Chapter 5 Ming Pao Kingdom

Any kind of success is probably the result of various chances. Sometimes, deliberate pursuit often fails to achieve the goal, but it is unintentional. "Ming Pao" is a symbol of Jin Yong's career. When Jin Yong started "Ming Pao", of course he had his own ideals. He hoped to run a truly free and independent newspaper.However, that kind of reality is only hazy and vague. Once it is operated, it may only cross the river by feeling the stones, subject to the ever-changing social situation and readers' tastes.Who dares to say that Jin Yong had a grand plan and extraordinary taste when he started "Ming Pao"?

Without Shen Baoxin, would "Ming Pao" be born and have a bright future?Jin Yong met his junior high school classmate Shen Baoxin in a foreign land, which cannot but be said to be a kind of fate.Life is like passing by in a hurry, how many encounters are just flowers in an instant, fleeting.Childhood sweethearts, labor and Yan are separated, and meeting old partners again is really a coincidence.Not only that, Shen Baoxin was engaged in the printing business at that time, and Jin Yong had worked in four major newspapers successively, so he was quite familiar with the ways of running newspapers.It is completely conceivable how excited the pair of boyhood friends were when they first met in Xiangjiang, a southern country.It was a match made in heaven, and they decided to start their own newspaper.

In 1959, a newspaper called "Ming Pao" was registered in Hong Kong.The company has a registered capital of 100,000 yuan, Jin Yong holds 80% of the shares, and Shen Baoxin holds 20%.This shareholding ratio has been maintained until the 1990s. "Ming" contains the meaning of "reasonable" and also symbolizes a bright future.In Jin Yong's book, he wrote about an organization such as "Mingjiao".Jin Yong has a relationship with the word "Ming". Jin Yong invited Wang Zhibo, the most famous calligrapher in Hong Kong at that time, to write the title of the journal.These two inscriptions are still in use today.

In the early days of Ming Pao's publication, there were very few staff.Shen Baoxin was in charge of business, Jin Yong was in charge of editorial affairs, and Pan Yuesheng was his assistant. At that time, there were generally two types of newspapers in Hong Kong. One was relatively high-level such as "Sing Tao", "Overseas Chinese", and "Business and Commerce", and the other was low-level such as "Rattlesnake" and "Transcendence". It uses pornography as a solicitation to cater to the vulgar tastes of male readers.The early "Ming Pao" seems to have taken a middle line, with both serious editorials and soft and sexy novels.Generally speaking, it mainly focuses on novels and interesting materials, and publishes one page a day, designed in the form of tabloids.

The sales volume of "Ming Pao" was not satisfactory at first, and it had a very difficult period, and even faced the danger of bankruptcy.According to the memory of an old employee of Ming Pao: "Mr. Cha was really miserable at that time. He was tired from work in the afternoon and ordered a cup of coffee. He also drank it with Mrs. Cha. We saw that the newspaper's economy was not good, and we didn't expect to be paid. Please get over the difficulties, and you will feel at ease.” At that time, Jin Yong lived in Tsim Sha Tsui, and the Star Ferry had stopped sailing when he got off work late at night, so he had to take the electric boat commonly known as "hua la hua la" to cross the sea.If you want to go immediately, the boat fare is three yuan, otherwise you have to wait until six people board the boat before sailing.At that time, Mr. and Mrs. Cha would rather endure the cold winter night than pay for chartering the boat.

Jin Yong and Shen Baoxin struggled to support it, and even used pawns to maintain it.They really regard running a newspaper as a career in life, and they are unwilling to give up halfway. Ni Kuang once said: "Ming Pao's survival depends entirely on Jin Yong's martial arts novels." This is quite true. At that time, Jin Yong's martial arts was serialized in "Business Daily" and already had a large number of readers.Many people bought "Ming Pao" in order to watch Jin Yong's martial arts. When "Ming Pao" was first published, it was serialized, and its circulation reached 6,000 copies.

