I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 695 Open Source!
So the two rushed to Fang Qingye's suite at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, only to find him leisurely drinking tea.

"Have you eaten yet? How about a cup of tea? This is genuine Niulankeng Da Hong Pao that I brought myself." Fang Qingye poured tea for the two of them.

With something on their minds, how could they possibly drink? But seeing Fang Qingye's leisurely and carefree demeanor, they had no choice but to sit on the sofa and each pick up a glass.

The aroma of tea wafted through the air, and after a few sips, the two men's previously agitated moods calmed down considerably. After a while, Xin Tiejun spoke up: "President Fang, have you seen the news that the CEO of R3 Company is going to give a lecture at Hong Kong Cyberport?"

Fang Qingye nodded: "I saw it."

“He’s planning to build the Corda ecosystem, which hits our weak spot right now.” Xin Tiejun sighed. “That’s exactly what we need right now. Cloud Ledger is like a completed building, but there’s not a single resident yet.”

"We can also give lectures! We can go not only to Hong Kong, but also to Zhongguancun, Lujiazui, and Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong! From a technical point of view, Cloud Ledger is completely comparable to Corda, and even better than them!" The speaker was Lin Tao, who led his team to create Cloud Ledger, and he was full of confidence.

"Lin Tao's method is feasible." Fang Qingye put down his teacup and affirmed Lin Tao's approach. "Actually, we have another method, which is simpler: to directly eliminate the root cause."

"What method?" The two men perked up and looked at Fang Qingye.

“Open source!”

"What open source?!" The two were taken aback.

It's important to know that Corda is closed-source!

All developers who develop applications on the Corda platform need to pay a certain fee, similar to Apple's OS, which is now one of Corda's main sources of revenue.

Another source is the alliance's membership system, where different membership levels pay a certain fee each year and receive different privileges.

Now Fang Qingye is proposing to open source Cloud Ledger!
“Yes, like Google’s Android system, it should be open source! The relevant code should be made public, allowing programmers to develop their own!” Fang Qingye said.

“This…” Xin Tiejun and Lin Tao exchanged glances, both seeing the doubt in each other’s eyes.

Finally, Xin Tiejun said, "President Fang, open source is easy, but how can we guarantee the company's revenue? After all, we have already invested about 8 million yuan in the development of Cloud Ledger, and there will be a lot of costs for upgrades and maintenance later."

"So how does Google make money from Android?" Fang Qingye asked rhetorically.

"First, there's advertising, such as Google Search, YouTube ads, and Google Play ads; second, there's revenue sharing from the app ecosystem, such as Google Play app sales and in-app purchases (IAP); third, there are manufacturer licensing fees: GMS certification, services for enterprises, and data assets."

Xin Tiejun is very familiar with Google's Android monetization model, considering he used to be involved in Android system development.

"Could we do something similar? Advertising isn't practical, but what about other options? For example, managed cloud services, such as Blockchain as a Service, compliance services? Technical consulting, training and certification? Or setting up an enterprise app store to collect transaction fees?"

"There are also data services such as on-chain data analytics tool subscriptions, cross-chain data routing services in cooperation with institutions like SWIFT? We could even open-source some of our offerings and charge for enterprise licenses? There are many ways to make money."

Xin Tiejun and Lin Tao were shocked.

I never expected that this big boss, who doesn't know much about technology, would see so many ways to make money!
"I'm just mentioning what I can think of. You can figure out the specific details later. Of course, we have to take it one step at a time. We might face losses right now, but..."

Fang Qingye's tone turned serious: "But open source must be done!"

"Open source is the trend, and I dare say Corda will do the same in the future! They are ahead of us in research and development, and we must overtake them!"

After hearing Fang Qingye's words, the two looked at each other and then nodded.

"When will it be announced?" Xin Tiejun asked.

