Chapter 128: Visiting the Jin Ding Headquarters Building!

Li Yi picked up the loudspeaker and continued his speech.

“By now, everyone should understand the sincerity of our Golden Cauldron Commercial Alliance! But sincerity is one thing; you must not take advantage of it to cause trouble for us or deliberately pick fights. If you do, we might as well abandon all other business and spend our days settling your disputes! Therefore, rewards must be accompanied by penalties. If we discover that anyone has deliberately caused trouble, then I am afraid you will face consequences you cannot bear. I am not threatening you. Look into the background of the Golden Cauldron Commercial Alliance, and you will know that we do what we say. Of course, there is no need for anyone to be afraid and stop reporting problems. Even if we punish you, our Golden Cauldron Commercial Alliance will produce evidence so conclusive that you will have no grounds to argue!”

Seeing that the crowd below had already taken a keen interest in the Golden Cauldron Commercial Alliance, Li Yi did not waste any more time.

“All right, that is all I have to say about the alliance. In a little while, we will post the various regulations governing the Golden Cauldron Commercial Alliance. Anyone interested may read them. If you still do not understand something, come inside. There will be dedicated reception staff to answer your questions.

“Now, let me introduce the Golden Cauldron Charity Foundation. It was jointly established by the Great Tang Royal Bank and the Golden Cauldron Commercial Alliance. The chairwoman of the Golden Cauldron Charity Foundation is none other than the most beautiful princess in all of Great Tang—the Princess Changle!”

Changle responded with a smile.

Li Yi continued, “The Golden Cauldron Charity Foundation is devoted exclusively to charitable work. In other words, it provides aid without seeking compensation, helping the state and assisting ordinary people in need. As for whom it helps, that will be decided jointly by the chairwoman and the other members of the foundation, based on the overall circumstances of Great Tang.

“So, certain people should not dream of using back doors or sending gifts. As the person in charge of both the Golden Cauldron Charity Foundation and the Golden Cauldron Commercial Alliance, I will make one thing clear: every enterprise under the Golden Cauldron name, without exception, must uphold the principles of fairness, impartiality, and transparency. If anyone engages in secret dealings or manipulates the rules, I will deal with every offender I catch without the slightest leniency!”

“All right, that is enough talk. I now officially announce that the Golden Cauldron Commercial Alliance and the Golden Cauldron Charity Foundation are established as of today!”

The moment Li Yi finished speaking, someone immediately walked to the main entrance and pulled a rope. The red cloth covering the signboard fell away, revealing two large, gleaming characters written in standard script: Golden Cauldron. Between the two characters was the image of a three-legged cauldron with a red background and a golden border. The whole design looked dignified, substantial, and generous.

“All right, everyone! To celebrate the founding of the Golden Cauldron Commercial Alliance, the Golden Cauldron Market, Golden Cauldron Bar, and Golden Cauldron Restaurant will all offer a forty-percent discount today, a thirty-percent discount tomorrow, and a twenty-percent discount the day after. The prices will be reduced for three consecutive days. What are you waiting for?”

As soon as Li Yi finished speaking, everyone surged toward the Western Market like a flood. At the same time, the market, restaurant, and bar in the Western Market opened their doors to customers.

Only after everyone had left did Li Yi finally breathe a sigh of relief.

“Giving a speech in an age without microphones is truly exhausting!”

Everyone behind him also relaxed. The opening ceremony had been extremely nerve-racking. If Li Yi had not prepared everything in advance, the event would have ended in disaster.

Li Yi wiped the sweat from his brow.

“All right, stop standing around here. Go and attend to your own duties!”

Everyone nodded and dispersed. The nine men, including Li Ke, would go separately to the three establishments to serve as inspectors, while the others each had their own responsibilities.

Li Yi had barely caught his breath when Emperor Li Er came strolling over, waving a folding fan and striding with swagger.

“Young man, you truly surprised me today!”

Li Yi grinned.

“Uncle Li, Grandfather, Uncle Fang, Uncle Wei, Uncle Changsun—how did I do? Was this opening ceremony successful enough?”

Li Er nodded approvingly, which was unusual for him. The four ministers behind him all raised their thumbs. Li Jing in particular held his head high and waved his folding fan with a smug, satisfied smile.

Li Er said, “Young man, to be honest, what you showed me today was genuinely astonishing. It also made me realize how many problems Great Tang currently has. Very good, very good! Your system of rewards and punishments especially gave me much to think about.”

Li Yi scratched his head.

“Heh heh. If we are discussing commerce, I can perhaps offer a few opinions. But when it comes to governing a country, I am out of my depth, so I had better not presume to discuss state affairs.”

Li Yi truly had no desire to become involved in the officialdom of Great Tang. Even holding a minor honorary post already made him uncomfortable. He absolutely did not want to step into that deep abyss too soon.

Li Er frowned.

“What do you mean, ‘presume to discuss state affairs’? You are now a proper fourth-rank official. How could it be presumptuous? Ah, speaking of which, your leave is almost over, is it not?”

Li Yi gave an awkward laugh.

“Well, Uncle Li, why don’t we go inside?”

Li Er shook his head helplessly.

“You, boy…”

The group followed Li Yi inside, but after only a few steps, they stopped.

