Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 890 Two percent
Ye Yufeng arrived at Yunhu at noon on April 3rd, but Yang Kangnian arrived half a day later, not until that evening.

Compared to Chen Fan, it was about two days later.

The reason for the delay was that Yang Kangnian compiled his revised industrial development plan and Chen Fan's two suggestions into a report and presented it to the provincial leaders.

The provincial authorities held meetings for more than ten hours straight, making dozens of phone calls to various departments and higher authorities, and finally approved Yang Kangnian's proposal.

Industrial reform and the "vegetable basket" project were both easy to discuss. Almost as soon as the plans were seen, the leaders collectively agreed and instructed Yang Kangnian to do a good job in implementation statistics in order to prepare for the next step of promotion.

The challenge lies with Chen Fan's proposed "Yunhu Film and Television City" project.

First of all, the film industry is an important platform of the propaganda system and has always been strictly government-led. Compared with other industries, it was opened up relatively late, and private capital was not allowed to enter until after 1994.

Moreover, while opening up the industry to private and foreign capital, a censorship system for film scripts and finished films was established. Then, the sole distribution channel of China Film Group was insisted upon, further restricting the risks. It was not until later that the distribution rights were opened up, which shows the importance that the higher authorities attached to this industry.

Although this film and television city project only provides filming locations and is more geared towards the tourism industry, we cannot be careless.

Given the consistent style of Yunhu's leaders, if this project was proposed by someone else, even if Yang Kangnian firmly supported it, the leaders would not hesitate to reject it.

If we want to make a name for ourselves, aren't the "vegetable basket project" and the "factory industrialization" projects enough?
Given the value of these two projects, Yang Kangnian could easily make a living off either one for the rest of his life. Why would he risk going to build a film and television city?
But the person who proposed this project was Chen Fan.

Leaving aside Vice Chairman Chen's own identity and background, just glancing at the telephone on the table, one can see that Jiangnan Province still owes his uncle several million US dollars for equipment.

The foreign investor in this project is Zhou Zhengdong's daughter. Zhou Zhengdong himself is a well-known Chinese American businessman with direct access to Xiyuan and has a very high level of influence overseas. Moreover, judging from the business situation of their company, this influence is steadily increasing, making them the core target of the united front.

Without a very convincing reason, it would be unreasonable to arbitrarily cancel the project proposed by Vice Chairman Chen.

At the very least, one must have genuinely "tried" something, so that if superiors disagree, one can at least give a satisfactory explanation to Boss Zhou.

It was for this project that the province held such a long meeting and made phone calls to people at all levels.

Calling subordinates is to understand the situation; calling superiors is naturally to request instructions and report.

The final result was, "It's worth a try, but pay attention to the shareholding ratio."

It's unclear who first spread this idea, but Yang Kangnian has essentially received a "royal sword" from it.

After receiving support from his superiors, Yang Kangnian rushed back to Yunhu immediately to prepare for the implementation of these three major plans.

Before Ye Yufeng and Yang Kangnian arrived at Yunhu, Chen Fan himself was also busy.

He drove his small Jeep around the vast Yunhu Lake, gaining a deeper understanding of the place.

Yunhu Lake is very large, forming a long and narrow irregular arc, with one end connected to the Yangtze River and the other end... well, it is also connected to a tributary of the Yangtze River.

The section connecting to the Yangtze River is to the west, between the Yangtze River and Yunhu Lake, which is the city of Yunhu. Therefore, there are not many lake areas adjacent to Yunhu City.

Given Yunhu City's long history and its status as an important town along the Yangtze River, it was once a prosperous place in ancient times.

Just like how wealthy people in Yangzhou love to build lakeside villas in the Slender West Lake area, at its most prosperous time, there were two spontaneously formed towns and hundreds of lakeside houses on the north and south banks of the lake.

These were the positions that Chen Fan was focusing on.

After so many years of ups and downs, the two towns have long been dilapidated. Only the old street called Zengjiabu in the north remains relatively intact. Most of the other lakeside houses were destroyed in the war, and the few that remained intact were used as offices for various units. Not to mention that it would be troublesome to move them, even if they could be freed up, Chen Fan would not want them.

What caught his eye was Zengjiabu Old Street, a winding street about two hundred meters long with dozens of old houses, featuring distinct Ming and Qing dynasty and Republican-era styles.

Less than two kilometers away from this old street is the filming location for "Yunhu Love".

Based on this old street, with just a few minor modifications, it can be transformed into a "Late Qing Dynasty/Republic of China Street".

