January 1919 was an absolutely miserable month for the press and publishing industry of the Republic of China, which was once full of flowers.

If we look back in hindsight, the two months of impetuousness and tyranny at the end of 1918 were the last madness of those tabloids.

It was precisely because of the two-month "national carnival" that sounded the death knell for the press and publishing industry of the Republic of China.

What is called a "tabloid", compared with the British "Times", the French "Le Figaro", and the United States "New York Times", as long as there is no national circulation of newspapers, they are tabloids.

If you count it this way, all the newspapers in the Republic of China are tabloids.

At the end of January, a newspaper called the Mainichi Shimbun quietly opened in the French Concession in Tianjin, with a circulation of 100,000 copies on the first day.

100,000 copies?

Everyone who hears the news will be shocked, especially the former media people, because just a month ago, all the newspapers in the capital combined did not sell more than 50,000 copies in a single day.

The reason why the sales are so terrible is actually very simple, the newspaper of the "Mainichi Shimbun" is not bought at all, but given away, and such a free gift will last for a month.

Free ......

How can small newspapers that have to sell newspapers to recoup their costs and make a profit make a profit?

Don't say that the profit point of the newspaper depends on advertising and the like, your newspaper has no sales, and no one will advertise on it.

Not all newspapers survive by selling newspapers, and some newspapers still have additional income, such as some financial assistance from unknown sources, so those newspapers still have the ability to hold on for a while.

Since money is not a problem, this is the content of the layout.

Even if it is the same as a gift, the role of taking it home to read carefully and taking it home and putting it in the toilet as toilet paper is completely different.

At this time, many people were surprised to find that the "Daily News" actually has 16 large reporter stations across the country, employing more than 200 professional reporters. In addition, the "Daily News" also has branches in many overseas countries, and the "Times" in the United Kingdom, "Le Figaro" in France, and the "New York Times" in the United States are cooperative relations.

At the same time, the "Daily News" is not just born, but has been published for a period of time, in Lanfang, in Corsica, in France, and even in the United States, the "Daily News" already has a group of regular readers, and the money earned by the "Daily News" from other places can be used to make up for the deficit of the Republic of China.

This is not something that ordinary people can play, and it is estimated that the financiers behind those tabloids may not have such great energy.

What is the power of capital?

This is called the power of capital!

People don't entangle with you at a low level at all, and directly use money to destroy your hard-earned right to speak.

"Daily News" is roughly divided into three sections, one is international current affairs, one is people's livelihood talks, and the other is business news.

The International Current Affairs section is mostly reprinted, all of which are major news that happened in all corners of the world the day before, from the ongoing Paris Peace Conference to the lace news of the British royal family, and those who care about the international situation can find anything they want here.

Almost every article will be accompanied by an "editor's note", which not only details the source of the reprint, but also gives a brief introduction to the author's situation and the background of the article, so that readers can have a general understanding of the background of the country involved in the article and the author's political leanings.

This is not so much news as a popular science book, which not only allows those politicians who care about current affairs to have a clearer grasp of the international situation, but also allows new readers to adapt quickly and not be confused.

From the ongoing Great War of the North and South to the smuggling of cultural relics by the former Qing royal family still in the Forbidden City, this kind of article only expounds the facts, does not add any analysis, does not have any commentary, and leaves the reader to judge the merits.

There are no columns in the whole article on people's livelihood and miscellaneous talks, and there are no commentators' articles of the so-called "masters of Chinese literature", which are simple news reports without any private goods.

This simply makes many "masters" fearful, without the worship of newspapers and the pursuit of readers, can "masters" still be called "masters"? Can a master who is already a handful of years old still communicate normally with female students who are in the flowering season?

In fact, the "masters" of the Republic of China live very comfortably, they themselves are teaching in major colleges and universities, receiving astronomical salaries, scolding people in the newspaper every day have extra income, and when they are interested, they can also talk about their ideals with female students.

A surprising fact is that during the Republic of China, almost all the "masters" were literary, and there were very few in science and engineering, agriculture and forestry, but it was these guys who were used to sitting and talking and only boasting, and they were all named "masters", which is really speechless.

If you really want to be patriotic, then don't point fingers all day long, if you go up, you may be able to build 2 million kilometers of railways a year, at least do your part, so that students can stay in the classroom and study with peace of mind, and not march on the streets every once in a while, so that in addition to grandstanding and cultivating a group of angry young people to achieve the goal of making a name for themselves, it has no effect on the country.

The last business news, this is a kaleidoscope, from the role of washing machines to the price of rice in Siam, ordinary people can only see which restaurant in the capital is good and cheap, and the sharp-eyed business elite can naturally find business opportunities.

No matter what era, the asymmetry of information can lead to the generation of huge profits, so almost within a week, the "Daily News" received tens of thousands of subscription requests, the vast majority of the readers of this writing are businessmen, their eyes are naturally focused on the business news page, as for the other two also come with a subscription, even if it can not generate benefits can always broaden the horizons.

is just an inaugural issue, and many people in China suddenly discovered that the whole world is no longer at war, and only the Republic of China is still full of smoke; It turns out that although the former Qing Dynasty has fallen, there is still an emperor living in the Forbidden City, and he has been secretly transferring the property that originally belonged to all the people.