Li Yi turned around and saw Li Er crouching on the ground, touching the surface now and then and tapping it from time to time.

“Brat, what is this ground made of? Why is it so smooth—and so hard?”

Li Yi chuckled.

“Uncle Li, I told you before. This road was paved with cement.”

Li Er and the four ministers were all startled.

“This… this was paved with cement?”

They knew what cement was and had even studied it, but they had never put it into practical use. Seeing the results with their own eyes still left them stunned.

“Uncles, guess how long it took to pave this entire level area.”

Everyone looked at the broad stretch of flat ground, nearly several dozen paces across, and considered the properties of cement. After frowning in thought for a while, Fang Xuanling said uncertainly, “Two days?”

Li Yi nodded.

“More or less. But the two days you mentioned refer to the time needed for the cement to dry. The actual paving took less than half a morning, and fewer than ten people were involved.”

“How is that possible?”

Everyone stared at him open-mouthed in disbelief.

Li Er said, “Brat, this is not the time for jokes!”

“Uncle Li, I never joke when serious matters are involved. In fact, I am understating it. If you knew how quickly this entire building was constructed, you would be even more astonished. As for the details of cement, Ironflame knows them best. Ask him, and he will explain everything.”

Li Er nodded thoughtfully.

“This entire building was also made with cement? Incredible! Xuanling, I leave this matter to you. Go and find this Iron…”

“Ironflame!”

“Yes, Ironflame! Find him and learn everything about cement. Then we can discuss it at court. The matter of building roads should also be placed on the agenda!”

Fang Xuanling hurriedly replied, “I obey, Your Majesty!”

Li Er turned to Li Yi.

“Come on, young man. Let us continue. We shall follow your arrangements for the entire day.”

Li Yi laughed.

“Hahaha, Uncle Li, rest assured. I guarantee you will be satisfied!”

As they chatted, they entered the lobby on the first floor. The smooth ground, the walls covered in murals, and the slogans displayed everywhere all gave Li Er a fresh sense of novelty and surprise.

Among them were sayings such as:

“To conduct oneself in the world, one must possess a heart filled with passion; to uphold justice and fulfill one’s duties, one must harbor not the slightest selfishness.”

“Set your sights on taking the lead, devise solutions to difficult problems, strive for practical achievements, and spread the spirit of integrity.”

“The establishment of great works in life does not lie in knowing, but in doing.”

“To conduct oneself in the world, one must possess a heart filled with passion; to uphold justice and fulfill one’s duties, one must harbor not the slightest selfishness. Ha ha ha! Beautifully said! No wonder you are known as the Jade Unicorn—you can produce a classic at any time!”

Li Yi’s face reddened for once.

“Not at all! It was merely a humble effort. A little praise is more than enough!”

Li Er said, “In my opinion, your skin is even thicker than your talent!”

With that, he looked ahead and saw a long counter. Behind it stood several young women in smiling, upright rows, dressed in elegant gowns. They looked energetic and composed while retaining a graceful, feminine charm.

Li Er asked, “Yi, who are these women?”

Li Yi replied, “Uncle Li, they are the reception staff. If any guest has a question, they can ask them directly. They can answer most ordinary questions, and if there is anything they cannot answer, they can offer guidance.”

“That is rather interesting. Did you train all of them yourself?”

“That is right. These women, along with the male attendants outside, were all trained by me over the past half month. Their training included posture, speech, movements, formal language, cultural knowledge, and information relating to the commercial alliance and the charity foundation. They began their training as soon as the alliance was established.”

“It is truly strict. Even the training of my palace maids meets no higher standard.”

“Uncle Li, the merchants of Great Tang are currently too small in scale. Our commercial alliance is the first large-scale enterprise formed through their cooperation. I call this kind of structure a ‘group’—a collective organization. A business can possess greater competitiveness and potential for development only after it forms a group.

“Whether they belong to a group or an individual workshop, the workers—in my words, the employees—represent the image of that group or workshop. Therefore, employee training is essential.”

“A group? Employees? You certainly have no shortage of new terms. But you are right about one thing. Commerce in Great Tang is currently like a heap of scattered sand. Although powerful aristocratic families control it from behind the scenes, from the perspective of management, it remains disorganized. If everything were governed in the manner you have established, Yi, it would indeed be much better.”

As soon as Li Er finished speaking, Fang Xuanling eagerly asked, “Brat, what about the people you promised to train for the Royal Bank?”

“Do not worry, Uncle Fang. Tomorrow I will send people to you. There will not be many—only a few dozen. Think of them as seeds. The training afterward will be up to you.”

Fang Xuanling immediately broke into a delighted smile.

“Fine! That is enough!”

Seeing that no one had any further questions, Li Yi continued showing them around.

“Uncle Li, this is the reception room…”

“And this is the conference room…”

“Ah—the word ‘room’ simply means a chamber or building…”

And so on.

Li Yi led them through every corner of the building. Each room contained something new and unusual, prompting one amazed exclamation after another.

At last, when Li Yi’s throat had gone dry from speaking, the group finally gave up on the tour.

“Uncles, shall we dine at the Golden Cauldron Restaurant?”

“Let us do that. I happen to want to see what your Golden Cauldron Restaurant is really like.”