Chapter 30

After walking around, the three of them arrived at the second-floor conference room.

Tao Chengzhang went straight to the point and said, "Brother Yin, the machinery has already been negotiated. There happens to be a ready-made set in Shanghai brought in by the Germans. As long as the funds are in place, I will set off tomorrow, and I can have the machines transported back in five or six days."

Yin Qi asked, "How much money?"

Tao Chengzhang said, "Twenty-five thousand silver dollars. My friend says this is currently the most advanced machine; if run at full capacity, it can easily print two hundred thousand newspapers a day."

Yin Qi nodded, took a large stack of silver notes from his bosom, and said, "Here are thirty-five thousand taels in silver notes. Besides purchasing the machinery, keep the rest for the newspaper's operations."

Seeing Yin Qi directly pull out thirty-five thousand taels in silver notes, even though Tao Chengzhang and Lu Xun were mentally prepared, they were still quite shocked.

They finally experienced the sheer wealth and extravagance of the Yin family.

Tao Chengzhang came back to his senses and hurriedly said, "Brother Yin, we don't need this much. Keeping two thousand silver dollars as startup capital is enough. Even if our newspaper can't make money later on, it will still be able to maintain operations."

In this era, newspapers were also very profitable.

First, there was the sale of the newspapers; referring to the Shanghai *Shiwu Bao* (Current Affairs Newspaper) edited by Liang Qichao, each issue sold for 10 wen in copper coins.

Secondly, newspapers could also carry advertisements, which was also a major source of income.

Yin Qi said sternly, "Brother Tao, Brother Zhou, our *People's Daily* has its own mission to fulfill, so I don't need it to make money. On the contrary, I will subsidize it every year.

The only two things you need to do are: first, lower the price of the newspaper as much as possible so that more people can afford it, or even make it free; second, increase the payment for contributions to attract good articles and gather talents from all over the world.

As for the specifics, you can discuss and handle them yourselves."

Tao Chengzhang and Lu Xun nodded solemnly, feeling a faint sense of excitement in their hearts.

With sufficient funds, the *People's Daily* would surely be able to quickly expand its influence and become the number one newspaper in China.

With the funds secured and the machinery confirmed, the next step was to determine the layout.

After discussion among the three, six sections were finalized: Politics, Current Affairs, Enlightenment, Poetry, Fiction, and Common Knowledge.

Politics: Introducing the birth and development of foreign political systems.

Current Affairs: Hot topics from both domestic and international spheres.

Enlightenment: Enlightened culture.

These three sections were the core content of the *People's Daily*, allowing the common people to open their eyes and see the world. Once their horizons were broadened, their thinking would naturally progress, thereby generating hatred for the backward Manchu Qing government.

The latter three sections were intended to attract readers.

Poetry was mainly aimed at scholars and literati.

Fiction was strongly suggested by Yin Qi; writing novels in vernacular Chinese could attract a large number of literate commoners to read the paper, and through storytellers, the influence of the *People's Daily* could also be expanded.

Common Knowledge included scientific knowledge and daily life tips, which were grounded and accessible to the people.

Once the sections were determined, the next step was the division of labor.

Because the *People's Daily* was just starting, for at least the first month, the three of them would definitely have to handle the content themselves. Once the newspaper made a name for itself, they could recruit some editors, and then they could relax.

Yin Qi said, "How about this: I will be responsible for the Fiction and Common Knowledge sections. Because we need to promote vernacular Chinese, I will also be responsible for writing poetry in vernacular Chinese in the early stages. As for the other three sections, that will be up to you."

Tao Chengzhang and Lu Xun both looked at Yin Qi in surprise, but eventually nodded.

During these past few days, they had also inquired clearly about Yin Qi.

It could be said that after knowing Yin Qi's past situation, they completely couldn't believe it.

However, hearing is believing, but seeing is truth; they still believed what they saw with their own eyes and absolutely did not believe that this knowledgeable and eloquent Yin Qi was the legendary wicked young master.

They were more willing to believe that someone had maliciously slandered Yin Qi.

Moreover, they were also clueless about these three sections.

Tao Chengzhang said, "I will be responsible for Politics, and Brother Zhou will be responsible for Enlightenment."

As for Current Affairs, it was very simple: just publish whatever happens.