However, the establishment of Ming Pao's authority probably lies in its news reports, current affairs commentary and analysis.And this is inseparable from the daily editorials published by Jin Yong under his real name Cha Liangyong.Jin Yong's editorials are unique and enjoy a high reputation among readers, especially among intellectuals.What's going on in the world, Hong Kong people habitually think, read what the editorial of "Ming Pao" has to say. An editorial every day, ten years of perseverance, and maintain the taste, how many people in the world can do it? Jin Yong's martial arts novels laid a solid foundation for "Ming Pao", coupled with Shen Bao's new management methods, "Ming Pao"'s advertising business rose steadily. Although it did not reach a considerable profit, the deficit has gradually decreased.There is no problem maintaining the newspaper. Compared with those small newspapers, the sales volume is considerable, but compared with those big newspapers, it is still a little brother.

While Jin Yong was racking his brains and thinking about pursuing good strategies, a "Great Fleeing Wave" broke out in mainland China.It was 1962, the three-year period of natural disasters.A large number of mainlanders flocked to Hong Kong, causing unrest and becoming a hot topic.At that time, all major newspapers were vying to cover this piece of news. With the manpower and material resources of "Ming Pao", it was really difficult to compete with them. Therefore, Jin Yong made a big fuss in the editorial, expressing a different view on this matter, which attracted the attention of readers.

Several big newspapers headed by "Ta Kung Pao" attacked Jin Yong's views. "Ming Pao" of course does not show weakness, you come and go, a fierce pen battle has attracted readers to watch the show, and they can't stop.The not-so-famous Ming Pao was well-known in the pen wars, and more importantly, Jin Yong's editorials attracted great attention, and no one could ignore its existence, no matter whether they agreed or disagreed. After this pen war, "Ming Pao" expanded to two pages, forming the specifications of a medium-sized newspaper, and at the same time, it also had a surplus.It can be said that if there was no "fleeing tide", perhaps there would be no subsequent development of "Ming Pao".

At about the same time, Ming Pao and Ta Kung Pao had another more intense debate.In that year, China developed atomic bombs and other nuclear weapons out of strategic considerations.Jin Yong held a different view on this matter. He believed that a strong country lies in being close to the people. Now that the people are so poor that they have no food, it is really inappropriate to develop nuclear weapons.This kind of argument is obviously bookish, and it is not completely tenable, which aroused fierce criticism from "Ta Kung Pao". The more controversy there was, the more famous Ming Pao became, and the sales increased.It is no wonder that some people say that "Ming Pao" can gain a firm foothold in the newspaper industry, thanks to "Ta Kung Pao", it can be described as "joking and abusive".Therefore, the best way to deal with your enemies is silence and indifference.While blaming others, it is often doing others a great favor.

