I fiddled with the tea leaves on the surface of the water with the lid of the bowl and asked: "Xinyuan, after finishing the sequel to "The Cause of Laughter", have you created any new works?"
"I'm writing a novel called "The Return of Yan"," Zhang Henshui said.
Cheng Shewo smiled and said: "This is a good name, and it sounds like the kind of love novel."
Zhang Henshui shook his head and said: "Although it is about love, I want to make it a work that reflects reality."
When Zhou Hexuan heard that Zhang Henshui was writing "The Return of the Swallows", he immediately remembered the opening poem in that novel, "Red-eyed vicious dogs are like jackals and tigers, dragging people all over the ground with their legs in their mouths."
There are only three people left.”
Zhang Henshui was not the kind of literati who made money by writing recreational novels. He had his own pursuits, and later devoted himself to writing anti-Japanese war novels and satirical novels. Unfortunately, his later works on realistic themes were not famous, but they were about romance.
Novels are more popular.
"It reflects reality well, but is it about the Northeast's resistance to Japan?" I asked Chengshe.
In fact, Zhang Henshui was originally a reporter who wrote news articles. I felt that his short stories were very good, so I encouraged Zhang Henshui to write a full-length novel. Then "Chunming Foreign History" was released, and it became uncontrollable from then on.
Without Cheng She's encouragement, there would be no "Chunming Foreign History", let alone "The Golden Fen Family" and "The Cause of Crying and Laughing".
"It's not about the Northeast's resistance to Japan, but a story describing the Northwest," Zhang Henshui said leisurely. "I went to the Northwest last year. Gansu and Shaanxi provinces were like hell on earth. The warlords there extorted money and arrested Ding Laf, making it difficult for the people to live.
There was no difference between Shandong and Hebei years ago."
Chengshe asked in surprise: "Is the situation in the northwest so bad?"
Zhou Hexuan thought to himself: If the northwest had not suffered so much, how could the Red Army have stood firm?
"Do you know what crop has the largest planting area in Gansu?" Zhang Henshui asked.
"Wheat?" Cheng Shewo guessed.
Zhang Henshui shook his head: "Not really."
Zhou Hexuan sighed and said: "Poppy."
"Yes, it's poppy," Zhang Henshui said with a sad look on his face. "The most fertile land in Gansu Province is all used to grow poppy. Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, Dunhuang... these areas were among the most developed agricultural areas in Gansu during the late Qing Dynasty.
.And when I went there last year, all I saw were poppy seedlings. Farmers in Gansu basically made a living by growing, processing and selling opium."
I was shocked and confused: "How is it possible? Even if the local government fails to ban smoking, it will not cause the whole people to cultivate opium."
"Because the local government is encouraging it," Zhou Hexuan sneered.
Zhang Henshui nodded and said: "The local government is indeed encouraging the cultivation of opium poppy in disguise. The Nanjing central government called for a smoking ban, and the Gansu local government took the opportunity to 'combine the ban with tax' and levy a 'smoking acre fine' from all farmers. For example, in Zhangye, the Gansu Provincial Department of Finance stipulated
Every year, the local area must pay a fine of 200,000 yuan for tobacco acres. Regardless of whether you grow opium or not, you must pay the fine. In order to increase the enthusiasm of local officials, the Provincial Department of Finance even gives the county magistrate a commission, and the county magistrate can deduct 5% of the fine received.
, local officials will naturally collect fines for banning smoking. And farmers have to pay fines on tobacco acres no matter what they grow, so who else would be stupid enough to grow food?"
"That's unreasonable!" Cheng Shewo slammed the table angrily, "In the past, all the farmers were growing opium. If there was no food, wouldn't they all starve to death?"
Zhang Henshui said: "The land has been starved to death, and bandits are rampant. Gansu not only imposes fines on tobacco acres, but also imposes various exorbitant taxes, such as 'firewood donations'. People must pay a fixed amount of 'official firewood' on time. In some places, all the trees have been destroyed, and the people cannot cut them down."
If we don’t have enough firewood, we can only demolish our house and hand over the wood to the government to offset the donation.”
