Cheng Zhiwen looked at Shen Qing with a complicated expression: "Schmidt believes that you only drew a sketch, while the structure and technology belong to him, so he has the right to take this machine to Europe to sell."

Shen Qing's mind was a bit confused, and she sat back down in a daze.

In Europe during this era, the highly developed textile industry relied primarily on electricity, not technology.

We were still in the era of one process and one machine, which consumed a lot of electricity, manpower, and space.

The emergence of the all-in-one machine can solve these three problems at the same time. Schmidt was naturally overjoyed, believing that Shen Qing's "creativity" would subvert the landscape of the European textile industry.

In fact, if the concept of all-in-one machines can be extended to other fields, it is possible to disrupt not only the textile industry, but also the entire industrial sector.

Shen Qing didn't know much about the industrial field. The reason she could draw a conceptual sketch of a spinning and drawing machine was simply because before she transmigrated, she was the CFO of a luxury clothing company and often went to the workshops of OEM factories to inspect machines.

It was also because of this job that she was able to make rayon and down jackets after she transmigrated...

She still has many abilities that she hasn't been able to use in this era. If she had enough funds, she could have built a luxury goods empire in the late Qing Dynasty!

Right now, many things are predicated on her need to quickly obtain a sum of money. Making money quickly is the most crucial thing. The development of the national textile industry is a matter for later. As long as she lives, she can do things for this country.

Once she's driven to suicide by debt, she'll have nothing left! How can she then build a luxury empire, or serve the country?

Thinking of this, Shen Qing stood up decisively: "We can let him take this idea to Europe, but there are two conditions!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Zhiwen turned around and looked at her: "What are the conditions?"

“He will definitely apply for a patent when he takes it to Europe. My first condition is that any factory or enterprise in China that wants to use this machine will not need to pay patent fees.”

Secondly, once the machine is made, the first one must be given to me, and it needs to be improved and upgraded according to my requirements.

Cheng Zhiwen listened quietly without saying anything, then walked over, patted Shen Qing on the shoulder, and sat down opposite her.

“After Schmidt builds the machine, he'll have it manufactured in Germany's largest machine factory, and then sell it at a high price with a substantial patent fee. He'll earn money for every machine sold, and as long as the machine keeps selling, he'll have a steady stream of wealth coming his way even if he does nothing else. Haven't you ever thought about that—”

As he spoke, his eyes remained fixed on Shen Qing.

Shen Qing met his gaze: "What have you been thinking about?"

“This is a continuous source of wealth, like Schmidt’s assessment.”

He took the sketchbook with the drawings out of his coat pocket and held it up in his hand: "The sketches are now in your hands. If you propose to split the patent fees equally, Schmidt will not refuse you."

Shen Qing chuckled sheepishly: "I didn't think that much about it at the time. I was just hoping that if this machine were really made, all the Chinese people who needed it could buy it at a reasonable price. I really didn't think about asking Schmidt for a share of the profits."

Cheng Zhiwen gently tapped her forehead with the corner of the booklet: "That's why I say you're silly."

She immediately retorted, "If I weren't stupid, would I be fooled by you?"

He was confused: "What does 'deceive' mean?"

Shen Qing was too lazy to explain, waved his hand away and stood up: "So now, I have three conditions! Let's go, let's negotiate with Schmidt!"

She was in a hurry to get the machine, and although she had a sketch in hand, she didn't have time to waste any more time.

According to the plan, she will then have to travel to Europe.

The round trip takes two to three months, and with the time spent finding clients in Europe, it will take at least another month.

Adding it all up, it will take at least four months.

And it was five months before she repaid the debt to Master Zhao!

She only has one month to make ten perfect down jackets!

She had no spare time left, so even with the sketch in hand, she couldn't afford to waste too much time arguing with Schmidtländer.

Thinking of this, she stopped in her tracks, turned to look at Cheng Zhiwen, and suddenly stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, "You must not let Schmidt know that I, Xuan Yue, am going to repay 100,000 taels of silver, and you must not let him know that I have plans to open a factory in Europe."

Cheng Zhiwen understood her considerations and nodded: "Don't worry, I won't tell."

The two reached an agreement and left the room together to knock on Schmidt's door.

Seeing them return, and with Cheng Zhiwen still waving the booklet in her hand, Schmidt beamed with joy and quickly invited them inside.

Cheng Zhiwen conveyed Shen Qing's three conditions to Schmidt in German.

Schmidt smiled and glanced at Shen Qing, then looked back at Cheng Zhiwen and continued to communicate in German.

Shen Qing, not understanding what was going on, could only guess from Cheng Zhiwen's expression whether Schmidt was willing to accept his conditions.

At first, Cheng Zhiwen was able to communicate calmly, but gradually her expression worsened.

Shen Qing guessed that Schmidt would not accept his conditions, so his conversation with Cheng Zhiwen was not pleasant.

We'll give her the first machine and upgrade and improve it according to her suggestions; that shouldn't be a problem.

The conditions that Schmidt would not accept should be two other conditions.

After all, it's a condition that will make him earn a lot less money...

"Shen Qing... Shen Qing..." Cheng Zhiwen called softly.

Shen Qing snapped out of her daze and looked up at him: "Hmm?"

Cheng Zhiwen said in a low voice, "The Chinese factory is exempt from patent fees, and Schmidt will split the patent fees with you. He can only accept one of them. He believes that if he accepts both conditions, it would be equivalent to giving up three-quarters of his patent revenue."

This was unexpected by Shen Qing.

She originally thought that Schmidt probably wouldn't want to give up a single penny, so he wouldn't waive patent fees for the Chinese factory or give her a penny.

She had already prepared for the worst-case scenario of trading the sketch for a machine.

I still feel regretful that I couldn't fight for the rights of more Chinese companies and Chinese people, and I don't want to have any other options.

She looked at Cheng Zhiwen and said firmly, "I will give up splitting the patent fees in exchange for all Chinese factories being able to use this machine free of patent fees!"

Cheng Zhiwen looked into her eyes: "If you choose to split the patent fees equally, you can earn at least ten million taels of silver in the next five years. Are you sure you want to give it up?"

Shen Qing was shocked: "Ten million taels of silver?"

"This is a conservative estimate based on the assumption that only 10,000 machines will be sold in the next five years. The actual number may far exceed this figure, after all, the world is changing rapidly."

Now, Shen Qing was conflicted.

She could earn more than 10 million taels of silver in the next five years, something she never dared to dream of before.

If that's true, then what business does she still run?

Why not just sell the sketch and sit back and collect the money?