Sitting on the soft sofa, Banno looked tense, his back straight as he stared at the ground in front of him, saying nothing.
"Mr. Banno, you’re too nervous."
Seeing Banno in this state, Meiyin couldn’t help but speak curiously.
"Don’t worry, Mr. Fang Zheng is a very easy-going person, friendly."
"Is this a matter of being easy-going? You stupid girl!"
Hearing Meiyin speak, Banno couldn’t help but get irritated. As Meiyin’s nominal boss, he had some understanding of Meiyin’s situation and knew she lived in Fang Zheng’s ancient castle. At that time, Banno simply thought Meiyin was favored by nobility—after all, civilians with strong magic power easily attracted the attention of nobility who would adopt them, and since Meiyin wanted to cure her illness, this was the only way, so Banno did not find it strange.
Just that he thought the other party was an ordinary noble.
However, now that he was at this ancient castle, Banno realized he was facing absolutely no ordinary noble!
The luxurious decor and room... honestly made him think this could be a Royal Palace!
No, even the Royal Palace might not be this luxurious!
"Quickly tell me, what exactly is Lord Fang Zheng’s identity? What’s your relationship?"
After glancing around to ensure no one was there, Banno quickly asked. As a merchant, negotiating under unknown conditions was too risky; one false move and he could end up being devoured.
"Hmm... Me and Mr. Fang Zheng? We’re friends, I guess. He’s a very capable person but his identity... I’m not really sure."
You silly goose!
If not for fearing Fang Zheng might come over anytime, Banno wanted to rush and thump Meiyin on the head. This little girl never saw the situations around her clearly. Doesn’t she understand what’s happening now?!
Also, what do you mean friends?! You, a civilian’s daughter, wanting to be friends with high nobility?!
Just then, the parlor door slowly opened, and Fang Zheng walked in.
Seeing Fang Zheng enter, Banno quickly stood up.
"Thank you for taking the time to see me, it’s a great honor. I’m Banno, president of the Chirbota Trade Guild."
"Hello, I’m Fang Zheng."
Fang Zheng nodded to Banno and sat down. Soon, Rem and Rem swiftly stepped forward to prepare refreshments for the three and then stepped back.
"I’m not good at beating around the bush, so I’ll get straight to the point. Let me talk about the terms for the paper-making machine instead of Meiyin. I suppose Meiyin has told you about it."
"Yes."
Banno quickly nodded.
"If Miss Meiyin is right, then this inexpensive paper-making technology and machine could indeed become a market-shaking product. But so far, we haven’t seen a finished product, so I haven’t decided yet."
"Understandable."
Fang Zheng nodded. Originally, Banno thought he would elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages of the new paper-making technology, but to his surprise, after listening to his words, Fang Zheng simply changed the subject.
"Then let’s talk about the collaboration method next."
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Banno couldn’t help but be stunned.
"But we haven’t seen a finished product yet..."
"True."
Fang Zheng nodded.
"Currently, the finished product hasn’t appeared yet but that doesn’t prevent us from discussing cooperation methods, right? If you need it, then it’s established. If you think it’s not worthwhile, then it’s not established. Simple, right? So why waste extra time, waiting for the finished product to appear before discussing these?"
"... Lord Fang Zheng is very confident."
Banno quickly understood Fang Zheng’s meaning. Simply put, if Meiyin failed, then there would be no cooperation, naturally no further discussion. But if Meiyin succeeded, negotiating afterward... Wait, normally wouldn’t it proceed by showing a finished product first? Or are they so confident in their technique?
Hmm, no, maybe it’s some kind of bluffing... no, what kind of negotiation method is this...
Banno’s mind was momentarily overwhelmed. As a merchant, he was accustomed to negotiating using the product as a standard for discussion, but now the other side hadn’t presented a finished product, leaving Banno in a predicament. The other party was nobility and Banno was just a merchant, so in terms of social status, merchants could hardly refuse the demands of nobility. The task then was to strive for benefits.
However, Fang Zheng now seemed to ask him to "freely decide."
This was most troublesome.
"For now, we’re not discussing specific amounts, just the cooperation method."
Fortunately, Fang Zheng let Banno off the hook, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.
"What method, may I ask?"
