Replay 07: Opening the Temple of Learning

Chapter 374 Countermeasures
Zhao Qiang looked serious. "We want to provide users with a complete experience. Music, video, social networking, and applications are all indispensable."

“But the problem is, this is the situation right now.”

Wei Xing sneered, his tone full of disdain, "These companies have united to block us and prevent us from entering their market. Their purpose is to drag us down."

Lu Shan finally spoke, his voice low and calm: "Everyone understands that this is not a simple market competition, but a barrier to industry monopoly."

When everyone heard his words, their expressions all turned serious.

They knew what Lu Shan meant. These companies were not simply refusing to cooperate, but wanted to use monopoly to protect their own interests and completely block Zemeng's ecosystem.

"Mr. Lu." Li Wen hesitated for a moment and raised his doubts, "If we can't break through this blockade, Zemeng's user growth will slow down further, and may even show negative growth."

"If this continues...how long can we last?"

“Yes, user loss is a very real problem.”

Huang Cheng also echoed, "We can persist, but if there is no influx of new users, existing users will sooner or later leave."

"It will also put pressure on our capital chain."

The conference room was silent, with only Lu Shan's voice echoing.

"Next, we would like to ask the company's CEO Chen Yang to report on the recent meeting of the Xiaguo Computer Industry Association."

Lu Shan's eyes were sharp as he scanned every senior executive present, his voice calm and emotionless.

Chen Yang nodded, adjusted his tone, and began to report: "Everyone, the Xia Country Computer Industry Association organized a closed-door meeting last week."

"It basically brought together the top executives of major domestic hardware and software companies, including giants like Penguin, Baidu, Shengda, and Lianxiang."

“The theme of the conference is ostensibly industry exchange, but in reality…”

Chen Yang paused, a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes, "They are targeting the rise of our Ze Meng."

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the conference room became noticeably tense, and several senior executives exchanged meaningful looks.

"At the meeting, Li Hong and Penguin's senior management publicly stated that Zemeng's independent ecological chain model would disrupt the market balance."

“They’re worried that if we get big, we’ll suck users out of their system.”

Chen Yang smiled coldly, "To put it bluntly, they just don't want us to get a piece of the pie."

Operations Director Li Wen frowned and couldn't help but interrupt, "So, Li Hong and the others have directly stated that they will not cooperate with us anymore?"

"Yes." Chen Yang nodded, with a hint of anger in his expression.

“They even called on other companies to unite, suggesting that all participating companies should boycott us and not cooperate with us in any form.”

“Why should their interests be market balance, and we become the destroyers?”

"They have long since monopolized industry resources."

Wei Xing, the head of the music department, sneered, his tone full of sarcasm.

“Those companies don’t want to see startups emerge, and they don’t want us to create an ecosystem that they can’t control.”

Chen Yang continued, “In the meeting, in addition to the hardware and software companies, the president of the industry association, Li Hong, also stood on their side.”

"Li Hong even mentioned that they have a responsibility to protect the continued development of the industry - the implication is that they want to keep us out."

"Protect the sustainable development of the industry?" Ma Lijuan snorted coldly.

There was a hint of coldness in his eyes, "The so-called protection they offer is nothing more than protecting their monopoly position."

Chen Yang nodded and continued: "Under such circumstances, there is almost no hope for cooperation negotiations between us and them."

“They made it clear that no content resources would be provided to us.”

“They would rather maintain the existing platform and ecosystem than support Zemeng’s independent system.”

"This also explains the various setbacks Vice President Ma encountered in the negotiations," Lu Shan concluded calmly, his eyes falling on Ma Lijuan.

Ma Lijuan nodded, with a hint of helplessness on her face: "Yes, they have formed a tacit understanding in the industry."

“Not only did they refuse to cooperate with us, they even tried to discredit us in public opinion.”

“They claim that we are engaging in unfair competition in an attempt to mislead the public about us.”

Technical Director Zhao Qiang frowned, with a hint of disbelief in his tone: "Aren't these companies afraid of losing the motivation to innovate?"

