Negotiations 2

"First off, regarding my late arrival, it had to do with the fact that I was leaving the Court of Treaty right after getting the official draft for the contract today." Asher announced.

"You, you have already got the official document?"

Some of the delegates were stunned, but a few like the man from the Saunters family remained calm as if it was expected.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" A delegate couldn't help but ask.

Usually, one would discuss with their partners the terms and conditions of a business deal before a contract, based on those agreements, would be drawn up. The draft would then be submitted to the Court of Treaty to be approved, but Asher went contrary to standards. He had already drafted a contract and this action shocked them as it meant that there was little space to negotiate.

"No need to worry. I assure you all that the terms of the contract would be satisfying to you all. Also, as I said, it's simply an official draft. Depending on how serious and interested you are in this deal, we could grant you a little more privileges." Asher smiled.

This was a business strategy he learned in his past life.

While it was true that Yi Feng was the Celestial Divine Emperor of the 33 heavenly realms, he wasn't born into that post. He had worked from the bottom, as an orphan with no one to aid him, to climb to that spot. He had dabbled in many professions during his path to glory and business was one of them. Although he didn't spend much time on it, he was still able to learn a lot about the art.

What Asher was displaying was one such technique. By creating a baseline for the delegates, he would inspire within them a desire to achieve more. As long as he made it obvious that agreeing to a certain condition would enable them to profit more, which he did, it would be left to them to decide the degree of profit they wanted to realize.

Put in an analogy, it was like a merchant trying to market a certain product, product x. Rather than selling it at the average price of 10 coins, which was the actual selling price, they would create lesser versions of the product and sell it at a lower price of 7 coins. This was to prevent any possible haggling of the original product by potential buyers. By giving them the option of a much cheaper product, albeit, with a weaker effect, one can retain the value of the actual product and prevent haggling[1].

Asher had implemented the same strategy here.

With a slight wave of his hand, Asher ordered Raven to share a few copies of the official draft.

"From the document before you, you can see the willingness of my Arnhaunt family to cooperate with you all. Signing the document would allow you to join our newly made White Maple chamber of commerce and in exchange, you would have access to a few channels of my family as well as some of our products. At the same time, you would also be granted the right of distribution and sale to the True Calming potion but would have to pay for the delivery of the stock to your stores. In exchange, 15% of profits after expenses have been deducted would be yours to take." Asher smiled.

While the 15% of profit sounded small, one should recall that the True Calming potion was the very first of its kind and the only one in existence. This meant that as long as one was a Human stage mage with dreams of progressing to the Guardian rank they would all rush to purchase a vial. Also, the 15% was on profits, and not revenues. This meant that even after the cost of production and delivery was deducted from the sale of the potions, they would take 15% out of the profits. In summary, these families were not losing out but simply making easy money. They wouldn't pay for delivery despite Asher's previous claims and would only be reaping profits.

"I can't believe it." The delegates were all shocked.

Just by signing a contract, they would be reaping 15% of the profits of the True Calming potion in their region at almost zero cost.

"However, to prevent any background dealings or scamming, anyone who decides on this contract alone would have their store's finances monitored by a special team from my family."

Asher announced.

However, no one cared about that. Although it sounded like some strict condition, it was understandable to these delegates, and they wanted nothing more than to sign right away. Even the proxy from the Saunters family was stunned despite already having heard about this from the family head.

"But before we go on, I would like to address the concern of the elders who felt I wasn't fit to oversee this meeting. If you still feel the same way, the door is open for you to take your leave." Asher smiled as he pointed his hand towards the door and a guard standing there suddenly opened it wide.

At that moment, everyone felt awkward and all kept quiet. Even Old Bronze thickened his skin and remained seated.

Were you freaking kidding them? With such alluring conditions for a partnership, why would anyone leave at this moment?

"Haha. You must be kidding, young master."

"Please take no offence, young lord."

The crowd began to apologize.

Every one of them was a professional in the business world. They knew when to take a step forward or to take one backward. As a result, they all had thick skins even though they didn't look like it. This was very obvious from the way they changed how they addressed Asher. It was for this reason as well as their proficiency in negotiations that got them appointed as the delegates of their various factions and families.

"Young master,"

A voice suddenly spoke up.

"Might I ask what the 'expenses' in the contract details entail?"

Asher glanced towards the speaker and noticed it was the man in the white Chinese gown that previously had a clash with Old Bronze. Although he wasn't there when it happened, he was notified of all the occurrences in the room by one of his guards.

"Pardon me, but if I recall, you should be Sir Su?" Asher asked.

"Yes." Sir Su raised an eyebrow at the question but still answered.

The culture of the North province was different from the other parts of the kingdom as it was rumoured that their ancestors were nomads who arrived from the east, past the Caspian Sea[2] and settled in the lands of the North province. As a result, not only did they look different from the regular Dawn citizens, but their clothing and names were also different.

"Regarding the definition of expenses, it would need a lot of elaboration, but I will summarize as much as possible."

Asher replied before raising two fingers.

"The expense would be split into two forms; producer expenses and vendor or wholesaler expenses. The producer expenses consist of the cost of the potion's ingredients as well as its production cost. The vendor expenses refer to the expenses made by the retailers, in other words, whoever signs the agreement. It solely consists of the delivery cost for the drugs."

"I understand." Sir Su nodded.

Asher's explanation meant that they were pretty much renting their shops' services for free, or rather, in exchange for that 15% of the profit. While this meant that they weren't making money at zero expenses, since the shops were theirs to begin with and selling the True Calming potion in them simply meant creating a counter for the potions in the stores, they were virtually profiting at zero cost. Since he understood this, Sir Su had nothing else to say.

While Asher's explanations had managed to affect the crowd's enthusiasm a bit, it did nothing to dampen it.

"Can you give us the details of joining the Arnhaunt's White Maple chamber of commerce?" The delegate from the House of Lorls, the number one merchant family as well as the richest family in the kingdom asked.

As the delegate of a true merchant family, the number one at that, the middle-aged man representing the Lorls was a professional at business. If he claimed to be number two amongst those gathered, it would be hard for anyone here to claim first place.

"Of course." Asher smiled.

"Joining the White Maple chamber of commerce is nothing as stringent as you have in mind. You won't be subjected to forced high fees for the upkeep of the channels as everything would be in the form of a voluntary donation. You would also get access to some of the channels of the Arnhaunts including our border routes as well as all some of our products; present and future, all at a discounted rate. In exchange, you would offer up a part of your channels for all to profit from, similarly at a discount. Think of it as a cooperation between everyone who signs the agreement. If you are wondering how you would profit more from this then I have nothing else to say." Asher smirked.

(Following requests, I've decided to make chapters bigger than usual.)