The success of "Ming Pao" is also inseparable from Jin Yong's good use of talents."Ming Pao" in the 1960s was full of talented people, which made people fascinated. It was at that time that Lin Sanmu, the boss of Hong Kong Economic Journal, joined Ming Pao.He first worked as a data officer in the reference room, was appreciated by Jin Yong, and was sent to the UK to study finance and economics. After returning to Hong Kong, he served as the deputy editor-in-chief of "Ming Pao Evening Post".Ding Wang, known for writing Chinese news, was the director of the reference room. Ding Wang was regarded as an expert on China issues at that time.The current editor-in-chief of "Sing Pao" Han Zhongxuan and the novelist Jiang Zhinan were editors of "Ming Pao" at that time.Zhang Junmo, once popular for his prose, was a reporter for Ming Pao.Wang Shiyu, who founded "New Evening News" and later returned to "Ming Pao" as the editor-in-chief, was proofreading and sending manuscripts at that time.Hu Juren also joined Ming Pao Monthly at this time.Female writer Yi Shu also worked as an entertainment reporter for Ming Pao.In addition, there are simple and clear horse classics, dog classics, and so on. The ten-year catastrophic "Cultural Revolution" also provided "Ming Pao" with an opportunity to show its talents. "Ming Pao" opened a "North Looking at China" edition, which published news about the mainland every day.China at that time was very mysterious, and it was difficult for the outside world to understand her situation. The "North Looking at Shenzhou" version just meets the needs of many people.It was during the "Cultural Revolution" that "Ming Pao" became the authority to report news about China. Based on the frenzied destruction of culture by the "Cultural Revolution" in mainland China, Jin Yong founded "Ming Pao Monthly" in 1966, with the aim of preserving a place overseas to continue Chinese culture.Its goal is not to make profits, and it does not hesitate to lose money.Jin Yong served as the editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine, and Xu Guansan and Sima Changfeng were hired to select manuscripts, and Wang Shiyu and Huang Jundong were the editors.The articles published in the early stage were very strict and followed a purely academic route.Later, Hu Juren served as the editor-in-chief for thirteen years.Hu Juren operated the monthly magazine as a comprehensive high-level reading material, forming the image of a high-level academic journal, and there is no second one in Hong Kong. In 1967, both Jin Yong himself and Ming Pao faced severe tests. The ultra-left ideological trend of the "Cultural Revolution" spread to Hong Kong, causing quite a frenzy of struggle.Jin Yong was also regarded as a "reactionary" by the "leftists" at the time, who wanted to "fight and stink", and publicly threatened to "eliminate" him. "Ming Pao" was naturally impacted in this precarious day. The "leftist" harassment included sending homemade bombs, inciting "uprising" among "Ming Pao" employees, and sending people to attack the newspaper office.However, it was during this shock that Ming Pao's sales surged from 50,000 before the "Cultural Revolution" to 80,000, a blessing in disguise. Jin Yong once recalled: "Of course I was a little worried, but the protagonists of my martial arts novels are all big men. At this juncture, we must persevere to the end, and there is no room for retreat. Or we can only act cautiously, and will not go out unless necessary." Until " The "Cultural Revolution" ended, and the threat to Jin Yong was completely eliminated. The riots in 1967 caused panic in Hong Kong society, and many people immigrated abroad because they were worried about their future.Jin Yong also had to consider the future of "Ming Pao". As early as 1966, he had inspected Singapore and prepared to publish a "Xin Ming Daily" there.His wishful thinking at the time was that if something went wrong in the publishing business in Hong Kong, he could move to Singapore to start his career again.Unexpectedly, people’s calculations are not as good as heaven’s calculations. Due to the political separation of Singapore and Malaysia, "Xin Ming Daily" was also divided into two. In addition, there are many local restrictions on the operation of newspapers, which made Jin Yong feel excited and finally sold most of his shares. Investors who cooperate with the local area return to Hong Kong to concentrate on development. In 1968, he founded "Ming Pao Weekly". Although it was not the first weekly magazine in Hong Kong, after several years of development, it has become a leader among entertainment weekly magazines.Weekly editions are given to readers as bonuses by newspapers in order to arouse readers' interest.But Jin Yong boldly proposed that after the content and decoration of the weekly magazine were reformed, it could be issued at a fixed price.Many objected, thinking they would lose readers. Jin Yong said: "We can add more