I am a literary giant in Japan

Nagai Kazufu's hands were shaking as he held the newspaper.

The president of Xinwenxiang Publishing House, who was also feeling stressed and anxious because of the data released by Kawaide Shobo and Beichuan Entertainment, was also pacing back and forth in the office, frantically thinking about his next countermeasures.

But no matter what he thought, there was only that bloody word left in his mind -

lose!
This is a losing game!

During his decades of career, he has witnessed the rise of several "world's best" and the fall of Ichiro Tanizaki from being the world's best in Japanese literature to becoming a rat crossing the street that everyone wanted to kill.

He had seen dozens of publishing houses that had experienced glory and then fell to the bottom.

From an unknown new editor to an industry tycoon with great power over Bungeishunju, and then to the president of the second largest publishing house in Japan.

His life experience is quite rich.

But even in this long career of several decades, he simply could not find any way to break the impasse.

北川秀这个名字，从1995年4月份横空出世，到现在1998年12月份人尽皆知，不过用了短短的3年零8个月的时间。

Even the young people who had just entered college when he debuted have not graduated from school yet!
It was such a young new-age writer who made him, a living fossil in the industry, completely helpless.

Anyone who has read "1Q84 (Complete Edition)" will find it hard to say "I think "Flowers of Hell" is a better novel."

The same interview-style novel, the same documentary text, and even some of the material used are similar.

However, Nagai Kazufu's so-called final work, Flowers of Hell, which was highly anticipated by countless conservative literati, still remains within the scope of his so-called "Edo and Taisho aesthetics."

If there were no "mono no aware literature" proposed by Hide Kitagawa, "Edo and Taisho aesthetics" would also be considered a good literary sub-genre.

But “If we have Yu, why do we have Liang?”
Kitagawa Hide's "Snow Country" and "The Dancing Girl of Izu" are far from being comparable to works like "Flowers of Hell".

If Kitagawa Hide is the Sleeping Dragon Zhuge Liang, then Nagai Kazufu can only be someone like Guo Tu and Zhou Song.

It seems that there is no Japanese writer who can be regarded as a rival to Kitagawa Hide yet.

"Do we have to go through the same failure twice?" For the first time, the president of Xinwenxiang Publishing House had the desperate thought that "the opponent is simply invincible."

In the past, when he was writing at Bungeishunju, he thought that Arima Yoshiyoshi, Hyakuta Naoki, and Tanizaki Ichiro were all top writers who could compete with Kitagawa Hideichi.

With the support of a consortium, the assistance of the government, and a deep foundation in the publishing industry, he didn't think that Bungeishunju would lose to Kawaide Shobo.

But I lost!
This time when it makes a comeback, Xin Wenxiang is stronger and bigger than Bungeishunju.

Although there is no longer a mainstay like Ichiro Tanizaki, Nagai Kazukaze is not bad either, and he is even better at marketing.

Mitsubishi and Sumitomo are also willing to pay.

In this matter, the vast majority of members of both the House and the Senate also expressed their support for Xin Wenxiang and their disdain for Hechu Bookstore and Beichuan Entertainment.

There are also bans and blockades in the entertainment industry.

Nagai Kazukaze's "stop writing" statement a while ago completely pushed the public opinion frenzy to a side that was in their favor.

Even in this situation where victory seemed inevitable, Kitagawa Hide still found a way to turn the tables.

Today, Kitagawa Hide really has the feeling of a big devil, making him and countless celebrities in the publishing industry feel that this young man is invincible.

too strong.

It's really too strong.

If the Nobel Prize in Literature had not been restricting him, how exaggerated would it be if he had won all four major awards in the world literary world?
Sweden's Nobel Prize in Literature, Britain's Booker Prize, France's Prix Goncourt, and the United States' Pulitzer Prize for Journalism.

He won the last three prizes, including the Goncourt Prize twice in a row.
The president took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

The dispute between Kitagawa Hidewa and Nagai Kazufu was not only a battle for the succession of the old and the new in the Japanese literary world, but also a battle for the leadership of Heshu Shufang and Shinbunxiang.

When it comes to business wars, it is not something that can be determined by the sales of a novel or a magazine.

The annual financial report for 1998 has not yet come out. Judging from the situation in 1997, the total market value of Kawaide Shobo was about 3700 billion yen, and the total market value of Kitagawa Entertainment was 3200 billion yen, which together was less than 7000 billion yen.

It is far from comparable to the 13 trillion yen of Mitsubishi Group and the 11.7 trillion yen of Sumitomo Group.

From this perspective, if Mitsubishi and Sumitomo are determined to destroy Hechu Shufang and Beichuan Entertainment, they can make them unable to fight back just by throwing money at them.

