When he came to a small hall in the back with chairman Rank, Xu Yi found that there were already five other people sitting here. It wasn't a private conversation like he thought at all.
Looking over the faces of the people in the room, Xu Yi revealed a faint smile. He thought that chairman Rank didn't beat around the bush at all, directly bringing these people here. Was he planning to lay his cards on the table tonight?
But thinking about it, whether it was Xu Yi or the New Flyer, in the eyes of chairman Rank and these people, they weren't worth mentioning. There was no need to waste time with him, so it was better to directly speak.
Thinking of this, Xu Yi's lips couldn't help curling into a taunting smile.
"Come, Chairman Xu, please sit." Chairman Rank gestured for Xu Yi to sit before pointing at the people sitting here.
"Let me introduce them to you, these are … …"
Xu Yi raised his hand to stop chairman Rank and said with a smile, "Chairman Rank, these are the most famous merchants in our Banta City. If I don't even recognize them, how could I be qualified to open a company?
What do you think?
Chairman Morgan? "
Xu Yi was looking at a medium built middle aged man with a few strands of white hair. He was the Falcao Chamber of Commerce's chairman Fuller Morgan that Xu Yi had mentioned to Viscount Leslie before.
Seeing that Xu Yi took the initiative to talk to him, chairman Morgan revealed a surprised look before saying with a wide smile, "Chairman Xu, you must be joking.
If we're talking about fame, which company in Banta City can compare to your New Flyer?
You, Chairman Xu, Xu Yi's name frequently appears in the « Banta Times ». Not to mention people in the same industry like us, even the citizens of Banta City know about you, right? "
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile before saying with a shrug, "Actually I want to honestly do business and not care about other things, but Baron Hannas keeps saying that our New Flyer has news to dig out. He always wants to report some things about our New Flyer and me, so I can't do anything to him."
Hearing this, the expressions of the others changed slightly.
When the « Banta Times » was a novelty, these people didn't care that much, but when the « Banta Times » quickly became popular in Banta City, even selling to the two neighboring cities, everyone noticed the large influence this thing had.
Take the New Flyer for example. Because the « Banta Times » always reported on the New Flyer's actions, the New Flyer's fame in Banta City quickly soared. Not to mention everyone in Banta City knowing about it, it was the same even outside Banta City.
Moreover, each time the New Flyer released a new product, the « Banta Times » would write a detailed report. Not only did it clearly state the use of the new product, it would also praise it, saying that the New Flyer's product had brought many benefits to people's lives.
Like this, whether it was the nobles or the citizens of Banta City, their recognition of the New Flyer was very high. Before there were people who didn't know the truth and bought imitation magic machines from other companies, but now there definitely wasn't anyone who would do this.
Once someone had this idea, they would be called a fool by everyone around them.
"The Xinfei Brand magic machines are the best, if you buy those random magic machines that came from who knows where, you'll definitely suffer a loss!"
This was something that everyone in and out of Banta City recognized.
Moreover, even the large merchants here had bought some New Flyer magic machines in their homes. Moreover, they had to admit that the Xinfei Brand magic machines were much better than the imitations.
The « Banta Times » had reported on a piece of news from Saltan City a while ago. It said that the Saltan City Leo Chamber of Commerce had learned from the New Flyer to produce magic machines, but not only had there been serious quality problems with the Leo Brand Magic Fans they made before, many people had been injured because of the blades falling off. The most recent Leo Brand Magic Rice Cooker had exploded, directly causing one death and three serious injuries in a Saltan City citizen's family.
Even though the Leo Merchant Guild could be considered the largest merchant guild in Saltan City, they were also badly battered by the continuous incidents. Their reputation in Saltan City had fallen to a freezing point, and even caused hundreds of people to surround the Merchant Guild.
Compared to the Leo Chamber of Commerce, the magic machines produced by the New Flyer hadn't had a single accident. Moreover, each Xinfei Brand magic machine was very durable, so there was a low chance of a quality problem occurring.
Then again, even if there was a quality problem, the New Flyer had set up a so called "after-sales service center" in Banta City. As long as there was a problem with the Xinfei Brand magic machine, they could come here for free for a year to be repaired. This made it so that people who bought the Xinfei Brand Magic Fans didn't have to worry about it.
