The train driver in the courtyard

After Ran Qiuye left, Li Aiguo washed his feet, took the comic book and went into the study.

The birth of "Comic Strip" is very interesting.

In May 1942, the teacher delivered an important speech at the first high-level and large-scale literary and artistic symposium. The first question in his speech was: For whom is our literature and art for?
He answered directly: Our literature and art are "for the people."

“What is the people?”

"The broadest masses of people, accounting for more than 90 percent of the total population, are workers, peasants, soldiers and urban petty bourgeoisie."

This statement recognizes the essence of feudal knowledge from the root - the literati and landlords use obscure eight-legged essays to monopolize knowledge and fool the working people.

At that time, the illiteracy rate was as high as 80 percent. In order to enable the general public to enjoy cultural and entertainment activities that originally belonged only to the "aristocratic" class, a variety of cultural works appeared across the country.

For example, there are comic strips among the propagandists, art troupes, and clapper-speaking troupes.

After liberation, teachers once again paid attention to comic strips and proposed that "comic strips are not only read by children, but also by adults, illiterate people, and educated people. Why don't you set up a publishing house to publish a batch of new comic strips?"

Against this background, "Comic Book" came into being. It is a magazine that specializes in telling stories using the "little man book" model.

During a special period a few years later, "Lianhuan Pictorial" was temporarily suspended and did not resume publication until the 1980s.

The most amazing thing about "Comic Strip" is that it is printed in color. In this age of black and white, the colorful patterns can really make people's eyes bright.

The pictorials included contributions from the general public as well as works by famous artists such as Hua Sanchuan, Luo Pan, Cheng Shifa, Liu Jiyou, Dong Hongyuan, and Yan Meihua.

The content is also very rich.

Even in this issue of "Comic Book", the first story is "The Proletariat in the New Society", which tells the changes in the identity of workers before and after liberation.

The content of the second article surprised Li Aiguo a little bit - "A major reform in the machinery industry, the multi-tool and multi-edge cutting method."

Can this thing be drawn into a comic strip?

Eh.
Watched it carefully for a moment.

Li Aiguo nodded, it really is possible.

The illustrated story tells the story of how workers improved production equipment and increased work efficiency.

There is also the film "Li Tiezhu Learns to Get Rid of Cotton Aphids", which tells the story of a cotton planting model helping farmers get rid of cotton aphids.

"Strengthen factory workshop work", "Smash the US imperialist conspiracy", "We have ways to defend against germ warfare".
What does it mean that literature and art are for the people?

That's it.

Li Aiguo flipped through it casually and felt that he had a better understanding of the literary and artistic work of that era.

Literature and art are not highbrow stuff, but serve production and life.

At the end, Li Aiguo found a letter of invitation to write an article.

"Short comic strip, no longer than two pages"

"Medium to long comic strips, no limit on length, serialized as appropriate"

The price is also very reasonable, the remuneration is about 5-10 yuan per painting.

A 100-page comic book can earn 500 yuan, and it can be completed in about two to three months.

In those days, the monthly salary of an ordinary worker was only 20 or 30 yuan.

This. This is simply huge profit.

"Hey, isn't this a fortune?"

Li Aiguo thought about it and decided to divide the first "Kung Fu Panda" into five parts, each with ten copies, earning 50 yuan each time, so that it would not be conspicuous.

However, if you want to submit an article these days, you need a letter of introduction from your unit, which needs to be issued by the Qianmen Locomotive Depot and can only be mailed tomorrow.

Li Aiguo stretched and went into the inner room.

At this time, Chen Xueru had already crawled into the bed. When she saw Li Aiguo coming in, she pulled open the quilt.

"Brother Aiguo, come and ride your bike."

Riding a bicycle in a cheongsam? That's interesting.

An exciting little tune rang in my ears.

Li Aiguo rushed over.

"Step hard!"

Early the next morning.

Li Aiguo's spirit is a hundred times stronger.

I rode my bike to the education room of Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

Director She was not there, so Huang Shuya briefly asked questions and then issued a letter of introduction.

I put the letter of introduction and the drawing into a large envelope, put a stamp on it for 1 cent, and put it into the mailbox.

Get it!

After doing all this, Li Aiguo can finally focus all his energy on the development of the tunnel boring machine.