Then, by enclosing several tens of square kilometers of land to the north, Yunhu Film and Television City had room to expand.

About one-third of the area north of Yunhu Lake is a relatively flat "plain," while the rest is a hilly area with an elevation of over 100 to 300 meters. This type of terrain is also very easy to modify.

"Grassland", "forest", "cliff", "ravine" and so on can all be easily photographed.

Moreover, Zengjiabu Old Street is adjacent to Yunhu Lake and has a small dock. With a little renovation, it can be used to film water battle scenes.

Although Yunhu Lake is not as long as the Yangtze River, it is much wider. Filming water battle scenes here is definitely no less impressive than filming Taihu Lake in the Three Kingdoms City.

If this project can be successfully implemented, it can combine the advantages of filming locations such as Hengdian World Studios, Wuxi Three Kingdoms City, and Xiangshan Film and Television City. Unless it is a special terrain like Zhenbeibao, it can provide the film crew with a one-stop service for both land and water location shooting.

Well, how should I put it?

Geographical environments like Yunhu are common in many parts of the country, especially in the southern regions. Which city doesn't have a few mountains and large lakes?

Therefore, finding a place with diverse landform features and building a film and television city is actually quite simple.

The difficulty lies in finding "opportunity".

Hengdian seized the opportunity presented by director Xie Jin's filming of "The Opium War," and built a Guangzhou Street in three months to enter the film and television industry. It then cultivated its expertise in the industry and eventually became the "Hollywood of the East."

When Chen Fan went to Hengdian for tourism years ago, he complained to his companions that the scenery there was not as good as his hometown Yunhu. The mountains were not very high and the trees were not thick, so it looked awkward when filming outdoor scenes.

My companion also said that the scenery in his hometown was no worse than here, but what can you do when there's a film and television city here?

After returning to this era, Chen Fan also considered that if he could build a film and television city in Yunhu, so that people from other places could come to Yunhu to watch the filming, it would be worth the time travel.

At that time, he was just a small veterinarian in Lujiawan. He had not been approached by Hideo Takahashi, nor did he know his wealthy uncle, Zhou Zhengdong.

He was just thinking that by 92 he should have some money, and then he could accumulate more fame in the arts and culture field. At that time, he could either snatch Hengdian's production, or invest in his own production and start another big show, which would be possible to replicate Hengdian's success.

Unexpectedly, success came even faster than I had imagined.

Having money wasn't enough; we also needed to wait for the right opportunity. Without strong local support, this kind of film and television city project would absolutely not have been possible.

He had already made plans to wait another ten years or so, until after the 90s, before doing this.

That was the heyday of foreign investment. Using Zhou Yali's name to invest was a sure thing; the project was guaranteed to succeed. Locally, they brought in Yunqi Factory, Machinery Factory, and Cotton Mill as strong backers, ensuring they could firmly control the film studio. But then Yang Kangnian came knocking on their door. Could he possibly let this opportunity slip by?!
So his first question to Yang Kangnian was not anything else, but how long he would stay in Yunhu.

Yang Kangnian's answer was ten or eight years.

Ten or eight years is enough!
……

April 4th, Friday, Qingming Festival.

At Qingshan Cemetery, Yang Kangnian bowed several times to the tombstone. After Chen Fan finished kowtowing, he said, "Now that personal matters are settled, let's talk about official business."

He turned to look at the twelve "drivers" standing in a row behind him, dressed in camouflage uniforms and with pistols at their waists. He lowered his voice and said, "It's not convenient to discuss official business now, is it?"

Ye Yufeng turned around and glanced at them, then gently gestured, "You all go down first."

These people remained motionless, as if they hadn't heard a thing.

It wasn't until Chen Fan spoke up, "Old Wang told you to follow her every step of the way, and you really did. She slept at my house last night, why weren't you with her then?"

Kong Wanshan, who was in the lead, shrank his neck and immediately shouted in a low voice, "Everyone, turn right and run forward!"

Watching the group of people jog away, Ye Yufeng spread his hands at Chen Fan and said helplessly, "The people in the transportation company are all weirdos. They only listen to their direct supervisor and General Manager Wang Jianguo, and they don't even listen to us."

Then only you can command them.

Chen Fan shrugged. "The transportation company operates under military-style management. There are four people per vehicle and three vehicles per shift. This time, Lao Wang arranged a shift to protect you, so they definitely have to take full responsibility. That's what you call 'military orders are like mountains.' Even if you're the boss, you can't just ask them to change the protection plan. Otherwise, who will be responsible if something goes wrong?"

