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

Chapter 388: Traveling around the world? A science fiction choice!

Happy times are short-lived.

The next morning, Bao Guowei got up after being beaten by Zhang Nianyue.

Bao Guowei, who was kicked out of the room, looked at the door viciously and swore in his heart that after they got married, he would let Zhang Nianyue know how powerful he was.

Having set the goal of writing a science fiction novel, Bao Guowei was not in a hurry to start writing.

Because he had too many targets to choose from, many excellent science fiction works of later generations had not yet appeared in this era.

For example, "Dune", "Foundation", "Neuromancer", "Star Wars", "Star Trek", etc., are basically works produced decades later.

If Bao Guowei had written these science fiction works at this time, it would have been a complete dimensionality reduction attack.

It is foreseeable that if I pick up a book at random, it will cause great changes in the science fiction literature which is still in its infancy.

There were so many works to choose from that Bao Guowei suddenly suffered from decision-making difficulties.

However, compared to these foreign works, Bao Guowei naturally prefers Chinese science fiction works.

When talking about Chinese people, we naturally have to mention "Big Liu" Liu Cixin.

"The Three-Body Problem", "Ball Lightning", "The Wandering Earth", etc. are all excellent science fiction works in later generations.

In particular, Liu Cixin's works have abandoned the space opera form used in many previous Western science fiction works and have a more solid scientific foundation.

It usually uses grand narratives and more ingenious imagination to create a shocking reading experience.

Bao Guowei planned to postpone the question of what to choose because he had more important things to do today.

After several days of sailing, the London company's cruise ship arrived in Hong Kong early this morning.

After the explanation from the cruise ship staff, Bao Guowei and others knew that the cruise ship would stay at the port for a morning.

During this time, passengers can go ashore and move around freely.

Sightseeing along the way is one of the biggest advantages of cruise travel.

Bao Guowei and others naturally would not miss this opportunity. He did not look for Wu Mi, but took Zhang Nianyue and Cao Yanhai ashore together.

Bao Guowei and Zhang Nianyue always "fight" in bed but live in harmony outside of bed.

After getting ready and arriving at the port, Zhang Nianyue could hardly hide her excitement and pulled Bao Guowei to look around.

In fact, Bao Guowei also knew in his heart that without Zhang Nianyue's tacit consent, he would not be able to get so many "benefits".

However, due to the times, women in the Republic of China could not be as open-minded as they were in later generations.

It is natural to use anger to cover up shyness.

However, it is precisely because of this that Bao Guowei is looking forward to the day of marriage even more.

Hong Kong in the 1930s was already very prosperous.

Small high-rise buildings stand around the port, some of which have commercial signs in both Chinese and English, while others look like ordinary residential buildings.

At this time, Hong Kong was still under British rule. The British gained huge benefits from their colonial rule over Hong Kong, but they also brought relatively developed infrastructure and commercial activities to this place.

Even trams and buses had become popular in Hong Kong at that time.

Bao Guowei and two other people got on the tram and followed the flight to the city.

When they first saw the prosperity of Hong Kong, Zhang Nianyue and Cao Yanhai were a little surprised. It was not that the prosperity of Hong Kong at that time was unique in the country.

Instead, they did not expect that after leaving Shanghai, they would be able to find such a prosperous city in the country.

You have to know that at that time in the country, except for a few cities, other places were basically no different from the late Qing Dynasty.

Lying on the tram window, Zhang Nianyue looked at the scenery passing by outside the window curiously. After a while, she pointed to a place and said something strangely.

"Huh? What's that? Why are those people pouring sand into the sea?"

Cao Yanhai and Bao Guowei looked in the direction she pointed, and saw a large offshore operation site. A steady stream of sand and gravel were being transported in from the rear. On top of the tall machinery, shirtless Chinese workers were operating the machines, dumping huge amounts of sand and gravel into the sea.

"Dumping garbage?" Cao Yanhai chuckled. He had never seen such a scene before. "I've seen people dumping garbage into the sea in Shanghai, but do people in Hong Kong usually use so much sand and gravel? Why are they dumping it all into the sea? Aren't they afraid of filling up the sea?"

Bao Guowei burst out laughing and immediately explained to the two people: "It is for land reclamation. This is a land reclamation project, which is very common internationally."

"Land reclamation?"

This word obviously touched upon their blind spots in knowledge, as there was no relevant concept in the country at that time.