The Patriotic steam locomotive sent by Datong Factory has been docked in the warehouse of the maintenance workshop.

According to Li Aiguo's plan, the steam locomotive head needed to be completely disassembled and the outer shell remanufactured to adapt the shield machine to work in the tunnel.

Director Zhang looked at the blueprint for a long time and scratched his head: "Aiguo, we can disassemble it, but it is more difficult to produce the shell."

After hearing this, Li Aiguo realized his negligence.

The maintenance workshop is full of trains, and what he has made now is actually a hodgepodge and has no connection with the two.

"So, we have to find a manufacturer that specializes in producing train shells and ask them to help us?"

Li Aiguo had already begun to consider contacting Sifang or Datong. Director Zhang suggested, "We don't need to go far away. Changxindian Locomotive Factory is not as famous as Sifang, but its level of designing and manufacturing locomotive shells is second to none."

Li Aiguo slapped his forehead suddenly. When the Aiguo steam engine was being developed, the Changxindian Locomotive Factory helped a lot. How could it have forgotten it now?

Afterwards, Li Aiguo contacted the chief engineer of Changxindian Locomotive Factory.

When Chief Engineer Zhang heard that technical workers were needed to help, he seemed particularly excited and said on the phone that he would definitely select the best workers to assist the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

After hanging up the phone, Chief Engineer Zhang immediately asked the factory office to look for candidates.

Amid the passionate blast of loud speakers, the workers at the Changxindian Locomotive Factory all knew that the Qianmen Locomotive Depot was going to build a weirdo, and that outstanding technical workers needed to sign up.

"The Qianmen Locomotive Depot is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Railways. It's a wealthy unit with good pay." A worker patted Chen Xingyi on the shoulder and said, "Xingyi, I heard you have relatives in the railway. So, you will definitely sign up this time, right?"

"They want excellent workers, and my skills are too poor." Chen Xingyi said as he worked with a wrench in his hand.

"You are just too unconfident." The worker looked at Chen Xingyi and shook his head helplessly.

Although Chen Xingyi is only a level 4 worker now, he is a good technical expert, but he has some personality problems and is always hesitant when doing things.

There was another reason why Chen Xingyi did not sign up this time - when he heard the name of Qianmen Locomotive Depot, he knew that this project was most likely initiated by his brother-in-law Li Aiguo.

It would be so embarrassing if he signed up and got rejected.

Li Aiguo soon received the list of people from Changxindian Locomotive Factory. After looking at the list, he found that Chen Xingyi's name was not on it.

"What on earth is this second uncle going to do?"

Chen Xingyi was originally a mechanic. After entering the Changxindian Locomotive Factory, he was first promoted to a fourth-level worker. He then signed up for a correspondence course and learned electrical knowledge. He is a compound talent.

This time we are creating something that is different from the ordinary and breaks the routine, and this is exactly the kind of talent we need.

After returning home, Li Aiguo mentioned this incident to Chen Xueru who was rubbing her feet while washing her feet.

"This is a good opportunity for Brother Xing Yi. Go and persuade him."

Chen Xueru didn’t understand what was going on in the factory, but she believed what the man said and nodded without hesitation.

"It just so happens that I have to go back to visit my father tomorrow and talk to my second brother."

At this time, there was a noise outside.

"Huai Ru, come home with me."

"Get lost! Jia Dongxu, get lost. I will definitely divorce you this time."

"You are just a country girl, you are still showing off!"

Needless to say, Qin Huairu and Jia Dongxu were quarreling again.

When Qin Huairu proposed divorce this time, the residents in the compound thought that she was just angry for the moment and that everything would be fine once she calmed down.

Who would have thought that Qin Huairu stayed at Yi Zhonghai's house for several days and insisted on getting a divorce.

Seeing that the situation was not right these days, Jia Dongxu had to go to Qin Huairu's house in person to apologize, hoping to take Qin Huairu home.

Inevitably, the two started arguing again.

This matter has nothing to do with Li Aiguo, and he doesn't want to get involved.

Chen Xueru took Li Aiguo's words to heart and went back to the tailor shop early the next morning.

Chen Xingyi had just finished his meal and was about to go to work.

"Second brother, wait a minute."

Chen Xueru stopped him.

"You know about the patriotic creation of Sibu Xiang, right? Why don't you sign up?"

