Morax is dead, Liyue will fall into my hands.

Conversely, because the price paid by those who do evil is too small and the gains too great, too many people are willing to take the risk.

Li Ye's current power is insufficient to change the status quo, but he can tell those large chambers of commerce that doing charity can also be profitable.

So whatever your purpose, let's all do charity together.

However, Li Ye now faces a problem: should the task of doing charity work be entrusted to Zhong Li or Gan Yu?

Li Ye was somewhat troubled by this; indeed, having too many talented people was a problem.

Chapter 66: Liyue Septim also support this? I think they're just reaping the benefits! (5/5)

After much deliberation, Li Ye still felt that the charity foundation should be handed over to Gan Yu for operation.

There are two reasons:

Firstly, Mr. Zhongli's reputation is somewhat flawed. As the number one hater of the Geo Archon in Liyue Harbor, he is likely to arouse resentment from all walks of life in Liyue Harbor, and the lower-level Liyue people are also prone to developing resistance.

Secondly, Mr. Zhongli spends money extravagantly, and he never carries any money in his own pocket. He is always either on credit or asking others to treat him to meals.

Although Li Ye had great faith in Mr. Zhongli's character and knew he would never misuse public funds, outsiders were unaware of this and might gossip behind his back.

After making his choice, Li Ye put the plan aside, intending to take it with him when he went home today, and then continued to bury himself in his work.

It wasn't until evening that Xingqiu came to visit.

In Li Ye's view, Xing Qiu's visit was both unexpected and reasonable.

When it comes to charity, it's always a matter of first come, first served; if you don't, you miss out.

Just like in a competition, everyone's attention is usually focused on the person who donates the most money the fastest, while few people discuss who donates the second most.

However, there is one exception: the right to speak!

Donating a lot and quickly, but having no say and no way to let others know, is basically the same as not donating at all from a benefit perspective.

The various chambers of commerce are currently unclear about Li Ye's true intentions. Surely he can't just be thinking of doing charity? Please, you're a businessman, are you trying to betray your social class?

Furthermore, the attitude of the Liyue Septs toward so-called charity is also crucial. If the Liyue Septs intervene, this charity may be stillborn or directly changed hands.

Without Xingqiu's connection, the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce, as one of the leading local businesses, might have continued to observe and wait for the Liyue Seven Stars to express their opinion before making a decision.

But as soon as they learned that Xingqiu owned shares in the newspaper, the situation immediately changed.

So we're all family! How can we not support each other's businesses?

I support your charitable work; please help me promote it.

Our relationship is mutually beneficial and can be considered a model of win-win cooperation.

"Congratulations, Mr. Li." Xingqiu congratulated Li Ye as soon as he entered the office.

Li Ye put down his work, invited Xingqiu to sit down, and then asked with a smile, "Young Master Xingqiu, may I ask what brings you this joy?"

Xingqiu said, "Although this matter is not yet settled, I can give Young Master Li a heads-up: the charity foundation has caught the attention of the Liyue Seven Stars."

Li Ye knew that the "Feiyun Chamber of Commerce" and Tianquan Ningguang had always had business cooperation, so it was normal for them to have some information in advance. He couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "I wonder what the Liyue Seven Stars' attitude is? Do they think there's something wrong with what I did?"

Xingqiu waved his hand and said, "Mr. Li has misunderstood. According to the information I have received, at least the Seven Stars of Heavenly Power is very interested in the public welfare and charity foundation plan after seeing it, and has even vaguely revealed its intention to sponsor it."

"Sponsorship from Tianquan Ningguang? If that's true, it would be my honor."

Li Ye said this aloud, but inwardly he couldn't stop sneering.

Sponsorship? Are they just trying to reap the benefits?

We need to discuss this in the chat group later and figure out how to handle it.

Xingqiu had no idea what Li Ye was thinking; he was still happy for Li Ye.