"I heard you plan to invest a sum to directly buy the ownership of the paper-making machine?"
"Yes."
Upon hearing this, Banno’s heart sank, but he still nodded with determination. This was the proposal he had given when discussing with Meiyin earlier, but now it seemed that Fang Zheng had a different view.
Sure enough, Fang Zheng offered his opinion.
"I think that method isn’t great. You should know, if there’s really such an inexpensive paper-making technology and machine, what impact would it have on the world? So, how much money do you think could buy all this?"
"This..."
Banno instinctively wanted to say "we haven’t seen the finished product, can’t decide," but soon he understood Fang Zheng’s meaning. Before this, Fang Zheng had clearly stated this negotiation was based on the success of the finished product. Now, using this as a reason didn’t make sense!
"Sorry, I can’t judge."
"Me, neither."
Fang Zheng nodded.
"Frankly, I don’t know what price I should consider selling at. So, to protect our mutual interests, I have a proposal."
Saying this, Fang Zheng extended a finger.
"We can sign a magic contract—Meiyin Workshop can contract with your guild, granting you three years of exclusive selling rights, what do you think?"
"Three, three years?"
Hearing Fang Zheng’s proposal, Banno was shocked.
So we’re not negotiating a one-time settlement?
"Then what happens after three years?"
"After three years depends on circumstances. If the paper sells well, you can renew the contract. If the technique doesn’t meet your requirements, no need to renew."
"What happens if we don’t renew?"
"We’ll sell the ownership to another guild just the same."
"That’s unacceptable!"
Upon hearing this, Banno nearly jumped!
"Why not?"
Fang Zheng chuckled, leaning back on the sofa.
"I should remind you, Mr. Banno, honestly, I originally had a more convenient idea—that’s to directly buy a guild dedicated to manufacturing and selling Meiyin Workshop products. You should understand, with my financial resources, that’s no problem. Plus, there isn’t just your guild here. If I offer enough money, I could fully purchase a more influential guild that’s bigger than Chirbota, which is just beginning to emerge. The reason I’m willing to talk to you is that you have a good relationship with Meiyin, providing a foundation for cooperation... Now do you understand?"
"..."
Upon hearing this, Banno fell silent. As Fang Zheng had said, he could entirely buy a guild especially for Meiyin; he had the money after all. The ancient castle proved Fang Zheng wasn’t just boasting; he had enough money to buy any guild in town, even the biggest...
And the Chirbota Guild was only recently emerging, in terms of channels, sales capability, and other aspects, it couldn’t compete with established guilds.
For this very reason, Banno hopes to collaborate with Meiyin to take the trade guild further using this new papermaking technology.
"But even so, three years is really too..."
"We have our own considerations, Mr. Banno. To be honest, I highly doubt what you would do if you really gained ownership of the papermaking technology."
"This... I don’t understand what you mean."
Hearing Fang Zheng’s words, Banno furrowed his brow.
"If the new papermaking technology is really great, of course we will promote it. This will also bring considerable profit to our guild."
"Really?"
Fang Zheng squinted his eyes, staring at Banno.
"What if you hide it away instead?"
"This... how is that possible."
Hearing this, Banno let out a bitter laugh.
"Lord Fang Zheng, you’re joking. If we could really have such technology, it would be priceless!"
"Priceless? So what about ten thousand gold? What about a hundred thousand gold? What if someone offers you a hundred thousand gold to not continue promoting this papermaking technology?"
"This..."
"Perhaps this won’t happen initially, but once traditional industries that have been eroded discover the problem, they might do it, and they might even apply pressure from the top. At that time, can you still hold on?"
"This..."
Faced with Fang Zheng’s inquiry, this time Banno finally fell silent. Instead, Meiyin’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Fang Zheng.
"Will something like this really happen, Mr. Fang Zheng?"
"Of course, the bottom line of capitalists is unpredictable."
At this, Fang Zheng snorted. He wasn’t speaking without grounds; there were actual cases. You see, on Earth, synthesizing vitamin C used to cost several dollars, selling at an even higher price. Then China invented a two-step method to produce vitamin C, directly lowering the cost to mere cents. This drove European and American pharmaceutical companies mad, and they almost prostrated themselves in China, thinking of every way to buy the patent for the two-step synthesis of vitamin C, and then... they just locked it up.
