The composition of Shanghai's upper class is more complex.

On November 17, 1843, according to the provisions of the Treaty of Nanjing and the Treaty of Commerce, Shanghai was officially opened.

The economic development centered on the concession area has nurtured a number of wealthy Chinese classes.

Merchants and industrialists who ventured to Shanghai from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and other provinces became prominent figures after a lot of hard work.

The retired Qing court officials came to Shanghai with the wealth they had looted in office and lived a prosperous public life.

Business elites who have returned from studying abroad have created wealth myths in the city.

Scholars and literati who pursued the life of Western society contributed to the prosperity of Shanghai's cultural scene.

All these figures make up the local elite of Shanghai society.

They maintained friendly relations with the government and established charitable halls, guild halls, hospitals, schools, public offices, societies, and trade associations in the public sphere beyond the government's power.

These organizations are controlled by local elites and run according to the rules they set.

Charities were prevalent in Shanghai society, and the local gentry were active in these institutions.

A guild hall is an institution founded by immigrants from other provinces to Shanghai in different provinces or regions, and a guild hall represents a place of origin.

In addition to the establishment of organizations based on origin, there are also industrial organizations called guilds.

The Chamber of Commerce is an organization that transforms traditional and modern, and industry associations and public offices are its predecessors.

The Chamber of Commerce is the largest organization in Shanghai, and almost everyone who has a track record in the business field is its member.

It can be seen from this that the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce plays a huge role in Shanghai's social life.

These organizations are the veins of the commercial city of Shanghai, as long as you understand these complex relationships. I learned about the upper class society in Shanghai, and I also knew the rules of operation of the city.

There are a lot of small groups in Shanghai though. For example, Zhejiang business groups and Jiangsu business groups are fiercely competitive with each other.

But in the face of external pressure. They will appear as Shanghainese as a whole, representing the city of Shanghai.

They have a sense of pride and belonging as Shanghainese.

People who travel to Shanghai from other places identify with the people of Shanghai, that is, with Shanghai's prosperous economy, developed civilization and awareness of pioneering atmosphere.

These advantages of Shanghai make Shanghai's local autonomy typical and operable.

The idea of local autonomy was introduced from the West, and local autonomy is generally practiced in Western countries.

The Western idea of local autonomy holds that although the power of the state is above the power of local autonomy in terms of hierarchy, the exercise of state power should also aim at maximizing the rights of individual citizens.

In other words, the main thing is to protect the rights of the people.

Ancient China also had an autonomy system, called the village space, but it was fundamentally different from the Western autonomy system.

Local autonomy and the state in the West are reciprocal relations. Local autonomy in China is a conscious implementation of the will and decision of the imperial court.

Lin Zixuan is more interested in this, because once Shanghai implements local autonomy, then the influential business groups in Shanghai will have more say, and the status of businessmen will be greatly improved.

As a leading enterprise of the Shanghai Textile Association, the Lin family occupies a place in the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce.

He attended several meetings of the Association for the Promotion of Local Autonomy and thought that these people's ideas were good, but it was difficult to put them into practice in China, where warlords were in power.

It can only be said that it is worth trying, and it is difficult to say how much autonomy it can get, and how long it can last.

Lin Zixuan is a member of Shanghainese. I am also willing to do my part for this, which has nothing to do with politics, just for Shanghai to get a better development environment.

This is good for himself and the Lin family.

As a representative of the business and cultural worlds, he is usually passionate about philanthropy. It has a good reputation in Shanghai and has a good relationship with the Guangzhou government, which has won the attention of people from all walks of life in Shanghai.

Or rather. At this time, he had become a signboard in Shanghai.

Although this was not deliberate, it came step by step. He stood at this height.

At the end of March, Lin Zixuan received several letters from Ping Banya. It was all written by a man named Kazuo Sato.

The letters were mailed in Hongkou District, in the Shanghai Public Concession.

Since the beginning of March, every few days, Kazuo Sato has mailed a letter to Vientiane Books, asking them to forward it to Mr. Harushu Murakami, the author of Snow Country.

The first letter said that he had watched "Snow Country" and admired Murakami's Harujutsu very much, so he came to China to pay a visit.

The next few letters are more or less the same, except for expressing admiration, asking to be able to meet, hoping that Mr. Murakami will show him the way to write.

It's like an avid fan who treats his idol, and he came to Shanghai from Japan all the way away, and his spirit is touching.

If there really is a Murakami Harujutsu, maybe you will be moved by his enthusiasm and meet him.

It's a pity that he met Lin Zixuan, during this time Lin Zixuan happened to go to Beiping, and he didn't see these letters, he only communicated with Kawabata Yasuki in Japan.

As for this Kazuo Sato, he expressed doubts.

Since this person admired Murakami Chunshu so much and also came to Shanghai, why did he just write a letter instead of going directly to Vientiane Bookstore to inquire, which is unreasonable.

According to the general situation, fanatical fans must have come to Vientiane Bookstore first to inquire, is this a strange etiquette in Japan?

He asked Hei Banya that this Japanese named Kazuo Sato had indeed never been to Vientiane Bookstore.

This incident is full of strangeness, could it be that he was targeted by Japan's spy agency?

Lin Zixuan smiled self-deprecatingly, this is unlikely, there is no need to make it so complicated for a book, but I can't figure out the origin of this strange guy.

He had the intention to ignore it, but he didn't expect to receive another letter a few days later.

The letter said that Kazuo Sato was about to return to Japan, and finally asked to meet Mr. Murakami, and that he would wait for a day at the Uchiyama bookstore in Hongkou Ward, and that if Mr. Murakami had not come, he would be completely dead.

The letter is very sensational, and it vividly expresses the despair and helplessness of a fan.

It seems that Lin Zixuan is a heinous crime if he doesn't meet him, and it also implies that he may lose hope in life because of this.

Lin Zixuan read the translated Chinese, but he was also stunned by this kind of writing, you can write your own book with this kind of writing, do you still need other people's guidance?

As a result, he became interested in this strange fan and decided to visit the Uchiyama bookstore at the appointed time.

Just looking, he didn't intend to identify himself.

On April 1, Lin Zixuan drove to Hongkou District, wanting to meet this strange fan for a while.

At the same time, a man came out of Lane 44 of Huanlong Road near Baxian Bridge in the French Concession, and he got on the tram, ready to make a final attempt. (To be continued.) )