It was the first time that the second sister-in-law heard about this, and she quickly came over and said, "Xing Yi, this is a good opportunity. You have been a level 4 worker for two years. If you complete the task, you may be promoted."

"What do you know? Aiguo and I are relatives. If something goes wrong at work, wouldn't it be a disgrace to Aiguo?" Chen Xingyi said somewhat embarrassedly.

Chen Xueru also knew his character and advised: "Since Aiguo has taken a fancy to you, it means that your skills are good enough."

The second sister-in-law also said: "Yes, a grown man, how can he be afraid of this and that."

Chen Xingyi still felt that it was inappropriate, and finally it was Chen Fangxuan who stepped forward and convinced him.

"Aiguo is your brother-in-law. He won't cheat you. Just go ahead."

"All right."

At noon, a dozen technical workers assisted by Changxindian Locomotive Factory came to the maintenance workshop of Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

Li Aiguo spotted Chen Xingyi in the crowd, nodded slightly at him, and then glanced at Director Zhang: "Old Zhang, explain the drawings to them again. This time they must manufacture strictly according to the drawings."

"clear."

There are forty or fifty workers in the maintenance workshop, plus a dozen technical workers from the Changxindian Locomotive Factory. It can be said that there are many talents here.

If materials are needed, the materials department of the maintenance depot will fully cooperate. Just make a phone call and the materials will be delivered to the workshop.

With people, materials and drawings, the manufacturing work of the Sibu Xiang progressed quickly.

Zhou Shiqian also arrived at Anshan Iron and Steel Group and was trying to persuade Anshan Iron and Steel Group to provide a batch of tungsten-titanium alloy.

****
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

No. 16, Chaoyang District, Beijing.

Several large trees with lush branches and leaves shade the small courtyard. The courtyard has three entrances and the floor is paved with blue bricks. There is a sign hanging at the door: Comic Book Magazine Publishing House.

Early in the morning, He Yunshan rode his bicycle to work. He joined the journal this year and is also the youngest editor-in-chief in the journal.

"Editor He is here."

"coming."

Greeting everyone along the way, He Yunshan arrived at the office located in the Central Courtyard.

The Comic Book Periodical Press has a big name and is a magazine directly under the People's Fine Arts Publishing House, but it has a small staff of less than thirty people.

There are dozens of houses in this yard, and He Yunshan, as a new editor, was also assigned an independent office.

"Editor He, these are the submissions from the past two days."

As an editor, the biggest task is to screen out useful manuscripts.

He Yunshan took a stack of letters from the old man in the message room and started opening them without even having time to drink a cup of tea.

There is no other reason.

Be anxious!

Although the comic strip is a monthly publication, published once a month, there are too few usable manuscripts.

These submitted manuscripts either lack educational significance or their content is too rigid.

Trying to select the ones that can be published on the poster is like looking for a needle in a haystack, like a drop in the ocean, or like a yellow crane trying to find it.

Those veteran editors don't have to be as anxious as He Yunshan.

They have connections with well-known comic book authors in China and can directly commission works. While I was busy, the editor-in-chief knocked on the door and walked in.

"Yunshan, what's the situation?"

"Teacher." He Yunshan quickly stood up respectfully and raised the manuscript in his hand: "I haven't read it yet."

The editor-in-chief was He Yunshan’s university teacher, who also introduced him to the journal and often helped him in his work.

"You better hurry up. Last month, not even one of your manuscripts was accepted. Some senior colleagues are already dissatisfied." The editor-in-chief looked around and lowered his voice and said, "If you really can't find a good manuscript, I'll give you a few addresses. You can go to the Magic City."

The editor-in-chief has a reason for what he said.

In fact, literary and artistic work is not the strong point of Beijing.

Before liberation, most of the comic strip and cartoon authors in China were located in Shanghai.

As the birthplace of comic strips, Shanghai integrated resources through public-private partnerships and other means in the 1950s to form a large-scale creation and publishing system.

Subsequently, the Art Editorial Department of East China People's Publishing House and East China People's Fine Arts Publishing House were established successively.

The comic books published by these two publishing houses occupy 80% of the domestic comic book market and have also cultivated a large number of comic book authors.

As the younger generation, when Comic Book Magazine encounters a shortage of manuscripts, the editors will privately contact the comic book authors in Shanghai.

