Reborn Bao Guowei, I really didn’t want to be a great writer!

Chapter 349: "Buds"? Running a newspaper is not easy!
Tianjin in 1930 was also a gathering place for men of letters and poets.

"Master Hongyi" Li Shutong grew up in Tianjin.

Although Cao Yu was born in Hubei Province, he also grew up in Tianjin.

Zhang Henshui, the first romance writer in the Republic of China, created a large number of works in Tianjin, including such excellent works as "The Story of a Noble Family" and "Tears and Laughter".

There is no need to mention martial arts novels. There is not only Huanzhu Louzhu, but also Dong Zhuoying, Liu Yunruo, Gong Baiyu, Zheng Zhengyin and other northern martial arts novelists.

Coupled with Tianjin’s strong teahouse and storytelling culture, the spread of related cultural media has been further promoted.

In terms of the newspaper industry, Tianjin is now on par with Shanghai, and they are the two newspaper centers in China.

It was only natural for Bao Guowei to open his first newspaper here.

Especially since he will be going to Peking next year, it would be better for him to make plans earlier.

Inside the Ta Kung Pao office in Tianjin, Zhang Jiluan and Hu Zhengzhi met Bao Guowei, who looked exhausted.

After listening to the other party's description, they were also very interested in establishing such a newspaper.

Zhang Jiluan was an old man with a kind face. He was wearing a long gown and spoke to Bao Guowei with a smile.

"Bingwen, I support you in running a newspaper. Our journalism industry needs some fresh blood. We are both busy with our daily affairs, but it is our duty to help Shoumin with some guidance!"

Zhang Jiluan obviously had a good impression of Bao Guowei.

According to rumors outside, I thought Bao Guowei was an arrogant young genius.

I didn't expect that after meeting him today, he turned out to be so polite and treated people just right.

In addition, Bao Guowei is knowledgeable and can talk about everything.

This made the two news tycoons feel quite favorable towards them.

Hu Zhengzhi is now the general manager of Ta Kung Pao.

In the past, he always saw this young man on the news, but today he had a completely different feeling when he saw him.

The other party's reputation as a genius has been around for a long time, but out of professional ethics, he still spoke carefully.

"Bingwen, your newspaper 'Mengya' has a good purpose. It cultivates new youth, stimulates new thoughts, and creates new forces. It's really exciting!"

Hu Zhengzhi first praised it, and then said hesitantly.

“But there are still many issues that need attention.”

Running a newspaper is not an easy task. In the past, he and Zhang Jiluan were commissioned by Wu Dingchang, the general manager of Tianjin Salt Bank, to reopen the Ta Kung Pao, during which they encountered many troubles.

Although the newspaper has set the principle of "non-partisan, non-commercial, non-private and non-blind", in reality it is still subject to constraints from all sides.

Bao Guowei was a southerner who was unfamiliar with the place and wanted to start a newspaper in Tianjin. One can imagine the difficulties he encountered.

Zhang Jiluan nodded and said, "The name 'Mengya' is indeed very good. It can show the demeanor of young people in the new era, and it also means innovation and burst. However, you must think carefully about the difficulties in running the newspaper."

To be honest, if Bao Guowei invited them to be editors-in-chief today, since they already have positions at Ta Kung Pao, they might not necessarily agree.

But Bao Guowei only asked to help Li Shoumin start the newspaper, whether for Zhang Taiyan's face or for his own face.

Neither of them had any reason to refuse.

Bao Guowei obviously didn't care about the two's concerns. He explained with a smile.

"I am already grateful for the promises of the two gentlemen. As for other aspects..."

Bao Guowei hesitated for a moment and decided to hide something from these two.

"I have planned to invest 60,000 yuan to establish the newspaper "Mengya" in Tianjin. The domestic situation is not clear enough now. I will first open up relevant channels and wait for one or two months before officially opening the newspaper."

He cupped his hands.

"The two gentlemen and Brother Shoumin are also old acquaintances. I hope you can take good care of me."

Zhang Jiluan and Hu Zhengzhi looked at each other, as if they wanted to give some reminders, but Bao Guowei looked very confident and did not seem worried at all.

After a while, the two of them naturally didn't want to say much.

Bao Guowei was in a hurry, and after meeting the two gentlemen in the afternoon, it was already dark.

He hurried back and said goodbye to the two of them in a hurry.

When I left, I naturally agreed to all requests to write articles for Ta Kung Pao.

