Chapter 2658
Zhu Zian's feeling was right, but not entirely right. Haihan hopes to use his special status to exert influence on the North Koreans, but North Korea has been separated from the Ming Dynasty for nearly two decades. Even if he is a member of the royal family, the influence he can have is unlikely to be immediately reflected in the diplomatic activities of both parties. .
Moreover, Haihan hopes that Zhu Zian will not only affect the North Korean officials that the mission can come into contact with, but also have an impact on a larger scale. Haihan also made some arrangements in advance for this, and the relevant work was started before the mission arrived. Zhu Zian, who had almost no contact with the outside world, naturally had no idea about this, and could not imagine how many people were paying attention. Follow your own movements.
Outside the Chongli Gate in Seoul is the area with the highest concentration of local cultural institutions. There are not only official institutions such as Sungkyunkwan, Kuijang Pavilion, Jingyan Hall, Hongwen Hall, and Art Museum, but also many bookstores and seal shops from Haihan. Fanghe Newspaper Office established its operating organization here. For Korean literati, this area of less than a thousand acres on the edge of Seoul is the cultural center of the country.
Haihan's cultural penetration into North Korea began when the two countries established diplomatic relations, and printed matter as a carrier was one of the most important means. Haihan culture is originally the evolutionary product of traditional Han culture, and the writing and style are all inherited from the same origin. Therefore, for Korean literati, there is basically no reading difficulty. The books published by Haihan are of high quality, beautifully printed, and low in price. They have almost no competitors in North Korea and have basically monopolized the printed book market in the past few years.
Even those old scholars who insist on respecting the Ming Dynasty often have a few collections of classics and history published by Haihan on their desks. As for the new generation of scholars who have grown up in the past ten years, they have basically grown up reading the books provided by Haihan, and their minds are full of various consciousnesses that Haihan deliberately instilled.
As the official publicity mouthpiece of Haihan, "Haihan Times" is naturally duty-bound. It purchased land and built houses here more than ten years ago and established a publishing agency. However, the content of locally published newspapers is different from that of Haihan, focusing more on reporting various news in North Korea. Therefore, the newspaper changed the word "Haihan" and used "Peninsula Times" as its title.
Since this newspaper has an official background in Haihan, the authority of the news it publishes is far superior to other information channels on the market. Various news, especially from abroad, often appears first in the Times, and is therefore often used as reference material by North Korean officials.
The Peninsula Times is not a tabloid. Its purpose is to serve as a propaganda tool for Haihan, so its target readership is not the general public. Most North Koreans who would spend money to subscribe to this newspaper are either rich or noble. For these people, as long as they occasionally see a piece of valuable news in the newspaper, the benefits will far exceed the money spent on subscribing to the newspaper.
This kind of news is often quite sensitive and would be devalued if expressed in plain language, so what you can see in newspapers are mostly fragments or obscure rhetoric. But even if people with a keen sense of smell don't understand it clearly, they will find the person in charge of the newspaper in private and offer benefits to find out the inside story.
There are also many Haihan businessmen who want to open up business in North Korea. They will also spend money to advertise in the Times to expand their business. This will be regarded by North Koreans as a sign of strength. The newspaper's annual income from advertising is enough to match that of a medium-sized trading house.
Many locals know that the editor-in-chief of this newspaper bought a large manor on the bank of the Han River last year, which shows that this should be a lucrative business.
The current editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Chang Zhenguo, has been in office for five years, exactly one term. After serving one more term, he can be transferred back to the country to serve. With this gold-plated overseas resume, it shouldn't be too difficult to work at the Times headquarters after returning to China, or to find a good position in the propaganda department with less work and more money.
In fact, Chang Zhenguo doesn't have any particularly outstanding abilities, and he can only do things that are quite satisfactory. If we talk about professional ability, Sanya can probably pick out twenty or thirty writers of the same age who are more powerful than him. Of course, these competitors also have one shortcoming that is inferior to him, and that is their background. Chang Zhenguo was assigned this position largely because of the connections his father, Chang Degao, made in his early years. More than 20 years ago, Gao Hui of Changde, who was only the publicity officer of Sanya Port District, discovered a talent from the private sector. Later, after this person was transferred overseas, he rose through the ranks and became the person in charge of the Propaganda Department stationed in the Northern Region.
This man was sent to Haihan as an undercover agent by the Ming Dynasty, but he accidentally bumped into Liu Shang, who was embarking on an official career. He was first responsible for propaganda and civil affairs in Shandong and Liaodong. Later, Haihan established the Datong River base in North Korea and was seconded by the military to stay in North Korea for a period of time. Nowadays, Liu Shangzai is basically responsible for all the work of the Propaganda Department in the Northern Region, including personnel appointments, and his authority can be said to be extremely huge.
After Liu Shang became successful, he did not forget his original leader. Although he did not return to Sanya very often, he has maintained contact with Chang Degao for many years. Later, I learned that Chang Degao was considering the development prospects of his son Chang Zhenguo, so he tried his best to persuade him to send his son to work overseas for a few years to avoid Sanya's fiercely competitive environment.
Liu Shang is undoubtedly a successful example of a naturalized official taking the overseas development route, so his use of his own experience as an example is quite convincing. Moreover, Liu Shang has human rights in the north, so it is convenient to give him some care.
Chang Degao was persuaded by him and found a job for his son Chang Zhenguo to be stationed in the Northern Region, and Liu Shang took over directly.
Chang Zhenguo stayed in Jinzhou for two years, and was led by Liu Shang to familiarize himself with the work. The two of them were called superiors and subordinates, but in fact they had a master-disciple relationship. Later, the former editor-in-chief of the Peninsula Times in North Korea was transferred back to China, and Liu Shang arranged for Chang Zhenguo to take over in Seoul.
Although Chang Zhenguo's abilities were mediocre and his previous resume had no bright spots, Liu Shang's influence was so great that he was forced to put him in this position.
Before the mission set off from Zhejiang, the embassy in Seoul had been notified of the relevant arrangements, and Fu Li assigned Chang Zhenguo to be responsible for the publicity work. Since this involved the descendants of the Zhu family of the Ming Dynasty in the mission, Chang Zhenguo also specifically contacted Liu Shang via telegram and asked him for instructions on how to handle related propaganda work.
He had found the right person to ask for instructions, because in addition to sending Zhu Zian to Zhejiang to take the exam, Prince De's Mansion also sent another person to Jinzhou to participate in the rural exam organized by the Northern Region, so Liu Shang also happened to be carrying out related publicity work recently. .
(End of chapter)