Chapter 58

A grand convoy of over eighty carriages approached Wuyang City, but this convoy seemed a bit peculiar. Seeing this strange procession, people began to voice their opinions:

"Are these carriages so large that these horses can pull them?"

"Look at the tracks on the ground; the carriages are so heavy. How much are they carrying? Poor horses, it's too cruel to treat them like this."

"Idiot, don't you know? These carriages use ball bearings. According to my neighbor's son, after using ball bearings, the carriages are three to five times easier to pull. If you add more wheels, one horse can pull over a hundred stones of cargo."

"Is that so?" The crowd looked and indeed saw that the horses showed no signs of fatigue.

All the carriages were pulled by two horses each, dragging a carriage that was about ten feet long, six feet wide, and five feet high, with four wheels. Judging from the tracks on the ground, almost all the carriages were fully loaded.

This convoy, consisting of over eighty carriages, stretched for a mile and slowly arrived at the gates of Wuyang City, drawing much curiosity.

Song Xing dismounted and waited quietly.

Soon, a royal guard came out, "The Emperor has decreed that all carriages enter the city immediately."

The guard led the way, and behind him, Song Xing and the others dismounted and led their horses forward. The grand procession, under the "protection and supervision" of more royal guards, entered the palace and finally gathered in the training ground—where the guards usually trained.

The Emperor, accompanied by Fu Minghui, strode over.

"Your Majesty," Song Xing greeted hurriedly.

"Song Xing, tell me, how much did Li Xian send to me?" The Emperor was very pleased. Li Xian had acted quickly, sending a reply within two months of "escaping" back to Anyang, stating that the first batch of textile machinery was ready. However, he did not specify the quantity, only saying it would be a surprise.

The Emperor took Li Xian's playful gesture as a joke; in this world of cultivation, there were not many rigid rules.

Song Xing presented a simple document and fluently said, "Mainly ball bearings, main shafts, and Sea Soul Silk. A total of 12,000 ball bearings, 6,000 main shafts, and 100 kilometers of Sea Soul Silk.

Additionally, there are the princess's dowry, totaling 10,000 taels of gold, 1,000 mirrors, 30 large crystal chandeliers, and 200 sets of stainless steel weapons and armor. Also, 20 tons of stainless steel ingots."

Upon hearing this, the Emperor was overjoyed, "Good, very good, ha ha. Speaking of which, your Brilliant Starlight Trading Company's industrial standards are indeed quite good."

In the past two months, the industrial fire ignited by Li Xian had spread throughout the entire Daxia Kingdom, and the unified industrial standards he introduced were gradually being accepted by everyone—everyone saw the benefits of standardized specifications.

Moreover, with Brilliant Starlight Trading Company dominating the market, they used so-called "standard parts" to strongly guide the market and lead the entire industrial development. Everyone had no choice but to follow Li Xian's lead. If you didn't follow Li Xian's standards, your ball bearings wouldn't work!

Internally, Brilliant Starlight Trading Company had officially upgraded to a "Group," but externally, people still habitually referred to it as a "Trading Company." These were minor issues, not worth worrying about.

Soon, personnel from the royal trading company came to count and settle the accounts. The dowry items did not need to be settled, but the ball bearings, main shafts, and Sea Soul Silk, as commercial goods, had to be settled.

Ball bearings cost one tael of silver each—Li Xian was selling them at a very high price. One tael of silver was equivalent to a thousand copper coins, similar to a thousand yuan in purchasing power; if someone sold ordinary ball bearings for a thousand yuan on Earth, they would be beaten to death.

The small main shafts for engines were cheaper, costing one tael of silver for 50. The main shafts were so cheap because they were easy to produce using magic. Of course, the main shafts Li Xian sold were all small to medium-sized.

Sea Soul Silk was the most expensive. Even at an 80% discount for the Emperor, it still cost four taels of gold per meter! For 100 kilometers, that would be 400,000 taels of gold!

The amount of gold was too large for the Emperor to provide. But that was no problem; the Emperor had his ways. A hundred-year-old ginseng plant cost 20,000 to 30,000 taels of gold, and the Emperor generously calculated it at 30,000 taels. A hundred-year-old spirit ginseng cost 40,000 to 50,000 taels, and the Emperor still generously calculated it at 50,000 taels.

Thus, ten hundred-year-old ginseng plants and two hundred-year-old spirit ginseng plants completed the payment. As for the 132 taels of gold for the ball bearings and main shafts, the Emperor generously rounded it off.

Listening to the Emperor's "math," Song Xing was drenched in cold sweat. Fortunately, Xu Ren had already anticipated the Emperor's intention to default on the payment, and getting these valuable items was still a good deal. Besides, the prices of Li Xian's goods were also inflated.

After leaving the palace with the empty carriages, Song Xing first reported to Li Manor and delivered the precious hundred-year-old herbs to Li Yulong. Then he left Wuyang City and stayed at the Li Manor workshop outside the city.

Here, countless merchants had already gathered.

"Lord Song has arrived."

"Good day, Lord Song."

...

Li Xian was a military officer, and Song Xing had also secured a small official position.

Amidst these greetings, Song Xing slowly walked forward, "Thank you all for your support. Today, on behalf of the Brilliant Starlight Group, also known as the Brilliant Starlight Trading Company, I have an announcement:

We will be holding a regional agency rights auction.

We want everyone to share in the wealth. One month from now, on April 1st, a pleasant day (O(∩_∩)O ha!), we will hold a public auction.

The auction details are as follows:

First, each item will be auctioned separately.

Second, the scope is the 12 prefectures of Daxia Kingdom, excluding Wuyang and Anyang, leaving 10 prefectures. Surrounding countries such as Cai, Qi, Chen, and Jin will each have one general agent.

Third, we will auction at 79% of the market price, with the highest bidder winning.

Fourth, no credit, payment must be made in full.

Fifth, each agency term is three years by default; we will conduct an evaluation after three years. If the performance is unsatisfactory, we will terminate the contract and find a new agent.

Sixth, in areas with agents, we will not interfere with sales. Existing Brilliant Starlight shops will be converted into after-sales service points, responsible for product quality and repairs. In other words, we will handle after-sales service, so you don't need to worry about it.

That's the general situation. If you have any questions, feel free to ask now."

"I have a question!" A person squeezed forward, "Captain Song, can the agents only be responsible for their own regions?"

"Yes, according to the current prefecture divisions, everyone will be responsible for the corresponding items and regions. No crossing boundaries. But this is theoretical; we don't have the ability to monitor everyone."

"Understood." The person stepped back.

Another person stood up, "Lord Song, can one person only be an agent for one item, or multiple items?"

Song Xing smiled slightly, "As long as you have the ability, we won't restrict you. After all, merchants don't turn away from money."

"Ha ha, Lord Song is right."

More questions followed, covering various aspects, and Song Xing answered them all.

Finally, someone asked a key question, with a somewhat arrogant attitude, "Song Xing, you're setting up agents, so I assume your production is quite high. Can you tell us about your production of textiles, ball bearings, iron ingots, steel plates, and so on?"

Song Xing raised his head, "As of four days ago, we produce 12,000 bolts of cloth per day, 5,000 sets of ball bearings, 500 tons of iron ingots and steel plates, and 350 tons of glass.

By August this year, we expect all our production to increase by more than three times, or even more."

"Quite a bold claim."

Song Xing smiled proudly, "Because we are the Brilliant Starlight Group, because we have ignited the industrial fire. Everyone, welcome to our headquarters.

Farewell!"