The two publishing houses were also aware of the situation, but they turned a blind eye to it out of consideration for their fellow industry.

Of course, this approach is somewhat embarrassing for the publishing house.

"Teacher, I still want to screen it first." He Yunshan felt that it was a bit unethical to always "steal" other people's manuscripts.

"Okay then." Seeing that he had not changed his mind, the editor-in-chief did not try to persuade him any further. He was thinking about which famous writer to contact this month and use his manuscript to get in touch with him first.

After seeing the editor-in-chief off, He Yunshan sighed and sat back in his chair.

"This is really a shameless act!"

He Yunshan sighed twice, then opened an envelope.

The title of the manuscript was "Protecting the Factory," which was the main theme of the manuscript in those years.

The protagonist is a retired soldier, who later served as the chief of a security department in Beijing. He first caught the workers who smuggled materials out of the factory. Up to this point, it is still the main theme.

But then, in the blink of an eye, the head of the security department got together with the neighbor's wife in the compound and also had an affair with a young widow.

What's even more shocking is yet to come. He also took in the young widow's cousin and the wife of the eldest son of the uncle who manages the front yard. Isn't this the security chief a pile driver?

There are many sexual descriptions in it, although they are darkened, but He Yunshan is experienced and can still see them.

This is not a comic book at all; it is clearly an illustrated version of a handwritten manuscript.

If this stuff were published in a comic strip, not only would the guy who submitted the article be arrested, but the editors and chief editors would also be sent to jail.

This is not a submission, it's a bomb.

He Yunshan quickly put the submission into an envelope and threw it into the cardboard box.

"This guy has evil intentions."

He Yunshan drank a cup of tea before he came to his senses.

He then picked up another envelope and opened it.

This time the manuscript is much more normal than before.

The name is "Workers work together to achieve great strength"

The content is also very simple. The workers in the sawmill worked very hard and cut down more than 2,000 square kilometers of forest within a month, making a contribution to national construction.

Looking at the manuscript, He Yunshan frowned. This was not a comic strip at all, it was clearly a piece of bragging.

This is secondary. It’s not that comic strips cannot be boasted about.

The key is that it has no educational significance and the content is too boring.

Comic books are different from newspapers. These days, newspapers are distributed by units, so there is no need to worry about sales.

Comic books have to be placed on the shelves of Xinhua Bookstore, waiting for customers to buy them home.

If you can't arouse the interest of customers, the comic book won't sell.

Comic strips are one of the few relatively commercial products these days.

He Yunshan's enthusiasm was greatly dampened by the fact that two of his manuscripts in a row could not be used.

If I fail to select suitable manuscripts this month, I will definitely be criticized at the conference at the end of the month.

"Maybe I should really consider the teacher's advice and hold on for a while longer."

He Yunshan encouraged himself and opened the third envelope.

When he flipped through the manuscript and saw that it was more than twenty pages long, he felt a little discouraged.

Only famous writers can handle such a long piece.

The author's name is written on the first page: Train Driver.

Is this a pen name?
very strange.

Other people's pen names are elegant and cultured.

When he thinks of words like Yunshan, Dashan, Gaoshan, etc., you can tell he is a cultured person.

Why would someone use a worker’s occupation as a pen name?
He Yunshan looked down again and saw the name of the work.

"kungfu Panda"

He scratched his head again.

"I know this kung fu, and I've seen pandas in the zoo, but how are these two things connected?"

He Yunshan suppressed his doubts and continued to look.

"In an ancient mountain village, Po the panda makes a living by collecting mountain products and digging herbs, and in his spare time he practices martial arts with his raccoon master.

When the local feudal bullies occupied the mountains and forests and levied heavy taxes, Abao led the people to resist but was severely defeated. "

He Yunshan was shocked.

This thing seems interesting.

Although Comic Strip is called a literary work, what it publishes is actually close to the masses. It is required to be easy to understand, have a fast pace, and most importantly, be "interesting".

Only interesting things can attract people.

He Yunshan continued watching.

"Huh? No more?"

He Yunshan was a little dazed. How come these twenty comic strips disappeared in the blink of an eye?
He was just seeing Po severely injured and being rescued by his fellow fox and brought back to the forest. His heart ached and he wanted to see what happened next, but it was gone!