Ye Yufeng was somewhat unconvinced, "Then do they obey your orders?"

Chen Fan snorted twice, "That's because they know that with me around, they're safer than all of them combined."

Ye Yufeng looked incredulous, but she didn't ask any further questions. Let the young master brag if he wants to; it's not like it's going to hurt her.

Chen Fan ignored her and turned to Yang Kangnian, asking, "Has the city approved this project?"

"Ah."

Looking at the shimmering Yunhu Lake in the distance, Yang Kangnian let out a long breath and said, "I went to see the provincial leaders the day before yesterday and submitted all three proposals..."

He then turned to Chen Fan and smiled, "The vegetable basket and industrial development projects have both passed smoothly, but the film and television city project has been going on for more than ten hours in meetings. We only got a reply yesterday morning that it can be piloted."

Upon hearing this, Ye Yufeng's eyes widened. "Huh? So, when you called me, this project hadn't been approved yet?"

Chen Fan smiled slightly at her, "What does it matter whether it passes or not? You're going to come to Yunhu anyway."

Ye Yufeng was speechless.

Little did she know that even if the provincial authorities didn't approve it, Chen Fan planned to try going through higher-level channels.

If we can build a joint venture five-star hotel in Beijing, what problem could there be in building a joint venture film and television city in Yunhu?
As long as Yang Kangnian remains in the position of Commissioner of Yunhu, he is not afraid of not being able to handle things locally, let alone at the provincial level.
Hmph, the higher-ups have already agreed, what can they say?!

If he didn't even have this much confidence, why would Chen Fan have proposed building a film and television city in advance?

Yang Kangnian found it somewhat amusing to hear Chen Fan say that.

Even though the project hadn't been approved, he hurriedly called people over; he's really proactive.

However, thinking about what was to come, Yang Kangnian couldn't laugh anymore. He coughed and said to Chen Fan, "Well, the higher-ups have agreed to this project in principle, but there are conditions regarding the shareholding ratio."

He turned to look at Ye Yufeng and said, "Foreign investment cannot exceed 49%. To put it bluntly, it must be controlled by our side."

Without saying a word, Ye Yufeng turned to look at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "I expected this."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "So, regarding our controlling stake, is there any stipulation that it must be held by a specific entity that controls this 51% stake? Provincial capital, local capital, or any other entity?"

Yang Kangnian was taken aback, his brows furrowing slightly. "That wasn't explicitly stated. I've also looked into existing joint venture projects, and they're basically all held by the leadership of the relevant units. For example, the joint venture hotel in Beijing is held by the municipal tourism company. It wouldn't make sense if there weren't connections."

Chen Fan smiled, turned to look at Yunhu Lake in the distance, and said, "I walked around Yunhu Lake a couple of days ago and took a fancy to that area on the north side of the lake. No matter which location is chosen, will the local commune and production team take a share?"

Or will the city provide them with compensation, and the shares will be managed by the Yunhu Cultural Affairs Bureau?

Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong all have provincial-level tourism companies, but in Yunhu, a small place, tourism is not listed separately and is still under the management of the cultural affairs department.

Unless the Jiangnan Provincial Tourism Company gets involved, takes over the local area directly, and holds shares in the company.

Just as Chen Fan was speculating about which possibility it might be, Yang Kangnian said without hesitation, "The province's intention is that this project will be entirely led by the local government. After returning last night, I discussed it with the first secretary for a long time, and he also received the notification from above."

Our opinions are largely aligned. This project will be part of the Yunhu reform, so we will abandon traditional approaches, combine local interests, and appropriately introduce several related entities to invest using their funds.

Chen Fan nodded. "In that case, the local collective will hold a portion of the shares, and the investment unit led by the city will hold a portion of the shares."

Yang Kangnian nodded. "More or less."

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Then I'll recommend another one. I won't ask for more, just two percent, is that alright?"

Yang Kangnian was slightly taken aback. After a couple of seconds, he seemed to have figured something out, and his eyes widened instantly. "You want Lujiawan to join in? Give them two percent, and they'll definitely be on your side. Your cousin will definitely listen to you too. That's fifty-one percent, and you can have a controlling stake?!"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "Don't say that. I'm just trying to give my fellow villagers a chance to make money."

Yang Kangnian couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I'd never believe you."

His expression immediately turned serious. "However, this suggestion is in line with policy and can be considered."

(End of this chapter)