"Please connect me to Managing Director Iwasaki of Mitsubishi Corporation. I have something I want to ask him."

The president pretended to be calm and called his female secretary to dial a mysterious number.

After World War II, under the leadership of the Americans, Japan's six major conglomerates were directly divided and reorganized. From the previous situation where one family controlled one conglomerate, it evolved into a "business association" composed of several families jointly controlling a huge conglomerate.

This is also the reason why Japanese conglomerates are called conglomerates and Korean conglomerates are called chaebols.

The former is a league of wealthy people, and the latter is a feudal dynasty controlled by a certain family.

The Iwasaki family, to which Mitsubishi's founder Yataro Iwasaki belongs, has experienced ups and downs over the past century and is still one of the actual controllers of the Mitsubishi Group.

After a while, a deep middle-aged man's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Moses, I'm Kenji Iwasaki, who are you?"

"Manager Iwasaki, this is Ohnishi Hei from Shinbunsho." President Ohnishi Hei held the phone, and his back, which had been straight just now, bent a little involuntarily.

"Oh! It's President Ohnishi." The man opposite suddenly realized what had happened, and then asked with a smile, "What can I do for you, President Ohnishi?"

Ohnishi Ping had never had much dealings with Iwasaki Kenji, he only knew that the other party had a good chance of winning the Mesozoic competition in the Iwasaki family.

Then he will be the one who can sit at the real power table in the future.

So he didn't dare to be negligent and started with some daily conversation to open the topic. After Iwasaki Kenji had adapted to the situation, Onishi Hei brought up the dispute between Shinbunsho and Kawaide Shobo.

"Oh! So President Onishi is troubled by this matter. I was wondering why a big boss in the publishing industry would suddenly call me, a guy who knows nothing about literature, in the middle of the night."

As Kenji Iwasaki spoke, he glanced at the newly-opened copy of 1Q84 (Complete Edition) on the table. Next to it, the newly-released list of members of the House of Representatives was also circled in several red circles.

Kitagawa Hide's name is on the list.

"Oh, I'm very sorry to bother you so late at night. This matter is really like a thorn in my throat, and it kept me awake all night." When Da Xiping heard him being so humble, he felt that things seemed to be more likely to take a turn for the better.

Iwasaki Kenji smiled again, and then asked with concern: "So what does President Onishi want to ask? It seems that we at Mitsubishi Corporation cannot interfere in the conflicts in your publishing industry."

"Ah, I just want to find out what Mitsubishi thinks and attitudes are towards this matter." Onishi Ping lowered his voice involuntarily.

"Oh, I understand. President Onishi wants to know what the Jin Yao Association thinks about this matter, right?" Kenji Iwasaki said with a smile.

The Friday meeting refers to a regular board meeting held within the Mitsubishi Group on Friday.

There are a total of 28 Mitsubishi-affiliated companies that can participate in the Friday Club, and their alliance is also known as the "Friday Club" by outsiders.

It can be said that those who can speak at the Friday meeting are the small group of people who actually control the entire Mitsubishi Group.

"Ah, yes, yes." Onishi Ping didn't dare to mention the term "Jin Yao Society".

For people like them who have lived under the shadow of the conglomerate since childhood, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo and others are as authoritative as NHK in "1Q84".

They are all NHK cashiers like Tengo's father, and they are proud to be NHK cashiers all their lives.

The only difference between Onishi Ping and the lower-level consortium employees is their position and salary.

Their attitudes and views towards the consortium are the same. "Well, to be honest, I personally suggest that President Onishi just give up."

When the conversation got to this point, Kenji Iwasaki's smile suddenly disappeared without a trace.

He casually picked up the book "1Q84 (Complete Edition)" on the table, lightly pointed at the list of members of the House of Representatives, and added: "Whether it is the competition for the first place in the publishing industry or the competition for the first place in the Japanese literary world, you have absolutely no chance of winning."

Do you still need to tell me this?
asshole!

Because I know I can't win.

It’s because I know I can’t afford to lose.

Only then would I turn to you high and mighty consortium controllers for help!

What did you promise us in the beginning? Now you should take responsibility for it!

Da Xiping was filled with impotence and rage in his heart. He felt his blood pressure rising rapidly and his cerebral and cardiovascular blood vessels might burst at any time.

When Onishi Ping heard that Kenji Iwasaki, who was chatting and laughing just now, suddenly attacked him so cruelly, he finally realized what "businessmen are ruthless" meant.

Perhaps in the eyes of the consortium, there are only eternal interests, no eternal enemies.

"So you mean to just let it go?" These were the only few words that Da Xiping managed to utter from his dry throat.