"Unfinished dog!"

At this moment, He Yunshan was as anxious and restless as a violent stallion, with his fists clenched so tightly that veins bulged.

"Find this unfinished bastard, take off his pants, pull out the rubber bands, make a slingshot, and shoot at his window!"

The damage caused by the unfinished manuscript dog was too great. It took He Yunshan a long time to recover. He pried open the editor-in-chief's office with the manuscript.

The editor-in-chief had already decided which famous comic book artist to contact, and when he saw He Yunshan come in, he waved at him.

"Yunshan, I plan to ask you to contact Master Zhou in the Magic City."

"Teacher, you must take a look at this." He Yunshan held the manuscript on the table.

"What kind of manuscript can make you so excited?"

"You take a look first."

The editor-in-chief felt that something was wrong with He Yunshan today, but he couldn't tell why, so he could only pick up the manuscript and take a closer look.

After quickly flipping through the twenty manuscripts, the editor-in-chief suddenly raised his head and stared, "What about the rest?"

"That's all. That's all they invested."

“This guy is so abominable!”

The editor-in-chief was so angry that he slammed the table: "You can't stop updating at the critical moment!"

But just as he was about to get angry, he suddenly laughed.

He Yunshan was surprised: "Teacher, you are not angry?"

"Angry? I'm so happy." The editor-in-chief took the manuscript in his hand and said, "I have been engaged in the comic book industry before the liberation. I have seen countless excellent manuscripts, but I have never seen one that attracts me as much as Kung Fu Panda."

"Do you know what this means?"

“We found a treasure!”

"However, we still have to check whether this manuscript complies with the regulations."

The issue of compliance is a red line in publishing that no one can cross.

This is also true in later generations.

The crappy author had clearly spent two full days writing a 200,000-word exciting plot, but in the end - it was not in compliance with the regulations and had to be deleted entirely.

Because the content of Kung Fu Panda is quite special, the editor-in-chief gathered several senior editors together to review it together.

"This comic strip uses objects to represent people. Po is an activist, the animals are the common people, the jackal is the landlord and bully, and Mr. Raccoon is the organization. This is the main theme of the comic strip."

"The author's idea is very clever. He uses the panda Po as the protagonist. Pandas are our national treasures. For this reason, there is no problem with the manuscript."

“But is there any follow-up to this manuscript?”

All eyes were on He Yunshan.

He Yunshan picked up the envelope and took a look: "It's written on it, please stay tuned, there will be more exciting follow-up."

Everyone in the conference room breathed a sigh of relief.

The editor-in-chief made the final decision: "In the next issue, free up ten pages."

He Yunshan raised his hand: "Editor-in-chief, how should the royalties be settled?"

"Give him ten dollars a pair!" The editor nodded.

Ten dollars. He Yunshan took a breath of cold air.

Generally speaking, the price of a comic strip is 5-20 yuan.

It’s just like the salary offered by HR during recruitment in later generations. The remuneration for articles can be either low or high.

In fact, it is only 5 yuan per pair, and only those famous artists can get it at yuan.

However, no one in the conference room felt that there was anything wrong with asking a high price.

Faced with the pressure from the Shanghai comic book industry, how can we attract talent if we don’t offer high prices?

"I still suggest that we contact the train driver to discuss the follow-up manuscript."

Seeing that the matter had been settled, an old editor raised his hand.

The editor-in-chief looked at He Yunshan and said, "Yunshan, I'll leave this matter to you. Go to the finance department and withdraw 200 yuan and send it over first."

"Good Le!"

In the afternoon.

He Yunshan was pushing his bicycle, standing in front of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot gate, where there was a constant roar, and he felt dazed.

"So this train driver is really a train driver?"

The security officer on duty saw him standing there in a daze, walked over and asked, "Comrade, what's up?"

"Hello, comrade. I am the editor of the Comic Strip magazine. Someone from your locomotive section has submitted an article, and I am here to give him the payment."

The security officer was surprised: "Comic strips? Are you mistaken? This is the locomotive section, not the literary association."

He Yunshan took out the envelope and took a look at it: "Yes, it's here. The man's pen name is Train Driver. Do you know him?"

Security officer: "."

He Yunshan: “.”

Security officer: "."

He Yunshan: “.”

(End of this chapter)