Scholars in the courtyard.

Chapter 3050 The Small Circle Led by the Nine Departments
As Mr. Huang left the meeting room, the remaining people in the room all examined their pagers.

My uncle suddenly said, "Although this thing can only make one-way communication and is not as good as a satellite phone, it's very convenient to carry!"

"Looking at it this way, it's quite effective!"

Mr. Chen nodded in agreement, “Especially in terms of cost, a satellite phone sells for $10,000 to foreign buyers, and the new model costs $20,000, which is simply unaffordable for domestic consumers.”

"This pager only costs one hundred yuan, which is affordable for the average working-class family. It will have a market in China!"

Yang Xiaotao sat down and poured tea for his uncle Peng and the others, saying, "Our positioning of pagers is to make up for the shortcomings of satellite phones, since those things are too expensive."

"In comparison, pagers can meet personal information needs without costing too much, and they are simple to operate and easy to use, making them especially suitable for people who are not good at complex electronic devices."

At this point, Mr. Peng suddenly laughed and said, "You're saying this to me."

Yang Xiaotao quickly smiled and said, "President Peng, if that's what you mean, then I have to take back what I said."

General Peng smiled, looking at the pager in his hand and already thinking about how to use it in the military.

Yang Xiaotao continued, "Moreover, pagers have higher stability and reliability than satellite phones."

"Its communication is relatively simple and not easily affected by complex electromagnetic interference, which can ensure the accuracy of information. It plays a special role, especially in emergency communication, medical care, and emergency response!"

At this point, both Peng and his uncle's eyes lit up, and then Yang Xiaotao said, "We're going to equip the special forces with pagers and see how it goes."

Mr. Peng nodded, "This can be used as a pilot program. If it's successful, we can continue to promote it."

Yang Xiaotao nodded, "In short, pagers have their unique advantages."

"So we will first test it in China, then open it to Hong Kong, and then roll it out to the world!"

After Yang Xiaotao finished explaining the situation, President Peng and Uncle Zhang and the others nodded at the same time.

They are well aware of the situation in China; a certain level of economic development is required for widespread implementation.

At the very least, we need to have a telephone.

But now, even in Beijing, the telephone penetration rate is less than one-tenth; most people are lucky to have a telephone on their street.

In comparison, the economies of Shanghai and Guangdong are much more developed, and their demand for information is greater.

Pagers can fill the gap left by telephones, giving people more options.

As for Hong Kong, that was Yang Xiaotao's target.

Hong Kong is a bit chaotic now, with many triads and gangs.

But that's it.

In this tiny place, a few streets later, some eccentric guy comes out shouting about being some kind of big shot or war god.

Never seen the world.

When the time comes, there will inevitably be a show of force, letting them know that your father is still your father, and if they dare to break free, I'll beat them up!
Yang Xiaotao's words resonated with many people, as his uncle had spent some time in Guangdong and knew that the economy there was developing rapidly.

Even under planned regulation, it remains very active. He even had an idea: could we leverage the economic momentum there to establish a development zone?

The thought flashed through his mind, but his uncle quickly suppressed it and then looked at Yang Xiaotao, asking, "How many can you take at the same time like this?"

"If we were to use it, many people might use it at the same time. Would it be enough time?"

Upon hearing his uncle's question, Yang Xiaotao immediately understood what his uncle meant and replied, "Yes, that's fine."

"We took this situation into consideration, so we made preparations accordingly..."

Yang Xiaotao thought for a moment, unsure how to explain, then laughed and said, "How about this, let's go to the scene and take a look!"

Yang Xiaotao's suggestion was immediately agreed upon by his uncle and President Peng, and the group then went to the paging station.

In a detached building next to the training ground of the Ninth Division's Security Department, armed guards stood at the door, their eyes scanning the surroundings with vigilant expressions.

When we arrived, the captain said that it was a highly confidential place and no one was allowed to enter or leave without the permission of the Ninth Department leader.

Even the staff inside need to have credentials to enter and exit.

This made the guard feel a great sense of accomplishment.

Entrusting him with such an important task is a sign of trust in him.

Thinking this way, a sense of mission arose spontaneously.

Just then, the guards saw a group of people walking towards them, and after recognizing who they were, they became even more excited.

Without realizing it, my legs are standing straighter!

Yang Xiaotao led everyone to the front of the small building. "Originally, I wanted to separate the paging station, but considering the current situation, it's better to keep it in the Ninth Department. It's easier to manage and protect."

"This used to be the dormitory of the security department, and it was later converted into a paging station."