The first land reclamation project in Shanghai was not carried out until forty years later.

Bao Guowei briefly explained the process and reasons for the Xiangjiang reclamation project, which was actually very simple.

Hong Kong has a long history of land reclamation projects. As early as 1842, nearly a hundred years ago, sand and gravel were pushed into Victoria Harbour, expanding the urban area of ​​Victoria.

Later, due to the continuous influx of population and the narrow land area of ​​Hong Kong, a series of land reclamation projects were carried out. In later generations, the reclaimed area of ​​Hong Kong accounted for almost one twentieth of its total area.

After listening to Bao Guowei's introduction, Zhang Nianyue and Cao Yanhai suddenly realized.

The former couldn't help but pat Bao Guowei on the back and said with a smile: "You are really good, little Bao, you know everything."

Fortunately, Bao Guowei exercises regularly, otherwise he would have been given a stitch in the side by Zhang Nianyue's punch.

Zhang Nianyue’s personality has always been like that of a big sister in her school days, but occasionally she would show her soft side.

This kind of contrast is exactly what Bao Guowei likes.

Not long after, several people got off the bus in Tsim Sha Tsui. Tsim Sha Tsui at that time was already very prosperous, with a wide variety of shops on the streets, selling specialty goods from all over the country, as well as some high-end stores opened by the British.

However, at that time, the residences of the Chinese and British colonists were clearly separated, and entry into many places was not even allowed.

Bao Guowei and others only bought some items in some shops.

During this period, Bao Guowei specially found a telegraph office.

As early as 1871, telegraph offices had been opened in various parts of the country, but private communications were still a very luxurious service. If you wanted to get a message, you usually had to go to the telegraph office and report a special number to send and receive messages.

Because he was afraid of missing some important news, Bao Guowei had already learned about the relevant situation before leaving the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

After going abroad, you may not be able to receive messages anymore, but in Hong Kong, it is not difficult to find a special telegraph office and communicate with Shanghai.

After a while, Bao Guowei received several pages of relevant information.

Some of them came from Shanghai, and most of them were news from Zhang Taiyan. It seemed that he was still a little worried about his daughter going out.

Bao Guowei gave this part of the content to Zhang Nianyue and looked through the rest, but there was no special news.

There was only one piece of news coming from Tianjin, which was rare.

Bao Guowei looked carefully and found that it was a message from Tianjin sent by Mr. Lin Yutang.

The message was very brief, and telegraph resources were scarce in that era, so naturally the shorter the better.

"The sprout is on the right track, thanks to Shi Liangcai's help."

"Shi Liangcai" Bao Guowei frowned as he read the name.

"Mengya" was a magazine that Bao Guowei and Li Shoumin planned to establish together when they visited Tianjin before.

The whole purpose of the magazine was to focus on the word "new". In fact, it was a preparation for Bao Guowei to have a public opinion platform when he went to Peiping later.

In the past, if Bao Guowei wanted to publish an article, he always had to submit it to major newspapers and magazines.

Even if The Times and I are close friends, after all, the weapon to express my thoughts is not in my hands.

Therefore, it is very necessary to establish a magazine of your own.

Before leaving Tianjin, Bao Guowei visited two newspaper industry tycoons, Zhang Jiluan and Hu Zhengzhi, and then handed over the task of establishing Mengya to Li Shoumin.

At the same time, sufficient funds were also provided.

I think that after Zhang Xueliang entered the pass and occupied North China, the situation has stabilized now, and Li Shoumin should have started the relevant work long ago.

Now, according to the content of the telegram, Li Shoumin should have encountered some difficulties in the past few days and then received help from Shi Liangcai?
Bao Guowei had expected difficulties. The newspaper industry in the Republic of China was booming, with open and covert struggles, and political turmoil. It was not an easy task to establish a newspaper.

But who is this Shi Liangcai?
After thinking about it, Bao Guowei finally understood.

Isn’t this Shi Liangcai the actual controller of Shen Bao, the patriotic newspaper tycoon who successively acquired several well-known newspapers and was later assassinated by Chiang Kai-shek?

This gentleman can be said to be the backbone of the newspaper industry in the Republic of China. When Yuan Datou announced the restoration of the monarchy, he opposed Yuan Datou through newspapers.

Under his management, Shenbao flourished and became one of the best-selling newspapers in the country at that time.