Or reprint newspapers from Hangzhou.

Lu Xun nodded upon hearing this, indicating no problem.

He was skilled at writing articles.

After the matters were settled, Yin Qi stood up to take his leave.

Tao Chengzhang and Lu Xun saw him out of the newspaper office; they still had to continue discussing the expansion and development of the office.

Yin Qi did not rush home; instead, he took a detour to the east of the city to buy five fountain pens and ten bottles of ink. Writing novels often involved hundreds of thousands or even millions of words, so using a brush pen definitely wouldn't work.

At this time, fountain pen technology had just matured and had not yet entered China on a large scale, so the prices were relatively expensive.

A German-made fountain pen cost ten silver dollars.

Subsequently, Yin Qi bought ten quires of white paper before preparing to go home.

Just as he turned a street corner, a figure bumped into him.

Yin Qi instinctively wanted to throw a punch, thinking someone was trying to ambush him, but fortunately, he reacted in time and saw clearly that it was a young woman who had bumped into him in a panic.

A faint fragrance assailed his nostrils, and his arms were filled with softness.

"Ouch!"

The woman exclaimed; she was also stunned by the collision.

It was a long while before she looked up at Yin Qi, then hurriedly backed away, apologizing incessantly: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Only then did Yin Qi see the other person clearly, and a look of amazement flashed in his eyes.

This was a young and beautiful woman with a pure and sweet appearance and a fresh, indifferent temperament. She exuded a charming allure like a blooming camellia, making one reluctant to look away after a single glance.

Yin Qi smiled gently and asked softly, "It's alright, Miss, are you alright?"

"Ah, I'm fine, I'm fine. Someone is chasing me, I'll be going now."

Saying this, she turned sideways and ran away.

Yin Qi turned to look and saw a foreigner chasing toward here, wearing a Roman robe; he should be a missionary from the church.

It was just that this person was relatively young and not that Father William.

Yin Qi frowned, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

This group of foreign devils was truly too rampant, daring to chase a young woman so unscrupulously in the street.

Thinking of this, he secretly took out a silver dollar.

After the foreigner passed him and chased toward the young woman, he suddenly turned around and flicked the silver dollar.

Ah!

The foreigner suddenly screamed; his left foot limped, and he fell forward.

Because he lunged too violently, he even knocked out his front teeth.

Hearing the foreigner's scream, the young woman couldn't help but turn her head to look back, and she saw the foreigner fallen on the ground, as well as Yin Qi waving at her, knowing that he had taken action.

She smiled gratefully and continued running away.

Yin Qi didn't want to cause trouble either, so he turned and left quickly.

He had just formed a grudge with the church, so it was not appropriate to take action against the church, lest the government arrest people indiscriminately under pressure from the British, and it might even end up with him being listed among them.

In the original spot, only the Englishman who had come to his senses and was raging and cursing remained.

……

Returning home, Yin Hai was still practicing his boxing.

In the study.

Yin Qi sat in front of the desk, thinking about the content of the poetry, fiction, and common knowledge sections.

Common knowledge was easy to write; he had seen many daily life tips in his previous life.

As for scientific knowledge, it was actually simple popular science, such as the phenomenon of light, the principles of sound, and so on.

Poetry was also simple; he had many vernacular poems in his memory.

But how to choose them required careful consideration.

In the end, Yin Qi decided to first publish vernacular poems with beautiful language, or modern poems, to open people's horizons and let them know that even vernacular Chinese could be used to write beautiful poetry.

For example, *Mistake*: My clattering hoofbeats are a beautiful mistake; I am not the one returning, but a passerby.

For example, *Rainy Alley*: Holding an oil-paper umbrella, wandering alone in the long, long, and lonely rainy alley.

Or take Xu Zhimo's: Most of all, that gentle lowering of the head, like a water lily shyly bowing to the cool breeze.

Of course, one couldn't just have this kind of poetry.

The *People's Daily* needed modern poetry that could inspire people's patriotism even more.

Like Wen Yiduo's *Dead Water*: This is a ditch of hopeless dead water; this is certainly not a place of beauty. It is better to leave it to ugliness to cultivate, and see what kind of world it creates.

Like Ai Qing's *I Love This Land*: Why are my eyes often filled with tears? Because I love this land so deeply...

(End of chapter)