As they were talking, Yang Xiaotao led everyone to the second floor. As soon as they came up, they saw several guards standing in the corridor. He then pointed to the telephone lines on the wall and said, "These are telephone lines. As long as you dial 1532, you can get connected here."

The group looked at the telephone line, and then Old Chen asked, "What about the satellite phone?"

"Okay."

Yang Xiaotao spoke with certainty, and everyone nodded, then followed Yang Xiaotao as they walked down the corridor.

Arriving outside a room, I could see through the window a row of computers inside, with dozens of people sitting there, looking very busy.

Old Chen glanced at Yang Xiaotao and said, "No wonder you said there aren't many computers left; it turns out they're all being used here."

Old Huang chimed in, “That’s right. We wanted a few computers, but they kept saying they didn’t have any. Turns out, the people in this room have more than our entire Ministry of Machine Building.”

Old Wang crossed his arms and said, "Don't even mention you guys, even the launch center we cooperate with is still using the 9-machine-2 system."

"Xiao Yang, I bet you have at least ten computers in this room!"

Seeing what they said, Yang Xiaotao quickly laughed and said, "This is nothing. Don't worry, we'll definitely bring out even more computers next month."

"I will definitely meet your requirements when the time comes."

"That's what you said."

Old Wang's eyes lit up, and everyone else smiled and looked at Yang Xiaotao.

"Don't worry, as long as you have the money, it's fine."

Yang Xiaotao said in a very serious tone.

The result, naturally, was that he received several eye rolls.

Papapa

As the group entered the room, the staff who were working there immediately stood up and applauded to welcome so many leaders.

Uncle Peng and the others waved, and then Old Chen said, "Everyone, there's no need for this. We just came to check on you. Go about your business."

Yang Xiaotao nodded to everyone after hearing this, and then waved to the chubby boy standing to the side.

As a developer of the pager project, Xiaopang was assigned by Yang Xiaotao to handle technical issues and was also the project leader.

"Minister Yang."

When Xiao Pang saw his father come in with President Peng and Old Chen, he looked a little awkward.

Peng and his group also noticed Xiao Pang and glanced at his uncle, but his uncle only had a smile on his face.

Yang Xiaotao smiled and said, "Why don't you give the leaders a briefing on the situation?"

Little Fatty took a deep breath, then nodded and said, "Okay, okay."

Following Xiao Pang to the nearest computer, the four of them sat down in front of the computer. Sensing someone behind them, and knowing it was someone from their superiors, they all became a little nervous.

The chubby guy explained, "Our paging station is mainly responsible for receiving calls, converting the call content into digital signals, and then using a base station to send the signals to pagers. The pagers process the data and display the required text."

When it came to his profession, Xiao Pang's face radiated confidence, which greatly pleased his uncle. In the past, Xiao Pang preferred to stay home alone, a situation that had caused his parents considerable worry.

Later, after sending Xiao Pang to the Ninth Division, they gradually discovered that Xiao Pang had become more cheerful.

What surprised him even more was that his own son actually had this ability.

Little Fatty didn't see the surprise on his old man's face, and continued, "There is a group in front of each computer, with four people in each group and a group leader who is responsible for managing and guiding the daily operations of the paging group."

"The remaining three are pagers. Every time a call comes in, two of them will answer at the same time, and then they will record the message and reply on the computer at the same time."

"This ensures that information is timely and effective."

Yang Xiaotao interrupted at this moment, saying, "Old Wang, go make a phone call."

Old Wang immediately nodded and ran out. A moment later, the phone rang in the room.

Then the pager sitting in front of the computer answered the phone. Perhaps because of the attention, he was a little nervous when he spoke, but fortunately, Mr. Wang on the phone didn't say much.

After understanding, the paging operator quickly operated on the computer, first entering the paging number to be found, then typing rapidly, and then the text appeared on the document one by one.

After everything was over, Yang Xiaotao picked up the beeping pager and showed it to the others.

The text above is exactly the same as the text typed on the computer.

Old Chen noticed that the pager barely looked at the keyboard while typing and asked curiously, "Do all the people here type this fast?"

Little Fatty nodded, "Yes, we opened a computer training class to teach people how to operate computers, and typing is an important part of it."

"Everyone here doesn't need to look at the keyboard to type, and they can type a hundred words per minute without making any mistakes."

"A hundred in a minute? That's fast."

Old Huang sighed in amazement. He could only poke with two fingers, but the little girl in front of him could poke with seven or eight fingers at the same time. The difference was too great.

Old Chen nodded in agreement, then turned to look at Yang Xiaotao, "I heard you've started using computers for your offices now?"

Yang Xiaotao nodded, "Yes, we've started to get in touch with it now, but it will take time to figure it out."