Reciprocity is the right thing to do, and Bao Guowei would not expect the other party to help him for free.

After Bao Guowei left, Zhang Jiluan looked at Bao Guowei's leaving back, sighed and said.

"After all, he is a little young. Bingwen is talented, influential, and not short of money, but he is still too naive. Running a newspaper is far from being that simple. How can a newspaper be run without the help of the political world?"

Hu Zhengzhi said helplessly.

"I've heard about Bingwen's affairs. He has always been smooth sailing, so it's normal for him to act this way. We reminded him just now, but he just wouldn't listen."

The two of them couldn't tell Bao Guowei openly that he had to build good relationships with the warlords and the Kuomintang government in order to publish the newspaper.

Scholars always care about their reputation. I think Bao Guowei is not a stupid person and can sense it.

But where does his confidence come from?

Hu Zhengzhi put his hands behind his back and shook his head, saying, "Forget about that. We have said our piece of cake. Li Shoumin is also a talent. We will help him if we can. If we really fail, it will be a lesson for Bingwen."

"It's the only way." Zhang Jiluan sighed and said, "Well, young people should endure some hardships."

On the way back, Bao Guowei did not go directly back to the Yongli factory, but instead went to Li Shoumin.

As soon as Bao Guowei told Li Shoumin what happened in the afternoon, he immediately spoke excitedly.

"I, Li Shoumin, have no way to repay Brother Bingwen's kindness, but I will do my best to serve you!"

In this era, 60,000 silver dollars was not a small sum of money. Bao Guoweiken handed over such an important project to him, which could be said to be a sign of his full trust in him.

Having read too many martial arts novels, Li Shoumin admired the loyalty and brotherhood in the martial arts world and could not help but be deeply moved.

But after hearing the conversation between Bao Guowei and the two gentlemen, Li Shoumin hesitated and couldn't help but remind them.

"Bingwen, what you two gentlemen said makes sense. It's not that simple to run a newspaper. I, Li Shoumin, have some influence in Tianjin, but I can't control a newspaper. Which well-known newspaper in the market doesn't have one or two backers?"

He said with some worry: "If I rely on myself alone, I will not be able to deal with some unknown frame-ups or harassment from street thugs in the future."

Zhang Jiluan and Hu Zhengzhi had a clear division of labor.

The former is good at writing and interviewing, while the latter is good at management and communication. With the collaboration of these two people, Ta Kung Pao was able to continue to be published.

But now Bao Guowei wants to start a new newspaper, and the difficulty can be imagined. Bao Guowei smiled and shook his head and said: "Now we have money and manuscripts, and we don't have to worry about manuscripts. The manuscripts of you and me can support us for a while. It's nothing more than the relationship in the political circle and some problems. You can rest assured and don't worry."

"How can we not be anxious?" Li Shoumin was a little anxious, and felt that Bao Guowei didn't understand, so he explained. "A newspaper can never continue to operate without a stance."

Li Shoumin had worked in a newspaper before, so he naturally knew the ins and outs of it.

The great influence of Ta Kung Pao in the future was inseparable from the support of Wu Dingchang.

Wu Dingchang was no ordinary figure at the time. He owned a savings association formed by the four major banks of Salt Industry, Jincheng, Zhongnan and Continental Banks. He could be said to be an important tycoon in the north during the Republic of China period.

Later, he even served as the Minister of Industry of the National Government, which shows how deep his background is.

With Wu Dingchang's support, Ta Kung Pao was able to continue to grow bigger and stronger, and eventually even expanded its influence to more than 100,000 copies, with sales as far away as Southeast Asia and even the United States.

Therefore, in reality, the so-called "non-partisan, non-commercial, non-private, and non-blind" of the Ta Kung Pao at that time could not be fully achieved.

Judging from later reports, Ta Kung Pao was more inclined towards the Nationalist government and was equivalent to a semi-official newspaper of the Nationalist government.

Bao Guowei couldn't possibly be unaware of these things. The reason why he chose to play dumb was naturally because he had confidence from other places.

It is now the end of August, and in less than a month, the Fengtian clique will enter the pass.

By then, Xiao Liuzi will be in charge of the entire North China, and building a newspaper in Tianjin will be just a matter of writing a letter to Bao Guowei.

The masters of the Republic of China period were able to achieve this level.

But Bao Guowei couldn't say it directly, so he just said it with a mysterious smile on his face.

