390: Chapter 390: I'm not afraid of having internet, I'm afraid of not having internet

“President, something’s happened!” At that moment, a staff member came in to report.

“Excuse me, I need to step away for a moment.” Zhang Yuankui also wanted to pause the meeting, so he said.

“No problem, please attend to your business first.” The team leader made a gesture for him to go.

Zhang Yuankui nodded, stood up, and left the conference room.

“What’s going on?” Walking out of the conference room, Zhang Yuankui asked.

“President, several Settlements have called, hoping we can suspend communication services to them,” the staff member reported.

“Did they say why?” Zhang Yuankui was confused.

“No,” the staff member shook his head.

“Alright, I understand. You go back to your work; I’ll handle it shortly,” Zhang Yuankui said.

“Yes!” The staff member saluted and turned to leave.

He opened his Digital Eye, preparing to contact Oriental Chen, just as Oriental Chen also sent him a message.

Oriental Chen told him to go to his office.

Inside the underground main base.

Niu Xingwang was also there.

“Commander, something’s happened. The Settlements, for some unknown reason, want us to stop providing communication services,” Zhang Yuankui said as soon as he entered the door.

“Brother Zhang, don’t rush. I called you here precisely to discuss this matter,” Oriental Chen gestured for him not to be anxious.

“The Chamber of Commerce also just received calls from the Settlements; they hope we can temporarily suspend the sale of mobile phones,” Oriental Chen also explained Niu Xingwang’s situation.

“Ah? Why is that?” Zhang Yuankui didn’t understand.

“I’ve thought about it carefully; their request is quite reasonable,” Oriental Chen said.

“How so?” Zhang Yuankui asked.

“To put it bluntly, this will affect their ability to act like local emperors,” Oriental Chen stated his guess.

“This…” Zhang Yuankui was speechless.

“Mr. Dongfang is right. The high-speed exchange of information will lead to transparency in the management of the Settlements. In the current situation, how many Settlements are willing to willingly accept the oversight of the Citizens?” Niu Xingwang said.

“That’s true,” Zhang Yuankui nodded.

“There’s also another point. Information transparency has preconditions, and this condition is peace. What the Citizens need is fairness and justice, or at least the appearance of fairness and justice. But in non-peaceful times, this is precisely what is most lacking. Where does peace come from? Naturally, from conflict. But the process of conflict is often not glorious. If this content is made public to the Citizens, it will stir up dissatisfaction among them, leading to increased management costs,” Oriental Chen explained.

“Too complicated, I don’t understand,” Zhang Yuankui expressed that he couldn’t grasp it.

“It’s okay if you don’t understand; you just need to know that this matter must follow the trend,” Oriental Chen said.

“Follow the trend? Do you mean we have to listen to them and shut down the signal towers?” Zhang Yuankui was shocked.

“How could that be! Brother Zhang, you misunderstood. My meaning is to handle it by going with the flow of the situation,” Oriental Chen laughed.

“How do we handle it?” Zhang Yuankui still didn’t get it.

“The Settlements want us to suspend the sale of mobile phones and communication services, nothing more than concerns about managing the Citizens. As long as we give them these two permissions, it will be fine,” Oriental Chen said.

“I think I roughly understand. You mean, just like the old communication companies, they will be responsible for selling phones and issuing phone cards?” Zhang Yuankui asked.

“Exactly. What we want is the communication network; what they want is safety and stability. Doing this can be a win-win,” Oriental Chen nodded.

If the communication business is handed over to the Settlements, then they will have the authority to control who can use it and who cannot. And if someone posts prohibited messages, they can also deal with them promptly. In this way, the Settlements will certainly have no more objections.

Zhang Yuankui nodded, indicating he understood.

“Then how do we respond to the investigation team from the Council?” Zhang Yuankui asked.

“This is actually a good thing. Doesn’t the Council want to nationalize it? That’s definitely impossible. They don’t have equipment, they don’t have electricity; what’s the use of taking it back? In fact, their goal is the same as the Settlements: they just hope everything is controllable. You can talk to them, you can open up permissions and let them supervise. This is much less effort than them operating it themselves, after all, they don’t need to maintain equipment, which can save a lot of costs. Why not?” Oriental Chen explained.

“There’s also another point. As the saying goes, ‘The stones of other hills may serve to polish the jade of this one.’ With the Council presiding over us, we essentially get the backing of the state. Think about it, in this situation, would the various Settlements still dare to go too far?” Oriental Chen smiled mysteriously.

“That’s true!” Zhang Yuankui pondered for a moment; it made sense.

This was equivalent to transforming the conflict between the Chamber of Commerce, the Guild, and the Settlements into a regulatory issue between the Council and the Settlements, leaving no one with anything to say.

“Giving them the permissions, isn’t that a bit unsafe?” Zhang Yuankui was a little worried.

“No need to worry. For us, the network is absolutely secure,” Oriental Chen was very confident.

Of course it’s safe; in the network he set up, Xiao Lin was like a god. No one, and no one could possibly, threaten her.

She wasn’t afraid of having a network; she was only afraid of not having one.