The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

   Since the Revolution of 1911, governments in both the north and the south have demanded that the Lunar New Year be cancelled and the New Year's Day of the Western calendar be changed.

   But the customs and traditions formed over thousands of years, which decree can be abolished?

  On the first day of the Chinese New Year, according to government decrees, the Ta Kung Pao newspaper office still goes to work as usual. But every employee of the newspaper office received a red envelope from the boss, and melon seeds and candies were also placed on everyone's desk.

   In the president's office, there was thunderous laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Hu Zhengzhi laughed loudly, nibbling on the melon seeds and said, "Mingcheng, this past year has been a bumper harvest. Not only did the daily sales of Ta Kung Pao in the north exceed 60,000, and the daily sales of the supplements of Da Gong exceeded 20,000, We also successfully opened a branch in Shanghai.”

   Zhou Hexuan asked, "What if the sales of newspapers in Shanghai?"

"The competition in Shanghai's poster industry is too fierce, and there are two giants, Shenbao and News. Today, our Ta Kung Pao barely sells 5,000 copies a day in the south," Hu Zhengzhi said without worry, "but this is just a In the beginning, as long as we always follow the policy of running a newspaper, sales will catch up one day."

   Zhou Hexuan suggested: "Let's not serialize "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" in the newspaper. This novel is rarely read in the south, and it should be able to increase the sales of the newspaper."

   "How can that be done?" Hu Zhengzhi directly rejected this suggestion, he said, "The content of Ta Kung Pao in the north and south must be the same, and there can't be one or two more pages in the south, right?"

   "Why not," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, "There are two more editions of each issue, specially used to publish martial arts novels, the cost will not increase much, but it can quickly open the market."

   "No, no." Hu Zhengzhi waved his hands again and again. He and Zhang Jiluan were both pure newspapermen. They believed that newspapers belonged to society and would not even increase the advertising space, let alone add novels.

   "Then it's up to you," Zhou Hexuan could only smile bitterly, and didn't want to persuade any more, "What are your plans in the north?"

Hu Zhengzhi talked about his lofty ideas: "When Chi Zhang (Zhang Jiluan) opens the scene in Shanghai, I will go to the northeast to open Fengtian branch, followed by Hubei, Guangdong and Sichuan. Within ten years, I will let the "Ta Kung Pao" branch office Open all over the country!"

   "Hahahaha, that's a good idea," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, "When I was having New Year's Eve dinner last night, an idea suddenly popped into my head."

   "What do you think?" Hu Zhengzhi asked.

   "Start a radio station." Zhou Hexuan said.

  Hu Zhengzhi said: "Is that the kind of radio station that can hear people talking through a radio box?"

   "Yes, that's what it is." Zhou Hexuan smiled.

   At present, there are only two radio stations in Shanghai and Harbin in China. The central radio station run by the Nanjing National Government will only be established in a few months, and Tianjin and Peiping are even more invisible.

   And the three radio stations in Shanghai have now closed two.

   The reason for the bankruptcy is very simple, the expenses are too high, and there is no money to be made.

  Hu Zhengzhi didn't know much about this. He asked: "Does it require very advanced science and technology to run a radio station? And the capital investment is also very high."

   Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Haha, brother Zheng, don't think about how difficult the radio is. It's simpler than telegrams. But it does require some investment, and the daily expenses are also very large. We can't make money."

   "Then don't do it. We are doing newspapers, and running a radio station is a bit of a non-starter." Hu Zhengzhi is not optimistic about the radio business.

   Zhou Hexuan thought about it and said, "Alright, then I'll pay for it myself. But I want to cooperate with Ta Kung Pao. There are some news content in the radio program, and the press release of Ta Kung Pao needs to be used."

   "You are the president, you have the final say, just use it for free." Hu Zhengzhi said.

"That won't work, public is public, private is private, and news royalties must be paid. However, it is difficult for radio stations to start a business, and this news royalties can only be given in a symbolic way," Zhou Hexuan explained in detail, "Actually, this is also an increase of "" The method of Ta Kung Pao's influence, the two newspapers, Shen Shen and Da Evening News, cooperate with Shanghai Cailuo Radio Station and have their own special broadcasting substations (that is, radio channels)."

