What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 616 A Gentle Demise

From God's perspective, the Divine Retribution plan was undoubtedly a huge mistake.

In 98, the strong El Niño phenomenon, which affected the entire world, caused rainfall in the Amazon rainforest to decrease by 30% to 60% compared to the previous year, and the number of forest fires more than doubled, with the total area of ​​natural fires exceeding 7 square kilometers throughout the year.

El Niño only gained attention after it occurred frequently and caused disasters in the years that followed. Before that, meteorologists found it difficult to assume that such a large change in climate would occur in a short period of time.

The "divine retribution" plan itself was relatively successful because its purpose was not to create storms or lightning in the most precise location and at the most precise time, but simply to induce localized torrential rainfall, thereby increasing the flow and causing flooding, which allowed for considerable operational errors.

The plan was executed quite smoothly, but due to drastic changes in the external environment, it deviated far from its goal.

"Flooding is no longer possible."

Jonathan stated firmly and forcefully the information that the Joint Chiefs of Staff was most concerned about.

The losses in Nanmei had long been tacitly overlooked by the Prism Building; the generals were only concerned with whether they could achieve their objective.

Jonathan's conclusion had been put forward for three days. During this time, Cedric used almost all of the weather bureau's manpower and resources, and borrowed a NASA R2 weather aircraft to obtain first-hand data. The conclusion was repeatedly verified before it could be put forward.

"Due to the significant reduction in rainfall, the abundance of water vapor in the air is no longer sufficient to support the condensation of the torrential rain we imagine. Instead, the fires will directly lead to the formation of hurricanes in central South Mei and bring more severe drought to the continent in the second half of the year."

"What about adding more rain bombs? We can increase that by another half order of magnitude."

A general attempted to change the situation by increasing numbers, but all the meteorologists participating in the inquiry unanimously shook their heads.
“Rain-generating bombs only help and induce rainfall, essentially giving a push to an already existing rain, but they cannot change the objective conditions. Even 100,000 tons of rain-generating agents cannot conjure up water out of thin air.”

The decisive verdict on Project Divine Retribution left the Joint Chiefs of Staff digesting the news for a while, but it didn't deal them much of a blow.

This wasn't the first time the Empire had attempted to use weather weapons, and previous attempts had mostly failed. This time, the execution was very successful, but it just happened to coincide with El Niño, so the costs incurred were still within an acceptable range.

The real problem is that the plan to flood Hans failed, which means that valuable resources will have to be diverted to the rainforest operation again...

"In any case, the Weather Operations Department's plan was successful; it's just that Hans was a bit lucky this time... Thank you, Director Cedric. Prism Building hopes you can seriously summarize the experience; we always need to control the weather."

Rams clearly wanted to see the guest out, as the Joint Chiefs of Staff needed to discuss new operational plans after the failure of the Divine Retribution plan. However, this left Jonathan, who had been waiting for an opportunity to continue speaking, somewhat bewildered. He was about to speak when Cedric held him back tightly.

"Chief, I haven't even mentioned the more serious consequences yet!"

Jonathan panicked immediately after being taken out of the Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting:

"We must control the fire now, otherwise once the critical point is crossed, it will really affect the two ocean circulations, which will also pose a serious threat to the Empire!"

And Nanmei… Oh my god, I can’t even imagine what terrible things they’ll go through.”

“I am well aware of these things, but have you considered the consequences of saying them?”

Cedric looked at him expressionlessly:
"If the whole world knew that this was related to the Prism Building, that would be the most terrible damage to the Empire. You and I would definitely be stoned to death by environmental organizations."

And our Pakistani allies must immediately defect; do you want the Empire to be bogged down again?

"I……"

Jonathan finally ran out of strength, he couldn't deny it.

In fact, he had tried his best to minimize the impact during the planning process, but the power of the weather was simply too great.

After a long silence, Jonathan finally mustered his courage:
“We still need to issue warnings... We can say, in the name of the meteorological bureau's detection, that this year's abnormal weather has caused the natural fires to be too intense. Do you know that the scale of this fire is equivalent to three times that of the wildfires in 97? The smoke spread over an area of ​​at least 20 square kilometers. I have calculated that at least tens of thousands of people in this area have been infected with respiratory diseases.”

Moreover, for our own country as well…

"I will think about it."

Cedric interrupted him:

“Joe, this is not your fault. I will do everything I can to save everything without harming the interests of the Empire.”