"Do they really think that by banning us, they can monopolize the market forever?"

Wei Xing sneered: "They don't care about innovation, they care about market share and profits."

"As long as they can keep their user numbers from churning out, nothing else matters."

"How ironic." Li Wen shook his head and said coldly.

"They always claim to advocate openness and win-win cooperation, but when faced with real competition, their closed and exclusive nature is revealed."

"These established companies suppress emerging companies not for the sake of the industry, but for their own profits and monopoly."

"What they call industry balance is actually just a balance of their interests."

"That's right. What they did was completely contrary to the open philosophy they usually promote."

Wei Xing's eyes were grim. "If we want to break their monopoly, we must bypass their blockade and find our own users."

Chen Yang then concluded: "So, under the current circumstances, we can only rely on ourselves."

“These established companies will not give us any help, but will do everything they can to slow us down.”

There was a constant stream of discussion in the conference room, with anger, dissatisfaction and sarcasm intertwined, and everyone seemed to have a lot of complaints.

Just then, Lu Shan knocked lightly on the table, making a crisp sound.

"Quiet down." Lu Shan's low and calm voice instantly made the conference room quiet.

Everyone turned their eyes to him, waiting for his speech.

Lu Shan's eyes were calm but sharp. He swept around and looked at every senior executive present.

“Complaining doesn’t solve anything, everyone.”

His tone was calm, with an unquestionable sense of authority, "What we need most now is countermeasures, not arguments."

He paused, his eyes solemn, “Based on the current situation, the blockade and boycott in the industry will not end here, but will intensify.

Since these established companies have already boycotted us, they are likely to take more drastic measures next.”

Technical Director Zhao Qiang frowned and asked, "Mr. Lu, what do you mean?"

Lu Shan spoke slowly: "If these companies unite and declare that it is illegal to list their applications on the Zemeng operating system, our situation will be very dangerous."

After the words were spoken, the conference room fell silent again.

A few seconds later, Operations Director Li Wen asked uneasily: "Mr. Lu, are you saying... they might take legal action or even put pressure on the regulatory authorities?" "That's right." Lu Shan nodded, his eyes grim, "In their eyes, our system ecosystem is a threat.

They will use every possible means to block us, even legal means, and regard us as non-compliant.”

Financial Director Huang Cheng's expression changed slightly: "This... this is too much!"

"We just want to build our own ecological chain. Why do they say we are illegal?"

“They don’t care what’s legal or illegal.”

Wei Xing, the head of the music department, sneered, "As long as it can protect their interests, they will not hesitate even if it means using shady means."

Ma Lijuan sighed and added: "Our ecological chain is far from mature at present."

"Zemeng OS users rely heavily on content and applications. If these big companies really remove their applications."

“The user experience will be greatly affected, and may even lead to large-scale user churn.”

Technical Director Zhao Qiang was silent for a moment, frowned and said: "We can rely on our own technology to develop alternative applications, but it will take time."

"It will be difficult for us to completely fill the gap they left in a short period of time."

“Yes, especially in social, payment and content platforms.”

Chen Yang also nodded, "Users are highly dependent on these areas, and we simply cannot fill the gap immediately with our own resources."

Lu Shan nodded gently, his expression still calm: "So, we need to prepare for a rainy day."

“Even if these companies launch a more stringent blockade, we must have corresponding countermeasures.”

The mood in the conference room became increasingly heated, and everyone expressed their opinions one after another.

Operations Director Li Wen was the first to speak, his tone excited: "Mr. Lu, I think we can further improve the conditions for cooperation."

“Offer more generous profit-sharing plans to those wavering companies.”

"Even if we lower their entry threshold, as long as we can attract a few leading companies and create a certain demonstration effect, other companies will naturally follow suit."

Financial Director Huang Cheng frowned and shook his head, obviously disagreeing with this proposal: "Boss Li, you are walking into a tiger's mouth!"

"They don't trust us in the first place, and even if we give them more conditions, they still won't cooperate sincerely."

