Chapter 51: EMI Records
Qin Di didn't explain, but continued: "In addition, I also want to donate 500,000 oceans to Mr. Du personally, I hope you will give me a promise that in the future, when necessary, allow me to borrow the hands of the Qingbang." ”
Du Yuesheng was shocked and said, "500,000 oceans, how many heads can you buy!" With this money, why don't you hire a killer yourself, and why do you have to turn to me for help?"
Qin Di said: "The Qin family is not short of money, but it lacks people to do things. Mr. Du should have heard that I have a lot of kung fu and am not afraid of being bullied by others, but there are some things that I am too lazy to do myself. ”
As he spoke, he took out a gold brick from a drawer, weighing 1 kilogram, and as soon as he held it in the palm of his hand, the gold brick was pinched flat, no longer rectangular, but turned into a twisted irregular shape.
He threw the gold brick on the table and motioned for Du Yuesheng to take a closer look.
Du Yuesheng opened his mouth wide, reached out to pick up the gold brick, broke it hard, and found that it was indeed a gold brick, not something else, and couldn't help but shed a cold sweat: "Mr. Qin, you are a peerless master! Everything is easy to say, I promise your request, as long as it does not violate the morality of the rivers and lakes, no matter when, as long as you say it, I will send people, one hundred and eighty strong men, no problem!"
"What you just saw, you just need to know it, don't publicize it to the public! I don't want to leak my strength and make it known to everyone. ”
"Yes, yes, I won't say a word when I walk out this door. ”
Qin Di wrote a check on the spot and handed it to the other party, and then said to Yan Xue, who was standing not far away: "You also come to show your hand and flatten the gold bricks."
Yan Xue walked over quietly, put the gold brick between her palms, steaming hot air came out of her head, and after five or six breaths, she spread her hand, and the gold brick had returned to its original state!
Du Yuesheng was dumbfounded, her mind was "buzzing", she held a check in her hand, and walked out in a daze.
Walking on the street, his heart was like lead for a while, like grass for a while, excited, excited, shocked, and terrified, and it was difficult to calm down for a long time.
"God, you can take me! A delicate little girl has such amazing strength, it's incredible!"
"From now on, not only will I have to respect Mr. Qin, but I can't provoke this aunt. When I go back, I have to tell my subordinates, don't be fooled, and be cowardly!"
To be honest, there were many martial arts masters in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, such as Yang Luchan, Dong Haichuan, and Huo Yuanjia, but these people all died.
The first generation of grandmaster Du Xinwu is still alive, he is a member of the Green Gang, he is in his fifties, and his seniority is very high, which is equivalent to Du Yuesheng's uncle and ancestor, who once served as Sun Yat-sen's bodyguard.
In addition, there are heroic princes, and Wan Laisheng is in the prime of life. Although their martial arts are very high, one person can beat twenty or thirty, and he can pinch walnuts with his bare hands, but he can't pinch gold bricks.
The hand performed by Qin Di and Yan Xue is not a kung fu that mortals should have at all, it can only be a legendary miracle.
Du Yuesheng is a good person, and after she went back, she didn't publicize it to the outside world, and she didn't even tell the golden banyan. He sent a large number of people to distribute the money to the vast number of workers, so he won the title of the Buddha of Ten Thousand Families.
Historically, on the eve of liberation, the Qingbai Party enlisted Du Yuesheng and wanted him to go to Taiwan, and the Big Red Party also contacted him privately, hoping that he would stay. In the end, Du Yuesheng went to Hong Kong and wanted to be innocent, but unfortunately died two years later.
The world thinks highly of him. Even Zhang Taiyan, a master of Chinese culture, disdained the Qinggang and became Du Yuesheng's guest.
Of course, no one is perfect, and Du Yuesheng, as the leader of the Green Gang, naturally did some bad things, such as monopolizing the opium trade in the magic capital.
At the end of 1926, Qin Di also did a big thing and spent money to buy EMI Records.
The company he bought was founded by the French Pathe brothers, and has not yet been annexed by the British EMI (electric and musical industries).
Historically, this French company was not well managed and was bought by EMI in the United Kingdom, and it is still called "EMI Records", and later Zhou Xuan, Hu Die, Nie Er, and Xian Xinghai all signed contracts with this company. During the Republic of China, this was the largest and most famous record company.
The reason why Qin Di bought this company was because 1927 was the first year of pop music, and from this year, there were enduring songs, and winning the record company helped to launch new songs and contribute to the new democratic revolution. Of course, he did not know whether the new democratic revolution was a proletarian revolution or a bourgeois revolution.
In any case, the songs that have gone through a hundred years of vicissitudes and are still being sung by people cannot be measured by ideology.
After Qin Di bought this company, he continued to hire the original staff, purchased advanced recording equipment from abroad, and contacted well-known musicians in China.
The first musician he contacted was Lai Jinhui.
Li Jinhui was born in Hunan in 1891, nine years older than Qin Di. He is the father of modern Chinese singing and dancing, engaged in children's singing and dancing in the early days, and began to focus on pop songs in 1927.
When Qin Di found him, he was raising money everywhere and wanted to start a song and dance school, and then set up a song and dance troupe.
Qin Di had a long talk with him and decided to invest 300,000 yuan to help him establish a singing and dancing school and establish the "Mingyue Song and Dance Troupe", but there are constraints between each other, and in the future, all the students and all the excellent songs will be handed over to Baidai Company to produce records.
Li Jinhui naturally does not object, this is a good thing for him, good music must always be made into records, and the contract provided by Qin Di is not harsh, with a commission of 25% for each record, which is already very high.
In addition to Li Jinhui, Qin Di also contacted Xiao Youmei, Zhao Yuanren, Qingzhu, Shen Xingong, Zeng Zhi, Gao Shoutian, Feng Yaxiong, Zhang Ruogu, Liu Tianhua and others, asking them to write lyrics, compose, or recommend students to sign contracts with record companies.
Qin Di didn't need to run in person, he just needed to make a charter and then hand it over to the manager to do.
The manager of Baidai Company is named "Zhou Tianlin", although his ability to write lyrics and compose music is not very good, but his ears are very good, he has a strong sense of appreciation, and he knows what kind of singing voice is attractive.
In 1927, among the seven major singers of the Republic of China, the eldest Gong Qiuxia was only nine years old, Zhou Xuan, Bai Hong, and Li Xianglan were only seven years old, Bai Guang was only six years old, and Wu Yingyin and Yao Li were only five years old.
However, there has never been a shortage of people in China, and after Li Jinhui's efforts, more than a dozen young singers were quickly selected.
In addition, there are some movie stars who come to audition for the record company, including Hu Die and Ruan Lingyu.
Hu Die's voice is not too good, so Zhou Tianlin only signed a three-year short-term contract with her.
Ruan Lingyu's singing voice is not bad, and she once sang the theme song "Looking for Brother" in the movie. So EMI Records signed a ten-year contract with her.
Qin Di personally wrote the long-term agreement, and handed over the short-term agreement to Zhou Tianlin.
He has a request for Zhou Tianlin: "Every singer with a long-term appointment must be confirmed by me!"
He doesn't care about the vast majority of singers, because pop songs have just started, and there are still five to ten years before they reach their glorious era. Moreover, he does not have the vices of making actors, actresses, and female singers, and as the boss behind the scenes, he can't go out in person and have close contact with these people.