Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 921 More People Came
Director Lan acted swiftly. Besides himself, even Ming Jianfeng, the Tourism Bureau Secretary who was about to hand over the reins, was tempted and rushed to Beijing with Director Lan overnight.

Early the next morning, Director Lu of the Tourism Administration met with the two men. After reading Chen Fan's proposal, he only considered it for a few minutes before convening a meeting of the Administration's leadership to discuss the feasibility of the proposal.

Director Lu was no ordinary veteran cadre. During the Republic of China era, he went deep into the enemy-occupied areas to engage in economic activities. To put it bluntly, he was there to make money and procure supplies for our side.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was also one of the founders and pioneers of my country's foreign trade.

Therefore, he was very knowledgeable about economics; otherwise, he wouldn't have been entrusted with such an important task by the old political commissar at this time: to be in charge of developing the tourism industry.

At the meeting, holding Chen Fan's proposal, he bluntly stated, "There are two key points in this proposal. First, after the broadcast of 'Silk Road,' did the program truly attract public attention and generate interest in visiting?"

The second question is whether this series of scenic films will be able to be broadcast on American television after filming is completed.

First, we need to verify these two points. If both are confirmed to be correct, my suggestion is that it can be done.

One leader still had some doubts: "What Deputy Director Chen wants to shoot is not a scenic film, but a film with the Yangtze River as the core, with one film in each region, totaling more than twenty films. The filming expenses alone may cost several million or even tens of millions of yuan."

In addition, it is necessary to build hotels and restaurants specifically for receiving foreign guests, and to purchase dedicated vehicles.

Given the current situation where money is needed everywhere, is such a huge expense worthwhile?

What if it doesn't achieve the desired results?

So my idea is, should we first choose one or two locations as pilot sites, such as Shanghai, or the provincial capital of Jiangnan Province and Yunhu Lake? The results have proven quite good, so should we then gradually continue filming?

Director Lu pondered for two seconds, then shook his head and said, "Regarding this point, Deputy Director Chen wrote it very clearly in the plan, informing all localities of the relevant situation and explaining the stakes. As for whether to film, that's up to the local authorities to decide; he won't interfere."

but……"

Director Lu gave the crowd a meaningful look and chuckled softly, "Exchanging local currency for foreign currency can also bring you international fame. If it were you, would you pass up this opportunity?"

The group exchanged glances, and even the leader who had just raised the issue smiled, lit a cigarette, and remained silent.

Seeing that no one spoke, Director Lu resolutely said, "Then, I announce that we will first immediately arrange for someone to find out whether what Deputy Director Chen said is true. If it is, we will immediately compile the materials, come up with specific regulations, and submit an application report to Xiyuan."

At this point, he smiled slightly, "This huge sum of money cannot all go through our tourism system's accounts; the local governments also need to share some of the burden."

I heard that the Yunhu Special Zone has already started building hotels and restaurants catering to foreigners, and has even specially purchased dedicated vehicles to establish a new transportation company specifically for foreign tourists. As for the filming funds, the first phase has already been approved for one million yuan, which is quite ambitious.

Who knows, Yunhu might even win the title of "Number One Tourist City along the Yangtze River"—anything is possible.

In a corner of the conference room, Ming Jianfeng and Director Lan exchanged a glance and couldn't help but click their tongues.

Goodness, the plan hasn't even been approved yet, and the director has already thrown out the title of "First City for Tourism on the Yangtze River." Who is he trying to hook?
……

The chaos in the capital had absolutely no effect on the instigator, Mr. Chen.

After returning to Yunhu, he immediately immersed himself in the film and television city, filming "Monk Comes Down the Mountain 2" in full swing.

Even the Yunhu Hotel and Yunhu Restaurant, which are under construction, were handed over to Ma Jiajia and Dong Zhengyang to handle.

The two of them, one the foreign manager of the film studio and the other the public manager, should have been somewhat at odds. But Yang Kangnian's brilliant move of bringing Chen Fan back has made things much better. One of them calls Chen "General Manager" in public and "Young Master" in private, while the other calls him "Leader" in public and private. How could they possibly be at odds?
The two are now working together to accomplish what General Manager Chen instructed, making them a model of Sino-foreign joint ventures.

It was thanks to them that Chen Fan was able to devote himself to filming without any worries.

Amidst the tense yet orderly busyness, time flew by and it was already mid-June.

Most of the dialogue scenes had been filmed, and some of the war scenes were almost done as well. Director Chen sat in a folding chair, fanning himself with a large palm-leaf fan in one hand, and took a large tea mug from Bian Huifang with the other. He gulped down several mouthfuls, let out a long, comfortable breath, and then turned to look at Kuang Mingyi, "Old Kuang, what are the plans for tomorrow?"