……

Jakarta

In the luxurious five-star hotel, a waiter smiled and pushed in a food cart to set out dinner, but after he left, Jean Bart immediately whispered:
"Commander, they all seem distracted."

Chaos is imminent.

Tang Wen had been in Java for a day. Although he received very good treatment, he could already feel the unusual atmosphere.

Logically speaking, the waiters at star-rated hotels in tourist cities should be of a very high standard, but after interacting with them, he found that they often whispered to each other and were clearly preoccupied with something else on their minds when they were doing their work.

More importantly, Sergio only showed up at the airport to pick him up, and then said he had to leave temporarily because of important matters, which seemed to be out of his control.

After spending the night at the hotel, the other party still hadn't arrived. Tang Wen had decided to take the initiative to find out what was going on, but just then, several visitors found him.

"Hello, Mr. Tang, my name is Le Ke."

The other party appeared to be dark-skinned and lean, typical of the Southeast Asian region, and was dressed in formal attire. However, Tang Wen was able to keenly sense the presence of the military, and the behavior of the bodyguards who accompanied Le Ke also reflected this.

Compared to the smooth and sophisticated Sergiñolek, he was clearly a rough man, or perhaps he rarely showed respect to others. He offended everyone by pulling up a chair and sitting down, and then spoke very bluntly:
"Mr. Tang, for your safety, please leave Jataka now."

Tang Wen narrowed his eyes slightly:

"Sorry, I don't quite understand."

Lec: "Geigin is suspected of monopolistic practices, forced transactions, and bribery. Sergio has been arrested for this, and if you remain, you may be forced to assist in the investigation."

For your convenience and considering your busy schedule, I suggest you come here after everything has been clarified.

The threat in the words was no longer concealed, and Tang Wen vaguely sensed something, but still pretended not to understand and asked in return:

“You haven’t revealed your identity yet, and I don’t quite understand what these unfounded accusations mean.”

Lec immediately sneered, then rudely crossed his legs: "You can call me General Lec. All you need to know is that everything in Mionas is under my control... Your Manager Wu and hundreds of crew members are living in five-star hotels every day in Biton County, yet we have to pay for it. Isn't that bribery? And they're using the threat that only Gaijin can extract oil as leverage. That's clearly a monopoly!"

After finishing speaking, he seemed to have more to say, so he paused for a moment and then added:
"I know you people, that's how you do business. You even want to tap into Tuna's oil fields?"
Of course, this isn't impossible, but Geykin must disclose its oil extraction technology to obtain a permit. Otherwise, we cannot determine whether you are using environmentally unfriendly technologies that could pollute the soil. Furthermore, Geykin must pay a deposit of $5000 million; otherwise, it won't be possible to get everyone's approval for your extraction activities.

"..."

It turns out that people can actually feel like laughing when they're speechless.

After hearing the first few sentences, Tang Wen automatically skipped over what he said afterward. He only gradually recalled a vague impression of this Lec in his mind. It seemed that the other party had appeared in the dispute in Mionas and tried to resolve it by force, but nothing came of it in the end.

Seeing this scene before him, he realized that the rationalists, represented by Sergio, had lost power.

This is not hard to understand; under a financial shock worse than in history, irrational people often dominate.

For Lecce to intervene in the oil trade in his capacity is a highly inappropriate act, and the fact that this has happened demonstrates that all investment in Wawa is now pointless.
Geigin's attempt to intervene with gentle means has completely failed, or rather, these efforts are far from enough to pull them out of the abyss of the world line.

……

"Tang Wen is gone? How could you let him leave!"

Confined to the villa, Sergio became agitated upon hearing Lecce's account, but was forced to sit down by the latter's bodyguards. He could only speak with deep sorrow and indignation:
"Do you know what kind of company Gaijin is? Do you know who Tang Wen is... As long as the bulk purchase agreement is signed..."

"enough!"

Lec interrupted him:

“I have given him enough respect. He is just a foreigner and a cunning and greedy businessman. If it weren’t for his good relationship with the Empire, I would have arrested him directly. You know, he didn’t even apologize to me when he left—ha, maybe I should have detained him.”

As for you, what can you do besides give in and agree to their demands? You're just a weak old man, only good at compromising and giving in! It's because of people like you that things have become so terrible!

Lec grew increasingly agitated, his emotions a mixture of anger and a wild excitement.

Sergio could only shake his head silently. He knew that his last effort had failed and everything was about to spiral out of control into the abyss.

