Chapter 221 The Forgotten Catastrophe
This book is about the Jinling Incident, and is based on the book The Forgotten Disaster of World War II by Chinese American female writer Zhang Chunru. Because of writing this book, Zhang Chunru received death threats and finally committed suicide out of shock.
Liu Hongmin suspected that Zhang Chunru's suicide was fake. The Americans have done this kind of thing many times.
After finishing The Forgotten Catastrophe, Liu Hongmin called Richard and said, "I have a book here. I wonder if Random House dares to publish it?"
Richard laughed, "Mr. Liu, there is nothing that we at Random House dare not publish."
Liu Hongmin laughed, "This book is a little special. You'd better come to Beijing, then we can talk about it!"
When Richard heard this, he immediately realized the seriousness of the matter. He immediately reported to the top management of Random House. The top management of Random House did not know what Liu Hongmin wanted to do, so they immediately asked Richard to go to the capital.
While waiting for Richard, Liu Hongmin contacted Liu Xinwu.
"Teacher Liu, I have a book here. I wonder if you dare to publish it in Human Name Literature?"
When Liu Xinwu heard this, he immediately stood up excitedly, "Dare! There is nothing we dare not publish."
He has now formed a conditioned reflex. As long as Liu Hongmin asks him if he dares to publish a book, it will definitely be a shocking work.
"I'll go to your house right away, wait for me!"
Liu Hongmin listened to the busy tone on the phone, smiled and hung up. He walked out of the study and said to the nanny, "Aunt Zhang, prepare some wine and food, because there will be guests coming soon."
"Okay!" The nanny nodded and went to prepare immediately.
After a while, Liu Xinwu came to the door.
"Hongmin, where is the manuscript?"
"There's no rush for the manuscript." Liu Hongmin stopped Liu Xinwu who wanted to go into the study room, "Let's talk while we eat."
Liu Xinwu said anxiously: "There's no rush to eat, let's read the manuscript first."
"There's really no rush for the manuscript!" Liu Hongmin pulled him to the side of the table. "You don't need to read the book. It's just an educational book. If there's no need, I wouldn't want to write this book."
"What's going on?" Liu Xinwu was confused by what he said.
Liu Hongmin told the story of what happened and the content of "The Forgotten Catastrophe". Liu Xinwu then stopped talking about reading the manuscript. He asked worriedly, "Hongmin, if you do this, you are breaking off relations with the Japanese."
"So what?" Liu Hongmin said disdainfully, "I've already torn my relationship with them, what can they do to me?"
Liu Xinwu shook his head. "This is different from before. Although the Japanese reacted to the Lies incident, they just banned it. After all, Ito Hirobumi has been dead for many years. Even if the Japanese admire him, they will not do anything out of line because of him. But this time is different. The Japanese have tampered with history to the point of using any means necessary. If you publish this book, the Japanese will definitely not stop until you are dead."
"If I can still be harmed by the Japanese in Beijing, where will the face of the country be?"
Liu Hongmin's words were rough but his point was true. His current security level has reached the highest level. If he can still be harmed by someone, it means he deserves to die.
Aunt Zhang brought the food over and the two of them ate and chatted.
"Hongmin, you really have to think it over carefully. If you publish this book, you won't have the chance to regret it."
"You have to send it. I'm worried about whether you can withstand the pressure from those old guys."
"Of course we can hold on. Although Renming Literature belongs to the Writers Association, we are a semi-independent unit and it is difficult for them to get involved. The censorship of Renjiao Publishing House has sounded a wake-up call for them. If they dare to get involved again, they will definitely not have a good time."
"We still have to be careful. There's no guarantee that the Japanese won't do something in secret." Liu Xinwu assured with a smile: "Like you said, this is the capital. What kind of storm can the Japanese not complain about?"
After dinner, Liu Xinwu left with the manuscript.
The next day, Liu Hongmin met Richard, who was exhausted.
"Mr. Liu, what is your new novel about that you take it so seriously?"
"It contains evidence of the Japanese' crimes." Liu Hongmin said bluntly: "From a national perspective, you and the Japanese are on the same side. Therefore, it is difficult for this book to pass the review of your country."
Richard couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. "Mr. Liu, please rest assured. We are businessmen and don't need to consider national affairs."
"But you also need benefits, don't you?" Liu Hongmin said seriously, "And I need this book to be widely circulated in Western society."
Richard couldn't help but frowned when he heard this.
"Mr. Liu, to be honest, the content of this book is unlikely to sell well in the West. As you said, at the national level, we stand on the same side as the Japanese, so the publication of this book is bound to encounter resistance."
Liu Hongmin nodded, "I understand, so I don't want to release this book through normal channels."
Richard asked curiously, "How do you want to publish it?"
Liu Hongmin: "I want to issue it through prize redemption."
"Redeem the prize?"
"Yes, it's about redeeming the prizes. I will write the third part of Pirates of the Caribbean soon, and you can put some lottery bookmarks in the book. As long as you win the prize, you can redeem the book. Redeeming the prize is free, and I think many people will be willing to take the time to redeem the prize."
Free things are attractive to people in any country. Supermarkets in our country give away eggs, and you can buy them for free abroad.
“It’s a way to circumvent censorship, but there’s no benefit.”
Liu Hongmin smiled and said, "For the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, I can take 5% less in royalties, just 15%."
When Richard heard this, he immediately laughed and said, "Mr. Liu, we have a pleasant cooperation."
Taking the second part of Pirates of the Caribbean as an example, Liu Hongmin received nearly 4000 million US dollars in royalties. One quarter of that is 1000 million US dollars. With such a huge profit margin, let alone using the prize redemption method to publish The Forgotten Catastrophe, even if Random House bribed officials and directly issued a book number for The Forgotten Catastrophe, it would be fine.
The Americans use money to pave the way. As long as you have money, you can do anything, including publishing anything against the Americans.
What's more, "The Forgotten Catastrophe" only publishes evidence of the Japanese's crimes, and the Americans will not suffer any loss. In fact, as long as they do a good job, the Americans can use this incident to prove to the people of the world that they are a fair and democratic country.
Liu Hongmin handed the copied manuscript to Richard, and Richard left the capital with the manuscript.
Before leaving, he said to Liu Hongmin: "I will arrange for someone to translate this book as soon as possible, but please complete the manuscript of the third part of Pirates of the Caribbean as soon as possible."
“It will be completed in a month at most.”
Liu Hongmin promised that he had given it his all in order to get "The Forgotten Catastrophe" published.
(End of this chapter)