Kuang Mingyi was checking the shooting schedule with the script supervisor when he heard his words. He immediately looked up and said, "We're shooting a big scene tomorrow. We expect two or three thousand militiamen to come and participate in the filming. I've already coordinated with the logistics department of the film studio and arranged for someone to follow them closely to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Chen Fan hesitated for two seconds, placed the teacup on the folding table, looked at him and asked, "Who gave you the number of two or three thousand people?"

Kuang Mingyi blinked, about to speak, when Bian Huifang said from the side, "It was I who coordinated with the comrades from the Armed Forces Department. The number they reported was two or three thousand, to be precise, two thousand five hundred and eighty people, composed of militia companies from various production teams. A total of thirty or forty grassroots militia companies were mobilized."

Just in case, I budgeted for 3,000 people, so I reported 2,000 to Director Kuang.

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, thought for a moment, and said, "Too little."

Bian Huifang's eyes widened. "Huh?"

She was a little confused. "What's missing?"

Chen Fan turned to look at her and chuckled softly, "You've never worked at the grassroots level, so you don't know their habits. When there are benefits or excitement, they won't obediently follow the rules."

Bian Huifang looked at him with a puzzled expression and said with a hint of doubt, "You mean the actual number of people who come will be more?"

At this moment, Kuang Mingyi walked over and chuckled, "Director Chen's words reminded me. When we were making a movie back then, we said we needed a hundred fellow villagers to be extras, but two or three hundred people showed up in droves. You can't just not use them when they come. Luckily, they only ate some working meals, otherwise the budget would definitely not have been enough."

Bian Huifang asked, puzzled, "Didn't we prepare a list in advance? Why did we have to follow the list? Why are there so many more people than expected?"

Chen Fan lit a cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said with a smile, "That depends on the specific situation. If it's a major project, especially a political task, then it's naturally a matter of principle. Even if someone comes along, they won't have a chance to participate."

However, the tasks were not so rigorous. In many places, the members of the commune were not doing well, and if they had the opportunity to earn some extra money, they would definitely not let it go.

Although our film crew doesn't pay salaries, they do provide three meals a day, which is attractive enough to some people. Even those who aren't after a few meals will likely come because they're curious about filmmaking.

"At that point, the exact number might be hard to predict."

Upon hearing this, Bian Huifang was stunned. "What should we do?"

Chen Fan flicked his cigarette ash, pondered for two seconds, then looked up and smiled, "It's alright. We'll deal with whatever comes our way. I'm like Han Xin commanding his troops—the more the merrier. The more we have, the more we can film. Just tell the film studio to prepare plenty of rice and flour to make sure they're ready to receive us."

Anyway, these militiamen don't need money, they're only provided with a few meals. Any extra costs can be registered by the film studio's logistics department and reimbursed by the armed forces department.

Kuang Mingyi stood there dumbfounded, "You want the person, but you don't want to give more money?"

Chen Fan curled his lip and said matter-of-factly, "If there's a list, then follow the list. If there's no organizational discipline at all, is that still an armed forces department?"

He paused for a moment, then added, "I can definitely afford this amount of money, but we can't open this door. If they need it again in the future, they'll just ask for two more, and then how will we make a budget?"

Kuang Mingyi pursed his lips and thought for a moment, then unconsciously nodded slightly, "Hmm, that makes sense."

Bian Huifang shook her head, feeling somewhat incredulous, and muttered, "It can actually be like this?" The next day, June 13th, Friday, the first day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar.

When Chen Fan arrived at the film studio early in the morning, it was even more lively than usual.

The "tourists" who usually come to watch the excitement when they have nothing else to do are all squeezed to the outer perimeter. In the middle of the small venue, there are groups of "ragtag troops" holding red flags.

They weren't wearing uniforms, but they were carrying guns on their shoulders. What else could they be but a ragtag army?
Needless to say, these are the militia forces that have been gathered together from various production teams.

They set off before dawn, some by horse-drawn carriages, some by small wooden boats, and some by tractors, converging from all directions to arrive at the designated location before the appointed time.

Before Chen Fan even got out of the car, he immediately saw the flag of Lujiawan fluttering in the wind. The flag bearer was none other than Zhang Wenhao, the head of the security office and the militia company commander.

However, the list Chen Fan saw yesterday showed that the Lujiawan militia company reported 100 people, but a quick glance revealed that there were more than 300 people under the flag.

Good heavens, factories have stopped operating, farmland has ceased production, and most of the able-bodied young people have been brought here?

At this moment, Zhang Wenhao also saw him and immediately waved the flag high in the air.