"Zhu Shaoliang deserves to be killed!" Cheng Shewo said through gritted teeth.
Zhu Shaoliang followed Chiang Kai-shek during the Northern Expedition. He is currently the chairman of Gansu Province and director of appeasement, and is in charge of Gansu's military and political power.
Zhou Hexuan shook his head and said: "Zhu Shaoliang deserves to be killed, but his roots are still in the Nanjing government, and Zhang Xueliang must also bear some responsibility. Since the Central Plains War, the warlords in Gansu have been a mess, and were initially controlled by the Northeast Army. But Zhang Xueliang only focused on digesting North China.
Later, Chiang Kai-shek sent Zhu Shaoliang to take over Gansu, but Zhu Shaoliang wanted money and food, and he had to raise a bunch of wolves and tigers under his command.
A local warlord. If he had not relied on opium to collect taxes, he would have been driven out of Gansu long ago."
"How does Mingcheng think Gansu should be governed?" Cheng She asked me.
Zhou Hexuan said: "In fact, governing Gansu is very simple, and it is nothing more than money and food. In the past few years, the rebellion of Gansu warlords was settled by Yang Hucheng, which shows how poor the combat effectiveness of the local warlords is. Whether it is Zhang Xueliang in the past or Zhu Shaoliang now, as long as
If you go to Gansu with enough money and food, those warlords will immediately obey you. Once you deal with the local warlords and seriously develop agriculture, Gansu will be able to manage it well. The current bad situation in Gansu is all because of poverty. The government is poor, the warlords are poor, and the people are poorer.
He was so poor that he could only live on opium."
Cheng Shewo smiled bitterly and said: "The Nanjing government's money has been used to fight the civil war, how can it be used for the construction of Gansu?"
"Hey, let's not mention this kind of thing. Let's talk about running a newspaper." Zhou Hexuan changed the subject.
Chengshe I said to Zhang Henshui: "Xinyuan, I have decided to run a newspaper in Wuhan. Mingcheng thinks that the newspaper should be run in Chongqing. Where do you think is better?"
Zhang Henshui said in surprise: "Didn't you say in the telegram that you want to run the newspaper in Shanghai?"
"Shanghai is too dangerous. The Japanese invaders will inevitably invade within two or three years, and the Chinese army cannot defend it." Zhou Hexuan said, and began to talk about a comprehensive and protracted war of resistance, and concluded that Sichuan would be the rear area of the war of resistance in the future.
Zhang Henshui said: "I don't know much about this aspect. Since Mr. Zhou said that Chongqing is safe, let's run the newspaper in Chongqing."
I said with a helpless smile, "It's a no-brainer for you."
I thought about it carefully and said, "If Xinyuan is willing to follow me to Chongqing, then I will run the newspaper in Chongqing."
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter where I live." Zhang Henshui was very talkative.
"Then let's do it," I said, "Let's go to Chongqing. I only have 20,000 yuan in hand now, which is definitely not enough to run a newspaper. How much are you willing to invest?"
Zhang Henshui said: "I used all the royalties from "The Cause of Laughter" to buy a house, and now I have more than 10,000 yuan."
Zhang Henshui has houses in Peiping and Nanjing, but the house in Peiping is still a big house...
"I can invest 30,000 yuan. If it's not enough, I can invest 50,000 yuan," Zhou Hexuan said to Zhang Henshui, "It's better to sell your house in Peking. It's not safe."
Zhang Henshui nodded and said, "I will take action as soon as possible."
When I was ready, I said, "A Mingcheng investment of 20,000 yuan is enough. The prices in Chongqing are much lower, which is enough for us to apply for the newspaper."
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "No problem, just invest 30,000. I can ask for less shares. After all, you are responsible for the operation."
The three people quickly finalized the cooperation plan. Zhou Hexuan invested 30,000 yuan, accounting for 40% of the shares; Cheng Shewo invested 20,000 yuan, accounting for 35% of the shares, and served as the general manager; Zhang Henshui invested 10,000, accounting for 25% of the shares, and served as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper.
The name of the newspaper is "Libao" and its headquarters is located in Chongqing.