Hong Kong's first published newspaper was the English "Hong Kong Government Gazette," founded on May 1, 1841, and circulated exclusively within the Government House and among British citizens.
It wasn't until 16 years later, in 1857, that Hong Kong had a two-sided Chinese commercial newspaper, "Hong Kong Ship Price Paper." More of a price list than a newspaper, it was specifically for merchants.
Precisely because of this, the newspaper's sales were poor. The following year, it was acquired by Wu Tingfang, a famous diplomat and jurist from the late Qing Dynasty and Republic of China era. After a complete re-layout and repositioning, and the rental of a brand-new set of Chinese lead type, it finally became a true publication, which later developed well and is recognized as the first Chinese newspaper, "Chung Ngoi San Po."
Developing to this day, Hong Kong's newspaper industry is diverse. There is "Hong Kong Daily" which specifically reports Hong Kong's factual news, "Sing Tao Daily" which reports international events, "Stable Daily" which specializes in horse racing, and "Ming Pao" which is famous throughout All of Hong Kong for its novels.
Huo Yaowen looked at the various newspapers and publications in his hand and couldn't help but admire Ming Zai's efficiency. In just one day, he had collected so many different publications from different newspaper agencies with different layouts.
After filtering out unsuitable publications that specialized in news, horse racing, dog racing, etc., there were still over twenty publications left in front of Huo Yaowen. Almost all of the remaining newspapers had supplementary sections dedicated to novels, articles, and essays for readers.
"Hong Kong Chinese Poetry News," "Wen Wei Po (Hong Kong)," "Ming Pao," "Sing Tao Daily," "Hong Kong Literary News," "Hong Kong Writers' News," "Literary World," "Literary News"...
A string of similar newspaper names made Huo Yaowen dizzy.
After again sifting out some of the poorly selling newspapers that Ming Zai had provided, only five of the most suitable newspapers remained: "Ming Pao," "Ta Kung Pao," "Sing Tao Daily," "Wen Wei Po (Hong Kong)," and finally, "Literary World."
With only five newspapers left, and their sales being similar, Huo Yaowen began to browse them one by one.
There's no need to mention "Ming Pao." This newspaper has been serializing Mr. Jin Yong's latest wuxia novel, "smiling proud wanderer," since last year, and its sales have consistently been among the top three newspapers in All of Hong Kong.
As for "Wen Wei Po (Hong Kong)," it is dedicated to serializing multiple wuxia stories, essays, romance, science fiction, and other articles, with contributions from famous writers such as Ni Kuang, Yi Shu, and Lam Yin-nei. Its sales are also quite good.
As for "Ta Kung Pao," its sales are considerably lower compared to the previous two, but it does have Liang Yusheng writing his latest masterpiece, "The Heroic Wind of the Desert," for it. While this wuxia novel did not have a huge influence in later generations, at the time, it was more popular with a wide range of readers than Jin Yong's "smiling proud wanderer."
Even Jin Yong specifically praised this novel in "Ming Pao," writing a free verse poem:
"Vast yellow sands, boundless and endless. A white-clad young hero, alone on a single steed. Heading north to find his father, the mystery is perplexing. After several storms, the truth is revealed. Loved ones depart, husband and wife are separated. No news is heard, rumors abound. Neighbors across the world, hearts intertwined. The clouds finally disperse, hand in hand to the ends of the earth."
If this free verse poem were to be placed in the present, some people would certainly think that Jin Yong was making fun of Liang Yusheng, after all, the plot and the male protagonist's experiences in "The Heroic Wind of the Desert" were too melodramatic and formulaic.
However, little did they know that this kind of wuxia novel, which later generations found very formulaic, was at that time in Hong Kong the most novel and passionate wuxia masterpiece, intertwined with national hatred, family grievances, love-hate relationships, and perplexing mysteries!
"Sing Tao Daily" is similar to "Wen Wei Po (Hong Kong)," both having special supplements to publish these wuxia, essays, and romance stories.