The other production teams, not to be outdone, thought, "You Lujiawan people are rich. You're all dressed up like proper soldiers. We really can't compete with you."

How could I possibly lose in terms of momentum?

Dozens of red flags immediately began to wave, and then, at someone's command, each team started singing.

Upon seeing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but chuckle and nod repeatedly, "Not bad, not bad, their fighting spirit is very high."

I hope that when we're filming later, even if we have to run through the scenes a dozen times, we'll still have this much energy.

Today is a big occasion. Ma Jiajia and Dong Zhengyang are also here. When they saw Chen Fan, they immediately walked over with an elderly man in his sixties wearing an old military uniform.

Chen Fan saw them at that moment, quickly walked up to them, stretched out his hand from afar, and laughed, "Minister Liang, why did you come in person?"

This person is none other than Minister Liang of the Armed Forces Department of Yunhu District.

If it were just a regional minister, Chen Fan would naturally not be so polite; maintaining basic etiquette and respect would suffice.

However, Minister Liang, like Xiao Liewen, is a veteran cadre who fought against the Japanese invaders back then, which makes a difference.

Minister Liang stepped forward, shook Chen Fan's hand, and laughed heartily, "Today is the first 'battle' in Yunhu in decades, so of course I have to be there to join in the fun."

There were quite a few people who came to join in the fun today. Only then did Chen Fan see that Minister Cao of the Armed Forces Department of Gufeng County was talking with Xiao Liewen, and a group of old men of similar age were standing next to them.

Judging from the situation, they should be the leaders of each production team.

Goodness, is this a mass outing to watch the show?
To be honest, they brought their "family assets" with them. Four-barreled machine guns and howitzers were nothing to them. Chen Fan also saw several mountain guns.

This guy, both morally and logically, should personally go and express his gratitude.

So he spent half an hour exchanging pleasantries with dozens of elderly comrades.

That is to say, he has a good memory and can basically remember things after just one reading; otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to tell who is who.

After finally exchanging pleasantries, he managed to slip away under the guise of work and head to the location of the film crew.

Before they even stepped inside, Kuang Mingyi and Bian Huifang came to greet them.

Bian Huifang held the form in her hand, her face almost breaking into tears. When she saw Chen Fan, she whispered, "Director, Director, this is terrible! They actually brought more than six thousand people! There are too many people!"

They reported 2,500 people, expected 3,000, but Chen Fan said he would budget for 4,000 people. In the end, more than 6,000 people showed up.
How can we do this?

Chen Fan put his hands on his hips, feeling a little dizzy.

They really think highly of themselves, asking for two or three thousand, but they've given you over six thousand.

Is this the prelude to the Battle of Pingol?
Wow, I never thought I'd be a brigade commander one day.

Chen Fan wiped his face, not even glancing at the list Bian Huifang handed him, and instead beckoned to Kuang Mingyi, "Let me see the script and shooting schedule."

As Chen Fan took the documents from Kuang Mingyi, he flipped through them while recalling the valuable advice he had received from a senior director at the August First Film Studio during a meeting in Beijing.

A few minutes later, he had figured out the work steps.

He handed the documents back to Kuang Mingyi, turned to Bian Huifang, and said, "Go and call over the leaders of each militia team."

These militia members each belong to a different faction. Suddenly putting them under someone else's command would likely leave them clueless as to which direction to charge. Therefore, it's essential to have them commanded by the local security chiefs and militia company commanders, so they know who to follow. This will make fighting much easier.

If we ignore the more than 6,000 people and focus only on the 30 or 40 people we've selected, things become much easier.

After everyone had gathered, Chen Fan led them into the canteen, where a "military map" was prominently displayed on one of the walls in the canteen hall.

It's actually a topographical map of the pre-selected battlefield shooting area.

Chen Fan stood at the very front, and thirty or forty militia company commanders lined up in several rows, watching him intently.

Seeing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but nod slightly.

It has to be said that the quality of militia members these days is truly outrageous, not much different from that of regular troops. No wonder some militia members have been able to achieve remarkable feats on the southwestern battlefield.

Many people in later generations have a misconception that our opponents in the southwest were not actually strong, but only used despicable methods, which caused us great casualties.

Actually, that's not the case. You have to understand that they are the ones who dragged the US military into a quagmire. Moreover, they have received long-term training from personnel sent by the Soviet Union and our side, combining the strengths of both. Whether it is the individual quality of soldiers or the overall tactical proficiency of the troops, they are incomparable to ordinary teams.

They dare to call themselves the world's second-largest military force, which may be somewhat arrogant, but they do have some basis and reasons for it.

The fact that our militia can confront them head-on on local battlefields shows just how strong they are.

Now Director Chen is about to command such a team to fight several major "battles".

(End of this chapter)