After Japan launched the war, he strengthened his patriotic stance and specially hired the patriot Huang Yanpei to design and publish a series of works by left-wing writers.

Because of this, he was strongly criticized by the National Government under Chiang Kai-shek, but the Shenbao was opened in the concession and could not do anything to him for the time being.

However, once Chiang Kai-shek targeted him in the Shanghai Stock Exchange, it was naturally difficult to escape.

And this gentleman didn't seem to be afraid at all, even when Chiang Kai-shek met with him and deliberately threatened him by saying "I have a million troops."

Shi Liangcai responded by saying: "I have one million readers."

How could the bald man tolerate such provocation and threats?

In the following years, Shi Liangcai was assassinated by the Kuomintang government because he supported the publication of various articles against Chiang Kai-shek.

With the example of Shi Liangcai, the major newspapers under the rule of the National Government naturally became more and more obedient.

“This should be four years from now.”

Bao Guowei frowned and recalled that Shi Liangcai was assassinated at the end of 1934.

It is such a pity that such a patriotic newspaper tycoon was assassinated, especially since he has helped me now.
Regardless of the other party's purpose, Shi Liangcai should have helped himself in the establishment of the "Mengya" newspaper.

For national or personal purposes, Bao Guowei should help the other party in this regard.

Thinking of this, Bao Guowei secretly memorized the name in his heart, hoping to find an opportunity to meet Shi Liangcai later.

The days at sea passed slowly, due to the boredom brought by the long journey.

There were also some surprises during this period.

Bao Guowei and his team followed the voyage of the London cruise ship, passing through Saigon, Singapore, Colombo and other places.

Saigon is the later Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, which was a French colony during this period.

In this city, Bao Guowei and others saw a mix of Baroque and Southeast Asian styles that was completely different from those in China.

You can even see various types of classical Chinese buildings.

Then, they can see different scenery in each port.

This voyage was like a round-the-world trip, and it didn't seem so boring.

At the same time, Bao Guowei naturally did not stop creating.

He originally wanted to think about it for a few more days, but he couldn't stand the urging of Zhang Nianyue, the "number one rich woman" on the list, so he had to start writing quickly.

The work was soon found.

Bao Guowei had already finished reading the American magazine and naturally decided to write something different.

In particular, some future inventions that people of this era have not imagined but have been realized in later generations should be presented in the novel as much as possible.

At the same time, Bao Guowei hopes that this work will not lose the local characteristics of China.

After all, his original intention of creating was not only to promote the development of science fiction literature, but also to promote Chinese literature and values ​​and form a considerable force in the world.

The first thing Bao Guowei thought of was naturally "The Three-Body Problem", a work he loved very much in the past.

Unfortunately, much of the content in "The Three-Body Problem" involves history and background that are simply difficult to realize in the Republic of China era.

If it is deleted, it will lose a lot of flavor.

It is not an easy task for Bao Guowei to adapt the work in a short period of time.

Therefore, Bao Guowei temporarily put aside the idea of ​​writing "The Three-Body Problem" and instead turned his attention to another work.

That is "Rural Teacher"!
"The Rural Teacher", also a work by Liu Cixin, does not have the extremely grand background of "The Three-Body Problem" that concerns the fate of mankind.

But in "Rural Teachers", the science fiction reflected is also extremely advanced!

On the one hand, there is an interstellar war breaking out in the Milky Way between carbon-based civilization and silicon-based civilization.

On the other hand, it is about an ordinary teacher teaching poor students in a remote rural area in the northwest.

The original work has achieved a perfect combination of these two elements that were originally unrelated.

In particular, the protagonist is set as a teacher with aspirations living in a poor rural area.

If the image of the protagonist is simultaneously changed to a village in the present-day Republic of China, it can be said that there is no sense of incongruity.

If this novel can be written well, its unique creativity and profound connotations will be unmatched by any science fiction novel today!

After a brief thought, Bao Guowei decided on the direction of his work.

It is a story about a teacher with a terminal illness who teaches his students scientific theorems and saves the earth before he dies.

The story sounds simple, but it is precisely because of its simple structure that it can be greatly reduced, and later works that appeared in this era are not suitable for the local conditions.

Thinking of this, Bao Guowei no longer hesitated. He glanced at Zhang Nianyue who was sleeping soundly on the bed, and a smile appeared on his face.

Finally, I typed a four-word title on the typewriter.

"Rural Teacher"

A work that changes the world is about to be born!

(End of this chapter)