"Brother Shoumin, don't worry. Just be prepared. Mr. Fan Xudong from Yongli Factory will also provide some help to the Sprout newspaper. By the end of September, we will open this newspaper."

He smiled and said: "Our newspaper should truly have no stance, embrace all the articles in the world, and let the young people of the new era have their own voice!"

Seeing Bao Guowei so confident, Li Shoumin had nothing to say. He still trusted Bao Guowei very much. Even if he didn't have the confidence, he had to do it for the sake of friendship!
Li Shoumin nodded heavily and said.

"In that case, I will do my best."

Bao Guowei left some money, gave the other party a business plan, and hurried back to the Yongli factory.

All subsequent matters can also be accomplished through correspondence.

Moreover, now that there is the combined alkali production process, the Yongli Factory can be considered as part of his industry.

It is not impossible to seek help from Hou Debang and Fan Xudong.

When we returned to the gate of Yongli Factory, it was already late at night.

Bao Guowei discovered that Hou Debang was leaning against the iron gate, smoking a cigarette and looking at the moon, as if waiting for him.

"Mr. Hou, it's so late, are you still awake?"

From a distance, Bao Guowei greeted.

"Bingwen?!"

After hearing Bao Guowei's voice, Hou Debang immediately put out his cigarette, the fatigue on his face disappeared, and he spoke in high spirits.

"I finally waited for you to come back. I thought you wouldn't come back tonight!"

The look in Hou Debang's eyes when he looked at Bao Guowei was almost popping with stars.

This person is a walking scientific research result!

"Hahahaha, there were some things going on in Tianjin, and I met a lot of people, so I was busy all day. How is Mr. Hou's experiment going?"

Bao Guowei patted the other person's shoulder. He still felt a little guilty for making this big boss wait for so long.

Speaking of this, Hou Debang immediately became delighted.

"The experiment was very successful. The combined production and subtraction method is being produced in the factory. According to what you wrote in the document, Bingwen, we ensured the order of introducing ammonia and carbon dioxide, and first ensured that ammonia formed an alkaline environment. We also conducted a small-scale experiment on synthetic ammonia, although it was not able to be produced perfectly."

Hou Debang talked a lot, but Bao Guowei, a "liberal arts student", couldn't listen at all.

Especially when it comes to deep-level chemical technology, he only knows the results but not the reasons.

So I simply don’t go to the factory and participate in the formal production process.

Experiments are already strenuous enough, and if you take part in complex industrial processes, you are bound to be exposed.

Anyway, after this conversation with Hou Debang, Bao Guowei summed it up.

The combined alkali production process and the production of synthetic ammonia were both very successful.

Hou Debang was very excited and said that Bao Guowei must stay and participate in the follow-up research.

After listening, Bao Guowei still shook his head helplessly.

"Mr. Hou, you should know that Mr. Taiyan's current situation is not optimistic. Besides, I can't help much in Tianjin now. I haven't even finished college chemistry."

Bao Guowei said that he didn't understand chemistry, but Hou Debang didn't believe it at all. However, the other party insisted on leaving, and Hou Debang had no choice but to keep him.

He could only sigh regretfully.

"Okay, Bingwen, remember to keep the telegraph open. We often have some problems here."

The Yongli Factory also has a telegraph machine, and Bao Guowei's home in Shanghai is naturally also equipped with one, so it is not difficult to get in touch.

Bao Guowei nodded and said, "From now on, the research and development of these two technologies will be handed over to you, sir. As for the matter we mentioned about the northern Fujian base, there is no need to rush, but please pay attention to it, sir!"

Now that the war has not yet subsided, we naturally have to wait until the Central Plains War is over before we can carry out large-scale construction.

In fact, Bao Guowei really enjoyed his time in Tianjin.

Although it was very busy in just a few days, it was very fulfilling.

Especially during the two days of research at the Yongli Factory, he forgot the worldly troubles and stayed away from the power struggles between the National Government, the East, the West, and all parties.

If possible, he also wanted to hide in the laboratory, stay out of worldly affairs, and realize all the advanced technologies of future generations in this time and space.

But science has no country, but scientists have national boundaries.

With the rise and fall of nations and the destruction of mountains and rivers, it is also a luxury to have a safe laboratory.

Others might be able to feel at ease with it, but Bao Guowei really can't.

This is also the reason why he does so many things.

When he thought of how many talented people had sacrificed their lives for the country during this period of history, he felt that he could not stop.

(End of this chapter)