Xingqiu had actually planned to come over that afternoon, but before he could even set off, news came from Yuehaiting that Ningguang had read the newspaper headline today and expressed great appreciation for the public welfare and charity foundation.

They even have plans to hold a fundraising gala, and hope to invite Li Ye, the initiator, to attend.

Upon receiving this news, Xingqiu, who was just about to leave, was arrested and taken back.

After the second shareholders' meeting was over, he rushed to Jiaxuan Teahouse to see Li Ye.

Xingqiu: "Besides that, I have some good news to share with you."

Li Ye chuckled and guessed, "Could it be that the 'Feiyun Chamber of Commerce' also has ideas about doing charity?"

"Mr. Li is indeed a smart man, he hit the nail on the head!" Xingqiu clapped his hands in praise and then said, "Even the 'Northern Bank' has the idea of ​​spending money to do something practical for the people of Liyue, how can our 'Flying Cloud Merchant Guild' fall behind?"

In fact, the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce had been thinking about doing charity since its early days, but it lacked experience in this area and did not know how to do it.

When I saw Mr. Li's concept for a charitable foundation this morning, it was like a sudden enlightenment, a moment of clarity.

Xingqiu's visit was at the request of his elder brother, who invited Mr. Li to visit the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce sometime to discuss charitable matters.

This time, the "Flying Cloud Merchant Guild" is different from the "Northern Bank" with ulterior motives. They want to spend money to buy reputation, but our "Flying Cloud Merchant Guild" sincerely wants to make some contributions for the people of Liyue.

Therefore, the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce prefers to treat charity as a long-term endeavor, rather than relying on donations to attract attention.

Wow, that's brilliant!

After hearing Xingqiu's words, Li Ye wanted to give him a thumbs up.

It's unclear whether Xingqiu said those words himself or if his older brother taught him to say them.

These words, a combination of offense and defense, not only weakened the "Northern Bank's" first-mover advantage but also emphasized to the people of Liyue that our "Flying Cloud Merchant Guild" is genuinely contributing to Liyue and hopes that everyone will not regard us as birds of a feather with the "Northern Bank".

Li Ye remarked with emotion, "I think the people of Liyue would be especially gratified to know that the 'Flying Cloud Merchant Guild' has such an idea."

Xingqiu cupped his hands in greeting and said, "We will have to rely on Mr. Li for this matter. Although our Feiyun Chamber of Commerce has no experience in charity, we are determined to do so!"

Double entendre.

This means that they hope Li Ye will help with publicity, and also express their expectation that Li Ye will assist the "Feiyun Chamber of Commerce" in carrying out charitable work.

Li Ye became increasingly certain that the words sounded far too commercial; someone must have taught Xing Qiu to say something like that. Given Xing Qiu's personality, he probably wouldn't have said something like that.

Since that's the case, why not use Xingqiu's words to send a signal to ourselves?

Li Ye asked, "Young Master Xingqiu, what kind of charity model do you think is best?"

Xingqiu was a shrewd man. He knew that Li Ye's words had a hidden meaning, so he sat up straight and asked, "Please enlighten me, Mr. Li."

Li Ye said with a smile, "In my opinion, the best model for charity is to turn it into a business."

Xingqiu didn't understand. Turning it into a business deal? Charity and business? It didn't seem quite right, did it?

"Please enlighten me, Mr. Li."

Li Ye did not answer directly, but continued to ask, "Young Master Xingqiu, why do you think everyone likes to do business?"

Xingqiu thought for a few seconds: "Perhaps because the business is profitable."

Li Ye nodded: "That's right. So what if doing charity could be profitable?"

Chapter 67: Turning Charity into a Business

Xingqiu was somewhat bewildered, completely unaware of what Li Ye was up to.

In his view, doing business is about making money, while doing charity is about throwing money into it; they are two completely incompatible extremes.

If doing charity can be profitable, is it still charity?

"Mr. Li's words are a bit hard for Xingqiu to understand. If there's profit to be made, is it still charity?"