"Forget it?" Iwasaki Kenji looked down at the list again and said calmly, "Do you think Kawaide Shizuko and Kitagawa Hide will just let it go?"

"."Da Xiping was silent.

Since ancient times, the victors make the victors the kings and the losers the bandits. If those who initiate a war do not have to pay any price after their failure, then the war will become meaningless.

Genocide, massacre, protons, brainwashing.
The ancient daimyōs had already told him the answer.

“Actually, I don’t know whether they will let it go or not.

After all, Shizuko Kawaide has always been an outlier in the conglomerate family.

There is no need to say more about Kitagawa Hide. Even I, who have no interest in literature, have heard and seen a lot about his deeds. "

Iwasaki Kenji put everything back on the table and said very seriously,

"But if I were you, I wouldn't just 'let it go'.

Next, I will hold a press conference in the name of the president of Shinbunxiang Publishing House to apologize to the public, Kawaide Shobo, and Kitagawa Entertainment for my and my company's inappropriate words and deeds.

Then he wrote another letter and resigned without waiting for the board of directors to review it, and left Xinwenxiang directly, oh no, it should be said that the literary and publishing circles.

After I have completely severed ties with Shinbun-sang and the literary and publishing circles, I will publish various articles criticizing Nagai Kazufu online and offline in the personal name of Ohnishi Ping to express my attitude and position.

Finally, when everything is calm, I will personally go to Kitagawa Hide to apologize and tell him that I will leave Japan forever and never appear in front of him again, so that he doesn't have to worry about the Onishi family's problems anymore."

"."

If Onishi Ping had not been sure that the person on the other end of the phone was Kenji Iwasaki himself, he would have probably smashed the receiver in his hand to pieces.

Listen.

Is this advice that anyone can give?
He said it in a serious tone, thinking that he had a good tone.

Could it be that the middle-aged guys of the six major financial groups have gone so crazy?
Ohnishi Ping stopped his imagination and forced himself to consider the reasons why Kenji Iwasaki said these words.

Kenji Iwasaki is obviously not a brainless person.

He is not the kind of person who would make fun of someone just because of a disturbing phone call in the middle of the night.

So, Kenji Iwasaki was serious.

He really meant it.

how is this possible
In other words, Jin Yaohui's attitude towards this matter is exactly as he said.
"Can you guys in the Jin Yao Society really swallow this anger and let Kitagawa Hide and Kawaide Shizuko, who were almost killed, escape?"

Ohnishi Ping held on to one last glimmer of fantasy and asked in a low voice.

There was silence on the other side.

About five minutes later, Kenji Iwasaki said his last words and hung up the phone.

"Kitagawa Hide has been elected as a member of the next House of Representatives."

"!!!"

Da Xiping's expression was extremely shocked, and the telephone receiver in his hand slipped and fell heavily to the ground.

"He's just a member of parliament. What's so great about him? Can he be more shocking than the 'Number One' in Japanese literary circles?"

Jabami Rei stretched out her long legs and looked at Yumeko beside her with some confusion.

Although she is a top student at the University of Tokyo with a liberal arts background, her political literacy is really low, on par with the uncle selling oden downstairs.

That's why Jabami Rei was able to perform the "feat" of following different election cars and scolding different voters.

Yumeko didn't know much about politics, but after Kitagawa Hide was elected, she went out of her way to find out more about it from Kawaide Shizuko and Saito Rena.

"Well, in terms of social status and income, ordinary members of Congress certainly can't compare with the best in the literary world.

But dear, this is a little different.

Lijiang, think about it, the people that "1Q84" really criticizes are those congressmen who are just sitting in their positions and doing nothing.

So he and the congressmen already have irreconcilable conflicts.

This can be seen from the recent crazy attacks by the Congress on the Prime Minister's cabinet and the literary world.

However, this Congress, which has been completely against us, has now accepted him and is willing to let him become a powerful member of the Congress.

What does this mean? "

Yumeko asked with a proud look on her face while hugging Kitagawa Midori.

Jabami Rei was about to ask "So what?", but she swallowed the words back as soon as they reached her lips.

She is not really an idiot. She learned about the electoral systems of the House and Senate through various channels when she was in school.

It is absolutely impossible for those guys who are against Kitagawa Hide to switch sides and join his camp.

With so many opposing voices, even Kitagawa Hide has no chance of entering Congress.

But the actual result is quite the opposite.

Then the truth becomes obvious.

"The Prime Minister's cabinet dissolved the House of Representatives and also took the position of Speaker? So Kitagawa was able to become a member of parliament against all odds?" Jabami Rei's eyes widened.

Mengzi smiled and nodded.

This means that the group of people who have the greatest malice towards "1Q84" will completely lose their power.

This is a hearty and complete victory! (End of this chapter)