As a result, the focus of the public's attention immediately shifted from the Foreign Legion to the warlords at home and the emperor in the Forbidden City.

In fact, few people really care about the Foreign Legion, many ordinary people have never heard of the Foreign Legion before, and many of the students who are most angry in the parade have never seen even anyone in the Foreign Legion before, if it weren't for many people who are interested in fueling the troubles, the people really won't care.

The Chinese are still very realistic, unless it is related to their own interests, few people will complain about others.

So now the problem comes, the domestic war has endangered the national economy and people's livelihood, and the behavior of the former Qing royal family is even more similar to theft, which is always related to their own interests, so the focus of public opinion immediately began to shift.

It doesn't matter if the Foreign Legion will come back or not, they never came back anyway, and the scuffle of domestic warlords and the theft of the former Qing royal family are more worthy of condemnation.

Almost the next day, people gathered in front of the gate of the Purple City to demand that the abdicated emperor get out of the Forbidden City.

Well, it seems that "get out" has a tendency to become a national curse.

In fact, the protests at this time were sporadic, once the impetus was lost, whether it was students or businessmen, there were really few people who wanted to confront the government, and when they were all "patriotic" and stupid, when group behavior became individual behavior, the Chinese people have always "cherished their lives".

At the end of January, the Beiyang government promulgated the "Regulations on the Administration of Journalism", which stipulates the system of newspaper access, the system of news censorship, and the certification of employees' qualifications.

There is no doubt that only the "Daily News" in the Republic of China has complete qualifications, because a guarantee of 100,000 oceans alone has wiped out 99 percent of the newspapers.

If the newspaper violates the "News Management Regulations" in the course of its operation, all of these 100,000 oceans will be confiscated, and the newspaper will not be shut down because of this, but if it wants to reopen, then it is okay to take another 100,000 oceans.

Let's take a look at the provisions of the "News Management Regulations":

It is not allowed to oppose the basic principles set forth in the Constitution;

It is not allowed to disrupt social order or undermine social stability;

It is not allowed to insult or slander others, or infringe upon the lawful rights and interests of others......

The above is only an excerpt, the full text has nine chapters, 73 articles, any violation of any article, the deposit will be immediately confiscated, the newspaper is suspended publication for rectification, and the competent department will deem it appropriate, will re-give the right to publish.

When they saw the "Regulations on the Administration of Journalism," the vast majority of media people felt a little cold, and let us not talk about anything else, let's first understand the content of the "Constitution."

As a result, the "Regulations on the Administration of the Press" immediately caused an uproar, and many "scholars and masters" openly criticized this as a retrogression of freedom and the sorrow of civilization.

The Beiyang government was indeed tolerant of these literati, so the "Regulations on the Administration of the Press" that had already been passed by the National Assembly became a trial implementation, with a trial period of six months, and then a decision on whether to formally implement it after half a year.

Well, it's January, half a year......

For Qin Zhiyuan, what happened in the Republic of China did not need Qin Zhiyuan to arrange it personally, Qin Zhiyuan just gave an order, and it was naturally carried out by Lance and Philip.

Lance and Philip are old friends of Qin Zhiyuan, these two have known Qin Zhiyuan since two years ago, and they are both senior media people, the key is to always be consistent with Qin Zhiyuan.

Now, both Lance and Philip have joined Lanfang.

Lance is the editor-in-chief of the Daily News, and Philippe is the director of the Information Office of the Prime Minister of Lan Fang.

This year, Lance is the editor-in-chief of the Daily News, and Philip is the director of the press office, and they will be transferred next year, with Philip as editor-in-chief and Lance promoted to director......

No, in Lanfang, there is no such thing as lifting.

Qin Zhiyuan is very disgusted with the idea of the official standard, and can be said to hate those strange phenomena such as "can only go up, not down", "be an official for one day, be an official for life" and so on.

Therefore, in Lanfang, even if it is the prime minister, as long as it is opposed by the Congress, Qin Zhiyuan will remove the prime minister and then reappoint a new prime minister elected by the Congress.

Even the Prime Minister is like this, needless to say about the people below.

All civil servants can do what they can, and if they can't, they will leave as soon as possible. If someone is driven away, it will have to wait for the investigation of the internal affairs department led by Gao Hongshi.

As for the salary, it is really not very high, basically about the same as an ordinary worker.

Social privileges are almost non-existent, because Lan Fang is gradually improving the legal system, everything has rules to follow, and it is not so easy to find an acquaintance to open a back door, and it is also necessary to avoid the eyes of the internal affairs department.

Doesn't it seem like there is little benefit?

This is the result that Qin Zhiyuan wants.

The ranks of officials are different from the military, and ******** or anything is simply nonsense, which will only lead to the serious proliferation of the idea of "official standard" among the Chinese people who sharpen their heads and drill into the ranks of bureaucrats.

If you don't want to do it, then please go.

In the Chinese world, there is never a shortage of people who want to be officials.

(To be continued.) )