361: Chapter 361 The Second Batch of Quotas Opens

“Mr. Dongfang, isn't this a bit too fast? These 20 Huatong Chamber of Commerce branches have only been operating for just over a month, and many things haven't gotten on track yet,” Niu Xingwang said with some concern.

“Not fast. Not only is it not fast, but it's too slow. The construction of the Chamber of Commerce branches merely paves the way for the next step of our plan; our main task hasn't even begun. It has already been a full 9 months since the Firefly Project started, and we don't have much time left.”

“There's another point you need to pay attention to: 3 years is the formation time for the molecular light film, but the impact of red oxygen on Blue Star's climate might become very obvious after just one year. Therefore, we cannot plan according to 3 years, at most two years. This means that by the end of December next year at the latest, we must have largely completed the construction of the underground bases.”

“Based on the data we currently have, there are nearly 600 officially recorded Settlements nationwide. Although intelligence indicates that many local Settlements are merging, it's estimated that at least 300 or more will still exist by next year. Therefore, the actual time we can utilize is not much,” Oriental Chen analyzed.

Niu Xingwang nodded, indicating agreement.

“The next few things must be done at full throttle.”

“First: Accelerate the construction progress of the Chamber of Commerce branches. Let's open up 30 more slots for the second batch. Our crystals supply is limited right now; I've calculated, and this is already the limit.”

“Second: Accelerate the construction of the logistics system. The speed of material circulation between existing Chamber of Commerce branches must keep up.”

“Third: Expedite the implementation of Huatong Business School. We need more people.”

“Fourth: We need more crystalss. Try to communicate with the heads of a few Settlements and see if they have any ideas about raising rats. Alternatively, they could specialize in producing feed. This is also a way for them to make money, and I don't think anyone would refuse.”

“Fifth: Never mind, let's discuss this later.”

Oriental Chen originally wanted to say that the fifth matter was to create conditions and find ways to obtain a seat on the council. However, this matter was not urgent, and the conditions were not yet mature, so it was better left unsaid.

“Alright, I understand. I'll issue the announcement now to open up the second batch of slots. Many Settlements are waiting, and once this news is released, it will definitely cause a sensation nationwide,” Niu Xingwang said with great confidence.

“Don't release all the second batch of slots. Select a few key Settlements and reserve them for them,” Oriental Chen added.

“Okay, I understand,” Niu Xingwang said.

As soon as Oriental Chen spoke, he understood that the limited resources must now be used effectively. Many people were observing the first batch of slots, so no threshold was set. But for the second batch, there would be restrictions; the Chamber of Commerce now had the qualification to choose its clients.

…

News that the Huatong Chamber of Commerce planned to invest in another 25 Chamber of Commerce branches quickly spread.

Without exception, all the Settlements were abuzz.

However, what everyone didn't expect was that this time there were requirements for the Settlements applying.

Condition One: The Settlement's population must be over 500,000.

Condition Two: The Settlement must be directly governed by a former Huaguo third-tier city or above.

Condition Three: Settlements where a Chamber of Commerce branch has already been established in their city are not eligible for slots.

These three conditions basically excluded most Settlements.

The first condition was easy to meet; there were countless Settlements nationwide with populations exceeding 500,000.

However, the second condition excluded more than half of the Settlements, because there were only just over 100 cities above third-tier in Huaguo in total, and this included cities where Chamber of Commerce branches had already been established and many large cities in the region south of the Yangtze River.

The good thing was that even if Settlements from the region south of the Yangtze River moved to Jiangbei, they could still apply based on their original city.

The third condition again excluded many Settlements, because large cities generally had multiple Settlements, but Oriental Chen currently did not plan to establish so many branches in the same city.

Combining these three conditions, there were not many Settlements left that could apply.

As soon as the news was released, the heads of many Settlements rushed to the Huatong Chamber of Commerce headquarters at the first opportunity.

They had all made up their minds that this time, they must compete.

At the same time, Niu Xingwang and Oriental Chen had already confirmed the five reserved slots, which were:

Qingtang City in Kunlun Province;

Sunlight City in Lasa Province;

Longnan City and Jiayu City in Gansu Province;

Ulanhad in Inner Mongolia Province.

The selection of these five cities had one commonality: they were all located in sparsely populated areas and could not be considered third-tier cities.

Since they were not third-tier cities, why were they chosen?

That was because these areas happened to be blind spots for signal tower and Chamber of Commerce logistics coverage, and setting up Chamber of Commerce branches in these places was more conducive to long-term planning.

After the slots were confirmed, Niu Xingwang immediately arranged five negotiation teams to simultaneously go to these five places to discuss cooperation matters.