After hearing this, Li Ye snapped his fingers and laughed, saying, "Why not? Xingqiu, think about why 'Northern Bank' does charity. It's nothing more than seeking a good reputation. Isn't a good reputation a form of profit?"

Let me give you another example. A certain chamber of commerce spent 50 million Mora on charity and then gained an excellent reputation.

People in Liyue flocked to buy the merchant guild's products. In just a few months, the guild not only gained a good reputation but also earned more net profit than the 50 million Mora it donated to charity due to increased sales.

Wouldn't this be considered doing charity work and making money at the same time? Wouldn't it be considered profitable?

Xingqiu listened and felt that the logic seemed to be correct, but something felt off. He thought for a moment and replied, "It's certainly good to have something that makes everyone happy, but if you start doing charity with the idea of ​​making money in mind, wouldn't that turn into doing business?"

Li Ye immediately retorted, "Is there a problem? Sages judge by deeds, not intentions; if we judge by intentions, there are no sages in the world. I'd like to ask Young Master Xing Qiu, what is the purpose of doing charity?"

Xingqiu replied, "To help more impoverished people of Liyue?"

Li Ye pressed further, "So, this chamber of commerce actually spent 50 million Mora on charity. Did it help the poor people of Liyue?"

Although Xingqiu still felt a little awkward, he had to admit, "It did help, but this kind of situation certainly won't happen often, right? It's even less likely to be replicated on a large scale."

Most of the time, the Mora spent on charity is completely disproportionate to the benefits received; otherwise, chambers of commerce would have been doing charity long ago.

In reality, what Xingqiu wants to say is that if it weren't for the great results achieved by the "Wanmin Daily," doing charity would be like pouring Mora into water. It would be good enough if it even made a splash; to think about making money? That's simply wishful thinking!

Li Shuo clapped his hands and nodded, saying, "Young Master Xingqiu has hit the nail on the head. As we can see from the example just now, doing charity and doing business are not in conflict; it's just that we haven't found a win-win way yet."

What if there were a guaranteed way to do charity?

For example, a certain chamber of commerce does business from Liyue Harbor to Tianheng Mountain. This route is rugged and difficult to travel. If it could be paved with gravel, it would greatly improve transportation efficiency.

However, when the Chamber of Commerce did the math, they found that repairing the road would cost 50 million Mora. Although the annual revenue would increase, it would take at least 50 years to earn back those 50 million Mora, which was simply not worth it.

But then someone suddenly told him, "You spent 50 million Mora to build this road, and I'll give you 30 million Mora after it's finished!" And they wouldn't even announce it to anyone.

In short, all the credit for building the road belongs to you, and absolutely no one will take it from you!

It's like you only spent 20 million Mora to build the road, and you only need 20 years to make up for the losses from the road construction.

In addition, the road will be named after this chamber of commerce, so that everyone who walks along the road will know that it was a charitable act by a certain chamber of commerce that made things convenient for everyone.

"Young Master Xingqiu, do you think this way of doing charity can be considered profitable in some way?"

Xingqiu was stunned for a long time after hearing this. This... could be considered a profitable form of charity? At least for many chambers of commerce, it was not unacceptable.

The key point is that the situation proposed by Li Ye is clearly more widely applicable.

Even in Xingqiu's memory, the "Feiyun Chamber of Commerce" seemed to have encountered this situation before.

At that time, the "Feiyun Chamber of Commerce" thought about discussing with other chambers of commerce to see if they could pool their money to repair the road.

After all, once the road is repaired, it can be used by anyone, and the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce wouldn't dare to set up roadblocks and charge fees. It would be too unfair to make the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce pay for it alone.

Ultimately, because no agreement was reached, the matter was indefinitely shelved.

However, there were no newspapers at that time, so even if the road was repaired, not many people would know about it, making it difficult to achieve the desired publicity effect.

Another one is...

Xingqiu asked with concern, "Mr. Li, who will deliver these thirty million Mora?"

This is the key point!