"Have Secretary Guo send a group of people over later, and you can help train them."

"no problem!"

Yang Xiaotao readily agreed, and Secretary Guo, who was waiting outside, nodded hurriedly. He was also curious about the computer, but unfortunately, Old Chen had one.

After the two finished speaking, Old Zhang stroked his chin and said, "No wonder you insisted on hiring junior high school graduates back then. So that's where they are."

Yang Xiaotao nodded, "There's no way to teach someone who can't even recognize all the characters or know the alphabet and pinyin."

As they were talking, footsteps could be heard outside.

Looking up, he saw Wang Zaijin, the second-in-command of the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building, rushing in. He was about to announce the good news when he saw that General Peng and Elder Chen were both there. He swallowed his words and quickly walked up to them, saying, "General Peng, Commander, Leader."

Wang Zaijin greeted them, but the smile on his face didn't fade.

"Director Wang, what's going on?"

Yang Xiaotao stepped forward, and Wang Zaijin hurriedly said, "Minister Yang, our leader asked me to tell you that the base station is operating normally. We just tested it, and the signal can be received in all four directions: east, west, south, and north of the city. Pagers can also receive messages."

He also said that he would go to the suburbs to conduct experiments to try to detect the distance and ask us to cooperate.

After Wang Zaijin finished speaking, Yang Xiaotao nodded and said, "Okay, we have no problem with that."

Wang Zaijin rubbed his hands together, then looked at Peng and the others and said, "Well, our leader said we can send a message to his pager and he'll know."

Yang Xiaotao was speechless, while Old Wang burst into laughter, "So no one has messaged Old Zhao yet? Wait, I'll go call him right now and have a good talk with him."

After saying this, he ran out, and Wang Zaijin followed him out.

"You have a very close relationship with the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building."

Old Huang chuckled from the side, but before Yang Xiaotao could speak, Old Chen explained with a smile, "What do you think?"

"You really think this is free?"

"What? All that information we just received costs money?"

Old Huang was taken aback, and Yang Xiaotao quickly said, "No, no."

"These ninety-nine pagers are free; you can use them as you please."

"But the pagers that were introduced later had a monthly paging fee of five yuan, which was used specifically to collect fees for information."

Five yuan?

Old Huang took a deep breath, his expression changing.

In those days when twenty yuan could be a month's salary, five yuan was a quarter of a month's wages.

Of course, there are people who can actually afford it; it just depends on whether it's worth buying.

"Of these five yuan, the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building will take one yuan, and our Ninth Ministry will take four yuan."

Yang Xiaotao added, "Of course, this price wouldn't be the same in Hong Kong."

Everyone understood that the cost of living in Hong Kong was high, and five dollars really wouldn't be enough.

Then everyone started doing the math in their heads.

One month, five yuan per device.

There are probably six or seven million people in Beijing. If only one percent of them buy, that's nearly 100,000 units.

The monthly income is 500,000.

The annual income is six million.

If this were in Shanghai, Guangdong, or Hong Kong...
The country is so big, the world is so big…

The more they thought about it, the more alarmed they became.

Then I understood why the people from the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building were so excited.

By simply cooperating with nine departments, one can obtain one-fifth of the profits.

Moreover, it's a continuous source of income.

You couldn't find something like this even with a lantern.

I'm so envious, so genuinely envious.

The group stayed in the computer room for a while longer before leaving.

At noon, Zhao Lao from the Fourth Ministry of Machine Building also came to the Ninth Ministry, and everyone had lunch together in the reception room.

During the meal, Mr. Wang jokingly mentioned to Yang Xiaotao that he had promised to treat him to dinner in the 'shared files' last time, but then changed his mind.

As soon as he said that, Old Chen immediately lectured them, telling them to spend less time on the computer.

Then, out of the blue, Old Huang said, "Don't you play it too?"
Old Chen was speechless, then turned his attention to Yang Xiaotao and asked if there was any way to kick certain people out.

Yang Xiaotao quickly replied, "Yes!"
Then Old Huang hurriedly waved his hand, telling Yang Xiaotao not to say anything, and even picked up his wine glass to apologize to Old Chen.

When Uncle and General Peng saw the group asking what was going on, they learned that Old Chen had joined a group chat with several people from the machine department, where they could chat on the computer. And the conversation between them was quite interesting.

Upon hearing this, the uncle laughed at Boss Peng and said, "Look, these guys are starting to form their own cliques and they're not including us anymore."

Peng put on a stern face and said, "If they don't want to take us, they don't want to. We're not afraid of getting on their pirate ship."

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

(End of this chapter)