   "Does Shenbao have its own broadcasting station?" Hu Zhengzhi was quite surprised by this.

   Zhou Hexuan said: "In fact, radio stations are news carriers like newspapers. With the advancement of science, radio stations and radios will definitely become more and more popular."

   "Maybe." Hu Zhengzhi obviously didn't believe this.

   Shanghai’s Kailuo Radio Station is the longest-running radio station in China, and its profit model is too simple.

The    radio station doesn't even have advertisements, and there is no listening fee. They collect market information and compile it into a market code list, which is printed once a month. The audience needs to pay for the code list to get the news.

   What the **** is this gameplay?

   What's even more funny is that in order to increase its influence and expand its user base, Cailuo Radio actually opened a radio channel and provided it to newspapers such as Shenbao to broadcast news for free.

   Zhou Hexuan wanted to be a radio station, so he naturally decided on advertising fees. However, the advertising fee in the early stage is definitely not much, and it is necessary to increase the number of listening users in order to achieve a balance of payments step by step.

  …

Sunday.

   Zhou Hexuan took Meng Xiaodong, who was stranded in Tianjin, to the foreigner's Friendship Club.

   Liao Yaquan also wanted to come, but Zhou Hexuan refused, and asked her to stay at home and copy books. The female spy suddenly became cranky, thinking that Zhou Hexuan must be going to connect with someone.

   "Hey, another whiskey!"

   "Oh, oh, you don't even know how to mix cocktails, so let me be the bartender."

  “…”

  The club is very lively, the bar counter is full, at least half of the new American soldiers. One of their special skills is to mix cocktails. This thing belongs to a new way of playing that was spawned by the Prohibition Order in the United States. The original purpose of its birth was to avoid the search of Prohibition agents.

   Zhou Hexuan didn't come to find American soldiers. Now most of the foreign businessmen in North China are gathered in Tianjin, and many of them can be met in the club every day.

   "Hey, Mr. Neville, long time no see." Zhou Hexuan greeted a foreigner.

The foreigner smiled and said, "Zhou, sit down and have a drink at the bar."

   "No, there are too many guests to wait," Zhou Hexuan asked, "Mr. Neville, do you know who sells radios?"

  The foreigner shook his head and said, "Radio is not well sold in China. Everyone doesn't do this business. You can go to Shanghai and ask."

   The two were talking when a loud laughter suddenly came from behind: "Haha, Mr. Zhou, I didn't expect to meet you here."

   Zhou Hexuan turned around and saw that he was greeted by a non-mainstream American general. He responded with a smile, "Hello, General Butler."

  Smedley Butler is actually Smedley Darlington Butler, but the translation is different. His goodwill behavior in China is not entirely a show. This guy is a pacifist and even publicly stated that he "will not be a thug for Wall Street bosses and capitalists."

   As for American soldiers being kidnapped in Tianjin, Butler did not know.

   This man will be promoted to the youngest major general in the Marine Corps when he returns to the United States next year, and in 1930 there is even hope that he will succeed the commander of the Marine Corps.

  Unfortunately, Butler likes to tell the truth, and often scolds the president, congressmen, and capitalists, which leads to too many enemies on weekdays, and eventually misses the post of commander. Later, his political enemies were immediately thrown into the ground for wounding people with guns, and were interrogated by a military court and under house arrest.

After    left the army, Butler ran to run for Congress again, but failed. Eventually he became a social activist and military writer, anti-fascist, anti-capitalist, busy giving peace speeches all day.

   The Butler Marine Corps Barracks in Okinawa was named after this man.

   "Chou, can you bowl?" Butler asked.

   Zhou Hexuan smiled and said, "I will."

  Butler, regardless of his identity, hooked his shoulders with Zhou Hexuan and said with a smile, "Let's go and play with me."

   Zhou Hexuan introduced: "This is my girlfriend Meng Xiaodong."

  Meng Xiaodong immediately smiled and nodded: "Hello."

   "Oh, oh," Butler said in English with a whimper, "sometimes, I really envy Chinese men."

   Zhou Hexuan laughed in cooperation and asked casually, "General Butler, do you know any businessman who sells radios? It's better to have radio station equipment."

  Butler said: "Of course, the world's first radio station was born in the United States. The United States is the best at radio. Another day I will introduce a friend to you."