He then spoke again:

"What about the staff on Miojas Island? Are you also planning to expel them?"

“They can stay, but they must hand over their technology and a deposit… You supported them for a full six months and did absolutely nothing. For that alone, you deserve to die!”

Sergio opened his mouth slightly as if he wanted to say something, but after a long while, he only uttered a few words:
"No matter what, don't hurt them."

"You actually pleaded for them... That's utterly absurd."

Lec left, both amused and annoyed, but Sergio silently thought to himself:
"Child, I'm pleading for you."

Not long after, someone came to visit Sergio again. The visitor underwent a rigorous body search before being allowed to enter.

"President Lin, I..."

Before Serginho could even open his mouth, the Lin family head anxiously interrupted him:

"Didn't you say you would reach a cooperation agreement with Gaijin this time? Why did Tang Wen just stay overnight at the airport and leave? Our Chamber of Commerce is fully supporting you!"

"President Lin, don't you understand my situation?"

All of Sergio's explanations ultimately boil down to one sentence:

"Take your family with you. If you can see me again after the crisis has passed and things have stabilized, I will definitely keep my promise and do my best to make it up to you."

"How can I leave? My family's business, passed down through generations, is all here. If I leave, will it still belong to the Lin family?"

Lin, the head of the Lin family, thought to himself, but he also understood that it would be difficult for Serginho to even protect himself now, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and leave.

……

Shanghai International Airport

"Boss, the Shanghai Computer Institute has already devoted its main resources to the development of MDAs. The technology of handheld computers is much simpler than that of real PCs. With just a little guidance from President Tang, it is entirely possible to catch up with foreign countries!"

Ren Chunqiu wrapped his coat tightly around himself, trying his best to show his determination in front of Zhao Hande.

Standing with the latter were several people in charge of the 863 Program, who also picked up Tang Wen at the airport again for the MDA.

The latter's trip to the United States had an unprecedented impact on the country. He provided MDA with a complete and efficient development plan, even detailing the operational projects in great detail, which was clearly a well-thought-out consideration.

Although the domestic industrial base is weak, the vision and insight of the top talents in research institutes are by no means weak. Through this content, they also saw the epoch-making future scenario and wrote letters to the 863 Group one after another hoping that they would pay attention to it.

Just as the interpretation of the publicly announced MDA development plan was being completed, and the experts involved were still hesitating about whether it could match the domestic infrastructure, even more outrageous news emerged:
Tang Wen has actually become the de facto deputy of the FCC, and the MDA group he leads can directly influence the communications industry across the United States and even the world. This is completely unprecedented.

Even though he is only a consultant on the surface and does not participate in real power, he has the trust of the FCC Director and is directly appointed by the President. At least as long as it is related to the MDA, Tang Wen has absolute say!
You can say the old rice is bad, but you can't say they're bad. The intention of breaking with convention and directly promoting people to this position is self-evident. Doesn't this prove the value of MDA?
Then, Dai Ying took the initiative to come to join, and Fa Ji and Ben Zi quickly clamored to create their own system. Hans' Siemens, Rui's Nokia, and Fenlan's Ericsson were desperately looking for partners, clearly pointing out the direction for the future!

If China misses this opportunity now, will it have to go through countless difficulties to import it?
At this point, even though China does not currently have the conditions to promote mobile internet, in order not to fall behind, the MDA program was still included in the 863 Program catalog and became a key support project, with the government preparing to use its power to forcefully promote it.

There is only one person in charge, and that is the most suitable one.

Ren Chunqiu wanted to seize the opportunity, but Zhao Hande knew that the real trouble lay in how to persuade Tang Wen.

Last year, the latter stated that MDA is only a part of the mobile internet, and the core is to build the network rather than simply creating MDA and thinking that everything will be fine. He believed that China could wait until the infrastructure and the educated population improved before considering it.

Group 863 believes this assessment is entirely correct, but... time waits for no one. This time, no matter what, they must persuade Tang Wen to lead the domestic MDA program!

There are no direct flights from Jakarta to Goose City, so they had to transfer in Shanghai. Soon, they saw the plane land and Tang Wen and the beautiful German secretary walking down the steps hand in hand. However, as soon as they got closer, they noticed that both of them looked terrible.

Tang Wen had to reactivate Plan B—the Wang Hu line and the Hong Kong student line—because Plan A's rescue plan had been in vain, while Jean Bart had already considered how many warships he could assemble without affecting oil production in the Spratly Islands.

(End of this chapter)