"I'm afraid that the more we invest, the more they will profit from it. In the end, we will still be controlled by others."

"Then we'll do it ourselves!" said Wei Xing, the head of the music department, coldly, with a hint of determination in his tone, "If they don't cooperate with us, we'll build our own ecosystem."

"Content, payment, social platform...we will do everything we can to be truly independent and completely get rid of the suppression of these old companies."

"Mr. Wei, it's easy for you to say that," Technical Director Zhao Qiang sighed, with a somewhat helpless tone, "How can it be so easy to build a complete ecological chain?"

"We have limited manpower and funds. If we were to develop social, payment and content platforms at the same time, the cost and time would be far beyond our ability to bear."

"But we can't always be controlled by them, right?" Chen Yang couldn't help but interrupt.

"If we continue to rely on their resources, one day we will be forced into a corner and won't even have the space to fight back."

In the conference room, the debate gradually became louder, and everyone's voice was filled with a bit of unwillingness and anger.

At this moment, Lu Shan knocked on the table again. The clear and powerful sound made everyone stop and look at him quietly.

Lu Shan's eyes were steady, revealing a hint of unquestionable majesty.

He quietly glanced at every senior executive present and said, "Everyone, calm down."

"I understand everyone's anger, but we must be rational and not be swayed by emotions."

He paused, cleared his throat, and then said, "I have three opinions."

Everyone's eyes were focused on him, waiting for his further instructions.

Lu Shan cleared his throat, his tone calm and firm, his eyes scanning every senior executive at the conference table.

"First," he began slowly, "we need to seize the high ground of public opinion and use the power of the masses to break the blockade imposed on us by these companies."

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but perk up and listened carefully.

"Everyone knows," Lu Shan continued, "the current situation is that many large companies are blocking each other and are unwilling to cooperate with Ze Meng."

This not only dealt a blow to our content ecosystem, but also invisibly labeled us as unsupported.”

"In this case, users' trust in us will be affected."

"But if we can guide the direction of public opinion and use it to fight back against their blockade, we can turn the situation around."

Operations Director Li Wen nodded and said thoughtfully, "Mr. Lu, do you mean that by exposing these companies' unwillingness to cooperate, we can make the public aware of their exclusionary and monopolistic behavior?"

"That's right." Lu Shan smiled slightly, with a firm light flashing in his eyes.

"But we can't accuse them directly. That would make us look guilty and easily cause resentment."

"We need to use a clever way to convey a message to the public that these companies are unwilling to support the development of domestic operating systems for their own benefit."

In the conference room, several senior executives nodded in agreement.

Financial Director Huang Cheng frowned and said, "But how can we make this information spread widely without appearing too deliberate?"

Lu Shan smiled slightly, signaling everyone to stay calm.

He went on to say, “We can achieve this with the help of the Extreme Browser.”

Hearing this, everyone showed a thoughtful expression.

Jiyue Browser has already had a considerable user base on mobile devices since the launch of the Zemeng operating system.

It also released a PC version, which gave Zemeng an important channel for information dissemination.

"Jiyue Browser is not only a bridge for us to communicate with users, but also a tool for us to grasp the direction of public opinion."

Lu Shan said calmly, "Now, we can cleverly display some industry-related information on the homepage, news recommendations, and even in search results of Jiyue Browser."

"What information is displayed?" Chen Yang asked curiously.

“We can publish some articles analyzing the current plight of domestic operating systems, suggesting that these established companies are unwilling to support our development for their own benefit.”

Lu Shan said firmly, "For example, we can publish some articles titled "The Difficult Road of Domestic Operating Systems - Who is Supporting and Who is Obstructing?" to guide users to think about these issues."

Ma Lijuan's eyes lit up, and she couldn't help but nod in agreement: "In this way, we don't need to come forward directly to make the public aware of the root of the problem."

“Let users judge for themselves whether these companies are hindering the development of domestic operating systems.”

Technical Director Zhao Qiang also agrees: "Now many users are very concerned about the progress of localization. If we can guide public opinion."

(End of this chapter)