colors, and the content can follow the route of soft articles that are more suitable for housewives. I think there will be sales." In this way, "Ming Pao Weekly" was released. Pan Yuesheng, the first editor-in-chief, had mediocre grades.Lei Po, the second editor-in-chief, was eager to seek innovation and made many reforms, which greatly stimulated sales. Lei Po switched to female editors and reporters, because women understand women better.He also planned an explosive news, which was "Miss Hong Kong He Xiuwen Love Letter", which stirred up Hong Kong and increased the number of weekly magazines by tens of thousands. He Xiuwen is the girlfriend of movie star Chen Baixiang.At that time, Chen Baixiang had not yet become famous, and organized a band with his friends to perform in nightclubs.He is a standard playboy, and He Xiuwen is just one of his girlfriends. It is said that the love letter was written to him. "Ming Pao Weekly" relied on He Xiuwen to expand its sales, and Lei Po stepped on the horse, tried his best to find news, made friends with male and female stars, and repeatedly revealed wonderful inside stories in the entertainment circle.There are also more and more readers. In addition to "Ming Pao" (daily), "Ming Pao Monthly", "Ming Pao Weekly", Ming Pao Organization also has a "Ming Pao Evening Post".Jin Yong also established Ming Pao Publishing House and Ming Window Publishing House. In 1987, Ming Pao Group was established to operate high-end travel business in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe, diversifying the business of Ming Pao Group. The "Ming Pao" enterprise group founded by Jin Yong, after more than 30 years of continuous development, has expanded from a newspaper office to a diversified enterprise that also deals in publishing, tourism, printing and real estate. "Ming Pao" sold as many as 120,000 copies. Before and after the "Beijing political turmoil" in 1989, the sales volume once exceeded 250,000 copies, reaching the highest level in history. "Ming Pao Weekly" reached 300,000 copies, ranking first in the entertainment weekly market in Hong Kong. Ming Pao Group's profit in 1990 was as high as 70 million yuan, and in 1991 it was close to 100 million yuan.Jin Yong's personal wealth is estimated to have exceeded 600 million yuan. In 1991, "The List of Hong Kong Chinese Billionaires in the 1990s" edited by "Capital" magazine ranked Jin Yong at 64th and Shen Baoxin at 112th. Since the 1970s, Jin Yong has become an important figure in the political circle.He was invited to join the Citizens Advisory Committee of the ICAC's Community Relations Division, so he had frequent contact with the first ICAC Commissioner, Ji Da.Ji Da introduced Jin Yong to the then governor of Hong Kong, MacLehose, to provide advice on China issues. In 1981, the Queen of England awarded him an OBE, and he was awarded an honorary doctor and honorary professor by the University of Hong Kong.Mrs. Thatcher visited China for the first time, and negotiated with China for talks on the Hong Kong issue. When passing through Hong Kong, MacLehose arranged for Jin Yong to meet Mrs. Thatcher alone for 45 minutes.He served as the convener of the restructuring group of the Basic Law Drafting Committee. He traveled north three times and met many top Chinese leaders such as Deng Xiaoping, Hu Yaobang and Jiang Zemin. Ni Kuang praised: "Zha Liangyong is the first intellectual who has become rich in China in five thousand years. Except for the legendary Tao Zhugong, it is unique that he can become a great Confucian and a rich man at the same time. Of course, doing business will be mercenary, but it is not necessarily the case. It will conflict with conscience, because making money is not a bad thing, and doing good deeds can also make money. Cha Liangyong is a person with knowledge and business talent." Wang Shiyu talked about the success of "Ming Pao", saying: "The success of "Ming Pao" can be attributed to Cha Liangyong's personal vision. From the early days of Jin Yong who wrote martial arts novels, he moved towards Cha Liangyong, who was famous for his political comments in the 1960s. In the 1990s, and even when it was listed on the market, he managed Ming Pao in a corporate manner, and Cha Leung-yung successfully shaped Ming Pao into a newspaper that is highly respected by intellectuals, which shows his great foresight.” Jin Yong was interviewed by reporters, and when he talked about running a newspaper, he said: "No matter how big or small a person has done in his life, he should always be able to make himself feel gratified in retrospect. Of course, this is a goal, and whether it can be achieved is another matter, but You have to do your best. Therefore, running a newspaper should also be the best newspaper. This is of course everyone’s ideal.” This is Jin Yong's ambition.It is precisely because he is so persistent towards his ideal that he has achieved such success and achieved such a brilliant career.