Duke Stantine of this decision, Duke Stantine and the other ministers all cheered. Although they didn't even know what a road was.
After the negotiations were finished and they reached a preliminary agreement, Xu Yi didn't plan on staying in the Principality of Constantine. He was prepared to head back to the Lampari Kingdom the next day.
The night the negotiations ended, Anklo who hadn't appeared in the past few days suddenly appeared in front of Xu Yi.
Seeing Anklo's drunk appearance, Xu Yi was a bit surprised.
Since the first time he saw Anklo, no matter when Xu Yi saw him, he would always be filled with energy, like he would never fall. Moreover, Xu Yi knew that his alcohol tolerance was very good at the banquet in Anvilmar City, so why did he suddenly get drunk today?
It had to be known that the people of the Principality of Constantine didn't like wine, so it wasn't easy to find wine that could make Anklo drunk.
"Xu ….. Chairman Xu ….. Congratulations ….." Anklo gave a hiccup, looking at Xu Yi with an expression that one didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Xu Yi knit his brows and motioned for the two maids he got from head Wein to help Anklo into the two story wooden building that Duke Stantine built in advance to receive him. Then he had the maids soak a towel in cold water and place it on Anklo's face.
Although the winter in the Principality of Constantine wasn't cold at all, the cold water in the winter night was still very cold.
Anklo was a bit sober after being sobered up by the cold water. He opened his eyes and looked at Xu Yi. He let out a long breath of alcohol and wiped his face with the towel. He sat up and looked at Xu Yi for a while before suddenly saying, "Chairman Xu, can you chat with me for a bit?"
Xu Yi thought for a bit and waved his hand to dismiss the two maids.
Anklo struggled to get up and walked out of the small building. He sat down facing the beautiful lake behind the small building.
Xu Yi also sat down beside him and looked at him, waiting for him to speak.
After a while, Anklo suddenly revealed a self-deprecating smile, "Chairman Xu, don't you think I'm an idiot?"
Xu Yi shook his head in surprise, "Why would you think that?
If you're an idiot, then I think most people in this country are idiots, right? "
Hearing Xu Yi's answer, Anklo suddenly laughed out loud. After a while, he slowly stopped and pointed at Xu Yi as he nodded, "Good, Chairman Xu, you've finally said what's in your heart.
Sure enough, in your opinion, most of the people in our country are idiots.
Right, they're all idiots! "
Seeing Anklo's face suddenly fill with anger, Xu Yi couldn't help knitting his brows.
He didn't understand why Anklo suddenly became so cynical after not seeing him for a few days.
Was it because Duke Stantine and the other ministers pushed him out of the negotiation team?
"Anklo, what are you trying to say?" Xu Yi didn't plan on beating around the bush with a drunk man.
Anklo looked at Xu Yi and burped. He chuckled, "What do I want to say?
I want to say … … I'm really an idiot. If I wasn't an idiot, why would I sell my country? "
"If you're talking about selling the three mines, then I think you're going a bit overboard." Xu Yi shook his head.
"It's only selling a few mines. Moreover, the Principality of Constantine has also received corresponding benefits, hasn't it?"
"Corresponding benefits?" Anklo sneered.
"Are you talking about the one million three hundred and fifty thousand gold coins?
Let me tell you, those gold coins will only fall into the pockets of the Duke and those dirty fellows. For the entire duchy, they won't receive a single copper coin.
Oh, alright. Perhaps when that road you mentioned is built, the duchy will truly receive some benefits.
But a road?
Ha!
What can a road change? "
"You're forgetting that if the three mines start mining, there will be a lot of job opportunities." Xu Yi reminded.
Anklo suddenly turned his head and stared at Xu Yi, "Chairman Xu, tell me the truth. Do you really plan on hiring workers from our duchy?
And not sending people from the Lampari Kingdom? "
Xu Yi was at a loss for words because he really did plan on doing that.
Seeing that Xu Yi didn't reply, Anklo suddenly sneered.
"I was right, wasn't I?
That's right. Actually, it's not just you. Even I can't stand the people of the duchy.
They are too lazy. Even if you give them work, they might not be willing to do it.
If I were you, I would also choose to send people from the Lampari Kingdom. "
Xu Yi was silent for a long time before he suddenly asked, "Anklo, I can see that you love this country deeply. You really want to do something for the Principality of Constantine and make it stronger.
But I have always had a question. Do you … … really think that the Principality of Constantine is a country? "
Anklo suddenly froze. After a while, two streams of tears suddenly rolled down from the corners of his eyes.
A moment later, Anklo cried loudly and howled with all his might. However, Xu Yi couldn't hear what he was shouting at all.
Perhaps it was because of his agitation and discomfort, not long after, Anklo coughed violently again. He then lay on the floor of the small building and vomited into the lake.
Xu Yi turned to call over two maids to have them prepare toiletries for Anklo and prepare a clean bed. Then he turned to look at Anklo who was vomiting and crying on the floor, looking like he was in great pain and he gave a sigh in his heart.
In fact, this question had been in his heart for a long time, but he didn't have the chance to ask.
Although he had only been in the Principality of Constantine for a few days, Xu Yi discovered that this so-called Principality of Constantine didn't have the concept of a country at all.
First, this country was nominally ruled by Duke Stantine, but in fact, Duke Stantine only controlled the area around Faraday City. Strictly speaking, he was at the same level as Head Wein, just that the area he controlled was slightly larger.
Secondly, from the ordinary citizens of the Principality of Constantine that Xu Yi had interacted with over the past few days, they didn't have the concept of a country at all.
To these ordinary citizens, they only knew which noble ruled over them and didn't think about what the Principality of Constantine did.
If they weren't satisfied with the noble ruling over their area, they could run to another noble's territory or hide in a corner. As long as there weren't any special circumstances, they didn't care who the leader was.
Simply put, the Principality of Constantine could only be considered a geographical name, it couldn't be considered a country at all.
If it was compared to the situation on Earth, the Principality of Constantine was more like the United Nations of Chiefs. It was a place where Patriarch Wein, Duke Stantine, and the other Chiefs of various regions came together.
And because Duke Stantine's family had always been the strongest among the Chiefs, his words had the most weight.
But Duke Stantine's words weren't necessarily useful in the Principality of Constantine. The reason why he could sell these three mines was because they were under the control of Duke Stantine.
If it was a mine under the control of another noble, he wouldn't be able to sell it.
Because of these reasons, Xu Yi asked Anklo this question.
But he didn't expect Anklo's reaction to be so intense.
This person who always talked about the Principality of Constantine, perhaps he really treated the Principality of Constantine as a complete country from the bottom of his heart and wanted to improve the situation of this country and make the lives of the citizens more prosperous.
But the reality was too cruel. He finally brought Xu Yi and New Flyer to the Principality of Constantine and successfully convinced Xu Yi to invest here.
But Duke Stantine and his so-called 'ministers' only wanted to get some money from Xu Yi and didn't have any thoughts of the Principality of Constantine.
Facing this situation, how could Anklo not feel lonely?