"Literary World" is more focused. This publication specializes in publishing novels and essays. In addition to the popular wuxia and romance, it publishes more literary works favored by literati. In earlier years, San Mao published her post-research thoughts on the monumental work "dream of the red chamber" in this publication, as well as essays like "Allure" and "Lilies of the Plateau."
After reading the contents of these five newspapers, Huo Yaowen frowned. If it was about publishing novels, then "Ming Pao," "Wen Wei Po (Hong Kong)," and "Ta Kung Pao" were undoubtedly the most suitable.
However, the novel section in "Ta Kung Pao"'s supplement was too small. Besides "The Heroic Wind of the Desert" which Liang Yusheng was still serializing, there were also a few wuxia novels by unknown authors.
"Wen Wei Po (Hong Kong)" had so many well-known and established authors that no matter how well Huo Yaowen wrote, he might not be able to publish successfully. Even if he did, the manuscript fee would definitely be very, very low, as he was a new writer without market testing, and no matter how well he wrote, it would be useless.
As for the final choice, "Ming Pao," Huo Yaowen wasn't very keen on it. Firstly, "Ming Pao" was currently serializing Mr. Jin Yong's "smiling proud wanderer." In that case, the front page of the supplement would definitely be "smiling proud wanderer," and no matter the quality of his own novel, it would definitely be below it.
Secondly, "Ming Pao" has always offered the lowest manuscript fees to writers in All of Hong Kong!
Since its founding by Mr. Jin Yong in 1959, "Ming Pao" has developed rapidly and smoothly. It not only expanded with "Ming Pao Monthly" two years ago but also launched "Ming Pao Weekly" at the beginning of this year.
Currently, when it comes to influential literary newspapers, "Ming Pao" is second to none. With the subtle concept of being an industry leader, literati chasing fame and fortune, as well as struggling writers, all consider it an honor to have their novels and essays published in "Ming Pao"'s column section.
This also subconsciously forced those who wanted to publish their articles in newspapers to not care too much about the relatively low manuscript fees, as the concept of "a gentleman values righteousness over profit" has been advocated since ancient times.
Literati have always valued righteousness over profit since ancient times.
This also forced the "literary figures" who couldn't even afford food at the time to accept the low, unlivable manuscript fees offered by "Ming Pao."
Of course, it's not to say that "Ming Pao" was an exploitative sweatshop. In reality, although the manuscript fees were very low, they were enough for a person to live a normal life. But consider that most people who can publish articles and essays in newspapers are older, with families and children. If their submission is rejected, they face the awkward situation of lacking money.
Simply put, publishing articles, novels, and essays in "Ming Pao" can quickly gain a lot of fame in a short period and rapidly open up a market centered around oneself, like Mr. Jin Yong, Mr. Liang Yusheng, and others.
But right now, Huo Yaowen doesn't need fame, he only needs profit!
Fame is naturally good to have, but Huo Yaowen isn't going to play the pity card of not even being able to afford food. At the very least, he needs to move into a new house. After all, he's a transmigrator who's been reborn, how can he keep living in cheap public housing!
Wouldn't that tarnish the name of a transmigrator?
That's what he thought, but there were only so many newspapers to choose from. After discarding those with poor sales, only these five publications remained. Huo Yaowen scratched the back of his head; he really couldn't decide. He wondered if he should first choose between "Ming Pao" or "Ta Kung Pao," write some articles to boost his fame, and then ask for additional manuscript fees later.
While he was agonizing over which one to choose, suddenly, Huo Yaowen's gaze was drawn to the newspapers scattered on the floor. He pulled out the one that caught his eye, looked at the publication's name, and saw it was "Hong Kong Commercial Daily."
Below the supplement with job advertisements, he saw an advertisement that caught Huo Yaowen's attention:
"Newly established newspaper sincerely recruiting editors, proofreaders, typesetters, and other professionals. Additionally: heavily inviting literati and writers to submit manuscripts. Address: No. 372 Guizhou Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Contact person: Mr. Ma. Contact number:..."