"Aren't you attending a reception tonight? What better opportunity could there be to face those financial tycoons and media reporters?" Fang Qingye said with a smile. "Okay, we'll go prepare right away."

"Okay, you guys go ahead and get busy," Fang Qingye said.

After watching the two leave, Fang Qingye smiled slightly and picked up her teacup.

Fang Qingye stayed at the hotel for the afternoon. When it was time for dinner, she decided to go out for a stroll and try some late-night snacks in Hong Kong. So she took Yue Kai downstairs and headed towards Wan Chai Road.

This is a famous night market street in Hong Kong, about a ten-minute walk from Central Plaza.

After the lights come on at dusk, the streets are enveloped in neon lights of "XX Roast Meat" and "XX Ice Room," creating a postmodern cyberpunk feel. There are old men squatting by the roadside eating bowls of shark fin soup and aunties selling curry fish balls from pushcarts—this place is said to be a holy land for Hong Kong-style humanistic photography.

Of course, Fang Qingye came to eat. He and Yue Kai each ordered a honey-glazed char siu rice, a bowl of winter melon and barley pork rib soup, and a plate of blanched vegetables. The two of them ate with great relish.

While Fang Qingye and her companion were busy shopping at the night market stalls, a small reception was being held in the banquet hall of the Shangri-La Hotel not far away. The attendees were mostly financial celebrities who had participated in the summit, as well as some executives from technology companies, such as Xin Tiejun, CEO of Zhiyun Technology, Lin Tao, CTO of Zhiyun Technology, Jing Xiandong, President of Ant Financial, Lai Zhiming, President of Tencent Financial Technology Group, and of course, David Rattle, CEO of R3, who had been making headlines these past two days.

The atmosphere at the meeting became somewhat awkward. David chatted and laughed with the presidents of foreign investment banks, continuing to explain his "global standards." Meanwhile, several heads of Chinese banks approached Xin Tiejun and chatted with them.

"Mr. Xin, you've truly made a name for yourselves by remaining silent until you do." The speaker was Jiang Xianzhou, Chairman of ICBC Asia.

"In the future, the cloud accounting platform will still need the support of all of you CEOs," Xin Tiejun said with a smile.

"Don't worry about that. Our Ant Financial subsidiary, MYbank, has announced its membership in the Cloud Ledger Alliance!" said Jing Xiandong, president of Ant Financial.

Xin Tiejun was both surprised and delighted. This was the second bank, after Jinghai Bank, to officially announce its membership in the Cloud Ledger alliance!

"Thank you, Mr. Jing, and thank you, Mr. Ma," Xin Tiejun quickly said.

“WeBank, Tencent’s subsidiary, has also announced its participation.” Another man chimed in, and everyone recognized him as Lai Zhiming, president of Tencent’s Financial Technology Group.

"President Lai, you're a step behind me now," Jing Xiandong joked.

Lai Zhiming smiled slightly and said nothing.

Jiang Xianzhou chuckled and said, "Your Tencent and Alibaba are indeed quick to act. Whether our Chinese banks should join the alliance still needs to be approved by the headquarters in Yanjing. However, I heard that someone has already reported your cloud accounting system data to the relevant leaders. I think we will have a result soon."

Yellow peaches?!
Xin Tiejun and Lin Tao exchanged a glance, both understanding each other's meaning.

They were introduced by Fang Qingye. Not only were they highly knowledgeable, but their family background was also very mysterious.

Of course, they didn't dare to inquire casually.

When Jiang Xianzhou brought it up, the two just smiled and didn't explain further.

"Gentlemen, R3 President David is planning to hold a lecture at Hong Kong Cyberport tomorrow to discuss the Corda ecosystem with entrepreneurs. Do you have similar plans?" Jiang Xianzhou asked again.

"Yes, but we also have some news to announce." Xin Tiejun glanced at David, who was chatting and laughing not far away, and then said with a smile:

"Our Cloud Ledger platform is ready to be open source!"

(End of this chapter)