Perhaps someone might ask, why didn’t they use the two-step method to produce, and then sell at the original price?
The reason is simple, once the cost goes down, production goes up, the price goes down too. Let alone the fact that the new method requires changing equipment, training personnel, all of which costs money. Without competition, who wants to spend more to change the status quo?
And the European and American pharmaceutical companies didn’t switch to the two-step method until they squeezed out the last drop of value from the traditional production method, confirming that it was really no longer profitable.
Patents are the same; modern people treat patents like treasures, when in fact they’re just pieces of paper. Indeed, from a certain perspective, patents protect the inventor’s rights, but they’re not complete protection.
Take for example a small company that invents a patent capable of overturning the market; of course, the small company hopes to dominate the market with it.
Will those multinational corporate monopolists just watch?
Of course not.
They’ll directly offer money to buy it.
Is one hundred million US Dollars enough? Ten billion enough? How about a hundred billion?
Of course, the small company can justifiably say we won’t sell! This is our technology, we’ll use it to enter the market!
And then what will the multinational companies do?
Very simple, infringe.
Wait a minute, infringement is illegal, isn’t it?
Indeed, infringement is illegal, but you have to file a lawsuit, and if they’re selling in dozens of countries at once, you have to sue in dozens of countries.
Lawsuits require lawyers, and hiring lawyers costs money.
Your little company, can you compete financially with multinational companies?
Their legal team can drag you down without saying a word.
Even if you win, what next? Their legal team can turn around and directly apply for a jurisdictional challenge, requiring a review.
How many years would that take?
Meanwhile, during all this wasted time for the small company, the multinational’s infringing products have already swept across the world, solidifying their market. They might even squeeze out the small company’s original market.
The small company can’t open up the situation, naturally facing a dead end.
Once bankrupt, with what will you hire lawyers, with what will you sue?
Fang Zheng has seen many such things in the industry, even the old console wars were similar. A revolutionary invention like papermaking technology improvement, if no one opposes it, that would be surprising.
The modern energy industry is the same; why has clean energy not flourished in Europe and America? The reason’s simple, oil companies don’t allow it. Things like solar, wind, hydroelectric power, and electric cars, is it that Europe and America don’t have the technological reserves? How’s that possible?
But why isn’t it being commercialized?
The reason’s simple, traditional energy companies are watching, if you dare to release, they’ll dare to kill you.
Oil companies don’t care about global warming, don’t care about exhaust emissions, don’t care about humanity’s fate.
They only know, if you pursue these, you’re infringing on their interests, so they’ll kill you to maintain their monopoly.
Talking morality, future, or civilized development with capitalists? You must not be awake yet.
Ultimately, Banno ended the negotiations saying he needed time to consider, and Fang Zheng’s words served as a wake-up call for him. Indeed, for the Chirbota Trade Guild, this is an opportunity, but also a significant risk and challenge...
"Alright, that’s the situation for now, let’s see what he chooses next."
After Banno left, Fang Zheng looked at Meiyin.
"If he’s still willing, then the collaboration continues. But when signing the magical contract, Meiyin, you need to change the approach."
"What approach, Mr. Fang Zheng?"
At this moment, Meiyin was completely convinced by Fang Zheng.
"I remember you said using different trees can make different kinds of paper?"
"Yes, this world has many magical trees, some trees practically don’t burn, you know, if they could make paper that would be fantastic!"
"Very good."
Fang Zheng nodded.
"In that case, when signing the contract, you should specify the model of the papermaking machine."
"...Model?"
"That’s right, take this papermaking machine you made now, suppose it’s called Unit-01, then when signing the contract, you should state that only the papermaking process and products related to Unit-01 are included."
"Huh... Why’s that?"
Meiyin blinked, looking at Fang Zheng.
"It’s simple, because you’ll still improve the papermaking machine in the future, right? Improved processes are also valuable, aren’t they? If you improve the process and make a Unit-02, then technology updates shouldn’t be free, but rather require them to sign a new manufacturing contract for Unit-02, and so on... Do you understand?"
"..."
Hearing this, Meiyin was stunned, and after a long while, she finally spoke.
"Mr. Fang Zheng..."
"Hmm?"
"You’re really cunning..."

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