It was because of this clear contrast that in just three months, the New Flyer and the Xinfei Brand magic machines were deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of Banta City and the surrounding cities, receiving everyone's approval.
The Magic Rice Cooker that the New Flyer released didn't have much promotion in the other cities, but the merchants of those cities took the initiative to come and sell the Xinfei Brand Magic Rice Cookers.
When the people of those cities heard that the Magic Rice Cookers were produced by the New Flyer, they didn't have any doubts at all and directly bought them.
The reason for this result was of course because the magic machines produced by the New Flyer were easy to use and high quality, but the « Banta Times » had played a very important role in promoting them.
The people here were all large merchants in Banta City, how could they not see this point?
Morgan looked over and said to Xu Yi with a smile, "Chairman Xu, I've heard that you have a good relationship with the « Banta Times » 'chief editor Baron Hannas?"
Xu Yi waved his hand, "It's just a normal friendship."
The others couldn't help rolling their eyes at Xu Yi in their hearts.
A normal friendship?
Who are you trying to fool!
If it was just a normal friendship, would the « Banta Times » report on the New Flyer for no reason?
Moreover, it was always a positive report and there were no negative reports at all?
It had to be known that the companies behind these people had all looked for Baron Hannas, wanting him to report on their companies, but they had all been rejected by Baron Hannas.
The reason that Baron Hannas gave was that the « Banta Times » was focused on the New Flyer and the other companies didn't have anything to report on, so they wouldn't attract anyone's attention!
Of course everyone felt that this reason was nonsense because normal people didn't know, but these people were well aware. On the surface, it seemed like the « Banta Times » wasn't related to the New Flyer or Xu Yi, but actually the « Banta Times » was inextricably linked to Xu Yi.
Not mentioning anything else, the reason why the « Banta Times » could print over a thousand copies a day was because Xu Yi had designed a new Magic Printing Press for the « Banta Times », which greatly increased the speed of printing.
If it was said that Xu Yi didn't invest in the « Banta Times », no one would believe it.
Chairman Morgan couldn't help giving a soft snort, "Chairman Xu, aren't you being too unfriendly like this?
Even if we know that you have a good relationship with Baron Hannas, it isn't that big of a deal, right?
Anyway, everyone here is an old friend of the Business Union and you're about to join the Business Union, so we're all companions. Why do you need to hide this from us? "
"Friend?"
Xu Yi revealed a surprised look as he looked at chairman Morgan while shaking his head, "Chairman Morgan, so you're treating me as a friend?
I thought that you never thought of this, otherwise why would you suddenly raise the price of pig iron by 10%? "
When Xu Yi asked this question, the atmosphere in the room froze.
Chairman Morgan was surprised as he looked at Xu Yi in surprise. He never thought that Xu Yi would mention this matter in front of everyone and it was this straightforward, not hiding anything at all.
"This … …" Chairman Morgan said with a dry laugh, "Chairman Xu, how is business related to our personal friendship related?
Raising the price of pig iron is a decision made by the company, it isn't something that I can make alone.
Then again, this price increase isn't targeted at your New Flyer, so I ask Chairman Xu not to think too much. "
"Is that so?
Then the personal friendship between me and Baron Hannas is naturally unrelated to the « Banta Times » reporting on our New Flyer. After all, Baron Hannas doesn't have the final say in the « Banta Times ». "Xu Yi said with a faint smile.
Chairman Morgan was stunned as he narrowed his eyes to look at Xu Yi. Although he still had a smile on his face, there was a trace of coldness to it.
Chairman Rank suddenly gave a cough, attracting the attention of everyone in the room.
"Chairman Xu, I've invited you to this banquet tonight, I think that you should have already guessed a bit."
Xu Yi nodded, "If my guesses aren't wrong, chairman Rank wants to accept our New Flyer as a member of the Business Union?"
Chairman Rank nodded with a faint smile, "That's right, it is like this.
With New Flyer's current scale, it honestly isn't enough to join our Business Union.
But Chairman Xu isn't a normal merchant and New Flyer isn't a normal company. After discussing this, we've decided to accept New Flyer as a member. I wonder what Chairman Xu thinks? "